Address by Mr. Allan Kardec

Ladies and Gentlemen, It was with happiness that I answered your call, and the warm welcome with which I am received is one of those moral satisfactions that leave in the heart a deep and indestructible impression. If I feel happy with this cordial reception, it is because in it I see a homage rendered to the doctrine we profess and to the good Spirits who teach it to us, far more than to me personally, who am nothing but an instrument in the hands of Providence. Convinced of the truth of this doctrine, and of the good it is called to produce, I set about coordinating its elements; I strove to make it clear and intelligible to all. That is all that falls to me, and so I have never considered myself its creator: the honor belongs entirely to the Spirits. It is, therefore, only to them that the testimonies of your gratitude should be addressed, and I accept the praises you direct to me only as an encouragement to continue my task with perseverance.

In the work I have done to reach the goal I had set for myself, I was no doubt helped by the Spirits, as they themselves have told me several times, but without the slightest outward sign of mediumship. Thus, I am not a medium, in the common sense of the word, and today I understand that it is a fortunate thing that this is so. Through an actual mediumship, I would have written only under one same influence; I would have been led to accept as truth only what had been given to me, and perhaps unjustly, whereas, in my position, it was fitting that I should enjoy an absolute freedom to gather what was good, wherever it might be found and from wherever it came. It was thus possible to make a selection of the various teachings, without bias and with complete impartiality. I saw much, studied much, and observed a great deal, but always with an impassive eye; I am ambitious of nothing, except to see the experience I have acquired put to the benefit of others. It is for them that I feel happy, for being able to avoid the pitfalls inseparable from every novitiate. If I have worked much and if I work every day, I am amply rewarded by the so rapid march of the doctrine, whose progress surpasses all that one might be permitted to hope, by the moral results it produces. I feel happy to see that the city of Bordeaux not only does not lag behind this movement, but is disposed to march in the vanguard, by the number and the quality of its adepts. If one considers that Spiritism owes its propagation to its own forces, without counting on the support of any of the auxiliary means that, in general, meet with so much success, and despite the efforts of a systematic opposition or, rather, in virtue of those very efforts, we cannot help seeing in this the finger of God. If its enemies, though powerful, could not paralyze its advance, we are forced to agree that Spiritism is more powerful than they, and, like the serpent in the fable, they employ their teeth in vain against a file of steel.

If we say that the secret of its power lies in the will of God, those who do not believe in God will scoff. There are also people who do not deny God, but believe themselves stronger than He; these do not laugh: they raise barriers, which they imagine insurmountable and, nevertheless, Spiritism passes beyond them every day and before their very eyes. It is that, in effect, it draws from its nature, from its very essence, an irresistible force. What, then, is the secret of this force? Shall we have to conceal it, fearing that, once known and after the example of Samson, its enemies might take advantage of it to overthrow it? By no means. In Spiritism there are no mysteries; everything is done in the open; we can reveal it without fear, proudly. Although I have already said it, perhaps it is not out of place to repeat it here, so that it may be known that if we hand over to our adversaries the secret of our forces, it is because we also know their weak side.

