A Spiritist's Manner of Protesting,

— One of our correspondents writes us the following:

“Here is what I wrote, two years ago, to Mr. Nefftzer, director of the newspaper le Temps:

“I was a subscriber to your newspaper, whose tendencies and opinions were congenial to me. It is, therefore, with regret that I do not continue the subscription. Allow me to give you the reasons. In your issue of June 3rd, you endeavored to cast ridicule upon Spiritism and the Spiritists, by recounting a more or less authentic story, without citing names, dates, and places, which is convenient. You sought to establish—today the obligatory theme of the materialists, immensely troubled by Spiritism—that this belief leads to madness. Without doubt, weak spirits, already having tendencies toward a disturbance of the cerebral faculties, may have lost their heads entirely upon occupying themselves with Spiritism, as would have happened to them without it, and as happens to those who occupy themselves with Chemistry, Physics, or Astronomy, and even to writers who do not believe in Spirits. Nor do I deny that there are charlatans who exploit Spiritism, for what science could escape charlatanism? Have we not literary, industrial, agricultural, military, political charlatans, above all of these last? But to conclude from this against Spiritism in general is hardly logical and hardly sensible. Before leveling an accusation of this nature, it would be necessary, at least, to know the thing of which one speaks; most of the time, however, that is the least of the concerns of whoever writes. They slash and decide right and left, which is easier than to delve deeply and to learn. “If you ever experience great misfortunes, keen sorrows, believe me, sir, study Spiritism; only in it will you find the consolation and the truths that will make you bear your griefs, your disappointments, or your despairs, which will be preferable to suicide. What did you wish to give us better than this beautiful and consoling Christian philosophy? The cult of material interests, of the golden calf? That is perhaps what suits the temperament of the generality of the fortunate ones of today, but something else is needed for those who no longer want the fanaticism, the superstition, the ridiculous and coarse practices of the Middle Ages, nor the atheism, the pantheism, and the systematic incredulity of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. “Allow me, sir, to advise you to be more prudent in your diatribes against Spiritism, because today they are addressed, in France alone, to something around three hundred or four hundred thousand persons.”

Blanc de Lalésie.

Proprietor in Genouilly, near Joncy.

(Saône-et-Loire.)

“A few days ago the newspapers informed us of the death of the only son of Mr. Nefftzer. I do not know whether this misfortune will have made him remember my letter.

“I have just sent to Mr. Émile Aucante, administrator of the newspaper Univers illustré, the following letter:

“For eighteen months I have been a subscriber to the Univers illustré and, since that time, there is scarcely an issue in which your chronicler, under the pseudonym of Gérôme, has not judged it useful, in order to occupy his pen, to mock Spiritism and the Spiritists in every possible way. Up to that point this diversion, somewhat tedious by its frequency, is quite innocent: Spiritism fares none the worse for it. But Mr. Gérôme, no doubt perceiving that little concern is shown over his jests, changes his language and, in the issue of October 7th, treats all the Spiritists, en masse, as idiots; from mockery he passes to insult and does not fear to insult thousands of persons as instructed, as enlightened, and as intelligent as himself, because they believe they have an immortal soul and think that this soul, in another life, will be rewarded or punished according to their merits or demerits. Mr. Gérôme has no such prejudices. Bah! No doubt he believes that he eats, drinks, reproduces his species, neither more nor less than my dog or my horse. I render him my compliments. “If Mr. Gérôme would deign to receive a piece of advice, I would permit myself to exhort him to speak only of things he knows and to keep silent regarding those he does not know or, at least, to study them, which would be easy for him, with his lofty and incontestable intelligence. He would learn that which he certainly does not even suspect: that Spiritism is Christianity developed, and that the manifestations of the Spirits belong to all ages and represent nothing for the doctrine, which would not cease to exist, with or without manifestations.

“But why do I speak of Spirits to a man who believes only in his own and perhaps is unaware whether he has a soul? Whether Mr. Gérôme be wrapped in the banner of materialism, of pantheism, or of paganism—this last would be better, for in it at least the existence of the soul and of the future life was believed—matters little! But let him know, respecting himself, how to respect the belief of his readers. It is evident that it would not be possible for me to go on giving money in order to let myself be insulted; if these insults continue, I regret to be obliged to cease being your subscriber…”

— Mr. de Lalésie is modest in estimating the number of Spiritists in France at three hundred or four hundred thousand. He could have doubled this figure without committing exaggeration and would still be far below the calculations of the author of a pamphlet that claimed to pulverize us and raised it to twenty million.

[See: The budget of Spiritism.] Besides, an exact census of the Spiritists is an impossible thing, since they are not regimented, nor do they form a corporation, an affiliation, or a congregation, whose members are registered and can be counted.

— Spiritism is a belief. Whoever believes in the existence and survival of souls and in the possibility of relations between men and the spiritual world is a Spiritist, and many are so intuitively, without ever having heard of Spiritism or of mediums. One is a Spiritist by conviction, as others are incredulous; for this, it is not enough to be part of a society, and the proof is that not even the thousandth part of the adherents attend the meetings. To make their count there is no registration-roll to consult; it would be necessary to make an inquiry with each individual and ask him what he thinks. Through conversation one discovers, every day, persons sympathetic to the idea and who, by this alone, are Spiritists, without there being any need to possess a diploma or to make any public act whatsoever. Their number grows daily; the fact is observed by our own adversaries, who recognize with dread that this belief invades all the strata of society, from top to bottom of the scale. It is, therefore, an opinion with which one must reckon today, and which has the peculiarity of not being confined to a class, nor to a caste, nor to a sect, nor to a nation, nor to a political party. It has representatives everywhere, in letters, in the arts, in the sciences, in Medicine, in the magistracy, in the order of lawyers, in the army, in commerce, etc. In France the number of Spiritists surely far surpasses that of the subscribers of all the newspapers of Paris. It is evident that they enter in notable part among those same subscribers. It is, therefore, to these who pay that the gentlemen journalists address insults. Now, as Mr. de Lalésie rightly says, it is not pleasant to give one's money in order to be ridiculed and insulted. For this reason he canceled the subscription to the newspapers where he saw himself mistreated in his belief, and no one will fail to find his manner of acting very logical.

Does this mean that, in order to please the Spiritists, the newspapers must adopt their ideas? Absolutely not. Every day they discuss opinions they do not share, but they do not insult those who profess them. These writers are not Jews and, nevertheless, they do not permit themselves to cast anathema and contempt upon the Jews in general, nor to ridicule their belief. Why is this? Because, they say, freedom of conscience must be respected. Why, then, would this freedom not exist for the Spiritists? Are they not citizens like everyone else? Do they claim exceptions and privileges? They ask for only one thing: the right to think as they see fit. Those who inscribe upon their banner: Liberty, equality, fraternity, would they then wish to create in France a class of pariahs?