remarkable. One of the Fox sisters, Mrs. A. Leah Underhill, wrote:

"Since that day, starting from a small country village of
western New York, Spiritualism has made its way--against
tremendous obstacles and resistance, but under an impulse and a
guidance from higher spheres--round the civilized globe.
Starting from three sisters, two of them children, and the
eldest a little beyond that age,... its ranks of believers,
privately or publicly avowed, have grown within thirty-six
years to millions."--_"The Missing Link in Modern
Spiritualism," Introduction._

Many at the time thought, as have many since, that the "rappings" with
which the manifestations began were caused by some trickery on the part
of the Fox sisters, but men of unimpeachable standing and intelligence
certified to the contrary. Horace Greeley, famous editor of the New York
_Tribune_, wrote in his paper that the sisters had visited him in his
home and courted the fullest investigation as to "the alleged
manifestations from the spirit world." As the result of his
observations, he wrote:

"Whatever may be the origin or the cause of the 'rappings,' the
ladies in whose presence they occur do not make them. We tested
this thoroughly and to our entire satisfaction."--_Id., pp.
160, 161._

It was no mere sleight of hand that launched this cult upon the world as
the last days came. Beyond all the physical manifestations, the
religious idea in Spiritualism has leavened the religious thought of
millions. No one can deny that the basic idea is the one that the