Spiritism in America.

Spiritism counts in America eminent men who, from the beginning, gauged its scope and saw in it something more than mere manifestations. Among this number is Judge Edmonds, of New York, whose writings on this important subject are quite appreciated, but very little known in Europe, where they have not yet been translated. We must be grateful to Miss Guérin for giving us an idea of them through some fragments published in her booklet. We only regret that she did not complete her work with a full translation. She adds some extracts no less remarkable from Dr. Hare, of Philadelphia, who, he too, had the audacity to be one of the first to affirm his faith in the new revelations. Miss Guérin, who resided for a long time in America, where she saw the first manifestations produced and developed, is one of those sincere, conscientious Spiritists who judge everything with calm, coolness, and without enthusiasm. We have the honor of knowing her personally and feel happy to give her here a deserved testimony of our profound esteem. From the following passage of her introduction, one can see that our opinion is justly motivated.

“Like the Americans, we have the profound Faith, the radiant hope that this doctrine, so eminently based on charity – not alms, but love – is indeed the one that must regenerate and pacify the world. Never has fraternal solidarity been demonstrated in a clearer manner, nor in a more seductive way. Coming to console us, to help us, to instruct us, to indicate to us, in short, the best use to be made of our faculties, with a view to the future, the Spirits are so disinterested that man cannot listen to them for long without experiencing the desire to imitate them, without seeking around him someone to share in the benefits they have dispensed to him so generously. He does so with all the more good will as he understands that his own progress has this price and that, in the great book of God, nothing is credited in his favor except the acts performed with a view to the material or moral well-being of his brothers. What the Spirits do with success at this moment was attempted many times on Earth by noble hearts, by courageous souls, who were and still are unknown and ridiculed. Their devotion is suspected, and it is only when they disappear that they have a chance of being judged with impartiality. This is why God permits them to continue the work after that which we call death. “There is no need to repeat with Davis: Fear nothing, brothers; being mortal, error cannot live; being immortal, truth cannot die!”

Clémence Guérin.

The following passage, from Judge Edmonds, will show with what precision he foresaw the consequences of Spiritism. One must not forget that he was writing in 1854, a time when Spiritism in America, as in Europe, was still new.

“False or true, others will judge my deductions. My aim will be attained if, in speaking of the effect produced upon my mind by these revelations, I shall have caused to arise in some the desire to also research and thus to bring new light to the study of these phenomena. So far, the most impetuous adversaries, those who, in their indignation, cry out against imposture, are also the most obstinate in their refusal to see or hear anything about it, the most determined to remain in complete ignorance of the nature of the facts. Men with a reputation for learning, if not for science, do not fear to compromise it by giving explanations that satisfy no one, based on superficial observations, made with such frivolity as would make a student blush. “Meanwhile, it is not a matter of indifference, this new power inherent in man (connected with man), and which, without the least doubt, will have upon his destiny a considerable influence, for good or for ill.

“And we can already see that, from its origin, only five years ago, the spiritualist idea has propagated itself with a rapidity that the Christian church had not equaled in a hundred years. It does not seek out isolated places, it does not wrap itself in mysteries, but comes openly to men, provoking minute examination on their part, not demanding a blind faith, but recommending, in all circumstances, the exercise of reason and of free appraisal.

“We have seen that the mockeries of the philosophers did not succeed in turning aside a single believer; that the sarcasms of the press, the anathemas of the pulpit are equally powerless to halt the progress and, above all, we can already observe its moralizing influence. The true believer always becomes more prudent and better (a wiser and a better man), because it has been demonstrated to him that the survival of man after the death of the body is positively proven. All those who, seriously and with sincerity, conducted their investigations on the subject, had their irrefutable proofs. How could it be otherwise? Here is an intelligence that speaks to us every day; it is a friend. (In general the Americans begin by conversing with relatives or friends.) It proves its identity by a thousand circumstances that can leave not the least doubt, by the numerous recollections that it alone can know. It speaks to us of the consequences of earthly life and paints for us the future life in colors so rational that we feel it is telling the truth, so much does it conform to the intimate idea we had of the Divinity and of the duties it imposes upon us. “Death does not separate us from those whom we love. Often they are near us, they help us and console us by the hope of a certain reunion. How many times have I seen them, for myself and for others! How many desolate persons have I seen calmed by the sweet certainty that the beloved being, ‘borne by the bonds of love, hovers around them, murmurs in their ear, contemplates their soul, converses with their Spirit!’ “Thus, death finds itself stripped of the procession of mysterious and undefined terrors with which it was surrounded by those who trust more in the degrading passion of fear than in the noble sentiment of love.

“Let us note, in passing, that whatever the shades of difference in the teaching of the new philosophy, all its disciples agree on this point: death is not a scarecrow, but a natural phenomenon, of passage to an existence in which, free from the thousand ills of material life and from the hindrances that confine it to a single planet, the Spirit can traverse the immensity of the worlds, take flight toward regions where the glory of God is really visible.

“It is likewise demonstrated (demonstrated) that our most secret thoughts are known to the beings who loved us and who continue to watch over us. It is in vain that we would try to free ourselves from that inquisition, terrible by its very benevolence. It is not possible to doubt it, as some have wished. Many times I was stupefied and shuddered before the unforeseen, but undeniable, revelation that the most intimate recesses of the conscience can be examined precisely by those from whom we would wish to hide our weaknesses. “Is there not in this a salutary curb against evil thoughts, against criminal acts, most often committed because the guilty one reassured himself with these words: ‘No one will ever know…’ If anything can confirm this truth so terrifying to some, it is the remembrance of what each one experiences after a good action, even when it has remained secret: an incomparable intimate contentment. Those know it well, for the left hand is ignorant of what the right hand gives. It is therefore rational to believe that if our friends can congratulate us, they can also admonish us; if they see our meritorious acts, they likewise perceive our faults. “To this we do not hesitate to attribute the incontestable and uncontested fact that there is no true believer who has not become better.

“Upon our conduct, upon our submission to this great precept: TO LOVE GOD AND ONE'S NEIGHBOR… depends our future destiny, and not upon our adherence to this or that religious sect. We must not postpone our conversion but rather work, ourselves, for our salvation, now, and not later, today, and not tomorrow.

“What could be more consoling, more comforting for the virtuous soul, through the trials and vicissitudes of this life, than the complete certainty that its future happiness depends upon its actions, which it can direct?

“On the other hand the vicious, the wicked, the cruel, the selfish, above all the selfish, will suffer for himself and for others (self and mutual torment) torments more terrible than those of the material hell, such as the most disordered imagination could ever conceive.”

Allan Kardec.

Paris. — Typ. H. CARION, rue Bonaparte, 64.

[1] Large booklet in-18, price 1 fr. Dentu, Palais Royal, galerie d'Orléans.