This remarkable and conscientious book is the work of a distinct scientist that proposed to find the demonstration of the reality of Spiritualist ideas from science and from the observation of facts. It is another piece supporting the thesis that we put forward above. It is more still because it is a first step, almost official, of science in the Spiritist way; as a matter of fact, it will be followed soon – and we are certain about it – by other even more resounding adhesions that will make deniers and adversaries of all schools to seriously think about it. It is enough to mention the following excerpt to show the mind frame of the work. It is found in page 331.
“It can be seen – and that is undoubtedly a sign of the times – the Spiritist sect that I already mentioned in paragraph 15, rapidly reaching persons of all classes and the most enlightened ones, not to mention the late and missed Jobard, from Brussels, that had become one of the liveliest champions of the new doctrine.
The fact is that if we examine this doctrine only in the little pamphlet of Allan Kardec, What is Spiritism? It is impossible not to notice how clear and homogeneous its morality is, consistent with itself, how satisfying it is to the mind and the heart. If the reality of communications with the invisible world were taken away people would always have that, and that is a great deal; it is enough to attract many members and explain its ever-increasing success. As for communications with the invisible world, I believe I have scientifically demonstrated that they were not only possible, but that they should take place every day in sleep. Inspiration during the state of vigil whose authenticity or nature is impossible to doubt, according to what I said, is in fact a communication of that kind although there could be cases in which they are only the result of a greater degree of activity of the mind. Now, if one verifies where the communication is translated by knowledge foreign to the medium that receives them and see nothing there that is not highly likely and it is in every case an issue that can be resolved in the absence of wise men, that each medium has the notion of their own knowledge in their normal state – and that can be judged by friends and family members better than anybody else – so that if Spiritism makes daily wonders beyond the moral issue it is apparently due to the fact that it produces mediums in quantity sufficient to produce proofs of their particular condition to whoever wants to examine them without preconceived ideas.
“Morality, as I understand it and as I deduced from scientific notions – I am not afraid of acknowledging it – has multiple points of contact with the one transmitted by Mr. Allan Kardec’s mediums. Also, I am not far from admitting that if there are many pages written by them that do not surpass the ordinary reach of human minds, including theirs, there must be, and there are, some of such a reach that it would be impossible to write other similar ones in their own rights.
All that makes me wish that a doctrine that does not offer a minor danger and, on the contrary, elevates mind and spirit as much as one can wish for in the interest of society may expand more and more every day. Because according to what I have read I imagine that it is impossible to be a good Spiritist without being a good man and a good citizen. I do not know many religions about which one can say the same.”
