Spiritist Review - Journal of Psychological Studies - 1867

This is the title of a feuilleton by M. Jules Doinel (d'Aurillac), published in the Moniteur du Cantal on May 23^rd and 30^th, June 6^th, 13^th, and 20^th, 1866. As we can see, the name of the Spiritism is not concealed, and the author should be congratulated even more, for his courage of public opinion is rarer among provincial writers, where contrary influences exert greater pressure than Paris.



We regret that after having been published in a serialized form, the form in which an idea spreads more easily among the masses, this novella has not been published in a volume, and that our readers are deprived from the pleasure of acquiring it. Although it is an unpretentious work and circumscribed to a very small frame, it is a true and endearing painting of the relationships between the spiritual world and the corporeal world, that brings its contribution to the popularization of the Spiritist idea, from a serious and moral point of view. It shows the pure and noble feelings that this belief can develop in the heart of man, the serenity that it gives in afflictions, by the certainty of a future that responds to all the aspirations of the soul, and gives full satisfaction to reason. To paint these aspirations with truthfulness, as the author does, one must have faith in what one says; a writer, for whom such a subject would be only a banal framework, without conviction, would believe that to make Spiritism it is enough to accumulate the fantastic, the marvelous and the strange adventures, as some painters believe that it is enough to spread out flashy colors to make a painting. True Spiritism is simple; it touches the heart and does not strike imagination with a hammer. This is what the author understood.



Fernande's script is very simple. She is a young woman, tenderly loved by her mother, taken in the prime of her life from her tenderness, and from the love of her fiancé, and who raises their courage by manifesting herself to their sight, and by dictating to her loved one, which will soon join her, the picture of the world that awaits for him. We will cite some of the thoughts we noticed there.



“I had become, since the appearance of Fernanda, a determined follower of the science from beyond the grave. Why, moreover, should I have doubted it? Does man have the right to establish limits to thought, and say to God: Won’t you go further?



Since we are near her and we are treading on a holy land, I am going, my dear friend, to speak to you with an open heart, calling God to witness the sincerity of all that you are going to hear. You believe in Spirits, I know, and more than once you have asked me to clarify your belief on this point. I did not do it, and I must tell you, without the strange manifestations that you had, I would never have done it. My friend, I believe that God has given certain souls such a force of sympathy that it can spread to the unknown regions of the other life. It is on this foundation that all my doctrine rests. The deception and juggling of some followers hurt me, because I do not understand that one can desecrate such a holy thing.



Oh! Stephen Stany (the groom) was quite right that quackery and juggling desecrate the holiest things. Belief in Spirits should make the soul serene; Where does it come from that, in the dark, the slightest noise terrifies me? I have sometimes seen emerging, in the half-light of my bedroom, either the ghost of Fernanda de Moeris, or the vague image of my mother. I smiled at them. But very often also, my sight is turned away with fear from the grimacing face of some evil spirits, that come to keep me away from good and to turn me away from God.



While speaking to me, Stany was calm. I noticed no trace of elation on his face. But, near this stone, its vaporous shape became even more visible. The soul of my friend showed itself entirely to my eyes. This beautiful soul had nothing to hide. I understood that the link that chained her to this body of mud was very weak, and that the time was not far off when she would fly to the other world.



She had told me: "Go to my mother’s." It was difficult to me, I confess; although engaged to Fernanda, I was not very well with your cousin. You know how jealous she was of anyone that held back any part of her daughter's affection. I will tell you, she received me with open arms and said to me, crying: "I saw her again!" The ice was broken; we were going to understand each other for the first time. My dear Stephen, she added, I think I was dreaming! But, finally, I saw her again, and here is what she said to me: “Mother, you will ask Stéphen Stany to stay eight days in the room that was mine. During these eight days you will make sure he is not disturbed. During this retreat, God will reveal many things to him." I was immediately taken to your cousin's room; and from that very day until yesterday, the day I saw you again, her soul has been with me without interruption. I saw her well, with the eyes of my Spirit and not with those of my body, although they were open. She spoke to me. When I say that she spoke to me, I mean that there was a transmission of thought between us. I now know everything I needed to know. I know that this globe has nothing left for me, and that a better existence awaits me.”



I learned to value the world at its fair value. Remember these words, my friend: Any Spirit who wants to achieve higher bliss must keep his body chaste, his heart pure, his soul free. Happy are those who know how to perceive the immaterial form of God through the shadows of what is passing!



Let us never forget, brothers, that God is Spirit, and the more one becomes Spirit, the closer one gets to God. Man is not allowed to violently break the bonds of matter, flesh, and blood. These links imply duties; but he is allowed to detach himself from it, little by little, by the idealism of his aspirations, by the purity of his intentions, by the radiance of his soul, a sacred reflection whose duty is home, until his Spirit, a free dove, freed from the mortal chains, flies and hovers in the immensities of space.”



The manuscript dictated by the Spirit of Fernanda, during Stéphen's eight-day retreat, contains the following passages:



“I died in turmoil and awoke in joy. I saw my barely cooled body stretch out on the funeral bed, and I felt relieved of a heavy burden. It was then that I saw you, my beloved one, and that by God’s permission, and the free exercise of my will, I saw you near my corpse.



While the worms continued their work of decomposition, I entered, curious, the mysteries of the new world in which I was living. I thought, I felt, I loved as on earth; but my thought, my feeling, my love had grown. I understood better the designs of God, I aspired to his divine will. We live an almost immaterial life, and we are superior to you as much as the angels are to us. We see God, but not clearly; we see it as we see the sun of your earth, through a thick cloud. But this imperfect view is enough for our soul that is not purified yet.



Men appear to us as ghosts wandering in a twilight mist. God has granted some of us the grace of seeing more clearly those whom we love preferably. I saw you like that, my dear love, and my will always surrounded you with loving sympathy. That is how your thoughts came to me, your actions were inspired by me, your life, in a word, was only a reflection of my life. Just as we can communicate with you, superior Spirits can reveal themselves to us. Sometimes, in the immaterial transparency, we see the august and luminous silhouette of some Spirit passing by. It is impossible for me to describe to you the respect that such a sight inspires in us. Happy are those of us who are honored with these divine visits. Admire the goodness of God! All worlds correspond with one another. We show ourselves to you; they show themselves to us: it is the symbolic scale of Jacob.



There are some who, with a single stroke of wings, have risen to God. But these are rare. Others endure the long trials of successive lives. It is virtue that establishes the ranks, and the beggar, bent down to earth, is sometimes, in the eyes of the just and severe God, greater than the proud king or the undefeated conqueror. Nothing is worth except through the soul; it is the only weight that matters in the scale of God.”



