Mangin, the charlatan Everyone has known this pencil seller that, riding a richly decorated car, in a shiny helmet and a strange costume, was for many years one of the celebrities in the streets of Paris. He was not a vulgar charlatan, and those who knew him personally agreed that he had an unusual intelligence, a certain elevation in thought, and moral qualities above his nomadic profession. He died last year, and since then he has communicated spontaneously, several times, with one of our mediums. From the character that we have known, we will not be surprised at the philosophical veneer that we find in his communications.
Paris, December 20th, 1866 – Group of Mr. Desliens, medium Mr. Bertrand
The pencil
“The pencil is the word of the thought. Without the pencil, thought remains silent and misunderstood by your gross senses. The pencil is the offensive and defensive soul of thought; it is the hand that speaks and defends itself.
The pencil! … And especially the Mangin pencil! … Oh! sorry… here I am becoming selfish!… But why couldn’t I, as before, praise my pencils? Aren’t they good? ... Do you have anything to complain about? Ah! if I was still in my French vehicle with my Roman costume… you would believe me… I knew how to make my sales pitch so well, and the poor onlooker believed to be white what was black, quite simply because Mangin, the famous charlatan, said it! … I said charlatan… No, I must say marketeer… Come on! guys, untie the strings of your purses; buy these superb pencils, blacker than ink, and hard as stone… Quick, quick, the sale will end! … Ah! What am I saying then? … I believe, my word, that I am in the wrong role, and that I end very badly, after having started well…
All of you, armed with pencils, seated around this table, go tell and prove to the proud journalists that Mangin is not dead. Go tell those that forgot my merchandise, because I was no longer there to make them believe in their amazing qualities, go tell everyone that I still live, and that, if I died, it was to live better…
Ah! Messrs. journalists, you were laughing at me, and yet if, instead of seeing me as a charlatan, stealing people’s money, you had studied me more attentively and philosophically, you would have recognized a creature with reminiscences of his past. You would have understood the reason for my taste for this Roman warrior’s costume, why this love for harangues in public places. You would then have said that, no doubt, I had been a Roman soldier or general, and you would not be mistaken.
Let's go! let's go! buy pencils and use them; but use them handily, not like me to speak without motive, but to propagate this beautiful doctrine, that many of you only follow from afar.
So, arm yourself with your pencils, and make your way through this world of skepticism. Let all these incredulous Saint Thomas touch the sublime truths of Spiritism, that will one day make all men brothers.
Mangin”
Group of Mr. Delanne, January 14th, 1867 – medium Mr. Bertrand
The paper
“I have spoken of pencil and quackery, but I have not yet spoken of paper. I was probably saving it for this evening.
Ah! How much I would like to be paper; not when it degrades himself to do evil, but on the contrary, when it fulfills its real role that is to do good! In fact, paper is the instrument that together with the pencil, sows here and there the noble thoughts of the Spirit. Paper is the open book from which everyone can glance at useful advices for their earthly journey! ...
Ah! how much I would like to be paper, to fulfill, like paper, the role of moralizer and instructor, giving each one the necessary encouragement to courageously endure the evils that are so often the cause of so many shameful weaknesses! ...
Ah! if I were paper, I would abolish all egoistic and tyrannical laws, to let shine only those that proclaim equality. I would like to speak only of love and charity. I would like everyone to be humble and good, for the wicked to become better, for the proud to become humble, for the poor to become rich, for equality to finally emerge and be, in all mouths, the expression of truth, and not the hope of hiding selfishness and tyranny that all possess in the heart.
If I were paper, I would like to be white for innocence, green for the one that has no hope of relief from their ailments. I would like to be gold in the hands of the poor, happiness in the hands of the afflicted, balm in those of the sick. I would like to be the forgiveness of all offenses. I would not condemn, I would not curse, I would not throw anathema; I would not criticize maliciously; I wouldn't say anything that could harm others. Finally, I would do what you do: I would like to only teach good things and talk about this beautiful doctrine that unites you all and in all forms; I would always profess this sublime maxim: Love one another.
The one that would like to come back to earth, not a charlatan, not only to sell pencils, but to add the sale of paper, and that would tell everyone: the pencil cannot be useful without paper and paper cannot do without the pencil.
Mangin”
