Spiritist Review - Journal of Psychological Studies - 1867

The literary event of the day is the performance of Galileo, a drama in verse by Mr. Ponsard. Although it does not deal with Spiritism, it is linked to it by an essential aspect: that of the plurality of inhabited worlds, and from this point of view we can consider it as one of the works that are called upon to favor the development of the doctrine, by popularizing one of its fundamental principles.

The destiny of humanity is linked to the organization of the universe, as that of the inhabitant is linked to his dwelling. Ignoring such organization, man has had to form ideas about his past and his future, in relation to the state of his knowledge. If he had always known the structure of earth, he would never have dreamed of placing hell in its guts; if he had known the infinity of space and the multitude of worlds moving there, he would not have located the sky above the sky of stars; he would not have made earth the central point of the universe, the only dwelling of living beings; he would not have condemned the belief in the antipodes as a heresy; if he had known geology, he would never have believed in the formation of earth in six days, and in its existence for six thousand years.

The petty idea that man had of creation must have given him a petty idea of the divinity. He could only understand the greatness, the power, the infinite wisdom of the Creator when his thought could embrace the immensity of the universe, and the wisdom of the laws that govern it, as one judges the genius of a mechanic on the whole, the harmony and the precision of a mechanism, and not by looking at a single gear. It was only then that the ideas could grow and rise above his limited horizon. His religious beliefs have always been modeled on the idea he had of God and his work; the error of his beliefs about the origin and destiny of mankind was due to his ignorance of the true laws of nature; if he had known these laws from the beginning, his dogmas would have been quite different.

Galileo, one of the first to reveal the laws of the mechanism of the universe, not by hypotheses, but by an irrefutable demonstration, opened the way to new progress; for that very reason, he would produce a revolution in beliefs, by destroying the scaffolding of the erroneous scientific systems on which they were based.

To each one his own mission. Neither Moses nor Christ had that of teaching men the laws of science; the knowledge of these laws was to be the result of the work and research of man, of the activity and development of his own mind, and not of a revelation a priori, that would have given him knowledge without difficulty. They should have and could spoke to him only in a language appropriate to his intellectual state, otherwise they would not have been understood. Moses and Christ had their moralizing mission; scientific missions are transferred to geniuses of another order. Now, as moral laws and the laws of science are divine laws, religion and philosophy can only be true by the alliance of these laws.

Spiritism is founded on the existence of the spiritual principle, as a constitutive element of the universe; it rests on the universality and the perpetuity of intelligent beings, on their indefinite progress through worlds and generations; on the plurality of corporeal existences, necessary for their individual progress; on their relative cooperation, as incarnate and discarnate, in the general work, in the measure of the accomplished progress; on the solidarity that links all beings of the same world and the worlds between them. In this vast ensemble, incarnate and discarnate, each has their mission, their role, duties to fulfill, from the smallest to the angels that are not but human Spirits that have reached the state of pure Spirits, and to whom the great missions are entrusted, the governments of the worlds, as to experienced generals; instead of the deserted solitudes of boundless space, life and activity everywhere, useless idleness nowhere; everywhere the use of acquired knowledge; everywhere the desire to advance even further, and to increase the sum of happiness, by the useful employment of the faculties of intelligence.

Instead of an ephemeral and unique existence, spent on a small corner of the earth, forever deciding its future fate, imposing limits on progress, and rendering sterile, for the future, the trouble it takes to learn, man has for domain the universe; nothing that he knows and does is lost; the future is his; instead of selfish isolation, universal solidarity; instead of nothingness, according to some, eternal life; instead of a perpetual contemplative beatitude, according to others, that would render a perpetual uselessness, an active role proportioned to the acquired merit; instead of irreparable punishments for temporary faults, the position that each one takes for oneself, by one’s perseverance in good or in evil; instead of an original blemish that makes liable for mistakes that one has not committed, the natural consequence of one's own native imperfections; instead of the flames of hell, the obligation to repair the wrong that one has done, and to start again what one has done wrong; instead of an angry and vindictive God, a just and good God, taking into account all repentance and all good will.

Such is, in short, the picture presented by Spiritism, and that emerges from the very situation of the Spirits that manifest themselves; it is no longer a simple theory, but the result of observation. The man who sees things from this point of view feels that he is growing; he stands up before his own eyes; he is stimulated in his progressive instincts by seeing a purpose in his work, in his efforts to improve himself.

But to understand Spiritism in its essence, in the immensity of the things it embraces; to understand the objective of life and the destiny of man, it was not necessary to relegate humanity to a small globe, to limit the existence to a few years, shrinking the Creator and the creature; to have man getting a fair idea of his role in the universe, he had to understand, through the plurality of worlds, the field open to his future explorations and to the activity of his Spirit; to push back indefinitely the limits of creation, to destroy the prejudices about the special places of reward and punishment, about the different levels of heavens, he had to penetrate the depths of space; that instead of the crystalline and the empyrean, he saw there circulating, in a majestic and perpetual harmony, the innumerable worlds similar to his own; that his thought should meet the intelligent creature everywhere.

The history of earth is linked to that of humanity; in order for man to get rid of his petty and false opinions on the time, duration and mode of creation of our planet, of his legendary beliefs about the flood and his own origin; in order for him to consent to dislodge hell and the empire of Satan from the heart of earth, he had to be able to read in the geological strata the history of its formation and of its physical revolutions. Astronomy and geology, aided by the discoveries of physics and chemistry, supported by the laws of mechanics, are the two powerful levers that have broken down his prejudices about his origin and his destiny.

Matter and spirit are the two constitutive principles of the universe; but the knowledge of the laws that govern matter had to precede that of the laws that govern the spiritual element; only the former could successfully combat the prejudices by the evidence of facts. Spiritism, that has for its special object the knowledge of the spiritual element, had to come in second place; for it to take off and bear fruit, for it to be understood as a whole, it was necessary that it found the ground prepared, the field of the human mind cleared of prejudices and false ideas, if not in totality, at least in large part, without which we would have had only a minor, bastard, incomplete Spiritism, mixed with absurd beliefs and practices, as it is still today among belated peoples. If we consider the present moral situation of the advanced nations, we will recognize that it has come in right time, to fill the gaps that are created in beliefs.

Galileo opened the way; by tearing the veil that hid the infinite, it widened the domain of intelligence, and threw a fatal blow against erroneous beliefs; it destroyed more superstitions and misconceptions than all philosophies, for he undermined them from the ground up by showing reality. Spiritism must place him among the great geniuses who have cleared its way, by removing the barriers opposed by ignorance.

The persecutions of which it was the object, and that are the reward of anyone that attacks prejudices and inherited ideas, have raised it to the eyes of posterity, at the same time as they have lowered the persecutors. Who is the greatest today, them, or Spiritism?

We regret that the lack of space does not allow us to quote some fragments of the beautiful drama by Mr. Ponsard. We will do so in the next issue.

Count Joseph de Maistre, born in Chambéry in 1753, and deceased in 1821, was sent to Russia, by the King of Sardinia, as plenipotentiary minister, in 1803. He left this country in 1817, when the Jesuits were expelled and whose cause he had embraced. Among his works, one of the best known in literature and in the religious world, is the one entitled: Evenings of St. Petersburg, published in 1821. Although written from an exclusively Catholic point of view, certain thoughts seem inspired by forecasting the present times, and as such deserves special attention. The following passages are taken from the eleventh interview, volume II, page 121, 1844 edition.

“… More than ever, Gentlemen, we must attend to these high speculations, for we must be prepared for an immense event in the divine order, to which we are marching at high speed, and that must shock all observers. There is no more religion on earth; human race cannot remain in this state. Terrible oracles also announce that the times have come.”

Several theologists, even Catholics, believed that facts of the first order and not very distant were announced in the revelation of Saint John, and although Protestant theologists, in general, spoke only of sad dreams about this same book, where they have never seen more than what they wanted, however, after paying this unfortunate tribute to sectarian fanaticism, I see that some writers of this party are already adopting the principle that: several prophecies contained in the book of Revelation referred to our modern times. One of these writers even went so far as to say that the event had already begun, and that the French nation was to be the great instrument of the greatest revolution.

