Cardinal Wiseman.

— La Patrie of March 18, 1865 reported the following:

“Cardinal Wiseman, who has just died in England, believed in Spiritism. This is proven by the following fact, cited by the Spiritualist Magazine.

“A bishop had forbidden the activity of two members of his Church, on account of their leaning toward Spiritism. The Cardinal lifted this prohibition and permitted the two priests to continue their studies and to serve as mediums, telling them: ‘I myself firmly believe in Spiritism, and I could not be a good member of the Church if I had the slightest doubt about it.’”

— This article had been read and commented upon at a Spiritist meeting at the home of Mr. Delanne, but they were hesitating to make the evocation of the cardinal when he manifested spontaneously through the two following communications:

I.

Your desire to evoke me brought me to you, and I am glad to come and tell you, my well-beloved brothers, that on Earth I was indeed a convinced Spiritist. I had come with these aspirations, which I had not been able to develop, but I felt happy to see them developed by others. I was a Spiritist because Spiritism is the straight path that leads to the true goal and to perfection; I was a Spiritist because I recognized in Spiritism the fulfillment of all the prophecies, from the beginning of the world to our own days; I was a Spiritist because this doctrine is the development of religion, the clarification of the mysteries, and the march of all Humanity toward God, who is unity; I was a Spiritist because I understood that this revelation came from God and that all serious men ought to aid its progress, so that one day all might give one another their helping hands; finally I was a Spiritist because Spiritism casts anathema upon no one, and because, following the example of Christ, our divine model, it extends its arms to all, without distinction of classes or of worship. This is why I was a Christian Spiritist. O my well-beloved brothers! what immense grace the Lord grants to men in sending them this divine light, which opens their eyes and makes them see in an undeniable manner that beyond the tomb there does indeed exist another life, and that, instead of fearing death, when one has lived according to the designs of God, one should bless it when it comes to free one of us from the heavy chains of matter. Yes, that life, which is constantly preached in so frightening a manner, exists; but it has nothing painful about it for the souls who, on Earth, observed the laws of the Lord. Yes, there one finds those whom we loved on Earth; it is the well-beloved mother, a tender mother who comes to congratulate and welcome you; they are friends who come to help you recognize yourselves in your true homeland, and who show you all the charms of the true life, in relation to which those of Earth are but sad images. Persevere, my well-beloved brothers, in marching upon the blessed path of Spiritism; let it not be for you an empty word; may the manifestations that you receive help you to climb the rugged Calvary of life, so that, having reached the summit, you may gather the fruits of life that you will have prepared for yourselves.

This is what I wish for all of you who hear me, and for all my brothers in God. He who was Cardinal Wiseman. n (Medium: Mrs. Delanne.)

II.

My friends, why should I not come to you? The sentiments expressed when I was on your Earth, and which ought to be those of all the servants of God and of truth, ought to be for every convinced Spiritist the guarantee that I shall make use of the grace the Lord grants me, of coming to instruct and guide my brothers.

Oh! yes, my friends, it is with satisfaction and gratitude toward Him to whom we owe everything that I come to exhort you, you who have the happiness of being admitted among the Laborers of the Lord, to persevere in the path upon which you are engaged; if it is not the only one, it is at least the best, for if one part of Humanity can attain its salvation through blind faith, without falling into the snares and dangers that it offers, with all the more reason those whose faith has for its basis reason and the love of God, whom we make known to you such as He is, ought to come to conquer eternal life in the bosom of that same God. Children, bow down, bend your heads, for your God, your father, blesses you. Glorify Him and love Him for eternity!

Let us pray together.

Wiseman, assisted by Saint Augustine.

(Medium: Mr. Erambert, of Aix.)

— These two communications [above] were dictated simultaneously, which explains the assistance of Saint Augustine in the last one. While Wiseman had one of the mediums write, Saint Augustine had the other write, to whom he transmitted the cardinal's thought. One often sees little-advanced spirits, or ones still perturbed, who cannot express themselves without the help of a more elevated spirit; but here that is not the case: Wiseman is detached enough to express his own ideas. The two following communications were obtained on the 24th of March, at the Society of Paris, without evocation, after the reading of the preceding ones. The fourth is an appraisal of the above facts, by the Spirit Lamennais:

III.

— My friends: I come to confirm my communication of Monday. I am happy to come to an environment where I would have much to say and where I am certain of being understood. Oh! yes, it will be a great happiness for me to see developing, under the eyes of the master, the progress of the holy and regenerating doctrine, which is to lead the whole world to its divine destiny. Friends, unite your efforts in the work that is entrusted to us, and be grateful for the role that the Creator of all things has conferred upon you. You could never do enough to acknowledge the grace that He grants you; but He will take into account your good will, your faith, your charity, and your love for your brothers. Bless Him, love Him, and you shall have eternal life. Let us pray together, my dear friends.

WISEMAN.

(Medium: Mr. Erambert, of Aix.)

IV.

— The spiritualist religion — it must not be forgotten — is the soul of Christianity. In the midst of materialism, of the Protestant and Catholic worship, Cardinal Wiseman dared to proclaim the soul before the body, the spirit before the letter. These kinds of audacity are rare in the two cleries, and indeed, the act of faith of Cardinal Wiseman is an unusual spectacle. Moreover, it would be strange that a Spirit as cultivated, as elevated as that of the eminent cardinal should have seen in Spiritism a faith rebellious to the teachings of the purest Christian morality; we Spiritists could never applaud enough that confidence removed from all human respect, from all worldly scruple. Is the voice of so distinguished a dying man not an encouragement? Is it not a warning for the future? A promise that, with the good will so preached by the Gospel, there is but one truth, contained in the practice of charity and in the belief in the immortality of the soul? Other voices no less sacred proclaim daily our immortal truth. It is a sublime hosanna that is sung by the men visited by the Spirit, a hosanna as pure, as enthusiastic as that of the souls visited by Jesus. We ourselves, souls in suffering, do not turn away from us the remembrance that comes to us, and in the purgatory we endure, let us listen to the voices of those who make us see the beyond.

Lamennais. n (Medium: Mr. A. Didier.)

[1]

[v.

Nicholas Wiseman.]

[2] [v.

Lamennais.]