Bulletin

Reading of the Minutes of the session of September 23.

Presentation of Mr. S…, merchant, Knight of the Legion of Honor, as a titular member. Postponement of his admission to the next private session.

Various communications: 1st – Reading of a spontaneous communication given to Mr. R… by the Spirit of Dr. Olivier.

This communication is remarkable from a twofold point of view: the moral improvement of the Spirit, who increasingly recognizes the error of his earthly opinions and now understands his position; in the second place, the fact of his approaching reincarnation, whose effects he begins to feel through an onset of disturbance, confirms the theory that was given concerning the manner in which this phenomenon operates, as well as the phase that precedes reincarnation properly speaking. This disturbance, the result of the fluidic bond that begins to be established between the Spirit and the body that the former is to animate, makes communication more difficult than in his state of complete freedom. The medium writes more slowly, his hand is heavy, the Spirit's ideas are less clear. This disturbance, which keeps increasing from conception to birth, is complex as this last moment approaches and does not dissipate except gradually, some time afterward. (It will be published with the other communications of the same Spirit.) 2nd – Account of a spontaneous physical manifestation that occurred recently in Paris in a house in the suburb of Saint-Germain, and reported by Mr. A… A piano played by itself for several days in succession without anyone handling it. All precautions were taken to ensure that the phenomenon was not due to any accidental cause. Questioned about it, a priest thought it might be a soul in distress, asking for assistance and wishing to communicate. 3rd – Murder committed by a child of seven and a half years, with premeditation and all aggravating circumstances. Reported by several newspapers, the fact proves that in this boy the innate murderous instinct could not have been developed either by education or by the milieu in which he finds himself, and can be explained only by a state prior to the present existence. Questioned about it, Saint Louis replied: “The Spirit of this child is almost at the beginning of the human period. He has no more than two incarnations on Earth; before his present existence he belonged to the most backward populations of the maritime world. He wished to be born on a more advanced orb, in the hope of progressing.” To the question of whether education could modify that nature, he replied: “That is difficult, but possible. It would be necessary to take great precautions, to surround him with good influences and develop his reason, but we fear that precisely the opposite will be done. 4th – “Reading of a production in verse, written by a young woman who is endowed with mechanical mediumship. It was recognized that the verses were not unpublished and had been composed by a poet who died some years ago. The state of instruction of the medium, who wrote a large number of poems of this kind, does not allow one to suppose that it is really a product of her memory; one must conclude that the Spirit who manifested drew the verses from productions already composed, and that they are completely foreign to the medium. Several analogous facts prove that this is possible and, among others, that of one of the Society's mediums to whom a Spirit dictated a passage written by Mr. Allan Kardec and which he had not yet communicated to anyone. Study: 1st – Evocation of the Black man who served as food to his companions during the shipwreck of the vessel Le Constant.

2nd – Various questions and moral problems addressed to Saint Louis concerning the preceding fact. A discussion arose about it, in which several members of the Society took part.

3rd – Three spontaneous communications were obtained simultaneously, through three different mediums: the first, by Mr. R…, signed by Saint Vincent de Paul; the second, by Mr. Ch…, signed by Privat D'Anglemont; and the third, by Miss H…, signed by Charles IX.

4th – Various questions addressed to Charles IX. He promises to write the history of his reign, after the example of Louis XI. (These various communications are published).

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1859.

(General Session.)

Reading of the minutes and of the proceedings of the session of September 30.

Presentations and admissions — Miss S… and Count de R…, Naval Officer, are presented as candidates for the title of titular members.

Admission of the five candidates presented at the session of September 23 and of Miss S…

The President observed, concerning the new members presented, that it is very important for the Society to ascertain their dispositions. It is not enough, he said, that they be supporters of Spiritism in general; it is also necessary that they sympathize with its way of seeing things. The homogeneity of principles is a condition without which any society whatever cannot be valid. It is necessary to know the candidates' opinion, in order not to introduce elements of idle discussions, which would entail a loss of time and could degenerate into dissensions. The Society does not at all aim at the indefinite increase of its members; it wishes, above all, to pursue its work in calm and recollection, which is why it must avoid everything that might disturb it. Its object being the study of the science, it is evident that everyone is perfectly free to discuss the controversial points and express his personal opinion. It is another matter, however, to give advice or to come with systematic and preconceived ideas, in opposition to the fundamental bases. We gather for study and observation, and not to make of our sessions an arena of controversies. We must, moreover, refer to the advice that has been given to us on many occasions by the Spirits who assist us, and who incessantly recommend to us union as the essential condition for attaining the object we set ourselves and obtaining their concourse. “Union makes strength,” they tell us. Otherwise we shall run the risk of attracting frivolous Spirits, who will deceive us. That is why we could never devote too much attention to the elements we introduce into our midst. Designation of three new commissioners for the three next general sessions.

