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live as he could. The Council of Geneva was not unmindful of his services to their cause, but the Republic was poor, and money was urgently needed for purposes of defence; Bonivard could only obtain the rights of citizenship, a house to live in, and a small pecuniary allowance. After a while, finding himself unable to live, he complained to the Bernese of his treatment at the hands of their allies and on their intervention the Council granted him a yearly pension of 140 écus d'or, besides 800 to pay his debts. But he must have found the Geneva of Calvin a very different place to live in from the Geneva of old days. The Council now exercised a vigilant supervision over the domestic life of the citizens. In January 1537, less than a year after his return, Bonivard was cited before the Council for irregularity of conduct, and was ordered to make a change in his establishment. Frequently afterwards he was cited for various offences-sometimes he was excommunicated; sometimes he was reprimanded. Once, having received into his house in his later years, when he might have supposed that no scandal could have arisen, a person, formerly a nun, to whom he was under promise of marriage, he was punished, not by imprisonment, but by enforced attendance at sermons on Sundays and Wednesdays. The Council may indeed have thought that this was the severest punishment they could inflict, for in the matter of attendance at church Bonivard was incorrigible. And it gives one a curious insight into the state of things at Geneva when one finds a man past middle age, who had played an important part in the affairs of his time, summoned before the Council, like an undergraduate before the dean of his college, for insufficient attendance at Divine worship. As Prior of St. Victor, Bonivard, though not a priest, must no doubt have been a celibate; but in his later days at Geneva he made up for lost time, having married four times between his release in 1536 and his death in 1570. His fourth wife, Catherine de Courtavone, was the person mentioned above; her subsequent history affords a terrible illustration of the stern discipline maintained at this time in the Republic. She was accused after her marriage with Bonivard of mis

conduct with an ex-monk; on their conviction, he was beheaded, and she sewn in a sack and thrown into the Rhone.

It was probably in Bonivard's later years, when the stirring scenes cf his political life were over, that he turned his attention to literary work. We are told, indeed, that during his imprisonment at Chillon he composed 'tant en latin qu'en trançais beaucoup de menues pensées et ballades;' but his Chronicles of Geneva,* a considerable work, relating chiefly to the history of his own times, was more likely to be composed during his long residence in the city. He also wrote a book-apparently no longer extantagainst the old religion, in which we may conceive that he could be heartier in his attack on the old than in his defence of the new. Indeed, in another work, a history of the Popes of the day, entitled Advis et Devis de la Source de l'Idolâtrie, he gives his opinion very plainly of the 'difformes réformateurs,' as he calls them. Nous avons dit par ci-devant beaucoup de maux des papes et des leurs; mais quel bien pourrons-nous dire des nôtres. Ce monde est fait à dos d'âne; si un fardeau penche d'un côté et vous le voulez redresser et le mettre au milieu, il n'y demeurera guères, mais penchera de l'autre. Aussi Cicéron en la guerre citoyenne entre Pompée et César, requis d'un chacun côté disait,

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Quem fugiam scio, ad quem nescio." Thus in matters of religion Bonivard, though far inferior to Erasmus both in mind and character, yet seems to have occupied somewhat the same position, unable to go heartily with either partyseeing the evils of the old too clearly to be a Conservative, and perceiving the dangers of the new too keenly to be a Reformer; standing somewhat apart, refusing to utter party cries of which he could discern the hollowness, and inclined to exclaim sadly, 'A mad world, my masters!' In politics, too, Bonivard was an eclectic; he declares that he had always preferred a republic to a monarchy, especially a hereditary monarchy; but he liked a democracy no better than a despotism, and seems to have been feeling after some kind of representative government which should avoid

the

* Called by M. Rey, 'La source la plus précieuse de notre histoire.'

tyranny both of the one and of the many. Some lines of his are extant which express in admirably epigrammatic form the good-humored cynicism of

the man:

Quand seront heureuses provinces,
Royaumes, villes et villages?
Quand l'on fera sages les princes
Ou (qu'est plus court) princes les sages.

