A NEW PHASE OP SPIRITISM.

Westport Times, Volume IV, Issue 690, 28 July 1870, Page 2

A NEW PHASE OP SPIRITISM.

SINGULAR SEANCES IN LIVERPOOL.

Some extraordinary manifestations by a Dr Newton, who arrived in Liverpool in May last, are described by the Weekly Mercury, Describing Dr Newton, the writer says : There was every opportunity of seeing the gifted physician to advantage, but, on the whole, he is not a man whose personal appearance is likely to create a deep impression. He is undersized, has rather a portly figure, is dressed in a plain suit of black, has a shiuy bald head fringed with grey hair, a grey beard and short grey moustachios, a pair of eyes which are never wide open, and sallow complexion. He has the appearance of an easy-going comfortably-settled merchant, without any striking facial peculiarity, except it be his eyes, the lids of which half open, and then shut up suddenly, as if to conceal what lies behind them. His accent is Yankee, and he speaks in short sentences, preceded by a closing of the eyes, a moment's silence, during which he planes the table with his hand, and then a painful gasp for breath or heavy sigh —a hearer cannot distinguish which. Having drawn the breath, he runs on for a short time very rapidly, and then comes to a dead stop, duriag which the closing, planing, and gasping process is repeated before he continues his address. Thus—" Dear friends, I love you as I would a brother ; I love you as di'arly as my own children; I love all mankind; I love you more than I have words to express ; I have suffered more than most men; ay, more than any man; I suffer, I know 1 do. 1 have had many hairbreadth escapes, amongst which I may mention strangulation, shipwreck, and a serious fall—all of which I have borne cheerfully that I may attain the kingdom of heaven. 1 am a confirmed medium, I am; the good angels are ever around me ; I have now the power to heal the sick ; I have this power; it is to be had as I say through suffering; I shall find such amongst the poor, the meek, and the lowly. This morning the kingdom of heaven is at hand; the kingdom of heaven is ever at hand. You have all angels watching around you ; some ten or a dozen. 1 don't want to make money; I want to do all the good I can." Dr Newton explained to his hearers that his great principle was love ; that he loved everybody; and that he received his power to heal the sick from the Father, and through the angels ; that he was deficient in oratorical power, but that that deficiency was supplied by the angels; that he had no confidence in the teachings of a church which stated that there was a hell, and that God was a power that punished people by sending them there; suek a god, he said, was the devil to him; and that he had no confidence in a man who had no religion at all. " Better had a man be a Catholic or even a Jew." He then went on to say-—" My power of healing is not limited. I can heal a multitude as easily as a few. I can do just as well on 5000 as on a small number. My dear brethren, I love you, and I say blessed are ye who open your souls to receive the love principle—The power of healing whichlpossessisamagnetic power, and sometimes I do things that are perfectly astonishing. My secretary, Mr Watson, was for a long time perfectly blind. Last August I performed on him, and cured him almost instantly—l will now give you a specimen of my great power. I will cause a shock to pass from me which will be felt more or less by all present, and if any one is in pain after it let him come to me and I will cure him." The doctor then stood up, extended his arms, threw back his head, closed his eyes, made a sudden start as if he were about to cast himself head foremost into a river, raised his head again and shook it in a manner which gave the impression that he had really taken the plunge, had risen to the surface, and shaken his dripping hair off his face, and then, opening his eyes, took a general survey of the persons before him. This constituted the "shock," which, however, made no vivid impression upon any one. Selectingamanfromamongsthisaudience, he exclaimed "That poor cripple is now healed of his lameness. You, my brother; you had pain when you came in. Do you feel better ?" The person addressed rose and replied that the pain from which he had been suffering when he entered the place was gone, whereupon the doctor invited him to step up to where he was standing. Seizing him by the hand he put to him the following extraordinary questions:—"Do you love me?" " Do you love me as a brother ?" The mau replied in a subdued voice—we suppose to the satisfaction of his interrogator, who took his head in his hands, stroked his face, laid his head

upon his breast, and kissed his forehead. Then placing one hand on his head, he raised the other and said, in a very Bolemn manner— " In the name of the powers that be I say, Disease, depart from thee." A gasp for breath and a violent shaking of the head with the eyes closed, accompanied by a sudden convulsion of the body, completed the charm. Then the former sufferer replied that|he was quite better, walked quickly across the room without the aid of a stick, went through several twistings at the request of his benefactor, and retired. An old gentleman solicited the aid of the physician, stating that he suffered from dizziness in the head. The physician at once understood the case, and cried, "Ah, vertigo!" The charm was again brought into requisition, and Dr Newton then told the sufferer of a moment ago to turn round on his heel. He turned round once, and the doctor, invoking a blessing, exclaimed " Where's your vertigo ? Gone, never to return. You could not have done that without falling before (which the man admitted.) My brother you will have reason to bless this day. My friends, he is whole." Two gentlemen received " shocks " for their children who were at home ill. One was a medical man of this town, who said his children were laid up with the whooping cough. Dr Newton asked if they were three girls and a boy, as it had been imparted to him spiritually that they were so. He received a reply in the affirmative, and he then informed the parents that there would be a slight coughing that night, but it would be the last coughing the children would ever have. In the other case the child was at home suffering from fits. Dr Newton, after blessing the father in his own peculiar manner, said the child would have a slight fit that night, but it would be the last. A gentleman complained of weak eyes, and Dr Newton "magnetised" his forefinger—that is to say repeated the jerkings of the head and body as before whilst holding the fore-finger, with which the afflicted man was to rub his eyes daily. During the evening a gentleman in the room stated that a friend who sat beside him, a Mr Ashley, was thought to be on his deathbed that morning from hemorrhage of the lungs, but in consequence of a visit from Dr Newton he was enabled to walk a mile that afternoon, and was in comparatively good health.—The gentleman referred to corroborated the statement. He had not until Sunday left his room since December, except when removed once in a bath chair. Dr Newton proceeded to London the following morning, stating his intention to return to Liverpool. There was no charge for admission.