Various communications: 1st Mr. Tug… transmits a note about a curious fact of physical manifestation, reported by Mrs. Ida Pfeiffer in the account of her voyage to Java.

2nd Mr. Pêch… refers to a personal fact of spontaneous communication, on the part of the Spirit of a woman who in life was a washerwoman of very bad character. As a Spirit, her sentiments have not changed, continuing to show a truly malevolent cynicism. However, the wise counsels of the medium seem to exert a salutary influence over her; her ideas are appreciably modified. 3rd Mr. R… presents a sheet on which he obtained direct writing, produced at night, in his house, spontaneously, after having vainly requested it during the day. The sheet, moreover, bears only these two words: God, Fénelon.

Studies: 1st Evocation of Mrs. Ida Pfeiffer, celebrated traveler.

2nd The three blind men, parable of Saint Luke, given in spontaneous communication.

3rd Mr. L. G. writes from Saint Petersburg (Leningrad), saying that he is an intuitive medium and asking the Society the special favor of obtaining from a superior Spirit some advice concerning himself, in order to enlighten him about the nature and extent of his faculty, so that he may conduct himself accordingly. A Spirit gives spontaneously and without prior questions the advice that will be transmitted to Mr. G. In response to requests from several members who live very far away, the President informs the Society that, henceforth, the sessions will begin at eight o'clock, so that they may end earlier.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14.

(General Session.)

Reading of the Minutes and of the proceedings of the session of October 7.

Presentations: Mr. A…, bookseller, and Mr. de la R…, proprietor, are presented as titular members. Postponement to the next private session.

Mr. J…, tax inspector of the Department of the Upper Rhine, is presented and admitted as a corresponding member.

Various communications:

1st Mr. Col… communicates an extract from the work entitled Heaven and Earth, by Mr. Jean Raynaud [Terre et ciel — Google Books], in which the author expresses ideas entirely in accordance with the Spiritist Doctrine and with what a Spirit recently said about the future role of France. [See: Jean Reynaud and the precursors of Spiritism.]

2nd Count de R… gives information about a spontaneous communication from Savonarola, a Dominican monk, obtained in a private session. This communication is remarkable because the personage, although unknown to those present, indicated with precision the date of his death, which occurred in 1498, his age, and his execution. It is thought that the evocation of this Spirit may be instructive. 3rd Explanation given by a Spirit concerning the role of mediums, to Mr. P… former rector of the Academy, himself a medium. To communicate among themselves, Spirits do not need speech: thought suffices for them. When they wish to communicate with men, they must translate their thought into human signs, that is, into words. They draw these words from the vocabulary of the medium they make use of, somewhat as from a dictionary. This is why it is easier for the Spirit to express himself in the medium's familiar language, although he can equally do so in a language unknown to the latter. In this last case the work is more difficult, which is why he avoids it when there is no necessity. Mr. P… finds in this theory the explanation of several facts personal to him, relating to communications that were given to him in Latin and in Greek by various Spirits. 4th Fact related by the same person, of a Spirit who attended the burial of his own body and who, not believing himself dead, thought that the burial did not concern him. He said: It was not I who died. Then, when he saw his relatives, he added: I begin to think that perhaps you are right, and that it is quite possible that I am no longer of this world; but that is a matter of indifference to me. 5th Mr. S… communicates a remarkable fact of a warning from beyond the grave, reported by the newspaper Patrie, of December 16, 1858.

6th Letter from Mr. Bl… de La… who, basing himself on an article in the Review about the phenomenon of the detachment of the soul during sleep, asks whether the Society could evoke him one day, together with his daughter, who died two years ago, in order that, as a Spirit, he might have with her a conversation that he has not yet managed to have as a medium. Studies: 1st Evocation of Savonarola, proposed by Count de R.

2nd Simultaneous evocation, through two different mediums, of Mr. Bl… de La… (living) and of his daughter who died two years ago. Conversation of the father with the daughter.

3rd Two spontaneous communications are obtained simultaneously: the first, from Saint Louis, by Mr. L…; the second, from Miss Clary, by her brother.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1859.

