Spiritist Review - Journal of Psychological Studies - 1866

The bi-weekly Brussels publication La Discussion, about politics and finance, is not one of those cheerful brochures that both, in shape and form, seek to entertain the lighthearted public. It is a serious journal, accredited specially in the financial world, now in its eleventh year.^[1] The publication of December 31^st, 1865 brings the following article entitled Spiritism According to the Spiritists:

“Spiritists and Spiritism are now two much familiar and frequently employed words, although they were ignored a few months ago. However, most people that use those words keep asking themselves about their precise meaning, not expressing their doubt to others, for everyone wants to pretend to hold the key that solves the charade. Sometimes, though, intrigued by curiosity, the question escapes the lips and each one explains it, satisfying one’s wishes.

Some pretend that Spiritism is the trick of the armoire of the Davenport’s brothers; others say that it is no more than magic and witchcraft from the past, that people want to promote with another name. According to the loose lipped of the neighborhoods, the Spiritists have mysterious conversations with the devil, with whom they had a preestablished compromise.

Finally, by reading the papers, one learns that the Spiritists are all mad, or at least, victims of certain charlatans called mediums. With or without closets, these charlatans give presentations to whoever wants to pay them, and to value even more their trickeries, they pretend to operate under the hidden influence of the Spirits from beyond the grave.

That is what I had learned lately. Considering the disagreement among those ideas I decided to visit the devil, to enlighten myself, to the price of being defeated or being deceived by a medium, and even if I had to lose my mind. I fortunately remembered a friend that I suspected was a Spiritist and sought him to give me the means of satisfying my curiosity. I explain to him all the multiple opinions I had collected, and the objective of my visit. The friend laughed at what he called my ingenuity and gave me, more or less, the following explanation:



Spiritism is not, as it is commonly thought, a recipe to make the tables dance or the execute tricks of deception, and all those that look for the supernatural and wonderful make a mistake. Spiritism is a science, or better saying, it is a spiritualist philosophy that teaches moral.

It is not a religion because it has no dogmas or cult, or priests or articles of faith. It is more than a philosophy because its doctrine is established on the certain proof of the immortality of the soul. The Spiritists evoke the Spirits from beyond the grave to provide such a proof.

The mediums are endowed by a natural faculty that make them capable of becoming intermediaries to the Spirits and produce with them the phenomena that go by miracles or prestidigitation to the eyes of anyone that ignores their explanation. But mediumship is not an exclusive privilege of certain individuals. It is inherent to humankind, although each person has it in different degrees or different forms.

Therefore, to the eyes of someone that knows Spiritism, all these wonders that are attributed to the doctrine are not but phenomena of physical nature, that is, effect whose causes reside in the laws of nature.

The Spirits, however, do not communicate with the living ones with the only objective of demonstrating their existence: they are the ones that daily dictated and developed the spiritualist philosophy.

As a philosophy, it has its system that consists on the revelation of the laws that rule the universe, and in the solution of many philosophical problems, before which and up until now, humanity was impotent to solve. That is how Spiritism demonstrates, among other things, the nature of the soul, its destiny and the cause of its existence on Earth. It unveils he mystery of death; explains the reason for the vices and virtues of man; it tells what man, the world and the universe are. Finally, it gives you the picture of the universal harmony, etc.

This system rests on logical and irrefutable proofs, that have themselves tangible and pure reason as the judge of their truths. Thus, in every theory that it exposes, it acts like a science and does not skip a point unless the preceding one is completely resolved. Spiritism, therefore, does not impose trust because, to be accepted, it only needs the authority of common sense. Once this system is established, a moral teaching is deduced as an immediate consequence.

That moral is nothing else but the Christian moral, the one written in the heart of every human being; it is that of every religion and every philosophy, because it belongs to everyone. But, since it is detached from any fanaticism, any superstition, any spirit of sect or school, it shines in all its purity.

All greatness and beauty of the doctrine comes from that purity, so much so that it is the first time that moral is engulfed in such a splendid and majestic spark.

The objective of every moral teaching is to be practiced; but, for this one, such a condition is an absolute condition, because it calls Spiritists not the ones that accept its precepts, but only those that practice them.

Should I tell you about its doctrines? I do not wish to teach here, and the enunciation of the maxima would necessarily lead me to their development. I will only say this: the Spiritist doctrine teaches us to withstand disgrace without neglecting it; to enjoy happiness without attachment. I would say that it diminishes us without humiliation, as it elevates us but does not make us proud; it places us above material interests, but does not stigmatize them without vilification, because we learn, on the contrary, that every advantage that was granted to us constitute so many other forces entrusted to us and whose employment to our own benefit or to the benefit of others is our responsibility.

Following that responsibility, it follows the penalties for infringing the duties and the rewards to those that carry out their duties. But even these assertions were taken from facts and may be verified to the fullest conviction.

Such is this philosophy in which everything is great because everything is simple; where nothing is obscure for everything is proved; where everything is nice because each issue intimately interests each one of us. Such is this science that projecting a shiny beam of light onto the darkness of reason, suddenly unveils the mysteries that we considered impenetrable, pushing back the horizon of intelligence to infinity. Such is this doctrine that, by improving them, pretend to make its followers happy, opening to humanity a safe path to the moral progress. Such is, finally, the madness that contaminated the Spiritists and the witchcraft that they practice.

That is how my friend ended, with a smile, allowing me, on my request, to visit some Spiritist meetings with him, where the practice adds up to the teachings.

When I got home, I remembered what I had said, like everybody else, against Spiritism, even before I got to know the meaning of that word, and that memory brought me a bitter confusion. I then thought that, despite the severe denials imposed to human pride by the discoveries of modern science, we hardly dreamed, in the times of progress that we live, to profit from the lessons of experience; and that these words written by Pascal, two hundred years ago, will still be very accurate for many centuries to come: “It is a peculiar disease to man to believe that he holds the truth directly; and that is why he is always ready to deny anything that is incomprehensible to him.”

A.Briquel”

As it can be seen, the author of the article wanted to present Spiritism under its true lights, free from the fantasies brought upon it by the criticism, in a word, as it is considered by the Spiritists, and we are glad to say that he achieved that perfectly. In fact, it is impossible to summarize the theme in a clearer and more precise way. We must also congratulate the editors of the journal that showed such spirit of impartiality, that we would like to find in all those that pretend to be liberal and take the position of apostles of free thinking, and welcomed such an explicit profession of faith. Besides, their intention with respect to Spiritism is clearly stated in the following article, published in the issue of January 28^th:

____________________
[1] Editorial room in Brussels, Montagne de Sion, 17; Paris, Rue Bergère, 31. Yearly price in France: 12 francs; 7 francs per semester; each issue with 8 pages, large in-folio: 25 cents.

