In that highly picturesque1, but quite un-Dickensian book, “A Tale of Two Cities,” there is a curious chapter describing the reception at the house of Monseigneur — Monseigneur being a great nobleman, high in favour and power at Court. Dickens describes the company:
“Military officers destitute2 of military knowledge; naval3 officers with no idea of a ship; civil officers without a notion of affairs; brazen4 ecclesiastics5 of the worst world worldly, with sensual eyes, loose tongues, and looser lives; all totally unfit for their several callings, all lying horribly in pretending to belong to them, but all nearly or remotely of the order of Monseigneur, and therefore foisted6 on all public employments from which any living was to be got; these were to be told off by the score and the score.”
But there were still more remarkable7 people present at Monseigneur’s reception.
“In the outermost8 room were half a dozen exceptional people who had had, for a few years, some vague misgiving9 in them that things in general were going rather wrong. As a promising10 way of setting them right, half of the half dozen had become members of a fantastic sect11 of Convulsionists, and were even then considering within themselves whether they should foam12, rage, roar, and turn cataleptic on the spot, thereby13 setting up a highly intelligible14 finger-post to the future, for Monseigneur’s guidance. Besides these Dervishes, were the other three who had rushed into another sect, which mended matters with a jargon15 about ‘the Centre of Truth,’ holding that man had got out of the Centre of Truth — which did not need much demonstration16 — but had not got out of the Circumference17, and that he was to be kept from flying out of the Circumference, and was even to be shoved back into the Centre by fasting and seeing of spirits. Among these, accordingly, much discoursing18 with spirits went on, and it did a world of good which never became manifest.”
Dickens was thinking of a very curious sect, or occult fraternity, which existed in France in the later years of Louis XV. The founder19 of this fraternity or order (oddly enough, called “The Elect Cohens,” Cohen being taken in its Hebrew significance of priest) was a mysterious person called Don Martines de Pasqually de la Tour, otherwise known as Martinez de Pasquales. Mr. A. E. Waite, from whose most curious and most interesting “Life of Louis Claude de St. Martin” I gather these particulars, says that Martinez was probably of Spanish origin; but that nothing is known of his early life or of the sources of the occult knowledge which he professed20, truly or falsely, to hold in his keeping. He said that he was a transfigured disciple21 of Swedenborg, “and an initiate22 of the Rose Cross;” and one is tempted23 to infer from this latter claim that Martinez was either foolish or knavish24, since all the story of the Rosicrucians is a dream about an order which never existed. However that may be, the evidence goes to show that Martinez, the Man from Nowhere, was in Paris in 1754, founding the Lodge25 — there was a Masonic connection — of the Elect Cohens. Later, the centre of the Elect Cohens was moved to Bordeaux, and here Martinez met Saint Martin, a young Tourainian of noble family, then a lieutenant26 in the regiment27 of Foix. Saint Martin became an enthusiastic admirer and disciple, and was initiated28 into the mysteries of the order. He was a valuable adherent29; as a man of race he had access to the receptions of Monseigneur, and could propagate there the doctrines30 of his master. But the order of the Elect Cohens came to an abrupt31 end. It was understood by the faithful that Martinez had still certain secrets in reserve, that they had not yet attained32 to the highest grades of the order, when in 1772, the Grand Sovereign of the Elect Cohens was called by private affairs to the island of St. Domingo.
He never returned — in the body — dying there in 1774. And from that time Saint Martin gradually withdrew himself more and more from the world of occultism — which is a world where visible and sensible marvels33 happen or are supposed to happen — and attached himself to the teaching of Jacob Behmen, to the world of mysticism, where the signs and wonders are of the spirit, not of the body. Saint Martin ended as a Catholic Quaker, if one may use such a term. He accepted all the doctrines of the Church, and denied the efficacy of all its Sacraments.
But there was another disciple of Martinez de Pasquales, the Man from Nowhere, to whom very strange things happened. This was the Abbé Fournié, who wrote a book called “Ce que nous avons été, ce que nous sommes, et ce que nous viendrons,” published in London in 1801, and now very rare. Fournié states that at an early age he conceived “an intense desire for a demonstration of the reality of another life and the truth of the central doctrines of Christianity.”
After eighteen months of profound agitation34 — I quote from Mr. Waite’s life of Saint Martin — he met an unknown personage who promised a solution of his doubts, and pointing to the throng35 of a crowded thoroughfare observed: “They know not whither they are going, but thou shalt know.”
This personage was Martinez. The Abbé speaks oddly of him. “He left the disciples36 often in suspense37 as to whether he himself were true or false, good or bad, angel of light or fiend. This uncertainty38 kindled39 so strongly within me, that night and day I cried out on God to help me, if He really existed. But the more I appealed the more I sank into the abyss, and my only interior answer was the desolating40 feeling — there is no God, there is no life to come, there is only death and nothingness.” In spite of these desolations the Abbé continued in fervent41 prayer. He says that light came to him, but only in flashes, and now and then there were visions of things to come, which were afterwards fulfilled. In this manner he continued for five years “full of agitation and darkness, consumed by the desire of God and the contradiction of that desire. At length, on a certain day towards ten o’clock in the evening, I, being prostrated42 in my chamber43, calling on God to assist me, heard suddenly the voice of M. de Pasqually, my director, who had died in the body more than two years previously44. I heard him speaking distinctly outside my chamber, the door being closed and the windows in like manner, the shutters45 also being secured. I turned in the direction of the voice, being that of the long garden belonging to the house, and thereupon I beheld46 M. de Pasqually with my eyes, who began speaking, and with him: were my father and my mother, both also dead in the body. God knows the terrible night which I passed.”
