associations organized, libraries and reading-rooms opened, and in every instance well patronized. Thus Spiritualism is now, as never before, compelling the world to feel and acknowledge its power. With this increase of converts and societies, there is a commensurate increase of knowledge and zeal among older Spiritualists. Old societies that had measurably become "weary in well doing," are reorganizing and buckling on the harness anew. New and talented speakers are being called into the field, and mediums for every form of manifestation are being faster and more perfectly developed than ever before. Thus is Spiritualism rapidly writing its own history in the hearts and heads of the people. More perfectly and indelibly does Spiritualism do its own history making than could possibly be told by my poor pen, were I to devote volumes to the elucidation of the subject. Patient reader, with this in some respects brief, and in others prolix outline of what Spiritualism is, I close this statement, hoping that you have so fallen in love with what has been described as Spiritualism, as to be induced to follow me through the remainder of this volume. CHAPTER XI. COMPARATIVE EVIDENCE OF THE BIBLE AND SPIR ITUALISM. - No necessary Antagonism. Christian Arguments used for Spiritualism.Nicodemus's Argument. The Works of Jesus and Mediums compared. Did Jesus raise the Dead?- Modern Resurrections. - Testimony of Daily Pa pers. A man resuscitated after having been buried ten Months.- Mrs. Lancaster resurrected. — Resurrection of Rev. William Tennent. - Jesus did not always succeed. — The healing at Bethesda only one of a thousand. - Why did he not heal others?- The Pentecostal Evidences considered. - Same it Spiritualism. - Suicidal Argument against Spiritualism. - Silly Spiritualism and the Bible compared. Jesus eating Fish and Spirits eating Apples.— "Devils and Darkness" of Bible Times. - Biblical Evidence not conclusive, -Second-hand Evidence.-Ignorance of the People. - The Difference now. Reporters on the Ground, witnesses in Court, etc.. etc. Bible Evidences through bad Hands. - Testimony of Lardner, Casaubon, Selmer, et al. — Lying for the glory of God. - Testimony of eminent Christians. - Internal Evidences. Abraham chasing his Enemies four hundred Years into the Future. - An old Boy. That flock of Quails.-Samson jawing the Philistines. Those fiery-tailed Foxes.- Can the Bible stand before its own Guna -Did Samuel, Moses, and Elijah come back?-Bible can not be true and Spir itualism false. - Living Witnesses. The Walls of Jericho, A Dialogue. - THOSE Who oppose the inauguration of the Spiritual dispensation, do not seem to have ever been able to comprehend that a person could believe both the Bible and Spiritualism. Let a person announce himself a Spiritualist, and he is at once set down by its opposers as having totally rejected the Bible. Those acquainted with the opposition can not fail to have observed that in lectures, books, and essays against Spiritualism there has ever been an effort to create the impression that one embracing Spiritualism must necessarily have rejected the Bible. While such is not the case, I must confess that if I could not receive the truths and divinity of both - if I should be compelled to yield one or the other, the evidence of the truth and divinity of the Bible does not impress me as being' so forcible as that of Spiritualism. Individually I had much rather be permitted to choose the good of each, without any reference to the other. I can not see why Spiritualism should necessarily be evil or false because the Bible is good and true, nor can I understand how or why a reception of the truths of Spiritualism should involve a rejection of those taught in the Bible. Now, without any disparagement to the Bible or its contents, I propose to gratify the opposers of Spiritualism by a brief comparison of the evidences of the two systems. I know of no better way to commence this comparison than with the following proposition, viz. : THE ARGUMENTS USED IN FAVOR OF THE BIBLE APPLY WITH ALL THEIR FORCE TO MODERN SPIRITUALISM. One of the first and most general arguments used in favor of the Bible and its chief hero, is that of Nicodemus, in John iii. 2. "Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." It is claimed that Nicodemus was a member of the Jewish Sanhedrim, and probably went as a representative of that body. He did not say I think, or I know, but we know that thou art a teacher come from God, etc. Thus he expresses either the faith of the Jewish senate, whose committee he was, or that of the nation. The argument is that Jesus' miracles were sufficient to call out the universal and unequivocal confession that he was a divinely sent teacher. If the Jews, his bitterest enemies, acknowledged his miracles, they must have occurred, and if they did occur, they prove the divinity of the religious system they were wrought to maintain. Thus by a "short method" is the Christian system lumped off, and proved of divine origin. Now, I do not know of a Spiritualist who objects to this first argument for Christianity. We are perfectly willing it shall stand; all we ask is, that if the same reasons be found for believing in Spiritualism, they have the same weight in proving its divinity. Permit me to compare the works of Jesus and the early Christians with those of modern spirit mediums. The clearest statement of Jesus' works is made by himself in Matt. xi. 5: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me." These were the wonderful works by which Jesus was proved, according to Nicodemus's statement, to have come from God; and I myself think they are full proof of the God power. I submit, that if the logic of Jesus was good, and he presented this as a proof of the divinity of his mission, it would prove as much for any other person doing the same work. İ myself have seen mediums do all that Jesus claims to have done, with the exception of raising the dead; and I have known of that being done in the same sense that Jesus did it. No Jesus, nor any other per son, ever raised an absolutely dead person to life. As well talk of organizing a dozen bacon hams into the form of a human body, and making them live. Persons have gone into a cataleptic state, and been supposed to be dead, and have been reanimated. It not unfrequently occurs that doctors pronounce persons dead who are not dead. Certificates of burial are granted for persons who outlived those who signed them. The writer of this volume was once measured for a coffin; he also has a brother who has been pronounced dead at four different periods of his life. Should any one undertake to bury him now, after being four times scientifically dead, they would find a hard corpse to handle. The maid that orthodoxy accuses Jesus of raising from the dead, had not been dead. At least, Jesus said of her, "She is not dead, but sleepeth." (Luke viii. 51.) Of Lazarus, Jesus said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God." (John xi. 4.) Lazarus was supposed to be dead and entombed, it is true, so was a lady in Quincy, Ill., but she astonished the multitude by coming out of the tomb. The daily papers report that a lady was sent from Chicago, Ill., to Rochester, N. Y., for burial, but when she got there was resuscitated, and returned to her home. J. H. Weaver, an undertaker in Baltimore, Md., informed me that in removing dead bodies he had found several that had evidently come to life and struggled to get out of their coffins. I have to-day clipped the following from the Cincinnati Commercial of February 20, 1872: "The Oshkosh Times says, Mr. Fuss, proprietor of the Fuss House, at Menasha, Wisconsin, was thought |