Simonet, healing medium of Bordeaux.

— Le Figaro of last July 5 gave an account, in these terms, of a judgment pronounced by the tribunal of Bordeaux:

“In these latter times, the great passion in Bordeaux was to go consult the sorcerer of Cauderan. The number of visits he received daily is estimated at one thousand or one thousand two hundred. The police, who make a profession of scepticism, grew uneasy at such success and wished to proceed with a judicial investigation at the castle of Bel-Air, where the sorcerer had established his residence. In the vicinity of the sorcerer’s dwelling was found a multitude who claimed to be afflicted with all manner of illnesses; great ladies also came there by carriage to consult the enlightened one.

“As soon as they interrogated the sorcerer, the magistrates did not doubt that he was a poor madman, exploited by the very ones who gave him lodging. For this reason, the sorcerer Simonet was not included in the prosecution, which limited itself to proceeding against the Barbier brothers, clever accomplices who gathered all the profits of Gascon credulity.

“True Gascons that they were, they adorned their house like a castle, which had been converted into an inn; only the wines they produced there had nothing in common with those in the Languedoc that are called Château wines; and, moreover, they had forgotten to provide themselves with a license, so that the administration of indirect contributions was bringing proceedings against them.

“The sorcerer Simonet was summoned as a witness.

— “Where did you learn Medicine, if you are a simple tinker?

— “And what do you think of revelation? Who, then, were the disciples of Christ? What did those poor fishermen do, who converted the world? God appeared to me; he gave me his science and I have no need of remedies: I am a healing physician.

— “Where did you learn all this?

— “From Allan Kardec… and indeed, Mr. President, I tell you this with all possible respect, you appear not to know the science of Spiritism, and I exhort you most strongly to study it. (Hilarity which the judges themselves could not resist).

— “You abuse the public credulity. Thus, to cite but one example, there is a poor blind man whom all Bordeaux knows. He had the weakness to go to you and brought you the alms he gathered from public charity. Did you restore his sight?

— “I do not cure everyone, but one is compelled to believe that I work cures, for on the day justice arrived, there were more than 1,500 people awaiting their turn.

— “Unfortunately that is true.

“The imperial prosecutor — And if this continues, we shall take one of these two measures: either we shall summon you here for swindling — and justice will assess whether you are mad — or we shall take an administrative measure against you. The honest must be protected against their own incredulity.

At the castle of Bel-Air they did not ask money of those who consulted; they merely distributed to them a number of order, for which they paid twenty centimes; then there were those who trafficked in these numbers, reselling them for as much as fifteen francs. Finally, they gave food to the poor peasants, who came sometimes from the borders of the Department. There was an alms box for the poor; needless to say, the sorcerer’s hosts seized the money of the poor.

“The tribunal condemned Messrs. Barbier to two months and one month of imprisonment and 300 francs for indirect contributions.”

Ad. Rocher.

— Here is the truth about Simonet, and the manner in which his faculty revealed itself.

Messrs. Barbier built at Cauderan, a suburb of Bordeaux, a vast establishment, such as there are several in the district, intended for balls, weddings and banquets, and to which they gave the name of Château du Bel-Air, which is no more Gascon than the Château-Rouge or the Château des Fleurs of Paris. Simonet worked there as a cabinetmaker, and not as a tinker. During the construction work, it often happened that workmen were injured or fell ill. Simonet, a Spiritist for a long time, and knowing a little of magnetism, was led instinctively, and without premeditated design, to care for them through fluidic influence, and cured many of them. The noise of these cures spread and soon he saw a multitude of sick people rush to him, so true is it that, do what one may, one cannot take from the sick the desire to be cured, no matter by whom. We know from eyewitnesses that the average of those who presented themselves was more than a thousand a day. The road was crammed with vehicles of every kind, come from several leagues away, with carts beside carriages. There were people who passed the night awaiting their turn. But in this multitude there were people who needed to drink and eat. The contractors of the establishment furnished it for them, and this became a good business for them. As for Simonet, who was a source of indirect profits, he was at least lodged and fed, and no reproach could be made to him. As they jostled at the door, to avoid confusion, they took the wise course of giving a number of order to those who arrived; but they had the less happy idea of charging ten centimes per number and, later, twenty centimes, which, by reason of the influx, yielded each day a quite considerable sum. However small this retribution was, all the Spiritists, and Simonet himself, who had nothing to do with it, saw it with regret, foreseeing the disastrous effect it would produce. As for the traffic in the tickets, it seems certain that some people in greater haste, in order to be attended sooner, bought the place of the poor who were ahead of them, very glad of this fortune. In this there is no great harm, but it could and necessarily had to result in abuse. It was such abuses that motivated the judicial action, directed against Messrs. Barbier, as having opened an establishment of consumption before having provided themselves with a patent. As for Simonet, he was not called into question, but simply summoned as a witness. The general reprobation that attaches to exploitation, in cases analogous to that of Simonet, is worthy of note. It seems that an instinctive sentiment leads even the incredulous to see in absolute disinterestedness a proof of sincerity, which inspires a kind of involuntary respect; they do not believe in the faculty; they ridicule it, but something tells them that if it exists, it must be a holy thing, which cannot, without profanation, become a profession. They limit themselves to saying: he is a poor madman in good faith; but every time that speculation, whatever its form, is mixed into any mediumship, criticism deems itself dispensed from any consideration.

Does Simonet really cure? People worthy of faith, very worthy, and who would have more interest in unmasking the fraud than in commending it, cited to us numerous cases of perfectly authentic cure. Besides, it seems to us that if he had cured no one, he would already have lost all credit. Moreover, he has not the pretension of curing everyone; he promises nothing; he says that the cure does not depend on him, but on God, of whom he is but an instrument, and whose assistance must be implored; he recommends prayer and he himself prays. We greatly regret not having been able to see him during our stay in Bordeaux; but all who know him agree in saying that he is an affable man, simple and modest, without boastfulness or bravado, who does not seek to prevail upon a faculty that he knows can be withdrawn from him. He is benevolent toward the sick, whom he encourages with good words. The interest he devotes to them is not based on the position they occupy; he has as much solicitude for the most wretched as for the richest. If the cure is not instantaneous, which most often is the case, he applies to it all the necessary firmness. Here is what was told to us. We are ignorant of what the consequences of this affair will be for him, but it is certain that, if he is sincere and perseveres in the sentiments by which he seems animated, he will not lack the assistance and protection of the good Spirits; he will see his faculty develop and grow, whereas he would see it decline and be lost if he entered upon an evil path, above all if he grew vain of it.

Note. — At the moment of going to press, we learned that, in consequence of the fatigue resulting for him from the long and arduous exercise of his faculty, more than to escape the vexations of which he was the object, Simonet resolved to suspend all reception until further notice. If the sick suffer by this abstention, at least it has produced a great effect.