There may not be a truly religious man in Europe (I am speaking of the educated class) that does not expect something extraordinary now; well, tell me, gentlemen, do you think that this agreement between all men can be neglected? Is it just this general cry that announces great things? Go back to past centuries; transport yourself to the birth of the Savior. At that time, wasn’t a loud and mysterious voice shouting, from the eastern regions: "The East is about to win? The victor will depart from Judea; a divine child is given to us; he will appear; he descends from the highest of heavens; he will bring the golden age back to earth.” You know the rest.

These ideas were universally widespread, and as they lent themselves infinitely to poetry, the greatest Latin poet seized upon them and coated them with the most brilliant colors in his Pollion, which was since translated into rather beautiful Greek verses, and read in this language at the Council of Nicaea, by the order of Emperor Constantine. It was, certainly, well worthy of the Providence to order that this great cry of the human race resounded forever in the immortal verses of Virgil; but the incurable incredulity of our century, instead of seeing in this room what it really contains, that is to say, an ineffable monument of the prophetic spirit that then agitated in the universe. It is amusing to prove to us learnedly that Virgil was not a prophet, that is, a flute does not know music, and that there is nothing extraordinary in the eleventh eclogue of this poet.

The materialism that sullies the philosophy of our century, prevents it from seeing that the doctrine of the Spirits, and in particular, that of the prophetic spirit, is quite plausible in itself, and moreover, the best supported by the most universal and imposing tradition that has ever existed. As the eternal disease of man is to penetrate the future, it is a sure proof that he has rights over this future, and that he has the means to reach it, at least under certain circumstances. The ancient oracles attained to this inner drive of man, warning him of his nature and his rights. The enormous erudition of Van Dale, and the pretty phrases of Fontenelle, were employed in vain in the past century, to establish the general nullity of these oracles. But, whatever that may be, man would have never resorted to oracles, he would have never been able to imagine them, if he had not started from a primitive idea, by virtue of which he regarded them as possible, and even as existing. Man is subjected to time, and nevertheless, a stranger to time, by nature. The prophet enjoyed the privilege of stepping out of time; his ideas, no longer being distributed over time, touch one another by virtue of a simple analogy and merge, then necessarily spreading great confusion in his speeches. The Savior himself submitted to this state when, willingly, surrendered to the prophetic spirit, and analogous ideas of great disasters, separated in time, led him to combine the destruction of Jerusalem with that of the world. This is again how David, led by his own sufferings to meditate on “the righteous persecuted,” suddenly comes out of time and cries out before the future: “They have pierced my feet and my hands; they counted my bones; they shared my clothes; they cast spells on my clothes.” (Psalms XXI, v. 18,19).^[1]

We could add other reflections drawn from judicial astrology, oracles, divinations of all kinds, the abuse of which has undoubtedly dishonored the human spirit, but which, nevertheless, had a true root like all beliefs in general. The prophetic spirit is natural to man and will never stop stirring in the world. Man, always and in all places, trying to penetrate the future, declares that he is not made for time, for time is something forced, only demanding to end. It follows that, in our dreams, we never have the idea of time, and that the state of sleep has always been considered favorable to divine communications.

If you then ask me what is this prophetic spirit that I mentioned earlier, I will answer that "there had never been great events in the world that have not been foretold in some way.” Machiavelli was the first man, to my knowledge, to make such a proposition; but if you think about it yourselves, you will find that his assertion is justified along the whole history. You have the latest example of this in the French Revolution, predicted from all sides and in the most indisputable manner.

But, going back to where I started, do you think that the times of Virgil lacked fine minds laughing at "the great year, the golden age, the chaste Lucian, the august mother, and the mysterious child?” However, all this had happened: "The child, from the top of the sky, was ready to descend.” And you can see in several writings, namely in the notes that Pope appended to his verse translation of Pollion, that this piece could pass for a version of Isaiah. Why do you want it not to be the same today? The universe is waiting. How could we despise this great persuasion; and by what right should we condemn the men who, warned by these divine signs, devote themselves to holy research?

Do you want further proof of what's to come? Search the sciences; take a good look at the progress of chemistry, even of astronomy, and you will see where they lead us. Would you believe, for example, if you were not forewarned, that Newton brings us back to Pythagoras, and that it will be incessantly demonstrated that heavenly bodies move precisely like human bodies, by intelligences associated to them, without us knowing how? This is what is about to be verified, however, without being able to argue, any soon. This doctrine may seem paradoxical, no doubt, and even ridiculous, because the ongoing opinion imposes it; but wait until the natural affinity between religion and science unites them in the head of a single man of genius; the arrival of this man cannot be remote, and perhaps he already exists. He will be famous and will put an end to the eighteenth century that still lasts; for intellectual centuries are not regulated by the calendar, like the centuries properly speaking. Then, the opinions that appear strange or insane to us today, will become axioms that one is not allowed to doubt, and one will then speak of our present stupidity as we speak of the superstition of the Middle Ages.

Even the force of circumstances has forced some scientists of the material school to make concessions that bring them closer to the Spirit. And others, unable to prevent themselves from sensing this muffled tendency of a powerful opinion, take precautions against it, which perhaps make more impression on true observers than direct resistance. Hence their scrupulous attention to using only material expressions. In their writings, they only deal with mechanical laws, mechanical principles, physical astronomy, etc. It is not that they do not feel very well that material theories do not satisfy intelligence in any way, for there is something obvious to the unpreoccupied human mind, and it is that the movements of the universe cannot be explained by mechanical laws alone; but it is precisely because they feel it that they put words, so to speak, against the truth. They don't want to admit it, but they are no longer held back except by commitment or human respect. European scientists are, at this moment, a kind of conjured or initiates, as you wish to call them, who have made science a sort of monopoly, and who do not absolutely want us to know more or different from them. But this science will be incessantly hated by an enlightened posterity that will precisely accuse the followers of today for not having known how to draw, from the truths that God had delivered to them, the most precious consequences for man. Then, all science will change face; the long-dethroned Spirit will resume its place.

It will be shown that the ancient traditions are all true; that the whole of paganism is but a system of corrupted and misplaced truths; that it suffices to clean them, so to speak, and to put them back in their place, to see them shine in all their splendor. In short, all ideas will change; and since a crowd of elected officials cry out together from all sides: “Come, Lord, come!” Why would you blame these men who soar into this majestic future and pride themselves on guessing it? Like the poets who, even in our times of weakness and decrepitude, still present some pale glimmers of the prophetic spirit, spiritual men sometimes experience movements of enthusiasm and inspiration that transport them into the future, allowing them to foresee events that were matured by time along the way.

Remember, Mr. Count, the compliment you addressed to me on my erudition about the number three. This number, in fact, is shown everywhere, in the physical world as in the moral world, and in divine things. God first spoke to men on Mount Sinai, and this revelation was constrained, for reasons unknown to us, within the narrow confines of one people and one land. After fifteen centuries, a second revelation was addressed to all men, without distinction, and it is the one we enjoy. But the universality of its action was still to be infinitely restricted by the circumstances of time and place. Fifteen more centuries should yet to pass before America saw the light, and her vast lands still harbor a large crowd of savages, so foreign to the great benefit, that one would be led to believe that they are excluded by nature, due to some inexplicable primitive anathema.

The great Lama alone has more spiritual subjects than the Pope; Bengal has sixty million inhabitants, China has two hundred, Japan twenty-five or thirty. Contemplate these archipelagos of the great Ocean that today form a fifth part of the world. Your missionaries have, undoubtedly, made wonderful efforts to share the gospel with some of these distant lands, but you see with what success. How many myriads of men the Gospel will never reach! Hasn’t the scimitar^[2] of Ishmael's son entirely driven Christianity out of Africa and Asia? And in our Europe, what a spectacle is offered to the religious eye! ...

Contemplate this dismal picture; add to it the expectation of the chosen men, and you will see if the illuminated are wrong, by considering more or less imminent, a third explosion of the omnipotent goodness in favor of mankind. I wouldn't finish if I wanted to collect all the evidence that comes together to justify this great expectation. Again, do not blame the people concerned with this and that see in the revelation itself as a reason to predict a revelation of the revelation. Call them enlightened men, if you like, I will totally agree with you, if you pronounce this name seriously.