(Private Session.)

Reading of the minutes and of the proceedings of the session of October 14.

Presentations and admissions: Mr. Lem…, merchant, and Mr. Pâq…, doctor of law, were presented as titular members. Miss H… was presented as an honorary member, on account of the concourse she has given to the Society as a medium, and which she promises still to give in the future.

Admission of two candidates presented at the session of October 14 and of Miss H…

Mr. S… proposes that in the future persons who wish to participate in the Society should make the request in writing and that a copy of the regulations be sent to them.

Reading of a letter from Mr. Th…, making an analogous proposal, motivated by the necessity of admitting into the Society only persons already initiated into the object of its work and professing the same principles. He thinks that a request made in writing, vouched for by the signature of two sponsors, is a further guarantee of the candidate's serious intentions than a simple verbal request. This proposal was adopted unanimously in the following terms: Every person who wishes to participate in the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies must make the request in writing to the President. This request must be signed by two sponsors and state: 1st that the applicant has taken cognizance of the regulations and undertakes to observe them; 2nd the works read on Spiritism and his adherence to the principles of the Society, which are those of The Spirits' Book. The President points out the somewhat unbecoming conduct of two listeners admitted at the last general session, who, by their conversation and by inappropriate words, disturbed the tranquility of their neighbors. In this regard, he recalls the articles of the regulations concerning listeners and again invites the gentlemen members of the Society to exercise greater reserve in the choice of the persons to whom they give admission cards and, above all, to abstain, absolutely, from offering such cards to all those who are drawn to the meetings solely out of curiosity, as well as to those who, possessing no prior notion of Spiritism, are for that very reason unable to understand what is done in the Society. Its sessions are not a spectacle; they must be attended with recollection. Those who seek distractions should not come looking for them in a serious meeting. Mr. Th… proposes the appointment of a commission of two members, charged with examining the question of the admissions granted to outside persons and suggesting the measures necessary to prevent abuses. Messrs. Th… and Col… are designated to form part of the said commission.

Studies: 1st Moral problems and various questions addressed to Saint Louis.

2nd Mr. de R… proposes the evocation of his father, for considerations of general and not personal usefulness, presuming that instruction may result from it.

Questioned about the possibility of such an evocation, Saint Louis replies: You may do it perfectly well. However I would remind you, my friends, that this evocation requires a great tranquility of mind. This evening you have discussed administrative matters at length; I believe it would be good to postpone it to another session, in view of the fact that it may be very instructive. 3rd Mr. Leid… proposes the evocation of one of his friends who was a priest. Questioned, Saint Louis replies: No; first, because time does not permit it; then, as spiritual President n of the Society, I see no motive for instruction. It will be preferable to make this evocation in private. Mr. S… asks that the title of spiritual President, which Saint Louis saw fit to take, be mentioned in the minutes.

(FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1859. GENERAL SESSION.)

Reading of the Minutes and of the proceedings of the session of October 21.

Presentation of five new candidates as titular members, namely:

Mr. N…, merchant, of Paris; Mrs. Émile N…, wife of the preceding; the widow Mrs. G…, of Paris; Miss de P.., of Stockholm; Mrs. de L…, of Stockholm.

Reading of the articles of the regulations relating to listeners, and of a notice for the instruction of persons outside the Society, so that they do not mistake the object of its work.

Communications: 1st Reading of an article about the world of Spirits, by Mr. Oscar Comettant, published in the Siècle of October 27. Refutations of certain passages of this article.

2nd Reading of an article from a new newspaper entitled Girouette, published in Saint-Étienne. The article is benevolent toward Spiritism.

3rd Offer of four poems by Mr. de Porry, of Marseille, author of Urania, of which some fragments were read; they are: La captive chrétienne, les bohémiens, Poltawa, Le prisonnier du Caucase.

We shall send thanks to Mr. de Porry, and the above-cited works will be deposited in the Society's library.

4th Reading of a letter from Mr. Det…, titular member, containing various observations on the role of mediums, with reference to the theory set forth in the session of October 14, according to which the Spirit would draw his words from the medium's vocabulary. He combats this theory, at least from the absolute point of view, with facts that come to contradict it. He asks that the question be seriously examined. It will again be placed on the order of the day. 5th Reading of an article from the Revue française — Google Books, of the month of April 1858, p. 416, in which a conversation of Béranger is reported, from which it results that in life his opinions were favorable to Spiritist ideas.

