October 14th, 1861
“May the Lord’s peace be with you my dear friends, so that nothing may ever disturb the harmony that must rule in a center of sincere spiritists!
I know how profound is your faith in God and how eager followers you are of the new revelation. That is why I tell you with my warmest affection towards you that I would be devastated, we would all be devastated if under the auspices of the Spirit of Truth and as initiators of Spiritism in France we saw harmony disappearing from your environment, a harmony that you have so far demonstrated so brilliantly. Had you not given examples of a solid fraternity and if you were not a serious and important center of the great spiritist communion in France I would have left this issue in the shadow of forgetfulness. However, if I have brought that issue up is for having plausible reasons to invite you to the maintenance of union, peace and unity of the Doctrine among your several groups.
Yes, my dear disciples, I enthusiastically take this opportunity that we ourselves prepared to show you how dismal the news of a fissure would be for the development of Spiritism and the scandal that it would generate among your brothers of other regions, such news about a center that up until now has delightfully been used as an example of the spirit of fraternity to all other already formed centers or in formation. I don’t ignore the fact as you should not ignore either that everything will be done to spread division among you; that traps will be prepared; that you will find ambushes of all sorts along the way; that you will be incited one against the other to feed division thus entailing an always regrettable rupture. However, you can avoid all that by practicing the sublime precepts of the law of love and charity, first to yourselves and then to everybody else. I am convinced that you will not give the enemies of our sacred cause the satisfaction of saying: ‘Look at those spiritists from Bordeaux, who were presented to us as the vanguard of the march of the new believers! They cannot even agree with themselves!’ There you have it my friends; that is what is waiting for you and for all of us. Your excellent guides have already told you: ‘You will have to fight not only against the proud, selfish, materialistic and all of those unfortunate ones representing the spirit of the century, but also and more importantly against the flock of deceiving spirits that will find a group of mediums among you, since you have plenty of those, and soon will come to assault you, some with wisely prepared dissertations in which they will insinuate heresy or some acidic principle; other communications openly hostile to the teachings given by the true messengers of the Spirit of Truth. Ah! Believe me, don’t be afraid of unmasking the impostor that, like new Tartuffe, mingle with you covered by the mask of religion.
Be also ruthless with the devouring wolves hidden under the skin of sheep. With the help of God, who you must never invoke in vain and with the assistance of the good spirits for their protection you will be unbreakable in your faith. The bad spirits will find you invulnerable and when they see their darts torn apart by the love and charity, the drivers of your hearts, they will leave in astonishment after a campaign that only unveiled their impotence and shame. You will be invariably united by looking at any doctrine contrary to the moral of the Gospels and the general principles of the Ten Commandments as subversive, all summarized by this concise law: ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind and you must love your neighbor as yourself’. In fact one must comply with the common law in everything: nobody is supposed to subtract or impose their opinion and feelings when they are not accepted by other members of the same spiritist family. For that reason I strongly recommend that you mirror the practice and regulations of the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies where nobody, whatever his or her position, age, service rendered or acquired authority may utilize their own initiative in place of that of the Society to which they belong and with a greater reason engage the Society into something through maneuvers that were not approved. Having said that it is incontestable that the followers of the same group must show great respect towards the acquired wisdom and experience. Experience is not an exclusive attribute of the oldest or the wiser but of the one who has given more time and energy to our reassuring philosophy and with more benefit to all. As for the wisdom it is up to us to identify those among you that follow and practice the precepts and the laws in the best way.
However, my friends, before you follow your own inspirations don’t forget your advices and do consult with your ethereal guardians who will never fail you whenever you invoke them with your heart and with an objective that is of general interest. For that you need good mediums and the ones I see here are excellent; it is just a matter of choice. I know well that Mrs. and Ms. Cazemajoux and some others have mediumistic faculties of the highest degree and I repeat that there isn’t any other region better equipped than Bordeaux in that regard. I had to make some tough comments given the great expectation that the Spirit of Truth, the master of all of us, has on you. Remember that you are part of the spiritist vanguard and that the vanguard, like the Joint Chiefs of Staff, owes everybody an absolute submission to the established discipline.
Ah! Your work is not easy considering that you are assigned with the task of holding the axe with a strong hand and take it to the somber forests of materialism and move on to the last shelters of material interests. New Jasons march on to conquer the real brook of gold, the new and fecund ideas that must regenerate the world, but in that case you no longer march with the private interest and not even with that of the current generation but more importantly in the interest of future generations to whom you pave the way. There is a level of abnegation and greatness in this work that will be acknowledged by the centuries to come and believe me God will take that into account. I had to speak as I did because I talk to people who listen to reason; to persons who pursue an eminently useful objective: the betterment and emancipation of humankind; to spiritists that at the end of the day teach and preach through example and the best way to do that is by practicing the truly Christian virtues.
I had to tell you these things because it was necessary to show and forewarn you against a danger. I am doing my duty. I can now look at the future with confidence because I am convinced that my words will have an effect on everyone and each one of you and that selfishness, pride or vanity from now on will have no power upon your hearts where there will only be true fraternity.
You will remember spiritists of Bordeaux that your union is the true path to a universal union and fraternity. I feel really happy to clearly see that Spiritism has pushed you a step forward on its own. Our congratulations to you and I speak here in the name of all spirits that preside over the great work of human regeneration since your initiative has opened up a new field of exploration and a new safe mode in the studies of the phenomena from beyond the grave, based on your request for membership, not as isolated individuals but as a group, to the pioneering Society of Paris. Given the importance of this step I acknowledge the great wisdom of your main guides and I thank our kind Fenelon and his loyal supporters Georges and Marius that together preside over your devoted 40 Greek mythology (NT) study groups. I also take this opportunity to pay a sound tribute to the spirits Ferdinand and Felicia that you all know. Although these honorable co-workers have only done well for the good, you should know that it is due to these humble pioneers, seconded by the humble Marcelin that our sacred Doctrine has prospered so much in Bordeaux and in the South West of France. Yes, my loyal believers, your remarkable initiative will be followed; I know that well, by every seriously established spiritist group. Hence, it is a huge step forward. You understood, and others will do too, the advantages, the advancement and the propaganda that will result from the adoption of a uniform program for the works and studies of the Doctrine that we have revealed to you. Yet, it must be well understood that each group will preserve their originality and particular initiative, but outside their private works they will have to get involved with matters of general interest, submitting themselves to the exam of the central Society, thus resolving several difficulties whose solution have not yet been given by the spirits for reasons that would be useless to elaborate here.
I believe I would offend you by pointing out the consequences resulting from simultaneous work. Then, who would dare contest one truth when it is confirmed by unanimity or by the majority of the mediumistic responses obtained simultaneously in Lyon, Bordeaux, Constantinople, Metz, Brussels, Sens, Mexico City, Marseille, Toulouse, Mâcon, Sétif, Alger, Oran, Cracow, Moscow, St. Petersburg and Paris?
I spoke to you with the same unpolished sincerity with which I do to your brothers from Paris. Yet, I will not leave you before attesting my sympathies legitimately conquered by this kind family where excellent spirits in charge of your spiritual direction have had their eloquent words heard. I mentioned the Sabò family which endured the painful trial that God brought upon them with stability and unchangeable benevolence to elevate them higher and bring them up to the level of their present mission. I must also mention the dedicated support of all those who have contributed to the propagation of our reassuring Doctrine, in their respective spheres of action. My friends, keep up with your resolute march on the open path. It will certainly lead you to the ethereal spheres of perfect happiness where I will certainly meet you. In the name of the Spirit of Truth that loves you I bless you all, spiritists of Bordeaux.
Erastus