Everything announces, and your own observations demonstrate it, I do not know what great unit towards which we are marching at great strides. You cannot, therefore, without entering in contradiction with yourself, condemn those who acclaim this unity from afar, and try, according to their strength, to penetrate mysteries so formidable, no doubt, but at the same time so comforting for us.

And do not say that everything has been said, that everything is revealed, and that we are not allowed to wait for anything new. No doubt, nothing is lacking for our salvation; but on the side of divine knowledge, we are lacking a lot; and as for future manifestations, I have, as you see, a thousand reasons to expect them, while you have not one to prove the opposite to me. Wasn't the law abiding Hebrew safe in his conscience? I would quote to you, if necessary, I do not know how many passages of the Bible, that promise to the Judaic sacrifice and to the throne of David, a duration equal to that of the sun.

The Jew that remained on the shell, had every reason to believe, until the event, in the temporal reign of the Messiah; he was mistaken, though, as we saw it; but do we know ourselves what awaits us? God will be with us until the end of the ages; the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church, etc.; very good! Does it follow, I ask you, that God has forbidden all new manifestations and that He is no longer allowed to teach us anything beyond what we know? Let us agree that this would be a strange argument.

A new outpouring of the Holy Spirit now being among the most reasonably expected things, the preachers of this new gift must be able to quote from the Holy Scripture to all peoples. The apostles are not translators; they have many other occupations; but the Biblical Society, blind instrument of Providence, prepares its different versions that the true envoys will one day explain by virtue of a legitimate mission, new or primitive, it doesn't matter, that will drive doubt out from the city of God; and this is how the terrible enemies of unity work to establish it.”

Observation: These words are even more remarkable as they emanate from a man of undeniable merit as a writer, and who is held in great esteem in the religious world. Perhaps we have not seen all they contain, because they are an obvious protest to the absolutism and the narrow exclusivism of certain doctrines. They denote in the author a breadth of views that border philosophical independence. Orthodoxy has repeatedly been scandalized by less. The underlined passages are sufficiently explicit and it is unnecessary to comment them; the Spiritists, in particular, will easily understand their significance. It would be impossible not to see in them the foresight of things that are happening today and of those that the future has in store for humanity, so much these words have to do with the current state, and with what the Spirits announce from all sides.

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[1] The original reads Psalms XXV, v. 17. This was later corrected by an Erratum in March 1868.




[2] saber having a curved blade with the edge on the convex side and used chiefly by Arabs and Turks (T.N.)

Question: From the thoughts contained in the passages just read, you yourself appear to have been animated by the prophetic spirit of which you speak, and that you describe so well. Barely half a century separates us from the time when you wrote those remarkable lines, when we are already seeing your predictions come true. Perhaps, this is not from the exclusive point of view in which you were placed by your beliefs, but certainly everything shows us how imminent and in the process of being accomplished are the great moral revolution that you predicted, and that is preparing the new ideas. What you say has such an obvious connection with Spiritism that we can, with all reason, consider you as one of the prophets of its advent. No doubt, Providence had placed you in an environment where, by the very force of your principles, your words should have more authority. Were they understood by your party? Does it still understand them now? It is appropriate to doubt.

Today, that you can look at things in a broader way, and embrace larger horizons, we would be happy to have your current appreciation, on the prophetic spirit, and on the part that Spiritism must have in the regenerating movement.

We would also be very honored, if we could count on you, henceforward, among the good Spirits that are willing to assist in our instruction.

Answer: “Gentlemen, although this is not the first time that I have been among you, since I have officially introduced myself today, I would ask you to accept my thanks for the kind words you have addressed to me, and to receive my congratulations for the sincerity and dedication that presides over your work.

The love of the truth was my only guide, and if I was, during my lifetime, the partisan of a sect in which we learned to judge with severity, it is because I believed to find in that the elements, the strength of action necessary to come to the knowledge of this truth, that I suspected. - I saw the Promised Land, but I was unable to enter it during my life. Happier than me, gentlemen, take advantage of the favor granted to you for your good will, by improving your heart and your Spirit, and by sharing your happiness with all those of your brothers in humanity, who will only oppose your propaganda with the natural reserve of every man placed before of the unknown.

Like them, I would have liked to reason your belief before accepting it, but I would not have hated it, however bizarre its means of manifestation, for the sole reason that it could harm my interests or because it pleased me acting that way.

You have convinced yourself of this, since I was with the clergy, as follower of the morality of the Gospel, but I was not there as a supporter of the immutability of the teaching and the impossibility of new manifestations of the divine will.

Rooted in the Holy Scriptures that I had read, reread, and commented on, the letter and the spirit made me foresee the new dawn. I thank God for it, because I was happy in hope, for me that intuitively felt that I would participate in the happiness of knowing the new truths, wherever I was; for my brothers in humanity, who would see the darkness of ignorance and error dissipating, before an irrefutable evidence.

The prophetic Spirit sets the whole world ablaze with its regenerating fragrance. In Europe as in America, in Asia, as everywhere, among Catholics as among Muslims, in all countries, in all climates, in all religious sects, the new revelation is seeping in, with the unborn child, with the young man who is developing, with the old man that goes away. Some arrive with the materials necessary for the construction of the work; others aspire to a world that will reveal to them their foreseen mysteries. And, if moral persecution bends you under its yoke, if material interest, social position stops some of the sons of the Spirit in their ascending march, they will be the martyrs of thought, whose intellectual sweats will enrich teaching and prepare the generations of the future for a new life.

Spiritism, in France, manifests itself with a different name as in Asia. It has agents in the different shades of the Catholic religion, as it has among the followers of the Muslim religion. – There, the revelation, at a lower stage of development, is drowned in blood; but it, nonetheless, continues its march, and its ramifications surround the world in a vast network, whose meshes will tighten as the regenerative element is more revealed. Catholics, Protestants, seeking to spread the new belief among the children of Islam, even when facing insurmountable obstacles, and very few followers coming to line up under their flag.

The prophetic spirit has taken another form there; it assimilated the language, the instructions, to the material forms and to the intimate thoughts of those to whom it was addressing. Bless the Providence, that sees better than you do, how and by whom it must bring about the movement that pushes the worlds towards infinity.

The aspiration to new knowledge is in the air we breathe, in the book we write, in the picture we paint; the idea is imprinted on the marble of the statuary, as in the pen of the historian, and the one that would be astonished to be ranked among the Spiritists, is an instrument of the Omnipotence for the edification of Spiritism.

I interrupt this communication that becomes tiring to the medium, who is not used to my fluidic influx. I will continue another time, and I will come, since that is your desire, to bring my share of action to your work, no longer contenting myself with attending it, as an invisible witness, or unknown inspirer, as I have already done many times.

J. de Maistre”

Second article – see previous issue



Regarding the article that we published about the league of teaching, we received the following letter from Mr. Macé, its founder, that we believe to be our duty to publish. If we have set out the grounds on which we base the restrictive opinion that we expressed, it is entirely fair to publish the author's explanations.

“Beblenheim, March 5^th, 1867.

Sir,

Mr. Ed. Vauchez communicates to me what you have said about the league of teaching in the Spiritist Review, and I take the liberty of sending you, not an answer to be published in your Revue, but some personal explanations about the goalthat I am pursuing, and the plan that I have outlined. I would be happy if they could dispel the scruples that hold you back and rally you to a project that does not have, at least in my mind, the vagueness that you saw in it. It is a matter of bringing together, in each locality, all those who feel ready to act as citizens, by personally contributing to the development of public education around them. Each group will necessarily have to make its own program, for the extent of their action is necessarily determined by their means of action.

There, it was quite impossible for me to specify anything; but the nature of that action, the fundamental point, I specified it in the clearest and most distinct way: To carry out pure and simple education, apart from any concern of sect and of party; this is a first uniform article, written in advance as the heading of all flyers; there is where the moral unity is going to be. Any circle that would infringe it would automatically exit the league. You are, I have no doubt, too loyal not to agree that there will not be room for any disappointment, after this, when it comes to the execution. There could be no disappointment except from those who entered the league with the secret hope of making it serve the success of a particular opinion: they are warned.

