Hillaire TrialAn issue that we have kept understandably reserved has just found a turnaround that places it in public domain. Since it has been published by several local newpapers we thought it was okay to talk about it to prevent false interpretations from maledicence with respect to the Spiritist Doctrine, and demonstrate that the Doctrine does not cover reproachable things with its mantle. Besides, since our name is involved in this it is important that our way of looking at this be known. The matter concerns the medium Hillaire, from Sonnac (Charente-Inférieure), that we have already introduced to our readers.
Hillaire is a young married family man, a simple worker, almost illiterate. Providence gifted him with a remarkable mediumistic faculty of multiple facets whose details may be found in the book by Mr. Bez entitled “Les miracles de nos jours”; his mediumship has a lot of similarity with that of Mr. Home. Such faculty called people’s attention to him. He became a local celebrity that granted him the sympaty of some and the animosity of others. The somehow exaggerated praises that he received produced the habitual bad influence. Mr. Home’s success got to him as attested by the letters that he wrote. He dreamed of a theater bigger than his village, however despite his offers to come to Paris we never wanted to reach out to him.
If we had seen any kind of utility in that we would have have facilitated it, but based on what we knew about his ideas and character we were convinced that he did not had the necessary qualifications to play a significant role in his own interest. In fact, we had very recently seen one of those ambitions that push people to the capital and end up in bitter deceptions. They did damage him by putting him on a pedestal. His mission was local. In a limited circle and with a certain population he could do great services to the cause of Spiritism with the help of the outstanding phenomena that took place under his influence. He did that by propagating the Spiritist ideas in his land, but he could have done even more if he had remained restricted to his modest sphere, without abandoning his bread winning work, and if he had more prudently conciliated his work with the exercise of mediumship. Unfortunately to him the importance that he attributed to himself made him little accessible to the advices of experience. Like many people, he would have accepted them if in agreement with his own ideas. His letters made that clear to us! Several indications pointed out to a forecast of his downfall but we were far from guessing the cause that would lead to that. Our spiritual guides warned us more than once to be careful with him and to not act prematurely by bringing him to Paris. With too much presumption on one side and too much weakness on the other he destroyed his mission at a time when it could shine the most. Yielding to dangerous invitations and perhaps, we are led to belive, to perfidious insinutations, he then made a mistake, left the region and later on had to face justice. Far from suffering from that, as boasted by our adversaries, Spiritism left the trial safe and sound, as it will be seen shortly. Unnecessary to say that they tried to turn every manifestation through the unfortunate Mr. Hillaire into gross deception. In that sad episode, the aggrieved, one of those that had acclaimed him the most in his transient glory and that had favored him with his sponsorship, wrote to us after the guilty ones had escaped, giving us detailed description of what had happened, asking for our help and our correspondents to have them arrested. He finished by saying: “It is necessary to remove everything from them, forcing them to return to France, and we will then be able to have them punished by human justice, hoping that the merciful God also punish them since they do a great harm to Spiritism. Looking for a handwritten answer from you I will pray to God to have them found. I remain truly yours… etc.”
Here the answer we gave him, not suspecting that it would become one of the exhibits in the process:
Dear Sir,
Returning from a long trip that I have just finished I found the letter that you sent me about Hillaire. Like anyone else I deplore the sad event for which, however, Spiritism cannot be attacked for it cannot be blamed for the actions of those that do not understand it well. As for yourself, the most damaged in the case, I understand your outrage and the first moment of reaction that must have taken you, but I hope that your soul may have found calmness in more reflection. If you are really a Spiritist you must know that we must accept with resignation every trial that God believes to be adequate to send our way, being themselves atonements of previous faults. It is not by asking God, as you do, to avenge us against our oponents that we acquire merit in our God sent trials. By doing so we, on the contrary, we lose the fruits and attract even harder trials. Isn’t that a contradiction from your side to ask the God of mercy to bring the guilty ones to prison, having them delivered to human justice? Sending similar prayers to God is offensive when we, ourselves, need more of less of his mercy, forgetting what he said: you shall be forgiven as you forgave others. Such language is not Christian or Spiritist because Spiritism, like Jesus Christ, teaches us the indulgence and forgiveness of offenses. This is to us a beautiful opportunity to show greatness and nobility and demonstrate that you are above human miseries. To your own benefit I wish you do not let it go.
You believe this event will harm Spiritism. I repeat that it will not affect Spiritism, despite the eagerness of the adversaries in exploiting this circumstance to their benefit. If it could do any harm it would be momentary and on a local level and for that you would have given your contribution, given the enthusiasm with which you propagate the issue. You should have done whatever was in your power to avoid the scandal, out of charity, and as you say in the interest of the doctrine. Instead, given the repercussion that you gave the matter, you gave weapons to our adversaries. The sincere Spiritists would have appreciated your moderation and God would have taken your good feelings into account.
