Carrère.

— As is known, the identity of the Spirits who manifest is one of the difficulties of Spiritism; and the means employed for its verification often lead to negative results. In this regard, the best proofs are those originating from the spontaneity of the communications. Although such proofs, when well characterized, are not rare, it is well to record them: first, for one's own satisfaction, and as an object of study; then, to answer those who deny their possibility, probably because they were either ill-conducted and did not achieve success, or because they hold preconceived ideas. We shall repeat what we have already said elsewhere: the identity of Spirits who lived in remote times and who come to transmit teachings to us is almost impossible to verify, and only a relative importance should be attached to the names. Is what they say good or bad, rational or illogical, worthy or unworthy of the name they sign? Therein lies the whole question. The same is not the case with contemporary Spirits, whose habits and character are known to us, who can prove their identity by particularities and details—particularities that are rarely obtained when asked for and for which one must know how to wait. Such is the fact related in the following letter:

— “Bordeaux, January 25, 1862.

“My dear Mr. Kardec, “You know that we are in the habit of submitting all our works to you, relying entirely on your insight and your experience to appraise them. Thus, when it concerns cases of admirable identity, we limit ourselves to narrating them to you in all their details.

“Mr. Guipon, accounting inspector of the Southern Railway Company, member of the directing group of the Spiritist Society of Bordeaux, wrote me the following letter, dated the 14th of this month:

“My dear Mr. Sabò, “Allow me to ask you to evoke, in session, the Spirit of Carrère, deputy team leader at the Bordeaux railway station, killed while directing a maneuver last September 18. Enclosed and in a separate envelope are the details of the facts I wish to be verified and which, I imagine, would be for us a serious subject of study and instruction. I beg the favor that you not open the envelope until after the evocation.”

L. Guipon.

— On the 18th of the same month, in a gathering of about ten distinguished persons of our city, we made the requested evocation:

Evocation of the Spirit of Carrère.

Answer. – Here I am.

What is your position in the world of Spirits?

Answer. – I am neither happy nor unhappy. Besides, I am often on Earth; I show myself to someone who is not very content to see me.

With what aim do you manifest to that person?

Answer. – Ah! you see, I was about to die; I was afraid and they were afraid of me. They were looking everywhere for a Christ to help me cross the difficult passage from life to death, and the person to whom I show myself had one, but refused to lend it, so that it might be placed upon my dying lips and laid between my hands, as a pledge of peace and love. Well then! she will have to see me for a long time around the Christ; there she will always see me. Now I am leaving. I feel ill here. Let me depart. Farewell. Immediately after this evocation I opened the sealed envelope, which contained the following details:

“On the occasion of the death of Carrère, deputy team leader in Bordeaux, killed last December 18, Mr. Beautey, head of the P V railway station, had the body carried to the passenger station and ordered a man of the team to go to his home, in order to ask Mrs. Beautey for the image of a Christ to place upon the corpse. This lady answered that the Christ was broken and, consequently, that she could not lend it.

“Around the 10th of this current January, Mrs. Beautey confessed to her husband that the Christ she had refused was not broken; that she had not wished to lend it so as not to have to experience again the emotions consequent upon a similar accident, which had occurred some time ago and under more or less the same conditions. She then added that, henceforth, she would never refuse anything to a dead man, and justified herself thus: — During the whole night of that man's death, he remained visible to me; I saw him for a long time, stationed around the Christ, then beside it. “Mrs. Beautey, who had never seen nor heard of that man, described him to her husband with such exactness that he recognized him as if he had been present. Moreover, it is not the first time that, in a waking state, Mrs. Beautey sees Spirits. However, one fact drew attention: the Spirit of Carrère impressed her considerably, which did not happen to her on seeing other Spirits. – (Signed) Guipon.”

Further below is found the following citation:

“This narrative is perfectly exact.

“Signed: Beautey, station master.”

I judged it my duty to relate the case of identity I have just set forth, very rare, moreover, and occurring surely with the permission of God, who employs all means to strike at incredulity and indifference.

If you judge it useful to publish this interesting episode, you will find below the signatures of the persons who attended the session. They charge me with telling you that their names may be clearly stated and that, in these circumstances, to keep anonymity would be an error. The proper names that figure in the minute details of Carrère's evocation may also be published.

Your devoted servant, A. Sabò.

We attest that the details related in the present letter are truthful in every point and we do not hesitate to confirm them with our signature.

A. Sabò, head of accounting of the Southern Railway Company, 13, rue Barennes. – Ch. Collignon, capitalist, rue Sauce, 12. – Émilie Collignon, capitalist. – L'Angle, employee of the indirect contributions, rue Pèlegrin, 28. – widow Cazemajoux. – Guipon, inspector of accounting and revenues of the Southern railways, 119, chemin de Bègles. – Ulrichs, merchant, rue des Chartrons, 17. – Chain, merchant. – Jouanni, employee of Mr. Arman, shipbuilder, rue Capenteyre, 26. – Gourgues, merchant, chemin de Saint-Genès, 64. – Belly, mechanic, rue Lafurterie, 39. – Hubert, captain of the 88th of the line. – Puginier, lieutenant of the same regiment. As usual, the incredulous will not fail to attribute the case to imagination. They will say, for example, that Mrs. Beautey's mind was shaken by the refusal and that remorse made her believe she saw Carrère. Let us grant that this is possible; but the deniers, who concern themselves little with analyzing before judging, do not examine whether some circumstance escapes their theory. How will they explain the description she gave of a man she had never seen? “It is chance,” they will say. — As for the evocation, will you also say that the medium merely translated her thought, or that of the assistants, considering that the circumstances were unknown? Is it chance again? — No; but among those present was Mr. Guipon, author of the sealed letter and acquainted with the fact. Now, his thought could have been transmitted to the medium, by the current of fluids, since mediums are always in a state of feverish overexcitation, maintained and provoked by the concentration of those present and by their own will. In this abnormal state which, according to Mr. Figuier, is nothing but a biological state, there are emanations that escape from the brain and give exceptional perceptions, arising from the expansion of the fluids, which establish relations between the persons present, and even absent ones. You see, then, by this explanation, as clear as it is logical, that there is no need to resort to the intervention of your supposed Spirits, who exist only in your imagination. [see History of the marvelous and the supernatural.] – We confess with all humility that such reasoning surpasses our intelligence, and we ask whether you yourselves understand it well.