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{{Style P-HPB SB. Title continued | Remarkable Spiritual Manifestations in the House of the Rev. E. Phelps, D.D.|7-233}} | {{Style P-HPB SB. Title continued | Remarkable Spiritual Manifestations in the House of the Rev. E. Phelps, D.D.|7-233}} | ||
| − | {{Style S-HPB SB. Continues on |7-235}} | + | |
| + | {{Style P-No indent|A Yankee clock was taken from the mantle in the nursery, and placed upon the floor in the middle room, a distance of twenty feet, and so carefully done that the clock was still going when discovered in its new place, though it stopped some time after. It does not appear that any of these images were seen in the process of construction, or that the clothing, which was gathered from different localities, was seen in the act of moving. When persons entered the room everything was still, the clothing about the floor, which, upon going again within a few minutes, was found wrought into forms. The marked rapidity of their construction, and the life-like appearance of them, seems to have been truly wonderful. During this day several others than members of the family were present. In several instances, when the rooms were closed and the doors guarded, so that no person could enter, the images were constructed. To one reading or listening to the relation of these facts, the mischief and cunning evinced will seem amusing as well as most wonderful; but to the family who bore the annoyance and witnessed the terrifying demonstrations, it was a serious and trying affair.}} | ||
| + | |||
| + | The reader will keep in mind that this was on Saturday of the first week of these strange proceedings, and many persons were still believing that they must be produced by some one in the house; every member of the family therefore was subjected to the most rigid scrutiny, which makes it morally certain that no member of the household could have had any agency in the matter without being at once detected. Besides the neatness and despatch with which they were formed, the natural appearance of most of them must have required taste and skill beyond the conception of ordinary persons in the flesh. Mr. M—— remained there throughout the day, Mr. W ——, Governor Plant, and Captain S ——, a part of the day. During the day and evening various things were thrown in different parts of the house. A brickbat, which lay on the stairs leading to the third story, was thrown violently downstairs, passing very near the head of the eldest daughter as she was descending the stairs. A fire-shovel was also thrown near her, which she first saw high above her in a position to fall upon her head. She was several times constrained to cry out from fear, so much as to cause apprehension on her account. | ||
| + | |||
| + | [I omit, in this place, at the request of Dr. Phelps, a minute account of occurrences in which the medium seemed to be one who has now grown to be a young woman, and would feel a repugnance at having her name mentioned in connection with the subject. At one time a ribbon was tied around her neck, while she was sleeping, so tightly as to cause a serious affection of the brain. Dr. Phelps was sitting in the room when it was done. Several other remarkable occurrences are omitted, on account of her connection with them. In the main they do not differ materially in their nature from the occurrences herein related.] | ||
| + | |||
| + | The hiding of hats, caps, clothing, &c., seems at this time to have become of common occurrence. On several occasions a hat was seen to go upstairs—not thrown, but seemed to be carried rapidly by unseen hands. For several days Dr. Phelps was forced to keep his hat under lock and key to prevent its disappearance if left out as usual. Coats, hats, and canes of gentlemen who were strangers in the house were spirited away, the only object seeming to be the gratification of mischievous desires, with the exception of a few instances. They were found sometimes in the chimney, under the bed, and in the bottom of trunks. The design seemed to be to detain the owners to witness further demonstrations. Two gentlemen from an adjoining town called, one of whom had expressed an earnest desire to witness the phenomena; but, having passed several hours and seen nothing, they were about to leave, when the person who expressed a wish found himself minus a hat. A thorough search followed, but no hat could be found; consequently the gentleman decided to remain until the next day. During the evening and night phenomena transpired sufficient to gratify his most abundant desire. Similar cases, with like results, afterwards occurred. | ||
| + | |||
| + | On the nineteenth and twentieth little occurred to cause alarm. Some of the family heard loud and frightful screams in an adjacent outhouse, which must have been torturing to the feelings, much more so than the silent images. Small articles were also thrown about the house. Reports had now got abroad, and some excitement was being produced, as is always the case in country towns, where each person knows their neighbours’ private business quite as well, and sometimes better, than those most interested. And in a matter of this kind all efforts to prevent publicity would prove unavailing. Curiosity and staring wonder would overstep all bounds of propriety and respect for the private rights and feelings of the family, forgetting that it is no slight thing for the harmony and quiet of a household to be invaded, each member being subjected to suspicion, ill-natured scrutiny, or careless reproach. On this subject I can speak from experience, having myself passed the ordeal. To persons of refined sensibility it is a trial indeed. In this case Dr. Phelps adopted the rule of giving all who called an opportunity to investigate for themselves, and to this rule he adhered, notwithstanding the annoyance such a constant visitation must have occasioned. In one instance, while a rabble was gathered outside, a stranger, who came unintroduced by letter or otherwise, asked to spend the night, and was refused for obvious reasons. | ||
