The two spies.

— One of our correspondents from Saint Petersburg sends us the translation of an article published against Spiritism, in a religious newspaper of that city: Doukhownaia Beceda (Religious Exercises). It is an account given by two young men from Moscow, Messrs.***, who, last November, presented themselves at our home, appearing to belong to the best society, claiming to be very sympathetic to Spiritism, and who were received with the consideration due to their quality as foreigners. Absolutely nothing in their words or manners betrayed the intention that drove them; it had to be so for them to play their role and carry out the mission with which they were charged. Certainly our adversaries in France have accustomed us to accounts that do not shine for their exactness, but, justice be done them: as far as we know, none of them carried calumny so far. This would have been difficult in a French newspaper, because the law protects against such abuses, but also because many eyewitnesses would come to attest the truth. But, at six hundred leagues, in a foreign country and in a language unknown here, this was easier. We owe to the numerous adherents in Russia a refutation of this ignoble pamphlet, whose authors are all the more reprehensible for having abused the confidence they had sought to inspire. Introducing themselves under false appearances, as emissaries of a party, into a private home and into a very private gathering, never open to the public and to which one is admitted only by recommendation, in order to give publicity to a disfigured and outrageous report, they place themselves below spies, for the latter, at least, give an exact account of what they saw. It is regrettable, moreover, that it should be in the name of religion that such things are done, because they are judged necessary to its support. It is not by such means that they will ever annihilate Spiritism; they make it grow through the hatred they devote to it. The same happened with Christianity at its beginning; in persecuting it, its adversaries worked for its consolidation. But in that age there was no publicity and calumny could be nourished for a long time. Today the truth comes to light promptly, and, when they say that a thing is black, even if mechanically, everyone can find at his side the proof that it is white, and the odiousness of the calumny falls back upon its authors. The newspaper's reflections are those of all the detractors who hold the same opinion. They have been refuted so many times that it would be useless to return to them. Nevertheless, we will cite the following passage:

— “Are the Spiritists effectively in direct communication with the world of Spirits, to such a point that the highest and most sacred personages hasten at their call ad libitum, at the will of the mediums, as at the ringing of a bell? Is there not here charlatanism and gross knavery, not on the part of the Spirits, whom Allan Kardec teaches so well to distinguish, but on the part of the very chief of this new sect, so seductive to the imagination of his inexperienced adherents? Two enclosed letters, from Paris, coming from persons worthy of faith, but who did not wish to identify themselves, may give a sufficient answer to this delicate question.” Spiritism has never said that the Spirits, whoever they may be, come at the will of any medium whatsoever; on the contrary, it says that they are not at anyone's orders; that they come when they will and can. It does more, for it demonstrates the material causes that oppose a Spirit's manifesting itself to the first comer.

If the communication of the Spirits is nothing but an idea without foundation and a comedy, only one person should have its monopoly. How is it that the reality of the fact has been attested for years by millions of individuals of all classes and ages, in every country? Then everyone is playing the comedy, from princes to plebeians, and to whose profit? What is still more bizarre is that this comedy leads the unbelievers to God and makes those who mocked at prayer pray. Never was a sleight of hand seen to produce such serious results.

As for the letters of the two emissaries, it would be superfluous to point out the foolish and gross insults they contain; it will suffice for us to cite a few material errors to show the faith their report deserves regarding the rest.

— At the appointed hour we went to recommend ourselves to Allan Kardec. He resides in one of those passages constantly thronged by the crowd. A poster in large letters announces that it is there that the mysteries of Spiritism are performed.

At the foot of the staircase there is a small sign, with these words: Spiritist Review, 2nd floor, because the management of the newspaper is there, and every newspaper being subject to the public must indicate its domicile. Below is written: Course Hall, because the hall of sessions was originally intended for various courses, which have never been held since we have inhabited the place. There is nothing there that announces the performance of any mysteries. It is a first invention of these gentlemen so worthy of faith.

— It was five o'clock in the afternoon. It was dark and the Spiritist had no fire. Through tortuous corridors we were shown into his study. [Kardec resided in a building with several apartments]

Visitors are never shown into our study, but into a reception room which, certainly, is not that of a palace, but where those who do not find it worthy are perfectly free not to return.

