THE following contribution, under the preceding head, is translated by
my much esteemed friend, Dr. Geib, from the work of De Mirville, whence
the articles under the designation of FOREIGN COROBORATIVE EVIDENCE
have been obtained through the same able translator:
333. “Toward the end of the year 1852 the epidemic had been imported
into the North of Scotland by some American mediums; thence it got to
London, where, according to the latest accounts, it must have reached,
by the present time, a pretty extensive development. Seeing its
progress in this way, we were led to say, If it ever reaches Germany,
that whole country will be on fire.
334. “The religious gazette of Augsburg of June 18, 1853, contained an
article from which we make some extracts:
335. “‘Again the world is presented with various marvellous
appearances, which, coming from elevated sources, force themselves on
public notice, and which, in every case, throw a very marked shadow on
our own epoch of civilization. It may be appropriate to communicate
some of those found in the _Gazette Générale_; and leaving reflection
to the reader, we will give some of the most striking.
336. “‘_The Morgan Blatt_ (Morning Sheet) announces among its
novelties from Palatinat Rhénan, the phenomenon of a young girl not
yet pubescent, who, they say, is able at will to command a _rapping
spectre_, (Klopferle.) The spectre raps as often as the little girl
orders him, being obedient in the extreme. What is remarkable is, that
the spectres of the Old World, as well as the New, have a _strong
family likeness, being as much alike as two drops of water_. And
the Tribune of New York, printed in the German language, has lately
contained various communications on this subject. But whence come these
rapping spectres, and why make their appearance all at once?’
337. “The Gazette of Augsbourg then refers to several other facts of
the same nature, which, at all times, have caused much embarrassment to
the German authorities, either in giving rise to lengthy inquests, or
in causing the condemnation of persons proved afterward to be entirely
innocent; but as for those of the present time, it fully understands,
proclaims, and demonstrates them to be of the _American Affiliation_.
338. “The _Journal du Magnetisme_ of the 10th of March, 1853, had
already furnished us with the reported account given in the course
of last January to the tribunal of London, by the _rapping spirit_
of the house of Sanger; the same phenomena, the same stupefaction,
the same impossibility to discover the jugglers. However, the subject
appeared to rest at this point in Germany, when, in the month of April,
the first phenomenon of _table moving_ reached Bremen, and then the
_Augsbourg Gazette_ insisted on its true origin.
339. “‘For eight days previous,’ it said, ‘our good town has been in an
agitation difficult to describe; it is completely absorbed by a miracle
which was not thought of before the arrival of the steamer from New
York—the Washington. The NEW PHENOMENON IS IMPORTED FROM AMERICA.’
340. “Now a certain Doctor André was the first to describe this first
exhibition of table turning; therefore they called it his _discovery_.
What a discovery!
341. “‘Having formed a chain,’ he says, ‘of seven or eight persons, the
_right_ little finger of each touching the _left_ one of his neighbour,
the table they surround will commence turning, and continue as long as
the chain remains unbroken, and stop when an individual leaves it.’
342. “A general burst of pleasantry and incredulity first accompanied
the revelation of the doctor. But soon experiment begins, and laughter
gives place to a sort of dejection. Certain savans, professors of the
University of Heidelberg, MM. Mittermouer and Zoepfl, M. Molh, brother
of the member of the Institute, Eschenmajer, Ennemoser, and Kerner,
attest the same facts; and Doctor Lœwe of Vienna undertakes to give the
theory of it: ‘This theory consists, according to him, in the opposite
polarity of the right and left sides of the human body; hence, having
formed a chain of human beings, the contrary poles of which, viz. the
right and left, touch each other, and this chain, exerting upon any
body whatever a prolonged action, conveys to it an electric current,
and converts it into a magnet, and thus polarization is established in
that body; and in virtue of its tendency to magnetic orientation, the
south pole of the table impressing it with a movement to the north, the
latter commences a continued rotation, and turns on its axis as long as
the indispensable conditions are continued.’
343. “Unfortunately, the spirits are very soon seen to dispense with
these _indispensable conditions_. Thus, then, at Bremen, Vienna, and
Berlin, there was not a table at rest on its legs, and still the French
press observed a uniform inexplicable silence!
