Spiritism in Belgium.

— Yielding to the insistent solicitations of our Spiritist brothers of Brussels and of Antwerp, we paid them a brief visit this year and we have the satisfaction of saying that we brought back the most favorable impression of the development of the doctrine in that country. There we found a greater number of adherents than we expected, devoted and enlightened. The sympathetic welcome given to us in those two cities left us a remembrance that will never be effaced, and we count the moments spent there among the most agreeable for us. Being unable to send our thanks to each one in particular, we should like them to receive them here collectively.

Upon returning to Paris, we found a message from the members of the Spiritist Society of Brussels, which touched us profoundly. We preserve it preciously as a testimony of their sympathy, but they will easily understand the reasons that prevent us from publishing it in our Review. Nevertheless, there is a passage that imposes upon us the duty of bringing it to the knowledge of our readers, because the fact revealed says more than long phrases about the manner in which certain persons understand the object of Spiritism. It is conceived thus:

“In commemoration of your journey to Belgium, our group has resolved to endow a child's bed in the day nursery of Saint Josse Tennoode.”

For us, nothing could be more flattering than such a testimony. The founding of a work of beneficence, in memory of our visit, is a proof of great esteem, which honors us far more than the most brilliant receptions that might flatter the self-love of the one who is their object, but profit no one and leave no useful trace.

Antwerp distinguishes itself by a greater number of adherents and of groups. But there, as in Brussels and, moreover, everywhere, those who take part in meetings that are in a certain way official and regularly constituted are in the minority. Social relations and the opinions expressed in conversations prove that the sympathies for the doctrine extend far beyond the groups properly so called. If not all the inhabitants are Spiritists, there the idea encounters no systematic opposition; it is spoken of as of a natural thing and they do not laugh at it. As the adherents, in general, belong to high commerce, our arrival was a novelty on the exchange and monopolized the conversation, with no more importance than if it had been a matter of the arrival of a cargo of merchandise. Several groups are composed of a limited number of members and designate themselves by a special and characteristic title; thus it is that one calls itself: The Fraternity, another Love and Charity, etc. Let us add that these titles are not for them banal emblems, but mottoes that they strive to justify.

The group Love and Charity, for example, has for its special object material charity, without prejudice to the instructions of the Spirits, which, in a certain way, constitute the accessory part. Its organization is very simple and gives excellent results. One of the members holds the title of almoner, a name that corresponds perfectly to his functions of distributing relief to people's homes; on various occasions the Spirits have already indicated the names and addresses of needy persons. The name almoner has thus returned to its primitive signification, from which it had singularly strayed.

This group possesses an exceptional typtological medium and we shall make him the object of a special article. [v. Rapid and inverse typtology.]

Here we only set forth the good elements, which augur well for Spiritism in this country, where it took root only a short while ago, which does not mean that certain groups there have not had, as in other places, the disagreements and disappointments inevitable when it is a matter of the establishment of a new idea. At the beginning of a doctrine, especially one as important as Spiritism, it is impossible that all those who declare themselves its partisans should understand its scope, its gravity, and its consequences. One must, then, expect deviations from the path in persons who see only its surface, personal ambitions, those for whom Spiritism is more a means than a sincere conviction, not to mention people who take on every mask to insinuate themselves, with a view to serving the interests of the adversaries; for, just as the habit does not make the monk, the name of Spiritist does not make the true Spiritist. Sooner or later these failed Spiritists, whose pride has remained lively, cause in the groups painful frictions and provoke obstacles, over which one always triumphs with perseverance and firmness. They are trials for the faith of sincere Spiritists. Homogeneity and the communion of thoughts and sentiments are, for Spiritist groups, as for any other meetings, the sine qua non condition of stability and of vitality. It is toward such an object that all efforts must tend, and one understands that it is all the easier to attain as the meetings are less numerous. In large meetings it is almost impossible to avoid the intrusion of heterogeneous elements which, sooner or later, sow discord there. In small meetings, where all know and esteem one another, where one is as in a family, the recollection is greater, the intrusion of the ill-intentioned more difficult. The diversity of the elements of which large meetings are composed renders them, for that very reason, more vulnerable to the secret intrigue of the adversaries. It is preferable, then, that there should be in a city a hundred groups of ten to twenty adherents, of which none arrogates to itself supremacy over the others, than a single society that would reunite all the partisans. This fragmentation will in no way harm the unity of principles, provided that the banner is one and all march toward the same object. This is what seems to have been perfectly understood by our brothers of Antwerp and of Brussels.

In sum, our journey to Belgium was fruitful in teachings in the interest of Spiritism, by the documents that we gathered and that will, in due course, be put to the profit of all. [See: A repentant criminal.]

— We do not forget one of the most honorable mentions, that of the Spiritist group of Douai, which we visited in passing, and a particular testimony of gratitude for the welcome that was extended to us there. It is a family group, where the evangelical Spiritist doctrine is practiced in all its purity. There reign the most perfect harmony, mutual benevolence, charity in thoughts, words, and deeds; there one breathes an atmosphere of patriarchal fraternity, free from malevolent effluvia, in which the good Spirits must take pleasure as much as men do; for this reason, the communications portray the influence of this sympathetic milieu. It is owing to its homogeneity and to the scrupulous care taken in admissions, that it has never been disturbed by the dissensions and disagreements from which the others have suffered; it is that all those who are part of it are Spiritists at heart and none seeks to make his personality prevail. The mediums there are relatively very numerous; all consider themselves as simple instruments of Providence, free from pride, without personal pretensions, and submit humbly and without offense to the judgment passed upon the communications they receive, ready to destroy them if they are considered bad. A charming poem was obtained on our behalf and after our departure. We thank the Spirit who dictated it and its interpreter; we preserve it as a precious remembrance. They are among those documents that we cannot publish and that we accept only as an encouragement.

We have the satisfaction of saying that this group is not the only one in these favorable conditions, and of having been able to ascertain that the truly serious meetings, those in which each one seeks to improve himself, from which curiosity has been banished, the only ones that deserve the qualification of Spiritist, are multiplying daily. They offer on a small scale what society may one day become, when Spiritism, well understood and universalized, forms the basis of mutual relations. Then men will have nothing more to fear from one another; charity will make peace and justice reign among them. Such will be the result of the transformation that is being wrought, whose effects the future generation will begin to feel.