The abbé of Saint-Pierre.

The Ephemerides of the Siècle of last April 29 carried the following notice:

— Death of the abbé of Saint-Pierre (Charles-Irénée Castel de), writer and philanthropist, with whose name will be eternally linked the memory of the project of perpetual peace, whose conception seems to become each day more impracticable. The whole life of this worthy abbé was consumed in labors and actions whose object was the happiness of men. To give and to forgive should be, in his opinion, the basis of all morality, and he constantly put it into practice. It was also he who created, or at least revived, the word beneficence, expressing a virtue that he exercised daily. The abbé of Saint-Pierre was born on February 18, 1658, and the French Academy had opened its doors to him in 1695; but one day, in his Polysynodie, n the abbé expressed himself severely about the reign of Louis XIV. Cardinal de Polignac denounced the book to the Academy, which condemned the author without deigning to hear him, and excluded him from its midst in 1718. J. J. Rousseau, who shared and developed some of the ideas of the abbé of Saint-Pierre, said of him: “He was a rare man, the honor of his century and of his species.” The abbé of Saint-Pierre was a man of goodness and of talent, justly esteemed. In the present circumstances, the ideas he had pursued in life gave to his evocation a sort of timeliness.

(Society of Paris, May 17, 1867. – Medium: Mr. Rul.)

Evocation – The note we have just read in the Ephemerides of the Siècle recalled your memory to us, and we read with interest the just tribute of praises rendered to the qualities that earned you the esteem of your contemporaries and assure you that of posterity. A man who had such elevated ideas can only be an advanced Spirit. This is why we shall have much pleasure in benefiting from your instructions, if you would be so good as to appear in our midst. We shall be particularly grateful to know your present opinion on perpetual peace, which constituted the object of your preoccupations.

Reply – I come with pleasure to answer the appeal of the president. You know that in all epochs Spirits come to incarnate on Earth, to help the advancement of their less advanced brothers. I was one of those Spirits. I had the duty to seek to persuade men who have the habit of fratricidal struggles, that there would come an epoch when the passions that engender war would give way to appeasement and concord. I wanted to make them foresee that one day the enemy brothers would be reconciled, would give each other the kiss of peace, that in their hearts there would be room only for love and benevolence, and that they would no longer think of forging arms that sow death, devastation, and ruin! If I was benevolent, it was the effect of my nature, more advanced than that of my contemporaries. Today, a great number among you practice this evangelical virtue and, if it is less noticed, it is because it has spread more widely and customs have softened. But I return to the question that is the object of this communication, to perpetual peace. There is not a single Spiritist who doubts that what is called a utopia, a dream of the abbé of Saint-Pierre, will not later become reality.

Amid all these clamors that announce the approach of grave events, there can be no talk of perpetual peace; but be well persuaded that this peace will descend upon your Earth. You are attending a great spectacle, that of the renewal of your globe. But, how many wars before! how much blood shed! how many disasters! Woe to him who, through his pride and ambition, shall have unleashed the tempest! They shall have to render account of their acts to Him who judges the great and the powerful, as the least of His children!

Persevere all, brothers; you too are the apostles of perpetual peace, because to be disciples of the Christ is to preach peace, concord. Meanwhile, I tell you still, before you can witness that great event, you shall see new engines of destruction, and the more the means multiply, the more quickly men will prepare the advent of perpetual peace.

I leave you repeating the words of the Christ: “Peace on Earth to men of good will.”

He who was, Abbé of Saint-Pierre. n [1]

[see Abbé of Saint-Pierre.]

[2] [Discours sur la polysynodie, où l'on démontre que la polysynodie ou … By Charles-Irénée Castel de Saint-Pierre - Google Books.]