Now that we have done the praising, let's do the criticism; it will not be long, for it concerns only two or three thoughts. At the beginning, in a dialogue between the two friends, we find the following passage:



“Do we have previous existences? I do not believe it: God draws us from nothing; but what I'm sure of is that after what we call death we begin - and when I say we, I speak of the soul - we begin, I say, a series of new existences. The day we are pure enough to see, understand, and love God fully, only that day do we die. Note that on this day we love only God and nothing but God. So, if Fernanda were purified, she would not think, she could not think of me. Since she has manifested, I conclude that she is living. Where? I'll find out soon! She is happy with her life, I believe so, because until the Spirit has been purified completely, it cannot understand that happiness is only in God. She can be relatively happy. As we go up, the idea of God grows in us more and more, and we are, therefore, more and more happy. But this happiness is never more than relative happiness. So, my fiancée lives. How is her life? I don't know: God alone can tell the Spirits to reveal these mysteries to men.”



After ideas such as those contained in the passages above, one is astonished to find a doctrine like this one, that turns perfect happiness into egoistic happiness. The charm of the Spiritist doctrine, that makes it a supreme consolation, is precisely the thought of the perpetuity of affections, purifying and tightening as the Spirit purifies and rises; here, on the contrary, the Spirit, when it is perfect, forgets those whom it has loved, to think only of itself; he died to any sentiment other than that of his happiness; perfection would deprive him of the possibility, even the desire, to come and console those that he leaves in affliction. That would be, it must be admitted, a sad perfection, or to put it better, it would be an imperfection. Eternal happiness, thus conceived, would be scarcely more enviable than that of perpetual contemplation, of which the cloistered retreat gives us the image, by the anticipated death of the holiest affections of the family. If this were so, a mother would be reduced to dreading, instead of desiring, the complete purification of those who are dearest to her. Never has the generality of Spirits taught such a thing; it looks like a transaction between Spiritism and the vulgar belief. But this transaction is not happy, because not satisfying the intimate aspirations of the soul, it has no chance of prevailing with the public opinion.



When the author says that he does not believe in previous existences, but that he is sure that, after death, we start a series of new existences, he did not realize that he was committing a blatant contradiction; if one admits, as a logical and necessary thing for progress, the plurality of posterior existences, on what does it base itself to not admit previous existences? He does not say how he explains, in a manner consistent with God's justice, the native, intellectual, and moral inequality that exists between men. If this existence is the first, and if all have emerged from nothingness, we fall back into the absurd doctrine, irreconcilable with the sovereign justice, of a partial God, that favors some of his creatures, by creating souls of all qualities. We could also see it as a transaction with new ideas, but which is not happier than the previous one.

Finally, we are surprised to see Fernanda, an advanced Spirit, supporting this proposal on another occasion: “Laura became a mother; God had mercy on her, and called her child to him. Sometimes he comes to see her again. He is sad, because having died without baptism, he will never enjoy divine contemplation.” So, here is a Spirit that God calls to him, and who is forever miserable and deprived of the contemplation of God, because he has not received the baptism, although it did not depend on him to receive it, and that the fault lies with God himself who called him too early. It is doctrines like these that have made so many nonbelievers, and those that hope to see them pass to the side of the rooting Spiritist ideas, are mistaken; one will only accept, from the Spiritist idea, what is rational and sanctioned by the universality of the teaching of the Spirits. If there is still a transaction, it is wrong. We ensure in fact that out of a thousand Spiritist centers where the proposals that we have just criticized would be submitted to the Spirits, there are nine hundred and ninety where they will be resolved in the opposite direction.



It was the universality of the teaching, sanctioned, in fact, by logic, that made and will complete the Spiritist doctrine. This doctrine draws, from this universality of the teaching given on all points of the globe, by different Spirits, and in centers completely foreign to each other, and which do not undergo any common pressure, a force against which individual opinions would struggle in vain, whether of Spirits or of men. The alliance that one would claim to establish between the Spiritist ideas and contradictory ideas, can only be ephemeral and localized. Individual opinions can rally a few individuals, but necessarily circumscribed, they cannot rally the majority, unless they have the sanction of that majority. Repelled by the majority, they have no vitality, and die out with their representatives.



This is the result of a simple mathematical calculation. If, out of a thousand centers, there are 990 where we teach in the same way, and ten in a contrary way, it is obvious that the dominant opinion will be that of 990 out of 1,000, that is to say, almost a unanimity. Well! We are certain to give too large a share to divergent ideas, bringing them to one hundredth. Never formulating a principle until we are assured of the general agreement, we always agree with the opinion of the majority.



Spiritism today is in possession of a sum of truths so much demonstrated by experience, that at the same time satisfy reason so completely, that they have become articles of faith in the opinion of the vast majority of followers. Now, putting oneself in open hostility against this majority, offending its most cherished aspirations and convictions, is to prepare for an inevitable failure. That is the cause of the failure of certain publications.



But it will be asked, is it therefore forbidden for those who do not share the ideas of the majority to publish their opinions? Certainly not, it is even useful that one does so; but then, one must do so at one’s own risk and peril, and not count on the moral and material support of those whose beliefs one wants to undermine.



Going back to Fernanda, the points of doctrine that we criticized seem to be the personal opinions of the author, whose weak side he did not feel. In addressing us his work, the beginning of a young man, he told us that when he wrote this short story, he only had a superficial knowledge of the Spiritist doctrine, and that we would undoubtedly find several things to correct, on which he sought our opinion; that, more enlightened today, there are principles that he would formulate differently. By congratulating him on his frankness and his modesty, we informed him that, if there were any reason to refute him, we would do so in the Spiritist Review, for the instruction of all.



Apart from the points that we have just cited, there is none that the Spiritist doctrine cannot accept; we congratulate the author on the moral and philosophical point of view in which he has placed himself, and we consider his work to be eminently useful for the dissemination of the idea, because he makes it to be considered it in its true light, that is the serious point of view. (See in the previous issue, a poetry by the same author, with the title: To the protecting Spirits).

Le Figaro of July 5^th, reported in these terms of a judgment passed by the court of Bordeaux:



“In recent times, the fury in Bordeaux was to consult the sorcerer of Cauderan. We estimate at one thousand, or twelve hundred, the number of visits he received each day. The police, who professed skepticism, were concerned with such a success, and wanted to raid the castle of Bel-Air, where the sorcerer had established residence. Around the house of the sorcerer there was a crowd of people claiming to be suffering from all kinds of diseases; great ladies also came there in horse-drawn carriages to consult with the enlightened.



The magistrates, after questioning the sorcerer, had no doubt that they were dealing with a poor madman, that was exploited by those very ones that gave him hospitality; therefore, the sorcerer Simonet was not included in the persecution that was concentrated against the Barbier brothers, skillful accomplices who reaped all the profits of Gascon credulity.



