If I wish to understand Spiritual truth, no man or medium can be a medium for me, and I can not be a medium for you. Jesus of Nazareth can not be a medium for one of you, nor can God himself. Every individual who would understand the truths of the Spiritual world must be his or her own medium. God must write his law upon your understanding, and put it in your affections. If you want to become mediums for interior communications, you must become absolutely true in every thought, feeling, and affection—become absolutely pure in every desire and aspiration of your souls—become absolutely just in all your relations of life, so that morning, noon, and night you shall be inquiring and thirsting after righteousness. Such an individual will not need any outward signs to convey truth to him. But the person disposed to live in the outward world, to live in the enjoyment of his appetites and lustful affections, will require representations, if he ever believes in Spirits. He has to be addressed as a physical or sensuous being. If he ever believes in a future life, the Spirits have got to come and rap him over his head. These outward manifestations are designed to say to the sordid atheist, to the materialist, to the religious worldling, “You have a soul.” It is for this reason that there is speaking with tongues, and that all the wonderful works are wrought in your midst. That is what makes Mr. Davenport’s circles necessary for the vast majority of the citizens of New York. They are not sufficiently developed to understand Spiritual truth. These manifestations are necessary. They are not calculated to make you wise, but they can startle you, and prompt you to investigate; and they can give you such direction as will prepare you to enter into a higher and holier investigation of your relation to the world and to the Divine Father. It makes little difference whether they lie or tell the truth, provided they satisfy you that you have souls. If they were always to tell you the truth, you would be too dependent upon them. You have intellectual faculties—exercise them, and you will never find yourself in a position where you can not find all the light you need. A great many people who believe that Spirits do communicate, can hardly go to dinner without the consent of the Spirits. They make babes of themselves, and afterward become fools. If the Spirits tell me to do a thing which my judgment says I should not do, I tell them, “I won’t. I will do the best I know how; and I would rather trust myself than you.” I always get along a great deal better in this way than I would by getting Spirits to rap according to my expectations. They are not designed to become our governors. Sensible Spirits do not ask any such thing. There are ninnies in the Spiritual world as in this, who will be glad to become governors, if they can get dupes enough. The object of this external communication is to give outward evidence. The Corinthians had terrible times.