Article #36 - Andrew Jackson Davis

            For the Journal             Andrew Jackson Davis*

             The most of the members of your association may not know much of this personage, although he isone who professes high in the world, and it may be gratifying to members and others to have presented through the pages of the Journal a retrospect of a few of the events of his history. He commenced his clairvoyant career in 1843, then scarcely 21 years of age, he announced himself as able to explain all the mysteries of human nature and to speak in his own language he says, “I pos[s]ess the power of tending my vision throughout all space & can see things past, present, and to come. I have now ar[r]ived at the highest degree of knowledge which

the human mind is capable of acquiring. When in the state that I now am, I am master of the general sciences, can speak all languages, impart instruction upon those deep and hidden things in nature which the world has not been able to solve, can name the different organs in the human system, point out their offices and functions as I have often done – tell the nature, cause, symptoms of disease and prescribe the remedies that will effect a cure.”

            Here we find an ignorant boy professing to know more and to do more than all the

learned professors in the world can do. This sets forth a claim to omniscience, and is rather much for a boy to boast of in this “age of reason” among a highly intelligent people who are so cleansed of ignorance and superstition. Although there is some thing very extraordinary about his writings

there are some contradictions, and it seems that he is under the necessity of writing a second book to overthrow or neutralize the errors of the first. Can we not suppose that he may have to write a third to destroy the second, and so on to the end of the series. But be that as it may, in perusing his works the question naturally arises how is it possible for such an illiterate person to set forth such wonderful assertions and doctrines, many of which appear to be entirely new to the world. Brought up to the use of one language, and without the use of books how can he understand all languages, without the use of books, how can he master the sciences, how can he impart instruction upon these deep and hidden things in nature which all the philosophers in the world have never been able to solve, to those who have no faith in clairvoyance or spiritual com-

munications the question would be difficult to solve except by saying “it is vain presumption.” But say they who read his publications we find in his works many truths, wonderful truths,

entirely new ideas and far beyond the capacity of common man, and coming as they do from an illiterate man, it cannot be set down as vain presumption. To those who understand the philosophy of mesmerism an explanation may be more easily conceived, but that might appear to be demonstrating a problem by an axiom which is more difficult than the problem itself. But having extended my article to a sufficient length for the Journal I must come to a close. Those who wish for more information on those new and wonderful subjects which are silently and

secretly stealing upon the minds of the community, I would refer them to works on the subject.

                                                Observer

*Andrew Jackson Davis (11 August 1826 – January 13, 1910), American Spiritualist, was born at Blooming Grove, New York. He had little education, though probably much more than he and his friends pretended. In 1843 he heard lectures in Poughkeepsie on animal magnetism, as the phenomena of hypnotism was then termed, and found that he had remarkable clairvoyant powers. In the following year he had, he said, spiritual messages telling him of his life work.