Humboldt.

Deceased on May 6, 1859; evoked at the Parisian Society for Spiritist Studies on the 13th and 20th of the same month.

(To Saint Louis). Could we evoke the Spirit of Mr. Alexander von Humboldt, who has just passed away?

Answer. – If you wish, friends.

Evocation.

Answer. – Here I am. How this astonishes me!

Why does this astonish you?

Answer. – I am far from what I was only a few days ago.

If we could see you, how would you appear?

Answer. – As a man.

Does our call displease you?

Answer. – No, no.

Did you become aware of your new state immediately after death?

Answer. – I had been awaiting it for a long time.

Observation. – Among men who, like Mr. Humboldt, die a natural death, through the gradual extinction of the vital forces, the Spirit recognizes itself much more readily than in those whose life is abruptly interrupted by an accident or a violent death, since a beginning of detachment already exists before organic life ceases. In Mr. Humboldt the superiority of the Spirit and the elevation of his thoughts facilitated this detachment, which is always slower and more painful in those whose life is entirely material.

Do you miss earthly life?

Answer. – No, not at all. I feel happy; I no longer find myself in the prison; my Spirit is free… What joy! And what a sweet moment this new grace of God has brought me!

What do you think of the statue that will be erected to you in France, even though you are a foreigner?

Answer. – My personal thanks for the honor done to me. What I appreciate above all in all this is the sentiment of union that the fact demonstrates, the desire to see all hatreds extinguished.

Have your beliefs changed?

Answer. – Yes, greatly. But I have not yet reviewed everything. Wait a little before speaking to me more deeply.

Observation. – This answer and the term reviewed are characteristic of the state in which he finds himself. Despite the prompt detachment of his Spirit, there still exists a certain confusion of ideas. Having left the body only eight days ago, he has not yet had time to compare his earthly ideas with those he may have at present.

Are you satisfied with the use you made of your earthly existence?

Answer. – Yes. I more or less fulfilled the objective I set for myself. I served Humanity, which is why today I am happy.

When did you set this objective for yourself?

Answer. – Upon coming to Earth.

Observation. – Since he set himself an objective upon coming to Earth, it is because he had accomplished a previous progress and his soul was not born at the same time as the body. This spontaneous answer could not have been provoked by the nature of the question or by the thought of the interlocutor.

Did you choose this earthly existence?

Answer. – There were numerous candidates for this work; I begged the Being par excellence to grant it to me, and I obtained it.

Do you remember the existence that preceded the one you have just left?

Answer. – Yes; it took place far from you, in a world very different from Earth.

Is that world equal, inferior, or superior to Earth?

Answer. – Forgive me; it is superior.

We know that our world is far from perfection and, consequently, we do not feel humiliated that there are others above us. But then, how did you come to a world inferior to the one you inhabited? Answer. – Do we not give to the rich? I wished to give; that is why I descended to the hut of the poor.

Could you give us a description of the animate beings of the world you inhabited?

Answer. – When I spoke to you a moment ago, I had that desire; but I understood, in time, that I would have difficulty explaining it to you perfectly. There the beings are good, very good; you already understand this point, which is the basis of all the rest of the moral system in those worlds: nothing there hinders the development of good thoughts; nothing recalls evil ones; everything is happiness, for each one is content with himself and with all those who surround him. With regard to matter and the senses, any description would be useless. What a simplification in the mechanism of a society! Today, finding myself in a position to compare the two, I am surprised at the distance. Do not think that I speak thus to discourage you; no, quite the contrary. It is necessary that your Spirit be well convinced of the existence of such worlds; then you will feel an ardent desire to attain them, and work will open the way for you.

Does that world form part of our planetary system?

Answer. – Yes; it is very near you. However, you cannot see it, because it has no light of its own and neither receives nor reflects the light of the suns that surround it.

A moment ago you said that your previous existence took place far from us, and now you say that this world is very near. How are the two to be reconciled? Answer. – Considering your earthly distances and measures, it is far from you. If, however, you take the compass of God and, in the turn of an eye, try to embrace all of Creation, it will be near. Observation. – Evidently we may consider it far if we take as a term of comparison the dimensions of our globe; but it is near in relation to the worlds that lie at incalculable distances.

Could you specify the region of space in which that world is found?

Answer. – It is useless. Astronomers will never know it.

Is the density of that world identical to that of our globe?

Answer. – The proportion is a thousand to ten.

Would that world be of the nature of comets?

Answer. – No; not at all.

If it has no light of its own, and neither receives nor reflects solar light, will a perpetual darkness reign there?

Answer. – The beings who live there have absolutely no need of light; obscurity does not exist for them; they do not comprehend it. Would you think, if you were blind, that no one could possess the sense of sight?

According to certain Spirits, the planet Jupiter is much superior to Earth; is that correct?

Answer. – Yes; everything they told you is true.

Did you see Arago again after you returned to the world of the Spirits?

Answer. – It was he who extended his hand to me when I left yours.

In life did you know Spiritism?

Answer. – Spiritism, no; magnetism, yes.

