Spiritist Circle of Tours.

— Gentlemen, “First of all, I must thank the protecting Spirits of our small nascent society for having designated me to preside over it. I shall endeavor to justify the choice, which honors me, by watching scrupulously so that the labors of our meetings always have a serious and moral character, an objective we must never lose sight of, under penalty of exposing ourselves to many disappointments.

“What have we come here to seek, gentlemen, far from the tumult of worldly affairs? The science of our destinies. Yes, all of us who are in this modest enclosure, which, I hope, will grow and rise by the grandeur and magnanimity of the objective we pursue, have yielded to the very natural desire to lift the thick veil that conceals from poor humans the dreadful mystery of death, and to learn whether it is true, as a false science teaches – and as so many unhappy and misguided Spirits unfortunately believe – that the tomb closes the book of man’s destinies.

“I well know that God has placed in the heart of each one a torch destined to light his steps along the rough paths of life: reason; and a balance to weigh all things according to their just value: justice. But when the living and pure light of that guiding torch, ever more weakened by the impure breath of perverted passions, is about to be extinguished; when that balance of justice is falsified by error, by falsehood; when the cancer of materialism, after having invaded everything, even the religions, threatens to devour everything, it is necessary that the Supreme Judge come at last, by prodigies of His omnipotence, by unusual manifestations capable of violently calling attention, to rectify the paths of Humanity and draw it back from the abyss. “At the point of moral degradation into which modern societies have fallen, under the influence of false and pernicious doctrines, tolerated, if not encouraged, by the very ones whose special mission it is to repress them; in the midst of that general indifference to everything that is not matter, of that scandalous, exclusive sensualism, of that hitherto unknown frenzy of enrichment at any price, of that unbridled cult of the golden calf, of that disordered passion for profit, which engenders egoism, freezes all hearts, falsifying all intelligences, and tends to the dissolution of social bonds, the communications from beyond the tomb may be regarded as a divine revelation, made necessary as a call to order on the part of Providence, which cannot let its favorite creature perish without succor. And, with the rapidity with which the teachings of the Spiritist Doctrine are spreading to all points of the globe, it is easy to foresee that the hour is approaching when Humanity, after a pause, will cross over to a new stage, will subject itself to a new phase of development in its intermittent progression across the centuries. “As for us, gentlemen, we thank Providence for having chosen us to spread and to make fruitful in this little corner of the Earth the Spiritist seed, and thus to cooperate, to the measure of our strength, in the great work of moral regeneration that is being prepared.

“Concerning a medical question, I am at this moment occupied, as some among you know, with an important philosophical work, in which I attempt to explain, rationally, the physiological phenomena of Spiritism and to correlate them with general philosophy. Before publishing that work, essentially anti-materialist, which is as yet only a sketch, I propose to communicate it to you, so that you may give your opinion as to the appropriateness of submitting, for the approval of the elevated Spirits who honor us with their assistance, the principal points of doctrine that it contains. Moreover, we might find there, previously prepared and methodically arranged, the majority of the questions that ought to constitute the object of our Spiritist conversations. “We must never lose sight, gentlemen, of the essential goal of Spiritism, which is the destruction of materialism by the experimental proof of the survival of the human soul. If the dead answer our call, if they place themselves in communication with us, it is because in fact they are not dead; it is because the last gasp of agony did not mark for them the definitive end of existence. All the sermons in the world, on this subject, are not worth an argument such as this.

