Propagation of Spiritism.

— A remarkable phenomenon is taking place with the propagation of Spiritism. Resurrected from the ancient beliefs only a few years ago, it did not make its appearance among us in the shadow of mysteries, as in former times, but in full light and in the sight of all the world. For some it was an object of passing curiosity, an amusement that one discards like a toy in order to take up another; for many it met only with indifference; for the greater number, with incredulity, despite the opinion of philosophers whose names we invoke at every moment as authority. There is nothing surprising in this: did Jesus himself, by his miracles, convince the entire Jewish people? Did his goodness, and the sublimity of his doctrine, win him favor before the judges? Was he not, on the contrary, treated as a knave and an impostor? And if they did not apply to him the epithet of charlatan, it was because that term of our modern civilization was then unknown. Nevertheless, serious men perceived, in the phenomena that occur in our day, something more than a mere object of frivolity; they studied it, they delved into it with the eyes of a conscientious observer, finding in it the key to a multitude of mysteries hitherto incomprehensible. For them this was a torch of light, whence arose a whole doctrine, a whole philosophy and, we may even say, a whole science — at first divergent, according to the point of view or the personal opinion of the observer, but tending little by little toward unity of principle. Despite the self-interested opposition of some, systematic among those who imagine that light can emanate only from their own heads, this doctrine finds numerous adherents, because it enlightens man as to his true interests, present and future, responding to his aspiration with a view to the future, rendered, in some measure, palpable. In short, because it satisfies at once reason and his hopes, dispelling doubts that were degenerating into absolute incredulity. Now, with Spiritism all the materialist or pantheist philosophies fall of themselves; doubt is no longer possible regarding the Divinity, the existence of the soul, its individuality, its immortality. Its future is presented to us as clear as the light of day, and we know that this future, which always leaves a door open to hope, depends on our will and on the efforts we make in the direction of good.

— As long as they saw in Spiritism only material phenomena, they took an interest in it only as a spectacle, because it addressed the eyes; but from the moment it rose to the rank of a moral science it was taken seriously, because it spoke to the heart and to the intelligence, and all found in it the solution to what they were vaguely seeking within themselves; a confidence founded on evidence replaced poignant uncertainty; from the elevated point of view in which it places us, earthly things appear so small and so paltry that the vicissitudes of this world are no more than passing incidents, which one bears with patience and resignation; corporeal life is but a brief halt in the life of the soul; to use an expression of our learned and witty colleague Mr. Jobard, it is no more than a common inn, where it is not worth the trouble to unpack one's bags.

With the Spiritist Doctrine everything is defined, everything is clear, everything speaks to reason; in a word, everything is explained, and those who have delved into its essence find in it an inner satisfaction that they no longer wish to renounce. This is why, in so short a time, it has found so many sympathies, by no means recruited within the limited circle of one locality, but throughout the whole world. If the facts were not there to prove it, we should judge it by our Review, which has only a few months of existence, and whose subscribers, though not numbering in the thousands, are disseminated to every point of the globe. Besides those of Paris and of the Departments, we have them in England, Scotland, Holland, Belgium and Prussia; in Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Naples, Florence, Milan, Genoa, Turin, Geneva, Madrid and Shanghai; in China and in Batavia; in Cayenne; in Mexico and in Canada; in the United States, etc. We affirm this not as bravado, but as a characteristic fact. For a journal so recently founded and so specialized to be sought from now on by countries so diverse and so far apart, the subject treated in it must find partisans throughout the whole world, for otherwise they would not have it brought from so far away out of mere curiosity, even were it from the pen of the best writer. It is, then, the subject that interests, and not its obscure editor. In the eyes of the readers, therefore, its object is serious. Thus it becomes evident that Spiritism has roots in all parts of the world and, from this point of view, twenty subscribers, scattered in twenty different countries, would prove more than a hundred, concentrated in a single locality, since one could only suppose it the work of a brotherhood.