Letter received from Cazères, and sent on January 7^th, 1866:

“This is a second case of obsession that we dealt with in July last. The obsessed was a twenty-two years old woman; she enjoyed perfect health; yet, she suddenly had an episode of madness. Her parents took her to medical doctors but that was useless since the illness, instead of disappearing, became more acute, so much so that during the crisis it was impossible to contain her. Following the doctors advices, her parents took her in to a psychiatric institution, where her condition showed no improvement. Neither her nor her parents considered Spiritism that was unknown to them; however, they heard about the cure of Jeanne R…, that I mentioned to you, and came to us to know if we could do something for their unfortunate daughter. We said we could not give any guarantee before knowing the true nature of the disease. Our guides, consulted in our first session, told us that the young woman was oppressed by a very rebellious Spirit, but that we would end up bringing him back to the good path and the consequent cure would be a confirmation of that. I then wrote to the parents that lived 35 kilometers away from our town, saying that the young lady would be cured and that the cure would not take long, without specifying the period. We evoked the obsessing Spirit in eight consecutive days and were very fortunate to change his bad inclinations and renounce to his intent of tormenting the victim. The patient was in fact cured, as it was anticipated by our guides. The enemies of Spiritism repeat continuously that the practice of this doctrine leads to mental health hospitals. Well, we say that it brings out those that were in.”

Among thousands of other examples, this fact is a demonstration of the obsessional madness, whose cause is totally different from the pathological madness, before which science will fail while it obstinately denies the spiritual element and its influence upon the physiological organization. This case is very iconic. It shows a young woman that shows such strong signs of madness that it deceives the doctors, and that is cured miles away by persons that had never seen her, without any medication or medical treatment, and just by the moralization of the obsessing Spirit.

There are, therefore, obsessing Spirits whose action can be harmful to reason and health. Isn’t that true that if the mental illness had been provoked by any organic lesion, such a means would have been powerless? If it was objected that this spontaneous cure could have been due to a fortuitous cause, we would respond that if we had only one case to report it would be undoubtedly venturous to deduce such an important principle from that, but the number of cases of cure is very large. They are not the privilege of an individual and repeat daily in several places, undoubtful signs that they rest upon a law of nature.

We have cited many cures of similar kind, notably in February 1964 and January 1865 that contain two eminently instructive reports. Here is another not less characteristic fact, obtained by the group in Marmande:

In a village a few miles from that town, there was a peasant that was taken by such a furious madness that he chased people around, trying to kill them with a pitchfork, and in the absence of people he would attack animals in the area. He used to run incessantly through the fields and would not return home. He became a dangerous presence; it was then easy to obtain an authorization to have him taken into the psychiatric hospital in Cadilac. His family was forced to take such a painful attitude. Before he was taken in, one of the relatives had heard about the cures obtained in Marmande in similar cases and sought Mr. Dombre, then saying:

-Sir, I heard you cure insane people and that is why I came for you.

He then explained the situation and added:

-As you see, we are so sorry to separate the young J… that I would like to see if there isn’t other means of avoiding it.

-My brave friend, said Mr. Dombre, I do not know who gives me such a reputation; it is true that sometimes I was successful in bringing some poor insane ones to their senses, but that depends on the cause of the madness. Although I do not know you, I will nonetheless see if I can be of service.

He then immediately took the relative to the house of his habitual medium, obtaining from the guide the assurance that it was a serious obsession, but that it could stop with perseverance. He then said to the peasant: - Wait a few days before you take your relative to Cadilac; we will deal with the case; come back every other day to tell us how he is doing.

He began working the same day. In the beginning the Spirit, like in similar cases, was not very friendly; step by step he ended up humanizing and finally renounced to the objective of tormenting the poor man. A very particular note is that he declared to not have any hatred against that man; that he was tormented by the need of doing harm, and that he had grabbed him as he would do with any other; that he now acknowledged being wrong, for what he sought God’s forgiveness.

The man came back two days later and said that his relative was calmer but had not returned home yet and still hid in the hedges. In the next visit he said that the man had returned home but was still somber and kept away; he no longer tried to hit anybody. A few days later and he was going to the market and going about his things as usual. It took eight days to have him back to normal and without any physical treatment. It is more than likely that had him been taken in with the insane ones and he would have lost his mind himself.

Cases of obsession are so frequent that it is not exaggeration to say that in the psychiatric institutions more than half of patients only have the appearance of madness, and for that very reason common medication has no effect. Spiritism shows us one of the disturbing causes of physical health, and at the same time it gives us the means of treating it; it is one of its benefits. But how have such causes been recognized, if not by evocations? Evocations, therefore, serve to something, whatever their detractors may say.

It is evident that those that do not admit both the soul and its survival, or if the do admit it they are not aware of the status of the soul after death, they must see the intervention of the invisible beings in such circumstances as a pure fantasy; but the brutal fact of illnesses and their cures is here.

The remote cures without to use of any material agent, in persons that were never seen, could not be credited to imagination. The disease cannot be attributed to Spiritism, since it also reaches the non-believers, as well as children that have no idea about it.

Nonetheless, there is nothing of marvelous here, but natural effects that have always occurred, that were not understood then, and that are explained in simpler ways now that the laws that allow them are known. Don’t we see, among the living ones, bad people tormenting others, weaker ones, to the point of making them sick or killing them, and that without any apparent motive other than the desire of doing harm?

There are two ways of giving peace to the victim: removing the authority of their brutality or developing a good feeling in them. The knowledge that we now have of the invisible world shows us that it is inhabited by the same beings that lived on Earth, some good, some bad. Among the latter there are some that remain bad as a consequence of their moral inferiority, and have not yet eliminated their perverse instincts; they are around us, as when alive, with the only difference that instead of having a material, visible body, they now have a fluidic, invisible one; but they are still the same persons, with a poorly developed moral sense, always seeking opportunities to do harm, subduing those that are their preys and are submitted to their influence. Incarnate obsessing persons became discarnate obsessing Spirits, the more dangerous the more they act in hiding. It is not easy to push them away by force, since they cannot be physically imprisoned. The only means of dominating them is through the moral ascendant, supporting reason and wise advices, by which they improve and are more reachable in the spiritual than in the corporeal state. When convinced to voluntarily stop tormenting, the illness disappears, when caused by obsession. Showers and medications given to patients cannot act upon an obsessing Spirit. That is the whole secret of such cures, for which there is no sacramental words or cabalistic formulas: we talk to the discarnate Spirit, moralizing and educating him as it would have been done when alive. The trick is to take him by his character, carefully driving the instructions given to him as it would be done by an experienced instructor. The whole matter is reduced to this: Are there or are there not obsessing Spirits? We respond to this as we did above: the material facts are here.

People sometimes ask why God would allow the bad Spirits to torment the living ones. We could equally ask why God would allow the living ones to torment each other. We lose the perspective of the analogy, the relationships and connection that do exist between the corporeal world and the spiritual world, composed of the same beings in two different states. That is the key to all phenomena considered supernatural. Obsession should not impress us more than other diseases and events that affect humanity. They are part of the trials and miseries characteristic of the regions in which we are condemned to live in by our inferiority, until we are sufficiently better to deserve to leave it. Men suffer here the consequences of their imperfections, because if they were more perfect, they would not be here.

