Chapter 14

Description of my return from Lagne to Avignon

Back home, I had spent several years working in a lottery office [1], hoping that this might help me relax and destress. My enemies thought to distract me, sabotage my work and perhaps get disciplined. They would transform into different species, appearing as a swarm of cats and dogs, frightening birds which fluttered in the air and crash into my windows, croaking sinister cries. 

Some of my friends had learned that the bursar of the Sainte-Marthe d’Avignon hospital had planned to leave his post, and thought that it would be easy for me to take his place, that the job might be helpful for me. I gave it some thought, and submitted my applications to the administration. And I had no difficulty in receiving the job. The faculty of the hospice sent me the most flattering letter, congratulating themselves on adding me to their list of colleagues, even inviting me to join them for a visit, which I was happy to do. With a kiss on the cheek I was introduced to the director, and to the fellow who I would be replacing, all with the same enthusiasm. Eight days later, my job at the Lottery in new hands, I had some of my furniture brought to my office in the hospice, and set to work, the former bursar staying on for a week or so as a mentor. 

It wasn’t long before I was earning praise from my new employers. My job was difficult, and ate up all my time, but didn’t take me out of the way of persecution. I was moody and dreamy, and soon people noticed my dark disposition. They would ask about my melancholy, but I wasn’t comfortable opening up to them. But a Mr. Bernard, a surgeon and a student of a relative of mine, inspired me with more confidence. I gave myself up to him, told him the reasons for my concerns, of the two evil women I’d spoken of before. He was strangely surprised and offended by their conduct, and urged me to take courage and not to fall too much into myself. He was meeting with the doctor of the hospice, a Mr. Guerin, the next day, and would tell the doctor about me. 

Guerin asked me to stop by the next evening for a conversation. He  asked some questions of me, about my condition and its origin. I gave him the names of my persecutors, Janneton la Valette, and Mançot, sister of a mason in Avignon of the same name. Mançot. The second had made me the subject of her apprenticeship, or so I heard. I have more information, which I would make known when the time was right, proving beyond proof that she was empowered and corrupted by infernal spirits. 

The doctor seemed intensely interested in my story, and was confident that some radical cure could be found. Seeing his concern, I was sure that his advice would provide a recovery for me. I returned to my evening routine, and soon to bed. That night was the quietist I’d had in a long time. Though I would learn that the two damnable women were at work on a new ritual, a completely new spell for me, at least that day I was able to tell the doctor I had the best night I’d ever had. It would, he told me, continue. I never asked how he managed to obtain for me this rest, but for eight days it was his chief concern. 

Though the weather was dreadful and the wind so terrible the people of Avignon feared for their houses, I regained much of my cheer, lost to me for so long. I took to my duties with much more pleasure. For the sick, I found food which I believed they would most enjoy, and would be best for their conditions. For fourteen months I carried out my job to my employer’s great satisfaction. 

In 1791 [2], in my second year, the director of the hospice, Mr. Castagne, conceived a plan to make my job difficult and drive me to resignation. Perhaps he was jealous of the flattery from the officers, the directors, and the other employees. Between the flattery and the denigration, I decided to move on, if only to find more rest. But it seemed I’d achieved the opposite effect. I told Guerin about it, and he said he would refer my case to Mr. Nicolas, of the Invalid’s Hotel in Avignon, and consult with him on a cure for my ailments. 

Eventually, I met with the two doctors. Nicolas asked me various questions about my illness, its causes, its symptoms. I answered, and he directed me to sit in the middle of the living room, my legs placed foot to foot. He stood in front of me, taking a small steel rod from his pocket, and passed it around my body in all directions without touching me, saying things like “Ah, I have you now, you won’t return there again.” At last he addressed me directly: “I have extracted them from your body, you will no longer be worried by them and you’ll regain your health.” [3]

He asked Guerin to take me to the public gardens to find a tree useful for future operations and for my health. Mr. Bouge Sr. was waiting for me there, and we went to the appointed place. Guerin had already arrived. They found a tree that was well exposed and easy to magnetize, an operation Nicolas undertook, weaving his wand and uttering a few words. He gave me a glass of water and sat me down on a wooden bench at the foot of the tree. At his direction I stretched my legs on the bench and leaned back, head firmly against the tree. He dipped his wand in the bottle of the water for about six minutes, and then invited me to drink the water, blessed with the virtue of the wand. It had barely touched my stomach when I vomited extraordinarily. This surprised no one, the doctors had expected just such an effect.

[1] From 1757-1836 the French state ran a lottery to fund the military academy. Do what you like with this information.

[2] This passage seems to suggest that M.B. was ensorcelled by Mansotte and La Valette in 1791. An earlier passage puts the date at more like 1797.  The timing of this book is difficult to reconcile. M.B. was submitting passages of his book daily to his publisher without the aid of a backup file, and that may inform his inconsistent timeline

[3] In 1790 Mesmerism was trending. The practice had begun in 1779 and seems to have had a strong following in France. It was studied in 1784 under Louis XVI and determined to induce valid cures. There was a fair amount of skepticism, too, and international political turmoil.