344. “We ask, however, what would have been said, had we foretold what
began to appear unavoidable, that in less than a month, table and hat
turning would reach Paris. The announcement was scarcely known when
it appears that such a thing has always existed; that it is a law of
nature; and that tables never had any other destiny!
345. “Again we inquire of all serious minds, What is the faculty by
which we predict, among other coming events, the turning of tables,
which, nevertheless, do not turn till after the arrival of a _vessel_
and a medium? However, silence becoming impossible, the French press
has thought proper to speak. On the 4th of May, the Journal of the
Empire, _Le Pays_, happened to inform us that ‘from the Baltic to
the banks of the Danube, all Germany was in a fever.’ It became then
plainer and plainer that we were going to be infected, and from that
time we hastened to prepare our batteries.
346. “It was high time, for about the end of April, the grand
mysterious army had this time decidedly crossed the Rhine, and in all
the large cities of France—Strasbourg, Marseilles, Bordeaux, Toulouse,
&c.—the _turning_ epidemic broke out like a discharge of musketry; and
better to impress the mind, it only at first attacked stands, tables,
hats, seats, &c., for all these participated in the demonstration.
347. “At Paris especially, in repeating the experiments, they were made
a pastime for a soirée. Children were introduced into the circles,
without considering whether correlative evil might not be coupled with
these mysterious amusements.
348. “It is true they would not allow the smallest Leyden jar to come
near them; but what troubles might have resulted from the action of an
electricity that could raise tables of eighteen dishes like a feather?
349. “It is true, too, that M. Rouilly, _maître de pension_ at Orleans,
undertook to give an answer. In the _Moniteur due Loiret_, he informs
us that ‘at his house, even in the middle of the process, a large young
man of twenty-six was seized with a violent trembling in all his limbs,
and that his left forearm began suddenly to oscillate in a frightful
manner, making as many as a thousand movements in a minute; being able,
he said, to utter only broken syllables; staggered like an intoxicated
man; it was necessary to carry him to bed, and the next day he still
felt some nervous trembling.’ M. Rouilly ended in saying ‘that he
felt it his duty to report this fact for the benefit of those who may
enter into these experiments without knowing their possible serious
inconveniences.’ Little attention was paid to this, so much had fashion
asserted empire, so much was this pleasure worth its cost.
350. “However, knowing long since all the particulars, we are disposed
to ask ourselves, What is going to result from all this? what will the
savans say? Will they allow themselves to be carried away by electric
appearances? will their philosophy allow them to seek independently
of the fluids, which may be imagined to operate, the real agent of
such a variety of effects? No; they well know, however, that in the
sciences—medicine, for example—every investigation that stops short
of phenomena, is of very secondary value; we may be satisfied, for
want of better, but still we do not feel ourselves in possession of
the truth; we still seek it. Why in this case should we do otherwise?
These suppositions were just, but we say without hesitation our
fantastic experimenters committed from the first an unpardonable fault,
philosophically speaking; that is, not to have taken the least notice
of those facts from America which were beginning to sound in their ears
from all sides. When we are visited by the plague, yellow fever, or
cholera, the first care of the faculty is to have it studied in Egypt,
Spain, and Poland. These scourges are investigated even at the place
of their birth; we notice their origin, development, and termination.
Well! in doing the same in this case, these gentlemen would have seen
_as clear as day_ that the _Augsbourg Gazette_ was right in telling
them that this _animal magnetizing_ was received direct from America.
But what shall we do? we take no pleasure _in looking_ at what we do
not want _to see_.
351. “However, this affiliation once well established, well understood,
by thoroughly studying the American prodigies, we should very soon have
reached the assurance that there, at least, the spirits had exhibited
themselves in open day; and there, as they were first concealed in
tables or behind _partitions_, we could have seen immediately what
might be reserved for us for the future.
352. “But rest assured our French science will not yield; the snare is
too gross; French science has no rival in physics and electricity; it
only sees in this a _waggish_ electricity, and will never consent to be
persuaded that it has slept a hundred years at the side of such truths,
or rather at the side of such enormities in physics.
