tongues. — Increase of the doctrine, and why. — Mormon cities not to be identified. — Strong indications of fabrication. —  Fluency and earnestness of their preachers. — Traits of the Cochranites. — Effects produced upon their hearers. — An account of the real origin of the Mormon Bible, and its author.  — Of Joseph Smith, Jr., the Mormon prophet. — His early characteristics. — Exposure of the indecent ceremonies at Nauvoo; as established by Smith and others.

96 CHAPTER XIV. MILLER DELUSION. Prophecies of Mr. Miller. — His computation of time. — Management to suit his own particular views. — Keeping the world standing thirty years on a simple if. — Various blunders and mistakes. — Confession of his errors. — False information respecting signs. — Disappearance of stars. — Of the Aurora Borealis. — Shooting stars. — Sun and moon turning to blood. —  Darkness of the sun. — Its cause. — Remarkable appearances in various ages of the world. — Opinion concerning Halley's comet. — Ignorance of the constitution of comets. — The comet of 1770. — Tests of signs that shall indicate the end of time. — Scientific men stationed in various parts of the earth. — No such changes as have been spoken of by the second advent preachers, observed by them. 102 CHAPTER XV. INTERCOURSE WITH DEPARTED SPIRITS. Spirits, ghosts, and spectres seen in all ages. — Account of the magic crystals, or divining glasses. — Seeing spirits in Egypt. — Lady Blessington's crystal in England. — Spirit of Lord Nelson described. — The Latin language commonly used by spirits.  — An account of spirits that live in the Sun. — Spirits conversing with human beings. — Mode of communication by letters of fire, or large printed capitals. — Interview with the spirit of Pharaoh. — His present dwelling in the planet Jupiter. — Information gleaned in conversation with him. — Swedenborg's account of Sir John Franklin. — Describes his situation, blocked up by ice. — Spirits do not understand about latitude and longitude. — Description of the spirit of Socrates, his dress, &c. — Account of the emperor Alexander in the spirit world. — Dickens's account of fashionable dupes in England. — The sciences of astrology and magic. —  Practices of high titled ladies in London. — Account of famous conjurers, or fortune tellers. — Account of the "rappers," or "knocking spirits." — Children frightened by their noises. —  Snapping of fingers, and clapping of hands, imitated by the spirits. — Mrs. Fox asks questions of a spirit. — Answers given by a succession of raps. — Account of a ghost that appeared in Waltham, Massachusetts. — Conversation with the ghost by a gentleman. — Said he had been murdered, and told by whom. — Tones of the ghost, (unearthly,) its mode of walking, &c. — Great excitement on account of the ghost. — Mode of communication with the rapping spirits. — Tables and chairs moved, sounds heard, &c. — Band of music, beating of the bass drum, and roar of artillery. — Guitar played by unseen hands. — Ladies' hair taken down and braided by spirits. — People touched by unseen hands. — How spirits produce the sounds of music. — How they make the rapping noises. — Account of an interview with the spirit of Dr. Franklin. — Sounds heard like trying the batteries in the telegraph office. — Occupation of Franklin in the spirit world. — Getting up a line of communication between the two worlds. — Dr. Franklin predicts great changes in the nineteenth century. — Connection of magnetism with the spiritual rappings. — Clairvoyant interpreters between men and spirits. — Spiritual postmasters, letter paper, and envelopes. — Letters received from the spiritual worlds. — The Spirit Journal, in Auburn, New York. — Its pages edited, controlled, and superintended by spirits. — The prophets and apostles its conductors, acting under the Lord Supreme. — Blunders and errors of the rapping spirits. — Ignorant spirits. — Mischief produced by them. — Swedenborg's account of their stupidity. — How to distinguish the sounds made by an ignorant or an intelligent spirit. — Wonderful precocity of infant spirits. — Progression of spirits, both upwards and downwards. — The spirit of Dr. Channing deteriorated in the other world. — Theological teachings of the rapping spirits. — Prophecy of Swedenborg concerning the year 1852. — Noises of the rappers indicative of the approach of his prediction. — Are to be considered as omens of a new advent. — Compared with the Miller prophecy of 1843. — Miracles, both of the rappers and the Millerites. — A sick man and his bed taken up by spirits. — The body of a Mr. Gordon taken up by spiritual hands. — Miracles wrought in favor of Millerism. — Miracles wrought in favor of witchcraft. — Millerites taken up by spiritual hands. — Strange noises made by spirits among the Adventists. — Houses shaken, mirrors shattered to pieces, furniture broken. — Four women carried through the air on a pole. — Testimony under oath respecting it. — Account of a bewitched ventriloquist. — Witches in 1850. — What the editor of a Boston journal says of them. — Witches, ghosts, spooks, and hobgoblins, in all ages of the world. — Account of a haunted house in Boston. — Every window illuminated at midnight. — A young man frightened by the scene. — Singular notion of the Greenlanders respecting the cause of thunder, and of the Aurora Borealis. — Notion of the ancients concerning the foundation of the earth. — Of the mathematician Kepler. — Performance of Signor Blitz. — Effects produced by ventriloquism. — Singular vibrations of the guitar. — Spirit rappings considered as a new science. — Noises heard by the Wesley family, in 1716. — Noises heard by Martin Luther. — Empty barrels and hogsheads tumbling down stairs. — Information of past, present, and future events. — The fortune tellers in comparison with the spirit rappers. — Spirits unwilling or unable to spell their own names. — Spiritual communications on the decline. — Contrast between the doings of ancient and modern spirits. — Swedenborg's information concerning the spirit of Melancthon. — A clairvoyant interview with Tom Paine. — Account of an interview with Mr. Sunderland. — Dialogue with a young lady. — Interview with a clairvoyant medium in Lowell. — Facts respecting mesmeric operations. — People deceived by "sympathetic spirits." — Judson J. Hutchinson made insane. — Exposure of the deception practised upon him. — Davis's account of Benjamin Franklin. — Dr. Phelps concerning the "spirit rappers." — Singular developments at his