Most of our readers have, undoubtedly, read in the papers the moving report of a shipwreck in Borysthène, off the coast of Algeria, on December 15^th, 1865. The following passage is an excerpt from a saved passenger’s account of the disaster, published by the Siècle, on January 26^th:

“… At the same time a terrible and undefined crack sound was heard, followed by such violent tremors that I was taken down to the floor. I then heard a seaman screaming: My God, we are lost! Pray for us! We had just hit a rock and the ship had torn apart; water gushed into the hull. The soldiers sitting at the bridge tried their best to save themselves, at any price, screaming dramatically; semi naked passengers jumped from their cabins; the poor women sought any help they could get, begging to be rescued. They prayed desperately, saying goodbye. A businessman had a gun to his own head trying to commit suicide, but his gun was taken by others. The shakes continued; the alarm bell continued to ring but could hardly be heard fifty meters away given the power of the winds. There was screams, roars, prayers; it was truly horrifying, dismal, scary. I have never witnessed such a horrible, overpowering scene. It is terrible to be in that kind of situation, healthy and well but facing certain death! In that supreme and indescribable moment, Mr. Moisset, the vicar, gave everybody the blessings. The tearful voice of the poor priest delivering two hundred and fifty souls to God, unfortunate people to be swollen by the tumultuous waters of the ocean.”

Isn’t there a great teaching in the spontaneity of that prayer, before such an imminent danger? In the middle of that scrambled multitude there was certainly unbelievers that had not thought of God or their souls, but right there, before a death that they considered certain, turned their eyes to the Supreme Being, like the only lifeline. This is because, at the final hour, the most hardened heart involuntarily asks what next. The patient in his dying bed waits up until the last moment, and for that reason defies any supernatural power; most often, when hit by death, he is already unconscious. In the battlefield there is a super excitation that makes people forget the danger; not everyone perishes and there is always a chance of escaping. But in the middle of the ocean, when your ship is swollen, there is no more hope but the help of the forgotten Providence, to whom the atheist is ready to direct his scream for a miracle. But ah! Once the danger is over, many will thank chance and their good luck, ingratitude for which sooner or later they will pay dearly. (The Gospels According to Spiritism, Chap. XXVII, item 8).

In similar circumstance, what is the thought of a sincere Spiritist? “I know, he says, I must fight to preserve my corporeal life; I will therefore do everything I can to avoid danger, otherwise if I voluntarily let it go, it would be a suicide; but if it is God’s will to take me, what does it matter if it is in a way or another, a bit sooner or later? Death does not bring me any apprehension because I know that it is only the body that dies and that it is the entrance to the true life, of the free Spirit, and that I will meet again all the loved ones.”

In his mind he foresees the spiritual life, objective of his aspirations, from which he is kept apart by a few moments only, and to which the death of the body, that attached him to Earth, will finally give him access; instead of suffering, he rejoices, like the prisoner that sees the gates of the prison opening up. He is saddened by one thing only: leaving behind the ones he loves. But he is reassured by the certainty that he will not abandon them; that will be close to them more often and more easily than when alive; that he will be able to see and protect them. If, on the contrary, he escaped death, he will say: “If God still allows me to live on Earth it is for the fact that my task and my trials have not ended yet. The danger I faced is a warning from God for me to be ready to depart at any moment and proceed so that this may happen in the best possible way.” He will then be thankful for the stay and will endeavor to make the best of the opportunity for his own progress.

One of the most curious episodes of this drama is about the passenger that tried to blow his own head, giving the certain death, while there could be an unexpected help with the wreck. What could have led him to such a insensible act? Many will say that he was out of his mind, and that is possible; but he could have been involuntarily moved by an intuition that he was not ware about. Although we do not have any material proof of the true explanation that is given below, the knowledge of the relationships between the multiple existences gives it, at least, a high level of probability. The two communications below were given in the session of the Parisian Society on January 12^th.

I

The prayer is the vehicle of the most powerful spiritual fluids, like a healthy balm to the ulcers of the soul and the body. It attracts all beings to God, and in a certain way, take them out of their lethargic state when forgetting their duties to their Creator. Faithfully said, it provokes in those that hear it the desire to imitate the ones that pray, for the example and words also carry the magnetic fluids of great power. Those said in the wrecked ship by the priest, with the accent of the most touching conviction, and the most sacred resignation, touched the hearts of those unfortunate people that judged their hour had come.

When that man wanted to kill himself, given the certainty of death, the idea came to him for an instinctive repulse of water, because it would be the third time that he would have died in such a way, and he went through some moments of terrible anguish. At the very moment he had the intuition of all his past miseries, that vaguely came to his mind, and that is why he wanted to end differently. He voluntarily drowned twice, dragging his whole family along. The confusing impression that remained of the ordeals gave him the apprehension of that kind of death. Pray for those unfortunate people, my good friends. The prayer of several persons forms a beam that sustains and strengthen the recipient soul. It gives them force and resignation.

St. Benedict, medium Mrs. Dellane

II

It is not uncommon to see people that have not thought of praying for a long time do that when threatened by a terrible and imminent danger. Where does this instinctive propension to get closer to God comes from, at critical times? From the same impulse that makes us get closer to someone that we know can defend us when in great danger. The soothing beliefs of the first years, the wise instructions and advices of the parents, come like in a dream to the memory of those shaking men that moments ago thought God was far away from them, or denied the usefulness of God’s existence. These strong spirits, turned weak, feel the more the anguishes of death the more the time they believed nothing. They thought they had no need for God and that they sufficed themselves. To make them feel the utility of his existence God allowed them to be exposed to a terrible end, without hope of being rescued by any human help. They then remember that they had prayed once and that the prayer dissipates sadness, gives strength to support sufferings with courage and attenuates the final moments of the agonizing. All that comes to the mind of the man in danger, making the one that prayed in the infancy to pray again. He then submits and pray to God from the bottom of the heart, with a lively faith that touches the limits of despair, to have his past errors forgiven. At that supreme moment he no longer thinks of the useless dissertations about the existence of God, for he doubts no more. At that moment he believes, and there you have a proof that the prayer is a necessity of the soul; that if it had no result it would alleviate less and for that reason it would be repeated more times; but fortunately it has a more positive action and it is recognized, as it was demonstrated to us, that the prayer has an immense utility to everyone, both to those that pray and to those to whom it is directed.

What I said is only true to the majority because there are some that, ah, they even do not recover their faith at the last hour; with the emptiness of the soul, they believe that they will fall into the abyss of nothingness, and through a kind of frenzy, they themselves want to precipitate into the void. These are the most unfortunate ones, and you that know all the utility and all the effects of the prayer, pray for them.

André, medium Mr. Charles B.

