The Spiritist Review - JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDIES - 1861

People who speak about themselves in the third person

The following fact was reported in the periodical Le Siécle, on July 4th, 1861 according to the Havre newspaper:

“A male victim of an incredible mental anomaly has just passed away at the hospice. He was a soldier by the name of Pierre Valin who was wounded in the head during the battle of Solferino. His injury was completely healed but since the event he considered himself dead. When asked about his health he used to say: ‘You want to know how Pierre Valin is doing? Poor man! He died from a bullet injury in the head in Solferino. What you see here is not Valin, it is a machine that resembles him but a not very good copy. You should ask to have it done again and better.’ Every time he spoke of himself he would say him instead of me. He frequently fell prostrated, completely motionless and insensitive and that could last days. He was then treated with mustard filled gauze and blistering agents that never had any painful reaction. He often had his arms and legs pinched but he never manifested any pain. To make sure that he was not pretending the doctor used to poke him on the back while talking to him; he felt nothing. On several occasions he refused to eat saying that it was unnecessary, that he had no bowels, etc.”

However this is not the only case of that kind. Another soldier that was also injured in the head spoke in the third person and using the feminine form. He used to say: ‘Ah! She suffers a lot! She is very thirsty! etc.’ In the beginning he was led to see the mistakes which he acknowledged with surprise but later he would go back and repeat it so much so that towards the end of his life he only spoke in that manner.”

“In the same way and after a head injury a Zouave that was perfectly cured lost his memory of nouns. A Drill sergeant who knew very well the names of the soldiers in his battalion but since the event he used to call them as: The large brown haired, the little carrot, etc. He began using periphrases to command the troops just to designate the musket, the sword, etc. They had to send him home.”

“The final years of the renowned doctor Baudelocque also offered an example of similar lesion but less characteristic, though. He remembered well what he had done during his healthy life. He recognized those who came to visit him by their voices since he had become blind, but he had no awareness of his current situation. For example, when asked: ‘How is your head?’ he would respond: ‘I have no head.’ If asked to extend his arm to have his pulse checked he would respond that he did not know where his arm was. One day he wanted to feel his pulse himself hence he was helped and his right hand was placed on his left wrist. He then asked if that was really him who was feeling the pulse. Yet, he counted the beats correctly.”

Physiology reports phenomena that seem abnormal and that science remains quiet about them in every step of the way. Why so? We have already said that and it is never too much to repeat: they try to attribute everything to the material element, with no account to the spiritual element. As long as it remains in that restrictive path, science will remain powerless to resolve thousands of issues that show up all the time under its scalpel, as if saying: “As you see there is something else beyond matter since one cannot explain everything with matter alone.”

And here we are not speaking of some bizarre phenomena only, that could find science unprepared, but we are speaking about the most common effects. For example, what about dreams? We don’t speak about the real dreams, those that are real perceptions of distant things, present or future, but simply about the fantastic dreams, or memories. Can that science explain how those clear and accurate images that we sometimes see are produced? What is that magic mirror that somehow keeps the image of things? In natural somnambulism that nobody denies, how does it explain the strange ability of seeing without the help of the eyes? And that is not vaguely, but with minor details, to the point of a somnambulist being able to carry out a task that would require sharp vision in the waking state.

Thus, there is something in us that sees without the eyes. The sensitive person not only sees but acts, thinks, calculates, organizes, foresees and carries out intellectual tasks that the same person is incapable of doing in the normal vigil state and from which they keep no memory. Hence, there must be something that thinks and that is independent of matter. What is that? Science stops here. Such facts are not rare, though.

The Banner of Light, a New York journal from May 18th, 1861 brings the following:

“Deeming the following extraordinary facts worthy of being placed upon record in an authenticated form, we forward them to the Banner for publication, with our signatures attached, as evidence that they occurred in our presence, and under the herein stated.

On Wednesday evening, May 1st, we met the medium H.M. Fay, by appointment, at the residence of Mr. W. B. Hallock, in New York. The medium seated himself near a table, upon which were placed a tin horn, a violin and three separate pieces of small-sized bed-cord. The company were seated in a semi-circle in front of the medium, and the table six or eight inches from them, and with their hands joined, which gave every member of the circle the assurance that his neighbors on his right and left, retained their position in every one of the experiments herein related. The lights were then put out and the company ordered to sing. In a few minutes, a light was called for. The medium was found still seating in his chair, with his hands crossed behind him at the wrists, which were firmly tied together, the knots being between the wrists, and the rope being wrapped around each wrist so tightly as to press into the flesh and obstruct the venous circulation, so that the hands became much swollen. The ends of the rope were then passed upon the inside of the back of the chair, and then brought round and tied, one to each of the front legs of the chair. Another rope was found wrapped firmly around his legs, just above his knees, and tied tightly, while a third rope secured his ankles in the same manner. In this condition, we were satisfied that the medium could neither have tied himself, nor could he untie himself, nor use his hands, nor walk, nor rise from his chair. A member of the circle then placed a sheet of white paper upon the floor, under the medium’s feet, with a pencil upon the paper. The light was put out, and, almost immediately, the horn was seized by a power of same kind, and struck upon the table and the floor repeatedly, rapidly, and very violently, so as to make deep indentations in the table. A mouth also seemed to be applied to the horn, and conversed through it, freely and rather jocularly, at times, with the members of the circle. The articulation of the words was as distinct as that of a person in the form when speaking through a horn. The sound was that of a full male voice, and the tone somewhat louder than the tone of common conversation. Another voice, fainter, somewhat guttural, and with a less distinct articulation, also, at times, conversed with the company. A light was called for, and the medium was found still in his chair, bound hand and foot, as already described, and his feet within the pencil lines that had been traced around them. The light was again put out, and soon the horn commenced its pounding and its talking as before. The circle was next told to sing, and the manifestations apparently ceased; but at the call for the light, the ropes were found removed from the medium’s ankles and knees; his hands, however, were still tied, as already described, and his feet within the pencil lines upon the with paper. Again the light was put out, and again the pounding and the talking through the horn were resumed. Then, followed an order for singing, which was continued for a few moments, when the light was called for, and the medium was found untied, sitting in his chair, with his feet within the pencil lines. This closed the first series of manifestations.