As for the intentions that the author of the project himself might have, and the trust that should be put on him, allow me to stick to an answer I already gave once to a suspicion expressed in the Annals of Labor, that I ask you to be aware of. It addresses a doubt about my liberal tendencies; it might as well address the doubts that might arise in other minds, as to the trustworthiness of my declaration of neutrality.

I dare to hope, Sir, that these explanations will appear sufficiently clear to you to modify your first impression, and that you will think it right, if so, to tell your readers. Every good citizen owes the support of their personal influence to what they recognize as useful, and I feel so convinced of the usefulness of our League project, that it seems impossible to me that it could escape such an experimented Spirit, like yours.

Receive, Sir, my very cordial and fraternal greetings.

Jean Macé”



To this letter, Mr. Macé was kind enough to attach the issue of the Annals of Labor, where the answer mentioned above can be found, and that we reproduce in full:



“Beblenheim, January 4^th, 1867

Mr. Editor,

The objection that has been made to you relative to a possible modification of my liberal ideas, and consequently, to the danger, also possible, of a bad direction given to the teaching of the League, such objection seems distressing to me, and I ask your permission to reply to those who brought it up to you, not for what concerns me - I consider it useless - but for the honor of my idea that they did not understand. The League does not teach anything, and it will have no direction to give; it is, therefore, superfluous to worry now about the liberal opinions of whoever seeks to found it.

I appeal to all those who take to heart the development of education in their country and who wish to work with that, either by teaching others, or by learning themselves. I invite them to join forces at all points of the territory; to act as citizens, fighting ignorance, with their purse, and in person, what is even better; to chase down, man to man, the bad fathers who do not send their children to school; to shame comrades that cannot read or write, and to remind them that there is always time; to put the book and the pen in their hand, if necessary, improvising teachers, each one on what they know; to create courses and libraries, for the benefit of the ignorant that wishes to stop being ignorant; to form, finally, throughout France, a single bundle to lend each other mutual support against enemy influences - there is, unfortunately, in a supposedly dangerous elevation in the intellectual level of the people.

If all this happen, please tell me, in which disturbing sense could this universal movement be led by anyone? If, for example, the workers in Paris organize themselves in societies of intellectual culture, like those that exist by the hundreds in the German towns, and of which Mr. Edouard Pfeiffer, the President of the Association of Education of the People of Württemberg, explained the operation in such an interesting way, in the issue of Cooperation of last September 30^th; that if, in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, in the Temple district, in Montmartre, in Batignolles, groups of workers, that joined the League, gottogether to give each other, on certain days, educational evenings with teachers of good will, or even paid, why not?

English and German workers do not deny themselves such luxury – I would like to know what the doctrines of a professor of young ladies, who teaches in Beblenheim, and that has no desire to change students, won't these people be at home? Will they have permissions to ask me for?

It is not that I am defending myself from having a doctrine, in matters of popular education. I have one, definitely; without that, I wouldn't have allowed to place myself as the head of a movement like this. Here it is, as I have just formulated it, in the Directory of the Association of 1867. It is the very denial of any direction "in such and such a direction, rather than in another" to use the expression of those that are not entirely sure of myself, and I declare ready to put at its service all that I can have of personal authority - I am not afraid to speak about it, because I am aware that I have earned it legally:

Preaching to the ignorant, one way or another, does nothing and does not advance him. He then remains at the mercy of contrary preaching and does not know much more than before. If he learns what those who preach to him know, that is quite something else, for he will be able to preach to himself, and those who would fear that he would become a bad preacher, can do so in advance. Education does not have two ways of affecting those who have it. If they find it good for themselves, why not render the same service to others?

If your “foreign” correspondents know a more liberal way of understanding the question of popular education, please let me know. I do not know any.

Jean Macé.”

P.S.: You ask me to answer a question, that was addressed to you, on the future destination of the sums subscribed to the League.



The subscription, currently open, is intended to cover the costs of propaganda of the project. I will publish in each bulletin, as I have just done in the first one, the balance statement of payments and expenditures, and I will render the expense report, with supporting documents, to the commission that will be appointed for this purpose, in the first general assembly.

When the League is formed, the use of the annual dues will have to be determined - at least that is my opinion - within the membership groups that are formed. Each group would determine, by itself, the share it should pay to the general fund of propaganda of the undertaking, that would also include contributions from members who did not consider it proper to join a special group.



Thoughts about the preceding letters:

This is perhaps due to the lack of perspicacity of our intelligence, but we confess, with all humility, that we are no more enlightened than before; we will even say that the above explanations confirm our opinion. We were told that the author of the project had a well-defined program, but that he would reserve it, and have it known when the adhesions were sufficient. Such a way of proceeding seems neither logical nor practical to us, because one cannot rationally adhere to what one does not know; however, the letter Mr. Macé was kind enough to write to us, in no way suggests that this is the case; on the contrary, it says: "Each group will necessarily have to make its own program,” meaning that the author does not have one of his own. As a result, if there are a thousand groups, there may be a thousand programs; it is the open door to the anarchy of systems.

He adds, it is true, that the fundamental point is clarified, in the clearest and most distinct way, by the indication of the goal, that is: "To carry out pure and simple education, apart from any concern of sect. and party.” The goal is commendable, no doubt, but we only see good intention there, and not the indispensable precision in practical matters.

He adds: “Any circle that would infringe it would automatically exit the league.” That is the denunciatory measure. Well, these circles will be free to leave the League, and to form others alongside, without believing to have been unworthy of anything; this is then the main League broken from its beginning, for the lack of a unified and whole view. The indicated goal is so general that it lends itself to an error of very contradictory applications, in that each one, interpreting it according to their personal opinions, will believe to be right. Where is the authority that can legally pronounce this exclusion? There is none; there is no regulatory center with the capacity to assess or control individual programs that deviate from the general plan. Each group being its own authority, and its center of action, it is the sole judge of what it does; under such conditions, we believe it to be impossible to reach an agreement.

So far, we only see a general idea in this project; now, an idea is not a program. A program is an outline from which no one can consciously deviate, a plan drawn up in the most minute details, and that leaves nothing to the arbitrary, where all the difficulties of execution are foreseen, where the ways and means are indicated. The best program is the one that leaves as little as possible to the unpredictable.

“It was quite impossible for me to specify anything," says the author, "since the measure of action of each group will necessarily be determined by its means of action.” In other words, by the material resources at their disposal. But this is not a reason. Every day plans are made, projects are worked out subordinated to the possible means of execution; it is only by seeing a plan that the public decides to join it, as they understand its usefulness and see the elements of success in it.

What should have been done first, and foremost, would be to point out, with precision, the gaps in the education that one proposed to fill, the needs that one wanted to meet; say: if one intended to promote free education, by remunerating or compensating teachers; found schools where there are none; to make up for the insufficiency of instructional material, in schools too poor to provide them; provide books to children that cannot afford them; found incentive prizes for pupils and teachers; create courses for adults; to pay men of talent to go, like missionaries, to give instructive lectures in the countryside, destroying superstitious ideas there, with the aid of science; define the purpose and spirit of these courses and conferences, etc., those things and others. Only then would the aim have been clearly specified.

Then, it would have been said: “To achieve it, we need material resources; we appeal to the men of good will, to friends of progress, to those that sympathize with our ideas; that they form committees by departments, districts, cantons or communes, responsible for collecting donations. There will be no general and central fund, each committee will have its own, the employment of which will be done according to the outlined program, proportionate to the resources at its disposal; if it collects a lot, it will do a lot, if it collects little, it will do less. But there will be a steering committee, responsible for centralizing information, transmitting the necessary notices and instructions, resolving any difficulties that may arise, printing the seal of unity onto the whole, without which the league would be an empty word. A league means an association of individuals marching, by mutual agreement and in solidarity, towards the achievement of a determined goal; however, as long as everyone can understand this goal their own way, and act as they please, there is no longer either league or association.

