Reply to the Abeille Agénaise.

The following may be read in the Abeille Agénaise of May 25, 1862:

“We have in hand a writing of charming grace, entitled: Spiritist Conversations. The author, Mr. Cazenove de Pradines, former president of the Society of Agriculture, Sciences, and Arts of Agen, recently entrusted Mr. Magen with the pleasure and the task of reading it in our Academy. Needless to say with what interest the communication was received.

“Thus does Mr. Cazenove summarize the doctrines of the new sect, drawing them from The Spirits’ Book:

“1st – Generally the Spirits of an elevated order do not remain on Earth except for a short period.

“2nd – Common spirits are here in a certain way sedentary and constitute the mass of the surrounding population of the invisible world. They have kept more or less the same tastes and inclinations they had in the corporeal covering. Being unable to satisfy their passions, they take advantage of those who give themselves over to them and excite them.

“3rd – Only inferior spirits can lament the joys that harmonize with the impurity of their nature.

“4th – Spirits cannot degenerate; they may remain stationary, but they do not retrogress.

“5th – All spirits will become perfect.

“6th – Imperfect spirits seek to seize and dominate men; they feel happy to make them succumb.

“7th – Spirits are attracted by reason of their sympathy for the moral nature of the medium that evokes them. Often inferior spirits take venerated names, in order the better to lead into error.

“In accordance with these data, Mr. Cazenove, with the subtlety and the sagacity of the talent that characterizes him, composed two interviews, in which he touches the two extremes of the social body. By means of a supposed medium, on the one hand he evokes inferior spirits, personified in the figure of a celebrated bandit of Cartouche, and admits them to a singular colloquy, which demonstrates the perversity of such a doctrine. On the other hand, it is Spirits of an elevated order who enter into relation with the men of the present day. The contrast, without doubt, is interesting, and no one has rendered with more fidelity, tact, and felicity all that the epicurean doctrine, summarized in the Spirit of Horace and of Lucretius, contains of the deplorable and the deceitful. “We deeply regret being unable to give our readers in its entirety the work of Mr. Cazenove. We are certain that they would applaud not only the irreproachable and perfectly academic form of the writing, but also the elevated moral thought that animates it, since it condemns without indulgence a system full of seductions and of true dangers.”

J. Serret.

REPLY OF MR. DOMBRE.

Mr. Editor, I was the first to appreciate the fine and delicate observations made by Mr. Cazenove de Pradines in the domain of the Spiritist Doctrine. Under the title of Spiritist Conversations, the writing has been in my hands, and mention is made of it in your esteemed paper of Sunday, May 25; it is, in fact, of a charming grace and does not belie the character of sagacity of the talent that distinguishes its author. It is a flower, whose colors and brilliance I admire, refraining, for the moment, from altering the velvety bloom by the contact of the least word of indiscreet criticism. But your enthusiasm for these piquant dialogues, more witty than offensive to the doctrine, has led you to enunciate errors, and it is the duty of every good Spiritist, of myself in particular, to give you a warning. First of all, I must say that the quotations chosen here and there in The Spirits’ Book are grouped with art, in order to present the doctrine in an unfavorable light; but every prudent man of good faith will wish to read that book in its entirety and to meditate.

1st – You speak of the doctrines of the new sect. Permit me to say to you that Spiritism is neither a religion nor a sect. It is a teaching given to men by the spirits who people space and who are nothing other than the souls of those who have lived. In spite of ourselves, we undergo their influence at every instant; they are a force of Nature, as electricity also is, from another point of view. Their existence and their presence are attested by evident and palpable facts. 2nd – You say: The perversity of such a doctrine. Take care! Spiritism is nothing other than Christianity in its purity. It has only as its device, on its banner, this: Love and Charity. Where, then, is the perversity?

3rd – Finally, you speak of a system full of seductions and of true dangers. Yes, it is full of seductions, of attractions, because it is beautiful, great, just, consoling, and worthy, from every point of view, of the perfection of God. Where are its dangers? In vain are they sought in the practice of Spiritism; there one finds only consolation and moral improvement. Ask Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux, Metz, etc., what effect has been produced upon the masses by this new belief. Above all Lyon will tell you from what source its workers without work drew so much resignation and fortitude to endure privations of every kind. I do not know whether the booksellers of Agen have already stocked the books indicated hereafter: What Is Spiritism? – The Spirits’ Book – The Mediums’ Book. But I desire with all my heart that your little report may awaken the attention of the indifferent, make them seek out these works and form a Spiritist nucleus in the capital of our Department. Destined to regenerate the world, this doctrine marches with giant strides, and would Agen be one of the last cities where Spiritism acquired the right of citizenship? I consider your little article as a stone that you bring to the edifice and, once more, I admire the means of which God makes use to attain His ends. “Your impartiality and your desire to arrive at the truth through discussion are a guarantee that you will admit my letter into the columns of your paper, as a reply to your article of May 25.

“Accept, etc.”

Dombre, (of Marmande.)

To this letter the editor limited himself, in the edition of his paper of June 1st, to saying the following:

“Mr. Dombre writes to us from Marmande regarding our reflections on The Spirits’ Book and the dialogues it suggested to the honorable Mr. Cazenove de Pradines. This new teaching, as Mr. Dombre saw fit to call it, does not have in our eyes the same value and the same prestige that it seems to exert upon our witty correspondent.

(On various occasions Mr. Dombre has sent to this paper passages in verse and others.)

“We respect the convictions of our opponents, even when they are founded on erroneous principles. But we consider it a duty, notwithstanding the loyal and sincere defense attempted by Mr. Dombre, to maintain the expression of a sentiment about a system completely outside the paths of truth.

“Consequently, the Abeille Agénaise could not devote itself to the propagation of ideas essentially dangerous, and Mr. Dombre will understand all the regret we feel at being unable to associate ourselves with the manifestation of his wishes.”

J. Serret Observation. – To reserve the right to attack and not to admit a reply is a convenient means of being in the right; it remains to be seen whether it is the means of arriving at the truth. If a doctrine that has as its basis charity and love of one’s neighbor; that makes men better and leads them to renounce habits of disorder; that gives faith to those who believe in nothing; that makes those pray who pray no longer; that reestablishes union in divided families; that prevents suicide; if, we were saying, such a doctrine is perverse, what then shall be said of those which become powerless to produce such results? Mr. Serret fears to help the propaganda through polemic, which is why he prefers to speak alone. Well then! let him speak as much as he wishes; the result, however, will be no less than it has been everywhere: to draw attention and recruit adherents for the doctrine. A. K.