“O! never three luckier D(og)s together than the three M.D.’s of Buffalo, who in so short a time lifted the veil and exposed to open day the ‘very mechanism’ by which deluded thousands have been led astray, first by a course of negative reasoning, the parallel of which, I venture to say, cannot be found in all the annals of philosophic research. This of itself must be sufficient to render the names of Lee, Flint, and Coventry, at least notorious, if not illustrious.
“But, as if one death would not be a sufficient quietus, they give the certain home-thrust (the mortal stab), in the naked, positive proof. Now was there ever anything equal to that? When will such philanthropy, such critical discernment, such zeal, and such science be appreciated? And last, though not least, that highly respectable lady, ‘who, by a mental effort, can dislocate her knee-joints,’ and then make the ‘identical’ sounds so foolishly ascribed to the Spirits, must not be lost sight of in the words of overwhelming gratitude to these three M.D.’s above mentioned.
“Dear, kind-hearted soul! she must possess an unbounded share of the milk of human-kindness. No one can, for a moment, suppose that she was solicited to expose her knees to various gentlemen of the medical profession, for they must be sufficiently acquainted with anatomy and physiology to know all the mechanism at all competent to produce those sounds. It must, therefore, have been on her part perfectly voluntary—prompted purely by a most benevolent desire to expose a humbug. But Spiritualism will still progress, and its advocates shall gloriously ride over all adversity, for God is omnipotent.
“If contemptible meanness, united with unmitigated scoundrelism, can be found on this earth, it resides in the black heart of him who coins epithets designed to rob defenceless females of their spotless reputation, which is ever of more value to them than life itself.
“I felt, therefore, most indignant while reading the two articles in the Commercial Advertiser of the 17th, and the Courier of the 18th, both of which I believe to be palpably libellous; and for which, I have no doubt, any able lawyer would tell you a suit for slander would bear most beautifully.
“I thought to advise you to proceed against these libellers forthwith; but when indignation gave place to mingled contempt and pity, I came to the conclusion that if you could follow the example of Him whose persecutors were the objects of his latest petition—‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do’—it might perhaps be best in the long run. But it is not always easy to determine the exact point where forbearance ceases to be a virtue.
“A friend from Syracuse told me the other day, that a sum of money (he did not say how much) had been subscribed for the purpose of having you visit that place. I will meet you if I can.
“Yours,
“Welcome Whittaker.”
LETTER FROM JOHN E. ROBINSON.
“The City of the New Dispensation,
“March 12, 1851, Anno Spirituum, 3.