SUPERSTITION IN SWITZERLAND.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXII, Issue 50, 15 December 1904, Page 29

SUPERSTITION IN SWITZERLAND.

PRIESTS MALTREAT A GIRL. Tto I'Jxorcise a Devil, She Was Imprisoned, Starved, Forced tb Walk Barefoot Witth a Cross on Her Shoulders and a Crowin of Tnorns on Her Head. The Roman Catholic Ardhbishicfp Punishes the Priests. (Oapyriglht, 1904, by Curtis Browln.) Qoxreslpotidemce of the " Republican.' Geneva, Swit>/.. ? June 20, 1904.— -Henriette Gay's case thai provided striking proiof of tihe almost i'ncrddible *<;- norajnce and s)u/perstition still existing i-n those countries nn Eiur;ope w,hioh are commonly sfu\p.pose<l to pot>&es& the 'highest civilisation. Henriette Gay is 18 years old.

Lmtil recently sthe hve)d in tiie tiny Swiss village of Fijnst-Halut, not far from Geneva. She is the da,ug|hter of a 'peasant possessing a few acres of laaud in the village, b)iti at an early age Henriotte showed signs of having bean born for a higher station in life. Her father, however, was a coarse, rough agriculturist, who had no cfliwaUon and understood nothing but tlhe tilling of his fielfis and the care of his oattle. The brothers were Pieta,vy, 'clumsy fellows, with hu\gp, 'ugly hands atod ungraiciqus higuxes. The sisfters worked in the fields and woro ideiv'oid of every touch of refinement. . . Though her sisters began tio work in the fields at the age of 12, Henriette never soiled her long, thin, aristocratic fingers with instruments of out-dqor labor. . . Nevertheless, not r<nly trie neighbors, hut also her own brothers! anld sisters, and even her father a,nd mother, hated hoir because Uhey had themselves the unmistakable feeli'ig V'jat belonged to a dineient adhere. . . when she vcjutiunji to leave ihe: father's Isut to walk in the pjublic rna\d s tiho little boys and girls of the village ran afitef her and pel tcid her with stones, 'i he girls of her own age sihrieked alxi&ive names when they caiigjlit sight of hor,-'i;nd the older women crossed themselves and muttf^rod prayeis whan sihe approached them. Once when tjhe tre«pa.^se|d oil a small plot of land belonging to anotther peasant, of the \illage the owner and his two sions dro\e her oft with the heLp of their long, thin cattlewhips amd many Mgorous oaths. On another occasion when sfie wont to church the other women of tlhe vilra^e m^biii/cid their forces to rapel the invasion v of the c-vil Sjpirit a.rjd dro^c dier away from tihe house of God v, itih .violence. . . Heniiette was placed in a prison improvised lor her reception, and them t<he priests began tilieir system of cure. First they siubjecteid the girl Id roe mods of starvatUMi, keeping her withomt iood for lorty to sixty hours at a time She was incarcerated in a lonely hut, and from this sine made to crawl <<n 'her hands and knees qver rcAig^i, stony ground to the Milage cbtiurcih, wheie she had to kneel f>or hours at a time Un tio,nl of t lie images of the samts. AvA when sjhc iauited irom the crtects of this uniqiuc cure, tvhe two pnesth, \slio ,nei ( •ein.Uly s Npc lnU-iulcd t'hc tormented, bno,ue;lii licl back to consciousness by slapping her face h.ii'sihlv ?nd bcaiifig her Lack Alter a tune she was lcd barefooted on a tultrjuuage t.o the ccnvent ol St. iviauri< o, a idistance oi sixty miles from the \ ill age. This h) ;r.uev ot h iimliati(l;i sip was f(>;ccl to undertake wiin a (iown of t.'ciins on her hea\i p.nd a heaivy cross resting en her shonl Icls All al^rg the r,oarl she was the obiect of the mookery of the lcuntnuint rustic pop,ulati|on, ar(i on ai'fL\al a^ St lier bare feet were covered witlh deep cyits and sore-;. At 2 o'clock the djiurch was /packed \\\\h an a.stonisihcd, womlciing crowd, and tlhp seniior .priest, one Jeain Paillct, ascended t^e altar isrfeips a,n,d annormced that he hiid summoned them all to assist in e\,or,chsmg t"he e-vrl spirit with which l-ienrieLte C-ay vas possessed. The doors of tihe churcfh were loekci'l, and juvnict'irally at 2 o'clock the paiest began the l)rr>ces.s ot e^orcisuig the spirit. rl)her l)he process of exorcism lasted all Satu day evening, all through the long hoaifl of Saturday night and all Sunday morning. For twonty-f,o'nr hours Henriette (ray, t'-'e martyr, was sublecteid to every conceivable form of indignity and cmelty in tihe nrcsence of a grinning rmob of rustic barbarians. The gi)rl was dragged by her hair round and round the church, while the priest stopped e\ery few yards to beat har on the face and body, proclaiming all tflie while to tthe creidulous cringregatioin tlbat it was not the girl but tho evil spirit vViich he was thrashing. She was fyeaten with w/hips, with sticks;, and with nods. The priestp belabored her Fa/'e witfli tiheir fis\ts and members of the congreg,atiola sjiowercd blows on h.°T body. Her limbs were twistdd in tlieir sockets till they throat emed to b~eak, and tjurtmng cairidles were held close to her fair sikiln. The Truth. After) much labor and del<ay tilie Internatibnal Truth Society is a-ble Uo present to your readers the following St|atemejnt :—: — We are informed by Professor Swindimann, of the PriesW Seminary in Luceiine, that he has received woi\d tnom tihe Right Retv. Abbot of St. Maurice, Bishop

