New and definitive burial of Spiritism.

— How many times have they already said that Spiritism was dead and buried! How many writers have already boasted of having given it the coup de grâce, some because they had uttered crude words seasoned with coarse salt, others because they had discovered a charlatan decking himself out with the name of Spiritist, or some crude imitation of a phenomenon! Without speaking of all the sermons, pastoral letters, and pamphlets from the same source, from which the least among them believed he had hurled the thunderbolt, the appearance of specters in the theaters was greeted with a hurrah! all down the line. “We have the secret of these Spiritists,” the newspapers, small and large, kept saying without respite, from Perpignan to Dunkirk; “they will never rise again from this blow!” The specters passed and Spiritism remained standing. Then came the Davenport brothers, apostles and high priests of Spiritism, whom they did not know and whom no Spiritist knew. There again Mr. Robin had the glory of saving, for the second time, France and Humanity, while doing very good business for his theater. The press wove crowns for this courageous defender of common sense, for this learned man who had discovered the cunning tricks of Spiritism, as Dr. Jobert (of Lamballe) had discovered the secret of the snapping muscle. Yet the Davenport brothers departed without the honors of war; the snapping muscle sprang a leak and Spiritism is always doing very well. Evidently this proves one thing: it is that it consists neither in Mr. Robin's specters, nor in the cords and Basque tambourines of Messrs. Davenport, nor in the little peroneal muscle. n It is, then, one more blow that fails. But this time, here is the good one, the true one, and it is impossible for Spiritism to rise again: it is the Événement, the Opinion nationale, and the Grand Journal that inform us and affirm it. A very strange thing is that Spiritism takes pleasure in reproducing all the facts that are opposed to it and that, according to its adversaries, are bound to kill it. If it deemed them very dangerous, it would keep silent about them. Here is what it is about: “The celebrated English actor Sothern has just written to a Glasgow newspaper a letter that deals the final blow to Spiritism. That newspaper was reproaching him for attacking, without the slightest consideration, the Davenport brothers and the followers of occult influences, after he himself had given sessions of Spiritism in America, under the name of Sticart, which was then his theatrical pseudonym. Mr. Sothern perfectly admits to having shown his friends many times that he was capable of performing all the feats of the Spiritists and even of having accomplished still more marvelous wonders; but his experiments were never carried out outside a small circle of friends and acquaintances. He never made anyone pay a penny whatsoever; he himself covered the expenses of his experiments, after which he and his friends gathered for a merry dinner. “With the assistance of a very active American, he obtained the most curious results: apparition of phantoms, noise of instruments, signatures of Shakespeare, invisible hands running through the spectators' hair and giving them slaps, etc., etc.

“Mr. Sothern always said that all these magic tricks resulted from ingenious combinations, from skill and cunning, without the Spirits of the other world taking any part in them.

“In short, the celebrated artist declares that he challenges the Humes, [see Mr. Home] the Davenports, and all the Spiritists in the world to produce any manifestation that he cannot surpass.

“He never claimed to make a profession of his skill, but only to confound the rogues, who outrage religion and steal the public's money, making it believe that they have a supernatural power, that they maintain relations with the other world, that they can evoke the souls of the dead. Mr. Sothern does not beat about the bush in stating his opinion; he calls things by their names; he calls a cat a cat and the Rollets… crooks.”

— Messrs. Davenport had against them two things that our adversaries acknowledged: the theatrical exhibitions and the exploitation. Believing in good faith – at least we like to think so – that Spiritism consists in juggling tricks on the part of the Spirits, the adversaries expected that the Spiritists would take the side of these gentlemen; they were somewhat disappointed when, on the contrary, they saw them condemn this kind of manifestations as harmful to the principles of the doctrine, and demonstrate that it is illogical to admit that the Spirits are at all hours at the orders of the first comer who wishes to make use of them to earn money.

Certain critics even, of their own accord, put forward this argument against Messrs. Davenport, without suspecting that they were defending the cause of Spiritism.

The idea of putting the Spirits on stage and making them serve as extras with a view to profit aroused a general feeling of aversion, almost of repulsion, even in the unbelievers, who said to themselves: “We do not believe in the Spirits;

but if there are any, it is not under such conditions that they should show themselves; and we ought to treat them with more respect.” They did not believe in Spirits coming for so much per session, and in this they were entirely right; whence one may conclude that the exhibition of extraordinary things and exploitation are the worst means of making proselytes. If Spiritism patronized such things, this would be its weak side; its adversaries understand this so well that it is upon this that they lose no occasion to strike, believing they are reaching the doctrine. Mr. Gérôme, of the Univers illustré, replying to Mr. Blanc de Lalésie (see our Review of December), who reproached him for speaking of what he did not know, said: “I practically studied Spiritism with the Davenport brothers, and it cost me 15 francs. It is true that the Davenport brothers today work at gentler prices: for 3 or 5 francs one can see their farces; Robin's prices, fortunately!” [see Simulated apparitions in the theater.]

The author of the article on the young cataleptic girl of Swabia, who is not a Spiritist (see the January issue), takes care to point out, as proof of confidence in these extraordinary phenomena, that the parents do not in the least think of taking advantage of the strange faculties of their daughter. The exploitation of the Spiritist idea is, then, a cause of discredit. The Spiritists condemn speculation, and it is for this reason that care is taken to present the actor Sothern as completely disinterested, in the expectation of making him a victorious argument. It is always that same idea that Spiritism lives only on marvelous facts and on trickery. Let criticism strike as much as it likes at abuses; let it unmask the tricks and the cunning of charlatans. Spiritism, which uses no secret method and whose doctrine is wholly moral, can only gain by seeing itself rid of the parasites who make a stepping-stone of it and of those who pervert its character. Spiritism has had as adversaries men of real worth, in learning and in intelligence, who employed against it, without success, a whole arsenal of argumentation. Let us see whether the actor Sothern will have more success than the others in burying it. It would have been buried long ago if it had rested upon the absurdities attributed to it. If, then, after having killed charlatanism and discredited ridiculous practices, it still exists, it is because there is in it something more serious, which it has not been possible to reach. [1] See the Spiritist Review of June 1859: The snapping muscle. The Moniteur and other newspapers announced, some time ago, that Dr. Jobert (of Lamballe) had been struck with mental derangement and is currently in a sanatorium. This sad event is certainly not due to his belief in the Spirits.