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Benson, Robert Hugh, 1871-1914

"The Necromancers"

It's particularly hard to get them out
again.
"Now, of course, no one in his senses--especially decent people--would
dream of doing all this if he knew what it all meant. So these
creatures, whatever they may be, always pretend to be somebody else.
They're very sharp: they can pick up all kinds of odds and ends,
little tricks, and little facts; and so, with these, they impersonate
someone whom the inquirer's very fond of; and they say all sorts of
pious, happy little things at first in order to lead them on. So they
go on for a long time saying that religion's quite true. (By the way,
it's rather too odd the way in which the Catholic Church seems the one
thing they don't like! You can be almost anything else, if you're a
spiritualist; but you can't be a Catholic.) Generally, though, they
tell you to say your prayers and sing hymns. (Father Mahon the other
day, when I was arguing with him about having some hymns in church,
said that heretics always went in for hymns!) And so you go on. Then
they begin to hint that religion's not worth much; and then they
attack morals. Mr. Cathcart wouldn't tell me about that; but he said
it got just as bad as it could be, if you didn't take care.


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