Catholic Bibliography against Spiritism.

— Up to this moment Spiritism had not been seriously attacked. When certain writers of the periodical press, in their leisure moments, deigned to occupy themselves with it, it was only to ridicule it. The point is to fill a column-footer, to furnish an article at so much per line, no matter on what subject, provided the count comes out right. What subject shall I deal with? Shall I treat of such a thing? the editor in charge of the recreational part of the newspaper asks himself. No; it is too serious. And that other one? It is a subject already too often repeated. Shall I invent an authentic adventure of high society, or of the common folk? Nothing comes to my mind in this quarter of an hour, and the scandalous chronicle of the week is still to be done. Ah! I have had an idea! I have found my subject! I saw somewhere the title of a book that speaks of Spirits; and there are everywhere people foolish enough to take this seriously. What are Spirits? I know nothing about the subject, but it matters little to me! It must be amusing. To tell the truth, I do not believe at all in Spirits, because I have never seen them, and even if I did see them I would still not believe, because that is impossible. Thus, no man of good sense can believe in them. Either this is logical, or I do not know myself. Let us, then, speak of Spirits, since they are the order of the day. That subject, like any other, will amuse our dear readers. The theme is very simple: “There are no Spirits; there cannot and must not be any. Thus, all who believe in them are mad.” To work, then, and let us fancy up the thing. O my good genius! I thank you for this inspiration! You rescue me from a great embarrassment, for there is nothing to say, and I need my article for tomorrow, and I had not the least idea of it.

— But here is a serious man who says: It is an error to trifle with these things; this is more serious than is thought; do not believe that it is a passing fashion: this belief is inherent in the weakness of Humanity, which in every age has believed in the marvelous, in the supernatural, in the fantastic. Who would imagine that in the full nineteenth century, in a century of enlightenment and progress, after Voltaire so well demonstrated that only nothingness awaits us, after so many scholars who sought the soul and did not find it, one could still believe in Spirits, in turning tables, in sorcerers, in magicians, in the power of Merlin the enchanter, in the magic wand, in Mademoiselle Lenormand? O Humanity! Humanity! whither will you go if I do not come to your aid to draw you out of the mire of superstition? They wished to kill the Spirits by ridicule, and did not succeed; far from it, the contagious evil makes ceaseless progress; mockery seems to make it flare up again, and, if a check is not put upon it, soon all Humanity will be infested. Considering that this means, habitually so effective, has become powerless, it is time that the scholars intervene, in order to put an end to this once and for all. Mockeries are not arguments; let us speak in the name of Science; let us demonstrate that in all ages men have been imbeciles for believing that there existed a power superior to their own; that they did not have in themselves all power over Nature. Let us prove to them that everything they attribute to supernatural forces is explained by simple laws of physiology; that the survival of the soul and its power to communicate with the living is a chimera, and that it is madness to believe in the future. If, after having digested four volumes of good reasons, they are not convinced, nothing will remain to us but to lament the lot of Humanity which, instead of progressing, retrogrades with great strides toward the barbarism of the Middle Ages and rushes to its ruin. May Mr. Figuier be able to reveal his true intentions, for his book [History of the Marvelous and the Supernatural], so pompously announced, so praised by the champions of materialism, produced a result diametrically opposed to what he expected.

