Spiritist madness.

— The feuilleton of the Presse of January 8, 1863 prints the following article, taken from the Salut public of Lyon, which the Gironde of Bordeaux hastened to reproduce, believing it had hit the jackpot against Spiritism:

SCIENCES.

“Mr. Philibert Burlet, intern at the hospitals of Lyon, recently read before the Society of Medical Sciences of that city an interesting work on Spiritism, considered as a cause of mental alienation. In view of the epidemic that is at present sweeping over French society, it will certainly not be without use to point out the facts contained in Mr. Burlet's memoir.

“The author carefully describes six cases of madness, called acute, observed by himself at the Antiquaille hospital, in which one follows, without any difficulty, the direct relation between mental alienation and Spiritist practices. He says that not long ago Dr. Carrier in turn had occasion to treat, and to see cured, in his ward, three women whom Spiritism had driven mad. Moreover, there is not a single physician, dealing especially with mental alienation, who has not observed a greater or smaller number of analogous cases, not to mention, of course, the intellectual or affective disturbances which, without reaching the point that has been agreed to call madness, nonetheless impair reason and render disagreeable and bizarre the behavior of those who present them. This influence of the alleged Spiritist doctrine is today well demonstrated by Science. The observations that establish it could be counted by the thousands. Mr. Burlet says: ‘If in the other parts of France the cases of madness caused by the doctrine of the mediums are as frequent as in the Department we inhabit — and there is no reason why it should not be so — it seems to us beyond doubt that Spiritism may take its place in the rank of the most fertile causes of mental alienation.’ In conclusion, the author exhorts fathers and mothers of families, heads of workshops, etc., to take care that their children and employees never attend ‘those Spiritist meetings called groups, in which the danger to reason is certainly not the only thing to be feared.’ “It is therefore of incontestable utility to give publicity to facts of this kind, conscientiously gathered, like those of the intern at the hospitals of Lyon. Not that there is the slightest chance of acting upon the individuals already affected by the epidemic; the character of their madness is precisely the strong conviction of being the only ones who hold possession of the truth. In their humility, they believe themselves endowed with the gift of communicating with the Spirits, and they treat as proud the science that dares to doubt their power. Victims of the hallucination that dominates them, once the premise is admitted, they reason thereafter with an irreproachable logic, which only strengthens them in their aberration. But we may keep the hope of acting upon the still healthy minds that might be tempted to expose themselves to the seductions of Spiritism, by pointing out the danger to them and thus securing them against that danger. It is well to know that Spiritist practices and association with mediums, who are true hallucinators, are necessarily harmful to reason; only strongly tempered characters can resist. The others always leave there a part, greater or smaller, of their good sense.” A. Sanson. n

— This article may compete with the sermons reported in the preceding article. In it one may see, if not a concordance of origin, at least an identical intention: that of raising opinion against Spiritism, by means in which the same good faith or the same ignorance of things is manifested. Note the gradation followed by the attacks, since the famous and disastrous article of the Gazette de Lyon (See the Spiritist Review of the month of October 1860). Then it was nothing but a vulgar jest, in which the workers of that city were humiliated, ridiculed, and their profession disparaged. Was it not, indeed, a notable lack of skill to cast contempt upon the workers and the instruments that make the prosperity of a city like Lyon? From then on the aggression took on another character: seeing the impotence of ridicule and unable to help observing the ground gained daily by Spiritist ideas, it takes it up in a more lamentable tone. It is in the name of Humanity, in view of the epidemic that is at present sweeping over French society, that it comes to point out the dangers of that alleged doctrine which renders disagreeable and bizarre the behavior of those who profess it. A compliment scarcely flattering to the ladies of all classes, even to the princesses, who believe in the Spirits. Nevertheless, it seems to us that violent and irascible persons, rendered gentle and good by Spiritism, do not give proof of a very bad character and are less disagreeable than before, and that among the non-Spiritists one finds only amiable and benevolent people. Although one sees numerous families in which Spiritism has restored peace and union, it is in the name of their interest that the workers are summoned not to attend “those meetings called groups, where they may lose their reason and many other things,” no doubt thinking that they would preserve it better by going to the cabaret than by staying at home. Since mockery has had no effect, behold, now the adversaries call Science to their aid. No longer the jesting science, represented by the cracking muscle of Mr. Jobert, of Lamballe (See the Spiritist Review of June 1859), but serious science, condemning Spiritism as gravely as it once condemned the application of steam to the navy, and so many other utopias which, later, it had the weakness to take as truths. And who is its representative in this grave question? The Institute of France? No; it is Mr. Philibert Burlet, intern at the hospitals of Lyon, that is, a student of Medicine, who makes his first attempt by launching a memoir against Spiritism. He spoke, and, on account of him and of Mr. Sanson (of the Presse), Science has delivered its sentence, a sentence that probably will not be without appeal, like that of the doctors who condemned the theory of Harvey on the circulation of the blood, casting upon its author “libels and diatribes more or less virulent and coarse.” (Dictionary of Origins.)

