A Christian in search of religious freedom

Southern Quarterly, Winter 2003 by Aiken, David

In 1856 Simms wrote a letter to his New York publisher J. S. Redfield: "I have been considerably impressed of late with the subject of Spiritualism. My mind has always, in fact, been governed by an earnestness of tendency, approaching to Religion, and but two considerations have ever kept me from actually taking to the Pulpit." One of those considerations is his lack of sufficient virtue, coupled with his finding "sin too pleasant" to shake off. The second consideration is a mind which "stubbornly opposed every creed of every Christian Church extant." He then adds, "I rejected the Old Testament as a religious authority altogether, & satisfied myself that the New was, however true and good, & wise & pure in many things, a wonderfully corrupt narrative" (Letters 3: 431).

Simms certainly had an inquiring mind. He was aware of the Higher and Lower Biblical criticism of his day. He also had an enduring interest in the ability of the living to communicate with the dead. The issue is present in Carl Werner and in "Said at Endor," one of the Scripture Legends in Southern Passages and Pictures. The subject was one in which his neighbor and confidant James Henry Hammond was also interested. Seven months after writing Redfield, who had published a number of books dealing with spiritualism, Simms wrote to Hammond, "I had been egging on Redfield, my publisher and Partridge to procure me interviews with other mediums" (3:491). The Partridge mentioned here is the publisher of The Spiritual Telegraph, a periodical which ran during 1852-1860. Partridge's firm published in 1859 Mystic Hours; or, Spiritual Experiences, which was written by George A. Redman, the medium to whom Simms was introduced by Partridge. Simms's use of the expression "egging on" is noteworthy since it was for Hammond that Simms was then tracking down a medium in New York. All the questions Simms was to put to the medium were contained on a list Hammond had given him along with ten dollars to cover consultation expenses. Simms and Hammond decided to split the fees because the medium had given Simms messages from his deceased daughter as well as answers to Hammond's questions. Although Simms does not appear to have been completely convinced, he was affected by these experiences. Having already lost so many loved ones to death, Simms is sincere in saying to Hammond, "The truth is, I desired to believe" (3: 483).

In later correspondence with Hammond, Simms appears closer to accepting the idea of communion between the living and the world of spirit. He had experiences that were personal and not occasioned by contact with a medium. Still, he questions: "My difficulty, thus far, is in preventing my self-delusions." He remembers being awed and excited during these encounters, but without fear. He strives to maintain objectivity and can be seen straining to reconcile his experience with his beliefs when he confides, "Like yourself, my dear Hammond, I am quite conscious that I have my wickednesses, weaknesses, sins: I doubt, if I am not a worse man than any I know; but, at the same time, I am no hypocrite--do not seek to deceive others; would not willingly deceive myself; and pray, I think, honestly, for the succor from Heaven which shall strengthen me for the good" (3: 491-92).