— But here arises a new champion, who claims to crush Spiritism by another means: it is Mr. Georges Gandy, editor of the Bibliographie Catholique — Google Books, throwing himself into hand-to-hand combat in the name of threatened religion. And just look! religion threatened by what you call a utopia! You have, then, very little faith in its strength; you believe, then, in its vulnerability, since you fear that the ideas of a few dreamers might shake its foundations; thus, you consider this enemy truly formidable, to attack it with so much rage and fury. Will you obtain a better result than the others? We doubt it, since anger is a bad counselor. If you succeed in frightening a few timorous souls, do you not fear to kindle curiosity in a greater number of others? Judge it by the following fact. In a city that counts a certain number of Spiritists and a few intimate groups that occupy themselves with manifestations, a preacher one day delivered a virulent sermon against what he called the work of the demon, claiming that only the latter came to speak in those satanic meetings, whose members were all notoriously vowed to eternal damnation. What happened? From the very next day a good number of listeners set off in search of the Spiritist meetings, asking to hear the devils speak, curious to know what they would say to them; because so much has been said that people have grown familiar with a name that no longer instills fear. Now, in those meetings they saw serious, honorable, instructed persons, praying to God, something they had not done since their first communion; persons who believed in their soul, in its immortality, in future penalties and rewards, working to become better, striving to practice the morality of Christ, speaking ill of no one, not even of those who hurled anathemas at them. Then those creatures understood that if the devil taught such things, it was because he had converted. When they saw them deal respectfully and piously with their dead relatives and friends, who lavished upon them consolation and wise counsel, they could not admit that such meetings were branch offices of the sabbath, considering that they saw no cauldrons, nor brooms, nor owls, nor black cats, nor crocodiles, nor books of magic, nor tripod, nor magic wands or any other accessories of witchcraft, not even the old woman with the hooked chin and nose. They too wished to converse, one with his mother, another with his beloved son, it seeming difficult to them, upon recognizing them, that this mother and this son should be demons. Happy at having the proof of their existence and the certainty of meeting again in a better world, they asked themselves with what aim they had been wished to be frightened, raising in them reflections they had never imagined. The result is that they preferred to go there where they found consolations, rather than to the places where they were frightened. As we have seen, this preacher set out upon a mistaken path, it being the case to say: An enemy is worth more than an incompetent friend. Does Mr. Georges Gandy hope to be more fortunate? We quote him textually, for the edification of our readers:

“In every age of the great trials of the Church and of its approaching triumphs, there have been against it infernal conspiracies, in which the action of the demons was visible and tangible. Never had theurgy and magic more vogue within the bosom of paganism and of philosophy than at the moment when Christianity was spreading through the world, to subjugate it. In the sixteenth century, Luther had colloquies with Satan, and a redoubling of witchcrafts, of diabolical communications made itself noticed in Europe, while in the Church the great Catholic reform was being effected which was to triple its forces, when a new world was opening to it glorious destinies over an immense space. In the eighteenth century, on the eve of the day when the axe of the executioners was to retemper the Church in the blood of new martyrs, demonolatry flourished in the cemetery of Saint-Médard, around the tubs of Mesmer and the mirrors of Cagliostro. Today, in the great struggle of Catholicism against all the powers of hell, the conspiracy of Satan has come visibly to the aid of philosophism; hell wished to give, in the name of naturalism, a consecration to the work of violence and cunning that it has been promoting for four centuries already and that it is preparing to crown with a supreme imposture. Therein lies the whole secret of the so-called Spiritist doctrine, a heap of absurdities, of contradictions, of hypocrisy and of blasphemies, as we shall see hereafter, and which attempts, as the last of perfidies, to glorify Christianity in order to degrade it, to spread it in order to suppress it, affecting respect for the divine Savior, in order to tear from the Earth all that He fecundated with His blood and to substitute for His immortal reign the despotism of impious reveries. “In undertaking the examination of these strange pretensions, which we judge still not sufficiently unveiled and condemned, we ask our readers the kindness of accompanying our journey, somewhat long, in this diabolical crossroads, from which the sect hopes to emerge victorious after having abolished forever the divine name, before which we see it bend its knees. In spite of its absurdities, of its revolting profanations, of its endless contradictions, Spiritism constitutes for us a precious teaching. Never had the follies of hell rendered to our holy religion a more dazzling homage. Never had God condemned it with more sovereign power, as is confirmed by the testimony of these words of the divine Master: Vos ex patre diabolo estis”.

— This beginning permits one to judge the amenity of the rest. Those of our readers who wish to edify themselves at this source of evangelical charity may allow themselves the pleasure of reading the Bibliographie Catholique, no. 3, of September 1860, Rue de Sèvres, no.

Once again, why so much anger, so much gall against a doctrine which, as they say, if it is the work of Satan, cannot prevail against the work of God, unless one supposes that God is less powerful than Satan, which would be somewhat impious? We very much doubt that this outburst of injuries, this fever, this profusion of epithets which Christ never used against His greatest enemies, over whom He invoked the mercy of God and not His vengeance, when He said: “Forgive them, Lord, for they know not what they do”; we doubt — we insist — that such a language is persuasive. Truth is calm and does not need exaltation; and, with such rage, you would make people believe in your own weakness. We confess that we do not well understand this singular policy of Satan, who glorifies Christianity in order to degrade it, who spreads it in order to suppress it. In our opinion this would reveal a great lack of skill and would resemble a gardener who, not wanting potatoes, sowed them in profusion in his garden, in order to destroy the species. When we accuse others of sinning through lack of reasoning, we ought, in order to be logical, to begin with ourselves. We do not very well know why Mr. Georges Gandy mortally accuses Spiritism for leaning upon the Gospel and upon Christianity. What would he say, then, if it leaned upon Mohammed? Certainly much less, for it is a fact worthy of note that Islamism, Judaism, Buddhism itself are the object of attacks less virulent than the dissident sects of Christianity. With certain people, one must be all or nothing. There is, above all, one point that Mr. Gandy does not forgive Spiritism: it is that of not having proclaimed this absolute maxim: “Outside the Church there is no salvation,” and of admitting that he who does good may be saved from the eternal flames, whatever his belief may be. Evidently, such a doctrine could only come out of hell. But he betrays himself principally in this passage:

“What does Spiritism want? It is an American importation, initially Protestant, and which had already triumphed — permit us to say it — over all the regions of idolatry and heresy; such are its titles in relation to the world. It would be, then, from the classic lands of superstition and religious follies that truth and wisdom would come to us!”

Here indeed is a great offense. If it had been born in Rome it would be the voice of God; as, however, it was born in a Protestant country, it is the voice of the devil. But what will you say when we have proved, which we shall do one day, that it was in Christian Rome long before it was in Protestant America? What will you reply to the fact, today verified, that there are more Catholic Spiritists than Protestant Spiritists?

The number of persons who believe in nothing, who doubt everything, even God Himself, is considerable and grows in a frightening proportion. Will it be by your violences, your anathemas, your threats of hell, your furious declamations that you will bring them back? No, because it is your own violences that drive them away. Will they be guilty for having taken seriously the charity, the meekness of Christ and the infinite goodness of God? Now, when they hear those who claim to speak in His name, uttering threats and injuries, they begin to doubt Christ, God, everything, in short. Spiritism makes them understand words of peace and of hope and, as doubt weighs upon them and they feel the need of consolations, they throw themselves into the arms of Spiritism, because they prefer that which smiles to the things that terrify. Then they believe in God, in the mission of Christ and in His divine morality. In a word, from unbelievers and indifferent ones, they become believers. It was this that recently led a respectable priest to reply to one of his penitents who consulted him about Spiritism: “Nothing happens without the permission of God; now, God permits these things to revive the faith that is being extinguished.” Had he employed another language, perhaps he would have driven her away forever. You wish at all costs that Spiritism be a sect, when it aspires only to the title of moral and philosophical science, respecting all sincere beliefs. Why, then, give an idea of separation to those who do not think of it? If you repel those whom it brings back to the belief in God, if you give them only hell as a prospect, you will be responsible for a schism that you yourselves will have provoked. Saint Louis said to us one day: “They mocked the turning tables; they will never mock the philosophy, the wisdom and the charity that shine in the serious communications”. He was mistaken, because he did not reckon with Mr. Georges Gandy. Often writers have amused themselves at the expense of the Spirits and of their manifestations, without thinking that one day they themselves might be the target of the jokes of their successors; however, they always respected the moral part of the science. Nevertheless, it was reserved for a Catholic writer, which we sincerely lament, to expose to ridicule the maxims admitted by the most elementary good sense. He cites a great number of passages from The Spirits' Book; we shall allude only to a few of them, which will give a perfect idea of his appreciation. — “God prefers those who adore Him from the bottom of the heart to those who adore Him outwardly.” The text of The Spirits' Book says: “God prefers those who adore Him from the bottom of the heart, with sincerity, doing good and avoiding evil, to those who think to honor Him with ceremonies that do not make them better toward their fellow men”; [1] Mr. Gandy admits the reverse; but, as a man of good faith, he ought to have cited the passage textually, instead of truncating it in such a way as to denature its meaning. — “Every destruction of animals that exceeds the limits of necessity is a violation of the law of God”; [2] which means that the moral principle that governs pleasures applies equally to the exercise of hunting and slaughter.

Precisely; but it seems that Mr. Gandy is a hunter and thinks that God made game, not for the nourishment of man, but to procure him the pleasure of, without need, promoting the slaughter of harmless animals.

— “Pleasures have limits traced by Nature: the limit of the necessary; through excesses, we arrive at satiety.” It is the morality of the virtuous Horace, one of the fathers of Spiritism.

Since the author criticizes this maxim, he seems not to admit limits to pleasures, which is not very religious.

— “To be legitimate, property must be acquired without prejudice to the law of love and of justice; thus, he who possesses, without fulfilling the duties of charity that conscience or individual reason ordains, is a usurper of another's goods; spiritically we are in full socialism.”