— After having invited us to be seated, he continued to converse with a young man unknown to us. The words of the latter led us to understand that he was a recent medium and found himself obsessed by the impure force that gave him answers under the mask of pure Spirits; that at first the answers are veiled by a perfect innocence, but afterward the devil betrayed himself little by little. The voice, the stupefied air of the young man, everything denoted a violent agitation. The Spiritist answered that moral purity of life and moderation were necessary in order to communicate with the Spirits, and so forth; that in the beginning the medium is ordinarily persecuted by the evil Spirits, but that afterward the good ones come. The tone of this discourse was that of a master or preceptor. There is no doubt that all this was nothing but a comedy performed in our presence. This young man, we recall, was a simple workman who came to ask us for advice, as often happens. We continued our conversation with him because, in our eyes, an honest workman has a right to all the more consideration the more humble his position. It is possible that these ideas are not those of those gentlemen, but they will come to them when, in another existence, they find themselves in the condition of those whom they today treat with such haughtiness. As for the comedy that, no doubt, they performed, it is very singular that it should have been prepared for them, since we were not expecting them. At their arrival the young man was alone; if we continued the conversation, it is because we had begun it. Both of us, then, were performing a comedy. In any case, it had nothing very interesting about it, and when one does so much, one does something better.

— Thanks to an interesting obscurity, the master was not visible. He addressed us with a question that probed our belief in Spiritism, its development in Moscow, and so forth. He proceeded with much reserve until he learned of our desire. They brought a lamp; then we saw before us a rather corpulent gentleman, elderly, of a quite amiable countenance, with singular eyes that, at first sight, seemed to pierce through the individual, only to show, immediately afterward, a certain dreamy air. For a long time I gazed at his eyes, remarkable in the highest degree, in his ordinary visage. I do not know why I attracted his attention, so that he asked me, several times, whether I were not a medium. Our conversation proving our knowledge of Spiritism, he began to become more communicative.

One sees what their knowledge of Spiritism was and, above all, their sincerity. If, by a crafty language, they thought to deceive us, it was they who were performing the comedy.

— He began to speak in obscure terms of the soul and of the Spirits; at first his voice was calm, but he ended his discourse with a singular emphasis. Having asked him how he distinguishes the good Spirits from the bad, he answered that they previously submitted each Spirit to a test; if the Spirit did not contradict the moral and religious opinions of the Spiritists, they noted it down as a pure Spirit. To my question: Why did he occupy himself only with the solution of moral questions and touch neither the scientific nor the political ones — a question that visibly vexed him — he answered something of this kind: The Spirits do not meddle in this. Generally politics is the dangerous ground onto which the false brothers seek to bring the Spiritists. According to them, morality is a very banal and very vulgar thing; this is a much-worn subject; one needs the positive. An individual bearing a decoration who, under false appearances, had introduced himself into a group of workmen, at Lyon, where some military men were also found, asked this question: “What do the Spirits think of Henri V?” The answer of the Spirits and of those present gave him no desire to continue or to return.

— After some hesitation, he permitted us to attend the gathering of the Spiritists on Friday evening. They intended to question a colonel of the guard, a medium recently deceased. We bade him farewell. The Friday evening interests me and I will give you an account of all that I shall see and hear. However, they say that they take a hundred francs for each session. If it is true, I evidently shall not be able to see or hear. I will sacrifice ten francs, no more. Paris, 2/14 November 1864.

