AUTO-DA-FE IN BARCELONA. SEIZURE OF THE BOOKS.

At the request of Mr. Lachâtre, then residing in Barcelona, I had sent him a certain quantity of The Spirits' Book, The Mediums' Book, the collections of the Spiritist Review, besides various Spiritist works and pamphlets, making a total of about 300 volumes. The dispatch of the consignment had been regularly made by his correspondent in Paris, in a crate that contained other merchandise, and without the least infraction of the law. Upon the arrival of the books, the addressee was made to pay the entry duties, but, before they were delivered, a list of the works had to be handed over to the bishop, for, in that country, the policing of bookselling fell to the ecclesiastical authority. The bishop was then in Madrid. Upon his return, taking cognizance of the list of the books, he ordered that they be seized and burned in a public square by the hand of the executioner. The execution of the sentence was set for the 9th of October, 1861. Had an attempt been made to introduce those works as contraband, the Spanish authority would have had the right to dispose of them at will; but, since there was absolutely no fraud, nor surprise, as was proved by the spontaneous payment of the duties, it would have been a matter of rigorous justice to order the re-exportation of the volumes, since it was not fitting that their entry be admitted. The claims presented through the intermediary of the French Consul in Barcelona, however, remained without result. Mr. Lachâtre asked me whether it would be worth the trouble to appeal to the higher authority. I was of the opinion that the arbitrary act should be allowed to be consummated; I deemed it advisable, however, to hear the opinion of my spiritual guide. Question. (to the Spirit of Truth) — You are no doubt not unaware of what has just taken place in Barcelona, with some Spiritist works. Would you be so kind as to tell me whether it would be advisable to proceed with the claim for their restitution?

Answer. — By right, you may claim them, and you would succeed in having them restored to you, if you addressed yourself to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of France. But, in my opinion, from that auto-da-fe greater good will result than that which would come from the reading of a few volumes. The material loss is nothing, beside the repercussion that such a fact will produce in favor of the Doctrine. You must understand how much a persecution as ridiculous as it is backward will be able to do for the good of the progress of Spiritism in Spain. The burning of the books will bring about a great expansion of Spiritist ideas and a feverish demand for the works of this doctrine. The ideas will spread there with greater rapidity, and the works will be sought after with greater avidity, once they have been burned. All goes well. Q. — Would it be advisable for me to write an article on the subject for the next issue of the Review?

A. — Wait for the auto-da-fe.

(9 October 1861.)

AUTO-DA-FE IN BARCELONA.

This date will remain marked in the annals of Spiritism, on account of the auto-da-fe carried out with the Spiritist books in Barcelona. Here is an extract from the record of the execution:

“On this day, the ninth of October of one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, at half past ten in the morning, on the esplanade of the city of Barcelona, in the place where criminals condemned to the ultimate punishment are executed, and by order of the bishop of this city, there were burned three hundred volumes and pamphlets on Spiritism, namely: The Spirits' Book, by Allan Kardec, etc.”

The principal newspapers of Spain gave a minute account of the fact, which the organs of the liberal press of the country very justly castigated. It is to be noted that in France the liberal periodicals limited themselves to mentioning it without comment. Le Siècle itself, so ardent in stigmatizing the abuses of power and the least acts of intolerance of the clergy, found not one word of reprobation for that act worthy of the Middle Ages. Some newspapers of the lesser press even found in the matter cause for ridicule. Setting aside what concerns belief, there was there a question of principle, of international law, which concerned everyone, over which they would not have so frivolously kept silence, had it been a matter of certain other works. They do not refrain from censures when what is at stake is the mere requirement of a stamp for the sale of a materialist book; now, the Inquisition's restoring its pyres with the solemnity of former times, at the gates of France, presented far greater gravity. Why, then, such indifference? It is because there was at play a doctrine to whose progress incredulity attends with dread. To claim justice for it would have been to consecrate its right to the protection of the authority and to increase its credit. Be that as it may, the auto-da-fe in Barcelona did not fail to produce the expected effect, by the repercussion it had in Spain, where it contributed strongly to propagate Spiritist ideas. (See the Spiritist Review of November 1861, p. 321.) The event gave occasion to many communications on the part of the Spirits. The one that follows was given spontaneously at the Society of Paris, on the 19th of October, when I returned from Bordeaux.

“Something was needed that would clash with violence against certain incarnate Spirits, so that they would decide to occupy themselves with this great doctrine, which is to regenerate the world. Nothing, for this, is done uselessly on Earth, and we who inspired the auto-da-fe in Barcelona well knew that, in proceeding thus, we were forcing a great step forward. That brutal fact, unheard of in present times, was consummated with the aim of calling the attention of the journalists who remained indifferent before the profound agitation that was shaking the cities and the Spiritist centers. They let people say and do as they pleased; but they obstinately persisted in playing deaf and answered with muteness the desire for propaganda of the adherents of Spiritism. Willingly or unwillingly, today they speak of it; some, corroborating the account of the Barcelona fact; others, denying it, gave occasion to a polemic that will go around the world, of great profit for Spiritism. This is the reason why the rear guard of the Inquisition made today its last auto-da-fe. And it is so because we willed it.” A Spirit. n NOTE. — From Barcelona they sent me a watercolor made in loco by a distinguished artist, representing the scene of the auto-da-fe. I had a photographic reduction made of the picture. I also possess a little of the ash gathered from the pyre, in which are found fragments of burned leaves still legible. I have kept them in a crystal urn. (The Spiritist Bookshop still keeps them.) n [1] According to the Spiritist Review, November 1861, p. 325, the message would be from Saint Dominique (Saint Dominic). Editor's note (FEB).

[2] Editor's observation (FEB) to the 13th edition, in 1973: Zeus Wantuil, in the article Centenary of an auto-da-fe, in “Reformador” of 1961, pp. 217/21, informs that the urn was destroyed by the Nazis in the Second World War.