Dictionnaire des origines - Google Books. Be it said, in parentheses: a curious work to be done would be a monograph of the errors of scientists.

Mr. Burlet says he has observed six cases of acute madness produced by Spiritism. But as this is little for a population of 300,000 souls, of which at least a tenth part is Spiritist, he takes care to add “that they would be counted by the thousands if, in the other parts of France, the cases of madness caused by the doctrine of the mediums were as frequent as in the Department we inhabit, and there is no reason why it should not be so.”

As one sees, one goes very far with the system of suppositions. Well then! we will go further than he, and we will say, not by hypothesis, but by affirmation, that, in a given time, one will find madmen only among the Spiritists. Effectively, madness is one of the infirmities of the human species. A thousand accidental causes may produce it, and the proof is that there were madmen before anyone thought of Spiritism, and not all madmen are Spiritists. Mr. Burlet will agree with us on this point. In all times there have been madmen and there always will be. Thus, if all the inhabitants of Lyon were Spiritists, one would find madmen only among the Spiritists, absolutely as in an entirely Catholic region there will be madmen only among the Catholics. Observing the march of the doctrine for some years past, we could, up to a certain point, foresee the time necessary for this. But let us speak only of the present.

Madmen speak of what preoccupies them. It is quite certain that he who had never heard of Spiritism would not speak of it, whereas, in the contrary case, he will speak of it as he would speak of religion, of love, etc. Whatever be the cause of the madness, the number of madmen speaking of Spirits will naturally increase with the number of adherents. The question is to know whether Spiritism is an efficient cause of madness. Mr. Burlet affirms it from the height of his authority as an intern, saying that “this influence is today well demonstrated by Science.” From this, exalted, he appeals to the rigors of authority, as if any authority whatever could prevent the course of an idea, and without thinking that ideas are only propagated under the sway of persecution. Does he take his own opinion and that of a few men who think as he does for decrees of Science? He seems to be unaware that Spiritism counts in its ranks a great number of distinguished physicians, that many groups and societies are presided over by physicians who are themselves also men of science, and who arrive at conclusions entirely contrary to his. Who, then, is right? he or the others? In this conflict between affirmation and negation, who will give the last word? Time, opinion, the conscience of the majority, and Science itself, which will yield to the evidence, as it has already done in other circumstances. We will say to Mr. Burlet: It is against the most elementary precepts of logic to deduce a general consequence from a few isolated facts, which other facts may contradict. To support your thesis, another work would be needed, different from the one you have done. You said you observed six cases; I believe your word. But what does that prove? Had you observed twice or three times as many, you would prove no more, considering that the total of madmen has not exceeded the average. Let us suppose the average to be 1,000, to use a round number. The habitual causes of madness being always the same, if Spiritism can provoke it, it is one more cause to add to the others and must increase the figure of the average. If, since the introduction of Spiritist ideas, that average had risen from 1,000 to 1,200, for example, and the difference were precisely that of the cases of Spiritist madness, the question would change its aspect. But so long as it is not proved that, under the influence of Spiritism, the average of the alienated has increased, the sampling of a few isolated cases proves nothing, except the intention to cast discredit upon Spiritist ideas and to intimidate opinion.

