Spiritist Review - Journal of Psychological Studies - 1867

“When, following a terrible humanitarian convulsion, the whole society moved slowly, overwhelmed, crushed, and ignoring the cause of its depression, a few privileged beings, a few old veterans of good, pooling their experience regarding the difficulty in doing it, adding the respect that their conduct and their position should have aroused, resolved to seek to deepen the causes of this general crisis that touches each one in particular.



The new era begins, and with that Spiritism (this word was created; all that remains is to make it understood and to learn its meaning). Impassive time moves on, and Spiritism, that is no longer just a word, no longer needs to be understood: it is understood! ... But, a few veteran Spiritists, these creators, these missionaries, are still at the forefront of the movement… Their small battalion is very small in number, but patience! … it is gradually gaining members, and it will soon be an army: the army of veterans of good! Because, in general, Spiritism, at its beginning, in its first years, has almost always touched only hearts already worn out by the friction of life, hearts that had suffered and paid for, those that carried the principles of the beautiful, good, and great.



Descending successively from the old age to the middle age, from the middle age to adulthood and from adulthood to adolescence, Spiritism has infiltrated all ages, as all hearts, all religions, all sects, everywhere! Assimilation was slow, but steady! … And today, have no fear that this Spiritist flag will fall, held by a firm and sure hand, from the beginning; for today, the young phalanxes of the Spiritists battalions do not cry out, like their adversaries: "Make way for the young." No, they don't say, “Come out, old folks, to let the young ones take over.” They only ask for a place at the feast of intelligence, for the right to sit down next to their predecessors, and to bring their contribution to the great whole. Today, the youth is strengthening; it brings its contribution to the mature age in exchange for the experience of the latter, in the great law of reciprocity, and the consequences of the collective work for science, morality, good; because, ultimately, if science progresses, for whose benefit does it progress? Aren’t the human bodies that benefit from all the elucidations, all the problems solved, all the inventions made? That benefits everyone, just as if you progress in morality, it benefits all Spirits. So today, young people and old people are equal before progress and must fight side by side for its realization.



The battalion has become an army, an invulnerable army, but that must fight, not one but thousands of adversaries united against it. So, youngsters, bring with confidence the ardor of your convictions, and you, older ones, bring your wisdom, your knowledge of men and things, your experience without illusion.



The army is at the battle front. Your enemies are numerous, but they are not in front of you, face to face, chest to chest; they are everywhere, by your side, in front, behind, among you, in the very heart of your heart, and you have to fight them with your good will only, your loyal consciences and your tendencies for good. Of these united armies, one has a name: pride; the others: ignorance, fanaticism, superstition, laziness, vices of all kinds.



And your army, that must fight head-on, must also know how to fight, because you will not be one against one, but one against ten! … What a great victory to conquer! … Well! If you all fight together, with the hope of succeeding, fight yourselves first, overcome your bad tendencies; hypocrites, acquire sincerity; lazy, become workers; proud, be humble; extend your hand to loyalty, dressed in a ragged blouse, and all, in solidarity, take and keep the commitment to do to others what you would like to have them done to you. So, let us not cry make way for the young, but make way for all that is beautiful, good, all that tends to approach the Divinity.



Today, they are beginning to take it into account, this poor Spiritism that was said to be stillborn; one sees in it a serious enemy, but why is that? … One did not fear it, in the beginning, that weak child; they laughed at its powerless efforts; but today that the child has become a man, it is feared, because it has the strength of a mature age; it is because it has gathered around it persons of all ages, of all social positions, of all degrees of intelligence, who understand that wisdom, the acquired knowledge, may as well reside in the heart of a twenty-year old man, as in the brain of a man of sixty.



Thus, today this poor Spiritism is feared, dreaded; one does not dare to come in front, to measure oneself against it; they take the detours, the road of cowards! ... They do not come to say in daylight: you do not exist; they come among its supporters, speak like them, do like them, applaud and approve everything they do, when they are with them, to fight them and betray them when they have turned their back. Yes, this is what they are doing today! In the beginning, they said upfront what they thought of the sickly child, but today they dare no more, because it has grown up, and yet it has never shown its teeth.



If I am told to tell you this, although it is always painful to me, it is because it was useful; nothing, not a word, not a gesture, not a pitch of voice takes place without a reason, and without bringing their contribution to the general balance. The post office there is much smarter and more complete than that of your Earth; every word meets its goal, has its address, without an envelope, whereas among you, a letter without an envelope will never arrive.”



Observation: The above communication is, as we see, an application of what was said in the previous one, on the effect of clairvoyance, and it is not the only time that we have had the chance to observe the services that this faculty is called upon to render. This is not to say that blind faith should be added to all that can be said in such a case; there would be as much imprudence in believing the first comer, without reservation, as in despising the warnings that can be given by this way. The degree of confidence that can be added to it depends on the circumstances; this faculty needs to be studied; above all, we must act with caution, and beware of a hasty judgment.



As to the substance of the communication, its coincidence with what was given five months before, by another medium, and in another environment, is a fact worthy of notice, and we know that similar instructions are given in different centers. It is therefore prudent to be cautious with people on whose sincerity one does not have every reason to believe. The Spiritist, no doubt, have only highly avowed principles; they have nothing to hide; but what they have to fear is to see their words distorted and their intentions disguised; these are the traps set for their good faith by people who plead the false in order to know the true; who, under the appearances of a too exaggerated zeal to be sincere, attempt to lead groups into a compromising path, either to cause them embarrassment, or to do a disservice to the doctrine.