PSYCHOLOGICAL CURIOSITIES OF SPIRITUALISM. 



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matter, that you will accede to our request. With 

 great respect, we are your obedient servants, 



'' William A. Hammond, M. D., 

 " Alexander B. Mott, M. D." 



This having been followed a month later by a 

 requisition to the same effect by twenty-four gen- 

 tlemen, mostly well-known clergymen of various 

 denominations and eminent M. D.s, a public per- 

 formance was arranged, which consisted (1) in 

 the repetition of the most mysterious of the 

 " mediumistic " feats, including " slate-writing " 

 and " flowers from an invisible garden ; " and 

 then (2) in the exhibition and explanation of the 

 whole modus operandi, in full view of the specta- 

 tors. From among the various attestations to 

 the completeness of this exposure, I select 

 the following, because, as Dr. Bellows is a val- 

 ued personal friend of my own, I can bear the 

 strongest testimony to his intellectual ability; 

 moral worth, and practical clear-headedness. 1 

 The style in which Dr. Bellows delivers his tes- 

 timony will confirm my own estimate of his vig- 

 orous and thorough grasp of the subject : 



" New York, 232 East 15th Street, | 

 '•October 16, 1876. f 



" Dear Sir : I had the pleasure and profit of 

 attending your exposure of the acts by which the 

 alleged proofs of spiritualism are foisted upon a 

 credulous public. You showed in a most effectual 

 and convincing way that a most intelligent audi- 

 ence could be entirely deceived by the testimony 

 of its own senses, in regard to matters which were 

 afterward shown openly by you to be mere tricks, 

 in which sleight of hand and a diversion of atten- 

 tion from the real to the artificial and chosen con- 

 ditions were the means of success. After puzzling 

 the audience, as no juggler could puzzle them, for 

 an hour and a half, with feats that seemed super- 

 natural, you untied all the riddles. I felt con- 

 vinced that nothing that spiritualists pretend or 

 believe is done by spirits beyond the reach of a 

 clever juggler, who possesses unusual suppleness 

 of joints, strength of muscles, and agility of move- 

 ments, perfected by practice, and skillfully plays 

 upon the credulity of our common nature. 



" I am of the opinion that your exhibition is 



1 It may, however, be not amiss for me to state 

 that Dr. B. was the originator and organizer, and was 

 then appointed by universal acclaim the chairman, 

 of that great volunteer Sanitary Commission which, 

 throughout the war between the Northern and South- 

 ern States, supplemented the work of the military or- 

 ganization of the North in every way that could "con- 

 tribute to the health and welfare of the army ; the 

 extent of its operations being such that Dr. Bellows 

 assured me that a million and a half of pounds ster- 

 ling passed through his hands during his four years of 

 office. 



one of great public importance, and tends to dis- 

 I abuse the public mind of a very mischievous and 

 ; very general delusion, which indeed is becoming a 

 | vulgar religion with thousands. No description of 

 it can take the place of an actual sight of it. It 

 might advantageously be repeated in every town, 

 ; where the pretended seances of the modern necro- 

 j mancer have played upon the weaker portion of 

 | communities. Without attributing any exalted 

 motive to the business which engages you, I de- 

 liberately think, independent of any ends you 

 seek, that your exhibition is one of the most in- 

 structive and useful I have ever seen, as well as 

 one of the most interesting and successful. I wish 

 you a long succession of fortunate spectators. 

 " Yours truly, 



" Henry W. Bellows." 



The immediate effect of Mr. Bishop's ex- 

 posure upou Eva Fay's status was, we are as- 

 sured by the Boston Herald, " to reduce her to 

 the level of a pitiful street performer, obliging 

 her to take out a license as a juggler before she 

 could carry on the nefarious business by which 

 her ill-gotten gains could be continued." It is, 

 perhaps, to be wished that a similar legal pro- 

 cess could be applied to the like class in this 

 country. Let them not be martyrized by crimi- 

 nal prosecutions ; but let them be " ticketed " 

 as " licensed jugglers ; " and then be allowed to 

 carry on their vocation without let or hinderance 

 as long as they find people ready to pay for see- 

 ing them. 



The fame of Mr. Bishop's performances hav- 

 ing reached Boston, he was invited by a commit- 

 tee composed— like that of New York— of some 

 of its most distinguished members of the medi- 

 cal and clerical professions (the honored name of 

 Oliver Wendell Holmes standing at the head of 

 a requisition now before me, dated October 18, 

 1876), to repeat them in that great intellectual 

 centre ; and the result was equally satisfactory. 

 The newspapers were filled with the accounts of 

 his exposures, not only of Eva Fay, but of vari- 

 ous other " mediums," including the Hardy trick 

 of the moulding of paraffin-hands, and the so- 

 called " thought-reading "—the first of which I 

 shall presently notice; and they also contain 

 " illustrations " of the manner in which all the 

 tricks were worked. It is not a little significant 

 of the effect produced by Mr. Bishop's most laud- 

 able exertions that the American Graphic — which 

 had so far given in to the "materializations " of 

 the Eddy brothers as to send a special " com- 

 missioner" to report upon them (the Colonel 

 Olcott of whom I have already spoken), who was 

 known to favor the doctrine — thus decidedly ex- 



