Spiritism in the prisons.

— In the Review of November 1863 we published the letter of a convict, detained in a penitentiary, as proof of the moralizing influence of Spiritism. The following letter, from a convict in another prison, is one more example of this powerful influence. It is dated December 27, 1863; we transcribe it textually, as to style, correcting only the spelling errors.

“Sir, “A few days ago, when I was first spoken to of Spiritism and of revelation from beyond the grave, I laughed and said that this was not possible; I spoke as the ignorant man I am. Some days later they had the kindness to entrust to me, in the horrible position in which I now find myself, your good and excellent The Spirits’ Book. At first, I read a few pages with incredulity, not wishing, or rather, not believing in this science. At last, little by little and without realizing it, I took a liking to it; then I took the matter seriously; so I reread your book a second time, this time in a different spirit, that is, with calm and with all the little intelligence that God gave me. I felt awaken that old faith which my mother had placed in my heart and which had been dozing for a long time; I felt the desire to enlighten myself about Spiritism. From that moment I had a quite resolved thought, that of enlightening myself, learning, seeing, and then judging. I set to work with all the belief that one can have and that one must have in God and His power; I desired to see the truth; I prayed with fervor and began the experiments; the first were null, without any result. “I did not become discouraged, I persevered in my experiments and, upon my word of honor! I renewed my prayers, which perhaps were not fervent enough, and I gave myself over to the work with all the conviction of a believing soul that hopes. After a few nights, for I can only do experiments at night, I felt, for about ten minutes, trembling in the tips of my fingers and a slight sensation in my arm, as if I had felt a little stream of warm water running, which stopped at the wrist. I was then entirely recollected, all attention and full of faith. My pencil traced a few lines perfectly legible, but not correct enough to disbelieve that I was under the weight of a hallucination. I then waited patiently for the following night to begin the experiments again and, this time, I thanked God with all my heart, for having obtained more than I dared to hope.

“From then on, every other night I converse with the Spirits, who are good enough to respond to my call and, in less than ten minutes, always respond with charity. I write half-pages, whole pages, which my intelligence would not be capable of producing, for, very often, they are philosophical-religious treatises of which I never thought and, with all the more reason, never put into practice; because I said to myself at the first results: Will you not be the plaything of a hallucination, or of your own will? And reflection and examination proved to me that I was very far from the intelligence that had traced those lines. I bowed my head; I believed and could not go against the evidence, unless I were completely mad. “I have sent two or three interviews to the person who had done me the charity of entrusting your good book to me, so that she may sanction whether I am correct. I come to ask you, sir, you who are the soul of Spiritism, the favor of permitting me to send you whatever serious things I obtain in my conversations from beyond the grave, provided you judge it fitting. If this is agreeable to you, I will send you the conversations of Verger, n who assassinated the Archbishop of Paris. To assure myself well that it was indeed he who was manifesting, I evoked Saint Louis, who answered me affirmatively, as did another Spirit, in whom I have much confidence, etc.…”

— The moral consequences of this fact deduce themselves. Here is a man who had abjured all belief and who, struck by the law, is confounded with the dregs of society; but this man, in the midst of that moral mire, returned to faith; he sees the abyss into which he has fallen, he repents and ah! he prays with more fervor than many people who display devotion. For this the reading of a book sufficed, where he found elements of faith that his reason could admit, which revived his hopes and made him understand the future. Moreover, it is to be noted that, at first, he read with prejudice and his incredulity was overcome only by the ascendancy of logic. If such results are produced by a simple reading, done, so to speak, in secret, what would it be if to it could be allied the influence of verbal exhortations! It is quite certain that in the disposition of spirit in which these two men find themselves today (see the fact related in the issue of last November), not only will they not complain during their detention, but they will return to the world resolved to live honestly in it. Since these two guilty men could be led back to good by the faith they drew from Spiritism, it is evident that, had they had this faith beforehand, they would not have committed the evil. It is, then, in the interest of society to propagate a doctrine of such great moralizing power. This is what is beginning to be understood.

Another consequence to be drawn from the fact we have just narrated is that the Spirits are not held back by bolts and that they go to the bottom of the dungeons to bring their consolations. Thus, it is in no one’s power to prevent them from manifesting themselves in one way or another; if not by writing, then by hearing. They defy all prohibitions, they laugh at all interdictions, they cross all sanitary cordons. Consequently, what barriers can the enemies of Spiritism oppose to them? [1]

[Heaven and Hell.

— Part 2.]