Bulletin

Reading of the Minutes and of the proceedings of the last session.

Communications: — Curious facts of foreknowledge of death and warnings from beyond the grave, which occurred, one with the gentlemen of Chamissot and of Brunoy, émigrés who resided in Coblenz, in 1794; another, with Countess Ch… (They will be published.)

Microscopic and analytical observations of the matter of direct writing.

(See the issue of the month of August 1859.)

Reading of a letter in reply to the dispatch of the evocation of Mr. J. (of la Sarthe), made in the session of July 22.

Studies: — Complementary questions relating to the repose of the Spirits. The answers do not seem worthy of the evoked Spirit, whose habitual clarity and precision were not recognized. As they offer no satisfactory solution, the Society does not take them into consideration.

Questions addressed to François Arago concerning the equivocal answers referred to above. He says that the Spirit who answered them is not the one who was summoned, adding that such a Spirit is not bad, but rather little advanced and incapable of resolving certain questions. They let him come in order to exercise you in the appreciation of the answers and to give him a lesson. Questions to the same Spirit on the chemical analysis of the matter of direct writing.

Further questions to the same Spirit on storms and the role of the Spirits in the phenomena of Nature. (Published in the September issue.)

2nd Evocation of Mr. J… (of la Sarthe), in accordance with the letter related above. (Published in the September issue, under the title Death of a Spiritist.)

Evocation of Jacques Arago. (It will be published.)

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1859.

(Private Session.)

Reading of the Minutes and of the proceedings of the last session.

Administrative Matters: — Presentation and admission of two new titular members and of a corresponding member in Madrid.

Communications: — Letter from Mr. Det…, member of the Society, in which he cites a notable passage, taken from the Tableau de Paris — Google Books, by Mercier, edition of 1788, 12th volume, entitled Spiritualistes. This passage attests the existence, at that time, of a Society formed in Paris, having as its object communications with the Spirits. It thus furnishes a new proof that Spiritism is not a modern creation, and that it was accepted by the most eminent men. (Published below.)

Mr. S… observes, in this connection, that at that time a certain Martinez Pascalis had founded the sect of the Martinists, who also claimed to establish relations with the Spirits, by means that the initiates pledged to keep secret.

Letter from Dr. B…, of New York, thanking the Society for the title of correspondent that it had conferred upon him and giving interesting details concerning the mercantile exploitation of Spiritism in America.

Communication of various letters from Mr. Dumas, titular member of the Society in Sétif, in Algeria, containing a great number of evocations, many of which offer great interest from the point of view of study. They attest that several mediums have developed in that country and that Spiritism is the object of great concern. Among the facts cited, the following stands out chiefly: While attempting to write as a medium, a semiliterate coal-merchant obtained nothing but irregular strokes, with which he successively filled six pages; he then had the idea of placing these pages one after another and found that the strokes agreed with one another, forming a whole. This same person later came to write entire pages with great ease. However, the prolixity, the abundance, and the nature of certain communications give cause to fear an obsession. Mr. Allan Kardec gives clarifications about a fact of spontaneous manifestation that occurred at a gathering at his home and under notable circumstances. Princess S…, present at the gathering, expressed the desire to evoke Dr. Beaufils, her physician, dead for seven or eight years. Three mediums, among whose number was the princess's daughter, who was also an excellent medium, were seized with violent convulsive movements, breaking the pencils and tearing the paper. Enjoined to identify himself, after much hesitation the Spirit ended by saying that he did not dare reveal his name. Compelled by the questions, he answered that they knew his name from the newspapers; that he was a wretch; that he had killed; that he was the butcher's employee, the murderer of Rue de la Roquette, recently executed. Questioned about the motives of his presence, without having been summoned, he said that he had been sent by other Spirits, in order to convince the mediums that they were not writing their own thought; he ends by asking that they pray for him, because he repents of his conduct and suffers greatly. He withdrew after they promised to satisfy his desire, and after they had given him some advice. Then came Dr. Beaufils, answering with much calm and lucidity the various questions that were addressed to him. This communication is, indeed, a manifest proof of the independence of the mediums, for all the members of the gathering were preoccupied with the evocation of the physician and no one was thinking of that man, who came to surprise everyone, manifesting himself by signs identical to three different mediums, who had neither cards nor planchettes at their disposal. [Reference to the article:

Inert Mediums.]

Reading of a spontaneous communication obtained by Mr. R…, member of the Society, on the antiquity of the Spiritist beliefs, as well as the traces they left in the other religions. (Published below.)

Studies: — Evocation of Privat d'Anglemont. (It will be published.)

Evocation of the miserly millionaire of Lyon, better known as Père Crépin. (It will be published.)

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1859.

(General Session.)

Reading of the minutes and of the proceedings of the last session.

Communications: — Reading of a spontaneous communication obtained by the Viscount de H…, a recently developed medium, and transmitted by Mr. D…, member of the Society, in Lille.

