PROJECT 1868.

Central establishment.

— Spiritist teaching.

— Publicity.

— Travels.

— One of the greatest obstacles capable of retarding the propagation of the Doctrine would be the lack of unity. The only means of avoiding it, if not as regards the present, then at least as regards the future, is to formulate it in all its parts and even in the most minute details, with such precision and clarity that any divergent interpretation becomes impossible.

If the doctrine of Christ gave rise to so many controversies, if even now it finds itself so poorly understood and so diversely practiced, this is due to the fact that Christ confined himself to an oral teaching and that his own apostles transmitted only general principles, which each one interpreted according to his own ideas or interests. Had he formulated the organization of the Christian Church with the precision of a law or a regulation, it is incontestable that he would have avoided most of the schisms and the religious quarrels, as well as the exploitation that was made of religion, to the profit of personal ambitions. The result was that, if Christianity constituted, for some enlightened men, a cause of serious moral reform, it was not and still is not, for many, anything but the object of a blind and fanatical belief, a result which, in a great number of creatures, engendered doubt and absolute incredulity. Only Spiritism, rightly understood and well comprehended, can remedy this state of affairs and become, as the Spirits have said, the great lever for the transformation of Humanity. Experience must enlighten us as to the path to follow. By showing us the drawbacks of the past, it tells us clearly that the only means of avoiding them in the future consists in setting Spiritism upon the solid foundations of a positive doctrine that leaves nothing to the arbitrariness of interpretations. The dissidences that may arise will merge of themselves into the principal unity that would be established upon the most rational foundations, provided that those foundations are clearly and not vaguely defined. It also emerges from these considerations that this course, conducted with prudence, represents the most powerful means of struggle against the antagonists of the Spiritist Doctrine. All sophisms will shatter against principles to which sound reason would find nothing to oppose. Two elements must concur for the progress of Spiritism: the theoretical establishment of the Doctrine and the means of popularizing it. The ever-increasing development that it is taking on multiplies our relations, which only tend to expand, through the impulse that the new edition of The Spirits' Book and the publicity that will be given on this account will lend to it. In order to make profitable use of these relations, if, after the theory is constituted, I were to contribute to its installation, it would be necessary that, besides the publication of my works, I have at my disposal the means of exercising a more direct action. Now, I believe it would be fitting that the one who founded the theory should at the same time be able to impel it, because then there would be more unity. In this respect, the Society must necessarily exercise great influence, as the Spirits themselves have said; its action, however, will not in reality be effective except when it serves as a center and point of connection from which a teaching preponderant over public opinion proceeds. For this, a stronger organization is needed, and elements that it does not possess. In the century we are in, and considering the state of our customs, financial resources are the great mover of all things, when employed with discernment. On the hypothesis that these resources, in one way or another, should come into my hands, here is the plan I would follow, the execution of which would be proportional to the importance of the means and subordinate to the counsels of the Spirits. Central establishment.

— The most urgent thing would be to provide the Society with a suitably situated and arranged premises for the meetings and receptions. Without giving it an unnecessary luxury which, moreover, would be out of place, it would be necessary that nothing there denote penury, but that it present an aspect such that persons of distinction might be there without considering themselves much diminished. Besides the private lodging where I would reside, it should possess:

1st A large hall for the sessions of the Society and for the great meetings;

2nd A reception salon;

3rd A compartment intended for intimate evocations, a kind of sanctuary, which would not be profaned by any extraneous occupation;

4th An office for the Review, the archives, and the affairs of the Society.

All this arranged and prepared in a manner that is convenient and befitting its purpose.

A library would be created, composed of all the works and periodical writings, French and foreign, ancient and modern, relating to Spiritism.

The reception salon would be open every day, and at certain hours, to the members of the Society, who could there confer freely, read the newspapers, and consult the archives and the library. Foreign adepts passing through Paris would be received there, provided they were presented by a member. A regular correspondence would be established with the various centers of France and abroad.

There would be a secretary employee and an office assistant.

Spiritist teaching.

— A regular course of Spiritism would be taught with the aim of developing the principles of the Science and of spreading the taste for serious studies. This course would have the advantage of founding the unity of principles, of making enlightened adepts, capable of spreading Spiritist ideas and of developing a great number of mediums. I consider this course as of a nature to exercise a capital influence upon the future of Spiritism and upon its consequences. n Publicity.

— Greater development would be given to the Review, whether by increasing the number of its pages or by making its publication more frequent.

A paid editor would be added to it.

A large-scale publicity, made in the newspapers of greatest circulation, would carry to the whole world, even to the most distant localities, the knowledge of Spiritist ideas, would awaken the desire to delve deeper into them and, by multiplying their adepts, would impose silence upon the detractors, who would soon have to yield before the ascendancy of general opinion. Travels.

— Two or three months of the year would be devoted to travels, in visits to the various Centers and to imparting good direction to them.

If resources permitted, a fund would be instituted to defray the travel expenses of a certain number of missionaries, enlightened and talented, who would be charged with spreading the Doctrine.

A complete organization and the assistance of paid auxiliaries, on whom I could count, freeing me from an immensity of occupations and preoccupations, would give me the leisure necessary to advance the labors that still remain for me to do and to which the present state of things does not permit me to devote myself as assiduously as would be needed, because I materially lack the time and because my physical strength is not sufficient for so much. If perchance it were reserved for me to realize this project, in the execution of which I would have to proceed with the same prudence I used in the past, undoubtedly a few years would suffice to make the Doctrine advance by some centuries.

[1]

[Inspired by this recommendation of the Codifier of Spiritism, the FEB organized the courses Systematized Study of the Spiritist Doctrine and In-Depth Study of the Spiritist Doctrine, which are available in the subsection Spiritist Studies.]