Mr. Louis Jourdan and The Spirits' Book.

— Since we are speaking of journalists in connection with Spiritism, let us not stop along the way. These gentlemen generally do not flatter us and, since we make no secret of their criticisms, they will surely permit us to present the counterpart and to oppose to the opinion of Mr. Deschanel and others that of a writer whose worth and influence no one disputes, without anyone being able to charge us with self-love. Besides, the praises are not addressed to our person, or at least we do not take them to ourselves, so that we transfer the honor to the spiritual guides who kindly direct us. We could not, then, claim for ourselves the merit that may be found in our works; we accept the praises not as a sign of our personal worth, but as a consecration of the work we have undertaken, a work we hope to bring to a good conclusion with God's help, for we are not yet at the end and the most difficult part is not yet done. In this respect, the opinion of Mr. Jourdan carries a certain weight, because it is known that he does not speak lightly, merely for the sake of speaking, or to fill columns with words. He may certainly be mistaken, like anyone else, but in any case his opinion is always conscientious. It would be premature to say that Mr. Jourdan is an avowed adept of Spiritism. He himself declares that he has seen nothing and is not in contact with any medium. He judges the matter according to his inner sentiment and, since he does not take as his point of departure the denial of the soul and of any extra-human force, he sees in the Spiritist Doctrine a new phase of the moral world and a means of explaining what until then was inexplicable. Now, admitting the foundation, his reason does not at all refuse to admit its consequences, whereas Mr. Figuier cannot admit such consequences, since he rejects the fundamental principle. Not having studied everything, not having gone deeply into everything in this vast science, it is no wonder that his ideas have not been fixed on every point and that, for this very reason, certain questions must still seem hypothetical to him. But, as a man of sense, he does not say: “I do not understand; therefore it does not exist”; on the contrary, he says: “I do not know, because I have not learned, but I do not deny.” As a serious man, he does not mock a question that touches upon the gravest interests of Humanity and, as a prudent man, he remains silent about that which he does not know, fearing lest the facts come, as for so many others, to belie his denials, or oppose to him this irresistible argument: “You speak of what you do not know.” Thus, passing over the questions of detail, on which he confesses his incompetence, he limits himself to an appreciation of the principle; and that principle, reasoning alone leads him to admit its possibility, as happens daily. Mr. Jourdan first published an article on The Spirits' Book, in the newspaper Le Causeur (no. 8, April 1860). A year has now passed and we have not yet spoken of it in this Review, proving that we are not in much of a hurry to avail ourselves of praises, while we quote textually, or point out, the most bitter criticisms, revealing also that we do not fear their influence. This article is reproduced in his new work A Philosopher by the Fireside, of which it forms a chapter. From it we extract the following passages:

— “I formally promised to return to a subject of which I had said only a few words and which deserves quite special attention. It concerns The Spirits' Book, containing the principles of the Spiritist doctrine and philosophy. The word may seem barbarous to you, but what is to be done? New things must be given new names. The turning tables led to Spiritism, and today we are in possession of a complete doctrine, entirely revealed by the Spirits, for this The Spirits' Book is not made by the hand of man; Mr. Allan Kardec limited himself to gathering and ordering the answers given by the Spirits to the innumerable questions put to them, brief answers, which do not always satisfy the curiosity of the questioner, but which, considered as a whole, indeed constitute a doctrine, a moral, and, who knows? perhaps a religion.

“Judge it for yourselves. The Spirits explained themselves clearly on first causes, on God and the infinite, on the attributes of the Divinity. They gave us the general elements of the Universe, the knowledge of the principle of things, the properties of matter. They spoke of the mysteries of creation, the formation of the worlds and of living beings, the causes of the diversity of the human races. From there to the vital principle there was but a step, and they told us in what that principle consisted, what life and death were, intelligence and instinct.

“Then they lifted the veil that hides from us the spirit world, that is, the world of the Spirits, telling us what was its origin and what its nature; how they incarnated and what the purpose of that incarnation was; how the return from corporeal life to spiritual life was effected. Wandering spirits, transitory worlds, perceptions, sensations and sufferings of the Spirits, relations from beyond the grave, sympathetic and antipathetic relations of the Spirits, return to corporeal life, emancipation of the soul, intervention of the Spirits in the corporeal world, occupations and missions of the Spirits, nothing was hidden from us.

“I said that the Spirits were not only founding a doctrine and a philosophy, but also a religion. Indeed, they elaborated a code of morals, in which are formulated laws whose wisdom seems to me very great and, so that nothing should be lacking in it, they said what the future penalties and rewards would be and what should be understood by the words: Paradise, purgatory and hell. As one can see, it is a complete system, and I feel no embarrassment in acknowledging that if the system does not have the powerful cohesion of a philosophical work, if contradictions appear here and there, it is at least very remarkable for its originality, for its lofty moral scope, and for the unexpected solutions it gives to the delicate questions that in all times have disturbed or preoccupied the human spirit.

