The Journal de la Vienne carried the following fact on January 21st, also reproduced by other journals:
“Five or six days ago in Poitiers an extraordinary event took place that became theme of conversations and the strangest remarks. Every evening, starting at 6pm, singular noises are heard in a home located at Rue Neuve-Saint-Paul, inhabited by Ms. de O…, Count de O… sister. From what we were told the noises resemble the effect of artillery shooting. Violent blows seem to be reach doors and their structures. In the beginning people thought they were produced by kids or ill-faith neighbors. A stake out was organized and given Ms. de O… complaint the police took the matter seriously in minor details. Agents were placed inside and outside the house. The explosions, however, continued and we heard from good people that the night before the last one officer Mr. M… was taken by such a commotion that he is not fully aware yet today. Our whole town is concerned with such inexplicable mystery. Up until now the police inquiries have not led to any result. Everybody tries to decipher the enigma. Some persons initiated in Spiritism pretend that the authors of those manifestations are the rapping Spirits, not alien to a famous medium that nevertheless does not live in the region. Others bring up the memory that in old times there was a cemetery at Rue Neuve-Saint-Paul and hence it is unnecessary to say the conjectures that follow that idea. We do not know what is the most plausible of those explanations. Public opinion is still shocked by the case and last night a considerable crowd gathered by the window of Ms. O… house for what local authorities had to send the 10th regiment of hunters to evacuate the place. The police and the guard occupy the house as we speak.”
Similar reports were sent to us by multiple correspondents. Although they do not present anything stranger than the facts verified in manifestations occurred at different times and within the limits of the possible it is wise to keep judgment until a more thorough investigation not of the facts per se but of the causes since one must keep from attributing to the Spirits everything that one cannot understand. It is also necessary to be suspicious about maneuvers perpetrated by the enemies of Spiritism and the traps that they can lay down to try to ridicule it by the great belief of its followers.
We see with satisfaction that the Spiritists of Poitiers followed the advices found in The Mediums’ Book and the warnings we gave in the Spiritist Review and keep their reserved prudence until facts are further clarified. If it is a manifestation it will be demonstrated by a total lack of material cause; if it is a mockery the authors would have unwillingly contributed, as done many times before, to excite the interest of the indifferent and provoke the study of Spiritism. When analogous facts multiply everywhere, as it has been announced, and when the cause is uselessly sought in this world, people will have to realize that it is in the other one. In any case the Spiritists demonstrate their wisdom and moderation. It is the best answer to the adversaries.
