47. Optimist theory. While some persons see in these phenomena only the
action of demons, others only see that of good spirits; they suppose that souls, being
disengaged from matter by death, see everything without a veil, and must therefore
possess all science, and the highest wisdom. Their blind confidence in this supposed
superiority of the beings of the invisible world has been a Source of deception to many
persons, who have learned at length, and to their cost, to distrust certain spirits as well
as certain men.
