Spiritist Review - Journal of Psychological Studies - 1866

Allan Kardec

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Chronicle of Brussels


“It is quite true that everything happens and that one must not say: “Fountain, I will not drink your water.” If I were told that I would never see the wardrobe of the Davenport brothers, nor the renowned wizards, I would have sworn that this has no importance, because it is enough to hear that someone is a sorcerer to take away any curiosity about him. Witchcraft and the supernatural have no more stubborn enemy than me. I would not go to see a miracle when it was shown for free; these things inspire aversion in me, as much as the two headed calves, the bearded woman, and all monsters. I find the rapping Spirits and the wise tables stupid, and there is no superstition that makes me run to the end of the world. Now think if with such dispositions I could have joined the crowd of the Davenport brothers, when it was said that they kept an irregular trade with the Spirits! I also admit that the idea of unmasking the trickery or breaking their wardrobe proving that they were not witches, would not have occurred to me either, because, by doing so, I would have given proof that I had believed myself in their art and apparatuses. It would have seemed infinitely simpler to reject, from the beginning, that hypothetical witchery, and suppose that they must be very skillful creatures in their works, for having deceived so many people. As for the understanding, I would not have bothered. Since the Spirits are not involved, what would be the point? And if there were Spirits poor enough in the other world to play the role of their accomplices, would that still be worth it?

I read over time with great attention, although I had something better to do with my time, the majority of the books used by the Spiritists and I found there everything that was necessary to satisfy the need of a new religion, but not what could convert me to this old novelty. Having consulted all the Spirits, whose answers are cited, they said nothing that had not been said before them, and in better terms than what they repeated. They taught us that we must love good and hate evil, that truth is the opposite of lie, that the soul is immortal, that man must incessantly strive to improve and that life is a test, all known things for thousands of years, for a revelation that was useless to evoke so many illustrious dead, and even personalities that however renowned they might be, they made the mistake of having never existed. I do not speak of the Wandering Jew, but imagine if I evoke Don Quixote and that he comes back, wouldn’t that be the last joke?

I had only one objection about the Davenport brothers once they were just skillful sorcerers. That objection was summed-up in that having Spiritism kept away, in good will and mutual agreement, their exercises could just be a mediocre amusement. It is unlikely that I would have the idea of watching them if, given the gracious offer to go there, I had not considered that the chronicle obliges, that not everything is rosy in this life and the chronicler must go where the public is, and be bothered a little as a compensation.

Having decided to do things conscientiously, to begin with I went to the room of the Artistic and Literary Circle where they were busy putting up the famous wardrobe. I saw it still incomplete, at day light, stripped from all its “poetry”. If solitude and the shadows of night are necessary to the ruins, the trickery of the prestidigitators needed the gas light, the credulous crowd, and the distance.

But the Davenport brothers are good players and put their cards on the table. We could see and anybody could get inside. An American worker calmly assembled the wardrobe; the guitars, Basque drums, the strings, the bells were there, mixed up with chests, clothes, pieces of rugs, wrapping cloths; everything left to the reach of anybody, as a challenge to curiosity. All that seemed to say: turn, turn again, examine, search, touch, shake! You will know nothing.

There isn’t anything more insolently simple than the wardrobe. It is a cabinet that absolutely has no appearance of having been made to house Spirits. It seemed to be walnut to me. It has three doors instead of two in front, and it seems tired of the trips it made and assaults it suffered. I glanced at it, not too close, for open as it was, I imagined that such a mysterious piece of furniture must smell stale, like the magic spinet in which Mozart was hidden as a child.