The text says thus: “Only that property is legitimate which is acquired without prejudice to others. The law of love and of justice forbids doing to others what we would not like to be done to us; it condemns, for that very reason, every means of acquisition contrary to it.” There one does not find: that individual reason ordains; it is a perfidious addition. We do not judge that one can, in sound conscience, possess at the expense of justice; Mr. Gandy ought to tell us in what cases spoliation is legitimate. Fortunately, the tribunals are not of his opinion.

— “Indulgence awaits, beyond this life, the suicide who finds himself wrestling with necessity, who wished to prevent shame from falling upon his children, or upon his family. Moreover, Saint Louis, of whose Spiritist functions we shall speak shortly, deigns to reveal to us that there are excuses for suicides through love. As for the penalties of the suicide, they are not determined; what is certain is that he does not escape disappointment; in other words, he is caught in the trap, as is commonly said in this world.”

This passage is entirely denatured by the requirements of Mr. Gandy's criticism; it would be necessary to mention seven pages to restore its text. With such a system it would be easy to render ridiculous the most beautiful pages of our best writers. It seems that Mr. Gandy admits no gradation either in the faults or in the penalties beyond the tomb. We believe in a more just God and we wish that Mr. Gandy may never have to claim in his favor the benefit of attenuating circumstances.

— “The death penalty and slavery were, are and will be contrary to the law of Nature. Man and woman, being equal before God, must be equal before men.” Could it have been the wandering soul of some terrified Saint-Simonist, [3] in search of the free woman, who presented this malicious revelation to Spiritism?”

Thus the death penalty, slavery and the submission of woman, which civilization tends to abolish, are institutions that Spiritism has no right to condemn. O happy times of the Middle Ages, why have you passed without return? Where are you, pyres, that would have rid us of the Spirits?

Let us cite a last passage, of the most benign:

“Spiritism cannot deny such a salad of contradictions, of absurdities and of follies, which belong to no philosophy, nor to any language. If God permits these impious manifestations, it is that He leaves to the demons, as the Church teaches, the power to deceive those who call them, violating His law.”

So the demon is rather kind, because, without wishing it, he makes us love God.

“As for the truth, the Church makes it known to us; she tells us, with the Sacred Books, that the angel of darkness transforms himself into an angel of light, and that it would be necessary to refuse even the testimony of an archangel, were it contrary to the doctrine of Christ, of whose infallible authority she is the depositary; moreover she has sure and evident means to distinguish the diabolical seductions from the divine manifestations.”

In fact it is a great truth that one ought to refuse even the testimony of an archangel, were it contrary to the doctrine of Christ. Now, what does this doctrine say, which Christ preached by word and by example?

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy”.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God”.

“He who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever says to his brother: Raca, shall be condemned by the council; and whoever says to him: Fool, shall be condemned to the fire of hell.”

“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who persecute and slander you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven, who makes the sun rise upon the good and the evil, and rain upon the just and the unjust; for, if you love only those who love you, what reward shall you have? Do not the publicans do the same?”

“Be, then, perfect, as your Father who is in heaven is perfect”.

“Do not do to others what you would not like them to do to you”.

Charity, then, being the fundamental principle of the doctrine of Christ, we conclude that every word and every action contrary to charity cannot be, as you say with much propriety, anything but inspired by Satan, even though he should clothe himself in the form of an archangel. It is for this reason that Spiritism says: Outside charity there is no salvation.

On the same subject, we refer the reader to our replies to the journal Univers, numbers of May and July 1859, as well as to the Gazette de Lyon, of October 1860. We likewise recommend to our readers, as a refutation of Mr. Gandy, the Lettre d'un catholique sur le Spiritisme, by Dr. Grand. If the author of this brochure [4] is condemned to hell, there will be many others, and there we would see — a strange thing — those who preach charity for all, while Heaven would be reserved for those who hurl anathemas and malediction. We would be singularly mistaken as to the meaning of the words of Christ.

Lack of space obliges us to leave for the next number a few words in reply to Mr. Deschanel, of the Journal des Débats.

[1] T.N.: The Spirits' Book, question 654.

[2] T.N.: The Spirits' Book, question 735.

[3] T.N.: Our emphasis. [Saint-Simonist, a sectarian of the political and social school of Count Saint-Simon.]

[4] Large in-18, price 1 fr.; By Post: 1 fr. and 15 centimes. — At the office of the Spiritist Review and at the Ledoyen Bookshop, in the Palais Royal.