Robinson Crusoe Spiritist (continuation) In the Spiritist Review, March 1867, we quoted a few passages from the adventures of Robinson, imbued with an obviously Spiritist thought. We owe to the kindness of one of our correspondents in Antwerp, the knowledge of the complement of this history, where the principles of Spiritism are expressed and affirmed in a much more explicit way, and cannot be found in any of the modern editions. The complete work, translated from the English original edition, comprises three volumes, and is part of a collection of thirty-some volumes entitled: Imaginary journeys, dreams, visions and cabalistic romances, printed in Amsterdam in 1787. The title indicates that it is also found in Paris, rue and Hôtel Serpente.
The first two volumes of this collection contain Robinson's actual journeys; the third volume, that our correspondent in Antwerp was kind enough to entrust to us, is entitled: Serious and important reflections of Robinson Crusoe. The translator says in his preface:
“Here is finally the riddle of the adventures of Robinson Crusoe; he is a sort of bourgeois Telemachus, whose aim is to bring ordinary men to virtue and wisdom, through events accompanied by thoughts. There is, however, something more in the story of Robinson than in the adventures of Telemachus; it is not a simple novel, it is rather an allegorical story, each incident of which is an emblem of some peculiarities of the life of our author. I do not say more about this article, because he treated it thoroughly himself in his preface that I translated from English, and that I strongly recommend reading to all these sudden men, who have created a pretty ridiculous habit of skipping all the introductory speeches in the books.
The work here given to the public, and that constitutes the third volume of Robinson Crusoe, is quite different from the two preceding parts, although it tends to the same end. The author puts in it, so to speak, the final touches to his project of reforming men, and of urging them to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the excellence of their nature. He is not happy to have given them instructions wrapped up in fables, he finds it good to extend his precepts, and to give them in a direct manner, so that nothing escapes the perception of the great number of readers who do not have enough wit to disentangle the soul from the allegory, from the body that envelops it."
This volume consists of two parts; in the first one, Robinson returned to the calm life of the domestic hearth, indulges in meditations suggested by the vicissitudes of his agitated existence; these reflections are marked by high morality and a deep religious feeling, such as these:
Page 301. - "Let us admit, if you will, that we cannot understand the immutability of the nature and the actions of God, and that it is absolutely impossible for us to reconcile it with this variety of Providence, that in all its actions, appears to us in complete and perfect freedom to form new designs every day, to turn events from such and such a direction, as it pleases the sovereign wisdom. Can we conclude, for the fact that we cannot reconcile these things, that they are absolutely incompatible? It would be the same as maintaining that the nature of God is entirely incomprehensible, because we do not understand it, and that any phenomenon in nature that we do not penetrate is impenetrable. Where is the philosopher who dares to boast of understanding the cause that turns a magnetic needle towards the pole, and the way in which the magnetic force is transmitted by a simple touch? Who will tell me why this force can only be transmitted to iron, and why the needle is not attracted to gold, silver and other metals? What secret trade is there between the magnet and the north pole, and by which mysterious force does the needle that has been rubbed turns towards the south pole, as soon as one crossed the equinoctial line? We do not understand anything about these operations of nature, however our senses assure us in the most indisputable way of the world, of the reality of these operations. Unless we push skepticism to the highest degree of absurdity, we must admit that there is nothing contradictory in these phenomena, although it is impossible for us to reconcile them together, and that they are understandable, although we do not understand them.
Why doesn’t our wisdom urge us to follow the same method of reasoning about the subject of the question? It is natural to believe that, despite this apparent change that we discover in the acts of Providence, despite these designs that seem to destroy each other, rising one on the ruin of the other, nothing is more certain and more real than the immutability of nature and the decrees of God. What is more daring than to allege the weakness and the small extent of reason as a proof against the existence of things? Nothing is more bizarre than to reason just on the limits of our mind, in relation to the finite objects of physics, and not to pay attention to the nature of our soul, when it is a question of the operations of an infinite being, so superior to our dim lights.
If it is, therefore, reasonable to believe that the Divine Providence is free in its actions, and that directed by its own sovereignty, it follows, in the ordinary course of human affairs, those methods that it finds appropriate, it is our duty to bind a close trade with that active part of Providence, that directly influences our conduct, without embarrassing our minds in vain discussions as to how this Providence affects our affairs, and the end that it proposes.
In entering into this correspondence with this active virtue of the wisdom of God, we must examine its ways, as far as they appear accessible to our penetration and our research; we must pay the same attention to the secret voice that I have already carefully described, as to that clear and strong voice that speaks to us in the events most likely to harm us.
