Experimental investigation of the spirit manifestations, [electronic ...

278 ADDITIONAL CORROBORATIVE EVIDENCEinvoked with me the sacred names of God and Jesus, &c. ; is it then crediblethat among these persons, not one shouhl be found possessing a portionof faith equal to that of a peasant, which is able, according to Origen,to drive out the devil in the name of God? I am unable to believe it.What! the venerable bishop, who experimented with me during four years,had sacrificed himself in propagating the faith in distant lands, should henot have as much faith as a peasant, inorder to be able to remove an evilspirit in the name of God ? This would bo to insult the sacred labour ofpropagating the faith in the person of one of its most distinguished apostles.1414. " But this is not enough ;notice how St. John teaches us to knowif a spirit is of God or not.'My well beloved, this is how to know thata spirit is of God: all spirits who confess that Jesus Christ has come inthe flesh, are of God, and those who do not confess that he is come in theflesh, are not of God.^ (1 John ix.) Instructed by St. John in the mannerof knowingthe spirits of God, to assure myself further on the natureof spirits or occult forces, exhibited in the movement and language of tables,I have used the method indicated by St. John.It was with this view that,my little table being in motion, I addressed to it the following questionsDo you confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh ? Yes, it replied.The same question, repeated several times, produced uniformly the same answer.Having this experiment alone at my house, I was desirous of seeingwhether the same results would be obtained in company. With this designI went to the houses of persons acquainted with these phenomena,and begged a gentleman, a medium, to place his hands with mine on astand. The movement of the stand being felt, the same question was answeredin the same manner. And after this experience can I conscientiouslybelieve in the intervention of the devil in the turning and speakingof the tables, without regarding the testimony of St. John as erroneous;and should I regard it as such? It is for M. de Mirville to answer.1415. ''But I do not stop here. It is said in the ritual of Paris andothers, in the chapter of the possessed, as follows :sunt.JSif/na cnergumenorumIgnota lingua Hogni ulque, maxima serie verhorum quae previderinon potucrunt vdita loqucntcm inteUigere distanfia, ct oculta patefaccreet vires supra ctatis suee naturam osteiidcre. Very well, if demons, asthe ritual says, speak all languages, even those unknown, after the greatnumber of experiments which I have made, I am prepared to declare thattables do not speak all languages, even the known ones, nor do they understandthem. Let some one who does not understand Greek, addressing aquestion to the table in French, request it to reply in Greek, and we willsee if the table does it. Let a stranger give to an inquirer at the table aquestion in a language unknown tohim, limiting himself to merely readingit, and we will see if the table respond; I defy all the tables in theworld to do it.me, I am entirely at his service.If M. de Mirville desires to make these experiments with