I am sorry if you thought that I could help your wishes of vengeance in any form, by acting in a way to bring the guilty to justice. It would be a huge misconception of my role, my character and my understanding of the true interests of Spiritism. If, like you say, you are my true brother in God then you must beg for his clemency and not rage, for the one that demands rage onto another takes the risk of having that same rage returning to oneself. I have the honor of greeting you with cordiality, in hopes that you may come back to thoughts that are more worthy of a sincere Spiritist.
Allan Kardec
Here the report sent to you:
“The case Hillaire began on Friday and ended on Saturday at midnight. Vitet withdrew his complaint at the time when the sentence was to be announced so that his wife was acquitted. Only Hillaire remained under the sword of justice. The prosecutor’s office concluded that he was guilty, claiming the application of articles 336, 337, 338, etc. of the criminal code. The court declared itself incompentent to assess the transportation effects and other mediumistic facts, applying article 463 to condemn Hillaire to one year in prison with fines. To us the judgment was a fair application of the written law, although considered a bit too harsh by persons that were not absolutely Spiritists. If on one hand we witnessed the development of sad events that human weakeness can lead to, on another we watched a beautiful spectacle when we heard the solemn proclamation of the Spiritist Doctrine when, during the intervals and at the exit of the audience, we heard these words repeated in public: - we must envy the happiness of those whose faith constantly place them in the presence of the loved ones that cannot be kept away even by the grave.
In fact, look at that crowd that even the praetoreum will not be able to hold up. Members of all social positions elbowing one another, from the lowest to the highest echelon. Do you believe that those people come here only to watch common debates about a sordid occurrence brought up by police? Watch the shame of two confessed miserable ones that describe all the details of their fault? Oh No. The matter at hand has a much higher reach. Spiritism is in jeopardy. They come to hear the revelations made by an inquiry that lasted three months. They come to mock the ridicule that would certainly fall onto those poor hallucinated ones, but their not much charitable hopes were dispersed by the wisdom of the court.
The President begins by stating the most absolute freedom of conscience. To everyone he recommends respect to the religious belief of each person, and he himself walks that path all the way. There comes the time when the letter from our teacher to Vitet (published above) will be read. He holds it in his hands and after reading it he mentions that he found in that letter a voice worthy of the first fathers of the Church; that such a beautiful moral had never been preached before with that kind of beautiful language.
Twenty witnesses unanimously confirmed the truth of the phenomena of transportation; none had the tinest doubt. Hence the declaration of incompentence by the court. Only Vitet and his servant objected the miraculous argument but, at the same time, it was countered by a handwritten declaration signed by Vitet and his servant. Two members of our Society were heard. The President was not worried about eventual discussions that could take place as a result of his comments about certain points of the Doctrine. One and the other responded correctly to the satisfaction of every Spiritist.
Hillaire’s lawyer was very succinct with respect to the central theme of the accusation and that could not have been different. But regarding the Doctrine, its teachings, consequences and its progress around the world; about the perseverance of those men from the village, at least our equals with respect to knowledge, intelligence, morality and social position, he said; about the facts that were published everyday in the media; about the multiplicity of works, of the specialized journals, always speaking with eloquence and conviction. His last blow was the reading of a letter from Mr. Jaubert. In the letter Mr. Jaubert says that he and his friends involved with physical manifestations saw, and saw well, with the lights on as well as at daylight, similar events to those obtained by Hillaire, facts that are report in their minor details.
The reading was followed by a solemn profession of faith from Mr. Jaubert himself, a magistrate, active vice-President of a civilian court in the capital city of the Department, a reading that touched the whole audience. (The Journal of Saint-Jean-d’Angély, February 12th, analysis this remarkable defense. See also the Revue de l’Ouest, from Niort, February 18th).
The prosecutor naturally defamed the accused. He explains the events of manifestations through vulgar means. Anybody can produce them in their living room, at will and very easily; it only requires some minimum skills. He cites historic mediumistic facts attributed to hallucination. With respect to the Doctrine he was always honorable and respectful towards the followers. In particular he enthusiastically applauded the courage, honesty and good-faith of the witnesses that came to attest their belief, not stopping before the the fear of mockery and sarcasm, or with their own material interests that can be damaged by all that.”
Spiritism did not leave that trial safe and sound only but also with the honors of war. It is true that the trial did not attest the reality of the manifestations of Hillaire but kept them out of question, given the declaration of incompetence of the court, and for that very reason did not declare them to be fraudulent. As for the Doctrine it was granted a brilliant suffrage. To us, that is the essential point because Spiritism is less in the material phenomena than it is in their moral consequences. Never mind if they deny facts that are daily attested in all corners of the world, because it is not far the day in which everybody will be forced to give in to the evidence. The most important point is that the doctrine that will follow from that be recognized as worthy of the Gospel, on which it is founded. Certainly Mr. Substitute is not Spiritist; the President is not either, as far as we know, but we are pleased to verify that their personal opinion does not affect their impartiality.
The praises to the witnesses are a fantastic tribute to the courage of opinion and to the honesty of belief. Those firm supports of our faith deserve a special tribute. We give it right now throught the following message to them.