Whoever does not do a serious study to penetrate into the meaning of this secret voice that offers itself to one’s intention, deliberately deprives oneself of a great number of useful advices, and of strong consolations, of which one often feels the need in the career that one has to run in this world.
What a consolation is it not for those who listen to this voice, to see at every moment that an invisible power and infinitely powerful is caring to preserve and guide their interests! With this religious attention, it is not possible not to notice this protection; it is not possible to reflect on the unexpected solutions that every man encounters to a variety of incidents of human life, without obviously seeing that he does not owe it to his own prudence, but only to the effective help of a an infinite power, that favors him because it loves him."
The second part, entitled: Vision of the angelic world, contains the account of facts that belong more particularly to the order of the Spiritist facts, and from which we extract the following passages:
Page 359. - "The Spirit that appeared to Saul must have been, in my opinion, a good Spirit, who was called the angel of a man, as it appears from what that servant of the Acts of the Apostles said, seeing Peter by the door, that had miraculously left the prison. If we take it this way, it confirms my idea, relatively the trade between pure Spirits with Spirits enclosed in bodies and affecting the advantages that men can derive from such trade. Those who claim that it was an evil Spirit, must suppose, at the same time, that God can use the devil as a prophet, put in the lying mouth the truths that he sees fit to reveal to men, and endures that he preaches his laws to the transgressors, and the justice of the punishments that he has resolved to inflict upon them. I do not know which bias these interpreters would use to save all the inconveniences of such an opinion; as for me, I do not see that it suits the divine majesty to lend to Satan his Spirit of truth, and to make of him a preacher and a prophet.”
Page 365. - "The most direct effects of our trade with pure intelligences, and that seem so sensitive to me that it is impossible to deny them, are dreams, certain voices, certain noises, warnings, forebodings, apprehensions, involuntary sadness.”
Page 380. - “It seems to me that you are examining with great attention the nature of dreams and the proofs that can be drawn from the reality of the world of the Spirits; but tell me, please, what you think of the dreams that come to us while we are awake, transports, ecstasies, visions, noises, voices, premonitions? Don’t you see that these are even stronger proofs of the same truth, since they affect us in the time that our reason is master of itself, and that its light is not enveloped in the vapors of sleep?"
Page 393. – “I still saw, as if at a glance, the way in which these evil Spirits exercise their power; how far it extends, what obstacles they have to overcome, and which other Spirits stand in the way of the success of their abominable designs…
… Although the devil has to his service an infinite number of faithful ministers, who neglect nothing to carry out his plans, there is not only an equal number, but infinitely greater number of Angels and good Spirits who, armed with a higher power, watch from a much higher place, over their conduct, and make every effort to defeat their machinations. This discovery shows even more clearly that he could not do anything except by subtlety and cunning, supported by an extraordinary vigilance and attention, since he has the mortification of seeing himself at any moment stopped and crossed in his designs by the prudent activity of the good spirits, who have the power to chastise and control him, as a man does to a wicked dog that watches the passers-by to attack them.”
Page 397. “Inspirations are nothing else, in my opinion, than speeches that are imperceptibly whispered in our ears, or by the good angels who favor us, or by those devils that are insinuating us, that are constantly watching us to make us fall into some trap. The only way to distinguish the authors of these speeches is to be aware of the nature of these inspirations, and to examine whether they tend to lead us to good or to evil.”
Page 401. “It is infinitely better for us that a thick veil hides from us this invisible world as well as the conduct of Providence regarding the future. Divine goodness appears even in that the trade of Spirits and the warnings they give us are carried out in an allegorical manner, by inspirations and by dreams, and not in a direct, clear, obvious manner. Those who wish for a more distinct view of future things do not know what they wish for, and if their wishes were granted, they might find their curiosity cruelly punished.
Page 408. “One morning when she woke up, and a multitude of painful thoughts entered her mind, she felt strongly, in her soul, a sort of voice that said to her: Write them a letter. This voice was so intelligible and so natural that, if she had not been certain that she was alone, she would have believed that these words had been spoken by some human creature. For several days they were repeated to her at every moment; finally, walking through the room where she had hidden, filled with gloomy and melancholy thoughts, she heard them again, and she replied aloud: Who do you want me to write to? And the voice answered her immediately: write to the judge. These words were repeated to her on different occasions, and finally led her to take up the pen and put herself in a position to compose a letter, without having in mind any idea necessary for her design; but, dabitur in hœc hora, etc. Thoughts and expressions did not fail her; they flowed from her pen with so much abundance and such ease, that she was in the greatest astonishment, and that she conceived the strongest hopes of a happy success.”
