This year, at Chartres College, they thought of adding a literature conference to the St. Charlemagne banquet. Two students of Philosophy sustained a controversy whose theme was Spiritism. Here the report made by the
Journal de Chartres, on March 11
th, 1866:
“
To close the ceremony two students of Philosophy, Mr. Ernest Clement and Mr. Gustave Jumentié, in a lively and animated dialogue, discussed a subject that today has the privilege of seeing many minds falling in love with: that is Spiritism.J. criticizes his always joyful colleague for his somber and circumspect air, that makes him look like the author of a melodrama, asking him about the origin of such a change.C. responds that his mind has been taken by a sublime doctrine, Spiritism, that came to confirm in an irrefutable way the immortality of the soul and other concepts of the spiritualist doctrine. It is not a chimera, as the interlocutor pretends; it is a system founded on authentic facts, such as the turning tables, the mediums, etc.I certainly won’t be so senseless, J. responds, my dear friend, to the point of discuss with you about the insane dreams about which everybody is completely delusional today. And when people just laugh at the face of the Spiritists, I will not, just for a dispute, give your ideas more weight than they deserve, giving them the honor of a serious refutation. The remarkable experiments of the Davenports demonstrated your strength and the faith necessary to your miracles. But fortunately, they received the fair punishment of their trickery. After a few days of a stolen triumph, they were forced to return to their country, and we proved once more that it is only one step between the Capitoline Hill and the Tarpeian Rock.[1]I do see, says C., that you are not a supporter of progress. On the contrary, you should feel sorry for the fate of those miserable ones. All sciences had their detractors in the beginning. Wasn’t Fulton[2] repelled by ignorance and treated as a madman? Haven’t we also seen Lebon[3], unknown in his land, dying miserably without enjoying the fruits of his work? Yet, the surface of the oceans is crossed today by the steamboat and the gas spreads its powerful light everywhere.J. – Yes, but those inventions were based on solid foundations; science was the guide of those geniuses and should force the enlightened posterity to repair the mistakes of their contemporary. But what are the inventions of the Spiritist? What is the secret of their science? Everybody can admire and applaud the ingenious mechanism of its little wand…C. – Still the jokes? Nevertheless, I told you that there are very honest people among the followers of Spiritism, people of profound conviction.J. – It is true, but what does it prove? That the common sense is not something as common as one thinks, and as the poet of Reason said: A fool always finds an even more fool to be admired by.C. – Boileau would not have said that if he had seen the turning tables. What do you say about it?J. – That I have never moved the smallest little table.C. – It is because you are a profane. A table has never resisted me. I made one move whose weight was 200 kg, with the dishes, serving platters, bottles, …J. – You could shake St. Charlemagne’s table, if the appetite of the guests had not very prudently empty…C. – I do not speak of the hats. But I could produce a powerful rotation to the slightest touch.J. – I am not surprised that your poor head turned to them. C. – But anyhow, jokes are not reasons; they are the arguments of impotence. You do not prove anything, you refute nothing.J. – Fact is that your doctrine is nothing, it is a chimera, of a colorless and impalpable gas – I prefer the gas of illumination – an exhalation, a vapor, a smoke. I give my word, my choice is made, I prefer that of champagne. Ah Miguel de Cervantes! Why were you born two centuries earlier? It would be up to your immortal Don Quixote to reduce Spiritism to dust. He held his valuable spear against the windmills. However, it is true that they turned! How would he have cracked the speaking and noisy closets from top to bottom! And you, his faithful shield-bearer, illustrious Sancho Panza, it is your profound philosophy, your sublime moral the only one capable of unmasking these serious theories.C. – However much you say, Messrs. Philosophers, you deny Spiritism because you do not know that to do with it, for it embarrasses you.J. – Ah it causes no embarrassment to me, and I do know what I would do if I were heard in this matter. Spiritists, magnetizers, somnambulists, closets, speaking tables, turning hats on the holding heads, I would send them all to spend some time… in the sanatorium. Some people will be surprised, perhaps scandalized, by seeing students of Chartres College discussing a subject that is considered to be the most serious of modern days, without any weapons other than mockery. Frankly, after the extremely recent adventure of the Davenport brothers, can the young folks be criticized for having fun with that mystification? That age is ruthless.We could, undoubtedly, using one of their borrowed phrases, teach those smart alecks that the great discoveries, many times, pass by the Tarpeian Rock before they reach the Capitoline, and that for Spiritism the day of rehabilitation may not be far. The newspapers, in turn, announce that a musician from Brussels, that is also Spiritist, affirms to be in touch with the Spirits of every dead composer; that he is going to transmit his inspirations to us, and that we will soon get real post-mortem works from Beethoven, Mozart, Weber, Mendelssohn! Well, be it! The students are too condescending: they wanted to have a laugh and laughed; when the time comes for them to apologize, they will.”
We do not know why such an issue was allowed to be treated in a college ceremony. However, we doubt that it was out of sympathy towards Spiritism, aiming at having it propagated among the students. Some said that it looked like certain common conferences in Rome, in which there is the advocate of God and the advocate of the devil. Anyhow, one must acknowledge that none of the champions was very strong; they would have undoubtedly been more eloquent if they knew the subject better, a subject that they did not study, as it can be seen, with the exception of the articles in the papers about the Davenports.
The fact still has some importance and if the objective was to deviate the youngster from the study of Spiritism, we doubt very much that it was achieved because the youngsters are curious. Up until now the name of Spiritism had not yet crossed the gates of colleges, perhaps only clandestinely, and it was only whispered. Here it is officially now, seating on the benches where it is going far.
Considering that the discussion is allowed, it will be necessary to study it. It is all we want. The reflections in the newspaper are very judicious in that respect.
[1] The Tarpeian Rock is a steep cliff on the south side of the Capitoline Hill, which was used during the Roman Republic as a site of execution. Murderers, traitors, perjurers, and larcenous slaves, if convicted by the quaestores parricidii, were flung from the cliff to their deaths. The cliff was about 25 meters high. Wikipedia (T.N.)
[2] Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 25, 1815) was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing a commercially successful steamboat. (Wikipedia, T.N.)
[3] Philippe LEBON (or Lebon) (D'Humbersin) (May 29, 1767 – December 1, 1804) was a French engineer, born in
Brachay,
France. There is much confusion about his life and accomplishments. His main contributions were improvements to
steam engines and industrializing the extraction of lighting gas from wood. He died assassinated in 1804