I formally declare that unless I put my laundry or clothes there, I would not know that to do with the wardrobe of the Davenport brothers. Each thing its function. I saw it again at night, isolated on the stage, in front of the ramp; it already had a monumental appearance. The room was packed, as it had never been in the days when Mozart, Beethoven and their performers alone paid for the evening. The most beautiful public that one can have: the kindest, the wittiest, the prettiest women of Brussels, then the Counselors of the Court of Cassation, judicial and literary presidents; all the academies, senators, ministers, representatives, journalists, artists, contractors, cabinetmakers, “that was like a bouquet of flowers”. The honorable Mr. Rogier, Minister of Foreign Affairs, was at this evening, accompanied by a former President of the Chamber. Mr. Vervoort that having returned to human grandeur, only preserved the presidency of the Circle, a charming Royalty, as a matter of fact. I felt quite reassured after this sight. One of the best painters, Mr. Robie, echoed my thoughts, by saying: “You see! Austria and Prussia may fight as much as they wish. As long as the European crisis does not disturb our Minister of Foreign Affairs, Belgium may sleep in peace.” That seemed peremptory to me, you will judge, and knowing that Mr. Rogier attended the show of the Davenport brothers smiling, you will sleep soundly. It is the best thing for you to do.

I saw all the exercises of the Davenport brothers and I absolutely did not try to understand their mystery. All I can say, without thinking the least in diminishing their success, is that it is impossible to me to feel pleasure in these things. They do not interest me. The Davenport brothers were tied up in my presence; it was said that they were tied up very well; then they put flour in their hands and locked them in the wardrobe, dimed the light and I heard a big noise of guitars, bells and Basque drums in the dresser. Suddenly the cabinet opened – a drum rolled violently up to my feet and the Davenport brothers showed up untied, waving to the public, shaking off the flour from their hands. They got a lot of applause; that it!

-Finally, how do you explain this?

-There are people in the Circle that explains it very well. As for myself, however much I try, I do not have absolutely any wish to understand. They untied themselves, that is all, and the trick of flour was well done. I find the preparations long; the noise annoying and everything not much entertaining. And no Spirit, not in the singular, not in the plural.

-Then, don’t you believe?

-Yes, I believe in the boredom I had.

-And Spiritism, don’t you believe?

-That is Sganarelle’s question to Don Juan. You will soon ask if I believe in the Bourru Monk. I will respond, like Don Juan, that I believe that two plus two is four and four plus four is eight. I still don’t know that after seeing what happens in Germany and elsewhere I wouldn’t be forced to make reservations.

-So, are you an atheist?

-No. Without modesty, I am the most religious person on Earth.

-Therefore, you believe in God, in the immortality of the soul, in…

-I do. It is my happiness and my hope.

-And everything is reconciled with your four plus four is eight!

-Precisely. That is everything. Turkish is a beautiful language.

-Do you go to the masses?

-No, but I do not preclude you from going. The bird on the branch, the worm shining on the grass, the globes in space and my heart full of worship sing the mass to me day and night. I love God with passion and without fear. What do you want me to do with this, with religions and other varieties of Davenportism?

-How about Spiritism? And Allan Kardec?

-I believe Mr. Allan Kardec, that would to much better if using his real name, is as much a good citizen as you and me. His moral does not differ from the common moral, that is enough to me. As for his revelations, I like them as much as I do the wardrobe of the Davenports, with our without guitars. I read the revelation of the Spirits; their style is not to the level of Bossuet, and except for the citations made to illustrious men, it is heavy and sometimes common. I wouldn’t like to write as the strongest of the group does. My editor would say that the pasta is good but we must not abuse. Spiritism has supernatural and dogmas and I am suspicious of this floured party. I said this five years ago, speaking about the doctrine because it is a doctrine: it has everything that is needed to establish a new religion. I would be better to be simply religious and do not go beyond the revelations of the universe. I see this religion emerge. It is already a sect, and a considerable one, for you cannot evaluate the number and seriousness of the letters that I have already received, for having dealt with Spiritism lately. It has its fanatics, it will have its intolerant, and its preachers, because the dogma requires the intermediary action and the Spirits have their classes and preferences. Therefore, if there is ten percent to gain with this new dogma, a clergy will be seen. I believe it will inherit Catholicism given its seducing aspects. Just wait for the smarty ones to mix there, and the prophets and privileged evokers will surge through the mystery of the thing, that is kind and poetic, like the weed in the wheat field. Below you have two letters addressed to me. They come from loyal, simple and convict persons. That is why I publish them.