353. “And then iniquity is exhibited to herself at all times. Sir, then
what becomes of the _indispensable_ conditions of Dr. André? that is to
say: ‘All the effects ceasing on the least interruption of the chain.’
354. “This morning, in a journal of Lorraine, there is a notice of a
circle formed in a first story, round a massive table; as long as the
circle continued nothing was done; but getting tired they all leave for
the street, and a few moments afterward the rebellious table begins
to waltz, as if to bid defiance to the party. What a law of physics,
what electricity! Behold, on the other hand, cities and countries
disinherited! Behold the city of Valence, who laboured all in her
power, who followed with angelic patience all the prescriptions of
the new science; nothing could produce the phenomena. Is it that at
Valence, perchance, the human species has no electricity? Mon Dieu!
it has electricity, but it is not of that accidental and local kind,
the real kind for the occasion, and which may be therefore denominated
_erratic_; as the ancients called those gods that moved about from
place to place.
355. “No, Science is not to be so deceived; she is not satisfied with
the explanation of the _little fingers_, but soon perceives that these
little fingers supply here precisely the part of the famous mesmeric
trough, and the chain that was formed entirely round it. Then, also,
the chain was said to be very important; and the trough, magnet,
steel, glass pile all _necessary_ agents. Very well, what has now
become of all these necessities? The magnetic effects exceed all those
of that time, and notwithstanding they are not made any use of. Much
more! since the _passes_ have ceased to be the fashion, the phenomena
have doubled. In Germany, where people go to the bottom of things,
they have desired to look into the heart of it. Each master of the
magnet—and they are pretty plenty there—has constructed his own trough.
That of Walford consists of an _iron_ box, furnished with bottles, iron
wire, ground glass, &c. That of Keiser was made of _beech_ without
bottles, and filled with water, which did not prevent the effects from
being precisely the same in the two cases. Thus it was said: It is
magnetism alone which gives them this power, and they magnetized their
best. But one lucky day it was thought proper not to magnetize, and
the trough lost none of its power! ‘Ah! ah!’ they say, ‘the trough is
magnetized by the magnetized patients themselves, and they put a stout
man into it, free from all magnetic influence, and besides in excellent
health. Well, this time! the magnetic effects exceeded in intensity
all the previous experiments, and never had the phenomena exhibited
themselves so brilliantly.’
356. “This is the precise account of the famous report of Bailly, of
which M. Arago spoke so highly in his last memoir; and in one respect
he was right; for these great experimenters did not allow themselves to
be caught by any of these electric seductions, and proclaimed physics
to be entirely innocent of all the effects they witnessed. But at the
same time they thought proper to refer to the _imagination_ these same
prodigious effects, which no one could understand even after having
seen them; and there was their great mistake; they were right as
savans, as philosophers inexcusable.
357. “Moreover, this absurd explanation by imagination he renewed under
these circumstances; and that of jugglery is not more fortunate. What
prejudice! These two words rendered much service, and covered many
retreats! That is, however, passed; it will be necessary hereafter, not
only to admit them, but to redeem all analogous precedents, for these
are about to be, at last, explained. Again, what is to be done? It will
be necessary to proclaim that these electric phenomena which are real
as an _effect_, are not in fact real in their _cause_; that they lie
when they wish the contrary to be believed, that they joke when they
act by turns with and without a chain in a particular town, and not in
some other, &c.
358. “But on the other hand to perceive a capricious and lying cause,
is almost to perceive ... a mind. A mind, grands dieux! You represent
yourself before the whole Academy Arago as recognising spirits,
hobgoblins! grand experiment! But that itself is horrid to contemplate!
Not a face at the Institute can remain uncovered, and that day will
forever be regarded as unlucky for science, as it robs it of a victory
which was thought to have been gained centuries before.
359. “Beware, however, of the first _supernal intelligence_! for
we shall fall back on our ancient and primitive _criterion_, our
infallible _touchstone_.
360. “All depends on what it is going to give us; think well of it this
time; an imprudent question might lose all.
361. “And already, what signifies that last phrase of a serious article
which we find in the _Courier du Nord_? ‘In another house the table,
they say, obeyed the commands of one of the experimenters; took the
direction indicated, danced in measure to the sound of a piano, counted
the hours, and told the age of the assistants,’ &c.