Their house, that as true Gascons, they decorated with the name of a castle, had been converted into an inn; only the wines that were sold there had nothing in common with what one calls, in Languedoc, the Château wines; besides, they had forgotten to obtain a license, so that the administration of indirect taxes sued them.



The sorcerer Simonet was called as a witness.



- Where did you learn medicine, you who were a simple boilermaker?

- And what do you think of the revelation? What were then the disciples of Christ? What were they doing, these poor fishermen who converted the world? God appeared to me; he gave me his science, I don't even need the remedies, I am a healing doctor.

- Where have you learned all this?

- In Allan Kardec… and, Mr. President, I tell you with all the possible respect, you do not seem to know the science of Spiritism and I strongly urge you to study it. (Amusement to which the judges themselves could resist)

- You abuse public credulity. So, to cite just one example, there is a poor blind man that all of Bordeaux know. He had the weakness to go to you, and he brought you the donations that he received from public charity. Did you give him his sight back?

- I do not cure everyone, but you have to believe that I am doing cures, for the day justice came, there were more than 1,500 people waiting for their turn.

- It is true, unfortunately.

- Mr. Imperial Prosecutor - And if this continues, we will take one of these two measures: either we will bring you here for fraud, and justice will assess if you are mad, or we will take administrative action against you. Honest people must be protected against their credulity.



At the Château de Bel-Air, the consulted were not asked for money; they were only given a ticket number, for which they were charged twenty cents; then there were some that trafficked with these numbers, selling them for up to fifteen francs. Finally, food was given to the poor peasants, that sometimes came from the far distances of the department. Finally, there was a collecting box for the poor; it is not necessary to say that the hosts of the sorcerer took over the money of the poor.



The court condemned the Barbier brothers to two months and one month in prison, and 300 francs towards indirect contributions.

Ad. Rocher.”



Here is the truth about Simonet, and how his faculty was revealed.



The Barbiers built in Cauderan, a suburb of Bordeaux, a vast establishment, as there are several in the district, intended for balls, weddings and feasts, and to which they gave the name of Château du Bel-Air, that is no more Gascon than the Château-Rouge or the Château des Fleurs, in Paris. Simonet worked there as a carpenter, and not a boilermaker. During the construction work, it happened quite often that workers were injured or sick; Simonet, a long time Spiritist, and knowing a little bit about magnetism, was instinctively led to them, and without premeditated intention, to care for them by the fluidic influence, and he cured many of them. Rumor of these healings spread, and soon he saw a crowd of sick people rushing to him, so true is it that, whatever one does, one will not take away from the sick the desire to be cured, no matter by whom. We learned from eyewitnesses that the average number of those that showed up was over a thousand per day. The road was cluttered with cars of all kinds, coming from several leagues around, with carts and equipment on the side. There were people who stayed overnight to wait for their turn.



But in this crowd, there were people who needed food and drink; the entrepreneurs of the establishment provided for it, and it became a very good deal for them. As for Simonet, who was a source of indirect profits, he was housed and fed, that was the very least, and one could not blame him for it. As people jostled at the door, to avoid confusion, they took the wise step of giving new arrivals a ticket number; but they had the less happy idea of charging ten cents for this number, and later twenty cents; given the crowds, it made a fairly round sum per day. However small this retribution was, all the Spiritists, and Simonet himself, who had nothing to do with it, were sorry to see that, foreseeing the bad effect it would produce. As for the traffic of tickets, it seems certain that a few people in a hurry, to get through earlier, bought the seats of poor people who were before them, that were very happy with this unexpected profit; there is no great harm in that, but it could and necessarily had to result in abuse. It was these abuses that motivated the judicial action directed against the so called Barbiers, as having opened an establishment of consumption, before having obtained a license for that. As for Simonet, he was not implicated, but simply called as a witness.



The general disapproval attached to the exploitation, in cases analogous to that of Simonet, is worthy of note; it seems that an instinctive feeling leads, even nonbelievers, to see in the absolute selflessness a proof of sincerity that inspires a kind of involuntary respect; they don't believe in the faculty; they mock it, but something tells them that if it exists, it must be a holy thing that cannot, without profanity, become a profession; they limit themselves to saying: he is a poor fool who is in good faith; but whenever speculation, in any form whatsoever, has mingled with any mediumship, criticism believed itself to have been spared from any consideration.



Does Simonet really heal? People worthy of faith, very honorable, and who had more interest in unmasking fraud than in advocating it, have cited many cases of perfectly authentic cures. It seems to us, moreover, that if he had not healed anyone, he would have already lost all credibility. Besides, he does not pretend to cure everyone; he does not promise anything; he says that healing does not depend on him, but on God, of whom he is only the instrument, and whose assistance must be implored; he recommends prayer and he prays himself. We very much regret not having been able to see it, during our stay in Bordeaux; but all those who know him agree in saying that he is a gentle, simple, modest man, without boasting or arrogance, who does not seek to avail himself from a faculty that he knows can be withdrawn from him. He is kind to the sick whom he encourages with good words; his interest in them is not based on the rank they occupy; he has as much concern for the most miserable as for the richest; if the healing is not instantaneous, that happens most often, he takes all the necessary steps into it.



This is what we have been told. We do not know what the consequences of this affair will be for him, but it is certain that, if he is sincere, and if he perseveres in the feelings with which he seems animated, he will not lack the assistance and the protection of the good Spirits; he will see his faculty develop and grow, whereas he will see it decline and be lost, if he takes the wrong path, if above all, he thinks of taking pride in it.



Observation: At the time of going to press, we learned that, as a result of the fatigue that resulted for him from the long and painful exercise of his faculty, even more than to escape the harassments of which he was the object, Simonet has resolved to suspend all reception until further notice. If patients suffer from this abstention, a great effect has, nonetheless, been produced.

A doctor, to whom we will refer as Dr. Claudius, known to some of our colleagues, and whose life had been a profession of materialistic faith, died some time ago of an organic illness that he knew was incurable. Called, undoubtedly, by the thoughts of those who had known him and who wished to know his position, he spontaneously manifested himself through Mr. Morin, one of the mediums of the Society, in a state of spontaneous somnambulism. This phenomenon has already occurred several times, through this medium and others, falling asleep in the spiritual sleep.



The Spirit that manifests this way, thus takes hold of the person of the medium, uses his organs as if he were still alive. Then, it is no longer a cold, written communication; it is the expression, the pantomime, the inflection of the voice of the individual that we have before our eyes.



It was under these conditions that Dr. Claudius manifested himself, without having been mentioned. His communication, reported verbatim below, is instructive in more than one way, mainly in that it depicts the feelings that stir him up; doubt is still his torment; the uncertainty of his situation plunges him into a terrible perplexity, and that is his punishment. This is one more example that confirms what we have seen many times, in similar cases.