In the present state of things, it remains even to know the value of the isolated cases that are put forward, and to know whether every alienated person who speaks of the Spirits owes his madness to Spiritism; but, for this, an impartial and disinterested judge would be necessary. Let us suppose that Mr. Burlet goes mad, which may happen to him, as to anyone else; who knows? even before another, perhaps. Would there be anything admirable in his speaking, in his dementia, of the idea he has combated? Should one conclude from this that it was belief in the Spirits that drove him mad? We could cite several cases, about which much noise is made and in which it was proved that the individuals had occupied themselves little or not at all with Spiritism, or had had quite characteristic attacks of madness long before. To these must be added the cases of obsession and subjugation, which are confused with madness and are treated as such, with great prejudice to the health of the persons affected, as we explained in our articles on Morzine. At first sight, these are the only ones that could be attributed to Spiritism, notwithstanding that it is proved that they are found in a great number of individuals who are most foreign to it and who, through ignorance of the cause, are treated erroneously.

— It is really curious to see certain adversaries who believe neither in the Spirits nor in their manifestations claiming that Spiritism is a cause of madness. If the Spirits did not exist, or if they cannot communicate with men, all these beliefs are chimeras, which have nothing real about them. We ask, then, how can nothing produce something? It is the idea, they will say; this idea is false. Now, every man who professes a false idea is deranged. What idea is this so fatal to reason? Here it is: We have a soul that lives after the death of the body. This soul preserves its affections from earthly life and can communicate with the living. According to them, it is more salutary to believe in nothingness after death; or else — which amounts to the same — that the soul, losing its individuality, merges into the universal whole, like the drops of water in the ocean. In fact, with this latter idea there is no more need to trouble ourselves about the fate of our neighbor, and we have only to think of ourselves, to drink well, to eat well in this life, all for the benefit of egoism. If the contrary belief is a cause of madness, why are there so many madmen among people who believe in nothing? You will say that this cause is not the only one. Agreed. But, then, why would you have it that these causes could not strike a Spiritist as much as anyone else? And why would you claim to hold Spiritism responsible for a high fever or a sunstroke? You incite authority to combat Spiritist ideas because, in your opinion, they disturb the brain. But why do you not also demand the vigilance of authority against the other causes? In your solicitude for human reason, of which you imagine yourselves the model, have you made the tally of the innumerable cases of madness produced by the despair of love? Why do you not incite authority to proscribe the sentiment of love? It is proven that all revolutions are marked by a notable resurgence in mental affections. There you have a quite manifest efficient cause, for it increases the figure of the average. Why do you not advise the government to forbid revolutions as a harmful thing? Since Mr. Burlet made the enormous report of six cases of so-called Spiritist madness, in a population of 300,000 souls, we advise the Spiritist physicians to make use of all the cases of madness, of epilepsy, and other affections caused by the fear of the devil, the terrible picture of the eternal tortures of hell, and the asceticism of monastic seclusions. Far from admitting Spiritism as a cause of the increase of madness, we say that it is an attenuating cause, which must diminish the number of cases produced by the ordinary causes. In effect, among these causes, it is necessary to place in the first rank the sorrows of every nature, the disappointments, the thwarted affections, the reverses of fortune, the unrealized ambitions. The effect of these causes is in proportion to the impressionability of the individual. If we had a means of attenuating that impressionability, this would be, incontestably, the best preservative. Well then! this means is in Spiritism, which deadens the moral recoil, which makes one bear with resignation the vicissitudes of life. One who would have killed himself over a reverse draws from the Spiritist belief a moral strength that leads him to bear the evil with patience; not only will he not kill himself, but, in the presence of the greatest adversity, he will keep his reason cool, because he has an unalterable faith in the future. Will you give him that calm with the prospect of nothingness? No, for he glimpses no compensation, and, if he has nothing to eat, he may eat you. Hunger is a terrible counselor for one who believes that everything ends with life. Well then! Spiritism makes one endure even hunger, because it makes one see, understand, and hope for the life that follows the death of the body. There you have its madness. The manner in which the true Spiritist regards the things of this world and of the other leads him to dominate within himself the most violent passions, even anger and vengeance. After the insulting article of the Gazette de Lyon, which we recalled above, a group of about a dozen workers said to us: “If we were not Spiritists we would go and give the author a thrashing, to teach him how to live, and, if we were in a revolution, we would set fire to the premises of his newspaper. But we are Spiritists; we pity him and ask God to forgive him.” What do you say of this madness, Mr. Burlet? In a similar case, which would you have preferred: to deal with madmen of this kind, or with men who fear nothing? Did you imagine that today there are more than twenty thousand of them in Lyon? You claim to serve the interests of Humanity and you do not understand your own! Ask God that one day you may not have to lament that all men are not Spiritists. It is for this that you and yours labor with all your strength. By sowing incredulity, you undermine the foundations of the social order; you stimulate anarchy, the bloody reactions. We labor to give faith to those who believe in nothing; to spread a belief that makes them better one toward another, that teaches them to forgive their enemies, to look upon one another as brothers, without distinction of race, caste, sect, color, political or religious opinion; in a word, a belief that gives birth to the true sentiment of charity, of fraternity, and of social duties. Ask all the military chiefs who have Spiritist subordinates under their orders, which are the ones led with most ease, who best observe discipline without the employment of severity. Ask the magistrates, the agents of authority who have Spiritist subordinates in the lower strata of society, which are the ones among whom there is most order and tranquility; whom the law has least to punish; where there is least tumult to appease and disorder to repress? In a city of the south, a police commissioner said to us: “Since Spiritism spread in my district, I have ten times fewer occurrences than before.” Ask, in short, the Spiritist physicians in which patients they find fewest affections caused by excesses of every kind? I think this is a statistic somewhat more conclusive than your six cases of mental alienation. If such results are a madness, I have the glory of propagating it. Where were such results gathered? In the books that some wished to cast into the fire; in the groups that you recommend the workers to flee. What does one see in those groups, which you represent as the tomb of reason? Men, women, children who listen with recollection to a gentle and consoling morality, instead of going to the cabaret to lose money and health or to make an uproar in the public square; who leave there with love for their fellows in their hearts, instead of hatred and vengeance.