6th The President transmits to the Society the farewells of Mrs. Br…, titular member, who had left for Havana.

Studies: 1st He proposes the evocation of Mrs. Br…, who left for Havana, and who at the moment is at sea, in order to obtain news of her.

Questioned about it, Saint Louis replies: Her Spirit is much preoccupied this evening, because the wind is blowing violently (it was at the time of the great storms reported by the newspapers) and the instinct of self-preservation occupies her whole thought. At the moment the danger is not great; but who can guarantee that it will not become so? God alone knows. 2nd Evocation of the father of Mr. de R…, proposed at the session of October 21. It would result from this evocation that the chevalier de R…, his uncle, of whom there had been no news for fifty years, would not be dead and would inhabit an island of the southern Oceania, where he would have identified himself with the customs of its inhabitants, having had no opportunity to transmit news of himself. (It will be published). 3rd Evocation of the king of Kanala (New Caledonia), who died on May 24, 1858. This communication reveals in this Spirit a certain relative superiority, presenting the remarkable characteristic of a great difficulty in writing, despite the aptitude of the medium. He announces that with habit he will write more easily, which is confirmed by Saint Louis. 4th Evocation of Mercure Jean, adventurer, who appeared in Lyon in 1478 and was presented to Louis XI. He gives clarifications about the supernatural faculties with which he was supposed to be endowed and curious information about the world in which he resides at present. (It will be published). FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1859.

(Private Session.)

Reading of the minutes and of the proceedings of the session of October 28.

Admission of seven candidates presented at the two preceding sessions.

Presentation of a project by the Commission charged with studying the measures to be taken for the admission of listeners.

After a discussion in which several members participated, the Society decides that the proposal be postponed and that the provisions of the regulations be provisionally obeyed; that the gentlemen members be invited to conform strictly to the provisions that regulate the admission of listeners and to abstain absolutely from giving admission cards to all those who have nothing in view but to satisfy their curiosity, nor possess any prior notion of the Spiritist science. The Society then adopts the two following proposals:

1st Listeners will not be admitted to the sessions after a quarter past eight. The admission cards will make mention of this.

2nd Annually, at the renewal of the social year, the honorary members will be submitted to a new vote of admission, in order to cancel those who no longer satisfy the required conditions, and whom the Society sees fit not to maintain.

The Administrator-Treasurer of the Society presents the half-yearly balance from April 1 to October 1, as well as the vouchers for the expenses. It is ascertained that the Society has a sufficient balance to provide for its needs. The Society approves the treasurer's accounts and gives him discharge. Various communications: Letter from Mr. Bl. de La…, in reply to the one sent to him about his evocation and that of his daughter. He ascertains a fact that confirms one of the circumstances of the evocation.

Letter from Mr. Dumas, of Sétif, Algeria, titular member, forwarding to the Society a certain number of communications obtained by him.

Studies: 1st Messrs. P… and de R… call attention to a new version of the shipwreck of the vessel Le Constant, published in the Siècle, according to which the Black man who was killed to be eaten would not have offered himself voluntarily, as appears in the first account, and that there would thus be a contradiction with the words of the Spirit of the Black man. Mr. Col… sees no contradiction, for the merit attributed to the Black man was ascertained by Saint Louis and the Black man himself did not avail himself of it. 2nd Examination of a question proposed by Mr. Les… about the surprise of Spirits after death. He thinks that the Spirit, having already lived in the state of Spirit, ought not to be surprised. It is answered to him: This surprise is only temporary; it results from the state of disturbance that follows death, ceasing as the Spirit detaches itself from matter and recovers its faculties as a Spirit. 3rd Question about lucid somnambulists, who confuse Spirits with corporeal beings. This fact is confirmed and explained by Saint Louis.

4th Evocation of Urbain Grandier. The replies being very laconic owing to the medium's lack of experience, the Spirit said that he would be more explicit through another medium. The evocation will therefore be resumed in another session.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1859.

(General Session.)

Reading of the minutes.

Presentation – Mr. Pierre D…, sculptor in Paris, is presented as a titular member.

