31. To proceed in the study of spiritism as is done in the other sciences, it would
be necessary to pass experimentally through the whole series of spirit-phenomena,
beginning with the simplest, to arrive in succession at the more complicated ; but this
cannot be done, because it would be impossible to go through a regular course of
experimentation, in spiritism, as we do in physics or chemistry. In the natural sciences,
we operate on brute matter, manipulating it at will, and with almost a certainty of
producing a given effect; in spiritism, on the contrary, we have to deal with
intelligences who have their liberty,
and who constantly prove to us that they are not subject to our commands. It is
consequently necessary to await the occurrence of the phenomena, holding ourselves in
readiness to observe them as they occur; and we therefore assert that whoever should
dare to assert that he can obtain any given phenomena at his pleasure can be only an
ignoramus or an impostor: for these phenomena, being independent of our will, may
fail to be manifested when they are wanted, or may present themselves under quite a
different aspect from that which we may desire. Let us add, that, in order to obtain
them, we must have the co-operation of persons endowed with special faculties, and
that these faculties are infinitely varied, according to the aptitude of each individual;
and, as the same medium rarely possesses all these faculties, a new difficulty is thus
created, since, in order to go through such a course of experimental spiritism, we should
require to have always at hand a complete assortment of mediums, which is evidently
impossible.
The way to obviate this inconvenience is very simple, viz., to commence with
the theory. In this way, all the phenomena are passed in review and explained, the
inquirer gets at the gist of the matter, and understands the possibilities of the case and
the conditions under which the phenomena may occur, as well as the obstacles that may
be met with. Thus, whatever may occur will find him prepared, and nothing can take
him by surprise. This plan offers yet another advantage, inasmuch as it spares the
practical investigator a vast number of disappointments because, being forewarned of
difficulties, he is able to keep on his guard, and to avoid having to gain experience at
his own expense.
It would be difficult for us to compute the number of those who have come to us
since we have been occupied with spiritism ; and how many of these have we seen, who
have remained indifferent or incredulous in presence of the most evident facts, and who
have only been convinced by rational explanation ; how many others who had been
predisposed to conviction by reasoning; how many, in fine, who were already persuaded of the truth of spiritism, though they had seen
nothing, because they had read and had understood the rationale of the matter! We
therefore say, from our own experience, that the best method of acquiring a knowledge
of spiritism is to bring reasoning to bear on the subject, first of all and afterwards to
confirm reasoning by experiment.