To Mr. Bertram.

Four years ago, I was what can be called a frank latecomer; a since Catholic, I believed in the miracles, in the devil, in the Papal infallibility. Therefore, I would have accepted Pio IX encyclic without discussion, with all its consequences in the political life. But you will ask, what is the objective of such a confession from an unknown person? My word, Mr. Bertram, I will tell you with the risk of exciting your teasing vein, or to make you run to the end of the world. One day, in Antwerp, I saw a little table (vulgarly called speaking table) that answered to my mental question in my native language, unknown to the attendees; there was, among them, strong minds, masons that did not believe even in God nor in the soul. The event made them think; they read with great interest the works of Mr. Allan Kardec; I did the same, in particular when several priests had assured me that such phenomena were exclusive works of the… devil, and I assure you that I do not regret the time it took me, much to the contrary. I not only found in those books a rational and very natural solution to the phenomenon above, but also an explanation to many questions, many problems that had appeared to me before. You found in them matter for a new religion; but do you believe, Mr. Bertram, that it would be too bad if that occurred? Is Catholicism so much associated to the needs of our society that it cannot be renovated nor replaced advantageously? Or do you believe that humanity may do without every religious belief? Liberalism proclaims beautiful principles, but it is mostly skeptical and materialistic. In such condition it would never attract the masses to itself, as the same applies to the ultramontane Catholicism. If Spiritism one day is called to become a religion, it will be the natural religion, well developed and understood, and certainly not new. It is, as you say, an old novelty. But it is also a neutral ground, where all opinions, both political and religious, will one day walk hand in hand.

In any case, since I became a Spiritist, some gossip has it that I am accused of having become a free thinker. It is true that since then, as with the strong minds that I mentioned above, I no longer believe in the supernatural and in the devil; but, instead, we all believe a bit more in God, in the immortality of the soul, in the plurality of the existences; children of the nineteenth century, we perceive a safe road and want to push the car of progress through that, instead of delaying it. See, therefore, that Spiritism still has good things, for it can operate such changes.

And now, returning to the Davenport brothers, it would be a mistake to avoid the experiments or conclude with a preconceived idea against them, for the simple fact that they are new. The more extraordinary the facts that are presented to us, the more they deserve to be observed conscientiously and without preconceived ideas, because who would be able to brag about knowing all the secrets of nature? I have never seen the Davenport brothers, but I read what the French press wrote about them and was surprised by the ill-faith placed in the case. The amateurs can take advantage of reading Des forces naturelles inconnues (the unknown natural forces) by Hermes (Paris, Didier 1865). It is a refutation, from the point of view of science, of the criticism addressed to them. If it is true that those gentlemen do not introduce themselves as Spiritists and do not know the doctrine, Spiritism must not come out in their defense. All that can be said is that facts similar to the ones they present are possible, obeying a natural law that is now known, and by the intervention of inferior Spirits. It is only that up until now these facts had not been produced in such unfavorable condition, at fixed time and with such regularity. I hope, Sir, that you will welcome these disinterested observations and that you may accommodate them in your newspaper. May they be able to elucidate an issue that is more interesting to your readers than you may suppose.

Your subscriber,

H. Vanderyst.”



Here it is, published! I will not be accused of putting the “candle under the basket.”[1]

To begin with I do not have a basket; moreover, without the shadow of mockery, I do not see much light here. I have never objected to the Spiritist moral; it is pure. The Spiritists are honest and benefactors. Their donations to the nurseries proved that to me. If they get attached to their superior and inferior Spirits, I do not have a problem with that. It is a matter between their instinct and their reason.

The letter has a post scriptum that says: “Allow me to draw your attention to the book that has just been honored in the Index: The plurality of the existences of the soul, by Pezzani, attorney, where this question is treated outside of the Spiritist revelation.”