362. “What means that other letter from Bordeaux, in the _Guyenne_? ‘A
hat submitted to _animal magnetism_ appeared _more intelligent_ even
than the table; it indicated, they say, by little gambols, _the age_ of
persons, the number of pieces of money they had in their pockets, it
told the _amount_ of ladies and gentlemen together in the room,’ &c.
363. “What follows is better still: see in the _Journal le Pays_, a
letter of M., the Abbé of Moigno, according to which it follows that
MM. Seguin and de Montgolfier, very distinguished engineers, ordered
the tables to rest on _this_ leg and then on _the other_, and made them
beat time, &c.
364. “We read in La Patrie—‘_Explanation given by the savans_.’ Ah!
let us see! this subject is becoming important. According to this
journal the following is the hypothesis at which the savans have
arrived: ‘The table and hat turners _act mostly in good faith_, (quite
a concession,) but _they deceive themselves_; they think they cause the
motion of an inanimate object by an act of volition, or an effusion
of magnetic fluid from their fingers; while it is by muscular action,
_imperceptible_ to themselves, or others.’ Ah! take notice! It is by
a vibratory movement coming from thousands of small nervous branches.
Add to this, lassitude, _humidity of the hands_, and you will have
an explanation, if not entirely satisfactory, at least _sufficiently
plausible_, of the phenomena which engage our attention. M. Chevreul
(of the Institute) has _analyzed_ this physiological predisposition,
and has _illustrated_ it by the fact familiar to the billiard player,
who having struck the ball, follows it with his eyes, with his
shoulders, and with the whole body, and makes fantastic motions, _as if
to impel it_, though no longer subject to his direct action, &c.
365. “It is well M. Chevreul has used the phrase ‘_as if to impel it_,’
for had he been so unfortunate as to say, _and in fact he did impel
it_, we should have been lost. In truth we should have been silenced.
But that lucky ‘_as if_,’ saves us from a very bad predicament; it
brings back to our memory what we were about to forget; that is to say,
that in the relations of man and matter, never, up to the present time,
has all the muscular effort of the world been able to influence, in
the smallest degree, the direction of an object, not under its direct
action. To the present time all the laws of physics have been based
on the grand primordial law, and the player of ten-pins is not more
successful from such efforts, than he of the billiard ball just named.
366. “How changed are the times! Two years ago, the whole Academy of
Sciences revolted against the Baron de Humboldt for supposing that at
a distance he caused a deviation of the magnetic needle—an experiment,
too, which could _never_ be renewed at Paris; and, behold! in place
of needles, all at once heavy tables are seen _waltzing about the
room, and obedient to the will_; and all this is easily explained! It
is _quite plausible_! Yes, but this time, gentlemen Savans, we will
not allow you to distort the facts. Since the commencement of this
volume, we have done nothing but establish, on good evidence, all
those which your colleagues arrange agreeably to their fancy, after
having absolutely denied them. But now the half of France rises with
us to convict them, and to say to you: No, your _nervous branches_
will never explain it; neither the physical phenomena which you would
refer to them, nor the intelligence of our tables which respond to our
own questions, nor the _super-intelligence_ of those which probably
to-morrow will reveal to us what we are ignorant of ourselves.
367. “Attending on the morrow, then! It is truly sorrowful to see a
man of the highest merit, like M. Chevreul, expose himself in this way
to the weakest scholar who, _cue in hand_, might fairly undertake to
answer him. Those may hereafter believe in physics who wish. It is most
horribly compromised. A science, capable of thus forswearing all its
principles, loses, in our estimation, much of its authority.
368. “_La Revue Medicale_, cited by _La Patrie_ of May 20th, declares
in its turn ‘the explanation either by _imagination_ or _muscular
vibrations_, as represented by MM. Corvisart and De Castelnan,
_entirely nullified_ by the fact of the simple change in the relations
of the _little fingers_.’
369. “As for the Medical, they see in it _animal magnetism_, and
exclaim: ‘No one is able to foresee the application of which this
discovery is susceptible. It is an entire world for explanation. Who
knows if there is not at the end of this hint the means of illustrating
a whole generation!’