Independently of our well-known principles, clearly formulated in our works, regarding the exploitation of Spiritism under any form, more than six thousand listeners, who have been admitted to the sessions of the Spiritist Society of Paris, since its foundation on the 1st of April 1858, can say whether a single one of them ever paid anything as an obligatory or optional contribution; even whether anyone whatsoever was ever required, as a condition of admission, to purchase a single book or to subscribe to the Review. When one exploits the public, the choice is not difficult; one aims at numbers. Hesitation, therefore, would not be conceivable in admitting these gentlemen; instead of permitting them to come, they would have been solicited to come. By these words alone they betray themselves; but they do not think of everything. Since they had heard it said that an alleged hundred francs were charged per person, and that they would consent to pay only ten, how is it that they did not make sure of this beforehand? It was very natural, even necessary, to ask us this, so as not to be caught by surprise on arrival. There is here a perfidious insinuation, but a clumsy one. In the account they afterward give of the session they attended, they do not speak of payment. Now, having said that they would sacrifice ten francs, they give it to be understood that it cost them no more. They drew back before an affirmation; but they said to themselves: “Let us launch the idea; something will always remain.” But when there is nothing, nothing can remain, save the shame for the liar. Moreover, it is not the first time that malevolence and envy have employed such a means with a view to discrediting the Society before public opinion. Lately, at Nantes, an individual reported that admission there cost five francs a head. It would be singular that after eight years of existence it should still not be known whether it charges 100 francs or 5 francs. In truth, one must be quite blinded by the will to do harm to the point of believing that the public can be deceived about so material a fact, which daily receives a denial, both by the persons who attend and by the principles that it professes and that are formulated without ambiguity in our writings. Meanwhile, from this calumny an instruction stands out. Since our adversaries think they can discredit the Society by saying that it requires a contribution from visitors, it is because they consider it more honorable to charge nothing. Now, since it requires nothing; since, instead of aiming at the number of those in attendance, it restricts it as much as possible, it is because it does not speculate with them; thus, it cuts at the root all suspicion of charlatanism.

The circumstance of the colonel who was to be evoked gave us the clue to the session that those gentlemen attended. The fact that we do not find their true names on the list for the day proves that they presented themselves under false names. This was very easy to verify, because that was a day of private session reserved for the members of the Society, to which only four or five foreigners, passing through Paris, had been admitted. In sending us their true names, our correspondent informs us that they are the sons of a high Russian ecclesiastical functionary.

— Last Friday, at eight o'clock in the evening, we made our way to the session of the Spiritist Society. We arrived early; the members were not yet numerous, so that we were able to examine the surroundings minutely. An enormous hall contained several rows of chairs. Beside one of the walls was a table covered with a green cloth, around which were chairs for the principal members of the Society. On the table there was a heap of white papers and a quantity of sharpened pencils; nothing more. Above the table hung the image of the Lord blessing.

An investigation so minute, and carried even to the examination of the papers, is somewhat indiscreet on the part of persons who call themselves gentlemen and were admitted out of courtesy into a private home and to a gathering that has nothing public about it.

There is absolutely nothing suspended above the table. Near the wall there is a statuette of Saint Louis, in the costume of a king, the spiritual president of the Society, and which those gentlemen, it appears, took for the Christ.

— The walls were occupied by singular pictures. I examined them in detail. The largest, painted in oil, represents a coffin of a dead person, with chains fallen around it; an extravagant landscape, with fantastic plants, surrounded the coffin. An inscription explains that the picture was painted by Allan Kardec.

This allegorical picture is the one of which we spoke in the Review of November

[See: Here lie 18 centuries of enlightenment.] There are no chains or plants of any kind. Below there is an explanatory legend, with this inscription affixed to the picture itself, and prominently displayed: “Mediumistic painting. Allegorical picture of the advent and triumph of Spiritism; painted by Mr. V…, a young student of pharmacy, without any knowledge of painting or of drawing.

Lyon.” We do not know how those gentlemen could see in these words that the picture was painted by Allan Kardec. This gives the measure of the exactness of their report and of the confidence the rest deserves.