The Siècle on December 26^th, 1865 brings this:

“The high echelon of the navy has just sent a memo to the maritime cities that make weapons for the Oceania, announcing that for some time now it has been noticed a sharp increase in anthropophagy among the inhabitants of the Great Ocean. The memo advises the captains of merchant ships to take every precaution necessary to preclude their crew from falling victim of such horrible custom. About a year ago the crews of four ships were devoured by the cannibals of New Hebrides Condominium of Jervis or New Caledonia, and all measures must be taken to avoid such dismal disgrace.”

Here is how the journal Le Monde explains this recrudescence of cannibalism:

“We had the cholera, the epizootic^[1], and the chickenpox; vegetables and animals are sick. Here we have an even more painful disease that we learned from the English navy officers: the savages of Oceania, as they say, double down on their anthropophagy. Several horrible cases came to their attention. There is no doubt that our maritime authorities will also take measures because two French ships were attacked, the crews taken and devoured by the savages. It is mind boggling that every effort of civilization has been unsuccessful against such horrors. Who knows the origin of such criminal inspirations? Which commandment has been given to all those pagans, spread out over hundreds and thousands of islands in the immensities of the southern seas? Their monstruous passion seems to be appeased for a moment to resurge to the point of inciting repression and the forces of Earth. It is one of those problems that can only be explained by the Catholic dogma. The spirit of darkness acts with total freedom at certain times. Before these serious events, it agitates, stirs its creatures, support and inspires them. Great events loom. The revolution believes to be the time to crown the edifice; it prepares for the supreme fight; it charges against the key of the temple of the Christian society. It is a serious time, foreseen by nature in its full seriousness.”

We are surprised to not see Spiritism among the causes of the increase in the ferocity of the savages, like a scape goat of every illness of humanity, like Christianity was in former times. Perhaps it is implicitly understood as the works of the spirit of darkness. As the Le Monde says, “only the Catholic dogma can explain.”



We cannot see this as a clear explanation, nor can we see anything in common with the revolutionary spirit of Europe. We even see that dogma as a complication to the problem. The cannibals are men, and nobody doubts it. Now, the Catholic dogma does not admit the pre-existence of the soul, but the creation of a new soul at the time of birth of each body. It then follows that God creates souls there that are men-eaters, and here souls that can become saints. Why such a difference? It is a problem for the Church has never given a solution, however, it is an essential cornerstone. According to that doctrine, the increase in cannibalism can only be explained like this: At that moment, God feels like creating a larger number of cannibal souls. Such solution is weak and particularly not in line with God’s benevolence.

The difficult worsens if we consider the future of those souls. What becomes of them after death? Are the treated in the same way as the others that are conscious of good and evil? That would neither be fair nor rational. Instead of explaining it, the Church is at a stalemate, from which it can only leave by appealing to a mystery, that one cannot try to understand, a kind of non possumus^[2]that eliminates embarrassing questions. To the problem that the Church cannot solve Spiritism finds the simplest and most rational solution, in the law of plurality of existences to which all beings are submitted and that allows their progress. The souls of the cannibals, therefore, are closer to their origin. Their intellectual and moral faculties are still fuzzy and little developed, and for that very reason the animal instincts dominate.

But those souls are not destined to remain eternally in such an inferior state that would preclude them forever of the happiness of the advanced souls. They progress in reasoning, enlighten, depurate, improve and instruct themselves in successive existences. They born again in savage races while they do not surpass the limits of savagery. Once they reach a certain level they leave that state to incarnate in a little more advanced race; from this one to another and successively grow in degree, as a result of the acquired merits and the imperfections that they leave behind, until the level of perfection that the creature is entitled is achieved. The path of progress is denied to no one, so much so that the most delayed soul can aspire to the supreme happiness. But some, given their free-will, the appanage of humanity, work diligently for their own depuration and instruction, to leave behind the material instincts and the primitive diapers, for at every step of the way towards perfection they see more clearly, understand better and are happier. These advance more promptly and enjoy earlier: that is their award. Others, always as a consequence of their free-will, stay longer on their way, like lazy and of bad attitude students, or like negligent workers, arriving later, suffering more: that is their punishment, or if you like, their hell. Thus confirming, through the plurality of existences, the remarkable law of equity and justice that characterizes all works of creation. Have this theory compared to that of the Church about the past and future of the souls and see which one is more rational, more in agreement with the Divine Justice and that better explains social inequalities.

Anthropophagy is, undoubtedly, one of the lowest degrees of the human scale on Earth, because the savage that no longer eats his peer is already progressing. But where does the increase in this bestial instinct come from? We can notice, to begin with, that it is only local, and that cannibalism has, by and large, disappeared from Earth. It is inexplicable without the knowledge of the invisible world and its relationships with the visible one. Through deaths and births, they feed one another, embed one another. Imperfect men cannot provide the invisible world with perfect souls and perverse souls, by incarnating, cannot lead but to bad men. When the catastrophes, the calamities, simultaneously reach a large number of people, there is a mass arrival of souls into the world of the Spirits. Since, according to the law of nature, those souls must be born again, for their own betterment, circumstances may equally drive them back to Earth in swarms. The phenomenon in question, therefore, simply depend on the accidental incarnation in distant places of a larger number of tardy souls, and not on the maliciousness of Satan, nor on a commandment given to the people of Oceania. By helping in the development of the moral sense of those souls, during their life on Earth, a mission to civilized men, they progress. When they return to another corporeal existence to continue to progress, they will make men less evil than they were, more enlightened, of less ferocious instincts, because the progress that is realized is never lost. That is how humanity’s progress takes place gradually.

The journal Le Monde is right by saying that great events are looming. Yes, a transformation takes place in humanity. The first contractions of the birth can already be felt; the corporeal world and the spiritual world agitates, because it is the struggle between what ends with what begins. Who will benefit from such transformation? Since progress is the providential law of humanity, it can only benefit from progress. But the great births are laborious; one cannot remove the heavily rooted weed without agitation and destruction in the soil.

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[1] Epizootic is a disease spread in non-human animals, similar to an epidemic in humans (T.N.)


[2] Latin, Catholic expression meaning inability to act (T.N.)

The following fact is a continuation of the interesting story of the music and lyrics of Henry III reported in the July 1865 issue of the magazine. Since then Mr. Bach turned into a writing medium, not practicing much due to the resulting fatigue. He only does that when excited by an invisible force, translated into a lively agitation and a trembling hand, from which the resistance is more painful than the exercise. He is a mechanical medium, in the most absolute sense of the word, and has no awareness or recollection of what he writes. One day, in such a state, he wrote this stanza:

“Le roy Henry donne cette grande espinette

A Baldazzarini, très-bon musicien.

Si elle n'est bonne ou pas assez coquette

Pour souvenir, du moins, qu'il la conserve bien.”



“King Henry gives this great harpsichord
to Baldazzarini, a very good musician.
If it is not good or elegant enough
as a gift, may he at least keep it well.”



The explanation to these verses, that made no sense to Mr. Bach, was given to him in the following text.



