The Missing Link in Modern Spiritualism

by A. Leah Underhill

“You all have a duty to perform. We want you to make the matter more public.” To this, Mr. Capron replied that nothing but the greatest ridicule would be heaped upon all who should engage in such an undertaking. The following message immediately came in reply, “That will be so much the better. Your triumph will be so much the greater!” They told Capron and Willets, that they (the Spirits) wanted them to get up meetings for the purpose of letting the public know this great truth. Our friends (C. and W.) said in reply to this that they had families to support; and they could not see how they could go before the public with a matter which must make them so decidedly unpopular in the then existing state of public opinion. The Spirits then directed that we should hold meetings at different private houses; and they (the Spirits) would manifest for promiscuous companies. Meetings were accordingly held at the residences of Messrs. Willets, Post, Granger, and others. The Spirits fulfilled their promises admirably. We decided to leave the entire movement to their direction. We felt powerless to act on our own judgment. We met at the house of Mr. Isaac Post to talk over the matter, and learn all we could in regard to this great step forced upon us in a way so contrary to our own wishes. We had not been long in the parlor before the alphabet was called and spelled, “Amy, thee must invite sixteen persons to come here on Saturday evening, to hear the Spirit rappings.” Amy (Mrs. Post) replied, “Why, I don’t know whom to invite to such an entertainment. How can I do so?” The rapping answered, “I will tell thee: ‘Mr. or Mrs. ——: You are invited By the Spirits to call at the house of Mr. Isaac Post next Thursday evening, at eight o’clock, to hear the Spirits rap.’” Amy said she did not know whom to invite, and asked the Spirits if they would give her the names. This they consented to do, and proceeded to spell out the names of persons, many of whom neither Mrs. Post nor any one present knew. They were all lawyers, editors, and doctors. It is to be regretted that the book containing these names is lost. Dr. Moore was the only one named who did not come in answer to the invitation. Frederick Douglass, editor of The North Star, was present. They met, as I have stated, at the house of Isaac Post. They listened, with respectful attention, to the sounds of the rappings. A part of the company went into the cellar, and a part remained in the room above; but the rapping always seemed to be on the side opposite to the listeners. After they had satisfied themselves of the reality of the sounds, and that they were not made by us, they proposed to get some answers to questions, but the comment or answer of the Spirits was, “No. We invited you here to listen to the sounds, and not to get communications. Good night.” They did, however, make another appointment for the next Thursday evening, at the house of Mr. George Willets, and again all except Dr. Moore came, with some individuals added to the number, and the sounds were heard as in the first instance. Again the visitors proposed to get answers to questions; but again the reply was that they were only invited to hear the sounds.

This whole proceeding, as they informed us, was to convince us that they could rap sufficiently loud to be heard in a public hall.

The Spirits then gave us their directions as follows: “Hire Corinthian Hall” (then the largest hall in Rochester). Margaretta and myself were to go to the hall; Mr. Capron was to deliver the lecture, in which he was to relate the commencement at Hydesville, and the progress of it up to the present time. Mr. Willets was to act as friend and business man, doorkeeper, etc. A committee of five gentlemen was to be appointed at each meeting, by the audience, and instructed to report at the commencement of the next meeting.

The Spirits who had given the directions had promised to make the sounds so loud that all in the hall could hear them. Before the meeting the following names were spelled out, of persons thus designated to sit on the platform with us: Rev. A. Jervis (Methodist minister), Lyman Granger (a well-known member of the M. E. Church), Simeon Draper (a prominent Methodist), Mrs. Sarah D. Fish (a member of the Society of Friends), and Mrs. Pierpont. When these names were first spelled out by the Spirits some of the persons objected to thus going forward in so unpopular a work, when the Rev. Mr. Jervis spoke up and said, “I know it is true, and I’ll face a frowning world.” His emphatic earnestness awoke the others who had been named, and they all consented to serve. It should be remembered that the most minute directions were given by the Spirits, through the use of the alphabet, without suggestions from any one concerned in the work to be done. The Spirits told us, moreover, that this was the best way to interest the public, and prepare them for a more general acceptance of Spiritual Communication by the world at large.

Notices were accordingly published in the newspapers of the meeting to be held in Corinthian Hall, on the evening of November 14, 1848.

According to the directions of the Spirits, Margaretta and myself appeared at Corinthian Hall, where a large audience had already assembled to witness the manifestations which had excited so much general curiosity.

Mr. Capron, in delivering the lecture, depended more upon his knowledge of the facts, as they had then occurred, than on any theory of his own, or of others, in regard to the rappings.

We wished to have the subject carefully scrutinized by honest committees, and have them report to the public the result of their investigations. Mr. Capron stated emphatically that if he could not explain what it was, he certainly knew what it was not.

It was also announced to the audience that no ordinary minds would be accepted on the committees. We had, at that early day, discovered that the greater the intelligence, the more satisfactory were the manifestations. At this lecture the audience listened with very respectful attention. The editor of a Second Advent paper also delivered his little speech, telling the audience that the sounds were spiritual, he had no doubt; but it was the spirit of the devil, and that the persons in whose presence the sounds were heard should be cast into prison. He said his “little say,” and we never heard of him afterward.

When this episode had closed, the following gentlemen were named as a Committee of Investigation, and requested to report the next evening, viz., A. J. Coombs, Daniel Marsh, Nathaniel Clark, A. Judson, and Edwin Jones.