The force of Spiritism has two preponderant causes: the first is to make happy those who know it, understand it, and practice it. Now, as there are unhappy people, it recruits an innumerable army among those who suffer. Do they wish to take this element of propagation from it? Let them make men so happy, morally and materially, that they have nothing more to desire, neither in this world nor in the other. We ask for nothing more, provided the goal is attained. The second is that Spiritism does not rest in the head of any one man, thus subjecting itself to being overthrown; it has no single center that can be extinguished; its center is everywhere, because everywhere there are mediums who can communicate with the Spirits; there is no family that does not possess them in its bosom and that does not fulfill these words of the Christ: Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and shall have visions; because, in short, Spiritism is an idea, and there are no barriers impenetrable to the idea, nor high enough that it cannot pass over them. They killed the Christ, they killed his apostles and disciples. But the Christ had cast the Christian idea into the world, and this idea triumphed over the persecution of the omnipotent Caesars. Why, then, would Spiritism, which is nothing but the development and the application of the Christian idea, not triumph over a few mockers and antagonists who, up to the present, despite their efforts, could oppose to it only a sterile negation? Would there be in this a chimerical pretension? A reformer's dream? There are the facts to answer: Spiritism penetrates everywhere, in spite of everything and against everything; like the fertilizing pollen of flowers, it is carried by the winds and takes root in the four corners of the world, because everywhere it finds a soil fertile in sufferings, upon which it pours the consoling balm. Suppose, then, the most absolute state that the imagination can dream of, recruiting all the populace of its henchmen to halt the idea as it passes: will they be able to prevent the Spirits from entering into it and manifesting themselves spontaneously? Will they prevent mediums from forming in the intimacy of families? Let us suppose it strong enough to prevent writing, to forbid the reading of books; will they be able to prevent hearing, since there are auditory mediums? Will they prevent the father from receiving consolations from the son he lost? You see, then, that it is impossible, and that I was right in saying that Spiritism can, without fear, hand over to its enemies the secret of its forces. So be it, they will say. When a thing is inevitable, it must be accepted. But if it is a false or evil idea, is one not right to oppose obstacles to it? First of all, it would be necessary to prove that it is false. Now, up to the present, what do its adversaries oppose to it? Mockeries and negations which, in sound logic, have never passed for arguments. But a serious, solid refutation; a categorical, evident demonstration, where will you find it? Nowhere; neither in the criticisms of Science, nor elsewhere. On the other hand, when an idea propagates itself with the rapidity of lightning; when it finds innumerable echoes in the most enlightened classes of society; when it has its roots in all peoples, since there have been men on Earth; when the greatest philosophers, sacred and profane, have proclaimed it, it is illogical to suppose that it rests on nothing but falsehood and illusion. Every sensible man, whom passion or personal interest has not blinded, will say that there must be something true in it; at the very least the sensible man will suspend his judgment before denying. Is the idea evil? If it is true, if it is nothing but an application of the laws of Nature, it seems difficult that it could be evil, unless one admits that God did badly what He did. How could a doctrine be evil that makes better those who practice it; consoles the afflicted; gives resignation in misfortune; restores peace in families; calms the effervescence of the passions and prevents suicide? Some say that it is contrary to religion. Behold the great word with which they try to frighten the timid and those who do not know it. How could a doctrine that makes one better, that teaches the evangelical morality, that preaches only charity, the forgetting of offenses, submission to the will of God, be contrary to religion? It would be a contradiction. To affirm such a thing is to attack religion itself. This is why I say that those who speak thus do not know it. If such were the result, why would it lead to religious ideas those who believe in nothing? Why would it make those pray who had forgotten to do so since childhood?

Moreover, there is another answer, equally peremptory: Spiritism is foreign to every dogmatic question. To the materialists it proves the existence of the soul; to those who believe only in nothingness, it proves eternal life; to those who think that God does not concern Himself with the actions of men, it proves future penalties and rewards; by destroying materialism, it destroys the greatest plague of society. Behold its goal. As for special beliefs, it does not concern itself with them, leaving to each one entire freedom. Materialism is the greatest enemy of religion; by bringing it to spiritualism, Spiritism makes it march three-quarters of the way back to the bosom of the Church. It is for the Church to do the rest. But if the communion to which it would tend to attach itself repels it, it would be to be feared that it might turn toward another.

In saying this, gentlemen, I am teaching the Our Father to the vicar, for you already know it as well as I. But there is another point, on which it is useful to say a few words.

