Excerpt from A Discourse Delivered Before the Willimantic Spiritualist Society, at Willimantic, Conn., On Sunday, March 21, 1886 The fact that Spiritualism has firmly established itself in our skeptic'al and materialistic age; that it has continuously grown and developed for nearly forty years; that by mere weight Of evidence, and in Spite of the most power ful prepossessions, it has compelled recognition by an ever-increasing body (of men in all classes of society, and has gained adherents in the highest ranks of science and philosophy; and, finally, that despite abuse and misrepresentation, the folly Of enthusiasts and the knavery Of impostors, it has rarely failed to convince those who have made a thorough and pains-taking investigation, andhas never lost a convert thus made all this affords a conclusive answer to the objections so commonly urged against it. To the Christian investigator it comes with a peculiar claim to respect. The culture Of the world is very much' running to materialism - 4m the Old Sadduceeism which said there is 'no spirit; and Spiritualism comes in to antagonize this deadliest foe to Christianity. Many is the man who has been converted to a belief in immortality by it; many a man has been brought by it within the Christian fold. Lord Brougham said: Even in the most cloudless skies Of skepticism I see a rain-cloud, if it be no bigger than a man's hand. It is modern Spiritualism. Joseph Cook said, in one Of his public lectures, that he was not sure but Christianity, in its struggle with prevailing unbelief, would have to appeal to it for help. Then again, the Bible is full Of Spiritualism. The argument against Spiritual-ism is an argument against the Bible. Thus a leading scientist, in writing against Spiritualism, declares that there never has been, in all time, a manifestation that has appeared to come from the spiritual world that could not be explained upon natural princi ples. TO his clear mind there was no use in denying a part unless the whole was denied. Then again, we are told in the New Testament that there will be a great spiritual outpouring and experience - in other words, great spiritual phenomena in the last days. I refer to all these considerations in support Of'my statement that this subject has a special claim on the Christian investigator. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.