An essential point, that does not seem to have been thought through, is this: Being the proposed goal permanent, and not temporary as when it is a question of a calamity to be relieved, or of a monument to be erected, it requires permanentresources. Experience proving that one should never count on regular and perpetual voluntary donations, if one operated directly with the proceeds of donations, this fund would soon be absorbed. If we want the operation not to be stopped at its very origin, it is necessary to build up an income, so as not to live on its capital; therefore, capitalize subscriptions in the safest and most productive manner. How, and with which guarantee and under which control? This is what any project, based on the application of capital, must above all foresee and determine, before collecting anything, just as it must also determine the use and distribution of funds, paid in advance, in the event that, by any cause whatsoever, it would not be continued. By its nature, the project has an economic part that is more important, for its future depend on that, and that is totally lacking here.

Suppose that before the establishment of insurance companies, a man would have said: “Fires cause devastations every day; I thought that, by associating and contributing, one could mitigate the effects of the calamity; How? I do not know; subscribe first, and we'll notify you later; you yourselves will seek the means that will suit you best, and you will come to an understanding.” No doubt, the idea would have been laughed at by many; but when one had set to work, how many practical difficulties would not have been encountered, for lack of having a previously developed foundation! It seems to us that the case is about the same here.

The letter published in the Annals of Labor, and reported above, does not further elucidate the question; it confirms that the plan and execution of the project are left to the arbitrary and to the initiative of the subscribers; however, when the initiative is left to everyone, no one takes it. Moreover, if men have enough judgment to appreciate whether what is offered to them is good or bad, not all of them are able to develop an idea, especially when it embraces such a vast field, as this one. This elaboration is the essential complement of the first idea. A league is an organized body that must have regulations and statutes, to walk together, if it is to achieve a result. If Mr. Macé had established statutes, even provisional, to submit them later for the approval of the subscribers, who would then be free to modify them, as it is the practice in all associations, he would have given a body to the League, a point of connection, while it has neither.

We even say that it does not have a flag, since it is said in the aforementioned letter: The league will not teach anything, and will have no direction to give; it is therefore superfluous to worry now about the more or less liberal opinions of the person who seeks to found it. We would understand this reasoning if it were an industrial operation; but in an issue as delicate as teaching, that is considered from very controversial points of view, that touches on the most serious interests of the social order, we do not understand how the opinion of the one who is the founder can be ignored, the one that must be the soul of the company. This assertion is a regrettable mistake.

From the vagueness that surrounds the economy of the project, it results that, by subscribing, no one knows what or for what he is committed, since he does not know what direction the group, that he will be part of, will take; there will even be subscribers that do not belong to any group. The organization of these groups is not even determined; their membership, their attributions, their sphere of activity, everything is left in the unknown. No one has the capacity to summon them; contrary to what is practiced in similar cases, no supervisory committee is set up to regulate and control the use of funds, paid in advance, and that serve to pay for the costs of propaganda of the idea. Since there are overhead expenses paid with the subscribers' funds, they should know what these are. The author wants to give them all the latitude, to organize themselves as they see fit; he only wishes to be the promoter of the idea; be it, and far from us the thought of raising the least suspicion or mistrust against his person; but we say that, for the regular progress of an operation of this kind, and to ensure its success, there are indispensable preliminary measures, that have been totally neglected, and that we regrettably see, in the very interest of the thing; if it is on purpose, we believe the idea to be unfounded; if it is forgotten, it is unfortunate. We do not have the skills to give any advice in this matter, but here is how one generally proceeds in similar cases.

When the author of a project, that requires a call for public confidence, does not want to assume alone the responsibility for the execution, and also in order to surround himself with more enlightenment, he first gathers a certain number of people whose names are a recommendation, that associate with the idea and elaborate it with him. These people constitute a first committee, either advisory or cooperative, provisional until the final constitution of the operation and the appointment of a permanent supervisory board by the interested parties.

This committee is a guarantee to the latter, by the control it exerts upon the first operations, for which it is responsible for reporting, as well as the initial expenditures. It is also a support and a discharge of responsibility to the founder. The latter, speaking in his name, and supported by the opinion of several, draws from this collective authority a moral force that is always more preponderant over the opinion of the masses than the authority of one. If this had been done for the League of Teaching, and if this project had been presented in the usual forms, and in more practical terms, the members would, undoubtedly, have been in greater numbers, but as it is, it leaves too much to the undecided, in our opinion.

Although this project was given over to publicity, and consequently, to the free examination of each one, we would not have spoken about it, if we had not been, in some way, constrained by the requests that were addressed to us. In principle, on things that, from our point of view, we cannot give full approval, we prefer to remain silent so as not to create any obstacle.

Having been asked for new explanations, since our last article, we felt the need to justify our way of seeing with more accuracy. But again, we are only giving our opinion, that is not binding to anyone; we would be happy to be the only one with such opinion, and that the success of the endeavor proved us wrong. We wholeheartedly associate ourselves with the mother idea, but not with its mode of execution.

This is perhaps due to the lack of perspicacity of our intelligence, but we confess, with all humility, that we are no more enlightened than before; we will even say that the above explanations confirm our opinion. We were told that the author of the project had a well-defined program, but that he would reserve it, and have it known when the adhesions were sufficient. Such a way of proceeding seems neither logical nor practical to us, because one cannot rationally adhere to what one does not know; however, the letter Mr. Macé was kind enough to write to us, in no way suggests that this is the case; on the contrary, it says: "Each group will necessarily have to make its own program,” meaning that the author does not have one of his own. As a result, if there are a thousand groups, there may be a thousand programs; it is the open door to the anarchy of systems.

He adds, it is true, that the fundamental point is clarified, in the clearest and most distinct way, by the indication of the goal, that is: "To carry out pure and simple education, apart from any concern of sect. and party.” The goal is commendable, no doubt, but we only see good intention there, and not the indispensable precision in practical matters.

He adds: “Any circle that would infringe it would automatically exit the league.” That is the denunciatory measure. Well, these circles will be free to leave the League, and to form others alongside, without believing to have been unworthy of anything; this is then the main League broken from its beginning, for the lack of a unified and whole view. The indicated goal is so general that it lends itself to an error of very contradictory applications, in that each one, interpreting it according to their personal opinions, will believe to be right. Where is the authority that can legally pronounce this exclusion? There is none; there is no regulatory center with the capacity to assess or control individual programs that deviate from the general plan. Each group being its own authority, and its center of action, it is the sole judge of what it does; under such conditions, we believe it to be impossible to reach an agreement.

So far, we only see a general idea in this project; now, an idea is not a program. A program is an outline from which no one can consciously deviate, a plan drawn up in the most minute details, and that leaves nothing to the arbitrary, where all the difficulties of execution are foreseen, where the ways and means are indicated. The best program is the one that leaves as little as possible to the unpredictable.

“It was quite impossible for me to specify anything," says the author, "since the measure of action of each group will necessarily be determined by its means of action.” In other words, by the material resources at their disposal. But this is not a reason. Every day plans are made, projects are worked out subordinated to the possible means of execution; it is only by seeing a plan that the public decides to join it, as they understand its usefulness and see the elements of success in it.

What should have been done first, and foremost, would be to point out, with precision, the gaps in the education that one proposed to fill, the needs that one wanted to meet; say: if one intended to promote free education, by remunerating or compensating teachers; found schools where there are none; to make up for the insufficiency of instructional material, in schools too poor to provide them; provide books to children that cannot afford them; found incentive prizes for pupils and teachers; create courses for adults; to pay men of talent to go, like missionaries, to give instructive lectures in the countryside, destroying superstitious ideas there, with the aid of science; define the purpose and spirit of these courses and conferences, etc., those things and others. Only then would the aim have been clearly specified.

Then, it would have been said: “To achieve it, we need material resources; we appeal to the men of good will, to friends of progress, to those that sympathize with our ideas; that they form committees by departments, districts, cantons or communes, responsible for collecting donations. There will be no general and central fund, each committee will have its own, the employment of which will be done according to the outlined program, proportionate to the resources at its disposal; if it collects a lot, it will do a lot, if it collects little, it will do less. But there will be a steering committee, responsible for centralizing information, transmitting the necessary notices and instructions, resolving any difficulties that may arise, printing the seal of unity onto the whole, without which the league would be an empty word. A league means an association of individuals marching, by mutual agreement and in solidarity, towards the achievement of a determined goal; however, as long as everyone can understand this goal their own way, and act as they please, there is no longer either league or association.

