Devil-Worship in France | Page 5

first of these facts I must explain that the attempt to
form a partnership with the lost angels of orthodox theology, which
attempt constitutes Black Magic, has, in Europe at least, been
invariably connected with sacrilege. By the hypothesis of demonology,
Satan is the enemy of Christ, and to please Satan the sorcerer must
outrage Christ, especially in his sacraments. The facts are as follow:--(a)
continuous, systematic, and wholesale robberies of consecrated hosts
from Catholic Churches, and this not as a consequence of importing the
vessels of the sanctuary, which are often of trifling value and often left
behind. The intention of the robbery is therefore to possess the hosts,
and their future profanation is the only possible object. Now, before it
can be worth while to profane the Eucharist, one must believe in the
Real Presence, and this is acknowledged by only two classes, the many
who love Christ and some few who hate Him. But He is not profaned,
at least not intentionally, by His lovers; hence the sacrilege is
committed by His enemies in chief, namely, practisers of Black Magic.
It is difficult, I think, to escape from that position; and I should add that
sacramental outrages of this astonishing kind, however deeply they
may be deplored by the Church, are concealed rather than paraded, and
as it is difficult to get at the facts, it may be inferred that they are not
exaggerated, at least by the Church; (b) The occasional perpetration of
certain outrageous crimes, including murder and other abominations, in
which an element of Black Magic has been elicited by legal tribunals.

But these are too isolated in place and too infrequent in time to be
evidence for Satanic associations or indications of a prevalent practice.
They may therefore be released from the custody of the present inquiry
to come up for judgment when called on; (c) The existence of a society
of Palladists, or professors of certain doctrines termed Palladism, as
demonstrated, inter alia, by the publication of a periodical review in its
interests.
M. Huysman's facts, therefore, resolve into acts of sacrilege, indicating
associations existing for the purpose of sacrilege, which purpose must,
however, be regarded as a means and not an end, and the end in
question is to enter into communication with devils. Independently of
M. Huysman, I believe there is no doubt about the sacrilege. It is a
matter of notoriety that in 1894 two ciboria, containing one hundred
consecrated hosts, were carried off by an old woman from the cathedral
of Notre Dame under circumstances which indicate that the vessels
were not the objects of the larceny. Similar depredations are said to
have increased in an extraordinary manner during recent years, and
have occurred in all parts of France. No less than thirteen churches
belonging to the one diocese of Orleans were despoiled in the space of
twelve months, and in the diocese of Lyons the archbishop
recommended his clergy to transform the tabernacles into strong boxes.
The departments of Aude, Isère, Tarn, Gard, Nièvre, Loiret, Yonne,
Haute-Garonne, Somme, Le Nord, and the Dauphiny have been in turn
the scene of outrage. Nor are the abominations in question confined to
France: Rome, Liguria, Salerno have also suffered, while so far off as
the Island of Mauritius a peculiarly revolting instance occurred in 1895.
I am not able to say that the personal researches of the French novelist
have proceeded beyond the statistics of sacrilege, which, however, he
has collected carefully, and these in themselves constitute a strong
presumption. M. Huysman is exhaustive in fiction and reticent in
essay-writing, yet he gives us to understand explicitly that the infamous
Canon Docre of La Bas is actually living in Belgium, that he is the
leader of a "demoniac clan," and, like the Count de St Germain, is in
frequent terror of the possibilities of the life to come. An interviewer
has represented M. Huysman as stating that his information was

derived from a person who was himself a Satanist, but the revelations
disturbed the sect, and the communication ceased, though the author
had originally been welcomed "as one of their own." But it is clear to
my own mind that for his descriptions of the orgies which take place at
the assemblies of modern black magicians, M. Huysman is mainly
indebted to documents which have been placed in his hands by existing
disciples of the illuminé Eugene Vintras, and the "Dr Johannes" of La
Bas. Vintras was the founder of a singular thaumaturgic sect,
incorporating the aspirations of the Saviours of Louis XVII.; he
obtained some notoriety about the year 1860, and an account of his
claims and miracles will be found in Éliphas Lévi's Histoire de la
Magie, in the same writer's Clef des Grands Mystères, and in Jules
Bois' Petites