The Spiritist Review - Journal of Psychological Studies - 1862

Paris, March 1^st, 1862 Ladies and gentlemen,

You know the proverb: “Nobody is forced to do more than they can”. It is based on that principle that I come to you. For six months now and despite my total good will it has been impossible to keep up with my correspondence that accumulates beyond all prediction. Hence, I feel like someone in debt that is trying to cut a deal with the lenders or otherwise declare bankruptcy. Whilst some debts are paid off a larger number of new ones arrive increasing rather than diminishing the backlog and right now I am behind with a load of two hundred letters. Well, since the daily average is 10 letters I cannot see a way of freeing up myself if you do not give me an unlimited time allowance.


I am far from complaining about the number of letters that I receive since that is an unquestionable proof of the reach of the Doctrine and most of them express feelings that touch me profoundly and constitute an invaluable archive. As a matter of fact, many of them contain teachings that will never be forgotten and that sooner or later will be utilized according to the circumstances hence they are immediately classified by subject.


The correspondence alone would thoroughly absorb my time although it is only a quarter part of the obligations that I have undertaken, something that I was far from predicting at the beginning of my Spiritist activities. Therefore a number of important publications are halted given my lack of time to work on them and I have thus received a pressing invitation from my spiritual guides to get going with the urgent works without delay, leaving everything else aside.


As a consequence and, unless I fail on the accomplishment of the work so happily initiated, I am forced to implement a kind of literary liquidation of the past and in the future restrict myself to the strictly needed answers, collectively asking my honorable correspondents to accept my most sincere gratitude for their testimonies of sympathy.


Among the letters addressed to me many carry requests for evocation or for controlling evocations done somewhere else. They frequent ask for information with respect to mediumship skills or things of material interest. I would remind you of what I said somewhere else about the difficulty and even the inconveniences of such kind of evocations in the absence of interested persons who are the only ones capable of verifying their accuracy and ask the required questions, adding to the fact that the Spirits communicate more easily and with more benevolence to their loved ones than to strangers that are indifferent to them.


For that reason and leaving aside the considerations with respect to my occupations, I cannot attend every request of that nature but on very exceptional cases and in any case never with respect to material interests. Had the persons interested in this matter thoughtfully read chapter 26 of The Mediums’ Book and many of those questions could be avoided.


On the other hand personal evocations cannot be carried out at the sessions of the Society unless they offer subject for instructive study and of general interest. Otherwise they can only take place

at special sessions. In order to satisfy every request a daily session of two hours would not suffice. Besides, we must take into account that every medium, without exception, who give us their support do so out of pure kindness and do not admit any other condition and since they have their own commitments and hence they are not always available regardless of their good will.


I understand the importance that each person attributes to matters of their own interest and I would feel happy if I could address all of them. However, taking into account that given my position I am in touch with thousands of people one can then understand the actual impossibility of doing so.


One must also realize that certain evocations would not require less than five or six hours of work both to hold and transcribe them, and that put together all that were requested to me would render a volume like The Spirits’ Book. As a matter of fact the mediums multiply daily and it is rare the case when one is not found in the family or among acquaintances – when the person herself is not

– something that is always preferable on more private issues. It is a matter of trying in good conditions out of which, and before any attempt is made, the first one is to be well informed about the instructions relative to the practice of Spiritism, in case one wants to avoid deceptions.


As Spiritism spreads further my network multiplies and the duties associated with my position follow suit forcing me to somewhat neglect details in favor of general interests, since time and human strength have a limit and I confess that mine are fading for some time now and I cannot enjoy the necessary resting time since I am only one to take care of everything.


I beg you, ladies and gentlemen, to accept my reiterated demonstration of affectionate devotion.

Allan Kardec

Among all the arguments against the reincarnation doctrine, presented by certain individuals, there is one that we must examine because it seems tricky at first sight.


They say that such doctrine would tend to break family links by multiplying them and someone who held great affection towards a father would have to share it with so many others as the number of reincarnations grows. How could one then be able to reconcile that when returning to spirit world? On the other hand, what becomes of the descendent of a given predecessor if someone who believes he descended directly from the lineage of Hugh Capet or Godfrey of Bouillon has in fact lived many times? If after having been a Grand Lord, one can become a commoner? There you have a whole lineage in disarray.


To begin with, we respond that it is one or the other: either it is or it is not. If it is then whatever personal objections they have will not preclude it from being so. God does not request anyone’s advice to regulate things; otherwise each one would like to have the world ruled according to their own will. Regarding the multiplicity of family links we say that certain parents have only one child while others may have ten, twelve or more. Have you already thought of accusing God of forcing them to share their affection with so many? And those children, that in turn have their children and all that forming a large family that makes grandparents and great-grandparents proud instead of feeling sorry?


You who take your family tree back five or six centuries, once you are in the spiritual world, won’t you share your feelings with all the ancestors? If you find a dozen of forefathers you then have a double or a triple and that is all! However, you have a very petty image of your love since you fear that it will not be enough to feel for so many people. Rest assure, though. I will demonstrate that your feeling will be less divided with than without reincarnation.


In fact let us suppose that you counted fifty great-grandparents in your genealogy both direct ancestors and collateral, which is not much if we go back to the time of the Crusades. Through reincarnation it may well be that some among them return several times and that instead of fifty that you counted on Earth you will in reality find only half of them in the spiritual world.


Now let us move on to the issue of affiliation. With your system you get to a different result from the one that you expect. If there is no pre-existence, previous life of the soul, then the soul has not lived. In such a situation there is no relationship with any of your predecessors. Suppose you descend directly from Charlemagne. What is it that is common between you and him? What has he passed on to you intellectually and morally? Nothing, absolutely nothing. Why are you attached to him? For a series of bodies that have been decomposed, rotten and destroyed? There is nothing to be proud about it. With the pre-existence of the soul, on the contrary, you might have had real, serious and more flattering relationships with your predecessors. Therefore, with the reincarnation all that there exist is a corporeal relationship through the transmission of organic molecules of the same nature as those arnation there is a spiritual relation.