Page 413. “What we can imagine of more reasonable about this, however, is that these Spirits give us, on these occasions, all the enlightenment that they are in a position to give us, and that they tell us what they know, or at least everything that their master and ours allow them to communicate to us. If they did not have a real and sincere design to favor us and to protect us from the misfortune that hangs over our heads, they would not tell us anything at all, and therefore, if their warnings are not more extensive and better developed, it is certain that it should not be in their power to give us more useful ones.”
Page 416. “Since we have presentiments that are verified by experience, it is necessary that there are Spirits that know about the future; that there is a place for the Spirits where future things develop before them, and that we could not do better than to put faith in the news that comes to us from there. The duty to pay attention to these premonitions is not the only consequence that can be drawn from this truth; there are others that can be of very considerable utility to us:
1st – It explains to us the nature of the world of the Spirits, and proves to us the certainty of our soul after death.
2nd – It shows us that the direction of Providence, in relation to men and future events, is not as hidden from the inhabitants of the spiritual world as it is from us.
3rd – We can conclude from this that the reach of Spirits freed from matter is of a much greater extent than that of Spirits enclosed in bodies, since the former know what must happen to us when we ignore it ourselves. Persuasion of the existence of the world of the Spirits can be of use to us in several different ways. It is up to us, above all, to derive great advantages from the certainty that they know how to reveal the future, and communicate to us the insights they have about it, in a way that makes us watch over our conduct, to avoid misfortunes, to think of our interests and even wait for death with a firm soul and of a spirit prepared to receive it with constancy and with Christian firmness. It would also be a sure way to extend the sphere of our enlightenment and to make us reason with fairness on the true value of things.”
Page 427. “If one made a similar use (repentance and reform of bad behavior) of the real appearances of the devil, I am convinced that this would be the means of driving him out forever from the invisible world. It is very natural to believe that he would pay us very rare visits, if he were persuaded, by experience, that they would lead us to virtue, far from making us fall into traps; at least, he would never come to see us of his own accord, requiring a superior force to determine it.”
Page 457. “My conversion comes directly from heaven. The light that surrounded Saint Paul on the road to Damascus struck him no more keenly than that that dazzled me. It is true that it was not accompanied by some voice from heaven, but I am sure that a secret voice spoke effectively to my soul; it made me understand that I was exposed to the wrath of this power, of this majesty, of this God whom I had previously denied with all conceivable impiety.”
Page 462. - "In a word, such accidents are of great force in convincing us of the influence of divine Providence in human affairs, however small they may be in appearance, of the existence of an invisible world, and the reality of the trade of pure intelligences with Spirits enclosed in bodies. I hope that I will not have said anything on this delicate matter, that is likely to lead my readers into absurd and ridiculous fantasies. I can protest at least that I did not by design, and that my intention was only to arouse, in the hearts of men, respectful feelings for the divinity and docility for the warnings of the good Spirits, who are interested in what concerns us."
Observation: - It is almost a century since Daniel de Foë, the author of Robinson, wrote these things that one would say, he borrowed, even expressions, from the modern Spiritist doctrine. In a second communication given at the Parisian Society, following the reading of these fragments, he explained his beliefs on this point, saying that he belonged to the sect of the Theosophists, a sect that, in fact, professed these same principles. Why then didn’t this doctrine take the extension it has today? There are several reasons for this: 1st – the Theosophists kept their doctrines almost secret; 2nd – the opinion of the masses was not ripe to assimilate them; 3rd – it was necessary that a succession of events should give a different course to the ideas; 4th – incredulity had to prepare the way, and that, by its development, lead to the void that it digs under the footsteps of humanity, and the need for something to fill it; 5th – finally, Providence had not judged that it was time already to make the manifestations of the Spirits general; it was the generalization of that order of phenomena that popularized the belief in the Spirits, and the doctrine that is its corollary.
If the demonstrations had remained as the privilege of a few individuals, Spiritism would not yet have left the source from where it would have originated; it would still be, for the masses, in the state of theory, of personal opinion, without consistency; it is the practical sanction that, from one end of the world to the other, and almost instantly, each one has found in the demonstrations, provoked or spontaneous, that has popularized the doctrine, giving it an irresistible force, despite those who fight against it.
Although the Theosophists had little impact and barely emerged from obscurity, their works were not lost to the cause; they sowed seeds that were only to bear fruits later, but that formed men predisposed to the acceptance of the Spiritist ideas, as did the sect of the Swedenborgians, and later that of the Fourierists. It should be noted that a somewhat grand idea is never suddenly bursts into the world. It often launches its test balloons several centuries before its final hatching; it is the childbirth labor.