As Mr. Waite observes, it is clear that this proof of the life to come, so long and so fervently47 desired by the Abbé Fournié, almost frightened him to death. He describes an extraordinary sensation which accompanied the vision, “as of a hand passing through his body and smiting48 his soul, leaving an impression of pain which could not be described in words, and seemed to belong rather to eternity49 than time.” The terror remained in the Abbé‘s soul as he wrote his story many years after the event; though he declares that he held with the figures of the vision an ordinary conversation, such as he might have held with the living. Then there was added to the ghostly assembly the appearance of his sister, who had been dead for twenty years, and, finally, there came “another being who was not of the nature of men.” The vision returned again and again and became persistent50.
It is an extraordinary tale. As Mr. Waite notes, there can be no doubt of the Abbé‘s sincerity51 or honesty. There is one mark which distinguishes these apparitions52 from the apparitions of our modern spiritualistic séance. That is the mark of awe53 and terror even to the point of agony; of a dread54 so great that it could be described as a Hand piercing body and spirit. So Job spoke55 of his vision:
“Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof.
“In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men,
“Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake,
“Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up.”
But, as I understand, the frequenters of the séance experience nothing of the dread of Job, nothing of the awful fear of the Abbé Fournié. They converse56 easily, familiarly, cosily57 with the spirits of the dead, and that Hand of Terror does not smite58 them.
And our conclusion? It is quite impossible to form any conclusion. Probably, I suppose, the long spiritual conflict through which the Abbé had passed had broken down the wall between perception and hallucination. There are all sorts of ways of breaking down this wall, one of them being brandy, the resulting visions being known as delirium59 tremens. Opium60 and haschisch also do the work in their manner; staring at a bright object such as a pool of ink or a crystal can induce visions in some subjects. And intense fatigue61 will now and then bring about like results. Amongst the nonsense and lies that gathered about the “Angels of Mons” legend, there were certain veridical stories, which no doubt gave a true account of the experiences of those concerned. Worn-out men on that terrible retreat of August, 1914, found their way barred by spectral62 chairs and burning candles that were not there. A distinguished63 officer wrote to me, telling me how he, several of his officers, and several of his men watched for twenty minutes a ghostly army.
“As we rode along I became conscious of the fact that, in the fields on both sides of the road along which we were marching, I could see a very large body of horsemen. These horsemen had the appearance of squadrons of cavalry64, and they seemed to be riding across the fields and going in the same direction as we ourselves, and keeping level with us.” A party was sent out to investigate. They found nothing. “We were all dog tired and overtaxed,” said my correspondent; but he notes, very acutely, that all the observers saw the same appearance.
And so the Abbé Fournié may have hallucinated himself into that seeing of visions. Or perhaps not.
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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destitute
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| adj.缺乏的；穷困的 | |
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naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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brazen
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| adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的 | |
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ecclesiastics
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| n.神职者，教会，牧师( ecclesiastic的名词复数 ) | |
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foisted
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| 强迫接受，把…强加于( foist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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outermost
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| adj.最外面的，远离中心的 | |
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misgiving
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕 | |
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promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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sect
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| n.派别，宗教，学派，派系 | |
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foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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intelligible
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| adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的 | |
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jargon
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| n.术语，行话 | |
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demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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circumference
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| n.圆周，周长，圆周线 | |
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discoursing
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| 演说（discourse的现在分词形式） | |
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Founder
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| n.创始者，缔造者 | |
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professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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disciple
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| n.信徒，门徒，追随者 | |
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initiate
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| vt.开始，创始，发动；启蒙，使入门；引入 | |
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tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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knavish
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| adj.无赖（似）的，不正的；刁诈 | |
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lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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initiated
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| n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入 | |
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adherent
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| n.信徒，追随者，拥护者 | |
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doctrines
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| n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 )；教义；学说；（政府政策的）正式声明 | |
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abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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marvels
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| n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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disciples
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| n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 )；门徒；耶稣的信徒；（尤指）耶稣十二门徒之一 | |
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suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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desolating
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| 毁坏( desolate的现在分词 )； 极大地破坏； 使沮丧； 使痛苦 | |
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fervent
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| adj.热的，热烈的，热情的 | |
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prostrated
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| v.使俯伏，使拜倒( prostrate的过去式和过去分词 )；（指疾病、天气等）使某人无能为力 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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shutters
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| 百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门 | |
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46
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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fervently
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| adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地 | |
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smiting
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| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的现在分词 ) | |
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eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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apparitions
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| n.特异景象( apparition的名词复数 )；幽灵；鬼；（特异景象等的）出现 | |
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53
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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converse
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| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
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cosily
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| adv.舒适地，惬意地 | |
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smite
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| v.重击；彻底击败；n.打；尝试；一点儿 | |
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delirium
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| n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
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opium
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| n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的 | |
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fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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spectral
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| adj.幽灵的，鬼魂的 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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