“I am completely a stranger to the Spiritist school; I know neither its leaders nor its adepts; I have never seen the least turning table operate; I have no contact with any medium; I have witnessed none of those supernatural or miraculous facts of which I find the incredible accounts in the Spiritist collections sent to me. I neither affirm nor absolutely reject the communications of the Spirits; I believe, a priori, that such communications are possible, and my reason is not at all alarmed by this. To believe in them, I do not need the explanation that my learned friend, Mr. Figuier, lately gave me of these facts, which he attributed to the magnetic influence of the mediums.

“I see nothing impossible in relations being established between the invisible world and ourselves. Do not ask me how and why; I know nothing about it. This is a matter of sentiment and not of mathematical demonstration. It is, then, a sentiment that I express, but a sentiment that has nothing vague about it, and in my spirit and in my heart it assumes quite precise forms.

“If, by the movement of the lungs, we draw from the infinite space that surrounds us the fluids and the vital principles necessary to our existence, it is quite evident that we are in constant and necessary relation with the invisible world. Is that world peopled by wandering spirits, like souls in pain, always ready to come at our call? Here is what is more difficult to admit, although it would also be rash to deny it completely. “Certainly we have no difficulty in believing that not all of God's creatures resemble the sad inhabitants of our planet. We are very imperfect; being subject to rather gross needs, it is not difficult for us to imagine the existence of superior beings who suffer no corporeal pain; radiant and luminous beings, spirit and matter like ourselves, but spirit more subtle and more pure, matter less dense and less heavy; fluidic messengers, who unite the universes among themselves, who sustain and encourage the stars and the diverse races that people them, with a view to the accomplishment of their tasks. “By aspiration and respiration we are in relation with the whole hierarchy of these creatures, of these beings whose existence we can neither comprehend nor whose forms we can represent; thus, it is not absolutely impossible that some of these beings should accidentally enter into relation with men. But what seems puerile to us is that the material concurrence of a table, of a planchette, or of some medium should be necessary in order for such relations to be established.

“One of two things: either these communications are useful, or they are unnecessary. If they are useful, the Spirits should not need to be summoned in a mysterious manner, nor to be evoked and questioned in order to teach men what it matters to know; if they are useless, why resort to them?

“I feel no repugnance in admitting these influences, these inspirations, these revelations, if you will. What I absolutely reject is that, under the pretext of revelation, they should come and tell me: God has spoken, therefore you shall submit. God spoke through the mouth of Moses, of Christ, of Muhammad, therefore you shall be Jews, Christians, or Muslims, or else you will incur eternal punishments; and, in the meanwhile, we shall curse you and torture you here.

“No! no! Such revelations I do not want at any price. Above all revelations, all inspirations, all prophets present, past, and future, there is a supreme law: the law of liberty. With this law as a foundation, I will admit, subject to discussion, anything that pleases you. Suppress this law and there will be only darkness and violence. I want the liberty to believe or not to believe and to say so clearly; it is my right and I want to use it; it is my liberty and I am determined to preserve it. You tell me that by not believing what you teach me, I lose my soul; that is possible. I want my liberty even to that limit; I want to lose my soul, if it pleases me. So, who here will be the judge of my salvation and of my perdition? Who, then, will be able to say: That one was saved and this one lost forever? Then would the mercy of God not be infinite? Is there anyone in the world who can fathom the abyss of a conscience? “It is because this doctrine is also found in the curious book of Mr. Allan Kardec that I reconcile myself with the Spirits whom he questioned. The laconism of their answers proves that the Spirits have no time to lose and, if I am surprised at anything, it is that they still have enough of it to answer complacently the call of so many people who lose theirs in evoking them.