Yours truly,

Charles Patridge, R. T. Hallock, Mrs. Sarah P. Clark, Mrs. Mary S. Hallock, Mrs. Amanda, M. Spence, Miss Alla Britt, William Blondel, William P. Coles, W. B. Hallock, B. Franklin Clark, Peyton Spence.

New York, May 3, 1861.”

This evocation was carried out last year by the request of Mr. Borreau, from Niort, who sent us the following note:

“Some thirty years ago we had at the Priory of Amilly, in the surroundings of Mauzé, a priest by the name Don Peyra who held the reputation of being a sorcerer. In fact, he was always involved with the occult sciences. They say things about him that would sound fabulous but that according to the Spiritist Science might well be possible. About twelve years ago I had contact with his spirit during some very interesting experiments that I was doing with a somnambulist. He presented himself as an assistant and with whom we could not fail in our experiments, but we did fail. I come to ask you, if this is not at all an inconvenience, to have him evoked and asked about his previous and current relationships with me. From there on I might have some interesting things to tell you someday perhaps.”

First dialogue, January 13th, 1860

1. Evocation. – A. I am here.

“July 18th, 1861

Dear Sir,

This is to thank you for your work and your kindness in sending me the last evocation of Don Peyra. As you say, the spirit of the former Prior was not in a good mood, vehemently showing his impatience with this new initiative. A great lesson results from that, Sir. The spirits who play the spiteful game of tormenting us may in turn be paid with the same token by us.

Ah! Ladies and gentlemen from beyond the grave! I am only talking about the deceitful and lighthearted spirits – no doubt they will boast about having the exclusive privilege of disturbing us. And here you have a poor man from Earth, a pacifist, just trying to guard against your maneuvers and trying to clarify you, and now he is tormenting you to the point that you feel his heavy burden on your spiritual shoulders!

Yours, etc.

Noticed that this later is dated July 18th, 1861 while the first evocation took place in January 1860. At that time we did not know all these details about Don Peyra’s life and his answers perfectly agree with that. He said for example that he did everything he could to keep up with his fame as a sorcerer. What happened to Mr. Borreau has a remarkable analogy with Don Peyra’s mockery applied to the travelers during his life and we are strongly inclined to believe that he wanted to repeat them. In this case he did not need his electrical machine since he has the great universal machine at his disposal. That possibility can be seen in his answer to question 21.

Mr. Borreau finds some sort of compensation to the malice of certain spirits on the nuisance that we can return to them. However we advised him not to trust that too much since the spirits have better means of escaping from us than otherwise with respect to their influence. In fact, it is clear that if Mr. Burreau had a more thorough knowledge of Spiritism in those days he would know what is reasonable to expect from them, and he would not have ventured into attempts that Science would have demonstrated without leading him to mystification. He was not the first one to learn the hard way. That is why we never stop saying: learn the theory first. It will teach you every practical difficulty allowing you to remove obstacles from which you will feel happy to have left behind with a few scratches only. He claims that his intention was good, because he wanted to demonstrate through a great thing the truth about Spiritism. However, in similar cases the spirits give proof that they wish and when they want, and never when asked for that. We know people who also wanted to give irrefutable proof through the discovery of colossal treasures through the spirits but what happened in fact was that they just spent their own money. We must add that if such proof gave the expected result just once, that would be more damaging than useful since it would provide the wrong idea about the objective of Spiritism, establishing the belief that it can be used as a means of prediction. In that case, Don Peyra’s answer to question 22 would be justified.

“Paris, July 21st, 1861

Dear Sir,

One can disagree about certain points and be in perfect agreement about others. I have just read your thoughts about fraud in the last issue of The Review in the article ‘Exploitation of Spiritism’, regarding spiritualist (or spiritist) communications, to which I am happily and strongly related. Any dissidence with respect to theories and doctrines disappear in those manifestations as if in a magic spell.

