Spiritism is a positive science.

ADDRESS BY MR. ALLAN KARDEC TO THE SPIRITISTS OF BRUSSELS AND ANTWERP, IN 1864.

(Summary)

Kardec expresses his satisfaction at being among the Belgian Spiritist family and transfers to the Doctrine the homage he received.

The purpose of the journeys and visits that the Codifier makes from time to time to distant Spiritist Centers.

Which Spiritists become an obstacle to the propagation of Spiritism.

It is proven that Spiritism is more hindered by those who understand it poorly than by those who do not understand it at all, and even than by its declared enemies. And it is to be noted that those who understand it poorly generally have the pretension of understanding it better than others; and it is not rare to see neophytes who, after a few months, claim to give lessons to those who have acquired experience in serious studies.

Contradictory ideas fall away of themselves, once the true principles are known and understood by the majority.

Unity has been achieved in the Spiritist belief with much greater rapidity than was expected.

The objectives of Allan Kardec when he visits the Spiritist Centers.

Allan Kardec affirms that he is the representative of the Doctrine and not its creator.

Why Spiritism will take its place alongside the positive sciences: I say positive, because every science that rests upon facts is a positive science, and not a purely speculative one.

Spiritism comes to reveal a new law, a new force of Nature: the one that resides in the action of the Spirit upon matter.

Spiritism, in seeking the explanation of the phenomena, did not proceed by way of hypotheses, but by means of analysis and observation.

The moral revolution that Spiritism is preparing.

Of the detractors of Spiritism.

Allan Kardec speaks of the role he played in Spiritism, of the weight of his task, of what he believes to be his only merit, and ends by affirming: It will be the work of my life until my last day.

— We publish this address at the request of a great number of people who expressed to us the desire to preserve it, and because it tends to make Spiritism be considered under an aspect that is in a certain way new. The Spiritist Review of Antwerp reproduced it in its entirety.

Gentlemen and dear Spiritist brethren, It pleases me to give you this title, because, although I do not have the privilege of knowing all the people present at this gathering, I wish to believe that here we are as a family and all in communion of thoughts and feelings. Even granting that not all those attending were sympathetic to our ideas, I would no less include them in the fraternal sentiment that ought to animate true Spiritists toward all men, without distinction of opinion.

Nevertheless, it is to our brethren in belief that I address myself more especially, to express to them the satisfaction I feel at finding myself among them and at offering them, in the name of the Society of Paris, the salutation of Spiritist fraternity.

I had already had proof that Spiritism counts, in this city, numerous adherents who are serious, devoted, and enlightened, perfectly understanding the moral and philosophical aim of the doctrine; I knew that here I would find sympathetic hearts, and this was the determining reason for my responding to the insistent and gracious invitation that was made to me by several of you, to pay a short visit here this year. The reception, so kind and cordial, that I received will make me carry away from my stay the most agreeable remembrance.

Certainly I would have the right to take pride in the reception that has been given to me in the different centers I visit, did I not know that these testimonies are addressed far less to the man than to the doctrine, of which I am the humble representative, and must be considered as a profession of faith, an adherence to our principles. It is thus that I regard them, in what concerns me personally.

— Moreover, if the journeys I make from time to time to the Spiritist centers were only to have as their result personal satisfaction, I would consider them useless and would abstain from them. But, besides contributing to tightening the bonds of fraternity among the adherents, they also have the advantage of furnishing me with elements of observation and study, never lost to the doctrine. Independently of the facts that may serve the progress of the science, I gather there the materials for the future history of Spiritism, the authentic documents concerning the movement of the Spiritist idea, the elements more or less favorable or contrary that it encounters according to the localities, the strength or weakness and the maneuvers of its adversaries, the means of combating the latter, the zeal and the devotion of its true defenders. Among these last, there must be placed in a position of prominence all those who fight for the cause with courage, perseverance, abnegation, and disinterestedness, without any personal ulterior motive, who seek the triumph of the doctrine for the sake of the doctrine, and not for the satisfaction of their self-love; in short, those who, by their example, prove that Spiritist morality is not an empty word, and who strive to justify this remarkable affirmation of an unbeliever: With such a doctrine, one cannot be a Spiritist without being a man of good.

