With that title Mr. Aug. Bez from Bordeaux has just published a report of manifestations of Jean Hillaire, notable medium whose faculties are much similar in several aspects to those of Mr. Home and go even beyond in some of them.
Mr. Home is a man of the world, kind and full of civility, only revealed to the highest aristocracy. Jean Hillaire is a simple peasant from Charente-Inferior, no much educated and that lives from his work. His greatest travels, as it seems, were from Sonnac, his village, to Saint-Jean-d’Angely and Bordeaux. But God, in the partition of the gifts, does not take into account social positions; God wants the light to shine in all levels of the social fabric and for that He gives as much to the great as to the small.
Criticism and hateful calumny did not spare Mr. Home. Without consideration to the authorities that honored him with their appreciation and received him and still do in their intimacy, as a guest and friend, the mocking disbelief that respects nothing started to denigrate his image, presenting him as a vile charlatan, a skillful rascal, in a word, a refined scoundrel. They did not stop even before the idea that such attacks would reach the honorability of the most respectable persons, for that very reason accused of comradery with a supposedly creator of delusions. We said already about him that it was only necessary to see him to believe that he would be the most awkward charlatan because he shows neither the shocking attitudes nor the loquaciousness of the charlatans, characteristics that are not compatible with his typical shyness. As a matter of fact who would believe that he had at any time put a price to his manifestations? The reason that a short while ago led him to Rome, from where he was expelled, was to learn about sculpture and turn that into his profession, being that the most formal belying of his adversaries. But never mind! They said that he is a charlatan and do not wish to take it back.
Those that know Hillaire were equally convinced that he would be an even more awkward charlatan. It is never too much to remind people that the drive of charlatanism is always personal interest; where there is nothing to gain charlatanism makes no sense; where there is something to lose, charlatanism is a stupidity. Now, what was the material benefit that Hillaire took from his faculties? A lot of fatigue, waste of time, upsets, persecutions and slander. What he gained and that for him has no price is a vivid faith that he did not have in God, in God’s mercy, in the immortality of the soul and in the protection of the good Spirits. That is not precisely the fruit sought by charlatanism. But he also knows that such a protection cannot be obtained but through one’s betterment. That is what he strives to do and that is not what attracts charlatans either. It is also what helps him to withstand vicissitudes and trials with patience.
In similar cases a guarantee of honesty is therefore in an absolute selflessness. Before accusing someone of charlatanism it is necessary to ask first what is the benefit that the person takes from deceiving? Charlatans are not silly enough to gain nothing and less still to lose instead of gaining.
The mediums, therefore, have a peremptory answer to give to the adversaries asking them: How much did you pay me to do what I do? A not less significant guarantee and capable of causing a remarkable impression is the reformation of oneself. It is only a profound belief that can lead a person to win over oneself, disentangling from what is bad and resisting the pernicious attractions. Then it is not only the faculty that we admire but the person that we respect, something that imposes on the mockery.
The manifestations obtained by Hillaire are something sacred to him. He considers them as a favor of God. The feelings inspired in him by those manifestations are summarized in the following words extracted from the book by Mr. Bez:
“The rumor about these phenomena spread everywhere with the speed of light. All that up until then had not witnessed Spiritist manifestation could not wait until the time they could see them. More than ever Hillaire was covered by requests and invitations from all corners. Money offers were made by several persons to convince him to give sessions in their homes but Hillaire always maintained his profound belief that his faculties were only given to him with the objective of doing charity to the soul of the disbelievers and to remove them from the materialism that destroys them mercilessly, throwing them into egotism and vanity.
Since the time God gave him the grace of using him as a server to clarify his countrymen and manifestations of such an elevated degree are produced through him, the simple medium of Sonnac considered his mediumship as a priesthood, persuading himself that the day he accepted the least contribution he would have his faculties removed or given away to the bad and mocking Spirits like a toy to be utilized to harm or mystify anyone that would still be unwise enough to come to him.
His economic situation, however, is very fragile. Without fortune he needs to win the daily bread with his sweat and many times the great fatigue that he experiences during some very important manifestations affects the forces that he needs to handle the shovel and the pickaxe, two instruments that he must always have in his hands.
At time when subdued, that like Jo had the object of testing his faith and resignation, Hillaire found asylum and assistance among grateful friends that owed him their consolation through Spiritism. Is it what one can call a sale of manifestations from the Spirits? Certainly not because that is a consolation that God sent him and that he could and should accept without qualms; his conscience may rest because he did not trade with the gifts that were given to him; he did not sell consolation to the afflicted souls or the faith that he gave to the non-believers. As for those that came to help him they carried out a duty of fraternity for which they shall be compensated.
Hillaire’s faculties are multiple. He is a clairvoyant medium of first order, hearing, speaking, ecstatic and still writes. He obtained direct writing and remarkable transportations. For several times he was lifted up and transposed the space without touching ground, something that is not more supernatural than seeing a table lifting up. All of the communications and manifestations through him attest the assistance of very good Spirits and they always take place in broad daylight. He frequently enters somnambulistic sleep and it is almost always in that state that the most extraordinary phenomena take place.
Mr. Bez is written com simplicity and without exaltation. The author not only says what he saw but also cites several visual witnesses, most of those showed personal interest on the manifestations. These would not let go without a protest any inaccuracy, particularly if attributing to them a role that was in opposition to what actually happened. The author, highly considered and liked in Bordeaux, would not have submitted himself to the exposure of being belied. A conscious man is recognized by his language who would have scruples to consciously alter the truth. As a matter of fact there isn’t a single phenomenon that does not find its explanation in The Medium’s Book.
Such a work differs from that of Mr. Home because instead of a simple report of events that were frequently repeated, without deductions or conclusions, almost all contains moral appreciations and philosophical considerations that make a book that is at the same time interesting and educational and in which the Spiritist is recognized, not only convinced but clarified.
As for Hillaire we congratulate him for his devotion, wishing that he may never lose sight of what is the most important merit of a medium which is not the transcendence of his faculties that may be removed at any time but the good use that he makes of that. The continuation of the assistance of the good Spirits depends on that because there is a great difference between well capacitated medium and a well assisted medium. The former only excites curiosity; the latter, touched in the heart, reacts morally upon others as a result of his moral qualities. In the interest of the cause as well as in his own interest we wish that the praises from friends, sometimes more enthusiasts than judicious, may not take away any of his simplicity and modesty and do not make him fall into the trap of pride that has already led to the loss of so many mediums.