— Here is a singular confession made by the author of the aforecited article: “Victims of the hallucination that dominates them, once the premise is admitted, they reason thereafter with an irreproachable logic, which only strengthens them in their aberration.” A singular madness, in truth, this one that reasons with an irreproachable logic! Now, what is this premise? We said it a moment ago: The soul survives the body, preserves its individuality and its affections, and can communicate with the living. Who can prove the truth of a premise, if not the irreproachable logic of the deductions? Whoever says irreproachable, says unassailable, irrefutable. Thus, if the deductions of a premise are unassailable, it is because they satisfy everything, because nothing can be opposed to them. If, then, these deductions are true, it is because the premise is true, for truth cannot have error for its principle. From a false principle, no doubt, we can deduce apparently logical consequences, but it will be an apparent logic, that is, sophisms, and not an irreproachable logic, for it will always leave a door open to refutation. True logic is that which fully satisfies reason; it cannot be contested. False logic is nothing but false reasoning, always contestable. What characterizes the deductions of our premise is, in the first place, their being based on the observation of facts; in the second place, their explaining in a rational manner what, without this, would be inexplicable. Substitute negation for our premise and you will collide at every step against insoluble difficulties. The Spiritist theory, we say, is based on facts, but on thousands of facts that are repeated every day and are observed by millions of persons; yours, on half a dozen, observed by you. Here is a premise from which each one may draw the conclusion. [1]

[Do not confuse this Mr. Sanson (of the Presse) with J. Sanson, who was an honorary member of the Spiritist Society of Paris.]