There is no Spiritist center where I have not found a more or less great number of these pioneers of the work, these clearers of the ground, these tireless fighters who, sustained by a sincere and enlightened faith, by the consciousness of fulfilling a duty, do not lose heart before any difficulty, regarding their devotion as a debt of gratitude for the moral benefits they have received from Spiritism. Is it right that the names of those who honor the doctrine should be lost to our descendants, and that one day they could not be inscribed in the Spiritist pantheon?

— Unfortunately, alongside these there are sometimes to be found people of ill nature, those impatient of the cause, who, not calculating the reach of their words and their acts, may compromise it; those who, through unreflecting zeal, through untimely and premature ideas, without wishing to, furnish weapons to our adversaries. Then come those who, considering Spiritism only by its surface, without being touched in the heart, by their own example give a false idea of its results and of its moral tendencies.

Here, without the shadow of a doubt, is the greatest obstacle that the sincere propagators of the doctrine come up against, for they often see the work, which they had so laboriously sketched out, undone precisely by those who ought to have supported them. It is proven that Spiritism is more hindered by those who understand it poorly than by those who do not understand it at all, and even than by its declared enemies. And it is to be noted that those who understand it poorly generally have the pretension of understanding it better than others; and it is not rare to see neophytes who, after a few months, claim to give lessons to those who have acquired experience in serious studies. Such a pretension, which betrays pride, is an evident proof of ignorance of the true principles of the doctrine.

— However, let sincere Spiritists not lose heart: it is the result of the moment of transition through which we are living. New ideas cannot establish themselves suddenly and without obstacles; as it is necessary for them to sweep away the old ideas, they inevitably encounter adversaries who combat and repel them, not to mention those creatures who take them in a contrary sense, who exaggerate them or wish to accommodate them to their personal tastes and opinions. But the moment comes when contradictory ideas fall away of themselves, once the true principles are known and understood by the majority. You already see what has happened with all the isolated systems that arose at the origin of Spiritism; all fell before the more rigorous observation of the facts, or find only still a few of those tenacious partisans who, in everything, cling to their primitive ideas, without taking a step forward. Unity has been achieved in the Spiritist belief with much greater rapidity than was expected. It is because the Spirits, on all points, came to confirm the true principles, so that today, among the adherents of the whole world, there is a predominant opinion which, if it does not yet enjoy absolute unanimity, is incontestably that of the immense majority. From which it follows that whoever wishes to march against the current of this opinion, finding little or no echo, condemns himself to isolation. There is experience to demonstrate it. To remedy the inconvenience I have just pointed out, that is, to prevent the consequences of ignorance and of false interpretations, there is needed greater effort in the popularization of just ideas and in the formation of enlightened adherents, whose growing number will neutralize the influence of erroneous ideas.

— My visits to the Spiritist centers, naturally, have as their principal objective to assist our brethren in belief in their tasks. Thus, I take advantage of them to give them the instructions they may need, whether in the theoretical development or the practical application of the doctrine, as far as it is possible for me to do so. As the purpose of these visits is serious, and exclusively in the interest of the doctrine, I do not seek ovations, which are neither to my taste nor in keeping with my character. My greatest satisfaction is to find myself among sincere, devoted friends, with whom we can converse without constraint and enlighten one another, through a friendly discussion in which each one brings the contribution of his own observations. In these excursions I do not go to preach to unbelievers; I never convoke the public to catechize it, for I do not go to make propaganda; I appear only at gatherings of adherents in which my counsels are desired and may be useful; I give them willingly to those who think they have need of them; I abstain with those who consider themselves sufficiently enlightened to dispense with them. In a word, I address myself only to men of good will.