After a dissertation on another subject, the absorbed medium concentrates for a few moments, then as if painfully awakening, expresses himself this way, speaking to himself:



“Ah! Still a system! … What is there true and false in human existence, in creation, in the creature, in the creator? … Does the thing exist? … Is matter really true? ... Science, is it the truth? ... Knowledge, an acquisition? ... Does the soul ... does the soul exist?



The creator, the divinity, isn't that a myth? … But what am I saying? … Why these blasphemies multiplied? … Why, in the face of matter, can’t I believe, O my God, can’t I see, feel, and understand?



Matter! … Matter! … But, yes, everything is matter… Everything is matter!!! … and yet, the invocation to God reached my mouth! … Why then did I say: O my God? … Why this word since everything is matter? … Am I? … Isn't it an echo of my thought that resonates, and that can be listened to? … Weren't these the last tolling of the bell that I rang?



Matter! … Yes, matter exists, I can feel it! … Matter exists; I touched it! … but! … all is not matter, and yet… yet, everything has been auscultated, felt, touched, analyzed, dissected, fiber by fiber, and nothing! … Nothing but flesh, always matter, that as soon as the great movement was stopped, it stopped also! ... The movement stops, the air no longer arrives ... But! ... if everything is matter, why doesn’t it move anymore, since everything that existed when it was alive, still exists? ... And yet ... it no longer exists! ...



But yes, I am! … It is not all over with the body! … In truth… am I really dead? … Yet this rodent that I fed, that I took care of with my hands, it has not forgiven me! … It is true; I am dead! … But this disease that I saw being born… grow… did it have a soul?



Ah! the doubt! always the doubt! … in response to all my secret aspirations! … But, if I am, oh my God, if I am, … ah! make me recognize myself! … make me foresee you! … because, if I am, what a long succession of blasphemies! … what a long denial of your wisdom, your goodness, your justice! … What an immense responsibility of pride have I assumed on my head, oh my God! … But yes, I still have an I, I who did not want to admit anything, apart from what could be touched… I doubted your wisdom, oh my God! it is right that I doubt! … Yes, I doubted; doubt pursues me and punishes me.



Oh! a thousand deaths rather than the doubt in which I live! … I see, I meet old friends… and yet, they have all died before! … Méry! my poor madman! ... but is that rather me? ... does the epithet of madman fit to his personality? - Let’s see; what is madness? ...



Madness! ... madness! ... decidedly, madness is universal!!! all men are mad to a greater or lesser degree ... but his madness, was it not wisdom, alongside my own madness? ... To him, dreams, images, aspirations to the beyond… but, it is justice! … Did I know this stranger who, unexpectedly, presents himself to me? … No, no, nothingness does not exist, because if it did exist, this incarnation of denial, of crimes, of infamy, would not torture me like this! … I see, but I see too late, all the evil that I have done! … Seeing it today, and repairing it, little by little, perhaps I will be worthy of a day to see and do good! ...



Systems! … Proud systems, products of human brains, this is where you are leading us! … In one, it is the divinity; in the other, the material and sensual divinity; in another, nothingness, nothing! … Nothingness, material divinity, spiritual divinity, are these words? … Oh! I ask to see, my God! … and if I exist, if you exist, grant me the favor that I ask of you; accept my prayer, for I beg you, O my God, to show me if I exist, if I am!… (These last words were said with a heart-breaking tone)




Observation: If Mr. Claudius persevered his incredulity to the end, it was not the means of enlightening himself that he lacked; as a doctor, he necessarily had a cultivated mind, a developed intelligence, a knowledge above the vulgar, and yet that was not enough for him. In his meticulous investigations of still life and living nature, he did not foresee God, he did not foresee the soul! Seeing the effects, he could not go back to the cause or, to put it better, he had imagined a cause in his own way, and his scholarly pride prevented him from confessing to himself, especially from confessing in the face of the world that he could have been wrong. A circumstance worthy of note, he died of an illness that he knew, by his very science, to be incurable; this ailment that he was treating was a permanent warning; the pain it was causing him was a voice that kept screaming at him to think about the future. However, nothing could succeed over his obstinacy; he kept his eyes closed until the last moment. Could this man ever have become a Spiritist? Certainly not. Neither facts nor reasonings could have prevailed upon an opinion that was established a priori, and from which he was resolved not to deviate. He was one of those men who do not want to face the facts, because disbelief is innate in them, as belief in others; the sense by which they will, one day, be able to assimilate spiritual principles has not yet emerged; they are to spirituality what the born blind is to light: they do not understand it.



Intelligence is, therefore, not sufficient to lead on the path of truth; it is like a horse that leads us, and that follows the route that we have outlined; if this road leads to a quagmire, it precipitates the rider there; but, at the same time, it gives him the means to stand up.



Having Mr. Claudius voluntarily died as a spiritual blind, it is not surprising that he did not immediately see the light; that he does not recognize himself in a world that he did not want to study; that dead with the idea of nothingness, he doubts his own existence; pungent uncertainty that is his torment. He fell into the abyss where he pushed his carrier-intelligence. But he can get up from this fall, and he already seems to catch a glimpse of a light that, if he follows it, will lead him to the port. It is in his laudable efforts that he must be supported by prayer; once he has enjoyed the blessings of spiritual light, he will abhor the darkness of materialism; and if he ever returns to earth, it will be with intuitions and aspirations quite different from those he had in his last existence.

“Listen to an unfortunate man who was violently pulled from his family, and who does not know where he is… Amid the darkness where I find myself, I was able to follow a shiny ray of a Spirit, as I was told; but I don't believe in Spirits. I know very well that it is a fable, invented for the cracked and credulous heads… For my part, I do not understand anything anymore… I see myself double; a mutilated body lies next to me, and yet I am alive… I see my relatives in distress, not to mention my companions in misfortune, who do not see so clearly as I do; so, I took advantage of the light that led me here, to come and get information from you.



It seems to me that this is not the first time that I have seen you; my ideas are still cloudy… Allow me to come back another time when I am better used to my current situation… Never mind, I am leaving with regret; I was in my center… but I feel that I must obey; this Spirit seems good to me, but severe. I will do my best to earn his good grace so that I can speak with you more often.

A worker from the Lieutaud course.



Six workers had perished when a bridge collapsed a few days prior; it is one of them that has manifested. After this communication, the medium's guide dictated the following to her:



“Dear sister, this unhappy Spirit has been led to you to exercise your charity. As we practice it towards the incarnate, you must practice it towards the discarnate.



Although this unfortunate one is supported by his guardian angel, this one must remain invisible to him, until he recognizes himself well in his situation. For that, dear sister, take him under your protection, that is still weak, I agree; but sustained by your faith, this Spirit will soon see the dawn of a new day shining, and what he has refused to recognize, since his catastrophe, will soon become a matter of peace and joy to him. Your task will not be too difficult, because he has the essential to understand you: kindness of heart.



