Julia Hyde Letter

Pages 1 and 4

Pages 1 and 4

Name/Title

Julia Hyde Letter

Description

Letter from Julia E. Watson Hyde to Mary Arabella Peck, wife of Frederick A. Peck. Mary and Frederick were first cousins and both were distant cousins of Henry Jones Peck of Jones Farm which sits on the property of the GCV&M.

Subject

Thoughts on the current state of Spiritualism.

Subject Place

Town

Lily Dale

State/Province

New York

Country

United States of America

Continent

North America

Context

Written at a time of great skepticism and fraudulent behavior in the Spiritualist faith.

Collection

Peck-Jones-Gray Papers

Lexicon

Search Terms

Julia Hyde, J. E. Hyde, Hyde letter

Letter Details

Letter Date

April 25, 1896

Time Period

19th Century

Sender

Name

J. E. Hyde

Address

Lily Dale, New York

Addressee

Name

Mrs. Peck

Address

South Otselic, New York

Primary Language

English

Transcription

Transcription

Lily Dale, 4-25-96 Dear Mrs. Peck, Yours of 22nd at hand, the former one, which I was glad to get also. I shall hope to see you with us the coming season and also Mr. Cox and family. I am so glad Mrs. Allen is keeping lighthearted and cheerful as she seems to be. It will do much toward building up her health. She is thinking of coming to Lily Dale again this season. I do not anticipate that the cloud shadowing Lily Dale will be permanent. I hope it will result in a wholesome weeding out of fraud and “ringing in of the true”. I do not question the mediumship for many of these people, but their greed of gain prompts them to descend to actions that true spiritualists cannot condone nor sanction. But that does not do away with the real in our cause. I do not, and never did believe that physical manifestations are the basis of spiritual belief. How can material things prove spiritual things when they are diametrically opposed to each other in expression? I think the great danger to our cause lies in the physical manifestations they can’t be or are not proved only in rare cases and in the long run make more skeptics than believers. Then too it is the lowest order of spiritualism I think always of the earth-earthy. How much grander is it for people who like yourself are willing to think and reason to be able to turn their thoughts and aspirations inward and upward and find the truth glowing upon the mountaintops of inspiration and exaltation than to always be groping for it among material shadows as you would drag a sluggish stream to find only a dead body. How sad to think there are so many gross, animalistic, drunken, debauched mediums trying to represent our cause and getting a large following too among many dear good people who allow their emotions to get the better of their reason and in their allegiance to their spirit friends as they believe fail to see that they are being duped sadly oftentimes. I believe in mediumship. I believe we have some good honest souls who come in rapport with spirit entities; but for most of the commercial mediumship I have but little regard or respect. Christ and the apostles who were the finest mediums the world has ever known did not sell their spiritual gifts at so much per item. The world is running mad over money and so called “spirit mediums” seem to be the maddest of all. I don’t believe true spirituality can be bought and sold either by the ounce or by the ton and just so long as this mad craze for phenomenal spiritualism continues, it will prove an overwhelming temptation to the poor, negative, greedy medium who like other people forgets his soul in pandering to his body - to sell his birthright for a mess of pottage if there is only a silver dollar in it. Yes I do not question but that Hugh Moore was a medium; no doubt they all are more or less, but when they cannot get enough genuine to satisfy the morbid appetites of marvel suckers, they back on the false and then cry continually about “conditions” to keep away honest investigation and cover up their tricks. If spiritualists would only think more they could not be so easily gulled and our beautiful faith would not be so degraded and trailed in the mire of falsity and beastiality. Hugh Moore is said to be keeping a whiskey saloon in Dayton O. He jumped his bail in Cincinnati and left his confederates who helped “play spirits” unpaid. Just think of his being an “ordained minister” according to one of the fooleries that has been tacked on to our faith by too indiscriminate admiration of physical mediumship. With all the chance for fraud that it allows and engenders? May all wise power brought into action by the highest holiest efforts of our spirit friends and assistants who have risen above earth bound conditions hasten the day when we as believers in immortality shall rise enfranchised into the god realm of spiritual unfoldment instead of struggling in pain sorrow and doubt in the valley of physical phenomena always wanting a new test to strengthen our faith and us really doubting it as soon as we begin to think and reason about the many vague and unsatisfactory things that are usually associated with it. But I fear I am tiring your patience so with the assertion that I am a firmer spiritualist today than ever before because of my hope that false conditions are passing out and being overcome and the genuine will triumph at last. I will turn to your questions. I do not fancy that the Meadville band is engaged at Lily Dale for life because with a change of officers usually comes a change of applicants but they are engaged for this season were engaged by the stockholders last August at the public meeting. If you want to try for another season the best way is to put in an application for the position before the August meeting which occurs the third Monday of Aug. If the members of that band come here next summer let them bring their instruments and show people here what they can do then their application would doubtless have an effect. There has never been any competition here on the music to my knowledge so it is always the same old story. I think we will have a better general class of people here next summer than usual because the thinking classes are glad the false is being “weeded out”. With love and best wishes to you all and I hope to meet you all here the coming summer. I will close hoping to hear from you again in the near future. Sincerely Mrs. J E Hyde

Transcriber

Johnson, Jill

Language

English

Parts

Count

2

Parts

2 pages divided into 8 subsections

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Hyde, Julia E. Watson, Peck, Mary

Related Places

Place

Town

Lily Dale

State/Province

New York

Country

United States of America

Continent

North America

Place

Town

South Otselic

State/Province

New York

Country

United States of America

Continent

North America