— The manner in which Spiritism has come to propagate itself thus far deserves an attention no less careful. If the press had made its voice resound in its favor; if it could have exalted it; if, in short, the world had given it attention, one might say that it had propagated like all things that give rise to a factitious reputation, which one wishes to sample, even were it out of curiosity. But nothing of the sort occurred: in general, the press lent it no voluntary support; on the contrary: when it did not disdain it, on rare occasions it referred to it only to hold it up to ridicule and to dispatch its adepts to the asylums — a thing little encouraging for those who might have had the inclination to initiate themselves into the doctrine. Only Mr. Home himself deserved the honors of a few somewhat more serious references, whereas the most vulgar events find ample space in it. Moreover, from the language of the adversaries, one easily sees that they speak of Spiritism as the blind would speak of colors, that is, without knowledge of the cause, without serious and thorough examination, and based solely on a first impression; in this way, their arguments are limited to pure and simple negation, since we cannot promote to the rank of arguments the jesting expressions they employ. However witty they may be, jokes do not constitute reasons. Nevertheless, one must not accuse all the personnel of the press of indifference or ill will. Individually, Spiritism finds within it sincere partisans, and we know several among the most distinguished men of letters. Why, then, do they remain silent? It is that, alongside the question of belief, there is also that of personality, very powerful in this century. In them, as in many others, belief is concentrated, not expansive; moreover, they are obliged to answer for the errors of their journals, fearing to lose subscribers should they raise, with boldness, a banner whose coloring might displease some of them. Will this state of things endure? No; soon Spiritism will be like magnetism, of which formerly one spoke only in low tones, and which today one no longer fears to confess. However beautiful and just it may be, no new idea implants itself instantaneously in the mind of the masses, and one that met with no opposition would be an absolutely unusual phenomenon. Why should Spiritism be an exception to the common rule? Ideas, like fruits, need time to ripen; but human levity causes them to be judged before maturity, or without our taking the trouble to sound their intimate qualities.

— This reminds us of the witty fable of The Little Monkey, the Monkey, and the Nut. As is known, this little she-monkey picks a nut with the shell still green; she bites it, makes faces, throws it away, and is astonished that anyone should like so bitter a thing; but an old monkey, less superficial and, surely, a profound thinker of his species, picks the nut up from the ground, breaks open its shell, eats it, and finds it delicious, whence follows a fine moral, addressed to those who judge new things solely by their outward aspect.

Spiritism had, then, to make its way without the concurrence of any outside support; and behold, in five or six years, it has become so rapidly widespread as to border on the prodigious. Whence will it have acquired this force, if not in itself? In its principle, then, it must have something very powerful, to be thus propagated without the over-exciting means of publicity. It is that, as we said above, whoever takes the trouble to delve into it will find in it what he was seeking, that which his reason gave him to glimpse, a consoling truth, drawing, at last, the hope of a true satisfaction. In this way, the convictions acquired are serious and lasting; these are not those frivolous opinions, which one breath brings to birth and another destroys. Recently someone said to us: “I find in Spiritism a hope so sweet, drawing from it consolations so agreeable and gentle, that any contrary thought would render me quite unhappy, feeling that my best friend would become odious to me, should he attempt to dissuade me from this belief.” When an idea has no roots it may cast a passing brilliance, like those flowers we cause to develop by force, but which soon, for lack of sustenance, die and are spoken of no more. On the contrary, those that have a serious foundation grow and persist, ending by identifying themselves so thoroughly with our habits that later we are astonished ever to have passed a day without them.

— If Spiritism was not seconded by the European press, it will be said that the same did not occur in America. Up to a certain point this is true. In America, as indeed everywhere, there exists a general press and a special press. The first, to be sure, occupied itself with Spiritism much more than among us, though less than one thinks; it too has its hostile organs. In the United States alone, the special press counts eighteen Spiritist journals, of which ten are weeklies and several of large format. In this respect, it is seen that we are still rather behind; but there, as here, the special journals are intended for special persons. It is evident that a medical gazette, for example, would not be sought by architects nor by men of law; in the same way a Spiritist journal, with few exceptions, would be read only by the partisans of Spiritism. The great number of American journals that treat of this matter proves the considerable quantity of readers they have to nourish. They have done much, no doubt, but in general their influence is purely local; most of them are unknown to the European public, and our journals very rarely transcribe any of their articles. In saying that Spiritism propagated itself without the support of the press, we meant to refer to the general press, that which addresses itself to all, that whose voice daily impresses millions of ears, which penetrates into the most obscure corners; that which allows the anchorite, in the solitude of the desert, to be as perfectly abreast of what is happening in the world as the inhabitants of the cities; in short, that which sows ideas by handfuls. What Spiritist journal can boast of making the echoes of the world resound? It speaks to persons who have conviction; it does not attract the attention of the indifferent. We speak the truth, then, when we say that Spiritism was left to its own forces; if, by itself, it has already taken such great strides, what will it be when it has at its disposal the powerful lever of great publicity! While awaiting that moment, it goes planting landmarks everywhere; its branches will find points of support in all places and, at last, everywhere it will find voices whose authority will impose silence on the detractors.