Listen, dear sister, to the impulses of your heart, and you will emerge victorious from the test that your new mission imposes on you.

Support one another, dear brothers and beloved sisters, and the New Jerusalem you are about to reach will be opened to you with songs of triumph, for the procession that follows you will make you victorious. But to fight the external obstacles well, it is necessary, above all, to have conquered oneself. You must maintain a severe discipline of your heart; the slightest infringement must be repressed, without seeking mitigation of the fault, otherwise you will never be victorious over others; you must rival in virtues and vigilance among yourselves.



Courage, friends; you are not alone; you are supported and protected by the spiritual fighters who have hope in you and call upon you the blessing of the Almighty.

Your Guide.”



This fact, as we see, has some situational analogy with the preceding one; it is also a Spirit who does not recognize himself, who does not understand his situation; but it is easy to see which of the two will emerge first from uncertainty. By the language of one, we recognize the proud scholar, who reasoned his disbelief, who, it seems, has not always made the best use of his intelligence and his knowledge; the other is an uncultivated, but of good nature, to which, no doubt, only lacked good direction. Incredulity, with him, was not a system, but a consequence of the lack of proper teaching. Whoever, during his lifetime, might have taken pity on the other, might have seen him in a happier position. May God bring them together for their mutual instruction, and the scholar may well be very happy to receive the lessons from the ignorant.

We read in the Siècle of July 10^th, 1867:



“A section of the association founded by Jean Macé has just been authorized in Metz, by the prefecture, under the name of Circle of the League of Teaching.”



The Moselle brings about it:



“The elected steering committee of the circle took office and decided to begin its work by founding a popular library, like those that render such a great service in Alsace.



For this work, the Circle of Metz is asking for everyone's help, and is asking for the support of anyone interested in the development of instruction and education in our city. These memberships, accompanied by a membership fee, whose value and method of payment are optional, and donations of books, will be received by any member of the committee."



As we have said, when we spoke of the League of Teaching (Spiritist Review, March, and April 1867), our sympathies are conquered by all progressive ideas; we only criticized the mode of execution of this project. We will, therefore, be happy to see practical applications of this beautiful idea.

The doctors and interns of the Charity Hospital received, on Saturday, during the morning visit, one of their American colleagues, that got a certain reputation from the last American war.



This surgeon was no other than Mrs. Walker who, during the American Civil War, ran a large ambulance service. Petite, of a delicate complexion, dressed in the elegant simplicity that distinguishes the ladies of society, Mrs. Walker was received very sympathetically and very respectfully. She took a very keen interest in the two major services, one surgical, the other medical.



Her presence at the Charity Hospital proclaimed a new principle that received its blessings in the new world: the equality of women before science.



(National opinion)

“Saturday (July 6^th),” says the Press, “the Iman or Grand Chaplain of the Sultan, Hairoulah-Effendi, visited Mgr. Chigi, nuncio of the Pope, and Mgr. the Archbishop of Paris."

The Sultan's trip to Paris is more than a political event, it is a sign of the times, the prelude to the disappearance of religious prejudices that have, for so long, raised a barrier between peoples and bloodied the world. Coming the successor of Muhammad, out of his own free will, to visit a Christian country, fraternizing with a Christian sovereign, it would have been on his part, not long ago, a daring act; today, this event seems quite natural. What is even more significant is the visit of the Iman, his great chaplain, to the heads of the Church. The initiative he took on this occasion, since the etiquette did not oblige him to do so, is a proof of the progress of the ideas. Religious hatreds are anomalies in the present century, and it bodes well for the future, to see one of the princes of Islam setting an example of tolerance and recanting secular prejudices.



One of the consequences of moral progress will, one day, certainly be the unification of beliefs; it will take place when the different cults recognize that there is only one God for all men, and that it is absurd and unworthy of Him to curse just because we do not worship Him in the same way.

This letter from Winschoten, was sent to the Journal of Brussels on May 2^nd, 1867:



“Last Saturday a ditchdigger arrived in our town, presenting himself at the residence of the rural guard, where he summoned that official to arrest him, and deliver him to justice, before which, he said, he had to do confess a crime he committed several years ago. Brought before the chief magistrate, this worker, who said his name was J. Ryzak, told the following story:



About twelve years ago, I was employed in the works of drying out Lake Harlem, when one day the sergeant, paying my bi-weekly wages, gave me the pay due to one of my comrades, ordering me to pass it to him later. I spent the money and wanting to spare myself from the inconveniences of investigations, I resolved to kill the friend I had just stolen. For that, I threw him into one of the chasms of the lake, and when I saw him coming back to the surface, trying to swim towards the edge, I stabbed him twice in the neck.



As soon as my crime was committed, remorse began to be felt; it soon became intolerable, and it was impossible for me to continue the work. I started by fleeing the scene of my crime, and since I found neither peace nor truce anywhere in the country, I embarked for the Indies, where I took a job in the colonial army. But there also the specter of my victim pursued me night and day; my tortures were continuous and unheard of, and as soon as my term of service was over, an irresistible force urged me to return to Winschoten, and ask the courts to appease my conscience. It will give it to me by imposing on me on atonement as it deems appropriate; and if it orders that I die, I prefer this torture to the executioner that I have been carrying in my heart for twelve years, at all hours of the day and night."



After this declaration, and on the assurance given to the magistrate that the man he had before him was of sound mind, this magistrate requested the police, that arrested Ryzak and immediately referred the fact to the officer of justice.



We await here, with emotion, the consequences that this strange event may have.




Instructions from the Spirits on this subject.



Parisian Society, May 10^th, 1867 – medium Ms. Lateltin.



Every being has, as you know, freedom from good and bad, what you call free will. Man has his conscience within him that warns him when he has done good or bad, committed a bad action, or neglected to do good; his conscience that, like a vigilant guardian, in charge of watching over him, approves or disapproves his conduct. It often happens that we are rebellious to its voice, that we reject its inspirations; we want to suffocate it by forgetting; but it is never completely destroyed enough that, at some point, it wakes up stronger and more powerful, and does not exercise severe control over your actions.



Conscience produces two different effects: the satisfaction of having done well, the peace left by the feeling of an accomplished duty, and the remorse that penetrates and tortures when one has done something disapproved by God, men or honor; it is, strictly speaking, the moral sense. Remorse is like a serpent with a thousand folds that surrounds the heart and ravages it; it is remorse that always makes the same calls and cries out to you: you did a wicked deed; you will have to be punished for it: your punishment will not stop until after the reparation has been done. And when, to this torture of a tormented conscience, the constant sight of the victim is added, of the person who was wronged; when, without rest or truce, his presence reproaches the culprit for his unworthy behavior, constantly repeating to him that he will suffer until he has atoned and repaired the evil he has done, the torture becomes intolerable; it is then that, to put an end to his tortures, his pride yields, and he confesses his crimes. Evil carries its own sorrow by the remorse it leaves, and by the reproaches of the mere presence of those towards whom one has acted badly.



