"3. Persons highly observant and susceptible can, by their eye and feeling, when they put themselves into a semi-abnormal condition, tell, in many instances nine times out of ten, who is and who is not a believer, _and what is in the mind of the inquirer_.
"4. Mediums are invariably of this character.
"5. In matters of faith, friendship, love, or the spirit world, many are willing to be deceived; and when they fall into the hands of the shrewd and designing, who can appear the impersonation of truth, virtue, honesty, and even piety itself, they are emphatically _humbugged_, and give their money and their testimony to confirm the fraud.
"Lastly. Many are so sincere and honest in their intentions, that it is not in their hearts to believe that some of our most respectable men, even clergymen, would lend their names to sustain any thing but what they had believed and tested as a reality, and therefore themselves believe.
"Now, Mr. Editor, from all that I have seen and know of these spiritual communications, as 'rappings,' and from all these facts, I am free to declare, that I believe them an arrant humbug, and one, too, of the most pernicious tendency. They can all be traced to a human agency, as either mechanical or mesmeric, alone or combined; and I will give my right hand to any medium whose operation and device I cannot fully discover, trace, and demonstrate, as deducible from either the one or both of these sources, _and from no other_."
A correspondent of the Boston Traveller, in a communication dated New York, January 22, 1852, says, "I look upon the delusion as I do upon a contagious disease. It is a moral epidemic. Any man of peculiar diathesis may be its victim. It spreads by sympathy and by moral infection. Men of standing and intellect gravely and seriously affirm that they have seen a man rise and float about the room like a feather, till some unbelieving wretch approaches and breaks the spell, when the aerial swimmer falls suddenly to the floor. Franklin, Washington, and all the signers of the Declaration of Independence, have visited them, and these departed worthies sanction any doctrine which the uninitiated may happen to entertain before consulting them." A. J. Davis says, "There is a class of spirits who dwell in divine love more than in divine wisdom, and who are easily influenced to _feel_ precisely what the majority of those who consult them _feel_ and think, and under peculiar circumstances will say _precisely_ what the questioning minds of the circle may _ardently_ and _positively_ desire. Affectionate spirits--those dwelling in the _love circles_--are readily influenced to approve the desires of the hearts of those with whom they commune on earth; as in our homes, the infant, by virtue of its cries and positive entreaties, captivates the affectionate, and perhaps intelligent, mother, who, consequently, forthwith coincides with her child's desires, submitting her judgment to its powerful appeals. Thus it is, through the power of sympathy, spirits of the other world gratify all our thoughts and desires." This is the _opinion_ of Mr. Davis, which may pass for what it is worth. We never indorse his spiritual notions.