Ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues:
The Society has entered its seventh year and such a period has significance when dealing with a new science. A fact of not minor importance is that it has always followed an ascending march. However, ladies and gentlemen, we know that its progress has taken place more in the moral than in the material sense. It not only did not open its doors to the first one that showed up but also did not solicit to take part any one in particular; It was more concerned with limitation than an indefinite expansion.
The number of active members is in fact secondary to any society that is not greedy. The Society does not seek sponsors hence it is not attained to numbers. That is demanded by the very nature of its works that are exclusively scientific for which calm and seriousness are necessary and not the movement of the crowds. The sign of prosperity of the Society is not therefore in the number of people or their position. It is entirely in the progression of its studies, in the respect that it has gained, in the moral ascendance that it has out there and finally in the number of followers that are in line with the principles that it promotes, even if they are not part of the Society. With that respect, ladies and gentlemen, you must know that it has gone beyond our forecasts. And, this is remarkable, it is not only in France that it has found its place but also abroad because for the true Spiritists all men are brothers irrespective of their nations. The material proof is the number of societies and groups that from several countries place themselves under the sponsorship of the Society asking for its advice. That is a remarkable fact and the more characteristic the more such a convergence occurs spontaneously since it is not less remarkable that the Society hasn’t provoked or solicited that convergence. It is then voluntarily that they come to gather under the flag raised by the Society. What are the causes for all that? The causes are multifold. It is useful to examine them because that will be part of the history of Spiritism. One of the causes is naturally the fact that it was the first regularly formed and also the first to enlarge the scope of its studies, embracing all parts of the Spiritist science. When Spiritism had just left the period of curiosity and the dancing tables it entered the resolutely philosophical period that in a way was inaugurated by the Society. For that very reason it attracted the attention of serious people from the beginning. But that would have done no good if it had remained alien to the principles taught by the generality of the Spirits. If the Society had only professed its own ideas it would never had imposed such ideas to the immense majority of followers in every country. The Society represents the principles formulated in the Spirits’ Book and being those principles taught everywhere people connected themselves to the center that irradiated those principles while those that remained away from that center stayed isolated for not finding echoes amongst the Spirits. I will repeat here what I said elsewhere because it is never too much to repeat.
The strength of Spiritism is not on the opinion of a single man or Spirit. It is in the universality of the teachings of the Spirits. The universal control, like the universal suffrage, will solve all the litigation issues in the future. It will establish the unity of the Doctrine much better than a council of persons. You may rest assured, ladies and gentlemen, that this principle will open its path like the “there is no salvation but through charity” because it is based on the strictest logic and on the abnegation of personality. It will not oppose but the adversaries of Spiritism as well as those that only have faith in their own knowledge.
The Spiritist Society of Paris conquered that position because it has never moved away from the path designed by a sound logic. People trust it because they know that it does not make any move lightheartedly; that it does not impose its own ideas and that by its position and more than anybody else it may attest the direction of its pronouncement in what can be fairly called the universal suffrage of the Spirits. If one day the Society would position differently from the majority it would forcibly no longer be the point of connection. Spiritism would not fall because its supporting point is everywhere but since the Society would not have its own supporting point it would fall.
In fact due to its exception nature Spiritism does not depend more on a society than on an individual. The Parisian Society has never said: - there is no Spiritism but through me – because it would cease existing if said so while Spiritism would not stop following its course because its roots are in the uncountable multitude of interpreters of the Spirits around the world and not in any given meeting whose existence is always eventual. The testimonies received by the Society demonstrate that it is liked and respected and that is what is more cherished. If the first cause of that is in the characteristics of its works it is fair to add that it is in the good judgement they carried from its sessions the large number of foreigners that came to visit it. The order, dignity, seriousness and the fraternal feelings that they witnessed here, more than all words, convinced them about its eminently serious character.
That is, ladies and gentlemen, the position that as a founder of the Society I promptly attested. That is also the reason why I have never yielded to any incitement that would veer it off from the path of caution. I let the impatient speak in good or bad faith. You know what became of them whereas the Society is still standing. The mission of the Society is not to solicit followers on its own and that is why it has never invited the public. The objective of its works, as explained in its name, is the progress of the Spiritist science. To achieve that the Society utilizes not only its own observations but also those that are done elsewhere. It collects documents that come from all sides, study, investigate and compare them in order to deduce their principles and extract the teachings that it propagates but not lightheartedly. That is how everyone benefits from its works and if they acquire certain authority it is for reason that everybody knows that they are achieved consciously, without any systematic prevention against people or things. You must then understand that to achieve such an objective a more or less considerable number of members is irrelevant. The result would be achieve with a dozen persons as well as or even better than with a few hundreds. Since it has no material interest that explains why it does not aim at a number. It does nothing out of curiosity and its objective is solemn and serious. Finally, considering that the elements of science would not teach it anything new the Society does not waste time by repeating what it already knows. As we have said, its role is to work towards the progress of science through the study. The Society is not sought after by those that know nothing and want to be convinced but by the already initiated followers that come to gather new instructions. That is its true character. What the Society really needs, what is really indispensable to the Society are broad relationships that allow it to see the general movement from above, to assess the whole, to align to the general movement and make it known. The Society does have those relationships that came to be spontaneously and that grow by the day as you have the proof through our correspondence.
The number of groups that are formed under its auspices and that require its sponsorship by the reasons above is the most characteristic fact of the social year that has just ended. This is not just an honor to the Society but something of capital importance for it demonstrates at the same time the reach of the Doctrine and the direction in which the unity must be established. Those that know us know the relationships between the Parisian Society and the others but it is of the essence that everybody else knows to avoid mistakes that could be brought up by smearing.