“King Henry, my lord, that gave me the harpsichord that you have, had written this in a piece of parchment paper to be fixed on the case, and had it sent to me one morning. A few years later, I was traveling with the harpsichord to make music, and fearing that the parchment would come out and get lost, I removed it and in order not to lose it I inserted it in a small niche, to the left of the keyboard, where it still is.”



The harpsichord is the origin of the modern pianos, in its simplicity. It was played in the same way. It was a small clavichord of four octaves, about one and half meters long by forty centimeters wide, with no feet. The strings inside were laid down like in the pianos, played by keys. It was easily transported in a case, like the double basses and cellos. It was played on a table or a tripod. The instrument was then in exhibition in the retrospective museum, at the Champs-Élysées, where the indicated search could not be done. When it was possible, Mr. Bach, with his son, promptly examined all corners of the instrument, but found nothing, then thinking that it was a case of mystification. Yet, for completeness, he disassembled it totally and found, to the left of the keyboard, between two little wooden beams, a groove so narrow that could not be reached by the hand. He examined that dusty spot, full of spider web, and extracted a folded parchment paper, darkened by time, with thirty-one centimeters by seven, on which the following stanza was written, in large characters of the time:





Moy le Roy Henry trois octroys cette espinette
A Baltasarini, mon gay musician,
Mais sis dit mal soñe, ou bien ma moult simplette
Lors pour mon souvenir dans lestuy garde bien.
Henry

I, King Henry III, give this harpsichord
to Baltasarini, my joyful musician,
for good or worse, but much simply
as a memory from me, keep it in the case.
Henry



The parchment has holes on the four corners that are evidently due to the nails that fixed it on the case. Besides, it has several holes regularly aligned and spaced on the borders, apparently made by small nails. It was exhibited in the sessions room at the Society, and we all had the pleasure to examine it, as well as the harpsichord, on which Mr. Bach played and sang the aria that we referred, and that was revealed to him in his dream. The verse dictated verses, as it can be seen, reproduced the same thought as in the original, translated into modern language, and all that before the latter was discovered. The third verse is obscure and contains the word “ma” that seems to have no meaning and not be connected to the main idea, and in the original it is on a thin thread. We tried unsuccessfully to find an explanation for that, and Mr. Bach did not have one either. One day, I was in his house, and he spontaneously got a communication from Baldazzarini, in my presence and in our intention, in the following terms:



“My friend,

I am happy with you; you wrote those verses on my harpsichord; my promised was accomplished and now I am tranquil. (reference to other verses dictated to Mr. Bach and that Baldazzarini had asked to have them written on the instrument). I am to have a word with the wise President that is visiting you.



“O toi Allan Kardec, dont les travaux utiles

Instruisent chaque jour des spirites nouveaux,

Tu ne nous fais jamais des questions futiles;

Aussi les bons Esprits éclairent tes travraux.

Mais il te faut lutter contre les ignorants

Qui, sur notre terre, se croyeyen des savants.

Ne te rebute pas; la fâche est dificile;

Pour lout propagateur fût-ce jamais facile?”



Oh you, Allan Kardec, whose useful works
instruct new Spiritists every day,
never addresses us with useless questions;
May the good spirits, therefore, illuminate your works,
but it is necessary to fight against the ignorant
that, on Earth, believe to be wise.
Do not be discouraged; the task is difficult;
Has it ever been easy to the propagators?



The King used to make fun of my pronunciation in his verses; I always said “ma” instead of mas. Good-bye friend.”

Baldazzarini





That is how the explanation of this word ma was given, without any prior question. It is the Italian word meaning but, sprinkled with jest, by which the king designated Baldazzarini, who, like many of his nation, often pronounced it. So the king, giving this token to his musician, said to him: If it is not good, if it sounds bad, or if my (Baldazzarini) finds it too simple, of too little value, let him keep it in its case, as a memory from me. The word “ma” is surrounded by a rule, like a word in parentheses. We would certainly have sought this explanation for a long time, which could not reflect the thinking of Mr. Bach. since he himself did not understand it. But the Spirit saw that we needed it to complete our report, and he took the opportunity to give it to us without us thinking of asking him, for when Mr. Bach began to write, we did not know, like him, what Spirit was communicating.



One important question was still open, to know if the handwriting on the parchment was, in fact, that of Henry III. Mr. Bach searched the Imperial Library to compare it to the original manuscripts. Some were found, in the beginning, that did not show perfect similarity, but only the same type of letter. With some other pieces, the identity was absolute, both to the body of the text as well as the signature. The difference resulted from the fact that the King’s calligraphy was variable, a circumstance that will be explained later.



There could not be any doubt about the authenticity of that piece, although certain persons, that have a radical opinion about things called supernatural, pretended that it was a very accurate imitation. One must observe that here it is not about a mediumistic writing given by the spirit of the king, but an original manuscript written by the king himself, when alive, and that it is not more supernatural than those that fortuitus circumstances allow to discover every day. The supernatural, if it exists, is only in the way its existence was revealed. It is very true that if Mr. Bach had said that he had found it by chance in his instrument, there would not have been any objection raised.



These events had been reported in the session at the Society, on January 19^th, 1866, in which Mr. Bach was present. Mr. Morin, member of the Society, somnambulistic and very lucid medium, and that in his magnetic sleep sees and communicates with the Spirits, attended the session in a somnambulistic state. During the first part of the session, dedicated to multiple readings, correspondence and to the report of facts, Mr. Morin, that was not involved, seemed to be in mental conversations with invisible beings. He smiled at them and exchanged handshakes. When his turn came, he was asked to name the Spirits that he saw and that he asked them to transmit, through him, whatever they wanted to say for our instruction. Not a single question was addressed to him. We only summarized some of the past events, to give an idea of the development of the session, and to get to the main subject of our concern.



“It would be impossible to name them all, he said, for the number is too large; as a matter of fact, there are many that you do not know and that come here to get instructed. Most of them wanted to speak but yield to those that at this time have more important things to say. To begin with it is by or side our colleague Mr. Didier, the last to depart to the world of he Spirits, that does not miss any of our gatherings, and that I see exactly as I did when alive, with the same physiognomy; one could say that he is here with his material body; he just no longer coughs. He transmits his impressions to me, his opinion about current affairs, and assigns me with the task of transmitting his words. Then comes a young man that committed suicide recently in special circumstances, describing his situation, presenting a phase kind of new, about the state of certain suicide persons after death, given the determining causes of the suicide and their state of mind.



Then comes Mr. B…, a keen Spiritist who died a few days back following a cardiac surgery, and that had immersed in his faith and prayer to endure his long sufferings with courage and resignation. What a recognition I owe to Spiritism, he says. Without it I would certainly had ended my tortures and would be like this young man that you just saw. The thought of suicide occurred to me more than once, but I always rejected it. If not, my fate would have been very sad. Today I am happy, very happy, thanks to our brothers that assisted me with their charitable prayers. If they only knew the healthy and soothing emanations that their heartful prayers cast upon one’s sufferings!