Let us move on to the next letter:



(a letter with the same intent as the preceding one follows, ending as below):

“I have the conviction that when the press strives to develop everything beautiful that Spiritism contains, the world will make immense moral progress. Making perceptible to mankind that each one carries inside the true religion, the conscience; allowing one to be in the presence of oneself to respond for one’s actions before the Supreme Being, that is important! Wouldn’t that be the destruction of materialism that harms the world so much? Wouldn’t that be a barrier against pride, ambition, and envy, things that make man unhappy? Teach man that he must do good to deserve his reward; there are certainly men that are convinced about all that, but how many with respect to the total? And all that may be taught to man. From my side, I evoked by father and thanks to the obtained answers, doubt is no longer possible.

If I were fortunate enough to handle the pen as you do, I would treat Spiritism as if called to bring a soothing and pleasant moral. My first article would be entitled Spiritism, or the destruction of fanaticism. The fall of the Jesuits and of all those that live out of human credulity. All these ideas are drawn from the excellent book of Mr. Allan Kardec. How much I would enjoy having you seeing Spiritism the way I do! How good would you do to the moral! But, my dear Bertram, how could you find supernatural and witchery in Spiritism? I do not believe it to be more extraordinary to communicate with our parents and friends that passed to the other world, through the fluid that allows us to contact them, than to communicate with our brothers from this world through fabulous distances, by the electric wire!

**

Everything published without observation or comments, only to demonstrate that Spiritism in Belgium has ardent followers in their faith. Positively, the sect makes progress and Catholicism will soon have to count on that.

The Parisian press did not show ill-faith to the Davenport brothers. What it made very clear is that they no longer claim pretension to the supernatural. They no longer hold exhibitions at fifty francs per head, as far as I know. However, I believe that the persons that wanted to pay such price for a spot would not be badly received. To conclude, I affirm that to me their experiments do not seem cut to exert great influence upon the future of human societies.

Bertram”



After the two letters that we have just read, there is little to say about the article. Their moderation contrasts with the acrimony of the majority of what was written about the same subject in the past. At least the author does not contest the right of opinion to the Spiritists, that he respects although he does not share. Inline with certain apostles of progress, he acknowledges that the freedom of conscience is everybody’s right. It is already something. He even agrees that the Spiritists have good things and are in good faith. He attests, finally, the progresses of the doctrine and confesses that it has an enticing side. We will, therefore, only make a few observations.

Mr. Bertram even considers us as good a citizen as he is, and we are thankful, but he adds that we would do better by using our true name. From our side we allow us to ask him why he signs his articles with Bertram, instead of Eugène Landois, that subtracts nothing from his personal qualities, for we know that he is the main organizer of the nursery Saint-Josse-Tennoode, to which he devotes the most commendable solicitude. If Mr. Bertram had read the Spiritist books with such attention as he says, he would know if the Spiritists are so silly to evoke the Wandering Jew and Don Quixote; he would know that Spiritism accepts and rejects; he would not try to present it as a religion, because, by the same token, all philosophies would be religions, for it is part of its essence to discuss the basis of all religions: God and the nature of the soul. Finally, he would understand that if one day Spiritism became a religion, it would not be able to become intolerant nor deny its principle that is the universal fraternity, without distinction of sect and belief; without renouncing to its moto: there is no salvation outside charity, the most explicit symbol of love towards the neighbor, of tolerance and freedom of conscience. Spiritism never says: “there is no salvation outside Spiritism”. If a religion would be based on Spiritism with the exclusion of its principles, it would no longer be Spiritism.

Spiritism is a philosophical doctrine that touches every humanitarian issue. By the profound modifications that it brings to the ideas, it leads to facing things from another point of view, and from there, to the future, inevitable changes in the social relationships. It is a fecund mine where the religions, as sciences, and the civilian institutions, will reap elements of progress. But because it touches in certain religious beliefs, it does not constitute a new cult, as it is not a particular system of politics, legislation, or social economy. It temples, ceremonies and priests are in the imagination of its detractors and in those that fear to see it becoming a religion.