There is something in Bonivard which reminds one of Horace; but the 'Epicuri de grege porcus' was more at home in Pagan Rome than he would have been in Christian and Calvinist Geneva. We can fancy that if Horace had been cɔmpelled by a decree of the Senate to attend sermons twice a week, and to give up his stroll on the Via Sacra on Sundays, he would have shrugged his shoulders and complied with as good a grace

as he could, especially if he had been in receipt of a yearly stipend on account of his good service at Philippi; but he would have been likely to take a less genial view of men and things, and to conceal a cynical contempt under a decent outward conformity. Times of violent change are sure to produce this effect upon some characters; men who can see two sides to a question can rarely be eager reformers or zealous party leaders: their place is rather to criticise, to moderate, to mediate if possible between extreme views. Such men must needs stand aloof from the battle; but it is in the battle that great deeds are done. Bonivard and Erasmus could see the weak as well as the strong side of the Reformation; but Calvin and Luther fought the battle of religious freedom.Fraser's Magazine.

POWERS OF THE AIR.

IT is lamentable and discouraging to reflect how little progress the human intellect has been able to make towards the solution of some questions among the most important that can occupy it. One of these questions, the existence or non-existence of spirit in the universe, was disputed between the Pharisees and Sadducees in the days of the apostles, has been disputed ever since, and, in these latter days, has separated disputants more widely than when the argument was young. For although one must suppose that the extreme of materialism had been reached by the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection of the dead, and acknowledged the being of neither angel nor spirit, it is certain that until the last century no philosopher went so far in the opposite direction as to deny altogether the existence of matter, and to affirm of spirit what the materialists affirm of substance-namely, that it is alone sufficient to account for everything in nature. Idealism, or the doctrine of the non-existence of matter, has had little success, because men can hardly be persuaded to discredit the evidence of their senses.

very

"When Bishop Berkeley said 'There was no matter'

And proved it-'twas no matter what he said: They say his system 'tis in vain to batter,

Too subtle for the airiest human head;

And yet who can believe it?"— wrote one of our wittiest poets; and Materialism, or the doctrine of the nonexistence of spirit or soul, also finds it difficult to make converts, because men refuse to surrender an internal conviction that they are in part immortal.

Between idealism and materialism there have been very numerous shades of opinion-more, probably, than I ever heard of, and far more than I could presume to claim acquaintance with. I cannot write philosophically about any; but about two doctrines, which are more or less attracting attention at present, I should like to set down a few words.

The former of these is Spiritualism. We hear constantly that the existence of innumerable spirits is easily and frequently made plain to the senses; that our atmosphere is thick with spirits who, under certain conditions, can be seen, heard, and felt; that the powers of these spirits are very great and, to us, marvellous. Spirits, we are assured, are not only willing to manifest their presence when invoked; they often intrude themselves where they are not wanted, and can be disagreeable and annoying. Every one in England and America has by this time heard or read testimony of the doings of these spirits; if he has not, as

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many affirm that they have, made acquaintance with them personally. It is not, therefore, necessary to cite numerous instances, or to state all that is contended for on their behalf. But I will mention the last striking narrative that has come in my way, not doubting that it will be found closely to resemble the majority of modern experiences in the same field.

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It happened that, a few months since, I was in a foreign city where a wellknown medium was also residing. He was frequently to be seen in public; but I did not, during his stay, hear of any appointed séance, or any spiritual manifestation in that city. After his departure it chanced that I sojourned in the hotel where he had been staying, and where many of those who had been his fellow-guests still remained. A few days after my commencing my residence there, some other new-comer complained at dinner of noises which disturbed his rest at night. "Noises!" echoed half a dozen voices; "why, it is the quietest house in the city-notoriously so. The stranger didn't know: he could only say he heard people constantly moving about in the night, and the oddest sounds as of things thrown or dragged about, workmen at their work, persons shouting or laughing at a little distance, and so on. At this there was quite an excitement, the majority of the hearers, jealous for the peaceful character of the house, protesting in earnest tones that the newcomer must be mistaken. He, however, was not going to be talked out of belief in the evidence of his serses; and the contention waxed warm, and might have become angry, had not an elderly lady interposed by asking the complainant if he did not inhabit a certain number on a certain flat? When he said that those were his number and étage, she answered quietly, "Yes, I thought so. Those are the apart ments which were inhabited last by Mr. (the medium). "I am not surprised at your hearing noises there." Then a general conviction lighted on all the champions of the house. Oh, if its that," said they, "of course it's another thing those noises are different." Little by little, then, it came to be mentioned how the great medium had really desired perfect quiet during his stay;