But then, continues the somnambulist, where are you taking me? To a miserable shelter! There is a dying young man there, the chest in pain… misery is absolute: no heat, nothing to eat! His wife, exhausted by fatigue and deprivation, can no longer work… Ah the last and sad resource… She is bald, her hair sold for a few cents… How many days still to live? It is horrible!”



When asked to provide the address of that poor people, he said: “Wait”. He then seems to listen to what he is told; he takes a pencil and writes a name, with the address. On the following morning it was verified and accurately confirmed.



He got over the emotion and his Spirit returned to the place of the session, and spoke further about other people and several things that were highly significant and served as motive of instruction to our spiritual guides, and that we will deal with on another opportunity.



He suddenly exclaimed: “But there are Spirits of all kinds here! Some were princes, kings. There is one that steps forward; has a long and pale face, with a projected goatee, wearing a cap with a spark on top. He asks me to tell you this: - the parchment that you mentioned was, in fact, written by me and I owe you an explanation about it. In my days it was not so easy to write as it is today, particularly to persons in my position. The materials were less adequate and improved; writing was slower, thicker, and heavier; that I how it reflected the impressions of the soul. As you know, my humor was not stable, and depending on the mood the character of my writing changed. That is what explains the difference in the manuscripts that remains. When I wrote that parchment to my musician, and sent him the harpsichord, I was in a good mood. If you look into my manuscripts and find those in which the writing is similar to this one you will be able to identify my state of mind, by the matters that are treated, and you will have another proof of identity.”



Regarding the discovery of this manuscript, mentioned in the Grand Journal on January 14^th, the same journal published the following article on its January 21^st issue:



“Let us get to the bottom of the correspondence issue, mentioning the letter from Mrs. Countess of Martino, with respect to the harpsichord of Mr. Bach. The Countess of Martino is persuaded that the supernatural correspondent of Mr. Bach is an imposter since he should have signed Baldazzarini and not Baltazzarini that is kitchen style Italian.”



To begin with this quarrel about the spelling of a proper name is childish and that the accusation of imposter, in the absence of the invisible correspondent in which the Countess does not believe, falls upon an honorable man, something that is not of very good taste. Second, Baldazzarini, just a musician, a kind of minstrel, could not dominate the Italian language in its purity, in times when one would not pride oneself for being educated. Would the identity of a French person be contested on the ground that he writes kitchen style French, and don’t we see people that cannot correctly write their own name? Based on his origin, Baldazzarini would not be much above the kitchen. But such a criticism falls before a fact: the French, not much familiar with the nuances of the Italian orthography, on hearing that name naturally wrote it the French way. King Henry III himself, in the stanza mentioned above, simply write Baltasarini, although he was not a cook. That is what happened to the ones the sent the report of the event to the Grand Journal. As for the musician, in the several communications that were given to Mr. Bach, and from which we have several originals in our hands, signed Baldazzarini and sometimes Baldazzarrini, as it can be verified. It is not his fault but of those that quickly “Frenchisized” the name, including ourselves in the first place.



It is truly remarkable to see the adversaries of Spiritism clinching onto such childishness, an evident demonstration of their lack of good reasons.

One of our correspondents from the Boulogne-Sur-Mer sends us the following, dated December 24^th, 1865:



“A few days ago I heard that in Équihen, a fishermen’s village near Boulogne, in the house of a very rich farmer by the name L…, events took place with the character of spontaneous physical manifestations, and that reminds us of those of Grandes-Ventes, near Dieppe, of Poitiers, Marseille, etc. Every day, around seven o’clock in the evening, people hear knocks and a lot of noise from objects rolling on the floor. A locked dresser opens, and the clothes are thrown in the middle of the bedroom; the beds, in particular of the daughter of the house, are brusquely undone several times. Although the population was not involved with Spiritism, and even less knew the meaning of those things, they thought the author of that shambles, whose cause had been unsuccessfully investigated and stalked, could well be the brother of Mr. L…, former officer that had died two years ago in Algeria. As it seems, he was promised, by the relatives, that if he would fall in combat, the body would be brought to Équihen. That promise was not kept and that is why they supposed it was the Spirit of that brother that would come daily, for six weeks, to disturb the house and consequently the whole village. The clergy was shaken by the phenomena. Four local priests and from the surrounding region, and later five Redemptorists and three or four nuns came to exorcise the Spirit, but all that uselessly. Since they could not stop the noises, Mr. L… was advised to go to Algeria and find the body of the brother, which he promptly did. Before he left they had the whole family confessing and doing the communion; then they said there was the need to celebrate masses, in particular a sung mass, and then praying masses every day. There was one and then the Redemptorists were in charge of the others. The ladies L… were strictly requested to muffle the noises and tell anyone that came to know about it that the noise was produced by the rats. Besides, they should refrain from publicizing those rumors because that would be a serious offense to God, since there is a sect that tries to destroy religion; that if they heard about it they would try to use it to harm the religion, and in that case they would be liable before God; that it was unfortunate that the word was already out.



From that moment the doors were locked and barricaded, the entry of the backyard carefully locked and the entrance blocked from all those that came to hear the noises every night. But if all doors were locked the same cannot be said of all tongues, and the rats worked so well that they were heard over a radius of about 35 miles^[1]. Jesters said that they had seen the rats chewing pieces of underwear, but not throwing them out of the bedrooms or opening locked doors. They said that the rats were likely of a new species, imported by a foreign ship. We wait impatiently to have them shown to the public.”



The same episode was reported to us by other two correspondents. A first consideration sticks out of all that, the fact that the persons of the clergy, and that were numerous and interested in finding a common cause, had not failed to reveal it, in case it did exist, and even more they would not have prescribed the little lie of the rats, or face the displeasure of God. They, therefore, acknowledge the influence of a hidden power. But why is that exorcism is always impotent in similar cases? For that there is a peremptory explanation, for starters: the exorcism addresses the demons; but the knocking and obsessing Spirits are human beings and not demons; exorcism, therefore, does not reach them. Second, exorcism is an anathema and a threat that irritates the bad Spirit, and not an instruction capable of touching him and re-directing him to the good path. In the present circumstance those gentlemen recognized that it could be the Spirit of the brother that died in Algeria, otherwise they would not have advised to fetch the body so that the promise would be kept; they would not have recommended masses that cannot be celebrated in favor of demons.



What can we then make of the doctrine of those that pretend that only the demons can manifest and that such a power is denied to mankind? If a human Spirit can do it in this case, why he could not do the same in other cases? Why a good and benevolent Spirit cannot communicate through other means, besides violence, to be remembered by the loved ones and give them wise advices?



It is necessary to be consistent with oneself. Say it, with all letters and once for all, that only the demons, without exception: we will believe whatever we want. Or, otherwise, recognize that the Spirits are the souls of people and that among them there are good and bad ones that can manifest.



