The false Home.

— A short time ago the following announcement could be read in the newspapers of Lyon, also conveyed on posters affixed to the walls of the city:

“Mr. Hume, the celebrated American medium, who had the honor of conducting his experiments before H. M. the Emperor, n will, beginning on Thursday, April 1, give sessions of spiritualism at the grand theater of Lyon. He will produce apparitions, etc., etc. Special armchairs will be arranged in the theater for the doctors and learned men, so that they may assure themselves that nothing has been prepared. The sessions will be varied by the experiments of the celebrated seeress, Mrs. …, an extra-lucid somnambulist, who will reproduce in succession all the sentiments, at the will of the spectators. Price of seats: 5 francs – first class; and 3 francs – second class.”

The antagonists of Mr. Home (some write Hume) did not wish to lose this occasion to expose him to ridicule. In their ardent desire to ensnare him, they welcomed this gross mystification with a solicitude that well attests to their bad faith and their contempt for the truth, for, before throwing stones at others, one must make sure they will not miss the mark. But passion is blind, it does not reason and often deceives itself in the attempt to harm others. “Here, then,” they exclaimed jubilantly, “is that man so glorified, reduced to showing himself on the stage, giving spectacles at so much per person!” And their newspapers gave credit to the fact without further examination. Unfortunately for them, their joy did not last long. With all haste, they wrote to us from Lyon to obtain information that might help unmask the fraud, and this was not difficult, thanks above all to the zeal of the numerous adepts that Spiritism counts in that city. As soon as the director of the theater learned what business this was, he immediately addressed the following letter to the newspapers: “Sir Editor: I hasten to inform you that the spectacle announced for Thursday, April 1, at the grand theater, will no longer take place. I believed I had let the hall to Mr. Home, and not to Mr. Lambert Laroche, who calls himself Hume. Those who obtained boxes or numbered seats in the stalls in advance may present themselves at the ticket office to be reimbursed.” On the other hand, the aforementioned Lambert Laroche (a native of Langres), questioned about his identity, saw fit to respond in the following terms, which we reproduce in full, since we do not in the least wish him to be able to accuse us of the slightest alteration:

“You have submited to me severle extra of your correspondance from Paris, from wich it results that a Mr. Home who givs sessions in some salon of the capital, is at this moment in Itly and cannot consequintly be in Lyon. Sir, I am ingorant 1st of knowing this Mr. Home, 2nd I do not no what is his talent, 3rd I never had anything in comon with this Mr. Home, 4th I workd and work under a war-name wich is Hume wich I justify by the articals of newspapers from abroad and french that is submited to you 5th I travel with two compañons my kind of expirence consists in spiritualism or evocation vizion, and in a word reproduction of the ideas of the spectator by a subjeck, my speshialty is to operate by this procedure on foren persons, as can be seen in the newspapers that com from spain and from africa. Thus Sir editor, I demonstrate to you that I did not wantt to take the name of this so-called Home that you say is in repewtation, mine is suficiently known by its great notoriety and by the expirences it posseses. Receive Sir editor my atentive salutasions.” n We think it useless to say that Mr. Lambert Laroche left Lyon with the honors of war. He will surely go to other places in search of people more easily deceived. We add only a word to express our regret at seeing with what deplorable avidity certain persons, who call themselves serious, welcome anything that may serve their animosity. Spiritism enjoys too much reputation today to fear charlatanism; it is no more debased by charlatans than true medical science is by the quacks at the crossroads; everywhere it finds, especially among enlightened persons, zealous and numerous defenders, who know how to confront the mockery. Far from harming it, the case of Lyon only serves its propagation, by drawing the attention of the undecided to reality. Who knows but that it was even provoked to this end by a higher power? Who can boast of fathoming the designs of Providence? As for the adversaries of Spiritism, they are permitted to laugh, never to calumniate; a few years more and we shall see who will have the last word. If it is logical to doubt that which one does not know, it is always imprudent to set oneself falsely against new ideas which, sooner or later, may give a humiliating contradiction to our perspicacity: History is there to prove it. Will those who, in their pride, feign pity for the adepts of the Spiritist Doctrine, be as elevated as they imagine? These Spirits, whom they ridicule, recommend that good be done and forbid evil, even toward enemies; they tell us that we debase ourselves by the mere desire for evil. Which, then, is the more elevated – the one who seeks to do evil or the one who keeps in his heart neither hatred nor rancor? Mr. Home returned to Paris a short time ago; but he must leave without delay for Scotland and, from there, for St. Petersburg.

— The newspaper Indépendant de la Charente-Inférieure recounted, last March, the following fact said to have occurred at the civil hospital of Saintes:

“Marvelous stories are told and for these eight days nothing is spoken of but the strange noises which, every night, now imitate the trot of a horse, now the gait of a dog or a cat. Bottles placed on the mantelpiece are flung to the other side of the room. A bundle of old rags was found, one morning, twisted into a thousand knots, impossible to untie. A paper, on which had been written: ‘What do you want? what do you ask?’, was left one night on the mantelpiece; on the following morning the answer was written, but in unknown and undecipherable characters. Matches placed on a table, at night, disappeared as if by enchantment; in short, all the objects changed place and scattered into every corner. Such sorceries occur only in the darkness of night. As soon as a light is made, all returns to silence; on extinguishing it, the noises soon begin again. It is a Spirit fond of darkness. Several persons, ecclesiastics, former military men, lay down in this bewitched room and it was impossible for them to discover anything or to account for what they heard. “An employee of the hospital, suspected of being the author of these pranks, has just been dismissed. It is asserted, however, that he is not the culprit; on the contrary, he was often the victim himself.

“It seems that this affair began more than a month ago. Much time passed without anything being said, each one distrusting his own senses and fearing to be made ridiculous. Only a few days ago did people begin to speak of it.”

Observation. – We have not yet had time to assure ourselves of the authenticity of the facts described above; we present them only with much reserve; we will observe only that, even if they were invented, they are no less possible for that and present nothing more extraordinary than many others of the same kind, which are perfectly verified.

[1] Translator's note: Napoleon III. The last French Emperor, the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, did not disguise his interest in the Spiritist Doctrine. At his request, Allan Kardec himself appeared at the Tuileries to discuss the doctrine set forth in The Spirits' Book. It is known, indeed, that memorable Spiritist sessions of physical effects were held in the former palace of Catherine de' Medici, in the presence of the Sovereign and the Empress Eugénie. Excessively modest and discreet, marked traits of his personality, the Codifier never made a display of this fact.

[2] Translator's note: Emphasis ours. The translation presented here attempts to reproduce, though without much success, the speech and writing of a semi-illiterate person. The little culture of the letter-writer becomes quite evident.