Spiritist Review - Journal of Psychological Studies - 1865

The agitation caused by the Davenport brothers begins to calm down. After the blow swung by the press against them and Spiritism there are only a few shooters left that here and turn fire the last shots, waiting for another subject that may excite public curiosity. Who are the winners? Is Spiritism dead? They will soon find out. Let us suppose that criticism had killed the Davenports, something that is not of our concern. What would be the outcome? What we said in the preceding article. In their ignorance about Spiritism they shot at those gentlemen, exactly like the hunter shots at a cat thinking that it is a hare: the cat is dead but the hare is still running.



It is what happens to Spiritism, that was not nor could be reached by the attacks it receives on its flanks. The critic was then wrong and that could have been avoided had they known Spiritism. There was enough warning. Some writers even confessed the influence of the refutations that came from all sides, and that from the part of the most honorable persons. Shouldn’t that be an eye opener to them? They were, however, walking on a path from which they did not want to back up; they needed to be right at any price. Many of such refutations were sent to us. All of them were distinguished by a moderation that contrasts with the language of our adversaries, and most of them are fair in their appreciation. It is certain that nobody wanted to impose an opinion to those gentlemen, but it is a duty of impartiality to admit corrections, in order to give public opinion the necessary conditions to analyze the pros and cons. Now, since it is more convenient to be right when one is talking to oneself, many of those corrections did not see the light of publicity. Who knows if even their majority were read? We must then be grateful to the newspapers that were less exclusivists. Among them we find the “Journal des Pyrénées-Orientales”, that in its last issue of October 8^th, published the following letter:



“Perpignan, October 5^th, 1865



Dear Mr. Editor,

I do not wish to get into the controversy; I just request your fairness in allowing me, just once, to respond to the open attacks found in the Parisian Letter, published in the last issue of your Journal, against the Spiritists and Spiritism. The true Spiritists, like the true Catholics, do not give public spectacles. They are embedded in the respect of their faith, they aspire for the general progress of everybody, and they do not seek to proselytize on stages. With respect to the Davenport brothers, there would be a lot to say in order to repudiate the errors of the author of those sarcastic attacks. I will just say that since God gave mankind free-will, the act of precluding someone’s belief, or censoring someone’s thoughts is like placing oneself above God, and consequently, a huge sin of pride. When we say that this new science has made immense progress, and that many cities count on large number of followers; that it has its headquarters and presidents, and that its meetings count on the attendance of scholars, renowned people for their positions in the civil and military societies, in law and magistracy, when we say that isn’t the same as saying that Spiritism is based on the truth? If Spiritism is a mistake why are people worried about it? Mistakes have only a short existence, like a will-o-the-wisp that lasts a few hours and disappears. If, on the contrary, it is a truth, however much you try you cannot destroy it. Truth is like light: only the blind ones deny its beauty. Some also say that Spiritism has provoked cases of mental disorder. I say this: Spiritism has not caused madness as well as Christianity and the other cults are not responsible for the cases of mental illnesses that many times are found among the followers of those several religions. Badly informed minds are subjected to enthusiasm and misunderstandings. Let us then leave, once for all, this last argument at the arsenal of the outdated weapons.



I finish this answer by saying that Spiritism came to destroy nothing but the belief in the eternal punishments. It strengths our faith in God; makes it evident that the soul is immortal and that the Spirit depurates and progresses through the reincarnations; it demonstrates that the different social positions have a reason; it teaches us to withstand our trials, whatever they may be; finally, it demonstrates to us that there is only one path leading us to God: the love for good and charity!



With my most sincere thanks and respectful greetings, I have the honor of being your server,

Breux.”



All the refutations that we have before us and that were addressed to the newspapers, protest the confusion that was made between Spiritism and the sessions by the Davenports. If the critics insist in making them the same, it is because the want to do so.


Note: In an article that we must postpone to the next issue given the lack of space, we will examine the most important propositions that stick out from the controversy generated around the Davenport brothers.