I am not perhaps as strict as you are regarding the mediums who accept some sort of compensation in a dignified and adequate way, given the time they dedicate to the experiments, sometimes long and tiresome, but I am, and nobody can be more than I am, severe with respect to those who replace the absence or insufficiency of the expected results by fraud and trickery.

Mixing the false with the true in matters of phenomena obtained by the intervention of the spirits is simply blasphemy, thus indicating a failed sense of moral from the part of a medium who would unscrupulously do that. As you clearly stated, this is the same as casting doubt upon the indecisive minds, considering that there is real fraud. I must add that it is the most deplorable way of compromising honorable people who support the mediums with their knowledge and education, becoming the guarantors of their good-faith, sponsoring them in a certain way. It is prevarication towards them.

Yours, etc.

Mathieu”

We have already said that the mediums, as mediums, have only a secondary influence in the communications of the spirits; that their role is like that of the telegraph that dispatches messages between distant points of Earth. Thus, when we want to dictate a communication we act upon the medium as the telegraph typist does onto the device, that is, like the clicks of the telegraph draw meaningful characters on a piece of paper thousands of miles away, we also communicate through incommensurable distances that separate the visible from the invisible world, the incarnate from the immaterial world, transmitting all that we want to teach you through the mediumistic instrument. However, like the atmospheric conditions influence the quality of the telegraph transmission, the moral influence of the medium acts and sometimes disturbs the transmission of our messages from beyond the grave, since we are forced to pass them through a filter that is contrary to its own nature. In most cases though, that influence can be nullified by our energy and our determination thus avoiding the manifestation of a negative action. In fact, essays of elevated philosophical reach and communications of perfect moral content are sometimes transmitted through mediums that are not suitable for such superior teachings; while, on the other hand, less constructive messages also arrive through mediums who feel ashamed for having served as their intermediary. As a general thesis one can say that similar spirits attract similar spirits and that only rarely spirits of elevated spheres communicate through bad filters when they have at their disposal good instruments, in a word, good mediums.


Thus the lighthearted and less serious mediums attract spirits of the same kind. That is why their communications are marked by banal and frivolous things, ideas without proper coordination and sometimes very unorthodox from a spiritist point of view. At times, they may say good things, and they do, but it is exactly in this case that a very severe and scrupulous exam is required because certain hypocritical spirits can skillfully permeate controversy and lies as to mislead the good faith of the audience. One must then suppress every mistaken word or phrase and only retain from the dictation what is accepted by logic or something that has been already taught by the Doctrine. Communications of this nature should not be feared more by the isolated spiritists or recent and unenlightened groups than in sessions where the followers are more advanced and have gained more experience; regardless of how much the crow covers itself with the feathers of a peacock it will always be mercilessly unmasked.


I shall not speak about those who enjoy and ask for obscene communications. Let them be satisfied by the presence of cynical spirits. As a matter of fact, communications of such a nature seek solitude and isolation on their own. In any case they can only provoke disdain and embarrassment amidst serious philosophical groups. But the moral influence is really felt when the medium replaces the ideas that the spirits struggle to transmit; when the medium extracts fantastic theories from their own imagination, in good faith believing that the communications were transmitted via their intuitive skills. There is a thousand in one chance that in such case, it is a reflex of the medium’s own mind. There is even the curious fact that the medium’s hand sometimes moves almost mechanically, as if being driven by a secondary or inferior spirit. It is against this critical test that the young and excited imagination crashes, carried away by the enthusiasm of their own ideas, decorated by their own personal knowledge, thus ignoring the simple thoughts of an elevated spirit, exchanging the prey for its shadow and replacing the message by an exaggerated paraphrase.


It is also against this formidable obstacle that ambitious personalities crash, and thus in the absence of communications refused by the good spirits they present their own work as if produced by the spirits. That is why the leaders of the spiritist centers must have an accurate perception and a rare sagacity to differentiate between authentic communications and those which are not, and yet not hurting people who deceive themselves. When in doubt, leave it out (more is less), says one of your old proverbs; therefore, you must admit but only what is a certainty to you. Whenever there is a new point of view you must test it against the crucible of logic and reason. Anything that is rejected by reason and common sense must be firmly declined. It is better to reject ten truths than to accept a single lie, a single false theory. In reality a whole system could be built on top of a false theory and that would ruin before the first breath of truth, like a monument built on quick sand, whilst if some truths are rejected today because they don’t seem to have been demonstrated clearly and logically to you, soon an overwhelming fact or irrefutable demonstration will come to attest their truthfulness. Yet, spiritists, remember that there is nothing impossible to God and to the good spirits but injustice and iniquity.


Spiritism is now sufficiently spread among humanity and has moralized sufficiently the devout followers of its sacred doctrine so that the spirits are no longer forced to utilize bad tools, imperfect mediums. Nowadays if any given medium gives reason for suspicion by conduct or habits, out of pride or lack of love and charity, repudiate their communications for there is a snake hidden in the grass. That is my conclusion about the moral influence of the mediums.


Erastus