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but the spirits would not let him rest, and were always calling his attention night and day; there used to be such curious sounds about those rooms! I ventured to observe that as the medium now in another and a distant place, that was a reason why the spirits who were fond of his company should not make noises in the hotel. But all the answer I got to this was, " Yes, you would think so; but they are not quick to leave a place once they get used to it." It certainly seemed to me that the conduct of the spirits would have been more consistent if they had not remained to make themselves disagreeable atter he for whose sake they came had departed. And I thought but little more on the subject, these vulgar nocturnal disturbances not recommending spiritualism to my consideration at all.

Some days later I and one or two more of the lately-arrived guests sat together in the salon conversing, when we were joined by a lady who had been resident in the house for two or three months. She happened to mention the medium, whereupon we asked whether she had known much about him while they were in the house together; and she said that she had been acquainted with him since the time of her coming thither, and that towards the end of his stay she had known him rather intimately. He asked whether she believed that the nightly noises had any connection with him, and she said she really could not tell; everything about the spiritual world was so strange that she did not know what to think. Had she ever witnessed any of these strange things? we asked. Well, yes; she had witnessed a great many strange things. Let me state in brief that she did not at first answer at all readily to our inquiries, but that she yielded by degrees to pressure, spoke after a time with less reserve, and finally became communicative. The substance of what she told was as follows. The company in the house, knowing that they had a person of some celebrity among them, greatly desired to witness some manifestation of his power. They besought him to hold séances. But this he persistently refused to do, saying that he was there for repose-repose, indeed, from these very séances which had been

wearing his nervous system more than he could endure. Howbeit, though this was his answer to the guests as a body, he had some few intimate acquaintances whom he invited occasionally to spend an evening with him, and to whom he would say that, although he would do nothing calculated to bring spirits to meet them, yet they must not be surprised at anything they might see, as spirits would present themselves unbidden sometimes, and be very demonstrative. The strange things which occurred at these reunions were a good deal talked about in whispers, and led the excluded portion of the guests to make strong efforts to obtain the entrée to the medium's rooms. Very few, however, succeeded in this. The lady who narrated these things made no endeavor to be admitted, but rather shrank from that which so many desired, being inclined to look on spiritualism as imposture, and having a great dislike to tricks and surprises. But a friend of hers who had been greatly impressed by what she had seen on ner visits (being one of the elite), induced the medium to invite her, and then importuned her until she accepted the invitation. Her first astonishment after she entered the weird precincts was caused by the table at which she and others were sitting, mounting suddenly towards the ceiling apropos to nothing. She was so much frightened as to be incapable of motion; but one or two gentlemen who were present ran, as the table descended, to catch or steady some lamps and other frangible articles which, having been lifted with it, were now greatly inclined from the vertical. The medium entreated them not to trouble themselves, as no mischief would happen-they would take care that nothing fell off. Presently the table came down with a bang, all standing. There were several other incidents in the course of the evening, ali of which I do not pretend to remember, my attention having been mainly directed to what befell my lady informant personally. She was sitting on a chair, not very close to any one: the medium at some distance, and opposite, was sitting with his arms folded. She felt her dress pulled, and, looking down towards her feet, saw a hand at the place where the pull had been given; then she was sensible of a hand pressing hers, which it continued