Mr. Bertram criticizes the style of the Spirits and places his own much higher: it is his own right and we do not contest it. We do not challenge either his opinion that in matters of moral, the Spirits do not teach us anything new. This demonstrates one thing, that men are the most to blame for practicing it so little. Is it therefore surprising that God, in His solicitude, repeats it in so many ways? If, by that point of view, the teaching of the Spirits is so useless, that of Christ was equally so because it only developed the commandments of the Sinai. The writings of all moralists are also useless, for the only thing they do is to repeat the same thing in different terms. With such a system, how many people, how much work would be useless, not including the chroniclers that, given their condition, must not invent anything.

One must forcibly acknowledge, therefore, that the moral of the Spirits is as old as the world, what does not come as a surprise if we take into account that the moral is God’s law and this law must exist since eternity and that the creature cannot add anything to the works of the Creator. But, isn’t there anything new in the way of teaching? Up until now the moral code had only been promulgated by a few individuals; it was reproduced in books that not everybody reads or understands. Well then! This very code is taught today not by a few men but by millions of Spirits, that were men, in all countries, in each family, and in a way, to everyone.

Would you believe that someone that was indifferent after reading a book, that treated the maxims that the same contain as a common place, wouldn’t be impressed if his father, his mother or a loved one that he respects comes to say, even in a style inferior to Bossuet: “I am not lost to you, as you thought; I am here by your side, I see and hear you, I know you better when alive, because I read your thoughts. To be happy in the world where I am, here is the code of conduct to be followed; such action is good, the other is bad, etc.” As you see, it is a direct teaching, or if you prefer, a new means of publicity, even more efficient because it goes directly to the heart; because it costs nothing; because it addresses everyone, from the small to the great, from the poor to the rich, from the ignorant to the educated, and because it challenges human despotism that would like to impose it a barrier.

But you may ask, is that possible? Isn’t that an illusion? Such doubt would be natural if those communications were made to a single privileged person, for there wouldn’t be any proof that it may be mistaken. But when thousands of individuals receive similar messages every day, in all countries, is it sensible to believe that they are all mistaken? If the teachings of Spiritism were only contained exclusively in the Spiritist books, it would not have conquered one percent of the followers that it has. Those books do no more than summarize and coordinate that teaching, and what constitute its success is the fact that each person finds the confirmation of what they contain in their inner self.

One will be right by saying that the teaching of the Spirits is superfluous when it is demonstrated that men are sufficiently good to have it dismissed. Until then, there is no surprise in seeing it repeated in all forms and all tones.

What do I care, you say, Mr. Bertram, that there are or there aren’t Spirits! It is possible that this is indifferent to you, but that is not the same with everybody. It is absolutely as if you said: “Why do I care that there are inhabitants in America and that the electric cable demonstrates that to me!” Scientifically it is only the proof of the existence of the invisible world; morally it is a lot, because the confirmation of the existence of the Spirits populating the space, that we thought uninhabited, is the discovery of a whole world, the revelation of the future and destiny of mankind, a revolution in their beliefs. Now, if the thing exists, every denial will not be able to preclude it form existing. Its inevitable results are well deserved of our concern. You are a man of progress and do you repel an element of progress; a means of improving humanity, of cementing fraternity among men; a discovery that leads to the reformation of the social abuse, against which you constantly claim? You believe in your immortal soul, and don’t you absolutely worry about knowing what becomes of it, what becomes of your parents and friends? Frankly, this is not much rational. You say that it is not the in the Davenport’s wardrobe that you are going to find it. We agree. We have never said that that is Spiritism. However, in that same wardrobe, precisely because with or without reason, they made the Spirits intervene, that made them talk about the Spirits, even those that did not believe in them. From that, studies and researches that would not have been made if those gentlemen had presented themselves as simple prestidigitators.

If the Spirits were not in their wardrobe, they could well provoke the means of having a lot of people to come out of their indifference. You can see that you, yourself, inadvertently, were led to sow the idea among your numerous readers, something that you would not have done without that famous wardrobe.

As for the new truths that stand out from the Spiritist revelations, beyond moral, we recommend the article published in the Spiritist Review, January 1865 with the title Instructions by the Spirits.



[1] Matthew 5:15 – “No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket” (T.N.)


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