If, exceptionally, there should slip into these gatherings people drawn solely by curiosity, they would be disappointed, for they would find there nothing that could satisfy them; and, in case they were animated by a hostile or disparaging sentiment, the eminently grave, sincere, and moral character of the assembly and of the matters treated there would take away any plausible pretext for their malevolence. Such are the thoughts that I express in the various gatherings to which I am called to attend, so that there may be no mistake regarding my intentions.

— I affirmed at the outset that I was nothing but the representative of the doctrine. A few explanations concerning its true character will naturally draw your attention to an essential point which, until now, has not been sufficiently considered. In truth, seeing the rapidity of the progress of this doctrine, there would be more glory in calling myself its creator; my self-love would there find its reward; but I must not make my part greater than it is; far from lamenting it, I congratulate myself, because then the doctrine would be nothing more than an individual conception, which might be more or less just, more or less ingenious, but which, for that very reason, would lose its authority. It might have partisans, perhaps it would form a school, like many others, but it certainly would not have acquired, in a few years, the character of universality that distinguishes it.

— Here is a capital fact, gentlemen, that must be proclaimed aloud. No, Spiritism is not an individual conception, a product of the imagination; it is not a theory, a system invented for the needs of a cause; it has its source in the facts of Nature itself, in positive facts, which occur at every instant before our eyes, but whose origin was not suspected. It is, then, the result of observation; in a word, a science: the science of the relations between the visible world and the invisible world; a science still imperfect, but which is completed every day by new studies and which, you may be sure, will take its place alongside the positive sciences. I say positive, because every science that rests upon facts is a positive science, and not a purely speculative one.

— Spiritism invented nothing, because one does not invent what is in Nature. Newton did not invent the law of gravitation; this universal law existed before him. Everyone applied it and felt its effects, although they did not know it.

Spiritism, in its turn, comes to reveal a new law, a new force of Nature: the one that resides in the action of the Spirit upon matter, a law as universal as that of gravitation and of electricity, although still unknown and denied by certain people, as were all the other laws at the time of their discoveries. It is that men generally have difficulty in renouncing their preconceived ideas and, through self-love, it costs them to acknowledge that they were mistaken, or that others were able to find what they themselves did not find.

But, in the final analysis, since this law rests upon facts, and against facts there is no denial that can prevail, they will have to yield to the evidence, as the most recalcitrant did with regard to the movement of the Earth, the formation of the globe, and the effects of steam. However much they may accuse the phenomena of being ridiculous, they cannot prevent the existence of that which is.

— Thus, Spiritism sought the explanation of phenomena of a certain order which, in all ages, have occurred in a spontaneous manner. But, above all, what favored it in these researches is that it was given, up to a certain point, the power to produce them and to provoke them. It found in mediums instruments suited to such an effect, as the physicist found in the battery and the electrical machine the means to reproduce the effects of lightning. It is easy to understand that this is merely a comparison; I do not claim to establish an analogy.

But there is here a consideration of high importance: it is that, in its researches, it did not proceed by way of hypotheses, as it is accused of doing; it did not suppose the existence of the spiritual world in order to explain the phenomena it had before its eyes; it proceeded by means of analysis and observation; from the facts it ascended to the cause, and the spiritual element presented itself to it as an active force; it proclaimed it only after having established it.