“All that, in a more or less clear and more or less summary manner, is said by the Spirits whose answers Mr. Allan Kardec collected, has been set forth and developed with remarkable clarity by Michel, who, from afar, seems to be the most advanced and the most complete of all contemporary mystics. His revelation is, at the same time, a doctrine and a poem, a sound and fortifying doctrine, a brilliant poem. The only advantage I find in the questions and answers that Mr. Allan Kardec published is that they present, in a form more accessible to the great mass of readers, and above all of women readers, the principal ideas to which it is important to draw their attention. The books of Michel are not easy reading; they require a very pronounced tension of the spirit. The book of which we speak, on the contrary, may be a kind of vade mecum; we take it up, lay it down, or open it at any page: curiosity is at once awakened. The questions addressed to the Spirits are those that preoccupy us all; the answers are sometimes very weak; at other times they condense in a few words the solution of the thorniest problems and always offer a lively interest or salutary indications. I know of no course of morals more attractive, more consoling, more enchanting than this one. All the great principles on which modern civilizations are founded are there confirmed and, notably, the principle of principles: liberty! The spirit and the heart come away from it reassured and strengthened. “It is, above all, the chapters relating to the plurality of systems and to the law of collective and individual progress that have a powerful attraction and charm. For me, the Spirits of Mr. Allan Kardec taught me nothing in this respect. For a long time I had firmly believed in the progressive development of life across the worlds; that death is the threshold of a new existence, whose trials are proportioned to the merits of the previous existence. Besides, it is the old Gallic faith, it was the druidic doctrine, and in this the Spirits invented nothing; but they added a series of deductions and of excellent practical rules in the conduct of life. In this respect, as in many others, the reading of this book, independently of the interest and curiosity excited by its origin, may have a high character of usefulness for irresolute characters, for the pusillanimous souls that float in the limbo of doubt. Doubt! It is the worst of evils! It is the most horrible of prisons, and one must escape from it at any price. This strange book will help more than one creature to consolidate his life, to break the bolts of the prison, precisely because it is presented in a simple and elementary form, like a popular catechism, which all can read and understand.” After having quoted some questions on marriage and divorce, which he finds somewhat puerile and not treated to his taste, Mr. Jourdan concludes thus:

“I hasten to say, however, that not all the answers of the Spirits are as superficial as those of which I have just spoken. It is the whole of this book that is admirable, it is the general foundation that is marked by a certain grandeur and by a lively originality. Whether or not it emanates from an extranatural source, the work is surprising on several counts and, for that reason alone, it has keenly interested me and I am led to believe that it may interest a great many people.”

ANSWER.

Mr. Jourdan poses a question, or rather an objection, necessarily motivated by the insufficiency of his knowledge on the matter.

“It is not absolutely impossible – he says – that some of these beings should accidentally enter into relation with men. But what seems puerile to us is that the material concurrence of a table, of a planchette, or of some medium should be necessary in order for such relations to be established. One of two things: either these communications are useful, or they are unnecessary. If useful, the Spirits should not need to be summoned in a mysterious manner, nor to be evoked and questioned in order to teach men what it matters to know; if useless, why resort to them?” In his Philosopher by the Fireside, he adds in this regard: “Here is a dilemma from which the Spiritist school will have difficulty in escaping.”

No; it will certainly have no difficulty in escaping, for it had long since proposed it and also resolved it; and if this was not done by Mr. Jourdan, it is because he does not know everything. Now, we believe that if he had read The Mediums' Book, which treats of the practical and experimental part of Spiritism, he would have known how to settle this point.

Yes, without doubt it would be puerile, and that word, employed out of propriety by Mr. Jourdan, would be too weak; we say that it would be ridiculous, absurd, and inadmissible that, for relations as serious as those of the visible world with the invisible, the Spirits should need, in order to transmit their teachings to us, an instrument as common as a table, a basket, or a planchette, because it would follow from this that whoever was deprived of such accessories would also be deprived of their lessons. No, it is not so. The Spirits being nothing but the souls of men, stripped of the gross envelope of the body, there have been Spirits ever since there have been men in the Universe (we do not say on Earth); these Spirits constitute the invisible world that peoples the spaces, that surrounds us and in the midst of which we live without suspecting it, just as we likewise live, without perceiving it, in the midst of the microscopic world. In all times these Spirits have exercised their influence over the visible world; in all times those who are good and wise have aided genius by inspirations, while others limit themselves to guiding us in the ordinary acts of life; but these inspirations, which occur through the transmission of thought to thought, are hidden and can leave no material trace. If the Spirit wishes to manifest itself in an ostensible manner, it must act upon matter; if it wishes its teaching, instead of expressing the confusion and uncertainty of thought, to have precision and stability, it cannot dispense with material signs and, for this – may the expression be permitted us – it makes use of whatever falls into its hand, provided it is under the conditions appropriate to its nature. It uses a pen or pencil, if it wishes to write, any object whatever, a table or a saucepan, if it wishes to rap, without being humiliated by it. Is there anything more common than a goose quill? Is it not with this that the greatest geniuses bequeath their masterpieces to posterity? Take from them every means of writing; what do they do? They think; but their thoughts are lost, if no one gathers them. Suppose a one-handed man of letters: how does he manage? He has a secretary, who transcribes his dictation. Now, as the Spirits cannot hold the pen without an intermediary, they have it held by someone who is called a medium, whom they inspire and direct. Sometimes this medium acts with knowledge of the cause: it is the medium properly speaking; at other times he acts in a manner unconscious of the cause that solicits him: this is the case of all inspired men who are thus mediums without knowing it. One sees, then, that the question of tables and planchettes is entirely accessory and not the principal one, as those who are not well informed believe. They were the prelude to the great and powerful means of communication, just as the alphabet is the prelude to fluent reading. The second part of the dilemma is no less easy to resolve. “If these communications are useful – says Mr. Jourdan – the Spirits should not need to be summoned in a mysterious manner, to be evoked…”

