Bulletin

Friday, December 21, 1860. (Private session.)

Admission of two new members.

Various reports: 1st Reading of several communications obtained outside the sessions.

2nd Mr. Allan Kardec reads a letter from Bordeaux, in which the evocation of Miss M. H…, recently deceased, is proposed. Consulted on the matter, the Society deems it best not to occupy itself with that evocation.

Works of the session: 1st Spontaneous dictation signed by Lazarus, received by Mrs. Costel. – Another signed by Gérard de Nerval, obtained by Mr. A. Didier. The Spirit develops the thesis whose foundations he had presented in the communication The Three Types: Hamlet, Don Juan, and Tartuffe, on December 14. He develops the type of Hamlet. Requested to do so, he gives his opinion on La Fontaine. – Another signed by Torquato Tasso, received by Miss H… The Spirit likewise makes an appraisal of La Fontaine. 2nd Evocation of Lady Esther Stanhope, who spent the greater part of her life in the highlands of Lebanon, in the midst of the Arab populations that had given her the title of Queen of Palmyra.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1860.

(General Session.)

Various reports: 1st Reading of several communications received outside the sessions, among others a fantastic tale signed by Hoffmann, obtained by Mrs. Costel, and the evocation of a black man, made in New Orleans, by Mrs. B… The communication is notable for the ingenuousness of the ideas and for the reproduction of the language used among black people.

2nd Letter from Mrs. T. D…, of Cracow, attesting to the progress of Spiritism in Poland, in Podolia, and in Ukraine. This lady has been a medium for seven years. She attaches to her letter four communications that attest to the goodness and the superiority of the Spirit who dictated them, besides asking to become part of the Society.

3rd Mr. Allan Kardec addresses to the Spirits the following allocution, to thank them for their assistance during the year now ending:

“We do not wish to end the year without addressing our thanks to the good Spirits, who had the kindness to instruct us. We thank above all Saint Louis, our spiritual president, whose protection has been so evident to the Society that the latter has taken him as its patron. Thus, we hope to continue meriting his protection, beseeching him to inspire in us sentiments that may render us always worthy of it. We thank, likewise, all those who spontaneously came to give us their counsels and their instructions, whether in our sessions or in the communications given privately to our mediums and which were transmitted to us. In this number we could not forget Lamennais, who dictated to Mr. Didier pages of such great eloquence; Channing; Georges, whose beautiful communications have been admired by all the readers of the Review; Mrs. Delphine de Girardin, Charles Nodier, Gérard de Nerval, Lazarus, Tasso, Alfred de Musset, Rousseau, and others. The year 1860 was eminently prosperous for the Spiritist ideas. We hope that, with the assistance of the good Spirits, the year about to begin will be no less favorable. As for the suffering Spirits who appeared, whether spontaneously or at our call, we shall continue, through our prayers, to implore for them the mercy of God, beseeching Him to support those who find themselves on the path of repentance and to enlighten those who still find themselves on the dark way of evil.” Works of the session: 1st Spontaneous dictation on the year 1860, signed by J. J. Rousseau, received by Mrs. Costel. – Another signed by Necker, obtained by Miss H… – Another, on the year 1861, signed by Saint Louis.

2nd Evocation of Lady Stanhope, of Hoffmann, and of the black man of New Orleans.

3rd Various questions: On the remembrance of previous existences on Jupiter; – On the various apparitions of which the mother-in-law of Mr. Pr…, present at the session, was the object.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 4, 1861.

(Private Session.)

Admission of Mr. W…, painter.

Various reports: 1st Letter from Mr. Kond…, Physician of Vaucluse, lamenting that everything mentioned in the Society's minutes is not published in full in the Review. He says that “The partisans of Spiritism, who cannot attend the sessions, feel themselves strangers to the questions that are studied and resolved in that scientific assembly. Every month, we await with feverish impatience the arrival of the Review. When we receive it, we do not lose a minute in reading it: we read and reread it, for we learn a host of problems for which we would never have the solution.” He asks whether there might not be a means of remedying that inconvenience. Mrs. Costel says she has received letters to the same effect.

This proves one thing, says Mr. Allan Kardec, and one that must give us great satisfaction: it is the value attributed to the works of the Society and the credit it enjoys among true Spiritists. The publication of the summary of the minutes shows to foreigners that it occupies itself only with serious matters and serious studies; the consideration it has won abroad is due to its moderation and to its prudent advance over new terrain, to the order and the gravity that preside over its meetings, as well as to the essentially moral and scientific character of its works. It is, then, for it an encouragement not to stray from a path that brings it esteem, since from abroad, even from Poland, people write asking to take part in it. To the special and very flattering reclamation made to us by Dr. K…, I shall reply, first of all, that the full publication of everything that is done and discussed in the Society would demand volumes upon volumes. Among the evocations that are made there are many that do not correspond to expectation or do not offer interest general enough to be published. They are kept in the archives so that they may be consulted in case of need, the bulletin limiting itself to mentioning them. The same holds for the spontaneous communications: we publish only the most instructive ones. As for the various questions and moral problems, which often present great interest, Dr. K… is mistaken if he thinks that the Spiritists abroad will be deprived of them. What leads him to think in this way is the fact that the abundance of the matters and the need to coordinate them very rarely permit the publication of all the questions in the issue of the Review in which they are mentioned in the bulletin; sooner or later, however, they will have their place. Moreover, they constitute one of the essential elements of the works on Spiritism; they were used in The Spirits' Book and in The Mediums' Book, in which they are classified according to subject, none of the essential ones having been omitted. Therefore, let Mr. K… and other Spiritists be reassured; if they cannot, through the reading of the Review, attend the Society's sessions from afar, nor lose a single word, everything important obtained therein is never placed under the bushel. Nevertheless, the Review will endeavor to respond, insofar as possible, to the desire expressed by the honored correspondent. 2nd Mr. Allan Kardec points out, according to the account of a merchant from New York, present at the session, the progress made in the United States of the North by the principles formulated in The Spirits' Book. Excerpts from that book were translated into English, the doctrine of reincarnation counting there numerous partisans.

3rd Reading of a gracious and charming communication in the old style of the Middle Ages, received by Miss S… – Another, on the immateriality of Spirits, obtained by Mrs. Costel.

Works of the session: 1st Critical observations on the dictation made in the last session by the Spirit Necker. The Spirit Madame de Staël manifests herself spontaneously and justifies the words of her father, after having explained their meaning to them.

2nd Evocation of Leo X, who had manifested himself spontaneously in the session of December 14. In answering the various questions that were put to him, he explains and develops his ideas on the compared character of Americans, Frenchmen, and Englishmen; on the way these peoples view Spiritism; on the inevitable progress of that doctrine, etc.

3rd Spontaneous dialogue between Monsignor Sibour and his assassin [Jean-Louis Verger].

4th Questions addressed to Saint Louis concerning the black man evoked in the session of December 28, on his character and his origin.

Evocation of Miss J. B., made by her mother, present at the session. Of absolutely particular interest, that communication offers a moving picture of the affection that certain Spirits retain for those they loved on Earth.