FIRST NOTICE OF A NEW INCARNATION.

The Spirit had promised to write me a letter on the occasion of the new year. He had, he said, something particular to tell me. Having asked him for it at one of the ordinary meetings, he replied that he would give it privately to the medium, so that the latter might transmit it to me. This is the letter:

“Dear friend, I did not wish to write to you last Tuesday before everyone, because there are certain things that can only be said privately.

“I wished, first of all, to speak to you about your work, which you have sent to be printed. (The Spirits' Book had gone to press.) Do not wear yourself out so, from morning till night; you will fare better, and the work will lose nothing by waiting.

“From what I see, you are quite capable of bringing your undertaking to a good end, and you have great things to accomplish. But nothing of exaggeration in anything. Observe and appraise everything judiciously and coolly. Do not let yourself be carried away by the enthusiasts, nor by those in too great a hurry. Measure all your steps, in order to reach the end with security. Believe in no more than what you see; do not turn your attention away from all that seems to you incomprehensible; you will come to know more on the subject than anyone else, because the matters for study will be placed before your eyes. “But, ah! the truth will not be known by all, nor believed, save a long time from now! In this existence you will see no more than the dawn of the success of your work. You will have to return, reincarnated in another body, to complete what you shall have begun, and then will be granted to you the satisfaction of seeing in full fruition the seed that you shall have scattered over the Earth.

“There will arise the envious and the jealous, who will seek to defame you and to oppose you: do not be discouraged; do not concern yourself with what they say or do against you; carry on with your work; labor always for the progress of Humanity, for you will be supported by the good Spirits, so long as you persevere in the good path.

“Do you remember that, a year ago, I promised my friendship to those who, during the year, should have had a conduct always correct? Well then! I declare that you are one of those whom I chose among all.

“Your friend who loves and protects you, Z.”

NOTE. — I have already had occasion to say that Z. was not a superior Spirit, but a very good and very beneficent one. Perhaps he was more advanced than the name he had taken would lead one to suppose. This supposition was legitimized by the serious character and the wisdom of his communications, according to the circumstances. Under the cover of that name, he allowed himself to use a familiar language appropriate to the milieu in which he manifested, and to speak, as frequently happened, hard truths, under the light form of the epigram. However that may be, I always kept a grateful remembrance of him and much appreciation for the good warnings he always gave me and for the devotion he bore witness to toward me. He disappeared with the dispersion of the Baudin family, saying that he would soon reincarnate.