Believe me, always listen to that voice that warns you when you are about to fail; do not stifle it by the revolt of your pride, and if you fail, hasten to repair the evil deed, otherwise remorse would be your punishment; the longer you delay, the more painful the reparation will be, and the more prolonged the torture.

A Spirit”



Same session, medium Mrs. B…



“You have today a remarkable example of the punishment suffered, even on earth, by those who are guilty of a bad deed. It is not only in the invisible world that the sight of a victim torments the murderer, forcing him to repent; where the justice of men has not begun atonement, divine justice begins, unbeknownst to all, the slowest and most terrible of punishments, the most dreadful punishment.



There are some people who say that the punishment inflicted on the criminal, in the spiritual world, that consists in the continual view of his crime, cannot be very effective, and that in no case this punishment. alone determines repentance. They say that a perverse nature, like that of a criminal, can only become more and more bitter, by this sight, and thus becoming worse. Those who say so do not have an idea of what can become of such a punishment; they do not know how cruel is this continual spectacle of an action that one would like to have never committed. We certainly see some criminals hardening themselves, but often it is only out of pride, and for the wishes to appear stronger than the hand that chastises them; it is to make believe that they do not let themselves be defeated by the sight of vain images; but this false courage does not last long; soon we see them weakening in the presence of this torture, that owes many of its effects to its slowness and persistence. There is no pride that can resist such an action, similar to that of the drop of water on the rock; however hard the stone may be, it is inevitably attacked, broken up, reduced to dust. That is how pride, that makes these unhappy people stiffen against their sovereign Lord, is sooner or later demolished, and repentance can finally have access to their soul; as they know that the origin of their sufferings is in their fault, they ask to repair that fault, in order to bring some relief to their ills. To those that may doubt it, just mention the fact that was brought to your attention this evening; there, it is no longer the hypothesis alone, it is no longer the teaching of the Spirits only, it is a somewhat tangible example that presents itself to you; in this example, the punishment closely followed the fault, and it was such that after several years it forced the culprit to seek atonement for his crime from human justice, and he said himself that even all the penalties, even death, would seem to him less cruel than what he suffered, when he surrendered himself to justice.

A Spirit”

Observation: Without looking for applications of remorse in serious criminals, that are exceptions in society, we find it in the most ordinary circumstances of life. It is this feeling that leads every individual to distance himself from those towards whom he feels there are reproaches to be made; in their presence, he feels bad; if the fault is not known, he fears being suspected; it seems to him that a look can penetrate the depths of his conscience; he sees in every word, in every gesture, an allusion to his person; that is why, as soon as he feels unmasked, he withdraws. The ingrate also flees his benefactor, because his sight is an incessant reproach that he uselessly seeks to get rid of, for an intimate voice cries out to him, in the depths of his conscience, that he is guilty.



If remorse is already a torture on earth, how much greater will this torture be in the spiritual world, where one cannot escape the sight of those whom one has offended! Happy are those who, having repaired from this life, will be able to face all eyes in the world where nothing is hidden, without fear.



Remorse is a consequence of the development of the moral sense; it does not exist where the moral sense is still in a latent state; that is why the savage and barbarian peoples commit the most wicked deeds without remorse. So, whoever claims to be inaccessible to remorse would be like the brute. As man progresses, the moral sense becomes more refined; he takes offense at the smallest deviation from the right path; hence remorse that is a first step towards a return to good.

Paris, February 10^th, 1867 – medium Mr. T… in spontaneous sleep


Note: In this session, no previous question had provoked the subject that was discussed. The medium had first dealt with health, then, step by step, he found himself led to the reflections whose analysis we give below. He spoke for about an hour, without a break.



“The progress of Spiritism causes a fear in its enemies that they cannot conceal. In the beginning they played with the turning tables, not thinking that they were caressing a child who was to grow up;… the child grew up… then they had a presentiment of the future, telling themselves that they would soon be right about it… But the child had a hard life, as they say. It resisted all the attacks, anathemas, persecutions, even ridicule. Like certain seeds that the wind carries away, it produced innumerable offspring; … for each one that was destroyed, a hundred others sprouted.



At first they used the weapons of another age against it, those that had once succeeded against new ideas, because those ideas were just scattered glimmers that had difficulty in shining through ignorance, and that had not yet enrooted in the masses… today it is something else; everything has changed: manners, ideas, character, beliefs; humanity is no longer moved by the threats that frighten children; the devil, so dreaded by our ancestors, scares no more: we laugh at it.



Yes, ancient weapons have blunted against the breastplate of progress. It is as if today, an army wanted to attack a cannon guarded stronghold with the arrows, rams, and catapults of our ancestors.



The enemies of Spiritism have seen, by experience, the uselessness of the worm-eaten weapons of the past against the regenerative idea; far from harming it, their efforts only served to accredit it.



To fight with advantage against the ideas of the century, one would have to be at the height of the century; to progressive doctrines, it would be necessary to oppose even more progressive doctrines…; but less cannot prevail against more.



Unable to succeed by violence, they resorted to cunning, the weapon of those who are aware of their weakness... from wolves they became lambs to enter the sheepfold, to sow disorder, division, and confusion. Since they managed to cast disturbance into a few ranks, they prematurely believed themselves masters of the place. The isolated followers, nonetheless, continued their work, and the idea gains ground every day, without much noise… They are the ones that made the noise… Can't you see it breaking through everywhere, in the newspapers, in books, in the theater, and even in the pulpit? It works all consciences; it leads the spirits to new horizons; it is found in the state of intuition, even in those who have not heard of it. This is a fact that no one can deny, and that is becoming more evident every day; isn’t that a proof that the idea is irresistible, and that it is a sign of the times?



To annihilate it is, therefore, an impossible task, because it would have to be annihilated, not on one point, but in the whole world; besides, aren’t the ideas carried on the wings of the wind? How can they be reached? Parcels of goods can be seized at customs; but ideas are elusive.



What to do then? Try to get hold of them, to accommodate them as one pleases… Well! That is the party they have sided with. They said to themselves: Spiritism is the precursor of an inevitable moral revolution; before it is entirely accomplished, let us try to divert it to our own benefit; let us make sure that this is the same as with certain political revolutions; by distorting its spirit, we could convey another course to it.



The plan of campaign is therefore changed… You will see Spiritist meetings forming, whose avowed goal will be the defense of the doctrine, and whose secret goal will be its destruction; so-called mediums will have preordered communications, appropriate to the intended purpose; publications that, under the cloak of Spiritism, will endeavor to demolish it; doctrines that will borrow some ideas from it, but with the intent of supplanting him. This is the struggle, the real struggle that it will have to sustain, and that will be pursued relentlessly, but from which it will emerge victorious and stronger.



