Part 8

August 13, we went again. The spirit then asked if we wanted to see her, and we both said no. Did I ask you in your last sickness, said I, whether you was willing your child should live? The voice answered, “yes, yes, and I told you I should be a vile creature to desire the life of the child.” [For that was the time in which it was God’s will it should die.[48]] I asked this question for further satisfaction, knowing that this very question and answer had passed between us.

The spirit then told us that she had not freedom to converse on the night of August 9, by reason of disorder and profanity, and expressed her liberty and joy in discoursing with christians. In the midst of her discourse with others, I silently indulged my painful reflections on the distress of her last sickness. Suddenly I was surprised with these words of the voice to me, “Mourn not for me, for I am a happy soul.”

Capt. P. S. observed that her free conversation with us was a great wonder. “Yes, a miracle, said she, such as never was since Christ was upon earth.”[49] When she had told us that without a change of heart, mankind would be miserable, I desired Mr. Blaisdel to ask her when she experienced her own change. He asked, and she answered, “When I was on my death bed.” Mr. D. proposed this question, “Do I believe that you are such as you profess to be?” Her reply was, “You have believed, and you have not believed, and satan will tempt you again.”[50] Then he asked, “Was you ever at my house in your lifetime?” “Yes, once, yes, once,” said she. I knew the time of this visit, for Mrs. M. and I were there with her. By my desire therefore, Mr. D. asked, “Who was there with you.” “My mother and Mrs. M., said she, when your wife was sick.” Then Mr. D. told the people that he remembered she had been there at that time. Have you been any where but here, said he, since your death. Yes, she answered, to five places.

Mr. Blaisdel’s family being now excluded from that apartment where the spirit was, she told us that Mr. Blaisdel’s family were innocent. “They say I am a witch and a devil, said she, and they said that Christ was a devil. It is reported that some of this family have raised me, but it is not in the power of man or devil to fetch a soul from heaven.”

After much more conversation the spirit told us that she would walk with us to Capt. M’s, and to another house beyond it; but she only walked with us to Capt. M’s, and there talked with him and Capt. P. B. to convince them who she was.

When we had come within twenty rods of the house, the company stopped. Then we two looked round and saw a white shining appearance by the side of Mrs. Butler, and about as tall as she.[51] After this, we observed nothing worthy of particular notice. JOANNA HOOPER.

Did Mrs. Hooper assist in the work of personating her own daughter? If not, how could the deceiver know what questions she would ask? Do some of these things appear small? _Maxima minimis gaudent._[52]

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TESTIMONY XVIII.

_Testimony of Mrs. Eunice Scammons._

August 11, 1800. I was at the house which the ghost had so often visited, and was one of seventeen people or more, who were present when she appeared and conversed with us. After she had discoursed particularly with several persons, she said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord and make his paths strait. But you who are sinners, do not make them strait. Some of you say that I am not a Spirit. Others, that I am an evil Spirit. The words which I have spoken unto you, have been misimproved, perverted and turned to ridicule. But I shall see you all when you will not laugh.”

In the intervals of conversation, she sang praises.

Being asked who she was, she said, “I was once N. H. and when I died I was N. B.,” and mentioned several circumstances which attended her death to confirm her declaration.

After much other conversation, she appeared in the midst of us and talked while she appeared. She came so near me that I could have laid my hand upon her. She had before solemnly entreated us to stand round separate and in such order that all might see her while she moved in the midst of us.[53] Within our two ranks she slowly passed and repassed from end to end three times, and passed by me six times. There were several persons in the company dressed in white; but I could not see them at all, while the Spectre was as white as any thing could possibly be. She moved in such nearness to every one of us, that every one might have handled her. I saw her vanish instantly in the midst of us. After this, she spake to us again by exhortation. I am sent, said she, to warn you against sin. I was myself a great sinner when I lived in this world. In my last hours, I received mercy. But if you go on in a course of sin and waste your time as I did, it may not be so with you. One half hour now gives me more happiness than this whole world can give you through your whole lives.

It was now daylight, and she observed to us that it was the Lord’s day, that we must retire to our homes and keep it holy. She desired Mr. Blaisdel to pray with us before we parted.

