Balthazar, the gourmet Spirit.

— At a private Spiritist meeting a Spirit presented itself spontaneously, under the name of Balthazar, and dictated the following sentence by means of raps: “I love good food and women; long live melon and lobster, coffee and liqueur!”

It seemed to us that such dispositions of an inhabitant of the invisible world could give rise to a serious study, from which we might draw instructive teaching about the faculties and sensations of certain Spirits. In our view, it was an interesting subject of observation that presented itself of its own accord, or, better still, that had perhaps been sent by the elevated Spirits, desirous of furnishing us the means to instruct ourselves; we would be guilty if we did not take advantage of it. It is evident that this burlesque sentence reveals, on the part of the Spirit, a quite special nature, the study of which can cast new light on what we may call the physiology of the spirit world. This is why the Society judged it fitting to evoke him, not for a frivolous motive, but in the hope of finding a new theme for instruction.

Certain people believe that one can learn only from the Spirit of great men: this is an error. Without doubt, only the elite Spirits give us lessons of high theoretical philosophy; but what matters no less is the knowledge of the real state of the invisible world. Through the study of certain Spirits we catch, in a manner of speaking, nature in the act; it is by seeing the wounds that we can find the means to heal them. How would we account for the pains and sufferings of the future life if we had not seen unhappy Spirits? Through them we understand that one can suffer greatly without being in the fire and the material tortures of hell, and this conviction, given by the dregs of spirit life, is not one of the causes that have contributed least to attracting adherents to the doctrine.

[First conversation with Balthazar.]

Evocation.

Answer. – My friends, here I am before a great table, but, alas, an empty one!

This table is empty, it is true; but would you tell us what use it would be to you if it were laden with food; what would you do?

Answer. – I would smell its aroma, as I once savored its taste.

Observation. – This answer contains a whole teaching. We know that Spirits have our sensations and perceive odors as well as sounds. Being unable to eat, a material and sensual Spirit feeds on the emanation of the food;

he savors it through smell, as in life he did through taste. There is, then, something truly material in his pleasure; but, since there is, in truth, more desire than reality, this very pleasure, goading the desires, becomes a torment for the inferior Spirits who still retain the human passions.

Let us speak very seriously, I beg you. Our purpose is not to jest, but to instruct ourselves. Will you, then, answer our questions seriously and, if necessary, have yourself assisted by a more enlightened Spirit? You have a fluidic body, we know it; but tell us whether, in that body, there is a stomach?

Answer. – A fluidic stomach too, where only the aromas can pass.

When you see an appetizing dish, do you feel a desire to eat?

Answer. – Ah! To eat! I can do so no longer; for me these delicacies are what flowers represent for you: you smell them, but you do not eat them. This contents you. Well then! I am content too.

Do you feel pleasure seeing others eat?

Answer. – Very much, when I am near.

Do you feel the need to eat and drink? Note that we say need; just now we had said desire, which is not exactly the same thing.

Answer. – Need, no; but desire, yes. Always.

Is that desire fully satisfied by the aroma you breathe in? Is it, for you, as if you really ate?

Answer. – It is as if I asked you whether the sight of an object, which you ardently desire, replaces the possession of that object.

It would seem, accordingly, that the desire you experience must be a true torment, since there is no real pleasure.

Answer. – A torment far greater than you imagine; but I try to numb myself, creating the illusion for myself.

Your state seems to us quite material. Tell us: do you sometimes sleep?

Answer. – No; I adore wandering aimlessly everywhere.

Does time seem long to you? Do you sometimes grow bored?

Answer. – No; I roam the fairs and the markets; I go to see the arrival of the catch, with which I occupy myself a good deal.

What did you do when you were on Earth?

Note. – Someone says: doubtless he was a cook.

Answer. – I was an appreciator of good food, not a glutton; a lawyer, son of a gourmet; grandson of a gourmet. My parents were fermiers généraux. n Replying then to the foregoing remark, the Spirit adds: You can see well that I was no cook. I would never invite you to my luncheons, for you know neither how to eat nor how to drink.

Is it long since you died?

Answer. – About thirty years ago, at eighty years of age.

[Obs. Besides the genealogical information of the foregoing answer, the approximate date of the disincarnation and his age serve to confirm the identity of the communicating Spirit revealed in the 5th question of the 2nd conversation.]