What can men do against the will of God? Is it possible to ignore it in the presence of what is happening? Isn’t His finger visible in this progress that defies all attacks, in these phenomena that appear on all sides, like a protest, like belying all denials? ... Aren’t the lives of men, the fate of humanity in His hands? ... Blinds! ... They do not count on the new generation that rises, and that carries away, every day, the departing generation... A few more years, and this one will have disappeared, leaving behind only the memory of its senseless attempts to stop the impetus of the human spirit that walks, walks anyway… They do not count on the events that will hasten the blossoming of the new humanitarian period… without the support that will rise in favor of the new doctrine, and whose powerful voice will impose silence on its detractors, by its authority.



Oh! How the face of the world will be changed for those who will see the beginning of the next century! … How many ruins will they see behind them, and what splendid horizons will open before them! … It will be like the dawn, pushing back the shadows of the night; … Songs of joy will succeed the noises, the uproars, the roaring of the storm; after anguish, men will be reborn to hope… Yes! the twentieth century will be a blessed century, for it will see the new era announced by Christ.”



Note: Here the medium stops, dominated by an ineffable emotion, and as if exhausted with fatigue. After a few minutes of rest, during which he seems to return to the regular state of somnambulism, he resumes:



What was I telling you then? - You told us about the new plan of campaign of the opponents of Spiritism; then you envisioned the new era. – continues.



In the meantime, they dispute the land foot by foot. They have almost given up the weapons of another age, whose ineffectiveness has been recognized; they are now trying those that are all powerful in this century of selfishness, pride, and greed: gold, the seduction of self-love. With those that are inaccessible to fear, they exploit vanity, and the earthly needs. One that resisted the threat, sometimes lends a complacent ear to flattery, to the lure of material well-being ... They promise bread to those who have none, work to the craftsman , clientele to the merchant, promotion to the employee, honors to the ambitious, if they renounce their beliefs; they are hurt in their position, in their means of existence, in their affections, if they are rebellious; then the glamor of gold produces its ordinary effect on some. Among them there are, necessarily, some weak characters that succumb to temptation. There are some who fall into the trap in good faith, because the hand that manipulates it hides ... There are also many that yield to the harsh necessity, but who think, nonetheless; their renunciation is only apparent; they bend, but to stand up at the first opportunity ... Others, those who have a higher degree of the true courage of faith, resolutely face the danger; these always succeed, because they are supported by the good Spirits… Some, Ah! … But these have never been Spiritists of heart… prefer the gold of the earth to the gold of heavens; they remain apparently attached to the doctrine, and under this cloak, they only serve better the cause of its enemies… it is a sad exchange that they are making there, for which they will pay dearly!



In times of cruel trials that you are going to go through, happy are those over whom the protection of the good Spirits will extend, for it will have never been more necessary! … Pray for the stray brothers, so that they take advantage of the short moments of respite that are granted to them, before the justice of the Almighty weighs on them… When they see the storm breaking out, more than one will cry for mercy! But they will be answered: What have you done with our teachings? Haven’t you, mediums, written your own condemnation a hundred times? ... You have had the light, and you have not taken advantage of it; we gave you shelter, why did you desert it? So, suffer the fate of those you have preferred. If your heart had been touched by our words, you would have remained steadfast in the path of good that was laid out for you; if you had had faith, you would have resisted the seductions offered to your self-esteem and vanity. Did you therefore believe that you could impose it on us, as on men, by false appearances? Know this, if you have doubted it, that there is not a single movement of the soul that does not have its repercussion in the spiritual world.



Do you believe that it is for nothing that clairvoyance develops in so many people? That it is to offer a new food to curiosity, that so many mediums today spontaneously fall asleep, in the ecstatic sleep? No, think again. This faculty, that has been announced to you for a long time, is a characteristic sign of the times that have come; it is a prelude to the transformation, for as you have been told, it must be one of the attributes of the new generation. That generation, more purified morally, will also be physically; mediumship, in all forms, will be somewhat general, and communion with the Spirits a state, so to speak, normal.



God sends this seeing faculty, in these times of crisis and transition, to give His faithful servants a way to thwart the plots of their enemies, for the evil thoughts, that are believed to be hidden in the shadows of the folds of consciences, reflect in these sensitive souls, like in a mirror, and reveal themselves. He who exhales only good thoughts is not afraid of being known. Happy is the one that can say: read in my soul as in an open book.”





Observation: Spontaneous somnambulism, that have already talked about, is in fact only a form of clairvoyance mediumship, the development of which has been announced for some time, as with the appearance of new mediumistic skills. It is remarkable that, in all times of general crisis or persecution, there are more people endowed with this faculty than in ordinary times; there were many at the time of the revolution; the Calvinists of the Cévènes,^[1] hunted down like wild beasts, had many seers who warned them of what was happening in the distance; they were, for this fact, and ironically, qualified as enlightened; today we begin to understand that sight at a distance and independent of the organs of vision may well be one of the attributes of human nature, and Spiritism explains it by the expansive faculty and properties of the soul. Facts of this kind have multiplied so much that we are less astonished; what once seemed a miracle or spell to some, is now considered a natural effect. It is one of the thousand ways by which Spiritism penetrates, so that, if it is stopped at one source, it emerges through other exits.

This faculty is thus not new, but it tends to generalize, undoubtedly for the reason indicated in the communication above, but also as a means of proving to the unbelievers the existence of the spiritual principle. According to the Spirits it would even become endemic, that would naturally be explained by the moral transformation of humanity, a transformation that must bring about modifications in the organism that will facilitate the expansion of the soul.



Like other mediumistic faculties, this one can be exploited by charlatanism. It is, therefore, good to be on guard against deception that could, for any reason whatsoever, try to simulate it, and to ensure, by all possible means, the good faith of those who claim to possess it. Besides the material and moral selflessness, and the notorious honorability of the person, that are the first guarantees, it is advisable to observe carefully the conditions and the circumstances in which the phenomenon occurs, and to see if they offer anything suspicious.

---

[1] The Camisards, the French Huguenots of the 18^th Century (T.N.)

“When, following a terrible humanitarian convulsion, the whole society moved slowly, overwhelmed, crushed, and ignoring the cause of its depression, a few privileged beings, a few old veterans of good, pooling their experience regarding the difficulty in doing it, adding the respect that their conduct and their position should have aroused, resolved to seek to deepen the causes of this general crisis that touches each one in particular.



