The Spiritist Review - Journal of Psychological Studies - 1864

Allan Kardec

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By Mr. Armand Durantin[1]


Spiritism has found its place among the beliefs. If it is still a reason of mockery to some writers one notices that to some of those that ridiculed it in the past mockery has lowered its voice before the antecedent of the general opinion, they now limiting to cite the facts related to Spiritism without comments or with careful restrictions. Others, not positively believing in Spiritism, and even without knowing it in depth, consider the idea too important to find matter of fantasy or imagination. Such is the case, as we see it, of the book mentioned above. It is a simple drama based on the Spiritist belief presented from a serious point of view, but that can have some mistakes reproached by us, undoubtedly originated from an incomplete study of the subject.

The author that wishes to create a fictitious story on top of a historical event must, before anything, get to know the truth of the fact to avoid sidetracking history. That is how every author that wishes to take advantage of the Spiritist idea must proceed, be it for not being accused of ignorance about what they portray or to conquer the sympathy of followers, today in large numbers to tilt the scale of public opinion and concur to the success of every work that, directly or indirectly, is related to their belief.

Made the reservation from the point of view of orthodoxy, the work in consideration will not be less read with great interest by the followers as well as by the adversaries of Spiritism and we thank the author for the gracious tribute made to us in his book that has come to popularize the new idea. We will mention the passages below that mention the Doctrine more specifically.



At the time when Mr. Boursonne (one of the leading roles in the romance) had lost his wife a mystic doctrine was spreading quietly and slowly in the shadows. It still counted on a low number of followers but it had the great aspiration of replacing the several Christian cults. It still needs persecution to become a powerful religion. That doctrine is Spiritism, so eloquently exposed by Mr. Allan Kardec in his remarkable book The Spirits’ Book. Count de Boursonne was one of its most keen followers. I will only say a few words about that doctrine to allow the non-believers to understand that the Count’s power was entirely natural.

The Spiritists acknowledge God and the immortality of the soul. They believe that Earth is a place of transition and trial. According to them the soul is initially place on an inferior planet by God. The soul lives there in a more or less dense body until it is depurated enough to migrate to a superior world. That is how, after long migrations and several trials, the souls finally get to perfection, then living at the heart of God. It is then up to the human being to abbreviate pilgrimages and arrive more rapidly to the Lord by improving themselves more rapidly.

It is a touching belief of Spiritism that the more perfect souls may communicate with the Spirits. Thus, according to the Spiritists, we can talk to our lost loved ones if our soul is perfected enough to hear them and be heard by them. It is then the more perfected persons among us that can serve as intermediaries between common people and the Spirits. Those agents, as much ridiculed by skepticism as admired by the believers are called mediums in the Spiritist language. Having said that it is important to mention that the Spiritist Doctrine now counts on many thousands followers, in particular in large cities, and that Count de Boursonne was one of their most powerful mediums.”

Here there is a first big mistake. If one needed to be perfect to communicate with the Spirits very few would have such privilege. The Spirits communicate even with those that are seriously behind, precisely to motivate them to improve through their advices, according to these words by Jesus: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick”. (Luke 5:31) Mediumship is a faculty that depends on the physical organization more or less developed, according to the individuals, but that can be given to the least virtuous, then subjected to punishment if the person do not take advantage of that or if the faculty is abused. The moral superiority of the medium ensures the sympathy of the good Spirits, turning the medium apt to receive instructions of a higher level but the facility to communicate with the beings of the invisible world directly or through third party is given to each one for their advancement. That is what the author would know had he carried out a more in-depth study of the Spiritist science.

Modern science demonstrated that everything is interconnected. Therefore, in the physical world, from the minute aquatic creatures and mankind, that is its highest expression, there is a chain of creatures successively improved, as abundantly demonstrated the discoveries of geologists. Well, the Spiritists ask themselves why such a chaining would not happen in the spiritual world as well; the question why such a blank between man and God, as Mr. Le Verrier asked himself how could it be possible that a single planet would be missing in a given place in the skies, given the harmonious laws that govern our still incomprehensible and unknown world. Guided by the same thought that led the eminent director of the Paris Observatory to his wonderful deduction the Spiritists then recognized immaterial creatures between mankind and God, before having the hard proof that was only acquired later on.”

There is here an equally important mistake. Spiritism was led to its theories by the observation of the facts and not by a preconceived system. The thought mentioned by the author was certainly rational but it was not the way how things happened. The Spiritists concluded that the Spirits existed because the Spirits manifested spontaneously. They indicated the law that governs the relationships between the visible and the invisible world because they observed those relationships. They admitted the progressive hierarchy of the Spirits because the Spirits were presented to them in all levels of advancement. They adopted the principle of the plurality of the existences not only because it was taught by the Spirits but because that principle results, as a law of nature, from the observation of facts that are before our eyes. In short, Spiritism admitted nothing under the assumption of hypothesis. Everything in the Doctrine is the result of experience. That is all that we have repeated many times in our works.

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We find the below warning useful to all interested parties:

Whenever a letter is received our first action is to verify the signature. In the absence of signature or sufficient identification the letter meets the trash can, without being read, even if signed as: one of our subscribers, one Spiritist, etc. The latter having even less reason to remain incognito than the other ones as far as we are concerned, being that the very reason why the origin of the letters becomes suspicious and why we don’t even take notice of their letters since the authentic correspondence is large enough and sufficient to absorb our attention. The person in charge of doing their classification has our explicit recommendation to reject without examination every letter that is in the aforementioned condition.





[1] A 12-in volume. Price 3 francs. Dentu Bookstore and Central Bookstore, Blvd. des Italiens, 24


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