Spiritism in 1860.

— We are pleased to announce that the Spiritist Review begins its third year of circulation, sustained by the most favorable auspices. It is with satisfaction that we seize this occasion to bear witness to our readers of our gratitude for the proofs of sympathy that we have been receiving daily. This alone would be sufficient reason for encouragement, were we not to find, in the very nature and aim of our labors, an ample moral compensation for the fatigues that attend them. Such is the multiplicity of these labors, to which we consecrate ourselves entirely, that it becomes impossible to answer all the letters of congratulation that reach us. We are therefore obliged to address ourselves collectively to their authors, begging them to accept our thanks. These letters, as well as the numerous persons who give us the honor of conferring with us regarding these grave problems, convince us more and more of the progress of true Spiritism, that is, of Spiritism understood in all its moral consequences. Without deceiving ourselves as to the reach of our labors, the thought of having contributed, casting a few grains into the balance, is for us a sweet satisfaction, for those few seeds will have contributed to awaken reflection. The growing prosperity of the Review is an indication of the favor with which it is received. It is for us only to continue the work along the same line, since it has been receiving the consecration of time, without departing from the moderation, the prudence, and the proprieties that have always guided us. Leaving to our contradictors the sad privilege of insults and personal attacks, we shall not follow them onto the terrain of a controversy without aim. We say without aim because it would never lead them to conviction; moreover, it would be a pure waste of time to discuss with persons who have not the least notion of what they are talking about. We have only one thing to say to them: Study first; then we shall see. We have more to do than to speak to those who do not wish to hear. After all, what does the contrary opinion of this one or that one matter? Will that opinion have such great importance that it could halt the natural march of things? The greatest discoveries met with the rudest adversaries, without being harmed thereby. Thus, leaving incredulity to buzz around us, we shall never deviate from the path traced out for us by the very gravity of the subject that occupies us.

— We have said that Spiritist ideas are in clear progress. Indeed, for some time now they have gained immense ground. One would say they are in the air; not, certainly, because of the noise of the great and the small press. If they progress, in spite of and against everything, notwithstanding the ill will encountered in certain quarters, it is because they possess sufficient vitality to suffice unto themselves. Whoever takes the trouble to deepen the question of Spiritism finds in it a moral satisfaction so great, the solution of so many problems that he had vainly asked of common theories; the future unfolds before him in a manner so clear, so precise, and so logical, that he confesses to himself the impossibility that things should really not happen so; since an intimate sentiment told him that it ought to be so, it is cause for astonishment that he did not understand them sooner. Once developed, the Spiritist science does nothing more than formulate, draw out of the fog ideas already existing within his inmost being; from then on the future presents itself with a clear, precise, perfectly defined aim; he no longer marches at the mercy of the waves: he sees his path. It is no longer that future of happiness or of misfortune that reason could not understand and which, for that very reason, it repelled; it is a rational future, the consequence of the very laws of Nature, capable of bearing the most severe examination. This is why he is happy and as if relieved of an immense weight: that of uncertainty, for uncertainty is a torment. In spite of himself, man sounds the depths of the future and cannot help but see it as eternal; he compares it to the brevity and the fragility of terrestrial existence. If the future offers him no certainty, he is bewildered, he concentrates himself in the present and, to make it more bearable, gives himself over to every excess: it is in vain that conscience speaks to him of good and evil. He says to himself: the good is that which makes me happy. In fact, what reason would he have to see the good elsewhere? Why endure privations? He wishes to be happy and, in order to be happy, he wishes to enjoy; to enjoy what others possess; he wants gold, much gold; he clings to it as to his life, because gold is the vehicle of all material pleasures. What does the well-being of his fellow man matter to him? His own, before all else. He wishes to satisfy himself in the present, because he does not know whether he will be able to later, in a future in which he does not believe. He thus becomes greedy, envious, egoistic, and, with all those pleasures, he is not happy because the present seems to him too short. With the certainty of the future, everything changes aspect for him; the present is but ephemeral and he sees it pass without lamenting; he is less attached to earthly pleasures, because they bring him only a passing, fleeting sensation that leaves the heart empty; he aspires to a more lasting happiness and, consequently, a more real one. And where could he find it, if not in the future? By showing it to him, by proving that future to him, Spiritism delivers him from the torment of uncertainty, and that makes him happy. Now, that which brings happiness always finds partisans.

— The adversaries of Spiritism attribute its rapid propagation to a superstitious fever that takes hold of Humanity: the love of the marvelous. First, however, they would need to be logical; we shall accept their reasoning — if indeed we may call it reasoning — when they have clearly explained why this fever strikes precisely the enlightened classes of society, rather than the ignorant ones. As for us, we say it is because Spiritism appeals to reason, and not to blind belief, that the enlightened classes examine it, reflect, and understand it. Now, superstitious ideas cannot withstand examination.

Moreover, all of you who combat Spiritism, do you manage to understand it? Have you studied it, scrutinized its details, weighed maturely all its consequences? No, a thousand times no. You speak of something you do not know. All your criticisms — and I am not speaking of the foolish, vulgar, and coarse diatribes, stripped of all reasoning and which have no value — I am referring to those which at least have the appearance of seriousness; all your criticisms, I repeat, betray the most complete ignorance of the subject.