What is your opinion on the future of Spiritism among the scientific bodies?

Answer. – Great; but its path will be painful.

Do you think it will one day be accepted by the scientific organizations?

Answer. – Certainly. Do you believe, however, that this is indispensable? Occupy yourselves, above all, with inoculating its first precepts into the hearts of the unfortunate who fill your world: it is the balm that calms despair and gives hope. Observation. – Having been summoned in the session of May 27, through another medium, François Arago answered analogous questions thus:

— In life, what was your opinion on Spiritism?

Answer. – I knew it very little and, consequently, did not attribute much importance to it; I leave you to conclude whether I have changed my opinion.

— Do you think it will one day be accepted and recognized by the scientific bodies? I refer to official science, for there are many scientists who individually accept it. Answer. – Not only do I think so, but I am certain of it; it will have the destiny of all discoveries useful to Humanity: ridiculed, at first, by the proud savants and by the foolish and ignorant, it will end by being recognized by all.

What is your opinion on the Sun that illumines us?

Answer. – Here I have learned nothing yet about science; nevertheless, I have always believed that the Sun is nothing but a vast electric center.

Is that opinion a reflection of the one you held as a man, or is it yours as a Spirit?

Answer. – It is my opinion from when I lived, corroborated by what I feel at present.

Since you come from a world superior to Earth, how is it possible that you did not acquire precise knowledge about these things, before your last existence, which you would remember today? Answer. – I certainly had it, but what you ask has no relation to all that I was able to learn in the previous existences, so different from the one I left; astronomy, for example, was for me an entirely new science.

Many Spirits have told us that they inhabited or had inhabited other planets, but none had told us they inhabited the Sun. Why?

Answer. – The Sun is an electric center and not a world; it is an instrument and not a dwelling.

— Then it has no inhabitants?

Answer. – Fixed inhabitants, no; visitors, yes.

Do you believe that, after some time, when it has been possible for you to make new observations, you will be able to furnish us with better information about the nature of the Sun? Answer. – Yes, perhaps; it will be a pleasure. However, do not expect much of me; I shall not wander for long.

Where do you think of going when you leave erraticity?

Answer. – God will permit me to rest for some time; I am going to enjoy this freedom to rejoin the very dear friends who await me. After that, I do not yet know.

We ask permission to address a few more questions to you, considering that your knowledge of Natural History no doubt allows you to answer.

The sensitive plant and the dionaea have movements that denote great sensibility and, in certain cases, a kind of will, like the latter, for example, whose lobes seize the fly that comes to alight upon it to suck its juice; it seems that the plant lays a trap for it, in order then to kill it. We ask whether these plants are endowed with the faculty of thinking, whether they have a will, and whether they form an intermediate class between vegetable nature and animal nature; in a word, whether they represent the transition from one to the other. Answer. – Everything is transition in Nature, by the very fact that nothing is alike and yet everything is linked together. These plants do not think and, thus, have no will. The oysters that open, like all zoophytes, do not think. They possess only a natural instinct.

Do plants experience painful sensations when they are mutilated?

Answer. – No.

Observation. – A member of the Society expresses the opinion that the movements of the sensitive plants are analogous to those produced in the digestive and circulatory functions of the animal organism, and which occur without the participation of the will. Indeed, is the pylorus not seen to contract at the contact of certain bodies in order to refuse them passage? The same must occur with the sensitive plant and the dionaea, in which the movements do not at all imply the necessity of a perception and, still less, of a will.

Will there be fossil men?

Answer. – Time has destroyed them little by little.

Do you believe that men existed on Earth before the geological deluge?

Answer. – It would be well for you to explain yourself clearly on this point before asking the question. Man was on Earth long before the deluges.

Adam was not, then, the first man?

Answer. – Adam is a myth; where do you place Adam?

Myth or not, I speak of the epoch that History assigns to him.

Answer. – It is scarcely calculable for you; it is indeed impossible to assess the number of years during which the first men remained in a savage and bestial state, which did not cease until long after their first appearance on the globe.

Will geology one day cause the material traces of man's existence on Earth, before the Adamic period, to be discovered?

Answer. – Geology, no; good sense, yes.

The progress of the organic kingdom on Earth is marked by the successive appearance of the acotyledons, the monocotyledons, and the dicotyledons. Did man exist before the dicotyledons? Answer. – No; his phase followed that one.

We thank you for having heeded our appeal, as well as for the teachings you have furnished us.

Answer. – It was a pleasure. Farewell; until we meet again.

Observation. – This communication is distinguished by a general character of goodness, of benevolence, and of a great modesty, an incontestable sign of the superiority of this Spirit. There, indeed, is no trace of boastfulness, of bravado, of the desire to dominate and to impose oneself, which is noted in those who belong to the class of pseudo-savants, Spirits always more or less imbued with systems and prejudices, which they seek to make prevail. Everything in the Spirit of Humboldt, even the most beautiful thoughts, breathes simplicity and denotes the absence of pretension. [1]

[see François Jean Dominique Arago.]