Regeneration of the peoples of the Orient.

— We received from Syria a very interesting letter on the moral state of the peoples of the Orient and the means of cooperating in their regeneration. The special nature of this letter does not allow us to publish it in our Review; we will say only that our honored correspondent, initiated in the knowledge of the peoples of Europe, views the question as a profound philosopher, as a man free of all sectarian prejudice, who knows the terrain and is not deluded as to the difficulties presented by such a subject.

He sees in Spiritism, which he has seriously studied, a powerful lever for combating the prejudices that oppose the moral and intellectual emancipation of his compatriots, by reason of the very ideas that form the basis of their beliefs and to which it would be necessary to give a more rational direction. Aiming to contribute to this work or, at least, to lay its first foundations, he conceived a project that he saw fit to submit to us, asking that we also seek the opinion of the good Spirits.

— The communication that was given to us in this regard is instructive for everyone, especially under the present circumstances, which is why we judged it our duty to publish it. It contains a wise appraisal of things and counsels that others may turn to account when the occasion arises, and which, by specializing them, also find their application in the most profitable manner of propagating Spiritism.

(Paris, September 18, 1868.)

It is not only the Orient, it is Europe, it is the whole world that a hidden ferment agitates and that the slightest spark can transform into a universal conflagration, when the moment arrives. As Mr. X… rightly says, it is upon ruins that new things have been built, and before the great renewal becomes an accomplished fact, human labors and the intervention of the elements must finish sweeping the errors of the past from the soil of thought. Everything contributes to this immense work; the hour of action is rapidly approaching, and all the intelligences that are preparing for the struggle must be encouraged. Humanity is leaving its swaddling clothes to gird on the virile garment; it shakes off the age-old yoke; the moment could not be more propitious. But it cannot be concealed that the task is harsh and that more than one craftsman will be crushed by the machine he has set in motion, for not having known how to discover the brake capable of mastering the impetus of a Humanity too abruptly emancipated. To have reason, truth on one's side, to work with a view to the general good, to sacrifice one's particular well-being to the interest of all is good, but it is not sufficient. One cannot grant at a single stroke all liberties to a slave shaped by the centuries to a severe yoke. Only gradually, and by measuring the extent of the limits to the intelligent and above all moral progress of Humanity, can regeneration be brought about. The storm that dissipates the deleterious miasmas with which a region is infected is a beneficial cataclysm; but the one that breaks all the dikes and which, obeying no brake, throws everything into disorder in its passage, is deplorable and without any useful consequence. It increases the difficulties, instead of contributing to their disappearance. All those who wish to contribute usefully to the regenerating work must, therefore, before all else, concern themselves with the nature of the elements upon which it is possible for them to act, and combine their actions according to the character, the customs, the beliefs of those whom they wish to transform. Thus, in the Orient, to attain the objective that all elite spirits pursue in America and in western Europe, it is necessary to follow an identical course as to the whole, but essentially different in the details; that is, by sowing instruction, developing morality, combating the abuses consecrated by time, one will arrive at the same result, in whatever place one acts, but the choice of means, above all, must be determined by the particular genius of those to whom one addresses oneself. The spirit of reform blows throughout all Asia; it has left in Syria, in Persia, in all the neighboring countries bloody debris; the new idea has germinated there, watered by the blood of the martyrs; it is necessary to take advantage of the impulse given to the intelligences, but to avoid falling back into the errors that provoked those persecutions. One does not instruct man by striking head-on against his prejudices, but by working upon them, modifying the furniture of his spirit in a manner so gradual that he comes, by himself, to renounce the errors for which shortly before he would have sacrificed his life. One must not say to him: "This is bad, that is good," but lead him, by literary teaching and by example, to appreciate each thing in its true aspect. New ideas are not imposed upon a people; for it to accept them without lamentable disturbance, it is necessary to accustom it little by little, making it recognize their advantages, and not to establish them as a principle until one is certain that they will have in their favor an imposing majority. There is much to be done in the Orient, but, alone, the action of man would be impotent to operate a radical transformation. The events we have touched upon will contribute in part to this transformation. They will accustom the Orientals to a new kind of existence; they will sap at their base the prejudices that preside over the legislation of the family. Only after this will teaching come to strike them the final blow.

We applaud with all our strength the work of Mr. X…, the spirit in which it is conceived; we promise him, moreover, our assistance, and we advise him to have recourse to us, every time he encounters some embarrassing difficulties. May he hasten to set himself to the work; events move quickly and it is difficult for the work to be finished when the propitious moment arrives! May he not lose time and may he count on our concurrence, which is granted to him as to all those who pursue with disinterest the realization of providential designs.

Clélie Duplantier. n [1]

[v. Clélie Duplantier.]