of Betdilehem, that while the usaial exorcism of the Churoh was read over the yo»ung womsin at her request, eve y other circumstance, cruel a,»d painful, conttaineid in tihe article, is absolutely false. All retp\orts about i 11— treatment of the sick person are rrualiciouß inventions.

Tjie following letter will throw some light wppn the case, Avntten as it is hy the director of tihe clinic of St. Amn, at St. Maurnce, to Mr. Henry Biloley, Chief of Department ot Public Instruction at Sion and one of tihe State Counsellors :—: —

' Si£, — As 1 do not .know Knglisji well I cannot well follow all the details of this correspondent writing from UcnP'va on Juno 10, 1904, and givung as a remarkable piece of news a \ersion of a case lihat was decided here i.i December, 1901. 'Ihe photographs are false.* You may compare the portrait of the ya,img girl with the photugraip,ii taken at tlhe clinic, copy of which is in the hands of Counsellor of State Henri de Tonante. On «ac 28th of November, 1901, 1 went to Fi,ns-Haut tio observe tne case at Henriette Cray. JVJy report on the case ah/d my conclusion that ttie young girl was suffering from hysteria major !have been published in the ' CJa7ette did Valais ' and ' L'Ami dv Peuple,' of Decemibeo", 1901. My article received the approval of the scientific press. I have Tuotyhiog to ad.d tio the article except Ix> s.ay that it was c-ooifirrnqd by subsequent developments. Ilonrietic Gay had a senolis attack the day after her admission into the clinic, and a psychic treatment, joined tio g,ood nqurishmont, completely Cured her vi two montlis. She ■has never left the clime since her arrival here. She is tlhe most happy of yo>ung women, enjoying peTfeci healtlh, together with the confidence of tihe Si&ters. Dtugjn, M le Conseilleur d'Etat, to aocefpt my sentiments ot highest esteem, etc.

1 S. BOUIIBAN. ' Director of (Mime of St. Ann.'

The following categorical questions were put "bo the director ot St. Ann's clinic and your, readers will see how they accord with the Curtis Brown correspondence :—: — 1. What is the age of Henriette Gay ? Answer— Am not certain, but believe she is about 20 years old.

2. Has sne beqn, as described by tlhe SpringfieM 1 Republican,' etc., diflerent. in manners, Cultivation, etc., from her brothers and sisters '.'

A.— She has always been an ordinary chilfl (fille tout ordinaire), different from tine other peasant children in notjhflng except her malady— nervous hysteria.

3. Is the pifctjure in the American journal a fthptogr.aflh of Henriette Gay '.'

A.— lt is not, as you will see by comparing it with her photograph, which we are sending you. 4. Is it tpue that she was treated cruelly by her parents and the population ' f

A.— Absolutely false

5. Are Uiere two priests at Fins-H-aut (as stated in tjhe article) , and is the picture of Father Paillet a true picture '.'

A.— The-e is but one priesit, and his name is ' Duaillet,' arnd. the picDure in the American paper bears no likeness to him. 6. Was the exorcism performed ? A.— Yes. 7. Did she puller the slightest corporal pain during the ceremony ?

A.— Positively no. And let me add that the lying character of the article is apparent from the fact that it says that s|ie travelled sixty miles to St. Maurice. Now, tlhe distance to St. Maurice from Fms-Haut is 14 kilo., abput ten Kngli&h miles.

8. Was any priest suspended by the Bishop on account ot this atteur ? A.— .No.

9. Where is Henriette Gay at present ?

A.— She is at the Clinic of St. Ann, where she has remafneri in the capacity of a domestic. Permit me to add that the population of Fms-Haut is in rather easy circumstances, has a reputation for intelligence, ia a charming <place, and is much frequented by tourists.

* T»ie real photograph of Henriette Gay is in the possession of the International Catfhohc Truth Society Brooklyn, N. Y. „