The Abbé Laverdet.

Mr. Laverdet was one of the pastors of the French Church and coadjutor of the Abbé Châtel.n He was a man of great learning who, through the elevation of his character, enjoyed the esteem of those who knew him. He died in Paris, this past month of November. One of his most intimate friends, Mr. Monvoisin, the eminent history painter and fervent Spiritist, having wished to receive from him a few words from beyond the tomb, asked us to evoke him. The communication he gave bears, for his friend and his brother, an incontestable seal of identity, which is why we yield to the desire expressed by these two gentlemen to publish it, and this all the more willingly since it is instructive in more than one respect. (Society of Paris, January 5, 1866. – Medium: Mr. Desliens.)

Evocation – Your friend, Mr. Monvoisin, informed me today of your death and, although we had not had the pleasure of knowing you personally, we knew of your reputation through the part you took in the formation of the French Church. The esteem you justly enjoyed and the study you made of Spiritism before dying, joined to the desire of your friend and your brother, give us the desire to converse with you, if God permits. We shall be glad if you would communicate your impressions as a Spirit, whether on the religious reform in which you labored and the causes that halted its progress, or on the Spiritist Doctrine. Reply – Dear sir, I am happy, very happy at the kind remembrance of my dear friend Mr. Monvoisin. Thanks to him, today I can, in this honored assembly, express my admiration for the man whose wise studies brought happiness to all the hearts disinherited and wounded by the injustice of men. Being a reformer myself, more than any other I am in a position to appreciate all the prudence, all the wisdom of your conduct, dear sir and master, if you will allow me to give you this title.

Little satisfied with the general tendencies of the orthodox clergy, with their parsimonious manner of spreading the light owed to all, I wished, in concert with the Abbé Châtel, to establish a teaching upon new foundations, bearing the title of religion, but in relation to the general needs of the poor classes. At first our aim was praiseworthy, but our undertaking was flawed at its base, by its title, which was such that people came to us rather to play a trick on the established religion than out of inner conviction. We soon recognized this, but, being too easygoing, we accepted with enthusiasm the children whom other priests rejected for lack of sufficient instruction or of the necessary formalities. Spiritism proceeds in an entirely different manner; it is firm and prudent; it does not aim at numbers, but at the quality of its adherents. It is a serious teaching and not a speculation.

Our reform, which from the outset was completely disinterested, was soon regarded, above all by the Abbé Châtel, as a means of growing rich. This was the principal cause of its ruin. We did not have enough elements of resistance and, it must be said, unfortunately we did not have enough intrigues at our disposal to bring such an enterprise to a good end. The first French primate had no successor. I did not attempt to present myself as the head of a sect of which I had been one of the second-order founders, because, in the first place, I did not approve of all the tendencies of the Abbé Châtel, tendencies which the dear man expiated and still expiates in the world of the Spirits. On the other hand, my simplicity was repelled by this; I abstained, and for this I feel happy today. When they again came to propose to me the resumption of the interrupted work, the reading of your works, dear sir, had already cast deep roots in me. I understood that it was a matter not only of modifying the form of the teaching, but even the teaching itself. By its nature, our reform could necessarily have only a limited time; founded upon an immutable idea, upon a human conception, entirely developed and limited at its outset, it was bound, even with all the chances of success, soon to find itself surpassed by the progressive seeds whose germination we see today. Spiritism does not have this fault; it marches with progress, it is progress itself and could not be surpassed by that which it constantly precedes. Accepting all the new ideas founded upon reason and logic, developing them and causing others, unknown, to arise, its future is assured. Allow me, dear sir, to thank you in particular for the pleasure I experienced in studying the wise teachings published under your care. My spirit, troubled by the desire to know what all the mysteries of Nature concealed, was struck, upon reading them, by the most vivid light. I know that, out of modesty, you reject all personal praise; I also know that these teachings are not your conception, but the assembling of the instructions of your guides. Nevertheless, it is no less to your prudent reserve, to your skill in presenting each thing in its time, to your wise slowness, to your constant moderation, that Spiritism owes, after God and the good Spirits, the consideration accorded to it. In spite of all the diatribes, of all the illogical and coarse attacks, it remains today an opinion that has laid down a law and that is accepted by numerous sensible and serious persons, and beyond suspicion. It is a work of the future; it is under the aegis of the Almighty, and the support of all superior and intelligent men will be won for it, once they come to know its true tendencies, disfigured by its adversaries. Unfortunately, ridicule is a powerful weapon in this country of progress! Countless enlightened persons refuse to study certain ideas, even in secret, when these have been stigmatized by ridiculous jokes. But there are things that brave all obstacles; Spiritism is one of them and its hour of victory will soon sound. It will gather around itself all of France, all of intelligent Europe, and very foolish and confounded will be those who still dare to attribute to imagination facts recognized by exceptional intelligences. As for my personal state, at present it is satisfactory; therefore I shall tell you nothing of it; I shall only call your attention and your prayers to my former colleague, the Abbé Châtel. n Pray for him. Later his spirit, gone astray but elevated, will be able to dictate wise instructions to you. I thank you again for your benevolence toward me and place myself at your disposal, should I be able to be of use to you in anything whatsoever.

Abbé Laverdet.

[1]

[v.

Procès de l’abbé Laverdet, prêtre de l’Eglise évangélique française, devant … - Google Books.]

[2] [Ferdinand-François Chatel vide: L’Eglise Catholique Française de Monseigneur Chatel.]