— The quality of the adepts of Spiritism deserves particular attention. Are they recruited in the lower strata of society, among unlettered persons? No; these concern themselves with it little or not at all; perhaps they have only heard Spiritism spoken of. The turning tables themselves found few adepts among them. Up to the present, its proselytes belong to the foremost ranks of society, among enlightened persons, men of learning and of reasoning; and, a remarkable thing, the physicians, who for a long time waged a fierce war on magnetism, adhere without difficulty to this doctrine; among our subscribers, we count a great number of them, both in France and abroad, just as there are also, in great majority, men superior in all respects, scientific and literary notabilities, high dignitaries, public functionaries, general officers, merchants, ecclesiastics, magistrates, and others, all people serious enough not to take up as a pastime a journal which, like ours, does not pride itself on being entertaining, and especially if they believed they would find in it nothing but fantasies. The Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies is no less evident a proof of this truth, by the choice of the persons it brings together; its sessions are followed with constant interest, a religious attention and, we may say, even with avidity; yet it occupies itself only with grave, serious, often abstract studies, and not with experiments destined to excite curiosity. We speak of what passes before our eyes, not being able, from this point of view, to say the same of all the centers that occupy themselves with Spiritism, for, almost everywhere, as the Spirits had announced, the period of curiosity is reaching its decline. These phenomena make us penetrate into an order of things so great, so sublime that, beside these grave questions, a piece of furniture that turns or that gives raps is a child's toy: it is the A-B-C of the Science. We know, moreover, what to hold to now, as regards the quality of the rapping Spirits and, in general, of those who produce material effects. They have been very appropriately named the mountebanks of the spirit world; this is why we attach ourselves less to them than to those who can enlighten us.

— We may distinguish, in the propagation of Spiritism, four distinct phases or periods:

1st That of curiosity, in which the rapping Spirits have played the principal role in drawing attention and preparing the ways.

2nd That of Observation, into which we are entering, and which we may also call the philosophical period. Spiritism is delved into and purifies itself, tending toward unity of doctrine and constituting itself a Science.

There will come next:

3rd The period of admission, in which Spiritism will occupy an official position among the officially recognized beliefs.

4th The period of influence upon the social order. Humanity, then under the influence of these ideas, will enter upon a new moral path. From this day forward that influence is individual; later it will act upon the masses, for the general happiness.

Thus, on one side, behold a belief which, by itself, spreads throughout the whole world, little by little and without the usual means of forced propaganda; on the other side, this same belief takes root not in the lower strata of society, but in its most enlightened part. Would there not be, in this double fact, something very characteristic and that ought to make all those reflect who still regard Spiritism as an empty dream? Contrary to many other ideas that come from below, shapeless or distorted, penetrating only with difficulty into the higher layers, where they are purified, Spiritism sets out from above and will only reach the masses cleared of the false ideas inseparable from new things.

It must be admitted, however, that, among many adepts, there exists only a latent belief. The fear of ridicule in some, and in others the fear of offending certain susceptibilities, prevents them from proclaiming aloud and clearly their opinions; this is no doubt puerile; nevertheless, we understand them perfectly. One cannot ask of certain men that which Nature has not given them: the courage to defy the “what will be said of it?” But when Spiritism is on every tongue — and that time is not far off — such courage will come to the most timid. In this respect a remarkable change has already been operating for some time; one speaks of it more openly; people are already venturing, and this opens the eyes of the very antagonists, who ask themselves whether it is prudent, in the interest of their own reputation, to combat a belief which, for better or worse, infiltrates everywhere and finds support at the summit of society. Thus, the epithet of madmen, so lavishly bestowed on the adepts, begins to become ridiculous; it is a commonplace that becomes trivial, for soon the madmen will be more numerous than the sensible people, there being more than one critic who has already placed himself on their side. Finally, it is the fulfillment of what the Spirits announced, when they said: the greatest adversaries of Spiritism will become its most ardent partisans and propagandists.