To begin with, let us say that it is not for us to regulate what takes place in the world of the Spirits; we cannot say: Things must or must not be in this or that way, for that would be to wish to govern the work of God. The Spirits do indeed wish to initiate us in part into their world, because that world is perhaps our own tomorrow. It is for us to take it just as it is and, if it does not suit us, it will be neither more nor less, because God will not change it for us.

This said, let us hasten to say that there is never any mysterious and cabalistic evocation; everything is done simply, in full light and without any obligatory formula. Those who judge such things necessary are ignorant of the first elements of the Spiritist science.

In the second place, if Spiritist communications could exist only as a consequence of an evocation, it would follow that they would be a privilege of those who know how to evoke, and that the immense majority of those who have never heard speak of these things would be at a disadvantage. Now, this would be in contradiction with what we said a moment ago, regarding the hidden and spontaneous communications. These are for everyone, for the small as for the great, the rich as for the poor, the ignorant as for the learned. The Spirits who protect us, the relatives and friends we have lost have no need to be summoned; they are beside us and, though invisible, surround us with their solicitude; our thought alone suffices to attract them, by proving to them our affection, because, if we do not think of them, it is quite natural that they should not think of us.

You will ask, then: Evoke them for what? Here it is. Suppose that you are in the street, surrounded by a compact crowd, that speaks and murmurs in your ears; but among that number you perceive in the distance an acquaintance to whom you wish to speak in private. What do you do, if you cannot go to him? You call, and he comes to you. It is the same with the Spirits. Beside those whom we esteem and who perhaps are not always there, there exists the crowd of the indifferent. If you wish to make a particular Spirit speak, since you cannot go to him, held back as you are by the corporeal fetter, you call him; in this consists the whole mystery of the evocation, which has no other purpose than to direct you to whomever you wish, and not to give ear to the first one who presents himself. In the hidden and spontaneous communications, of which we spoke a moment ago, the Spirits who assist us are unknown to us; they do it without our knowing it; by means of the material manifestations, written or otherwise, they reveal their presence in a patent manner and can make themselves known, should they wish it: it is a means of knowing with whom one is dealing and whether we have around us friends or enemies. Now, enemies are not lacking in the world of the Spirits, as among men. There, as here, the most dangerous are those whom we do not know. Practical Spiritism gives us the means of knowing them. In short, whoever knows Spiritism only through the turning tables forms of it an idea as petty and as puerile as one who knew Physics only through certain childish toys. But, the further one advances, the more the horizon broadens; only then does one understand its true scope, because it unveils to us one of the most powerful forces of Nature, a force that acts at the same time upon the moral world and the physical world. No one disputes the reaction exercised upon us by the material environment, visible or invisible, in which we are immersed. If we are in a crowd, that crowd of beings also acts upon us, morally and physically.

When we die, our souls go somewhere. Where do they go? Since there is for them no closed and circumscribed place, Spiritism says and proves by facts that this somewhere is space; they form around us an innumerable population. Now, how can we admit that this intelligent environment should have less action than the unintelligent environment? Therein lies the key to a great number of misunderstood facts, which man interprets according to his prejudices and which he exploits at the whim of the passions. When these things are understood by all, the prejudices will disappear and progress will be able to follow its march without hindrance. Spiritism is a light that illuminates the most shadowy recesses of society; it is, then, quite natural that those who fear the light should seek to extinguish it. But, when the light has penetrated everything, those who seek darkness will have to resolve to live in full light; we shall then see many masks fall. Every man who truly wishes for progress cannot remain indifferent to one of the causes that must most contribute to it and that is preparing one of the greatest moral revolutions hitherto undergone by Humanity. As one can see, we are far from the turning tables: it is that there is also the same distance from this modest beginning to its consequences as there was from Newton's apple to universal gravitation. [1]

[v. Louis Jourdan.]

[2] 1 vol. In-12; price 3 fr. Dentu Bookshop.

[3] Translator's note: The author refers to the plurality of inhabited worlds, one of the fundamental principles of the Doctrine of the Spirits.