An essential point, that does not seem to have been thought through, is this: Being the proposed goal permanent, and not temporary as when it is a question of a calamity to be relieved, or of a monument to be erected, it requires permanentresources. Experience proving that one should never count on regular and perpetual voluntary donations, if one operated directly with the proceeds of donations, this fund would soon be absorbed. If we want the operation not to be stopped at its very origin, it is necessary to build up an income, so as not to live on its capital; therefore, capitalize subscriptions in the safest and most productive manner. How, and with which guarantee and under which control? This is what any project, based on the application of capital, must above all foresee and determine, before collecting anything, just as it must also determine the use and distribution of funds, paid in advance, in the event that, by any cause whatsoever, it would not be continued. By its nature, the project has an economic part that is more important, for its future depend on that, and that is totally lacking here.

Suppose that before the establishment of insurance companies, a man would have said: “Fires cause devastations every day; I thought that, by associating and contributing, one could mitigate the effects of the calamity; How? I do not know; subscribe first, and we'll notify you later; you yourselves will seek the means that will suit you best, and you will come to an understanding.” No doubt, the idea would have been laughed at by many; but when one had set to work, how many practical difficulties would not have been encountered, for lack of having a previously developed foundation! It seems to us that the case is about the same here.

The letter published in the Annals of Labor, and reported above, does not further elucidate the question; it confirms that the plan and execution of the project are left to the arbitrary and to the initiative of the subscribers; however, when the initiative is left to everyone, no one takes it. Moreover, if men have enough judgment to appreciate whether what is offered to them is good or bad, not all of them are able to develop an idea, especially when it embraces such a vast field, as this one. This elaboration is the essential complement of the first idea. A league is an organized body that must have regulations and statutes, to walk together, if it is to achieve a result. If Mr. Macé had established statutes, even provisional, to submit them later for the approval of the subscribers, who would then be free to modify them, as it is the practice in all associations, he would have given a body to the League, a point of connection, while it has neither.

We even say that it does not have a flag, since it is said in the aforementioned letter: The league will not teach anything, and will have no direction to give; it is therefore superfluous to worry now about the more or less liberal opinions of the person who seeks to found it. We would understand this reasoning if it were an industrial operation; but in an issue as delicate as teaching, that is considered from very controversial points of view, that touches on the most serious interests of the social order, we do not understand how the opinion of the one who is the founder can be ignored, the one that must be the soul of the company. This assertion is a regrettable mistake.

From the vagueness that surrounds the economy of the project, it results that, by subscribing, no one knows what or for what he is committed, since he does not know what direction the group, that he will be part of, will take; there will even be subscribers that do not belong to any group. The organization of these groups is not even determined; their membership, their attributions, their sphere of activity, everything is left in the unknown. No one has the capacity to summon them; contrary to what is practiced in similar cases, no supervisory committee is set up to regulate and control the use of funds, paid in advance, and that serve to pay for the costs of propaganda of the idea. Since there are overhead expenses paid with the subscribers' funds, they should know what these are. The author wants to give them all the latitude, to organize themselves as they see fit; he only wishes to be the promoter of the idea; be it, and far from us the thought of raising the least suspicion or mistrust against his person; but we say that, for the regular progress of an operation of this kind, and to ensure its success, there are indispensable preliminary measures, that have been totally neglected, and that we regrettably see, in the very interest of the thing; if it is on purpose, we believe the idea to be unfounded; if it is forgotten, it is unfortunate. We do not have the skills to give any advice in this matter, but here is how one generally proceeds in similar cases.

When the author of a project, that requires a call for public confidence, does not want to assume alone the responsibility for the execution, and also in order to surround himself with more enlightenment, he first gathers a certain number of people whose names are a recommendation, that associate with the idea and elaborate it with him. These people constitute a first committee, either advisory or cooperative, provisional until the final constitution of the operation and the appointment of a permanent supervisory board by the interested parties.

This committee is a guarantee to the latter, by the control it exerts upon the first operations, for which it is responsible for reporting, as well as the initial expenditures. It is also a support and a discharge of responsibility to the founder. The latter, speaking in his name, and supported by the opinion of several, draws from this collective authority a moral force that is always more preponderant over the opinion of the masses than the authority of one. If this had been done for the League of Teaching, and if this project had been presented in the usual forms, and in more practical terms, the members would, undoubtedly, have been in greater numbers, but as it is, it leaves too much to the undecided, in our opinion.

Although this project was given over to publicity, and consequently, to the free examination of each one, we would not have spoken about it, if we had not been, in some way, constrained by the requests that were addressed to us. In principle, on things that, from our point of view, we cannot give full approval, we prefer to remain silent so as not to create any obstacle.

Having been asked for new explanations, since our last article, we felt the need to justify our way of seeing with more accuracy. But again, we are only giving our opinion, that is not binding to anyone; we would be happy to be the only one with such opinion, and that the success of the endeavor proved us wrong. We wholeheartedly associate ourselves with the mother idea, but not with its mode of execution.

With the title: The devil of the windmill, the Moniteur de l'Indre, February 1867, contains the following story:

“Mr. Garnier, François, is a farmer and miller in the village of Vicq-sur-Nahon. He is, we like to think, a peaceful man, and yet, since the month of September, his mill has been the scene of miraculous facts, such as to suggest that the devil, or at least a facetious Spirit, has elected that place as his domicile. For example, it seems beyond doubt that, devil or Spirit, the author of the facts that we are going to report, likes to sleep at night, because he only works during the day.

Our Spirit loves to juggle with the sheets on the beds. He takes them without anyone noticing, takes them away and hides them either in a vat, in the oven, or under bundles of hay. He carries the sheets, from the boy's bed, from one stable to another, and they are found more than an hour later under hay or in a rack. To open the doors, the Spirit of Vicq-sur-Nahon does not need a key. One day Mr. Garnier, in the presence of his servants, locked the door of the bakery with a double turn and put the key in his pocket, and yet this door opens almost immediately before the eyes of Garnier and his servants, and they could not explain how.

Another time, on January 1^st, a completely new way of wishing someone a Happy New Year, a little before nightfall, the feathered bed, the sheets, the blankets of a bed placed in a room, are removed without disturbing the bed, and these objects were found on the floor, near the bedroom door. Garnier and his family then imagined, in hopes of warding off all this witchcraft, to change the bedroom beds, that in fact took place; but once the move had taken place, the diabolical facts, that we have just reported, began all over again, with more intensity. On different occasions, a stable boy found the trunk where he holds his belongings open, and his things scattered in the stable.

But here are two circumstances in which all the evil cleverness of the Spirit is revealed. Among the servants of Mr. Garnier there is a 13-year-old girl, named Marie Richard. One day, this child, being in a bedroom, suddenly saw a small chapel rise up on the bed, and all the objects placed on the fireplace, 4 vases, 1 Christ, 3 glasses, 2 cups, in one of which with holy water, and a small bottle also filled with holy water, successively moving, as obeying the order of an invisible being, to take place on the improvised altar.



The bedroom door was ajar, and little Richard's sister-in-law was near the door. A shadow came out of the chapel, according to little Richard, approached the child and instructed her to invite her masters to give a blessed bread, and to have a mass said. The child promised it; for nine days calm reigned in the mill; Garnier had a mass said by the priest of Vicq, offered a blessed bread, and since the next day, January 15^th, the devilish things began again.

The keys to the doors disappeared; the doors that were left open are closed, and a locksmith, called to open the door of the mill, could not do it, finding himself forced to remove the lock. These last events took place on January 29^th. That same day, around noon, as the servants were having their meals, the Richard girl takes a pitcher of drink, helps herself to drink, and Mr. Garnier's watch, hanging on a nail on the fireplace, falls into her glass. The watch is put back on the fireplace; but the girl Richard, using a dish served on the table, takes the watch with her spoon. For the third time, the watch is hung in its place, and, for the third time, little Richard finds it in a pot that was boiling on the fire, as well as a small bottle of medicine, whose cork pops out on to her face.

