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Let us add that the study of a doctrine, such as the Spiritist Doctrine, which casts us suddenly into an order of things so new and so grand, cannot be carried out with profit except by serious, persevering men, free of prejudices and animated by a firm and sincere will to arrive at a result.

We could not give that qualification to those who judge a priori, lightly and without having seen everything; who do not impress upon their studies the continuity, the regularity, and the recollection that are necessary.

Still less could we give it to certain persons who, in order not to lose their reputation as men of wit, strive to find a burlesque side in the most truthful things, or things held as such by persons whose knowledge, character, and convictions deserve the consideration of those who pride themselves on being well-bred.

Let those, therefore, abstain who consider that the facts are not worthy of their attention. No one thinks of doing violence to their belief; let them agree, however, to respect that of others.

What characterizes a serious study is the continuity given to it.

Should we be surprised at not obtaining, frequently, any sensible answer to questions that are in themselves grave, when we put them at random and point-blank, in the midst of a flood of extravagant questions?

Moreover, it often happens that a complex question, in order to be clarified, requires other preliminary or complementary ones.

Whoever wishes to acquire a science must make a methodical study of it, begin at the beginning, and follow the linking and the development of the ideas.

He who addresses to a learned man, at random, questions about a science whose first words he is ignorant of, will he gather any profit?

Could the learned man himself, however great his good will, give him a satisfactory answer? That isolated answer will necessarily be incomplete and, for that very reason, almost always unintelligible, or it will seem absurd and contradictory.

It happens exactly the same in the relations we establish with the Spirits. If we wish to be instructed in their school, with them we must take a course; but, as among us, one must choose the teachers and work with assiduity.

We have said that the superior Spirits attend only serious gatherings, above all those in which there reigns a perfect communion of thoughts and of sentiments for the good.

Frivolity and idle questions drive them away, as, among men, they drive away sensible persons; the field then becomes free to the throng of lying and frivolous Spirits, always lying in wait for occasions to mock us and to amuse themselves at our expense.

What would happen, in a gathering of that sort, to a grave question? It would be answered, but by whom?

It is as if, in the midst of a band of jesters, we cast out these questions: What is the soul? What is death? and others as entertaining as these.

If you want serious answers, conduct yourselves with seriousness in the broadest acceptation of the term and endeavor to fulfill all the conditions required; only then will you obtain great things.

Be more laborious and persevering in your studies, in order that the superior Spirits do not abandon you, as a teacher does with negligent pupils. >>>