29. The methods for convincing vary according to the individuals to be acted
on; for what persuades one does not touch another. One man is convinced by physical
manifestations, another by intelligent communications, but the greater number, by
reasoning. It may even be said that, for most of those who are not previously prepared
by reasoning, physical phenomena have but little weight. The more extraordinary these
phenomena are, and the more they diverge from ordinary experience, the more
opposition do they encounter; and this, for the very simple reason, that we are naturally
prone to doubt whatever has not a rational sanction; each man regarding such a matter
from his Own point of view, and interpreting it in his own way. Thus the materialist
attributes such phenomena to some purely physical action, or to trickery; the ignorant
and superstitious attribute them to some diabolical or supernatural agency; while a
preliminary explanation has the effect of disarming prejudice, and of showing, if not
their reality, at least, their possibility. Those, who begin by seeking for explanation,
comprehend before they have seen ; for them, when they have acquired the certainty
that the phenomena are possible, the conviction of their reality is easily arrived at.