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to do for some little while, and a voice said to her softly, "I am (giving two names); "don't go on crying so much on my account." She had lost a son some months before at another place. The names given to her were the Christian names of that son. She assured us that she recognised the hand, and that something was added to the above spoken sentence, which she did not believe it possible for any one but herself in that city to have understood. Replying to a question from one of us, she said she did not know what to think of the occurrence: some being with extraordinary knowledge had addressed her, but whether that being was the spirit of her son, or some other being personating that spirit, was doubtful to her. The whole scene was very painful, and had not been repeated. Subsequently, through the sickness of a third person, the acquaintance of this lady and the medium became rather intimate, and she sometimes walked abroad under his escort. such occasions she would feel her dress pulled from the side or from behind more or less frequently in the course of her walk. When first this happened she involuntarily looked round to see who had claimed her attention; but, seeing no one, she walked on much puzzled by the circumstance. After she had made one or two of these halts, the medium told her that he perceived what was the matter, and recommended her not to notice the pulls it they should be repeated, adding that he could hardly ever stir abroad without encountering them, and that it was probably in consequence of his companionship that they were occurring. When she had finished her narrative we naturally expressed our astonishment at beings coming from another world to do errands to this world, and either not caring to furnish satisfactory evidence of their identity, or else being unable to give a convincing account of themselves. To this the lady replied that she had made remarks of the same purport to the medium, who had said that he was obliged to take the spirits as they chose to present themselves, and that he was quite unable to explain their habits, or to control them in any way.

I give entire credit to the sincerity of this lady; and I believe there are very many persons as impartial as myself as

I might here be reminded that he who believes these spiritual manifestations to be genuine, has the witness of the spirits themselves as to many of them being the souls of human beings who once lived on the earth. But I have not let slip the recollection of their testimony; I am only troubled with doubt concerning it; I think there is question of their credibility. The fondness of the spirits for darkened rooms, their decidedly mysterious proceedings, their sparing and unsatisfactory communications, and the utter uselessness of many of their most startling deeds, are fatal to confidence. Thus spiritualism does not, I fear, prove that which many believers would be glad to prove; namely, that those who have preceded us on the earth certainly had souls-that there are spirits who influence and control matter-that matter is the creation of spirit. They already know this by faith; but their faith will not confound profane opponents as sensible demonstration would. Hope to convince materialists and infidels we may not, even if we were able to confront them with disembodied spirits; for have they not refused to hear Moses and the prophets? But we might by such means do much to prevent the spread of their doctrines.

to this subject who have heard equally honest evidence of similar facts. I know of one instance where the spirits were either unable to indicate clearly what they meant, or else where they diverted themselves at the expense of human feeling. A young lady, a near connection of mine, not a spiritualist, was absent from her home on a visit, and one day spent a few hours at the house of a lady who was a medium. She was one of several guests. It was proposed that there should be a séance during the visit, and the hostess having consented, a good many of the not uncommon phenomena were exhibited; that is, a table was lifted, persons holding pencils were made to write words by extraneous direction of their hands, announcements were made by rapping, and so on. During the proceedings the medium announced that a message had been given for my relative, who was simply an observer of the proceedings. The purport of the message was that the young lady's mother was very ill. She was seriously alarmed at this announcement, knowing that oftentimes these communications were correct, and she at once made a reference to her home, asking whether or not her mother was ill. Her mother was not ill, and the error was never explained. It is only to be regretted that those spiritual appearances and acts cannot be exhibited publicly before both sides, spiritualists and anti-spiritualists, so that the controversy might be brought to issue. Yet, as things stand, some opinion may be formed of the doctrine. I think it ought to be taken as proved that very many things have been, and are continually being, witnessed which are not traceable to any known terrestrial agency, or to any agency, with the terrestrial effects of which men are familiar, though it may not be itself terrestrial (as the light of the sun, the attraction of the compass-needle), yet which must proceed from rational beings. Once this is admitted, the existence of darkness, their want of candor, ence of spirits will hardly be denied. This is something gained; but, against the materialist, not much. For the latter may still say: "I don't care whether or not spirits may exist somewhere in nature; I say that there is no need of spirit to account for anything we know or experience.'

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NEW SERIES.-VOL. XXIV., No. I

If the spirits who rap, and whisper, and direct elbows, and pull dresses, do not help us to prove that they are what they represent themselves to be, the next question is-Can we learn anything at all from them, or by means of them? We can judge them only as we should judge human beings who might act. as they do. We must credit them with a knowledge of much that has happened on the earth, and of our relations to occurrences. They show us that they possess certain powers over matter; but these powers would seem to be much restricted, and in open daylight and before numerous witnesses, inoperative. The spirits act under control. Their prefer

their impotence for good, would make them appear bad characters: they lie open to the suspicion of being evil spirits. One can form no opinion of their dispositions; they do not show themselves to be malignant or benevolent. It is only by a knowledge of spirits acquired otherwise than through them

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