— As a force and as a law of Nature, the action of the spiritual element thus opens new horizons to Science, giving it the key to an immensity of problems not understood. But, if the discovery of purely material laws produced material revolutions in the world, that of the spiritual element prepares in it a moral revolution, for it totally changes the course of the most deeply rooted ideas and beliefs; it shows life under another aspect; it kills superstition and fanaticism; it develops thought, and man, instead of dragging himself in matter, of circumscribing his life between birth and death, rises to the infinite; he knows whence he comes and whither he goes; he sees an objective for his work, for his efforts, a reason for being for good; he knows that nothing that he acquires on Earth, in knowledge and morality, is lost to him, and that his progress continues indefinitely beyond the grave; he knows that there is always a future for him, whatever may be the insufficiency and the brevity of the present existence, whereas the materialist idea, circumscribing life to the present existence, gives him as a prospect nothingness, which does not even have duration as a compensation, since no one can lengthen it at will, given that we may fall tomorrow, in an hour, and then the fruit of our labors, of our vigils, of the knowledge acquired, will be for us lost forever, often without our having had the time to enjoy it. Spiritism, I repeat, by demonstrating, not by hypothesis, but by facts, the existence of the invisible world and the future that awaits us, completely changes the course of ideas; it gives man moral strength, courage, and resignation, because he no longer works only for the present, but for the future; he knows that if he does not enjoy today, he will enjoy tomorrow. By demonstrating the action of the spiritual element upon the material world, it widens the domain of Science and, for that very reason, opens a new path to material progress. Then man will have a solid basis for the establishment of moral order on Earth; he will understand better the solidarity that exists among the beings of this world, since this solidarity perpetuates itself indefinitely; fraternity ceases to be an empty word; it kills egoism, instead of being killed by it, and, quite naturally, man imbued with these ideas will conform to them his laws and his social institutions. Spiritism leads inevitably to this reform. Thus, by the force of things, there will be realized the moral revolution that is to transform Humanity and change the face of the world, and this solely through the knowledge of a new law of Nature, which gives another course to ideas, an aim to this life, an objective to the aspirations of the future, making things be considered from another point of view.

— If the detractors of Spiritism — I speak of those who fight for social progress, of the writers who preach the emancipation of peoples, liberty, fraternity, and the reform of abuses — knew the true tendencies of Spiritism, its reach and its inevitable results, instead of ridiculing it, as they do, of incessantly interposing obstacles in its path, they would see in it the most powerful lever for arriving at the destruction of the abuses they combat, and, instead of being hostile to it, they would acclaim it as a providential help. Unfortunately, the majority of them believe more in themselves than in Providence. But the lever acts without them and in spite of them, and the irresistible force of Spiritism will be all the better established the more it has to combat. One day it will be said of them, which will not be to their glory, what they themselves say of those who combated the movement of the Earth and of those who denied the force of steam. All the denials, all the persecutions did not prevent these natural laws from following their course, just as the sarcasms of incredulity will not prevent the action of the spiritual element, which is, likewise, a law of Nature. Considered in this manner, Spiritism loses the character of mysticism with which its detractors reproach it, precisely those who know it least. It is no longer the science of the marvelous and the supernatural revived: it is the domain of nature enriched by a new and fruitful law, one more proof of the power and the wisdom of the Creator; it is, in short, the boundaries of human knowledge pushed back.

— Such is, in summary, gentlemen, the point of view under which Spiritism must be considered. In this circumstance, what was my role? Neither that of inventor, nor that of creator. I saw, I observed, I studied the facts with care and perseverance; I coordinated them and deduced the consequences from them: this is the whole of the part that falls to me. What I did, another could have done in my place. In all this I was a simple instrument of the views of Providence, and I give thanks to God and to the good Spirits for having deigned to make use of me.

It is a task that I accepted with joy, and of which I strove to make myself worthy, asking God to give me the strength necessary to carry it out according to His holy will. Nevertheless, the task is heavy, heavier than one may imagine it; and if it has for me any merit, it is that I have the consciousness of not having recoiled before any obstacle and any sacrifice. It will be the work of my life until my last day, because, in the presence of an objective so important, all material and personal interests are effaced like points before the infinite.

I end this address, gentlemen, by addressing sincere felicitations to our brethren of Belgium, present or absent, whose zeal, devotion, and perseverance contributed to the implantation of Spiritism in this country. I am convinced that the seeds planted in the great centers of population, such as Brussels, Antwerp, etc., were not cast upon barren soil.