370. “Lucky Magnetism—what a reparation you have a right to demand!
what incense will be bestowed on you to-morrow, by those who yesterday
so cruelly tore you to pieces! But _La Presse_ and _L’Union Medicale_
may do what they please, no one will hereafter believe them on their
word.
371. “A just reward, gentlemen, for things here below. You would not
believe and you are not believed now! We read afresh in _La Patrie_ of
May 21st, the recital of ‘tables promenading and upsetting _without
contact by pure efforts of volition_, or even by a simple magnetic
_pass_—a very _superfluous_ precaution of the experimenter.’ Very
superfluous, indeed! It could not have been better expressed.
372. “In the presence of such a fact, will the magnetizers still
maintain that the magnetic rapport results from the mixture of _the two
nervous atmospheres_? The nervous system of tables, (disgueridons,) to
use the language of Reichenbach, must be very _sensitive_; and in this
new dance _without contact_—what becomes of the explanation by muscular
vibration, and especially by _the humidity of the hands_?
373. “We have some very important communications, on the 23d of May,
from M. Bonjean, member of the Royal Academy of Savoy, at Chambéry,
respecting several experiments made at the academy itself, and
establishing the _perfect intelligence_ of the agent in question.
M. Bonjean, however, always refers this intelligence to one uniform
process. ‘These responses,’ he says, ‘are not, and _cannot be but the
reflection of the thoughts_ of the person who causes the phenomena, and
the movables _are only able to satisfy_ those questions whose answers
are known, without ever being able to supply an answer that is not
known.’
374. “The idea that the furniture is unable to _give satisfaction_
is charming! but up to this point it was not understood to be
_super-intelligence_. Patience, however, for it is bound to happen!
375. “Besides, M. Bonjean does full justice to the _muscular movements_
of M. Chevreul, by means of that single exception of the table of
Strasbourg turning with all its operators, or certain tables at Lyons
moved without _immediate contact_. Next, he passes from the physical
to the moral question, which, if to be believed, is certainly not very
encouraging. ‘Fathers and mothers,’ he exclaims, ‘if you do not desire
to develope premature feelings in your daughters, husbands who regard
the peace of your wives, _be mistrustful of the magnetic chain_ in
general, and of the dancing of tables in particular.’
376. “It will be recollected that in the famous secret report of Bailly
on mesmerism, in 1784, exactly the same thing was said. There is under
all this, then, we have good reason to apprehend, a uniform unrepented
sin.
377. “In a letter of May 24th from M. Seguin, one of our most
distinguished engineers, to the Abbé Moigno, who had very ably opposed
these experiments in _Le Pays_, M. Seguin says, ‘When I reason
dispassionately on the _real and very positive_ results which I have
obtained, and seen obtained by others before my eyes, I think myself
under the control of an hallucination which causes me to see things
differently to what they are, so much does my reason refuse to admit
them; but when I repeat my experiments, I find it impossible any longer
to resist the force of evidence, when indeed it confounds and upsets
all my opinions.
378. “‘_How can you_ expect me to accept your explanation, when a table
touched very lightly by the ends of the fingers, presses _against_ my
hand and _against_ my legs to such a degree as to repel me and almost
break itself? How believe that the person whose hands touch it could
impart to it a force equal to such efforts, and _especially when that
person_ is myself? Accept, then, freely and with courage, the facts as
THEY ARE, the facts well seen and satisfactorily produced by myself,
in whom you have, I think, as much confidence as in yourself. The
explanation will come hereafter, rest assured. Believe firmly that in
these phenomena of _turning tables_ there is something more than you
see—a _physical reality_ outside of the imagination and of the faith of
those who appear to make them move.’
379. “It is impossible, as we see, to be more positive, or better to
defend the _physical_ evidence on the ground of facts. M. Seguin has a
thousand times the advantage over his learned antagonist; but let us
see if M., the Abbé Moigno, defeated on this ground, will not take his
revenge on another.
380. “Referring to a communication made to the academy by one M.
