Spiritism in 1864 at a Glance
Has Spiritism grown or diminished? This question is in the interest of both its followers as well as its adversaries. The former affirm that it grew the latter say that it declines. Who is eluded? Neither ones nor the others because those that proclaim its decadence know their drive well and do demonstrated it permanently by the fear that they express and the importance that they attribute to Spiritism. Some, however, act in good faith for they feel confident after swinging a strong punch in the air, seriously saying: It is dead! Or better, it must be dead!
The Spiritists are based on more positive data, in facts that can be observed. From our stand point we can assess even better the general movement and we are happy to say that the Doctrine incessantly gains terrain in all layers of society and that 1864 was not less productive than previous years in that regard. In the absence of other indicators our Spiritist Review would already be a material proof of the state of opinion with respect to the new ideas. A special journal that reaches is 8th year of existence and that witnesses the number of subscribers grow in a remarkable proportion; that since its inception saw three times the edition of previous years sold out, that does not demonstrates the decadence of the Doctrine that it propagates or the indifference of the followers. Up until December we received new subscription for that very year and the number of subscribers on January 1st, 1865 was already 20% greater than that number at the same time in the previous year. That is a material fact, undoubtedly not concluding to strangers, but that is much more meaningful to us because we have not solicited subscription to no one and we do not impose them in any way or fashion. There isn’t a single one that was forced or that has been put as the price to any private favor. Besides, we flatter nobody to get their adhesion to our cause. We allow things to follow their natural course telling ourselves that if what we do and the way we see things are not good nothing will make it prevail. We know well that for not having flattered certain individuals we send them away from us and they moved to the side where there was flattering. Never mind! The ones that are more useful to the cause, in our view, are the serious ones and we do not see as serious those that are attracted by the mistletoe of self-love, as demonstrated by many. We do not want them and we are sorry for having them given more value to the praise of words than sincerity. We keep our conscience clear that over our whole life we have never acquired any debt with adulation or intrigue. That is the reason why we did not squirreled away a lot and it is not with Spiritism that we would have started. We happily praise our accomplishments and the services done but never in anticipation of the services that can be done or even promised to be done, first by principle and then because we only attribute a mediocre importance to the value of titles accepted by pride.
That is why we never claim them. When we stop approving we do not reproach and keep our silence unless the interest of our cause requires rupture. Hence, those that come to us come out of their free-will, voluntarily, attracted by an idea that is convenient to them and not after any kind of soliciting or due to our personal merit that is a secondary question considering that, irrespective of the merit, one could not attribute value to an idea that one would not have. That is the reason why we say that the testimonies that we receive are addressed to the idea and not to the person and it would be a silly presumption from our side to be flattered by that. From the point of view of the Doctrine the majority of those testimonies come to us from people that we have never seen, frequently from people that we have never written to or to whom we certainly were not the first ones to write. Therefore, ruling out the idea of recruiting or comradery, that is why we say that the situation of the Spiritist Review has a particular significance as an indicator of the progress of Spiritism and that is the only reason why we mentioned it.
Besides, the year saw the birth of a number of promoters of the idea: the Sauveur des Peuples, the Lumière, the Voix d’outre-tombe, in Bordeaux; the Avenir, in Paris; the Médium Évangélique, in Toulouse and in Brussels the Monde Musical, that although is not a special journal it treats Spiritism in a serious way. For sure if the founders of those publications had believed that the idea was declining they would not have ventured into similar endeavors.
In 1864 progress is still marked by an increase in the number of Spiritist groups and societies formed in several places where there was none in France or abroad. Every moment we hear about the formation of a new center. That number is in reality much higher than it seems given the amount of familiar and private gatherings that have no official character. It is against such gatherings that the attacks of a systematic opposition are powerless, even the inquisition type, like in Spain where there occur in more than thirty cities an in the house of persons of the highest social echelon.
Side by side to these material indications there is the part that is revealed through social relationships. It is rare today to meet people that do not know Spiritism at least by name and almost everywhere we find those that are sympathetic to the idea. The ones that do not believe speak with more reservation and everyone can attest how much the mockery has diminished. It generally gives place to a more rational discussion. With the exception of same jokes by the press and a few more or less heated sermons, the passionate and violent attacks are increasingly rarer. This takes place because by repealing the idea the detractors unwillingly feel its upper hand and begin to understand that it has conquered its place before public opinion. As a matter of fact most of them find followers among their own and their friends that they can mock in private but dare not do publically. Finally, we all could observe how many times the Spiritist ideas are reproduced in literature in a serious way and without the use of the word. Never before we had seen so many publications of that kind as we have lately. Be it true belief or fantasy from the part of their authors it is undoubtedly a sign of vulgarization of the idea because if it is exploited it is because they believe that it will find echo.
Progress, however, is far from being uniform. In certain places it is still kept in check by the prejudices or by a hidden force that frequently appears unexpectedly. In several places there are more followers than people think but that are not declared. The proof of that is in the number of books sold that goes much beyond the number of known Spiritists. Then it is just necessary that a person manifests her opinion to make progress move from latent to positive. That is what must have happened in Paris that for a long time was much behind any provincial city. Since two years ago, but in particular in the last year, Spiritism developed here with a surprising speed. The declared groups are in large number today and the private gatherings uncountable. It is not an exaggeration to estimate the number of followers from top to bottom at around a hundred thousand. In short, progress along the year that has just ended is incontestable when considering the whole and not isolated places. Although it has not been manifested through any brilliant sign or exceptional event, it is evident that the idea daily penetrates more and more the spirit of the masses and ever in a stronger way. Nevertheless we must not conclude that the period of struggle is over. No. Our adversaries do not give up so easily. The erect new batteries in silence and because of that we must remain watchful. We shall say a few words about it in a new article.