To criticize, one must be able to oppose reasoning to reasoning, proof to proof.

Is this possible, without a deep knowledge of the subject in question? What would you think of one who claimed to criticize a painting, without possessing, at least in theory, the rules of drawing and of painting? To discuss the merit of an opera, without knowing music? Do you know the consequence of an ignorant criticism? It is to be ridiculous and to reveal a lack of judgment. The higher the position of the critic, the more he places himself in evidence, the more his interest demands of him circumspection, so as not to come to receive refutations, always easy to give to whoever speaks of that which he does not know. It is for this reason that the attacks against Spiritism have so little reach and favor its development, instead of halting it. These attacks are propaganda; they provoke examination, and examination can only be favorable to us, because we address ourselves to reason. There is not a single article published against the doctrine that has not procured for us an increase of subscriptions and of sales of works. That of Mr. Oscar Comettant (See the Siècle of October 27 last, and our reply in the Review of the month of December 1859) provoked the sale, in a few days, at the house of Ledoyen, of more than fifty copies of the famous sonata of Mozart (which costs 2 francs, net price, according to the important and witty observation of Mr. Comettant). The articles of the Univers, of April 13 and May 28, 1859 (see our reply in the issues of the Review of May and July 1859,)

rapidly exhausted what remained of the first edition of The Spirits'

Book, as well as others. But let us return to less material things.

So long as they oppose to Spiritism nothing but arguments of this nature, it has nothing to fear.

— We repeat that the principal source of the progress of Spiritist ideas lies in the satisfaction they afford to all who deepen them, and who see in them something more than a mere pastime. Now, since above all everyone wants happiness, it is not surprising that they attach themselves to an idea that makes them happy. We said somewhere that, where Spiritism is concerned, the period of curiosity has passed, giving way to that of reason and of philosophy. Curiosity has its set time: once satisfied, the object is changed for another. The same no longer happens with one who addresses serious thought and reason. Spiritism progressed principally from the moment when it came to be better understood in its inmost essence, from the time its reach was seen, because it touches upon the most sensitive chord of man: that of his happiness, even in this world. Therein lies the cause of its propagation, the secret of the force that will make it triumph. All of you who attack Spiritism, do you want a sure means of combating it with success? I will indicate it to you. Replace it with something better; find a more logical solution to all the questions it resolves; give man another certainty that makes him happier, and understand well the reach of the word certainty, because man accepts as certain only what seems logical to him; do not content yourselves with saying that this is not so, for that is very easy; prove, not by denial, but by facts, that this is not so, never was, and cannot be. Prove, finally, that the consequences of Spiritism do not make men better, through the practice of the purest evangelical morality, a morality much praised, but little practiced. When you have done this, I will be the first to bow before you. Until then, allow me to regard your doctrines, which are the complete negation of the future, as the source of egoism, the worm that gnaws at society and, consequently, as a true scourge. Yes, Spiritism is strong, stronger than you, because it rests upon the very foundations of religion: God, the soul, and future punishments and rewards, based on the good and the evil that one does. You rest upon incredulity. It invites man to happiness, to hope, to true fraternity. You offer him nothingness as a prospect and egoism as consolation. It explains everything, you explain nothing. It proves by facts and you prove nothing. How do you expect anyone to waver between the two doctrines? In sum, we observe — and each one sees and feels as we do — that Spiritism took an immense step in the year that has ended, and that step is the guarantee of the one it will take in the year that begins. Not only has the number of its partisans increased considerably, but a notable change has taken place in general opinion, even among the indifferent. It is said that at the bottom of all this there might well be something; that one should not be hasty in judging it; those who once acted thus, shrugging their shoulders, begin to fear ridicule upon themselves by attaching their own name to a precipitate judgment, which may be refuted. In this way, they prefer to keep silent and to wait. Doubtless, for a long time yet there will be persons who, having nothing to lose with the opinion of posterity, will seek to denigrate it; some, by character or by state of mind; others, by calculation. But we have accustomed ourselves to the idea of going to the asylum, [1] provided we find ourselves in good company; and, like so many others, this dull joke becomes a commonplace, with which no one is troubled, because at the bottom of these attacks one sees the most absolute lack of reasoning. The weapon of ridicule, that weapon said to be so terrible, is evidently wearing out and falling from the hands of those who wielded it. Has it perhaps lost its power? No, provided it does not strike blows in vain. Ridicule kills only that which is ridiculous in itself, having of seriousness only the appearance, because it lashes the hypocrite and tears off his mask; but that which is truly serious will receive only passing blows and will always come out triumphant from the struggle. See whether a single one of the great ideas that were ridiculed at their origin by the ignorant and envious crowd has fallen never to rise again! Now, Spiritism is one of the greatest ideas, because it touches upon the most vital question — that of man's happiness — and one does not trifle with impunity with such a problem. It is strong because it has its roots in the very laws of Nature and answers its enemies by making, from the outset, its way around the world. A few years more and its detractors, powerless to combat it by reasoning, will find themselves so far surpassed by the dominant opinion, so isolated, that they will see themselves forced to keep silent or to open their eyes to the light. [1] Translator's note: In the original: aller à Charenton, a reference to a famous French psychiatric hospital.