After many other words, she left us singing alleluias to God and the Lamb. I heard the voice of her praises sounding further and further from us, for a considerable time before it entirely ceased uttering the words, “Alleluia, alleluia. Glory, glory to God and the Lamb.” Her notes were solemn and exceedingly delightful. Then we all went up, and Mr. Blaisdel’s prayer was our dismission. EUNICE SCAMMONS.

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TESTIMONY XIX.

_Testimony of Mrs. Mary Bragdon._

Sometime in January, 1800, I was at the house of Mr. Blaisdel, and heard such a voice as I never heard before among the living; and they told me it was that of the Spirit, talking with Mr. and Mrs. Butler.

August 7. At the same house we heard a knocking on the partition next to the chimney, where no person could be. Then several persons with me went into the cellar, and the Spirit told us she was once Nelly Butler. She told me that I must not be scared.

August 13. I was again at the house with forty-eight others, besides children. The Spirit, after her conversation with several persons, exhorted the youth: “I was once young and vain as you, said the voice, and, if the Lord had taken me away in that condition, how miserable I should have been! Now is the time, while you are young, to seek the Lord. Delay not till it is too late.” Then it was that I saw a white personal form shining in the space from whence the voice proceeded; and I afterwards saw the same appearance in the field. MARY BRAGDON.

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TESTIMONY XX.

_Testimony of Mrs. Dorcas Johnson._

I was present at the house, and at the time dated, August 13, by other testimonies. There I heard and saw the Spectre. Her voice was distinct from any other, and her music the most delightful that I ever heard. When she walked with us, she moved without stepping. And when we arrived at the house, by direction of the Spectre given to my brother, James Springer, and by him to the company in our hearing, we opened to the right and left, so that the Spectre and Mrs. Butler passed together between our two ranks. Then she vanished from my view and I saw her no more. DORCAS JOHNSON.

MISCELLANEOUS REFLECTIONS.

[Illustration: decorated line]

Two Inferences naturally arise from this topic: one is that of caution. “Judge not that ye be not judged.”

The above witnesses are exhibited, not for the want of more, (for more than a hundred have seen the Spectre, or have heard her words,) but because repetition is tedious.

Our opponents now, we expect, will admit our inquiry of what they have to say against these attestations, whether any thing false--whether any thing even wearing a deceptive color has been presented to public notice.

It would have been my peculiar pleasure to have given more satisfaction with regard to the superior ends of the messages, subservient, no doubt, to still greater ends, if it had been lawful. But for the present, they are immediately interesting only to a few persons. The knowledge which many would improve, others would abuse. If the answer of the oracle intended for the personal safety of David and his men, is immediately published, Saul will know it.

When a creature professedly brings us a message from God, be this message ever so small, ever so strange, ever so unexpected; yet, if it does not oppose his word, we have not the least evidence that the profession is counterfeit, unless we obtain it by other means; because we are as yet ignorant of its connections, and God’s thoughts and plans are not like ours.

Some say, if the message appear not in the scriptures, that will sufficiently condemn it and the messenger too, whatever be the credentials, “I will obey nothing but what I see in the scriptures.”[54] But may I not say, with Doctor Owen, that they unwarrantably limit the Holy One of Israel? In absolute monarchies the people dare not say, “I will obey no precept from the king, unless I find it in the public code.” Such language would breathe rebellion. And dare we treat thus the King of kings, who is an absolute monarch, and by his propriety in the universe has a right to be such? Will the scriptures themselves warrant this behavior? Can we despise the message and them who heard it, and them who obeyed it, and the angels who brought it, and yet stand guiltless before Him who sent it? until we obtain proof that he did not send it, and that the credentials are forgery? And are we one inch nearer to this point, than we were twenty-six years ago? Do we perceive _now_ any more than twenty-six years ago, how the deceiver talked in open space, by a voice inimitable, clearly understood by some, and not at all by others, with means of intelligence every way equal? Our blessed Lord, to prove that he was not a Spectre, said, “Handle me and see.” That is implicitly to say, if you handle me and find no substance, then you may conclude that I am a spirit. Our Spectre said, “Handle me and see.” And earnestly insisted on this experiment time after time. Can we tell _now_, why that very argument and mode of evidence which Christ himself used, is not valid and genuine, any more than we could twenty-six years ago? If not, let me be cautious, whatever be the conduct of this enlightened age, how I accuse my neighbors of folly or villainy, merely because they enjoyed interviews with a departed friend; lest I be found among those who speak evil of things which they understand not.