“This is why it is our duty, as believers, to spread the light around us and not to enclose it under the bushel, that is, in this small enclosure, which on the contrary must become, through our zeal, a focus of irradiation. Does this mean that we must invite the whole world to our meetings, welcome the first comer who shows curiosity to see us at work, as though it were a matter of watching how a conjuror operates? That would be to expose to ridicule, in a disastrous manner, the most serious thing in the world, and to compromise ourselves. But whenever a person, of whose good faith we have no reason to be suspicious, has acquired notions of Spiritism in the reading of special works and desires to witness the facts, we must accede to his request. Only it will be well to regulate these modalities of admission and not to admit to our sessions any person who is a stranger without the society, being consulted, having previously given its authorization. “Gentlemen, when scarcely two years ago we were observing, with one of our secretaries, in the house of a mutual friend, the most surprising Spiritist phenomena of a mechanical and intellectual order, notwithstanding the evidence of the facts of which we were witnesses and despite our profound conviction that those extraordinary manifestations took place outside the known natural laws, we scarcely dared to express timidly our intimate knowledge, so great was the fear that they might cast doubt on the integrity of our reason. The Spirits’ Book, then little known in Tours, was still in its first or, at most, its second edition; in a word, at that time it had scarcely crossed the limits of the capital. Well then! see what immense progress in the space of three years! Today Spiritism has penetrated everywhere, has adherents in all classes of society; meetings and groups more or less numerous are being organized in all the cities, great or small, awaiting the turn of the villages. Today the Spiritist works are displayed in all the bookshops, which have difficulty in satisfying the demand of a clientele eager to be initiated into the great mysteries of the evocations. Today, in short, popularized, more or less known by all, Spiritism is no longer a bogey, a sign of reprobation or of disdain, and we can courageously, without fear of passing for madmen, confess the purpose of our meetings. We can defy mockery and sarcasm and say to the scoffers: “Before ridiculing us, deign at least to count us and to weigh us.” “As for the anathema of a party, we consider its reach too feeble to disturb ourselves over it. They say that we have a pact with the devil. So be it. But, then, it must be conceded that not all devils are wicked. In their eyes, our true crime is our pretension, certainly very legitimate, of communicating with God and His saints, without their compulsory intermediation. Let us prove to them that, thanks to the teachings of those whom they call demons, we understand the sublime morality of the Gospel, which is summed up in the love of God and of our fellow beings, and in universal charity. Let us embrace all of Humanity, without distinction of worship, of race, of origin and, with stronger reason, of family, of fortune and of social condition. Let them know that our God, the God of the Spiritists, is not a cruel and vengeful tyrant, who punishes an instant of folly with eternal tortures, but a good and merciful father, who watches over His misguided children with an unceasing solicitude, seeking to draw them to Himself by a series of trials destined to wash them of all stains. Is it not written that God does not desire the death of the sinner, but his conversion? “As for the rest, we expressly reserve to ourselves, here as everywhere, the imprescriptible rights of reason, which must dominate everything, judge everything in last instance. We do not say to the recalcitrant, leading them to the foot of the pyre: Believe or die, but, believe, if your reason wills it.

“One more word to conclude, gentlemen, for I do not wish to abuse your attention. The institution of our society having, nor being able to have, no other end than our instruction and our moral improvement, we must keep away from our sessions, with the greatest care, every question connected directly or indirectly with persons, with politics and with material interests. The study of man in relation to his future destiny, such is our program, which we must never renounce.”

Chauvet, Doctor of Medicine.

— This discourse is followed by a communication obtained spontaneously by a medium of the society:

“My friends, the end of your society is to instruct yourselves and to lead back the strayed man to the light, so long obscured by the shadows that reign in this century. You must not regard this instruction as coming to enlighten you on questions of law or of science; it comes simply to predispose you to enter the new path of regeneration, which you must travel without fear, placing your confidence in the instructions you receive. You have nothing to fear, because God watches over the man who does good and does not abandon him.

“I heard you discuss concerning an article of the regulation on the admission of persons foreign to your society. Listen a little to the counsels of a friend, or rather of a brother who speaks to you, not with the mouth, but with the heart, not materially, but spiritually; for, believe it, when I crossed, in order to come to you, all the degrees of the impure Spirits, the space to traverse did not seem painful to me, for I saw your heart animated by sentiments of good.

“When a stranger asks to attend your meetings, before admitting him have him come privately to your office and, in conversation, sound out his sentiments and see whether he is instructed in the new doctrine. If you discover in him the desire for good and not mere curiosity; if he comes animated by serious intentions, then you may admit him without fear. But repel whoever comes with the thought of disturbing the sessions and despising your teachings. Think also that spies insinuate themselves everywhere; Jesus Himself had His own.

“If someone presents himself saying he is a Spiritist or a medium, do not receive him without knowing with whom you are dealing. You are not unaware that there are mediums full of frivolities and of pride and who, for that very reason, attract only frivolous Spirits. It is often said: birds of a feather flock together. A true Spiritist must have no other sentiment than that of good and of charity, without which he cannot be assisted by the enlightened Spirits.

“Certainly the loss of a medium may leave a void among you, but, for that reason, one must not believe that you will no longer have instructions from us; we shall always be ready to come to assist you in your labors, as long as God permits it. If a good medium is taken from you, it is that God certainly destines him for another mission, which He judges more useful. Who knows what awaits him? There are things that man cannot understand and which, nevertheless, he must accept.

“The path you are going to travel, my friends, is difficult to climb, but, with the help of your brothers, who are above you, you will succeed.

“On another occasion I hope to instruct you on graver questions.”

Signed: Fénelon. n [1]

[see Fénelon.]