If external enemies can do nothing against Spiritism, the same does not happen with those within. I refer to those who are more Spiritists in name than in fact, not to speak of those who have only the mask of Spiritism. The most beautiful side of Spiritism is the moral side. It is by its moral consequences that it will triumph, for therein lies its force, therein it is invulnerable. It inscribes on its banner: Love and charity; and before this palladium, more powerful than that of Minerva, because it comes from the Christ, incredulity itself bows down. What can one oppose to a doctrine that leads men to love one another as brothers? If one does not admit the cause, at least one will respect the effect. Now, the best means of proving the reality of the effect is to make its application to oneself; it is to show the enemies of the doctrine, by one's own example, that it really makes one better. But how can one make people believe that an instrument can produce harmony if it emits discordant sounds? In the same way, how can one persuade people that Spiritism must lead to concord, if those who profess it, or supposedly practice it — which for the adversaries amounts to the same thing — throw stones at one another? If a simple susceptibility of self-love suffices to divide them? Is this not the means of refuting their own argument? The most dangerous enemies of Spiritism are, therefore, those who make it give the lie to itself, by not practicing the law they proclaim. It would be puerile to create dissidence over shades of opinion; there would be evident malevolence, a forgetting of the first duty of the true Spiritist, in separating oneself over a personal question, inasmuch as the sentiment of personality is the fruit of pride and egoism. We must not forget, gentlemen, that the enemies of Spiritism are of two orders: on the one hand, you have the mockers and the unbelievers. These are daily given the lie by the facts; you do not fear them and you are right. Without wishing it, they serve our cause and, for this, we owe them thanks. On the other hand are the persons interested in combating the doctrine; do not hope to win them over by persuasion, for they do not seek the light. In vain will you display before their eyes the evidence of the sun: they are blind because they do not wish to see. They do not attack you because you are in error, but because you are with the truth and, rightly or wrongly, they believe that Spiritism is prejudicial to their material interests. If they were convinced that it is a chimera, they would leave it in peace. Thus, their fury grows in proportion to the progress of the doctrine, in such a way that one can measure its importance by the violence of the attacks. As long as they saw in Spiritism nothing but a game of turning tables, they said nothing, trusting that it was a caprice of fashion; but, today, when, in spite of their ill will, they see the insufficiency of mockery, they employ other means. Whatever these may be, we have already demonstrated their impotence. Nevertheless, if they cannot stifle that voice which rises in all parts of the world; if they cannot halt that torrent which invades them on all sides, they will do everything to create obstacles and, if they can make progress recede by a single day, they will say even so that it is a day gained. Expect, therefore, that the ground will be disputed inch by inch, for material interest is, of all, the most tenacious; for it, the most sacred rights of Humanity are nothing; you have the proof in the American struggle. Let the union that was our glory perish, rather than our interests!, say the slaveholders. Thus speak the adversaries of Spiritism, for the humanitarian question is the least of their concerns. What is to be opposed to them? A banner that makes them turn pale, for they know that it bears words come from the mouth of the Christ: Love and charity, and that these words are their sentence. Around this banner, let all true Spiritists congregate, and they will be strong, inasmuch as union makes strength. Recognize, then, the true defenders of your cause, not by vain words, which cost nothing, but by the practice of the law of love and charity, by the abnegation of personality; the best soldier is not the one who raises his saber highest, but the one who courageously sacrifices his own life. Regard, then, as making common cause with your enemies all those who tend to cast among you the ferment of discord, because, voluntarily or involuntarily, they furnish weapons against you. In any case, count no more on them than on those bad soldiers who flee at the first rifle shot. But — you will ask — if opinions are divided on some points of the doctrine, how can one recognize on which side the truth lies? It is the easiest thing. First, you have for weight your judgment and for measure logic, sound and inflexible. Then, you will have the assent of the majority, because, believe it well, the increasing or decreasing number of the partisans of an idea gives the measure of its value; if it is false, it will win no more votes than the truth: God would not permit it; He may leave error in view here and there, to show us its characteristics and to teach us to recognize it. Without this, where would our merit be, if we had no choice to make? Do you want another criterion of the truth? Here is one, infallible. Since the device of Spiritism is Love and charity, you will recognize the truth by the practice of this maxim, and you will hold it as certain that he who throws a stone at another cannot be with the absolute truth. As for me, gentlemen, you have heard my profession of faith. If — which God forbid! — dissensions should arise among you, I say it with sorrow, I would openly separate myself from those who deserted the banner of fraternity, because, in my eyes, they could not be regarded as true Spiritists. Whatever may happen, do not be at all disturbed by a few passing dissensions; you will soon have the proof that they have no serious consequences. They are tests for your faith and for your judgment; very often, also, they are means permitted by God and by the good Spirits to give the measure of sincerity and to make known those upon whom we can really count, should the need arise, thus avoiding placing them in evidence. They are little stones sown in your path, in order to accustom you to see what you lean upon.

It remains for me to speak still, gentlemen, of the organization of the Society. Since you wish to ask my counsel, I will tell you what I said last year in Lyon. The same motives lead me to dissuade you, with all my strength, from the project of forming a single Society, embracing all the Spiritists of the city, which would be altogether impracticable, by reason of the increasing number of the adepts. You would not be long in being paralyzed by the material obstacles and by the moral difficulties, still greater, which would show you its impossibility. It is preferable, then, not to undertake a thing that you would be obliged to renounce. All the considerations in support of this opinion are completely developed in the new edition of The Mediums' Book, to which I invite you to refer. I will add only a few words.

What is difficult to obtain in a numerous gathering is much easier to achieve in private groups. These are formed by affinity of tastes, of sentiments, and of habits. Two separate groups may have a different manner of seeing on some details and yet do not for that reason cease to march in accord, whereas if they were united, the divergences of opinion would bring inevitable disturbances.

