Example 14 - DOCTOR VIGNAL.

— A former member of the SOCIETY of Paris, who died on March 27, 1865. — On the eve of the burial, a lucid somnambulist and good seer, urged to transport himself near him and to narrate what he saw, declared:

“I see a corpse, in which an extraordinary work is taking place; one would say a quantity of mass that stirs and something that seems to make efforts to detach itself from it, encountering, however, difficulty in overcoming the resistance. I do not distinguish a well-characterized form of a Spirit.”

— The evocation was made at the SOCIETY of Paris, on March 31.

Q. Dear Mr. Vignal, all your old colleagues of the SOCIETY of Paris keep the liveliest memory of you, and I, particularly, of our good relations, which were indeed never interrupted. In evoking you, our aim was first of all to attest our sympathy, considering ourselves fortunate if you could and would converse with us.

A. Esteemed friend and worthy master: such kindly remembrance and testimonies of sympathy are very flattering to me.

Thanks to your evocation and assistance, borne by your prayers, I was able to come today, unencumbered, to attend this reunion of good friends and Spiritist brothers.

As the young secretary justly said, I was impatient to communicate; since this evening I have employed all my spiritual forces to master that desire; as the grave subjects treated in your conversation interested me keenly, they made my expectation less painful. Forgive me, dear friend, but my gratitude required that I manifest myself. Q. Tell us first how you find yourself in the spiritual world, describing the work of separation, the sensations of that moment, as well as the time necessary for the recognition of your state.

A. I am as happy as possible, seeing fully confirmed the secret thoughts conceivable in relation to a comforting and consoling doctrine.

I am happy, and all the more so to see now, without any obstacle, unfolding before me the future of Spiritist science and philosophy.

But let us leave these inopportune digressions for today; I will again return to entertain you on this subject, especially knowing that my presence will give you as much pleasure as that which I experience in visiting you.

The separation was rapid; more so than I could hope for, given my scant merit.

I was effectively aided by your concurrence, and the somnambulist gave you a sufficiently clear idea of the phenomenon of separation, that I need not dwell on it.

It was a kind of intermittent oscillation, a sort of dragging in opposite directions. The Spirit here present triumphed.

I left the body completely only when it was lowered into the earth; and then I came here to be with you. Q. What do you say of your funeral? I thought it my duty to attend it. At that moment you were free enough to appreciate it; and had the prayers I made on your behalf (discreetly, of course) reached you?

A. Yes; I have already said it; your assistance helped me greatly, and I returned to you, abandoning completely the old carcass. Moreover, you know, material things matter little to me. I thought only of the soul and of God.

Q. Recall that at your request, 5 years ago, in February of 1860, we made a study concerning you. n On that occasion — when you were still among us — your Spirit detached itself to come and speak with us. Could you describe to us in the best way the difference between your present detachment and that of then?

A. Yes, I remember. And what a great difference between one and the other!

In that state, matter still oppressed me in its inflexible web, that is, I wished but could not radically free myself.

Today I am free, a vast unknown field opens before me, and I hope, with your aid and that of the good Spirits, to whom I commend myself, to progress and to penetrate as rapidly as possible the sentiments one must possess, and the acts I must undertake to bear the trials and to merit the reward.

What majesty! what grandeur! It is almost a sentiment of fear that predominates, when, weak as we are, we wish to fix our gaze upon the luminous regions. Q. With pleasure we will continue to entertain ourselves on the subject, whenever you wish.

A. I have answered the various questions briefly and disorderly. — Do not demand more, now, of your faithful disciple, for I am not yet entirely free.

To continue conversing would be my pleasure, but my guide moderates my enthusiasm, and I have already been able to appreciate enough his goodness and his justice to submit myself entirely to his decision, however great my regret at being interrupted.

I console myself, thinking that I will be able to come sometimes, incognito, to attend your reunions.

I will speak to you whenever I can, for I esteem you and wish to prove it. Other Spirits, however, more advanced, claim priority, and I must bow to those who permitted me to give free course to the torrent of accumulated ideas.

I leave you, friends, and I must doubly give thanks not only to you, Spiritists, who evoked me, but also to this Spirit who saw fit to yield me his place, a Spirit who on Earth bore the illustrious name of Pascal.

From him who was and will always be the most devoted of your adherents.

Dr. Vignal.

[1] See the Spiritist Review of March 1860: Study on the Spirit of living persons.