(It will be published.)

Reading of a spontaneous communication from Lamennais, obtained by Mr. R…, member of the Society. (It will be published.)

Another spontaneous communication obtained by the same, on the part of Dr. Olivier, who presented himself without having been summoned. This communication has this remarkable feature: it shows that Spirit in a situation identical to that of Voltaire, just as the latter described it in his Confessions, published in the Review of the month of September. He doubts everything, even God. Wandering, he finds no one to enlighten him, which plunges him into an anxiety all the more painful as he sees its end less. The words of consolation addressed by the medium represent for him a ray of light and a relief. He promises to return. (It will be published.) Mr. Allan Kardec relates a notable fact of obsession, on the part of a brutal Spirit, a former carter, upon the person of Mr. C…, an excellent medium. Furthermore, the fact confirms the possibility of the existence of places haunted by certain Spirits. (It will be published.)

The noisy Spirits of Madrid; account of a fact reported, without comment, by a Madrid newspaper, concerning a house in that city, whose nocturnal noises and disorders rendered it uninhabitable, and against which the investigations and measures of the police had failed.

Studies: — Questions on avarice, in connection with the evocation of Père Crépin, of Lyon. (They will be published after that evocation.)

Evocation of Privat d'Anglemont – 2nd interview. (It will be published.)

Evocation of Mr. Julien S…, made at the request of Mr. B. de Bouxhors.

Evocation of Mr. Adrien de S…, made by a person, a stranger, who was attending the session. Notwithstanding its purely personal interest, this evocation offers a characteristic trait as to the influence exercised by the wandering spirits over the incarnates.

The crypt of Saint-Leu. While seeking the tomb of the great chancellor Pasquier in the church of Saint-Leu, in Paris, on July 27, 1859, upon boring a hole in the wall they found beneath the choir a crypt five meters long by four high and two wide, hermetically closed by a slab. In this crypt were found fifteen to twenty skeletons without coffins and in different positions, which indicated that they had not been buried. On the wall, engraved with a pointed instrument, was written: Marvé, 1733; Marx, altar boy, 1727; Charles Remy, 1721; Gabriel, 1727; Thiévan, 1723; Maupain, 1728, and several illegible names. They questioned the Spirit of Saint Louis about the possibility of evoking one of the Spirits whose names are found in the crypt, in order to obtain clarifications concerning this discovery. He answered: "I advise you to leave this aside. There are crimes in this case, and it is too recent for us to exhume anything that relates to it." Verteuil, former dramatic author and actor of the Théâtre de la Cité. He was an intelligent young man, of notable beauty, and possessed a great fortune. In a short time he lost all his property in a bankruptcy, then his voice, his hearing, and his sight. He died at Bicêtre, where he remained twenty years, deaf, mute, and blind, receiving communication only when the characters were traced on the palm of his hand; he would then answer in writing. This exceptional position seemed to offer interesting matter for psychological study. Consulted on the subject, the Spirit of Saint Louis answered: "Do not evoke him; he is reincarnated." He then furnished various pieces of information about the young man's antecedents, the causes and circumstances of his infirmity. (For the details of this moving story, see the Patrie, of July 26, 1859.) Evocation of the former carter, of whose communications we have already given notice. He manifests himself by signs of violence, breaks the pencil, which he presses upon the paper, and by a coarse, irregular, and barely legible writing. This evocation presents a notable character, above all from the point of view of the influence that man can exercise over certain inferior Spirits, by means of prayer and good advice. (It will be published.) FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1859.

(Private Session.)

Reading of the minutes and of the proceedings of the session of September 9.

Communications: — Reading of an article from the Illustration of 1853, communicated by Mr. R…, and entitled The Flying Tables. According to the Russian newspaper Sjevernava Peschela, of April 27, 1853, and in accordance with documents furnished by Mr. Tscherepanoff, this article demonstrates that the phenomenon of turning tables is known and practiced since time immemorial, in China, in Siberia, and among the Kalmouks of southern Russia. Chiefly among these last, this means is used in the discovery of lost objects. (Published below.)

Mr. Dorgeval addresses to the Society a poem entitled Uranie, by Mr. de Porry, of Marseille, in which the fundamental points of the Spiritist Doctrine are clearly enunciated, although at the time of its composition the author had no notion of this science. No less worthy of note is that Mr. Porry wrote his poem by a kind of mediumistic faculty. It was at night, half asleep, that the verses formed in his thought, and he wrote them the following day, upon waking. The reading was made of several fragments of this poem, which will be published in this Review. Letter from Mr. P…, of Marseille, containing the communication of a Spirit who makes himself known by the name of Paul, and one from Saint Louis, notable for various answers of great profundity.