Vauquelin, about one of these _enchanted tables_, which in his hands
was able to reply to the most mysterious questions, divine the
most secret thoughts, &c., M. Meigno exclaims in _Le Cosmos Revue
Encyclopédique des Sciences_: ‘This time _it is too strong_; we find
ourselves definitively at the mercy of magic, and the moment has
come to proclaim it at Rome. Then there is neither magnetism nor
electricity; not even the influence of human volition on matter; but
supposing the fact to be certain—WHICH IS HARD TO SWALLOW—there must
be in it _the intervention of spirits_, or _magic_. Intelligence that
can refuse these deductions of common sense, would be DISORDERED
intelligence, as useless to dispute with as _with fools_. If you have
not been mistaken, if the extraordinary facts which you affirm are
true, we ourselves are believers. The intervention of spirits and of
magic became the sorrowful but great realities.’
381. “M. Agenor De Gasparin, one of our most sedate philosophers,
writes what follows in _La Gazette de France_:—‘I will not insist on
this point. The phenomenon of rotation, if alone, would not appear to
me entirely satisfactory. I am mistrustful, though not an academician,
and, I admit, that it may be possible (at a pinch) that a mechanical
impulsion might be communicated. But the rotation only serves to
_present_ other phenomena, the explanation of which it is impossible to
refer to any kind of muscular action.
382. “‘Each of us, in his turn, gave orders to the table, which it
promptly obeyed; and I should succeed with difficulty in explaining to
you the strange character of these movements, of blows struck with an
exactness, with a solemnity that fairly _frightened us_. “Strike three
blows; strike ten blows. Strike with your left foot; with your right
foot; with your middle foot. Rise on two of your feet; on only one
foot; remain up; prevent those on the side raised from returning the
table to the floor.” After each command the table obeyed. It produced
movements that no complicity, involuntary or voluntary, could have
induced; _for we should have afterward tried in vain to place it on
one foot, and keep it there by the pressure of the hands, resisting
incontestably the efforts to press it down_.
383. “‘Each one of us gave orders with equal success. Children were
obeyed as well as grown persons.
384. “‘Still more: it was agreed that the requests should not be
audible, but merely mental, and whispered to a neighbour. Still the
table obeyed! _There was in no instance the least error._
385. “‘Each person desired the table to rap the number of years of his
age, and it gave our ages as indicated only in our mind, _endeavouring
in the most curious manner to hurry when the number was large_. I must
own, to my shame, that I was rebuked by it, for having unintentionally
diminished my age; the table gave forty-three instead of forty-two,
_because_ my wife, with a better memory, had thought of the correct
number.
386. “‘Finally, having continued these experiments more than an hour,
at which the neighbours and the servants of the farm were present, I
felt that it was time to stop. I requested the table to raise; to raise
again, _and turn over on my side, which it did_.
“‘Accept, gentlemen, the assurance of my best consideration,
A. DE GASPARIN.’
387. “We stop our citations here; for those who are not content
with the testimony we have furnished, emanating as it does from
philosophers, or men of serious minds, the same revelations appearing,
too, _in all parts of the world_, will not be better satisfied by any
thing we could add. A day is coming, however, that will open every
mouth. Then from all those parlours so reserved before—from all those
cabinets in which experiments had been conducted with _closed doors_,
the truth will burst forth in its full power. Then it will be known
that some of the most esteemed men of Paris, of the bench, pulpit,
and men of letters, have both desired to see and have seen it; have
desired to know and have known it. It will be known that the evil
_super-intelligence_ has been revealed to them, and that if they have
been silent on the subject, or desired to suppress their name, it was
only an act of prudence to restrain public opinion.
388. “But on that day what will Science be doing? We can boldly
predict: the facts of to-day _which it does admit_, proving to amount
to nothing, and the _inadmissible_ facts being admitted, its faith will
change, and its language become more modest. Like the ancient Augurs,
two savants will not be able to look at each other any more without
smiling, and often enough to exclaim: ‘It has been well said, my dear
colleague; it has always been foretold, that “HE, WHO IS OUTSIDE OF
PURE MATHEMATICS, PRONOUNCES THE WORD IMPOSSIBLE, WANTS PRUDENCE.’”