Modern Necromancy [pp. 459-462]

460 7YIE LADIES
recorded of anl entreaty that such a thing mi-ght
be dclone; and how was it received? By an
unqualified refusal.
The rich man, "Dives," as he is often called,
lifts up his eyes, being in torment, and sees
Abrahlam afar off and Lazarus in his bosom, and
at the sight hle bethinks him of a prayer to him
for help, but no-lhelp is impossible-thlere is
between them a great, impassalble gulf. Tlhen
another thlought occurs to him, his bretl-hren,
his five brethren at home, will thiey follow him
to this place of torment? Who can say how
much of his torture may not have been caused
1by thlought, by remorse, by bitter anguish for
xwhat he mighlt have done and did not do, what
hle mighlt have been and was not! Poor Dives!
Pei-lhapls hle was what is called a good fellow, a
kind-hlea,'ted soul. He did not help Lazarus,
but perhaps he dlid not happen to think about
him. But he had natural affections —mayhlap
lhe loved his brothers, very liklely they had
slhared each otlher-'s richles, perhaps hle hlad
been the chief, the leader in dissipation, and
jollity, and careless living, and had urg-ed thle
others on, or, at least, they had emulated his
exlamlple, and "0," he thinkls, noxv in his torment, "I loved them, I would not lhave clone
them hlarm, and they will follow me here!"
Buit no-tlthey must be saved-a messenger
canll go and tell them of his state; and if he
l)erishles, they will escape And then we can
fancy his piteous appeal "Father Abraham,
thlou didst so earnestly implore for the godless
Cities of thle Plain! thlou didst feel for the people about to perish, and diclst plead again and
a-ain for tlhemn-thlou wilt not be cleaf to me I
send, 0 send Lazarus to my flthler's house
warn my brothers by a voice from the dead,
and they will repent!" But stern came tlhe
answer " If they hear not Mloses and the
prophets, neither will they be persuaded thloulgh
one rose from thle dead;" and so closed that
cdrama, peiinnedl, as if expressly to show us that
nauglht will be revealed to us of tlhat otlher
land, until we ourselves have crossed its border-s.
.And of those " many mansions " which Jesus
weent to prepare, and about which information
beyond w hat is wxritten is by so many eagerly
sought, all we can say to satisfy cumiosity is,
that "eye bath not seen, nor ear heard, neither
haave entered into the heart of man, the things
which God hath prepar ed for them that love
him.'
But in the face of this ve have, in the
'Glimpses of a Brighter Land," spirit after
spirit (letailing, through "a writing medlium,"
their experiences after death. They give explicit descriptions of their dress, their houses,
, REPOSITORY.
their foodc, their occupations, the beautiful
scenery tlhey pass through, the lovely cattle
and hlorses they meet, the jewels they wear,
andI, most outrageous of all, the splendid furni ture of their apartments, and the luxurious,
softly shaded chambers devoted to rel)ose.
Nay, they are not afraid to relate meetings
with the souls utterly lost, and wvithl other souls
not yet, it xvould seem, either lost or saved(, but
contended for by angels and devils, and yet
lhanging b)etween repentance and perdition, as
xvell as with firiends and acquaintances in vari ous degrees of blessedness, some of xwhom are
perumitted to visit and assist their loved ones
yet on earth.
Now, what shlall we say of this sort of thing?
It is either tlhe emanation of a diseased brain.
or it is a deception of the most unprincipled
and cruel kind, or, lastly, it is the work of those
lying and seducing spirits who, we are expressly
told, shlall come in the last days xvith signs and
wvonders, so thlat, if it were possible, they shall
dleceive the very elect. Possibly all thlree of
these causes are at work. In many cases me(liums are paid for their s6ances, and makle a
good living out of their dupes, for whom, we
must confess, wve have no pity. Very often,
however, nothingi is soutglt to be gained, and
then we can only suppose that weak-minidecl
people actually do believe that they see and
hear what they relate, and the love of the
supernatural is so inxoven in human nature
that it is never very dlifficult to excite it and
)bring it into play, and, once indulged in, this
seeking for wonders takes such hold on people
that they find it very difficult to foirego tle i(ndulgence of it, and we would not find it at all iimpossible to believe that it may be a very useful
weapon in the cause of evil, and one that Satan
woulcl be very unlikely to neglect. If as we
knov, hle can be transformed into an angel of
light, wlhat is to prevent his taking the fo-rm
and using tlhe sl)eech of those we were fiamiliarxxithl on earth? Whly should he not (do it, if by
such means hle can leacd us either to disbelieve
or to believe in more than what is written?
Thle argutments of those bitten by1) spiritualism
all tend to thlis: "Come and see fo-r 3ourself;
examine if there be any (leceptioln; seek for
light; seek for knoxledge in a candid spil it,
ani you wvill find that the things xxe tell you are
true!"
Dear reader, that is not the argument. It is
possible thlat it may be tr ue, but is impossible
that it can be right; and if we firom curiosity
allow ourselves to tamper with wxhat is wrong,
can we be surprised if xve are over-mastered by
a strong delusion and believe a lie? There is