| + | |||
| + | <center>THE MEDIUM FLOATED IN THE AIR.</center> | ||
| + | |||
| + | On Friday and Saturday, March 23rd and 24th, the disturbances increased, and became still more annoying. Loud poundings and screams were heard in different places, and on Saturday evening, between sunset and dark, Harry was passing through the dining-room, and thought himself suddenly caught up by some unseen power from the floor, and supposed that he was about to be carried off through the ceiling. He was very much frightened, and screamed so as to alarm the family, and remained in a state of great nervous excitement for two or three hours, and the effects did not wholly wear off for more than a week. At times he was in such a state as to require two men to hold him. For several days after this he spent a portion of his time with one of the neighbours during the day, but the disturbances continued the same at the house, although he appeared to be more or less the medium as long as the phenomena continued. At one time he was thrown into a cistern of water; at another he was tied up and suspended from a tree; and several times was thrown into a state of apparent insensibility, in which he would remain from ten to fifty minutes, and for which no human cause could be assigned. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Somewhere about the 20th or 22nd of March Dr. Phelps’s attention was called to a pamphlet (Capron and Barron’s), giving a history of the “mysterious noises” at Rochester and Auburn. Several persons who had read the same proposed to question the agents of these disturbances in the manner there recorded, and see if they could get answers to questions. To this the doctor objected, for reasons known to himself, but which may readily be imagined by those knowing his position in life, and his general opinions of such phenomena. | ||
| + | |||
| + | <center>CONTENTIONS AMONG THE SPIRITS.</center> | ||
| + | |||
| + | On the 26th of March Anna left Stratford, and on the 3rd of April Harry also left. Ho manifestations took place while both were away. Harry was absent a week, and Anna three weeks; but the very day that Harry returned, the manifestations commenced with greater power than ever. Even before he arrived at the house, a paper with some mysterious characters was dropped near the front door. These characters were interpreted by a clairvoyant* to read as follows:— | ||
| + | |||
| + | {{Style P-Poem|poem=Fear not when he returns; all danger is o’er. | ||
| + | We came, we disturbed thy house; but shall no more. | ||
| + | Believe us not evil or good till we prove | ||
| + | Our speech to humanity, our language of love.}} | ||
| + | |||
| + | This was supposed to indicate that no further disturbance would be made; but in the course of two or three hours another paper was found in the boy’s hat in these words:— | ||
| + | |||
| + | {{Style P-Poem|poem=The good ones say that all is done, | ||
| + | But the wicked ones say it has just begun.}} | ||
| + | |||
| + | The “wicked ones,” in this case, seemed to come nearer the truth than the “good ones,” for, on the afternoon of the 8th of April, the breaking of glass commenced for the first time by the breaking of a pane in a mysterious manner. In {{Style S-HPB SB. Continues on |7-235}} | ||
| + | |||
| + | {{Footnotes start}} | ||
| + | <nowiki>*</nowiki> Andrew Jackson Davis. | ||
| + | {{Footnotes end}} | ||
Latest revision as of 05:42, 19 June 2024
< Remarkable Spiritual Manifestations in the House of the Rev. E. Phelps, D.D. (continued from page 7-233) >
A Yankee clock was taken from the mantle in the nursery, and placed upon the floor in the middle room, a distance of twenty feet, and so carefully done that the clock was still going when discovered in its new place, though it stopped some time after. It does not appear that any of these images were seen in the process of construction, or that the clothing, which was gathered from different localities, was seen in the act of moving. When persons entered the room everything was still, the clothing about the floor, which, upon going again within a few minutes, was found wrought into forms. The marked rapidity of their construction, and the life-like appearance of them, seems to have been truly wonderful. During this day several others than members of the family were present. In several instances, when the rooms were closed and the doors guarded, so that no person could enter, the images were constructed. To one reading or listening to the relation of these facts, the mischief and cunning evinced will seem amusing as well as most wonderful; but to the family who bore the annoyance and witnessed the terrifying demonstrations, it was a serious and trying affair.
The reader will keep in mind that this was on Saturday of the first week of these strange proceedings, and many persons were still believing that they must be produced by some one in the house; every member of the family therefore was subjected to the most rigid scrutiny, which makes it morally certain that no member of the household could have had any agency in the matter without being at once detected. Besides the neatness and despatch with which they were formed, the natural appearance of most of them must have required taste and skill beyond the conception of ordinary persons in the flesh. Mr. M—— remained there throughout the day, Mr. W ——, Governor Plant, and Captain S ——, a part of the day. During the day and evening various things were thrown in different parts of the house. A brickbat, which lay on the stairs leading to the third story, was thrown violently downstairs, passing very near the head of the eldest daughter as she was descending the stairs. A fire-shovel was also thrown near her, which she first saw high above her in a position to fall upon her head. She was several times constrained to cry out from fear, so much as to cause apprehension on her account.
