Spiritist Dissertations.

As the abundance of material does not permit us to publish at present all the instructions dictated on the occasion of Mr. Allan Kardec's funeral, nor even all those given by himself, we have gathered into a single communication the teachings of general interest, obtained through various mediums.

(Society of Paris, April 1869.)

How can I thank you, gentlemen, for your kind sentiments and for the truths expressed with such eloquence over my mortal remains? You cannot doubt it: I was present and deeply happy, moved by the communion of thought that united us through the heart and the spirit.

Thank you, my young friend (Mr. C. Flammarion), thank you for having asserted yourself as you did. You expressed yourself with warmth; you assumed a grave, serious responsibility, and this act of independence will be counted to you twofold; you lost nothing by saying what your convictions and Science impose upon you. By acting thus, you may be debated, but you will be deservedly honored. Thank you to all of you, dear colleagues, my friends; thank you to the newspaper Paris, which begins an act of justice with the article of a brave and worthy heart.

Thank you, dear vice-president; Mr. Delanne, Mr. E. Muller, receive the expression of my sentiments of lively gratitude, all of you who today affectionately clasp the hand of my courageous companion.

As a man, I am very happy for the kind remembrances and the tokens of sympathy you lavish upon me; as a Spiritist I congratulate you on the resolutions you have taken to secure the future of the Doctrine; for, if Spiritism is not my work, at least I have given to it all that human strength allowed me to give. It is as an energetic and convinced collaborator, as a champion, at every instant, of the great doctrine of this century, that I love it, and I would be unhappy were I to see it perish, if that were possible. I heard with a feeling of profound satisfaction my friend, your new and worthy president, say to you: “Let us act in concert; let us awaken the echoes that have long ceased to resound; let us revive those that still resound! Let Paris not be, let France not be the theater of your action; let us go everywhere! Let us give to all Humanity the manna it lacks; let us give it the example of the tolerance it forgets, of the charity it knows so little!” You have acted to secure the vitality of the Society; that is right. You have the sincere desire to march firmly along the furrow traced; that too is right. But it is not enough to will today, tomorrow, the day after; to be worthy of the Doctrine, one must will always! The will that acts by fits is no longer will: it is caprice in good; but when the will is exercised with the calm that nothing disturbs, with the perseverance that nothing halts, it is the true will, unshakable in its action, fruitful in its results. Be confident in your strength: it will produce great effects if you employ it with prudence; be confident in the strength of the idea that unites you, for it is indestructible. Its development may be hastened or delayed, but it is impossible to halt it.

In the new phase we are entering, energy must replace apathy; calm must replace impetuosity. Be tolerant toward one another; act above all through charity, through love, through affection. Oh! if you knew all the power of this lever! It was this lever that led Archimedes to say that with it he would lift the world! You will lift it, my friends, and this splendid transformation, which will be effected by you for the benefit of all, will mark one of the most marvelous periods in the history of Humanity. Courage, then, and hope. Hope!… that torch which your unfortunate brothers cannot perceive through the darkness of pride, ignorance, and materialism, do not push it still further from their eyes. Love them; make them love you, hear you, look upon you! When they have seen, they will be dazzled.

Then, my friends, my brothers, how happy I would be to see that my efforts were not in vain and that God Himself blessed our work! On that day there will be in heaven a great joy, a great ecstasy! Humanity will be freed from the terrible yoke of the passions that chain it and oppress it with a crushing weight. Then there will no longer be on Earth evil, nor suffering, nor pain; for the true evils, the real sufferings, the excruciating pains come from the soul. The rest is but the light brush of a thorn upon one's garments!… In the radiance of human liberty and charity, all men, recognizing one another, will say: “We are brothers,” and they will have in their heart but one same love, in their mouth but one word, on their lips but one murmur: God!

Allan Kardec.