Therefore it is not superfluous to repeat that the Spiritists do not form among themselves neither a congregation nor an association; that among the multiple societies there is no material dependence or affiliation, occult or ostensible; that they do not obey any secret commandment; that those that are members are always free to leave if they wish to do so; that if their doors are not open to the public that is not because there is secrecy or hidden phenomena there but because they do not wish to be disturbed by curiosity or trouble makers. Far from acting in the shadows there are, on the contrary, always open to the investigation of proper authorities and to follow the requirements of the law. The Parisian Society only has moral authority upon the others due to its position and to its studies and because such authority is conferred by the others. It provides advices that are requested from its experience but do not impose itself to any of them. The only commandment that it gives, like a password amongst the Spiritists, is this: charity to everyone eve towards the enemies. It would therefore decline any moral support to any other society that would move away from such a principle; that were driven by material interests; that instead of keeping the union and good harmony they would tend to spread division among the followers because that very action would set them apart from the Doctrine.
The Parisian Society cannot take responsibility for the abuse that, out of ignorance or other causes, people can do to Spiritism. It does not intend in any shape or form to cover under its blanket the abusers as it cannot nor it should defend them before law enforcement in case of persecution because that would be an approval of something that the Doctrine rejects. When criticism is addressed to such abuses we must not rebuff but just respond: if you were to take the burden and study Spiritism you would understand its message and would not accuse it of doing something that it condemns. Therefore it is up to the Spiritists to carefully avoid anything that can give rise to founded criticism. Everyone will certainly achieve that by keeping aligned to the precepts of the Doctrine. It is not just because a meeting has the title Spiritist group, circle or society that it must necessarily have our full support. The tag has never been an absolute guarantee of the quality of the product but according to the maxim: “the tree is known by the fruit it bears” we assess them by the feelings that guide them, their driver, and we judge them by their works.
The Parisian Society is glad when able to add to the list of its members those gatherings that offer all the desired guarantees of order, good attitude, sincerity, devotion and personal abnegation and that can be offered as a role model to their brothers in faith. The position of the Parisian Society is consequently exclusively moral and it has never ambitioned any other. Those among our opponents that pretend that every Spiritist pays fees to the Society; that it enriches from their contributions, subtracting money from their little resources and that it evaluates its profit by the number of followers give proof of a remarkable ill-faith or of the most absolute ignorance about what they speak. There is no doubt that it has its own conscience and its archives to speak for itself but also to confound imposture and always give the testimony of truth in the present as well as in the future.
Without a premeditated role and by the force of things the Society became a center to where teachings of all kinds related to Spiritism converge. It is in what can be called an exceptional condition in that respect for the elements that it has to base an opinion. It can, better than anybody else, determine the real state of progress of the Doctrine in each country and appreciate the local causes that can it favor it or delay its development. That statistics will not be one of the less precious elements to the history of Spiritism and at the same time allows for the study of the maneuvers of the adversaries and calculate the reach of their blows that try to knock Spiritism down. This observation would be enough to allow for the prediction of the definitive result of the struggle as one judges the result of a battle by the movement of the two armies.
It can be said with absolute truth that we occupy the first row for the observation of not only people’s tactics but also those employed by the Spirits. In fact we see from the part of the latter a unity of views and plan that are providentially combined against which every human effort must forcibly shatter for the Spirits can reach and hurt mankind but the opposite is not true. As we can see the game is unequally balanced.
History of modern Spiritism will be something really curious because it will be about the fight between the visible and the invisible worlds. People in antiquity would have said: the fight between people and the gods. It will also be about facts and in particular about people that played a role in those events as true supports or adversaries of the cause. It is necessary that future generations know who those that deserve a fair tribute of acknowledgement are. They need to pay tribute to the true pioneers of the regenerating work and that no glory be stolen. What will give that history a very particular aspect is that instead of being consolidated many year or centuries after the fact based on traditions and legends it occurs while the events take place and based on authentic data from which we have, thanks to our unstoppable correspondence with every country where the Doctrine penetrates, we have the most complete archive that exists in the world.
Spiritism cannot and undoubtedly be reached by the lies and allegations of its adversaries with which they try to make it a fantasy. They could, however, give a false idea of its origins and its means of action, casting false testimonies against the actions and characters of people that may have cooperated with the Doctrine, if they were not officially countered. In the future these archives will be the light that will dissipate doubts, a mine from where the commentators of the future will certainly resource from. You now see, ladies and gentlemen, the importance of this work in the interest of true history. Our Society itself will be interested in this considering its own participation in the process.
The proverb says: “Nobility obliges”. Society’s position also imposes the obligations of preserving its credit and moral ascendance. The first one is that of not moving away from a theoretical point of view of the guidelines followed so far considering that the fruits are now being picked; the second one is the good example that it must give, justifying by its practice the excellence of the Doctrine that professes. It is a fact that such example, by demonstrating the moralizing influence of Spiritism, is a powerful element of propagation and, at the same time, of keeping the mouth of its detractors shut. A nonbeliever that only knew the philosophical part of the Doctrine said that with “such principles the Spiritist must necessary be a good person.” These words are profoundly true but to complement them we need to add that a true Spiritist must necessarily be good and benevolent towards their fellow human beings, that is, practice the evangelical charity in its broadest expression.
That is the grace that all of us must ask God to give us, making us receptive to the advices given by the good Spirits that assist us. Let us equally ask them to continue to protect us during the year that begins and that they may give us the strength to become worthy. That is the safest way of justifying and maintaining the position conquered by the Society.
A.K.
