Letter from Dante to Mr. Thiers.

Under this title one reads in the Charivari of May 20, 1865:

Florence, May 20, 1865.

“Sir and dear colleague, “I could not remain indifferent to the festivities that were to be celebrated in my honor and, my shade having requested and obtained an eight-day leave, I come to attend the inauguration of the monument that is consecrated to me. It is, then, from Florence that I address this letter to you, still under the emotion caused in me by the ceremony I have just witnessed. If I take this liberty, sir and dear colleague, it is because I judge myself to be in a position to furnish you with information that will be of some use to you. “Although dead for five centuries, I have not ceased to continue following with the same attention and the same patriotism the march of the events that concern the future of Italy. You know as well as I of how many vicissitudes I have been a witness; you can also form an idea of how many sorrows my heart has been overwhelmed by…”

(There follow long reflections on the affairs of Italy and the opinions of Mr. Thiers. We do not reproduce them for the twofold reason that they are foreign to our subject and because politics is outside the plans of this journal. The letter ends thus:)

“If, then, as I have been assured, you are soon to undertake a journey to Italy, have the kindness to pass through Florence and come converse for a few moments with my statue. It will have very interesting things to say to you.

“With this hope, sir and dear colleague, I beg you to accept the assurance of…, etc.”

Dante Adighieri n By copy, according to Pierre Véron.

Judging by the articles that the Charivari has published more than once on the subject, we very much doubt that Mr. Pierre Véron is sympathetic to the Spiritist idea. Thus, one should see in this letter nothing more than a simple product of the imagination suited to the circumstance, unless the Spirit Dante came to dictate it without the author's knowledge. It is too witty for him to disapprove of it, but it should be appreciated only as a whole, because it loses much if it is fragmented. It was an ingenious thought to bring in, even fictitiously, the Spirit Dante on this occasion. Save for a few small details, a Spiritist would not have spoken otherwise. For us it is not doubtful that Dante, unless he has reincarnated, could have attended this imposing manifestation, drawn by the powerful evocation of an entire people united in one and the same thought. If, at that moment, the veil that hides the spiritual world from the eyes of the incarnate could be lifted, what an immense procession of great men would have been seen hovering in space and mingled with the multitude to applaud the regeneration of Italy! What a fine subject for a painter or a poet inspired by the Spiritist faith! Allan Kardec Paris. – Typ. de COSSON ET Ce, rue du Four-Saint-Germain, 43.

[1]

[see Dante Alighieri.]