Do you see other Spirits happier than you?

Answer. – Yes; I see some whose happiness consists in praising God; I do not yet know this: my thoughts remain bound to the Earth.

Do you understand the causes that make them happier than you?

Answer. – I do not yet esteem them, like one who, not knowing an exquisite dish, does not know how to appreciate it. Perhaps one day I shall come to understand. Farewell; I am off in search of a very delicate and very succulent little dinner. Balthazar. n Observation. – This Spirit is quite singular; he belongs to that numerous class of invisible beings who have not risen in anything above the human condition;

they have only the material body the less, but their ideas are exactly the same.

This is not an evil Spirit; he has nothing against him but sensuality, which is, at the same time, for him, a torment and an enjoyment. As a Spirit he is, then, not very unhappy; he is even happy in his own way. But God knows what awaits him in a new existence! A sad return may make him reflect and develop the moral sense, still stifled by the preponderance of the senses.

BALTHAZAR, THE GOURMET SPIRIT. — 2ND CONVERSATION.

[Review of December 1860.]

One of our subscribers, on reading in the Spiritist Review of the month of November the evocation of the Spirit who made himself known by the name of Balthazar, believed he recognized a man whom he had known personally, whose life and character coincided perfectly with all the details related. He did not doubt that it was the same man who had manifested himself under a fictitious name, and asked us to make certain by a new evocation. According to him, Balthazar was none other than Mr. G… de la R…, known for his eccentricities, his fortune, and his gastronomic inclination.

Evocation.

Answer. – Ah! here I am; but you never have anything to offer me. Decidedly you are not amiable.

Will you tell us what we might offer you that would be agreeable to you?

Answer. – Oh! a little thing: a little tea; a very fine little dinner, I would like that more; and these ladies, not to mention the gentlemen present here, would not set it aside, you must agree.

Did you know a certain Mr. G… de la R…?

Answer. – I think you are curious.

No; it is not a matter of curiosity; tell us, please, whether you knew him.

Answer. – So you want to discover my incognito.

You are, therefore, Mr. G… de la R…?

[Before consulting the biography of the communicating Spirit on Wikipedia, check the information contained in the answer to question 12 of the 1st dialogue.]

Answer. – Alas! yes; and without a luncheon.

It was not we who discovered your incognito; it was one of your friends present here who recognized you.

Answer. – He is a chatterer; he should have kept silent.

In what can this annoy you?

Answer. – In nothing; but I would have preferred not to have been recognized immediately. No matter, I will not hide my tastes on this account. If you had known the dinners I gave, you would frankly agree that they were good and had a value that is no longer appreciated today.

No; I did not know them. But let us speak more seriously, please, setting aside the dinners and suppers, which teach us nothing. Our aim is to instruct ourselves, which is why we ask you to tell us what was the sentiment that led you, on the day of your graduation celebration as a lawyer, to have your colleagues dine in a room decorated as a mortuary chamber? Answer. – Do you not discern, amid all my eccentricities of character, a background of sadness caused by the errors of society, above all by the pride of that society which I frequented and of which I was a part by birth and by fortune? I sought to numb the heart by means of all imaginable follies and, for this, they called me mad, extravagant. It mattered little. Coming out of those dinners so praised for their originality, I would hasten to perform a good action of which they were ignorant; but to me it was a matter of indifference: my heart was satisfied and so were men. They laughed at me while I amused myself with them. What will you not say of that supper, in which each guest had his coffin behind him! Their sad countenances amused me greatly. As you see, it was apparent folly joined to sadness of heart.

What is your present opinion about the Divinity?

Answer. – I did not wait to lose the body in order to believe in God. It is merely that this body, which I loved so much, materialized my Spirit to such a degree that it will need a good deal of time to break all the earthly bonds of the passions that bound it to the Earth. Observation. – One sees that we can draw, from an apparently frivolous subject, many useful teachings. Is there not something eminently instructive in this Spirit who, retaining beyond the tomb the bodily instincts, recognizes that the abuse of the passions in a certain way materialized his Spirit?

[1] Translator's note: Emphasis ours. A financier who, under the Old Regime, had the right to collect taxes, by paying a certain fixed sum to the French Treasury. [2]

[cf.

Balthazar Laurent Grimod la Reynière.]