Reply to the invitation of the Spiritists of Lyon and of Bordeaux.

— My dear brothers and Spiritist friends of Lyon.

I hasten to tell you how sensible I am to the new testimony of sympathy that you have just given me, with the kind and affectionate invitation to visit you again this year. I accept it with pleasure, because, for me, it is always a happiness to find myself in your midst.

My friends: great is my joy on seeing the family grow visibly; it is the most eloquent reply to the foolish and ignoble attacks against Spiritism. It seems that such growth increases their fury, because this very day I received a letter from Lyon, announcing the dispatch of a newspaper of that city, La France littéraire, in which the doctrine in general, and my works in particular, are ridiculed in so infamous a manner that they ask me whether they should reply through the press or through the courts. I say that they should reply with contempt. If the doctrine were making no progress, if my works had not taken root, no one would be disturbed and they would say nothing. It is our successes that exasperate the enemies. Let us leave them, then, to give free expansion to their impotent rage, for this rage shows how near they feel their defeat to be; they are not so foolish as to struggle for a stillbirth. The more ignoble their attacks, the less they are to be feared, because they are despised by honest people and prove that those have no good reasons to oppose, since they only know how to utter insults. Continue, then, my friends, the great work of regeneration, begun under such happy auspices, and soon you will reap the fruits of your perseverance. Prove, above all by union and by the practice of good, that Spiritism is the guarantee of peace and concord among men, and bring it about that, in seeing you, one may say that it would be desirable for all to be Spiritists.

I feel happy, my friends, to see so many groups united in the same sentiment, marching in common accord toward the noble aim we set ourselves. That aim being exactly the same for all, there could be no divisions; one same banner must guide you and on it is written: Outside charity there is no salvation. Be assured that it is around it that all Humanity will feel the need to gather, when it grows weary of the struggles engendered by pride, by envy, and by cupidity. This maxim, true anchor of salvation, because it will be the repose after fatigue, Spiritism will have the glory of being the first to have proclaimed it. Inscribe it in all places of meeting and in your residences. May it, henceforth, be the word of union among all sincere men, who want the good, without personal ulterior motive. But do better still: engrave it in your hearts and, from now on, you will enjoy the calm and serenity that future generations will find there, when it is the basis of social relations. You are the vanguard; you must set the example, in order to encourage others to follow you. Do not forget that the tactic of your enemies, incarnate and disincarnate, is to divide you. Prove to them that they will lose their time if they try to stir up among the groups sentiments of envy and rivalry, which would be an apostasy of the true Christian Spiritist doctrine.

The five hundred signatures that subscribe the invitation you saw fit to send me represent a protest against that attempt, and there are still several others which I shall have the pleasure of seeing there. In my eyes it is more than a mere formula: it is a commitment to march in the paths that the good Spirits trace for us. I will preserve them preciously, because one day they will form part of the glorious archives of Spiritism.

One more word, my friends. In going to see you, one thing I desire: it is that there be no banquet, and this for several reasons. I do not want my visit to be the occasion for expenses that could prevent the presence of some and deprive me of the pleasure of seeing all gathered. The times are difficult; it matters, then, not to make useless expenses. The money this would cost will be better employed in aid to those who, later, will be in need of it. I tell you this in all sincerity: the thought of what you would do for me in such a circumstance could be a cause of privation for many and would take from me all the pleasure of the gathering. I am not going to Lyon to exhibit myself, nor to receive homage, but to converse with you, to console the afflicted, to encourage the weak, to help you with my counsels in whatever it is in my power to do. And the most agreeable thing you can offer me is the spectacle of a good, frank, and solid union. Believe that the so affectionate terms of your invitation are worth more to me than all the banquets of the world, even were they offered in a palace. What would remain to me of a banquet? Nothing, whereas your invitation remains as a precious remembrance and a pledge of your affection. Until soon, my friends; God willing I shall have the pleasure of pressing your hands cordially.

A. K.

TO MR. SABÒ, OF BORDEAUX.

I feel touched by the desire that many Spiritists of Bordeaux have shown me, to see me again this year among them. If no unforeseen obstacle arises, I have the intention of paying them a small visit, were it only to thank them for the good welcome of last year. But I would be very grateful to you if you would communicate to them that I do not wish there to be a banquet. I do not go into your midst to receive ovations, but to give instructions to those who feel the need of them and with whom I shall have the pleasure of conversing. Some wished to give my visit the name of pastoral visit; I do not wish it to have any other character. Believe that I feel more honored by a frank and cordial welcome, as simple as possible, than by a ceremonious reception which suits neither my character, nor my habits, nor my principles. If among them union did not reign, it would not be a banquet that would produce it: on the contrary. If it exists, it can manifest itself in another way, and not by a feast, in which self-love can find a refuge, but which would not touch a true Spiritist, nor by a useless expense, which would be better employed to relieve misfortune. Pool your contributions, then, on my behalf, if you wish, and permit me to add my mite; but, instead of wasting the money, let it serve to feed those who lack the necessary. Then it will be a feast of the heart, not of the stomach. It is preferable to be blessed by the unfortunate than to be so by the cooks. The sincerity of union is translated by acts and, even more, by intimate acts than by ostentatious demonstrations. May I, everywhere, be able to see peace and concord reign in the great family; may each one set aside vain susceptibilities, puerile rivalries, daughters of pride; may they have but one aim: the triumph and the propagation of the doctrine, and may all contribute with zeal, perseverance, and abnegation of all interest and of all personal vanity. Behold what for me will be a true feast, what would fill me with satisfaction and would allow me to bring from my second stay in Bordeaux the most tender and agreeable remembrance.

I beg you communicate my intentions to our Spiritist brothers and believe me, etc.

A. K.

We judged it well to publish these two replies, in order that there be no mistake as to the sentiments that guide us in the visits we make to the Spiritist centers. We take the opportunity to thank those of other cities who made us a similar invitation, regretting that time does not permit us to go everywhere. We will do so successively.

At the moment when the replies were being printed, a most amiable invitation was made to us in the name of the members of the Spiritist Society of Vienna, Austria. To our great sorrow, we are entirely unable to go there this year.