Reading of a spontaneous communication given to Mr. R…, member of the Society, by the butcher, the murderer of Rue de la Roquette, with whom we dealt in the session of September 2, and who came to interpose himself in a gathering held at the home of Mr. Allan Kardec. This Spirit comes to thank for the prayers that were made on his behalf, as he had asked. Such a communication is notable for the good thoughts it contains, casting a new light on the assistance that can be given to the suffering Spirits. (It will be published.) Studies: — The Spirit of Saint Louis was asked whether, independently of the subjects previously elaborated, the Spirits could give us spontaneous communications on a subject of their own free choice. He answered affirmatively, saying that Caesar will write next time through the intermediary of Mr. R…, and with the latter's consent.

Mr. Col…, present at the session as a listener, asks whether he is permitted to make the evocation of his son, whose death is, for his mother, a cause of suffering that nothing can alleviate. As he is to go and meet her the following day, he would like to relate the conversation as a motive of consolation. As it is of merely personal interest, this evocation will not be published. Examination of Mr. Brasseur's theory on the mediums. He considers the cards, planchettes, and other instruments to be the only true mediums, which he classifies as inert mediums, considering that in the animate mediums, he says, there is always a greater or lesser participation of personal thought. Several members take part in the discussion, agreeing in combating Mr. Brasseur's opinion, founded, as they say, upon an incomplete observation, in view of the fact that the absolute independence of the animate medium is proved by irrefutable facts. One of the arguments opposed to Mr. Brasseur is that the cards and planchettes never speak by themselves, whence it results that they are nothing but instruments or, as has already been said, perfectly dispensable appendages; they are the accessories and not the principal thing. Furnished with a pencil and influenced by the person, the planchette is no more a medium than the pencil placed directly in the person's hand. Mr. Sanson proceeds to the reading of some verses that he composed in homage to Saint Louis and in gratitude for the cure of which he was the object. As he does not consider himself a poet, he asks which Spirit inspired them. They answer him that it was his own Spirit, seized with a just gratitude toward the one who relieved his pains. Evocation of Swedenborg – To the evocation made by Allan Kardec, he answers: "Speak, my old friend." – You honor me with the title of your old friend, and yet we are far from being contemporaries; I know you only through your writings. – "That is true, but I have known you for a long time." – We wish to ask several questions on various points of your doctrine, but, considering the lateness of the hour, our object is only to ask whether you can do so in the next session. – With pleasure. Allow me, however, from now on, to make a correction in my writings, a correction important for me. When I wrote my doctrine, I maintained, according to the counsels of the celestial world that dictated it, that each people found itself in heaven, in a separate sphere, and that the distinctive character of each nation would reappear still, not by individuals, but by great families. Experience has convinced me that this is not so. - Are there no other points subject to contestation? – A. Yes, many others; but this is one of the most striking.

- We have here several mediums; do you have a preference for any in order to communicate with us? – A. No… I mean, yes; I would choose a mechanical medium, as you call them, and at the same time a rapid one.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1859.

(General Session.)

Reading of the minutes of the session of the 16th.

Presentation of four candidates as titular members. Their admission will be discussed in the next private session of October 7, and accepted, if such be the case.

Communications: — Reading of a letter from Rouen, relating an authentic fact that occurred in the family of the person who writes, of the apparition of her grandmother at the moment of death.

Another recent fact of apparition and of warning from beyond the grave. Mr. D…, of Paris, doctor of medicine, had treated for some time a young woman who suffered from an incurable illness and who at the moment no longer lived in Paris. About a fortnight ago the physician was awakened by knocks at the door of his bedchamber. Supposing that they were coming to call him to attend to some patient, he asked: "Who is it?" At the same instant he saw that lady before him, saying to him in a very distinct voice: "It is I, Mr. D…, I come to tell you that I have died." Taking information, he learned that that woman had died on the very night of her apparition. A curious fact of momentary separation between the soul and the body happened a few days ago to Mr. C., medium of the Society. (It will be published with the explanation given by the Spirits.)

Reading of an extraordinary communication, given by the Spirit of Privat d'Anglemont to Mr. Ch…, medium of the Society. (It will be published with the other communications of the same Spirit.)

Studies: — Three spontaneous communications had been promised for this session: one from Caesar, one from Swedenborg, and one from Privat d'Anglemont. They had them written simultaneously by three different mediums, all mechanical.

Next, various questions are put to Swedenborg on some points of his doctrine, which he acknowledges to be erroneous. A prior reading was made of a biographical notice on Swedenborg, prepared by Mrs. P, member of the Society. (They will be published.)

Mr. Det…, member of the Society, had prepared on Caesar a series of very intelligent questions, but the spontaneous explanations given by this Spirit rendered the greater part of them superfluous. Nevertheless, those that are judged profitable for further deliberation will be examined and selected. Mr. Dumas, of Sétif, titular member of the Society, is present at the session. He asks that the evocation be made of some Spirits who manifested themselves to him, in order to have a control of the communications obtained in Algeria. The result of these evocations is identical and confirms the answers that had been given to him. To the question of whether he can contribute effectively to the propagation of Spiritism in Africa, it was answered that not only can he, but also he must.