Letter from a Catholic on Spiritism

The author of this brochure set himself to prove that one can be, at the same time, a good Catholic and a fervent Spiritist. To this end, he preaches by word and by example, for he is sincerely both the one and the other. By facts and arguments of a rigorous logic, he establishes the concordance of Spiritism with religion, and demonstrates that all the fundamental dogmas find, in the Spiritist Doctrine, an explanation capable of satisfying the most demanding reason, which theology strives in vain to give; from which he concludes that, if these dogmas were taught in this manner, they would find far fewer unbelievers and that, therefore, religion having to gain by this alliance, a day will come when, by the force of things, Spiritism will be in religion, or religion in Spiritism.

It seems difficult that, after the reading of this little work, those whom religious scruples still keep away from Spiritism should not be led to a healthier appreciation of the problem. Moreover, there is an evident fact: it is that the spiritist ideas advance with such rapidity that, without being a soothsayer or a sorcerer, it is possible to foresee the time when they will be so general that, willing or not, one will have to reckon with them; these ideas will win rights of citizenship, without there being any need of anyone's permission, and soon it will be recognized, if it has not already been done, that it is absolutely impossible to halt their course. The very diatribes will give them an extraordinary impulse, and one could not believe the number of adherents that, without wishing to, Mr. Louis Figuier made with his Histoire du merveilleux [2] (History of the Marvelous), in which he claims to explain everything by hallucination, when, in the end, he explains nothing because, his point of departure being the negation of all force outside Humanity, his material theory cannot resolve all the cases. The jests of Mr. Oscar Comettant are not arguments: he makes people laugh, but not at the expense of the Spiritists. The impudent and coarse article of the Gazette de Lyon harmed only itself, for everyone judged it as it deserves. After the reading of the brochure of which we speak, what will those say who still dare to assert that the Spiritists are impious and that their doctrine threatens religion? Do they not perceive that, speaking thus, they would make it believed that religion is vulnerable; truly, it would be very vulnerable if a utopia—for, according to them, it is a utopia—could compromise it. We do not fear to say: all sincerely religious men—and by this we understand those who are so more by the heart than by the lips—will recognize in Spiritism a divine manifestation, the object of which is to revive the faith that is being extinguished. We earnestly recommend this brochure to all our readers, and we believe that they will do a useful thing in seeking to propagate it. [v. SPIRITIST AND CHRISTIAN CONCORDANCE by De Grand-Boulogne.]

[1] Large brochure in-18, price 1 fr.; by Post 1 fr.

Ledoyen, bookseller-publisher, Palais-Royal, 31, galerie d'Orléans, and at the office of the Spiritist Review.

[2] [Histoire du merveilleux dans les temps modernes — Google Books, by Louis Figuier.]