Progressing by Chas. L. Palmer

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 16, 1864

Progressing.

By Chas. L. Palmer

BRO. WHITE: As everything that affects the public, generally has its particular bearing upon individuals, and tends to show the condition of the human heart, and its depravity or its longings after true holiness, I thought it would be interesting to you to learn of the doings of Spiritualists and their opponents (if we may so call their auxiliaries,) here in this hot-bed of modern progressionists.

About four weeks ago, Mr. Davenport, accompanied by two young ladies, made his appearance here, he lecturing on, and striving to convince the public and his orthodox friends of, the natural immortality of man, and to exhibit the powerful manifestation of disembodied spirits by tying the arms and legs of said ladies and tying them fast in a box with doors that shut and bolted on the inside. Said box being tight and dark, the spirits would unite and re-tie them in the box and bolt and unbolt the doors. There is no doubt but that spirits did officiate in the business, as great pains were taken by unbelievers to tie them tight, and in a moment they would be loosed. There was a good deal of excitement, and they were making converts quite fast, and realizing some money, as they charged twenty-five cents admission at the doors. A part of the Common Council were free-thinkers, the balance, with one exception, were men of the world, the excepted one being a Methodist of some influence.

As the thing progressed, some wicked men, outsiders, began to say, It is all humbug, to make money, and called upon Council to know whether they had obtained license, whereupon the Council became divided; but the Marshal was sent to collect license fee of $5. Mr. D., by the advice of his friends, refused, on the ground that it was a religious ceremony, and not an exhibition or show. Complaint was then made before a magistrate and a warrant obtained, and D. was arrested for a violation of statute law. Then the war began. Free-thinkers talked, howled and raved about orthodox persecution, and compared themselves to Christ in their persecutions. Profane and worldly men on the other side called them impostors, money filchers, slight-of-hand performers, &c. The whole town was in an uproar, and terrible threats were made by Spiritualists that men were marked and would be obliged to quit business and leave—merchants as well as others; almost as much as to say that they should not buy or sell. The day of trial came. D. and his friends were confident, boasting and exultant, during the authority of the law. They had M. W. Hobart (the man that once had a discussion at Colon with Bro. Waggoner,) for counsel. He acted out well his faith and cried, Persecution, and talked about the power behind the throne, and a good deal about religious toleration, the Constitution of the United States, and claimed and proved by friends that it was lectures on immortality, and that the whole thing was a moral and religious ceremony of their sect, and was their faith and practice in the worship of God. The court decided that whereas they charged admission fee at the door, it was a show, and they were amenable to the law of the land, be they or be an angel from Heaven or the antipodes. He was obtaining money without license, therefore must be committed for trial before a higher tribunal.

The corporation then laid an action against him for violation of its ordinances, which is to be tried March 10th. There was much said about spending thousands before they would submit to pay any license; and there was so much noise made that an officer of the United States entered complaint for violation of the revenue law, in exhibiting without license, and a warrant was obtained and the Deputy-Provost Marshal, or one of his assistants, came and told D. and his friends to elect which course they would take: pay for license and pay costs, or have the warrant served and defend in the U. S. Court. They immediately hauled down the tall flag of resistance, and paid for license and costs.

Much feeling is manifest here yet about it. I have tried to improve every opportunity to cause people to see that every effort to sustain the theory of natural immortality is so much effort to advance and build up and sustain the very cause they so justly condemn as vile, infamous and debasing. Many who were becoming fascinated have had the spell partially broken, and the expression, “The dead know not anything,” is now often heard by those who combat the evil. I believe the public are better prepared to investigate truth than for a long time previous.

Last week, Prof. H. P. Fairfield, spiritual lecturer and trance speaker, clairvoyant, physician, and I know not what else, sold his property here and decamped, as report says, for California, leaving some outsiders to suffer in dollars and cents, and some of his dear brethren in bad condition, he having borrowed certain sums of money in amounts of from $50 to $75, and forgetting to pay them, besides depriving them of his invaluable services as guide to the infernal spheres, and curing their maladies by invoking demons to his assistance.

The Gentiles are triumphant, and when the officers sent after him returned without him, they told the suffering Spiritualists that there was only one hope for them, and now was the time to prove their doctrine divine and good; namely, to just get up a circle and send their spirits after him and cause him to return and minister to their temporal and spiritual wants. Some leading Spiritualists and others are going to advertise him in the New York Tribune, and I was asked to write an article for that purpose, but told them if they wrote anything and signed and published it, that was appropriate, I would procure its republication in the Review, leaving it of course to you to decide as to the fitness and propriety of copying the same into the Review.

I never saw any community more deeply agitated than this is at present. Spiritualism has received a crushing blow. Orthodoxy has been quiet, but has had some very hard blows dealt to it, and some of its best defenders silenced. I talked about two hours with a learned professor in high standing in the presence of many, forced him through many small holes, and succeeded in convincing many that Spiritualism was helped materially by orthodoxy—that they both pulled the same string on the immortality question, conscious state of the dead, immateriality of God, and a mythical, thin-air heaven, located nowhere and yet everywhere, and pointing out the Bible doctrine of realities here and hereafter, both as to God, and as to man in his responsible, undivided reality.

May the Lord cause the councils and confusions of all to be brought to naught, and send the spirit of truth to take the place occupied by error, and instead of profanity and blasphemy, cause songs of praise to God to arise from this place. Yours for the truth.

CHAS. L. PALMER.

Sturgis, Mich.