Farther on, a whole series of pictures or drawings, I do not quite know how to call them, made by various persons, under the influence of the Spirits. It is impossible to say the impression that these pictures produced upon me. I examined myself, I examined myself severely and found that the disposition of my mind at that moment was perfectly tranquil, full of cold blood, so that the impression I experienced on seeing those pictures was independent of my imagination. The pictures or drawings represent an unusual assemblage of lines, points, circles, an original assemblage that has no resemblance to anything whatsoever. They all have a certain particular character, common to them, but completely indefinable. One would say there is nothing particular in these points and lines, and yet, the impression they leave is of the most disagreeable, like a fatiguing nightmare. In a word, those drawings in no way resemble those you may have already seen, and to me they are repugnant. In this collection of mediumistic drawings are found: the house of Mozart, published in the Review of August 1858, and which everyone knows; a head of the Christ, made in Mexico, of a type admired by all experts; another Christ, crowned with thorns, modeled in clay at the Spiritist Society of Madrid, of remarkable execution; two superb heads of a woman in Greek profile, drawn at the Spiritist Society of Constantinople; a landscape in pen-and-ink, by Mr. Jaubert, vice-president of the Tribunal of Carcassonne and which any consummate artist would sign, etc. Such are the lines and points that disturbed the eyes of those gentlemen in so disagreeable and repugnant a manner. We would really be tempted to believe that a malignant Spirit fascinated them, so as to make them see everything inside out, in order to render their account more picturesque.

— At last, the members of the Society assemble to the number of about seventy. As in real societies, there were also secretaries. First they read a chapter of the Gospel; then the minutes of the preceding session. I confess that there was no way to listen to the various pieces of information without laughing. At Lyon, for example, a Spirit was saying foolish things, for which reason they determined his exclusion from the number of the Spirits of good conduct.

Next they read the obituary of the Spiritist colonel who was to be evoked during that session. Previously he had been a Saint-Simonian. Allan Kardec told the Society that he would put questions to him about the relations of Spiritism and Saint-Simonianism. One of those present wished to ask some questions, but the master declared that the others ought not to meddle in that for which they were not solicited.

I kept expecting that they would bring the apparatus that was to write, but I was mistaken. Allan Kardec rang the bell and, in the antechamber, there appeared a young man with the face of a thief, in a word, ready to recite by heart, for a quarter of a ruble and even for half a pound, all sorts of absurdities. We were told he was a medium.

Here it is no longer a matter of simple inaccuracies: it is the cynicism of insult and outrage. It suffices to cite such words to discredit them. In France their authors would have been brought before the courts. As regards inaccuracies, we will say only that, since the Society has existed, there has never been a bell in its office; consequently, we could not ring it. The ears of those gentlemen rang, as their eyes flashed, when they looked at the drawings and the statuette of Saint Louis.

The public, for the most part composed of old people, was characteristic; nearly half were half-mad. The young, ecstatic and disheveled, attentively followed the movements of the medium. There were believers so obstinate there that it was even a sin to laugh at them; one could only pity them.

It appears that lying is a lesser sin. It is true that certain persons think that every lie, made with good intentions, is excusable. Now, for some, to denigrate Spiritism is an excellent motive.

What did the Spirit answer? It answered through the prattle of Allan Kardec, which one can admire in his works.

The Spirit in question is that of Mr. Bruneau, member of the Spiritist Society, former student of the Polytechnic School and colonel of artillery, recently deceased. One can see the record of his evocation in the Review of December 1864.

Allan Kardec proposed to evoke a Saint-Simonian child.

That day there were eight mediums at the table, and not one. As the evocation of Mr. Bruneau, who had been a Saint-Simonian, had just taken place, and as, in this regard, this doctrine had been spoken of, his former chief, Père Enfantin, communicated spontaneously, and without being evoked, through one of the mediums and took part in the discussion. It was, then, Père Enfantin whom the faithful narrator took for a Saint-Simonian child. n As for ourselves, we were as wearied as disgusted by the aspect of all these people. We rose and went away. Thus ended our Spiritist visit. In spite of everything, I cannot make out whether it is knavery or madness. But, enough! Paris, 9/21 November 1864.

The editor of the newspaper adds:

The person who furnished us with these two interesting letters ends them with the following observation: “The conscientious account of the eyewitness is very important, even though it does not explain everything. It is for this reason that we think the present extract will not be without utility for persons too credulous in matters of communication with the Spirits.”

The reflections provoked by facts of this nature are summarized in the following article. [New tactics of the adversaries of Spiritism]

[1]

Translator's Note: It appears that the letter-writer, not understanding French well, confused the word enfant (child) with Père Enfantin. (a proper name.)