The new era begins, and with that Spiritism (this word was created; all that remains is to make it understood and to learn its meaning). Impassive time moves on, and Spiritism, that is no longer just a word, no longer needs to be understood: it is understood! ... But, a few veteran Spiritists, these creators, these missionaries, are still at the forefront of the movement… Their small battalion is very small in number, but patience! … it is gradually gaining members, and it will soon be an army: the army of veterans of good! Because, in general, Spiritism, at its beginning, in its first years, has almost always touched only hearts already worn out by the friction of life, hearts that had suffered and paid for, those that carried the principles of the beautiful, good, and great.



Descending successively from the old age to the middle age, from the middle age to adulthood and from adulthood to adolescence, Spiritism has infiltrated all ages, as all hearts, all religions, all sects, everywhere! Assimilation was slow, but steady! … And today, have no fear that this Spiritist flag will fall, held by a firm and sure hand, from the beginning; for today, the young phalanxes of the Spiritists battalions do not cry out, like their adversaries: "Make way for the young." No, they don't say, “Come out, old folks, to let the young ones take over.” They only ask for a place at the feast of intelligence, for the right to sit down next to their predecessors, and to bring their contribution to the great whole. Today, the youth is strengthening; it brings its contribution to the mature age in exchange for the experience of the latter, in the great law of reciprocity, and the consequences of the collective work for science, morality, good; because, ultimately, if science progresses, for whose benefit does it progress? Aren’t the human bodies that benefit from all the elucidations, all the problems solved, all the inventions made? That benefits everyone, just as if you progress in morality, it benefits all Spirits. So today, young people and old people are equal before progress and must fight side by side for its realization.



The battalion has become an army, an invulnerable army, but that must fight, not one but thousands of adversaries united against it. So, youngsters, bring with confidence the ardor of your convictions, and you, older ones, bring your wisdom, your knowledge of men and things, your experience without illusion.



The army is at the battle front. Your enemies are numerous, but they are not in front of you, face to face, chest to chest; they are everywhere, by your side, in front, behind, among you, in the very heart of your heart, and you have to fight them with your good will only, your loyal consciences and your tendencies for good. Of these united armies, one has a name: pride; the others: ignorance, fanaticism, superstition, laziness, vices of all kinds.



And your army, that must fight head-on, must also know how to fight, because you will not be one against one, but one against ten! … What a great victory to conquer! … Well! If you all fight together, with the hope of succeeding, fight yourselves first, overcome your bad tendencies; hypocrites, acquire sincerity; lazy, become workers; proud, be humble; extend your hand to loyalty, dressed in a ragged blouse, and all, in solidarity, take and keep the commitment to do to others what you would like to have them done to you. So, let us not cry make way for the young, but make way for all that is beautiful, good, all that tends to approach the Divinity.



Today, they are beginning to take it into account, this poor Spiritism that was said to be stillborn; one sees in it a serious enemy, but why is that? … One did not fear it, in the beginning, that weak child; they laughed at its powerless efforts; but today that the child has become a man, it is feared, because it has the strength of a mature age; it is because it has gathered around it persons of all ages, of all social positions, of all degrees of intelligence, who understand that wisdom, the acquired knowledge, may as well reside in the heart of a twenty-year old man, as in the brain of a man of sixty.



Thus, today this poor Spiritism is feared, dreaded; one does not dare to come in front, to measure oneself against it; they take the detours, the road of cowards! ... They do not come to say in daylight: you do not exist; they come among its supporters, speak like them, do like them, applaud and approve everything they do, when they are with them, to fight them and betray them when they have turned their back. Yes, this is what they are doing today! In the beginning, they said upfront what they thought of the sickly child, but today they dare no more, because it has grown up, and yet it has never shown its teeth.



If I am told to tell you this, although it is always painful to me, it is because it was useful; nothing, not a word, not a gesture, not a pitch of voice takes place without a reason, and without bringing their contribution to the general balance. The post office there is much smarter and more complete than that of your Earth; every word meets its goal, has its address, without an envelope, whereas among you, a letter without an envelope will never arrive.”



Observation: The above communication is, as we see, an application of what was said in the previous one, on the effect of clairvoyance, and it is not the only time that we have had the chance to observe the services that this faculty is called upon to render. This is not to say that blind faith should be added to all that can be said in such a case; there would be as much imprudence in believing the first comer, without reservation, as in despising the warnings that can be given by this way. The degree of confidence that can be added to it depends on the circumstances; this faculty needs to be studied; above all, we must act with caution, and beware of a hasty judgment.



As to the substance of the communication, its coincidence with what was given five months before, by another medium, and in another environment, is a fact worthy of notice, and we know that similar instructions are given in different centers. It is therefore prudent to be cautious with people on whose sincerity one does not have every reason to believe. The Spiritist, no doubt, have only highly avowed principles; they have nothing to hide; but what they have to fear is to see their words distorted and their intentions disguised; these are the traps set for their good faith by people who plead the false in order to know the true; who, under the appearances of a too exaggerated zeal to be sincere, attempt to lead groups into a compromising path, either to cause them embarrassment, or to do a disservice to the doctrine.

La Marionnette, a new newspaper in Lyon, published the following article in its June 30^th issue:



“We announce the arrival in Lyon of the anthropological and ethnological museum of Mr. A. Neger, successor of Mr. Th. Petersen.



Among other extraordinary things, we see in this wax museum:

1^st – an unfortunate princess of the Coromandel coast who, married to a great tribal chief, had the infamy of forgetting her marital duties with an overly attractive European, and died in London from a languor disease;



2^nd: Trichinae twenty times larger than normal, in all phases of their existence, from the earliest childhood to the most extreme old age;



3^rd: The famous Mexican Julia Pastrana who died in labor in Moscow in the year of grace 1860.



It was not without legitimate astonishment that we learned of this premature death - since in 1865 Julia Pastrana was engaged in equestrian exercises in a circus whose performances were given on the Cours Napoleon.



How can a woman who died in 1860 burst out through paper circles in 1865? Food for thought!



ALLAN KARDEC"





Having this issue been communicated to us, we addressed the following complaint to the director:



Sir,



They give me number 6 of your newspaper, where there is a signed article: Allan Kardec. I don't think I have an homonymous; in any case, as I only answer for what I write, I ask you to insert this letter in your next issue, in order to inform your readers that Mr. Allan Kardec, the author of The Spirits’ Book, is foreign to the article that bears his name, and that he does not authorize anyone to use it.



Receive, sir, my warm greetings.



ALLAN KARDEC



The newspaper editor immediately responded with the following:



Sir,



Our friend, Acariâtre, the author of the article signed by mistake with your name, has already complained about the clumsiness of the reviser. Here is the sentence: It makes Allan Kardec dream, reference to Spiritism. The embellishments of Lyon are all signed Acariâtre. In our next issue, we'll rectify this mistake.



Receive, sir, my warm regards.



E. B. Labaume



NOTE. This newspaper is published every Sunday at 5, cours Lafayette, in Lyon.