ObituaryMr. Leclerc
The Spiritist Society of Paris has just had another loss in the person of Mr. Charles-Julien Leclerc, a former mechanic, aged fifty-seven, who died suddenly of a devastating stroke, on December 2nd, when he was entering the Opera. He had lived in Brazil for a long time, and it was there that he had drawn the first notions of Spiritism, for which the Fourier doctrine had prepared him, and of which he was a zealous supporter. Returning to France, after conquering independence, through his work, he devoted himself to the cause of Spiritism, of which he had easily glimpsed the high humanitarian and moralizing significance for the working class. He was a good man, loved, esteemed and missed by all who knew him, a Spiritist at heart, striving to put into practice the teachings of the doctrine, for the benefit of his moral advancement, one of those men that honor the belief they profess.
By request of his family, we said on his tomb the prayer for the souls that have just left the earth (Gospel according to Spiritism, Chap. XXVII-IV), followed by the following words:
“Dear Mr. Leclerc, you are an example of the uncertainty of life, since the day before your death, you were among us, with nothing to suggest such a sudden departure. Thus, God warns us to be always ready to give an account of the use we made of the time that we have spent on earth; He calls us when we least expect it. Praise His name for having spared you the anguish and suffering, that sometimes accompanies the work of separation. You have joined those colleagues that have preceded you, and who, no doubt, have come to receive you on the threshold of the new life; but this life, with which you had identified yourself, must have had no surprises for you; you have entered it as in a known country, and we have no doubt that you will enjoy there the happiness reserved for good men, for those who have practiced the laws of the Lord.
Your colleagues from the Spiritist Society of Paris are honored to have counted on you in their ranks, and your memory will always be dear to them; they offer you, through my voice, the expression of sincere feelings of sympathy that you have been able to conquer. If anything relieves our regrets at this separation, it is the thought that you are as happy as you deserve, and the hope that you will still come and participate in our work. May the Lord, dear brother, pour upon you the treasures of His infinite goodness; we ask him to grant you the grace to watch over your children, and to direct them in the path of good that you have followed."
M. Leclerc, promptly disengaged, as we supposed, was able to manifest at the Society, in the session that followed his burial. There was, therefore, no interruption in his presence since he had attended the preceding session. Besides the feeling of affection that attached us to him, this communication was to have its instructive side; it was interesting to know the sensations that follow this kind of death. Nothing that can shed light on the various phases of this passage, that everyone must go through, could be indifferent. Here is this communication:
Parisian Society, December 7th, 1866 – medium Mr. Desliens
“I finally can, in my turn, come to this table! Although my death is recent, I have more than once been taken by impatience; I could not hasten the march of time. I had also to thank you for your eagerness to surround my mortal remains, and for the sympathetic thoughts you lavished on my Spirit. Oh! master, thank you for your kindness, for the deep emotion you felt in welcoming my beloved son. How ungrateful I would be to you if I did not preserve an eternal gratitude for it!
My God, thank you! my wishes are fulfilled. Today I can appreciate the beauty of the world, that I only knew from the communications of the Spirits. To a certain extent, when I arrived here, I experienced the same emotions, but infinitely more vivid, than when I first arrived at the land of America. I knew that region only from the accounts of travelers, and I was far from having an idea of its rich productions; it was the same here. How different is this world from ours! Each face is the exact reproduction of intimate feelings; no false physiognomy; no possible hypocrisy; thought is revealed through the eye, benevolent or malevolent, according to the nature of the Spirit.
Well! see; I am still being punished here by my main fault, that I fought with so much difficulty on earth, and that I had managed to partly overcome; my impatience to see myself among you troubled me to such an extent that I no longer know how to express my ideas with lucidity, and yet the matter that so often led me to anger in the past, is no longer there! Come on, I calm down, for it is necessary.
Oh! I was very surprised by this unexpected ending! I was not afraid of death, and I had long considered it the end of the trial, but this so unforeseen death caused me a profound shock… What a blow for my poor wife! …
How quickly mourning succeeded pleasure! I was really happy to listen to good music, but I didn't think I would be in contact with the great voice of infinity so soon… How fragile is life! … A blood globule coagulates; circulation loses its regularity, and everything is over! … I would have liked to live a few more years, to see all my children settled down; God decided otherwise: his will be done!
When death struck me, I received like a club blow on the head; a crushing weight overwhelmed me; then suddenly I felt free, relieved. I hovered over my body; I looked with amazement at the tears of my family, and I finally realized what had happened to me. I quickly recognized myself. I saw my second son, summoned by the telegraph, rushing. Ah! I tried to console them; I whispered my best thoughts to them, and I saw, with a certain happiness, some refractory brains lean, little by little, in the direction of the belief that has made all my strength in these last years, to which I owed so many good times. If I have conquered the old man a little, to whom do I owe it, if not to our dear teaching, to the repeated advice of my guides?
And yet I blush, although Spirit, I still let myself be dominated by this damn flaw: impatience. So, I am punished for it, for I was so eager to communicate with you, to tell you a thousand details, that I am obliged to postpone it. Oh! I will be patient, but with sorrow. I am so happy here that it hurts me to leave you. However, good friends are near me, and they gathered to welcome me: Sanson, Baluze, Sonner, the joyous Sonner whose satirical verve I loved so much, then Jobard, the brave Costeau and so many others. Lastly, Mrs. Dozon; then a poor unhappy man, much to be pitied, and whose repentance touches me. Pray for him as for all those that let themselves be dominated by the test. Soon I will come back to speak again, and rest assured that I will be no less assiduous to our dear meetings, as Spirit, than I was as incarnate.”
Leclerc