The system of the multiplication of groups still has as its result the abrupt interruption of rivalries of supremacy and of direction. Each group, naturally, is presided over by the master of the house or by whoever is designated, and everything happens within the family. If the high direction of Spiritism, in a city, belongs to someone, this person will be summoned by the force of things, and a tacit consent will designate him very naturally, in virtue of his personal merit, of his conciliatory qualities, of the zeal and devotion of which he shall have given proof, of the real services he shall have rendered to the cause. In this way, he will have acquired, without seeking it, a moral force that no one will think of contesting, because all will recognize it, whereas the one who, by his private authority, sought to impose himself, or was carried by a clique, would meet with opposition on the part of all those who did not recognize in him the necessary moral qualities. Hence an inevitable cause of divisions.

It is a serious thing to entrust to someone the supreme direction of the doctrine. Before doing so, it is necessary to be quite sure of that individual from all points of view, because, with erroneous ideas, he could drag the Society down a deplorable slope and, perhaps, to its ruin. In private groups, each one can give proof of ability and be designated, later, by the suffrages of his colleagues, if such be the case. But no one can claim to be a general before being a soldier. Just as we recognize the good general by his courage and by his talents, the true Spiritist is recognized by his qualities. Now, the first of which he must give proof is the abnegation of personality; it is, then, by his acts that we recognize him, more than by his words. What is necessary for such a direction is a true Spiritist, and the true Spiritist does not let himself be moved by ambition, nor by self-love. In this regard, gentlemen, I call your attention to the various categories of Spiritists, whose distinctive characters are clearly defined in The Mediums' Book (no. 28). For the rest, whatever the nature of the gathering, numerous or not, the conditions it must satisfy to attain its goal are the same. It is to this that we must concentrate all our care, and those who satisfy them will be strong, because they will necessarily have the support of the good Spirits. Such conditions are traced in The Mediums' Book (no. 341).

A very frequent error among some neophytes is that of believing themselves masters after a few months of study. As you know, Spiritism is an immense science, whose experience cannot be acquired except with time, as, moreover, in all things. There is in this pretension of no longer needing counsel and of judging oneself above all others a proof of incompetence, for it does not heed one of the first precepts of the doctrine: modesty and humility. When the malevolent Spirits find such dispositions in an individual, they do not fail to overexcite him and to entertain him, persuading him that he alone possesses the truth. It is one of the pitfalls that may be encountered, and against which I judged it my duty to warn you, adding that it does not suffice to call oneself a Spiritist, just as it does not suffice to call oneself a Christian: it is necessary to prove it by practice.

If, by the formation of groups, we avoid the rivalry of individuals, could not this rivalry exist between the groups themselves which, marching by somewhat divergent ways, could produce schisms, whereas a single Society would maintain the unity of principles? To this I answer that the inconvenience pointed out would not be avoided, considering that those who did not adopt the principles of the Society would separate themselves from it and nothing would prevent them from forming a group apart. The groups are so many little Societies, which will necessarily march in the same path if all adopt the same banner and the bases of the science, consecrated by experience. In this regard, I likewise call your attention to no. 348 of The Mediums' Book. Nothing prevents, moreover, a central group from being formed by delegates of the various private groups, who would thus have a point of meeting and a direct correspondent with the Society of Paris. Then, annually, a general assembly could reunite all the adepts and thus become a true festival of Spiritism. Moreover, I have prepared a detailed instruction on these various points, which I will have the honor of transmitting to you later, both on the organization and on the order of the work. Those who follow it will naturally maintain themselves in the unity of principles. Such are, gentlemen, the counsels I judged it good to give you, since you wished to conform to my opinion. I feel happy to add that in Bordeaux I found excellent elements and a progress much greater than I expected. Here I came upon a great number of sincere and true Spiritists, and I take from this visit the well-founded hope that the doctrine will develop upon the broadest bases and in excellent conditions. Believe that my assistance will never be lacking, in whatever lies within my reach to do, to second the efforts of those who are sincerely and conscientiously devoted in heart to this noble cause, which is that of Humanity.

Gentlemen, the Spirit Erasto, whom you already know from the notable dissertations of his that you have read, also wishes to bring you the tribute of his counsels. Before my departure from Paris, he dictated, through his habitual medium, the following communication, the reading of which I will have the honor of making.