Paris, January 21st, 1865
From Mr. Allan Kardec, to the devout Spiritists in the Hillaire case
Dear brothers in Spiritism,
In my name and in the name of the Spiritist Society of Paris, I come to pay a deserved homage of praises to all of those sustained their faith and defended truth with courage, dignity and firmness, in the said event that has shaken us all. They were payed a brilliant and solemn tribute by justice. They cannot go without an acknowledgement from their brothers in belief. I requested a complete and as much as possible accurate list of their names, to have them side by side with the others that deserve a tribute of Spiritism. This is not to give them publicity, something that would damage their modesty, and in fact at this very moment it would be more harmful than helpful, but our century is so much worried that it is forgotten. It is necessary that the memory of the true loved ones, free from any second intention of interest, does not remain lost to those that will come after us. The archives of Spiritism will let them get to know the ones that have a legitimate right to such recognition. I take the opportunity, dear brothers, to take a moment to talk about something of concern to us. Before anything else, one could fear the consequences of this case to Spiritism. I was never worried about it, as you know, because it could only produce a local and momentary commotion; because our Doctrine, as with religion, cannot be blamed by the faults of those that do not understand it. It is in vain that our adversaries struggle to present it as evil and immoral; they would have to demonstrate that the Doctrine provokes, excuses or justifies a single reproachable act, or that besides the positively known teachings it also has secretive ones that may accommodate the consciences.
However and since with Spiritism everything happens in the open daylight, and it only preaches the moral of the Gospel, leading mankind to its practice, and in particular the ones that move away from that, only a malicious intention could attribute pernicious tendencies to Spiritism. Considering that each person can pass their own judgement about its highly propagated and clearly formulated principles in books at everyone’s reach, only ignorance or ill-faith could alter it as they did to the first Christians accused of all sorts of disgraces and indignities that hit Rome, and also of corruption of customs. Christianity, with the Gospel in hand, could only come out victorious from all of those accusations and from the terrible struggle that was set up against it. It is the same with Spiritism whose banner is also the Gospel. To justify it one only needs to say this: See what Spiritism teaches, what is recommended and condemned by it. What is it that is condemned? Every action contrary to charity that is the law taught by Jesus Christ.
Spiritism is not only in the belief on the manifestation of the Spirits. The mistake made those by those that condemn Spiritism is to believe that it only consist on the production of strange phenomena, and that because they only see the surface for not taking the burden of studying it. Such phenonema are only strange to those that do not know their cause. But any person that study them with profundity will see the effect of a law, of a force of nature that was unknown and that, for that very reason, are not wonderful or supernatural. The phenomena demonstrate the existence of the Spirits that are not but the soul of those that lived. They consequently prove the existence of the soul, its survival to the body, and future life with all of its moral consequences. Faith in the future is then based on material proofs, becoming unshakable and defeating disbelief. That is why, when Spiritism becomes a general belief, there will be no skeptical or materialist or atheist. Its mission is to fight disbelief, doubt and indifference. Hence it does not address those that have faith and to whom their faith is enough, but those that believe in nothing or that doubt. It does not demand anybody to leave their religion; it respects every belief, when they are sincere. To its eyes freedom of conscience is a sacred right; if it did not respect that freedom it would default its first principle that is charity. Neutral among all cults it will be the link that will unite them all under the same flag, that of universal fraternity. One day they will walk hand in hand instead of saying anathema to one another.
Far from being the essential part of Spiritism the phenomena are only an accessory, an auxiliary employed by God to defeat the disbelief that invades society, and that consists above all in the application of his moral principles. That is how the sincere Spiritists are recognized. The examples of moral reformation led by Spiritism are in large number already, allowing to foresee the results that it will produce with time. It is necessary that its moralizing force be really great to be able to defeat the inveterate habits of age and the lightheartedness of youth. The primary cause of the moralizing effect of Spiritism, therefore, is the phenomenon of the manifestations that led to faith. If those phenomena were an illusion, as pretended by the the nonbelievers, it would be necessary to bless an illusion that give people the power to defeat their bad leanings.
But, if after eighteen centuries we still see so many people that profess Christianity and practice it so little, does it come as a surprise that in less than ten years all those that believe in Spiritism have not taken full advantage yet as wished? Among them there are some that have only seen physical manifestations, touched more by curiosity than heart. That is why not all Spiritists are perfect. There is nothing remarkable about that in principle and if there is something that must cause admiration is the number of changes that took place in this short interval. If Spiritism does not always thoroughly defeats bad tendencies, a partial result is still a progress to be taken into account, and since each one of us has their own weaknesses, it must make us indulgent. Time and new existences will finish what has been initiated. Fortunate are those that spare themselves of new trials!
Hillaire belongs to that class that Spiritism makes only surface, in a way, and for that he failed. Providence gifted him with a remarkable faculty with which he did a lot of good. He could have done much more if he had not ruined his mission, out of his weakness. We cannot condemn or acquit him for it is only up to God to have him judged for not having fully carried out his task. May the atonement that he endures and a serious setback on himself deserve God’s mercy!
Brothers, let us reach out to him with our compassionate hands and pray for him.