There is here a special question, from the Spiritist point of view. Why would the Spirits bother with the fact that their bodies are in a place instead of another? The Spirits of a certain elevation do not give importance to this, absolutely, but the least advanced are not detached from matter, to the point of not given importance of terrestrial things, as with many examples given by Spiritism.



But here the Spirit may be driven by another motive, of reminding his brother that he did not keep his promise, a negligence that he could not forgive for lack of resources, since he was rich. He could, perhaps, thought: “Well, my brother is dead, and he will not come to hold his claim, and this will be a large avoided expense.” Or, suppose that the brother held his word and promptly went to Algeria but did not find the body, given the mess in war, and that he had brought another body instead of the brother; the latter would not be less satisfied because the moral duty was accomplished. The Spirits tell us incessantly: “Thought is everything. The form is nothing. Let us not attach to it.”

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[1] Ten leagues in the original = approximately 34.5 miles (T.N.)

How many times have they not said that Spiritism is dead and buried! How many writers have already flattered themselves of having given it the coup de grace, some for having used swear words seasoned with coarse salt, others for having discovered a charlatan under the cover of Spiritist, or some a crude imitation of a phenomenon! Not to mention all the sermons, warrants and brochures from the source, from which the least believed to have thrown the lightning bolt, the appearance of ghosts in theaters greeted with a “hurray” down the line.



“We got the secret of the Spiritists” – screamed the papers over and over again, small, and large, from the Perpignan to the Dunkerque - “they shall never stand up again from this blow!”. Then came the Davenport brothers, apostles, and supreme priests of Spiritism that they did not know, and that no Spiritist knew either. After that Mr. Robin enjoyed the glory of salving France and humanity for the second time, while striving with his theater business. The press built a crown to this courageous defender of common sense, to that wise man that had discovered the threads of Spiritism, like Dr. Jobert (de Lamballe) had discovered the threads of the muscle that raps. The Davenport brothers, however, left without the honors of the war; the muscle that raps drowned, and Spiritism is doing very well. It does evidently demonstrate that it is neither the ghosts of Mr. Robin nor the ropes and tambourines of the Davenports, nor the “Peroneus brevis” muscle.^[1] Therefore it is another failed attack.



But this time, this is the true and good one, and it is impossible to have Spiritism standing up again. It is the “The Event”, “The National Opinion” and “The Grand Journal” that teach us and affirm. A rather bizarre this is that Spiritism likes to reproduce all the facts that are opposed to it, and which, according to its adversaries, must kill it. If they were considered too dangerous it would keep them quiet. Here’s what it is about:



“The renowned English actor Sothem has just published a letter in a Glasgow newspaper that gives the last blow to Spiritism. The paper criticized him for ruthlessly attacking the Davenport brothers and the followers of the occult influences, after having himself entertained sessions of Spiritism in America, with the name Sticart, now his pseudonym in the theater. Mr. Sothem confesses to have frequently showed his friends that he could reproduce all the trickeries of the Spiritists, and even produce more fantastic tricks, but that his experiments had never taken place outside a small circle of friends and acquaintances.



He had never asked anyone to come up with a single cent, since he covered all the expenses himself, after which he joined his friends in a joyful dinner. With the help of a very active American, he obtained the most curious results: the apparition of ghosts, sounds of instruments, the signature of Shakespeare, invisible hands caressing the hair of spectators, slapping them, etc. Mr. Sothem always said that all that magic was the result of ingenious trickeries, skill, and dexterity, without the participation of the Spirits from the other world. In short, the celebrity artist declares that he challenges the Hume, the Davenports and all the Spiritists of the world to make some manifestation that he cannot overcome.



He never thought of making profession out of his skills but just embarrass the swindlers that insult religion and steal money from the public, making believe that they have a supernatural power; that they can communicate with the other world; that they can evoke the soul of the dead. Mr. Sothem does not go around the bushes to give his opinion. He gives things their actual names; to him, a cat is a cat and the Rollets… they are thieves.”



The Davenports had two things against them that our adversaries acknowledge: the theatrical exhibitions and exploitation. Believing in good faith – at least we like to admit it – that Spiritism consists of strong gimmicks from the part of the Spirits, the adversaries expected that the Spiritists would take sides with those gentlemen; they were a little disappointed when they saw the Spiritists, on the contrary, discredit that kind of manifestations as harmful to the principles of the doctrine, demonstrating that it is illogical to admit that the Spirits are always at the service of the first one that shows up, willing to use them to make money.

Certain critics, out of their own initiative, used this argument against the Davenports, unwilling defending the cause of Spiritism. The idea of bringing the Spirits to the stage and turning them into accomplices in their own interest led to a general feeling of repulsion, even in the non-believers, who said: “We do not believe in Spirits but if they do exist that is not how they should present themselves, and we must treat them with more respect.” They did not believe, and correctly so, that Spirits would do a session against a price, from which we can conclude that the exhibition and exploitation of extraordinary things are the worst means of making proselytes. If Spiritism supported such things this would be its weakness. Its adversaries know it so well that they do not let go the tiniest opportunity to touch it, believing to hit the doctrine. Mr. Gérôme, from the “Univers Illustré”, responding to Mr. Blanc de Lalésie (see the December issue of the Spiritist Review) that criticized him for speaking of something that he did not know, said: “I studied Spiritism in practice with the Davenports, and that cost me 15 francs. It is true that the Davenport brothers today work for lesser amounts: one can see the falsehood for 3 or 4 francs, practically the prices of Robin!”



The author of the article about the cataleptic of Swabia, who is not a Spiritist (see the January isse) is careful enough to point out, as a proof of confidence in these extraordinary phenomena, that her parents do not absolutely intend to benefit from the strange faculties of their daughter.



The exploitation of the Spiritist idea is, therefore, and undoubtedly, reason for discredit. The Spiritists deauthorize speculation, and that is why Mr. Sothem was carefully presented as selfless, in hopes of turning him into a successful argument. It is always the same thought that Spiritism lives of the wonderful and trickeries.



May the critics beat the abuse as much as they like; let them unmask deception and the ropes of charlatans, and Spiritism, that does not use any secret process, and whose doctrine is totally moral, can only win by being disentangled from the parasites that utilize it as a stepping stone that stains its character.



Spiritism had adversaries of real value in knowledge and intelligence, that unsuccessfully launched a whole arsenal of argumentation against it. We will see if the actor Sothem will have more success than the others to have it buried. It would have been buried long ago if it were founded on the absurd that have been attributed to it. However, if after charlatanism is dead, and the ridiculous practices are discredited, if it continues to exist, it means that there is something more serious in Spiritism that was not possible to reach.

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[1] See the Spiritist Review issue of June 1859: The rapping muscle. The Monitor and other newspapers announced some time ago that Dr. Jobert (de Lamballe) had been taken ill by a mental disease and was presently in a health facility.

