Spiritist Review - Journal of Psychological Studies - 1865

The last month of last year saw the birth of a new vehicle of Spiritism, and that corroborates our thoughts contained in the article above about the state of art of Spiritism in 1864. According to its beginning and the letter that its director kindly sent to us before the publication, we must count on another champion in the defense of the true principles of the Doctrine. We talk about those that today are sanctioned by the great control of general agreement. Welcome!

Expecting that one may be judged by their works we say that if the saying “nobility obliges” is true we can say even with more reason that the title obliges. The Evangelical Medium has a full and beautiful program that imposes great obligations but nonetheless could be understood in two ways. It could mean that the journal would deal mainly with religious controversies, from a dogmatic point of view, or that by understanding the essential objective of Spiritism that is the moralization, it will be edited according to the Evangelical principle that is synonym of charity, tolerance and moderation. In the first case we will not follow it because the very interest of the Doctrine requires extreme reservation in the development of its consequences and because we many times have to step back for wanting to move too fast. “There is no need to rush; one must leave on time”.

In the second case we will be entirely with him. In fact here you have a summary of his profession of faith as a heading to his first issue:

“The journal that we endeavor to found with the title Evangelical Medium has the objective of entering the new paths that the world is concerned with today, I mean, the avenues of Spiritism. We thought this journal was needed in Toulouse at a time in which the Spiritists are already uncountable among us and their numerous groups grow every day. Publicity will be in fact a means of spreading the work done by those several groups and making them more useful to the moral progress to which all of our destinies are invited. However, to avoid fluctuating with the winds of the taste of the Doctrine in these still difficult paths we thought we should fly a flag to sponsor our sincere and resolute march, certain that the great principle of the moral renovation is no longer where the Greek and Romans are, that is, Jewish, Protestants and Catholics, but instead a great family united by the links of fraternity and tending to a common objective in its eager career through the mysterious solitudes of life. You know that flag. It is not the golden cross, daughter of pride and vain thoughts of mankind, but the wooden cross, daughter of devotion and sacrifice, say daughter of true charity.”

We are sorry for not having enough space to dedicate to the entire profession of faith. However we have no doubt that we will come back to that on another occasion.

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[1] Published every Saturday, since December 15th. Price: Toulouse 8 francs per year, 4.5 per semester – Departments 9 francs and 5 francs. Subscription in Toulouse Rue de la Pomme, 34. In Paris, Boulevard St. Germain, 68