The Jews, besides their public code of revelation, had their Urim and Thummim for the particulars of duty. Is it certain? Is it even rational to suppose that the few answers of that oracle mentioned in the scriptures, are the only ones ever communicated? Prophets, too, were sent to manifest the particulars of duty, and angels, some of whom _might be_ the spirits of just men. And we have no reason to doubt but Moses was a Spectre when he conversed with Christ on the Holy Mount; notwithstanding that old fiction of his resurrection, which has dishonored the antiquities of Josephus.

Now the question is, what person ever yet demonstrated that no such occasional revelation was ever wanted in any hour since the completion of the scriptures? Certainly this completion never precluded spectral missions in the view of the christian fathers. And their continuation has been the constant faith of christians in general, down to this day of deism. And the war of the deists against this opinion is easily accounted for: because the admission of Spectres is the admission of miracle; and the admission of occasional revelation, brings a question to their door which would be a troublesome neighbor. _Why then should not a revelation be needful for the public?_ Great is their obligation to modern christians for their assistance in this warfare. It may be asked, if these missions have been thus continued, why have they generally been attended with so few witnesses? But if there be evidence enough for him, or those who are interested in the message, it is sufficient for their purpose, whether others believe it or not.

When David was told by the Urim that the men of Keilah would deliver him into the hand of Saul, no person appears to have been present but Abiather; but if the oracle was attended with the evidence described by Josephus, there was evidence enough for the purpose of David and his men, whether five other persons in the whole nation believed it or not.

After all, it is not our duty to expect apparitions, for they never come to gratify curiosity; nor to pray for their coming, unless our case be peculiar as that of Manoah; nor to entertain the idea that their speaking to us, would make a more durable impression than the preaching of the living. Such conduct and apprehensions are erroneous, and expose us to greater delusion. Our Lord has expressly taught us that, if we believe not Moses and the prophets, neither shall we be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. And accordingly the affectionate and persuasive addresses of the Spectre in this place, which drew tears from every eye, had no happy, durable influence on the unregenerate character in a single instance.

It was necessary that religion should appear in all her conduct and conversation, otherwise her profession would have been justly suspected. But on that Lord’s day morning, mentioned in several testimonies, she did not say to the people, _Tarry and hear me_. No, but “Retire to your homes, read the bible, pray and keep the day holy.”[55] That is to say, attend to those ample and most suitable means of grace which God has appointed for you in his written word.

The preaching of the gospel was not her design; but she had other designs which appropriate the sentence, “I am not to be trifled with.”

In some old fashioned minds, her familiar conversation may excite the suspicion of necromancy and divination, by a _familiar_ spirit, so plainly forbidden in the law of Moses: and then doubtless Mrs. Butler must bear the accusation. But there is no evidence that this angel conversed more familiarly with her than with others who were never suspected. She conversed familiarly with all those who had much conversation with her.

The ancient idea of a familiar spirit appears not to have been obtained from the familiar conversation of any person with a spirit, (though sometimes the inquirer might be deceived by the artificial resemblance of it) but from the opinion that certain persons had a spirit foreign to their own, residing in them and uttering oracles from their bodies.[56] These persons were a sort of ventriloquists. Their conduct is described by Rollin in his account of the Grecian Oracles. The speech of their familiar spirit was imagined to proceed, not from the lips of any person, but from a part of their own bodies, in some manner artificially swollen. This is confirmed by their very name _Abefeth_, in the Hebrew language, which has the signification of swelling. The familiar spirit itself was called _Afeb_, which is the same noun in the singular number. The swollen part and the familiar spirit, which was imagined to reside in it, had one name. “Divine unto me by the Afeb,” said Saul, 1 Sam. 28: 8. Divine unto me by the _swelling_, and bring me up whom I shall name unto thee. But it does not appear that the woman had any time for divination. She saw Samuel unexpectedly, and cried out for fear:[57] and Samuel, instead of being familiar with her, never spake a single word to her. Now it is not even pretended that any such token of Afeb or necromancy, have appeared among us.

Doubtless this wickedness among the ancients, was for the most part legerdemain,[58] and their predictions always uncertain, as appears not only from their ambiguity, but from the public estimation of some oracles in preference to others, and of the Delphic oracle above all the rest.