Various communications: 1st Letter from Mr. de T…, containing very interesting facts of visual and verbal manifestations that confirm the state in which certain Spirits find themselves who doubt their own death. One of the facts related offers the particularity that the Spirit in question still persists in this illusion more than three months after death. (This account will be published.) 2nd Curious facts of precision, reported by Mr. Van Br…, of The Hague, of a personal character. He had never heard of Spirits and their communications when, by chance and unexpectedly, he was led to a Spiritist meeting in Dordrecht. The communications obtained in his presence surprised him all the more since he was a stranger to that city and unknown to the members of the said meeting. About him, his position, and his family, they told him a number of particulars of which he alone had knowledge. Having evoked his mother and asked her, as proof of identity, whether she had had several children, she replied: “Do you not know, my son, that I had eleven children?” And the Spirit designated all of them by their baptismal names and by their dates of birth. From then on this gentleman is a fervent adept, and his daughter, a young girl of fourteen, has become an excellent medium, whose faculty presents singular particularities. Most of the time she writes in reverse, in such a way that to read what she obtains it is necessary to place the sheets before a mirror. n Very frequently, the table she uses to write inclines before her like a desk and remains in that position of equilibrium, without any support, until she finishes writing. Mr. Van Br… relates another curious fact of precision by a Spirit who communicates with him spontaneously, under the name of Dirkse Lammers, and who hanged himself in the very place where the communication was taking place, in circumstances whose exactness was verified. (This account will be published, as well as the evocation resulting from it.) Studies: 1st Examination of the question raised by Mr. Det… about the source from which Spirits draw their vocabulary.

2nd Question about the obsession of certain mediums.

3rd Evocation of Michel François, blacksmith who made a revelation to Louis XIV.

4th Evocation of Dirkse Lammers, whose story was told earlier.

5th Three spontaneous communications are obtained simultaneously: the first by Mr. R…, signed by Lamennais; the second by Mr. D… Son: The Child and the Brook, parable signed by Saint Basil; the third by Miss L. J…, signed by Origen.

6th Miss J…, drawing medium, spontaneously traces an admirable group, signed by the Spirit of Lebrun.

(All the questions and communications above will be published).

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1859.

(Private Session.)

Reading of the Minutes.

Admission of Mr. Pierre D…, presented at the last session.

Various communications: 1st Reading of a spontaneous communication obtained by Mr. P.., member of the Society, dictated by the Spirit of his daughter.

2nd Details about Miss Désiré Godu, residing in Hennebont (Morbihan), endowed with an extraordinary healing faculty. She has passed through all the phases of mediumship; at first she had the strangest physical manifestations; then she became successively a hearing, speaking, seeing, and writing medium. Today, all her faculties are concentrated on the cure of diseases, which she treats on the advice of the Spirits. She effects cures that in other times would have been considered miraculous. The Spirits announce that her faculty will develop still further; she is beginning to see internal diseases, by an effect of second sight, without being in somnambulism. (A notice will be published about this admirable subject). Studies: 1st Questions about the faculty of Miss Désiré Godu.

2nd Evocation of Lamettrie.

3rd Four spontaneous communications are obtained simultaneously; the first by Mr. R…, signed by Saint Vincent de Paul; the second by Mr. Col…, signed by Plato; the third by Mr. D… Son, signed by Lamennais; and the fourth by Miss H…, signed by Marguerite, known as Queen Margot.

NOVEMBER 25, 1859.

(General Session.)

Reading of the minutes.

Various communications: Dr. Morhéry presents the Society with a brochure entitled: Practical System of Agricultural Organization. Although foreign to the objects of the Society, this work will be forwarded to the library and thanks will be sent to the author.

Letter from Mr. de T…, completing the information about visions and apparitions related by him at the session of November 11.

Letter from Count de R…, titular member, confined to his home on account of an indisposition, in which he places himself at the disposal of the Society so that it may carry out with him all the experiments it judges suitable, relating to the evocation of living persons.

Studies: 1st Evocation of Jardin, who died in Nevers, and who had kept the mortal remains of his wife on a prie-dieu. (It will be published). n 3rd Evocation of Count de R… This evocation, extraordinary for the extent of the developments given, with a perfect precision and great clarity of ideas, sheds great light on the state of the Spirit separated from the body and resolves numerous psychological problems. It will be published in the review of January 1860. 4th Four spontaneous communications are obtained simultaneously, namely: the first, from a suffering soul, by Mrs. de B…; the second, from the Spirit of Truth, by Mr. R…; the third, from the apostle Paul, by Mr. Col… (This communication is signed in Greek); the fourth, by Mr. Did… Son, signed by Charlet (the painter), announcing a series of communications that are to form a whole. [1] Translator's note: Président spirituel – expression equivalent to spiritual mentor.

[2] Translator's note: Specular psychography.

[3] Translator's note: As in the original, number 2 was skipped.