Soon, the inhabitants of the mill were terrified; no one wanted to stay in a haunted house anymore. Finally, Garnier decided to warn the police commissioner of Valençay, who went to Vicq, accompanied by two policemen. But the devil did not see fit to show himself to the agents of the law. Only, they advised Garnier to send the little Richard away, which he did immediately. Was this measure enough to send the devil away? Hopefully, for the rest of the people of the mill.”

In a later issue, the Moniteur de l'Indre contains the following:

We told the story, in due time, of all the devilish things that happened at the mill of Vicq-sur-Nahon, of which Mr. Garnier is a tenant. Those devils, so far amusing, are beginning to turn into tragedy. After the pranks, the juggling, the conjuring tricks, the devil has resorted to fire.

On the 12^th of this month, two fire attempts took place, almost simultaneously, in the stables of Mr. Garnier. The first took place around five in the evening. The fire caught in the straw, at the foot of the bed of the miller boys. The second fire broke out about an hour after the first, but in a different stable. The fire also started at the foot of a bed, and in the straw. These two fires were, fortunately, extinguished by the father of Garnier, aged eighty, and his servants, warned by the mentioned Marie Richard.

Our readers must remember that this young girl, aged fourteen, was always the first to notice the witchcraft that took place at the mill, so much so that, on the advice given to her, Garnier had dismissed the little Richard from his home. When the two fires broke out, this girl had returned to Garnier’s hose fifteen days earlier. It was she again who noticed the first of the two fires, of March 12^th.

According to the research carried out at the mill, suspicion fell on two servants.

The Garnier family is so struck by the events, of which their mill has been the scene, that they have convinced themselves that the devil, or at least some evil spirit, has taken up residence in their home.”

One of our friends wrote to Mr. Garnier, asking him to let him know if the facts reported by the newspaper were real or tales made for pleasure, and in any case, what could be true or ‘exaggerated’ in this story.

Mr. Garnier replied that everything was perfectly correct, and in accordance with the declaration he himself had made to the police commissioner of Valençay. He also confirms the two fires and adds: The newspaper did not even tell everything. According to his letter, the facts had been happening for four to five months, and it was only pushed to the limit by their repetition, without being able to discover the perpetrator, that he made his statement. He ends by saying: “I do not know, Sir, for what purpose you are asking me for this information; but, if you have any knowledge of these things, I beg you to take part in my troubles, for I assure you that we are not at our ease in our house. If you can find a way to find the author of all these outrageous facts, you would be doing us a great service."

An important point to clarify was to know what the participation of the young girl could be, either voluntarily by malice, or unconsciously by her influence. On this question, the Mr. Garnier said that the child, having been out of the house for fifteen days only, he could not judge the effect of her absence; but that he has no suspicion of her malevolence, any more than the other servants; that she had almost always announced what was going on beyond her reach; that thus, she had said several times: "Here is the bed that turns upside down in such and such a room," and that, having entered it without losing sight of it, the bed was found undone; that she had similarly warned of the two fires that have occurred since her return.

These facts, as we see, belong to the same kind of phenomena as those of Poitiers (Spiritist Review, February and March 1864 and May 1865); from Marseilles (April 1865); de Dieppe (March 1860), and so many others that can be called disorderly and disturbing manifestations.

We will first point out the difference between the tone of this story and that of the Poitiers newspaper, on what happened in that city. We remember the deluge of sarcasm that it rained down on the Spiritists on this matter, and its persistence on maintaining against the evidence, that it could only be the work of bad jokers that would soon be discovered, and that, ultimately, were never discovered. Le Moniteur de l'Indre, more cautious, confines itself to a narrative, not seasoned with any inappropriate joke, and which implies rather an affirmation than a denial.

Another remark is that events of this kind took place long before there was any question of Spiritism, and that since then they have almost always happened with people that even do not know it by name, which excludes any influence due to belief and imagination. If the Spiritists were accused of faking these demonstrations, for the purpose of propaganda, one would ask who could have produced them before there were any Spiritists.

Knowing what happened at the Vicq-sur-Nahon mill only through the story that was told, we limit ourselves to noting that here nothing deviates from what Spiritism admits the possibility of, nor from the normal conditions in which such facts may occur; that these facts are explained by perfectly natural laws, and consequently, have nothing marvelous about them. Ignorance of these laws alone has been able, up to this day, to make them regarded as supernatural effects, as it has been the case with almost all the phenomena that science has later revealed the laws.

What may seem more extraordinary, and is less easily explained, is the fact that the doors are opened after having been carefully locked. Modern manifestations offer several examples of that. A similar fact happened in Limoges, a few years ago (Spiritist Review, August 1860). Considering that the state of our knowledge does not allow us to give yet a conclusive explanation, that would not prejudge anything, because we are far from knowing all the laws that govern the invisible world, all the forces that this world conceals, nor all the applications of the laws that we know. Spiritism has not yet said its last word, far from it, no more on physical things than on spiritual things. Many discoveries will be the fruit of subsequent observations. Spiritism has, in a way, until now, only laid the groundwork for a science whose reach is unknown.

With the help of what it has already discovered, it opens, to those that will come after us, the path of investigations in a special order of ideas. It proceeds only by observations and deductions, and never by supposition. If a fact is attested, it says that it must have a cause, and that this cause can only be natural, and then it seeks that. In the absence of a categorical proof, it can provide a hypothesis, but until confirmation, it only gives it as a hypothesis, and not as an absolute truth. With regards to the phenomenon of open doors, like that of transportations through rigid bodies, it is all still reduced to a hypothesis, based on the fluidic properties of matter, very imperfectly known, or to put it better, that are not suspected yet. If the fact in question is confirmed by experience, it must have, as we have said, a natural cause; if it is repeated, it is because it is not an exception but the consequence of a law. The possibility of the liberation of Saint Peter, from his prison, as reported in the Acts of the Apostles, Chap. XII, would thus be demonstrated, without the need to resort to a miracle.

Of all the mediumistic effects, the physical manifestations are the easiest to simulate; so we must be careful not to accept too lightly facts of this kind as authentic, whether they are spontaneous like those of the mill of Vicq-sur-Nahon, or consciously provoked by a medium. It is true that the imitation could only be crude and imperfect, but with skill one can easily succeed, as it was done in the past with the double sight, to those that did not know the conditions in which the real phenomena can occur. We have seen so-called mediums with a rare ability to simulate apports, direct writing, and other kinds of manifestations. It is, therefore, necessary to admit only consciously the intervention of the Spirits in these kinds of things.

In the case in question, we do not affirm this intervention; we limit ourselves to saying that it is possible. The two starts of fire alone could raise the suspicion of a human act, aroused by malice, that the future will undoubtedly reveal. It is good to note, however, that thanks to the clairvoyance of the young girl, the consequences could be prevented. Except for this last fact, the others were nothing but disruption without bad consequences. If they are the work of Spirits, they can only come from frivolous Spirits, enjoying the fears and impatience they cause. We know that they can come in all shades, like here on Earth. The best way to get rid of that is not to worry about it, and to tire their patience, that is never very long lasting, when they see that no one is bothered with it, proving to them by laughing at their mischiefs, and challenging them to do more. The surest way to get them to persevere is to become tormented and angry with them. We can still get rid of them by evoking them with the help of a good medium, and by praying for them; thus, by talking to them, we can know what they are and what they want, and make them listen to reason.

These kinds of manifestations have, moreover, a more serious result: that of propagating the idea of the invisible world, that surrounds us, and of asserting its action on the material world. That is why they occur preferably among people foreign to Spiritism, rather than among Spiritists who do not need it to be convinced. Fraud, in such a case, can sometimes be only an innocent joke, or a means of giving importance to oneself by making believe in a faculty that one does not possess, or that one possess imperfectly; but more often it has for motive an obvious or dissimulated interest, and for goal the exploitation of the confidence of too naïve or inexperienced people; it is then a real swindle. It would be superfluous to insist on saying that those that are guilty of any deception of this kind, if solicited only by self-love, are not Spiritists, even when they would pretend to be such. Real phenomena have sui generis character and occur under circumstances that defy all suspicion. A complete knowledge of these characters and circumstances can easily lead to the revelation of the deception.