The avidity with which the detractors of Spiritism collect the least news that they believe to be unfavorable to the doctrine expose them to singular mistakes. Their rush in having them published is such that they have no time to verify their accuracy. As a matter of fact, what does it matter the effort! The truth of the matter is secondary; it is essential to exalt the ridicule. Such urgency, sometimes, has its drawbacks, and in any case, it attests a lightheartedness that is far from supporting the criticism.



Formerly, swindlers were called simply escamoteurs; this word fell in discredit and was replaced by conjurors, still reminded a lot the jugglers (glass jugglers). The famous Conte, as it seems, was the first to adorn himself with the title of physicist, obtaining the privilege, in the Restauration, to write in his announcements and on the façade of his theater: Physicist of the King. From there on every schemer would go around fairs giving themselves the title physicist, physics professor, etc., a way of throwing dust onto the eyes of a certain public that, by not knowing better, in good faith place them on the same level as physicists from the Faculty of Sciences.



The art of prestidigitation has made immense progress and one cannot contest the fact that some do practice it with skill, special knowledge, a real talent, and an honest character. But this never goes beyond the art of producing illusion with more or less dexterity, and it is not a serious science with a place at the Institute.^[1]



Mr. Robin acquired, in that regard, a celebrity that had a lot of contribution from the Davenport brothers. Those gentlemen, with or without reason, used to say that they acted with the help of the Spirits. Would it be a new way of attracting curiosity, leaving behind worn out strategies? This is not the place to discuss the matter. In any case, for the simple fact that they pretended to be agents of the Spirits, those that do not admit them absolutely will shout: Wait! Mr. Robin, as a skillful man, quickly benefited from the opportunity. He declares to do the same effect by simple magic. By judging the Spirits dead, the critic boasts victory and proclaim him the winner.



But enthusiasm is blind and sometimes make strange mistakes. There are many Robins in the world, as there are many Martins. Lo and behold, a certain Mr. Robin, professor of physics, has just been elected a member of the Academy of Sciences. There could be no doubt, it must be Mr. Robin, the physicist from the boulevard du Temple, the rival of the Davenport brothers, that destroy the Spirits every night in his theater, and without much more information, a serious newspaper, The National Opinion, publishes the following on its Saturday, January 20^th:



“The events of the week must be wrong. There was, among them, some very curious ones. For example, the election of Charles Robin for the Academy of Sciences. We have defended his candidacy here for a long time, but there was a lot of outcry against it in several places. Fact is that this name, Robin, has something of diabolic. Remember Robin des Bois. Wasn’t Robin the name of the hero of Memories of the Devil? Mr. Robin is a physicist as wise as kind, who tied a sleigh bell onto the neck of the Davenports? The bell grew, grew and grew until it became larger than the large bell in Notre-Dame. The miserable swindlers, deaf by the noise that they produced, had to flee to America and America itself rejects them. Great victory of common sense; defeat of the supernatural! It counted on a vengeance against the Academy of Sciences and made tremendous efforts to exclude such enemy, this illustrious non-believer called Charles Robin. Lo and behold, the supernatural is again defeated at the heart of this thoughtful Academy. Mr. Robin will take a seat on the left side of Pasteur. And we are no longer in the times of sweet fables, in the happy and regretted time in which the shepherd’s crook imposed on Robin sheep!

Ed. About.”



To whom the mystification? We would be tempted to believe that some evil Spirit led the pen of the author of the article.



Here another misunderstanding that, despite being less funny, still demonstrates the lightheartedness with which the critic welcomes, without examination, everything that is believed to be contrary to Spiritism, and that despite everything that has been said, adamantly associates to the Davenport brothers, concluding that everything that is harmful to those gentlemen is also to the Doctrine, which in turn is not more supportive of those that take its name than true physics is not supportive of those that steal the title of physicist.



Several newspapers promptly reproduced the following article from the Franco-American Messenger. They should know, better than anybody else, that not everything that is printed is the word of the Gospel:



“Those poor Davenport brothers could not escape the ridicule that awaits charlatans of all sorts. Believed and praised in the USA, where they have made money, then unveiled and mocked in the capital of France, less easy to endure the humbug, they had to receive, in the very room of their great exploits in New York, the last deserved denial. It has just been given to them, Saturday night, in the presence of a large audience, by their former accomplice, Mr. Fay, in a room of the Cooper Institute.



Mr. Fay revealed everything there, the secrets of the famous armoire, the secret of the ropes and knots and all trickeries successfully employed for so long. Human comedy! When we think that serious and educated people admired and defended the Davenport brothers, and that called Spiritism the falsehoods that might be acceptable during carnival!”



We do not have to defend the Davenports, whose exhibitions we have always condemned as contrary to the principles of the sound Spiritist Doctrine. But, irrespective of the opinion one may have about them, the truth of the matter is that we must say that it was a mistake to infer in that article that they were in NY where they were mocked.



We know from a worthy source that after they left Paris they went to England, where they remain now. Mr. Fay that would have unveiled their secrets is not their brother-in-law, William Fay, that follows them, but a H. Melville Fay, that used to produce similar tricks in America and that is mentioned in their biography, with the recommendation of not confounding them. There is nothing strange about the fact that that gentleman was competing with them and thought convenient to take advantage of their absence to prank and discredit them to his own benefit. Spiritism could not be seen in that fight for the phenomenon. This is what can be gathered from the end of the article, when it says: “When we think that serious and educated people admired and defended the Davenport brothers, and that called Spiritism the falsehoods that might be acceptable during carnival! This statement has an air of censorship addressed to those who confuse so disparate things.



The Davenport brothers offered the detractors of Spiritism occasion or pretext for a formidable upheaval, before which Spiritism stood up calm and impassive, continuing its journey unmoved by the noise around. Something worth noticing is the fact that its followers, far from being scared, unanimously considered such effervescence useful to the cause, certain that Spiritism can only gain from being known. The critic attacked the Davenports with all its weapons, believing that with them they would kill Spiritism. If Spiritism did not scream it is because it was not hurt. What the critic killed was exactly what Spiritism condemns and disapproves: exploitation, public exhibitions, charlatanism, fraudulent maneuvers, gross imitations of natural phenomena that are produced under much different conditions, the abuse of a name that represents a totally moral doctrine, of love and charity. After such a tough punishment we believe that any attempt to find fortune through similar means would be reckless.



It is true that this has led to some confusion in the mind of some persons, a kind of very natural hesitation on those that only heard the censorship with partiality, not separating the true from the false. But a greater good came out of that evil: the desire to get to know that can only be beneficial to the Doctrine.



Thanks to the critics, then, for having done, through the help of the powerful means that they have, what the Spiritists could not have done by themselves. It pushed the matter a few years ahead, and once more convinced its adversaries of their importance. As a matter of fact, the public has heard the name Davenport so much that this begins to be as boring as the scream of Lambert.



It is time for the chronicle to find a new subject to explore.

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[1] That is how the French Academy of Sciences (Est. 1666) was referred to in those days (T.N.)