The
France, on September 14
th, 1866 reads:
“The robust faith of people who still believe in all the wonders, so often denied, of Spiritism, is indeed admirable. We show them the turntable thing, and they believe; they are exposed to the deceptions of the Davenport wardrobe, and they believe more strongly; we show them all the tricks, we make them touch the lie with their finger, we put their eyes out by the evidence of charlatanism, and their belief becomes all the more fierce. Inexplicable need for the impossible! “Creed quia absurdum.[1]The Franco-American Messenger, from New York, speaks of a convention of followers of Spiritism, that has just been held in Providence (Rhode-Island). Men and women are distinguished by an air of the other world; the paleness of the skin, the emaciation of the face, the prophetic reverie of the eyes, lost in an oceanic wave, such are, in general, the external signs of the Spiritist. In addition, contrary to the general usage, the women have their hair cut short, unhappy, as they used to say, while the men wear full, absalonic[2] hair, all down to the shoulders. On dealing with the Spiritist, it is necessary to distinguish from the common mortals, from the vile multitude.Several speeches, too many speeches, were given. The speakers, without worrying more about the denials of science than those of common sense, imperturbably recalled the long series, that everyone knows by heart, of the marvelous facts attributed to Spiritism.Mis. Susia Johnson said that, not willing to pose as a prophetess, she foresaw that the times are near when the great majority of men will no longer be rebellious to the mystical revelations of the new religion. She calls, with all her wishes, for the creation of many schools, where children of both sexes will learn, from an early age, the teachings of Spiritism. That is all that is missing! "With the title: Always the Spiritist! The “Événement”, of August 26
th, 1866 published a very long article, from which we extracted the following passage:
“
Have you ever been to a Spiritist meeting, in an evening of idleness or curiosity? It is a friend that usually takes you. We go high upstairs – the Spirits like to approach the sky – in some small apartment already full; you get inside by elbowing.People are piling up, with bizarre faces, and rude gestures. We stifle in this atmosphere, we squeeze, we lean towards the tables where mediums, eyes to the ceiling, pencil in hand, write the rantings that pass by. It is a surprise, to begin with; they seek, among all these people, to rest one’s gaze, they question, they guess, and analyze.Old women with greedy eyes, slim and tired young people, the promiscuity of ranks and ages, porters and great ladies of the neighborhood, wearing cotton and guipures[3], of poetesses by chance and prophetesses by encounter, tailors and laureates of the Institute[4]; all fraternizing in Spiritism. They wait, turn the tables, they lift them, they read out lout the doodles that Homer or Dante have dictated to the seated mediums. These mediums are motionless, their hand on the paper, dreaming. Suddenly the hand shakes, runs, struggles, covers the pages, goes, goes again and suddenly stops. Someone then, in the silence, names the Spirit that has just dictated and reads. Ah! those readings!This is how I heard Cervantes complain about the demolition of the Théâtre des Délassements-Comiques, and Lamennais say that Jean Journet was his close friend there. Most of the time Lamennais makes spelling mistakes, and Cervantes does not know a word of Spanish. At other times, the Spirits borrow an angelic pseudonym to reward their audience with some Pantagruel apothegm. They cry out. Then hear back: - We will complain to your leader!The medium that traced the sentence grew gloomy and annoyed, at being in contact with such evil spirits. I asked to which legion these deceivers from the other world belonged, and I was answered bluntly: - They are rogue spirits!I know of some more amiable ones. For example, the drafter Spirit that pushed the hand of Mr. Victorien Sardou, and made him draw the image of the house in which Beethoven lives up there. Profusion of foliage, interweaving of quavers[5]and semi quavers, it is a work of patience that would require months, and that was done in one night. At least that is what I was told. Mr. Sardou alone could convince me of this.Poor human brain, and how painful these things are to tell! We have therefore not taken a step on the side of Reason and Truth! Or, at least, the battalion of stragglers grows bigger every day, as we advance! It is formidable, it is almost an army. Do you know how many people are possessed in France today? More than two thousand.The possessed have their president, Mrs. de B…, that since the age of two, has lived in direct contact with the Virgin. Two thousand! Auvergne has kept its miracles, the Cévennes still have their Camisards. The books of Spiritism, the treatises of mysticism have seven, eight, ten editions. The marvelous is indeed the disease of a time that, having nothing in mind to satisfy itself, takes refuge in chimeras, like a weakened stomach deprived of meat that feeds on ginger.And the number of madmen is increasing! Delirium is like a rising tide. What light then must be found, to destroy this darkness, since electric light is not enough?”Jules Claretie It would be wrong to get angry with such adversaries, because they believe, with such good faith and so naively, that they have the monopoly on common sense! What is as amusing as the singular portraits they make of the Spiritists, is to see them moan painfully over these poor human brains, that do not take any step on the side of reason and truth, because they really want to have a soul and believe in the other world, despite the cost of eloquence of unbelievers to prove that there is none, for the happiness of humanity; it is their regret, at the sight of these Spiritist books that sell out without the help of ads, propaganda and paid praises by the press; of this battalion of stragglers of reason, that – a desperate thing! – grows bigger every day, and becomes so formidable that it is almost an army; that having nothing in front of their mind to satisfy them, are foolish enough to refuse the prospect of nothingness, that is offered to them to fulfil the void. It is really to despair of this poor humanity, illogical enough not to prefer anything in exchange for something, to prefer to live again than to die altogether.
These jokes, these grotesque images, more amusing than dangerous, and that would be childish to take seriously, have their instructive side, and that is why we cite a few examples. In the past, they tried to fight Spiritism with arguments, bad ones, no doubt, since they convinced nobody, but finally they tried to discuss the thing, good or bad; men of real value, speakers and writers, searched for an arsenal of objections to fight it. What has come out of it? Their books are forgotten, and Spiritism is standing; that is a fact. Today, there are still a few mockers of the strength that we have just cited, little concerned with the value of arguments, for whom laughing at everything is a necessity, but they no longer discuss; the opposing controversy seems to have exhausted its ammunition. The adversaries content themselves with moaning over the progress of what they call a calamity, as one moaned over the progress of an unstoppable flood; but the offensive weapons to combat the doctrine have made no advance, and if they have not yet found the armament that can bring it down, it is not for a lack of search for it.
It would be useless to refute things that refute themselves. There is only one word to answer to the complaints that the newspaper
France precedes the burlesque portrait that it borrows from the American newspaper. If the faith of the Spiritists resists the revelation of the tricks and strings of charlatanism, it is because that is not Spiritism; if, the more fraudulent maneuvers are brought to light, the more faith redoubles, it is because you are struggling to fight precisely what it disavows and fights itself; if they are not shaken by your demonstrations, it is because you are missing the point. If when you strike, Spiritism does not scream, it is because you are hitting sideways, and then the mockers are not with you. By unmasking the abuses that one makes of a thing, one strengthens the very thing, as one strengthens the true religion by stigmatizing the abuses. It is only those that live on the abuse that can complain, in Spiritism as in religion.
Very strange contradiction! Those who preach social equality, see, under the empire of Spiritist beliefs, the prejudices of cast fade away, the extreme echelons come closer, the great and the small shake hands fraternally, and they laugh about it! In truth, reading these things one wonders on which side is the aberration.
[1] I believe because it is
absurd (Wikipedia.org, T.N.)
[2] Plentiful (T.N.)
[3] French bobbin lace (T.N.)
[4] French academy of sciences (T.N.)
[5] Quaver (British) = eighth note, semi quaver = sixteenth note (T.N.)