If these explanations come to the knowledge of Mr. Garnier, he will find there the answer requested in his letter.

One of our correspondents sends us the report, written by an eyewitness, of similar demonstrations that took place last January, in the village of Basse-Indre (Lower Loire). They consisted on knocks beaten with obstinacy for several weeks, and that stirred up all the inhabitants of a house. All the research and investigation carried out by the authority, to discover the cause, led to nothing. As a matter of fact, this event does not present any very remarkable peculiarity, except that, like all spontaneous manifestations, it calls attention to the Spiritist phenomena.

Facts of physical manifestations, those that occur spontaneously, exert on public opinion an influence infinitely greater than the effects provoked directly by a medium, either because they have more impact and notoriety, or because they give less hold to the suspicion of charlatanism and conjuring.

This reminds us of a fact that happened in Paris, in May of last year. Here it is, as it was reported in the past by the Petit Journal.

Woman’s mission

Lyon, July 6^th, 1866

Group of Mrs. Ducard, medium Mrs. B…



Every day, the events of life bring you lessons to serve you as an example, and yet you pass without understanding them, without drawing a useful inference from the circumstances that gave rise to them. However, in this intimate union of earth and space, of free Spirits and captive Spirits, attached to the accomplishment of their task, there are those examples whose memory must be perpetuated among you: it is the peace proposed in war. A woman, whose social position attracts all eyes, goes on, a humble sister of charity, bringing to all the consolation of her words, the affection of her heart, the caress of her eyes. She is an empress, the crown of diamonds shines on her forehead, but she forgets her position, she forgets the dangers of being amid miseries, and tells everyone: "Rest assured, I am here! Do not suffer any more, I am speaking to you; do not worry, I will take care of your orphans! …”

The danger is imminent, the contagion is in the air, and yet, she passes, calm and radiant, in the middle of these beds, where the pain lies. She calculated nothing, apprehended nothing, she went where her heart called her to, as the breeze refreshes the withered flowers and straighten their tottering stems.

This example of dedication and abnegation, when the splendors of life should engender pride and selfishness, is certainly a stimulus for women, that feel vibrating in them this exquisiteness of feeling, that God has given them to accomplish their task; for they are mainly responsible for spreading consolation, and especially conciliation. Don’t they have the grace and the smile, the charm of the voice and the sweetness of the soul? It is to them that God entrusts the first steps of his children; he chose them as the nurses of the gentle creatures that are about to be born.

This rebellious and proud Spirit, whose existence will be a constant struggle against misfortune, doesn’t he come asking them to inculcate in him other ideas than those that he brings at birth? It is towards them that he extends his little hands, and his once harsh voice and its accents that vibrated like copper, will unstiffen like a soft echo when he says: mom!

It is to the woman he implores, this sweet cherub that comes to teach reading in the book of science; it is to please her that he will make all his efforts to learn and make himself useful to humanity. It is again towards her that he extends his hands, this young man who has strayed in his path, and who wants to return to good; he would not dare implore his father, whose anger he fears, but his mother, so gentle, so generous, will have nothing but forgetfulness and forgiveness for him.

Aren’t they the animated flowers of life, the unalterable devotion, these souls that God created women? They attract and charm. They are called temptation, but they should be called remembrance, for their image remains engraved in indelible characters in the hearts of their children, when they are no more; it is not in the present that they are appreciated, but in the past, when death returned them to God. Then, their children seek them in space, as the sailor seeks the star that must guide him to the port. They are the sphere of attraction, the compass of the Spirit that remains on earth, hoping to find them in heaven. They are still the hand that leads and supports, the soul that inspires and the voice that forgives, and just as they were the angel of the earthly home, they become the comforting angel that teaches to pray.

Oh! you that have been oppressed on earth, women believed to be the slaves of man, because you yielded to his domination, your kingdom is not of this world! Be content, therefore, with the fate reserved to you; continue your task; remain the mediators between man and God and understand the influence of your intervention. This one is an passionate, impetuous Spirit, the blood boils in his veins; he will lose his temper, he will be unfair; but God placed sweetness in your eyes, caress in your voice; look at him, talk to him, and the anger will subside and the injustice disappear. You may have suffered, but you will have spared a fault to your companion of journey, and your mission is accomplished. That one is still unhappy, he suffers, fortune abandons him, he believes himself to be an outcast! But there is here a dedication to the test, a constant abnegation to raise this abated morale, to restore to this Spirit the hope that had abandoned him.

Women, you are the inseparable companions of man; you form with him an indissoluble chain that misfortune cannot break, that ingratitude must not stain, and that cannot be broken, for God Himself has formed it, and although you have sometimes in the soul, these dark worries that follow the struggle, rejoice however, because in this immense work of earthly harmony, God gave you the best part!

Courage then! O you that live humbly, by working to improve your inner self, God smiles at you, for He has given you that facility that characterizes a woman; whether they are empresses, sisters of charity, humble workers or gentle mothers of families, they are all enlisted under the same banner, and bear written on their foreheads and in their hearts, these two magic words that fill eternity: Love and charity.

Cárita

Change of title of the La Vérité de Lyon



The journal La Vérité, from Lyon, has just changed its title; from March 10^th, 1867, it became The Universal Tribune, journal of free conscience and free thought. It announces it and explains the reasons for it in the following note, inserted in the February 24^th issue.

“To our Spiritist brothers and sisters.

Philalethes, the relentless champion that you know, thought it to be his duty to inform you that he would henceforth direct his investigations towards general philosophy, and no longer only towards Spiritism, of which, scientists do not even want to hear the name, thanks to their prejudices. But you should not think, dear brothers and sisters, that by removing the label from the bag, after all very indifferent, he wants to throw away the contents to the nettles, no more than we do! As far as we are personally concerned, we would be sorry if our readers could suspect us, for a single moment, wanting to desert an idea for which we have expended all the living forces, that we were capable of. The Spiritist idea today is an integral part of our being, and to remove it would be to doom our heart, our mind to death.

If we are Spiritists, however, and precisely because we believe we are, in the truest sense of the word, we want to be charitable, tolerant towards all opposing systems, and we want to reach out to them, since they refuse to come to us.

Is the label of Spiritists, stuck onto our forehead, a scarecrow for you, gentlemen deniers? Well, we willingly consent to remove it, reserving the right to carry it high in our souls. We will no longer be called La Vérité, journal of Spiritism, but The Universal Tribune, journal of free conscience and free thought. This terrain is as vast as the world, and systems of all kinds will be able to grapple with it at their will, risking assault with defectors from La Vérité, who will claim for themselves the right granted to all: discussion. It is then that, inflamed by the struggle, inspired by faith and guided by reason, we hope to shine in the eyes of our adversaries such a bright light, that God and immortality will no longer stand before them as a hideous phantom, a product of centuries of ignorance, but as a sweet and kind vision, in which all humanity will rest at last.

E. E.”

Brochure printed in Madrid, in Spanish, containing the fundamental principles of the Spiritist doctrine, taken from What is Spiritism? with this dedication:

“To Mr. Allan Kardec, the first who described methodically, and coordinated with clarity, the philosophical principles of the new school, this weak work is dedicated by his devoted coreligionist. Despite the obstacles that the new ideas meet in this country, Spiritism finds here deeper sympathies than one could suppose, mainly in the upper classes, where it counts numerous, keen and devoted followers; for here, in terms of religious opinions, the extremes meet, and as everywhere else, the excesses of some produce opposite reactions. In the ancient and poetic mythology, fanaticism would have been made the father of disbelief.”



We congratulate the author of this brochure on his zeal for the propagation of the doctrine, and thank him for his gracious dedication, as well as the kind words that followed the pamphlet. His feelings, and those of his brothers in belief, are reflected in this characteristic phrase of his letter: “We are ready for anything, even to bow our heads to receive martyrdom, just as we raise it very high to confess our faith."