[I omit, in this place, at the request of Dr. Phelps, a minute account of occurrences in which the medium seemed to be one who has now grown to be a young woman, and would feel a repugnance at having her name mentioned in connection with the subject. At one time a ribbon was tied around her neck, while she was sleeping, so tightly as to cause a serious affection of the brain. Dr. Phelps was sitting in the room when it was done. Several other remarkable occurrences are omitted, on account of her connection with them. In the main they do not differ materially in their nature from the occurrences herein related.]
The hiding of hats, caps, clothing, &c., seems at this time to have become of common occurrence. On several occasions a hat was seen to go upstairs—not thrown, but seemed to be carried rapidly by unseen hands. For several days Dr. Phelps was forced to keep his hat under lock and key to prevent its disappearance if left out as usual. Coats, hats, and canes of gentlemen who were strangers in the house were spirited away, the only object seeming to be the gratification of mischievous desires, with the exception of a few instances. They were found sometimes in the chimney, under the bed, and in the bottom of trunks. The design seemed to be to detain the owners to witness further demonstrations. Two gentlemen from an adjoining town called, one of whom had expressed an earnest desire to witness the phenomena; but, having passed several hours and seen nothing, they were about to leave, when the person who expressed a wish found himself minus a hat. A thorough search followed, but no hat could be found; consequently the gentleman decided to remain until the next day. During the evening and night phenomena transpired sufficient to gratify his most abundant desire. Similar cases, with like results, afterwards occurred.
On the nineteenth and twentieth little occurred to cause alarm. Some of the family heard loud and frightful screams in an adjacent outhouse, which must have been torturing to the feelings, much more so than the silent images. Small articles were also thrown about the house. Reports had now got abroad, and some excitement was being produced, as is always the case in country towns, where each person knows their neighbours’ private business quite as well, and sometimes better, than those most interested. And in a matter of this kind all efforts to prevent publicity would prove unavailing. Curiosity and staring wonder would overstep all bounds of propriety and respect for the private rights and feelings of the family, forgetting that it is no slight thing for the harmony and quiet of a household to be invaded, each member being subjected to suspicion, ill-natured scrutiny, or careless reproach. On this subject I can speak from experience, having myself passed the ordeal. To persons of refined sensibility it is a trial indeed. In this case Dr. Phelps adopted the rule of giving all who called an opportunity to investigate for themselves, and to this rule he adhered, notwithstanding the annoyance such a constant visitation must have occasioned. In one instance, while a rabble was gathered outside, a stranger, who came unintroduced by letter or otherwise, asked to spend the night, and was refused for obvious reasons.
On Friday and Saturday, March 23rd and 24th, the disturbances increased, and became still more annoying. Loud poundings and screams were heard in different places, and on Saturday evening, between sunset and dark, Harry was passing through the dining-room, and thought himself suddenly caught up by some unseen power from the floor, and supposed that he was about to be carried off through the ceiling. He was very much frightened, and screamed so as to alarm the family, and remained in a state of great nervous excitement for two or three hours, and the effects did not wholly wear off for more than a week. At times he was in such a state as to require two men to hold him. For several days after this he spent a portion of his time with one of the neighbours during the day, but the disturbances continued the same at the house, although he appeared to be more or less the medium as long as the phenomena continued. At one time he was thrown into a cistern of water; at another he was tied up and suspended from a tree; and several times was thrown into a state of apparent insensibility, in which he would remain from ten to fifty minutes, and for which no human cause could be assigned.
Somewhere about the 20th or 22nd of March Dr. Phelps’s attention was called to a pamphlet (Capron and Barron’s), giving a history of the “mysterious noises” at Rochester and Auburn. Several persons who had read the same proposed to question the agents of these disturbances in the manner there recorded, and see if they could get answers to questions. To this the doctor objected, for reasons known to himself, but which may readily be imagined by those knowing his position in life, and his general opinions of such phenomena.
On the 26th of March Anna left Stratford, and on the 3rd of April Harry also left. Ho manifestations took place while both were away. Harry was absent a week, and Anna three weeks; but the very day that Harry returned, the manifestations commenced with greater power than ever. Even before he arrived at the house, a paper with some mysterious characters was dropped near the front door. These characters were interpreted by a clairvoyant* to read as follows:—
Fear not when he returns; all danger is o’er. |
This was supposed to indicate that no further disturbance would be made; but in the course of two or three hours another paper was found in the boy’s hat in these words:—
The good ones say that all is done, |
The “wicked ones,” in this case, seemed to come nearer the truth than the “good ones,” for, on the afternoon of the 8th of April, the breaking of glass commenced for the first time by the breaking of a pane in a mysterious manner. In <... continues on page 7-235 >
* Andrew Jackson Davis.