From the observations now made, we learn the criminality of witchcraft or legerdemain, for there is no essential difference between them.

To counterfeit the royal seal was ever a capital crime. How presumptuously criminal then are they, who counterfeit the royal seal of heaven! The certificate of divine revelation, such is the conduct of every mountebank, while the spectator is left ignorant of his art. His false miracles spread a cloud of uncertainty over the minds of men, so that many are at loss how to distinguish the true miracle, the true seal of the King of heaven, from its counterfeit. And they who countenance and encourage such persons, are guilty of far greater evil than the great evil of wasting time and property. But such behaviour is the food of infidelity. No wonder it is so common at the present day.

Whether the writer is one who gives such countenance and encouragement, is for the next writer on the subject of these pages to shew,[59] not by pointing out inaccuracies here and there, for this any person may easily do, but by presenting to the public a complete, satisfactory analysis of this whole mystery.

To his particular notice, I ask leave to offer a few cautionary observations; if needless for him, they may assist another.

Among so many of us who have heard and seen the Spectre, it would be very strange, if, in the course of twenty-six years past, no one should have deviated from the strait line of perfect rectitude. If imperfection should be found among us, and the publicity of it will cast any light upon this subject, by all means let it come forth: if not, let him, who is without sin, cast the first stone.

The question is not, _How have we conducted_, unless our conduct be such as invalidates our evidence: for we are liable to evil every day; but, _How has the Spectre conducted?_ and _who could she be?_ It has been frequently reported among people at a distance from this scene, for more than twenty years, that the whole business was an artifice, and fairly proved to be such. We who believe the existence of the Spectre, have thought that this inaccurate on dit has had currency long enough. Our respondent, therefore, will not fail to shew our mistake, by demonstrating that this report is indeed correct. Suppose then, (no matter how distant the supposition is from what has really happened) suppose then, I say, that, in the course of his zealous inquiries, our respondent should find that he, who pretends to have discovered the plot, is a witness in favor of the Spectre, and that his testimony was connected with a solemn and public profession of his firm belief that the Spectre was really such as she professed to be. Suppose further, that in contemplating the dates of these events, our respondent should find that the discovery preceded that testimony and that solemn, public profession: to say nothing of the numerous other witnesses who might contradict him. In such a case I should imagine that a discerning, wary and unprejudiced reader would give but a cold assent to his process of demonstration.

It is my earnest desire that the reply may honor the author by the expressions of candor, philanthropy and grand thought. If his talent be that of a Swift or a Juvenal, his temptation will be great to adopt the loose style of the infidel. Let not compliance deceive the unwary. Between ridicule and reasoning the distinction is eternal. The most important and solemn truths have been the subject of both. The sober school of Socrates furnished a comedy for the Athenian stage. And Voltaire could tell us from the Apocalypse, how incommodious their situation will be who shall inhabit the upper story of New Jerusalem.

Unhappy man! thy fruits of genius furnished a feast of intellectual dainties. But the figs of Cleopatra covered the basilisk, and a world was ruined by the tree of knowledge. The termination of Satyre was horror; and the pure day of awful truth now glaring upon thee from every point has impressed sobriety eternal.

The result of this whole inquiry is that of consolation. Our death will not be total. Our souls will survive our bodies. We shall think and reason and know the moral conduct of this world, and perhaps the very names of particular persons, after our bodies are turned to dust.

Among us are a considerable number of people who say that the Spectre knew and told them their thoughts past, present or future, or all three; and such thoughts as she could not have known or conjectured by ordinary means. To one of them, whose veracity is doubted by none, she foretold the time, before several witnesses, when his mind would be struck with horror for opposing her messages.

When the time was come, which was about six months after the prediction, his mind at first, as he informed me, was calm as usual. To disturb him he saw nothing, expected nothing, and was about to reject the prediction as nothing. Instantly he was surprised by a new train of ideas. The evil of his conduct was set in order before him, and his distress was apparent to others, as some of them, whose witness cannot for a moment be suspected, informed me.

Now this instance alone, would prove but little; yet, when connected with ten or twelve others, of undoubted credibility, attesting the same kind of experience, while they have no visible combination by kindred, employment, age or interest, it is certainly worthy of some consideration.