Which one is better?


You will certainly object that with reincarnation a strange spirit may infiltrate in your lineage and that instead of counting only on gentlemen you might be able to find a shoemaker there. That is perfectly true but means nothing. Saint Peter was a poor fisherman. Wouldn’t he come from a sufficiently noble house to the point of making us feel ashamed for having him in our family?


Besides, among your ancestors of brilliant names, have they all lived a spotless life, the only thing that, to a certain extent, could make us proud since their merit has nothing to do with ours? Have the lives of those paladins thoroughly investigated, the lives of those great barons who robbed the passersby without scruples; they would be simply taken to the courts for their great deeds in our days; the lives of certain lords to whom life was not worth more than a day’s hunt since they were used to hang a man for the price of a habit. All these things were little sins that stained no family crest. However, an imbalanced marriage, the introduction of a plebeian blood in the family these were unforgiving sins. Now, regardless of how much one does, when the time of farewell comes – and it comes to the great as to the little ones – the fancy outfits and the parchments will do no good before the supreme judge who pronounces this terrible sentence: "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted!"


If it were good enough to descend from any great person to have one’s place previously marked in heavens we would be able to pay it for a low price since it would only cost someone else’s merit. Reincarnation provides a more meritorious nobility – the only accepted by God – that of having animated a series of good men. Fortunate is the one who can deposit at the feet of the Eternal the tribute of services provided to humanity in each of their existences for the sum of the merits will be proportional to the number of existences. God, however, will ask the one who only provides the feats of their predecessors: “Where are your own feats”?


Another system could apparently conciliate the requirements of self-love with the principle of non- reincarnation. It is the one through which the father would not only transmit the body to the son but also a portion of the soul so that if you descended from Charlemagne your soul could have been stemmed out from his. Very well. Let us see the consequences of such a theory. According to this system Charlemagne’s soul would have its trunk on his father’s soul and so forth, link by link, until reaching Adam. If Adam’s soul is the trunk of every soul of humanity that transmits to their descendants a portion of their own then the present souls would represent the product of a fractioning that would surpass all subdivisions of homeopathy. It would result that the soul of a common father would be more complete than the most complete soul of a descendant. It would result still that God would have created only one soul that would be subdivided to the infinity and thus each one of us would not be a direct creation of God.


As a matter of fact, such a system would leave a huge problem to be solved: that of the special skills. If the father transmitted the attributes of his soul to his children he would necessarily transmit his virtues and vices, talents and ineptitude, like certain genetic illnesses. How then can we explain that virtuous persons or geniuses have bad or mentally challenged children and vice-versa? Why would a lineage be mixed with the good and the bad? Say, on the contrary, that each soul is an individual; that has its own and independent existence; that progresses as a consequence of its own free-will through a series of corporeal existences, acquiring something good, leaving something bad behind in each one of them until perfection is achieved and everything is then explained, everything complies with reason and God’s justice, and even to the benefit of self-love.


Mr. Salgues from Angers that we mentioned in our previous issue is not a partisan of reincarnation. After the appearance of The Spirits’ Book he sent us a long letter in which he fought that doctrine with arguments based on its incompatibility with family links. He gives us his genealogy in the letter dated September 18^th, 1857, a genealogy that goes back to the Carolingians and he asks what becomes of such glorious ancestry with the mix of Spirits through reincarnation. We extracted the following passage from the letter:


“But what would be the point of family trees? I have my own, complete, regular. From one side since the predecessors over Charlemagne’s time and on the other since the daughter of Emir Muza, one of Mohamed’s descendants from the Abbasid Caliphate, tenth generation of her marriage with Garcia, prince of Navarra, parents of Garcia Jimenez, king of Navarre; and finally such genealogy continued through alliances and sovereigns of almost every European court, up to the time of Afonso VI, king of Castela, and then the houses of Comminges, Lascaris Vintimille, Montmorency, Turenne and finally to the Counts and Sirs Pelhasse de Salgues in Languedoc.”


“All that can be confirmed in the Art of verifying dates, in the Benedictines of Saint-Maur, in the Dictionary of French Nobility, in the Amorial, with Father Anselmo, Noreri, etc. However, if we are only connected to our parents through matter do not we find blanks and broken links all over the place? It is a path drawn in the sand that gets lots in thousands of directions.”


“We must then be allowed to believe that the spirit is not transmitted and the soul is to a person what the perfume is to a flower. Do not Swedenborg says in the Celestial Arcanes that nothing is lost in nature and that the perfume of the flowers produces other flowers in other places away from the original one? It is thus through the soul, which is not spirit, that there would perhaps be a semi- spiritual chain of generations. If it was up to my spirit to skip eight or ten generations from time to time, how could I recognize my ancestors?”


As from above, Mr. Salgues limits his system to the origin of the body. However, how to conciliate the relations among the Spirits with the non-preexistence of the soul? If there were any necessary relationship among them through affiliation how could a simple owner of the Anjou be descendant of so many sovereigns?


We do not question the authenticity of his genealogy and congratulate him for that if it pleases him but we say that we take him more for his personal virtues than those of his predecessors.


Swedenborg’s authority is very much contestable when he attributes the reproduction of flowers to their perfume. The essential and volatile oil that gives them the aroma has never had a reproductive faculty that resides exclusively in the pollen. Hence, the comparison lacks accuracy for if the soul just influences another soul with its aroma one does not create the other. However, it should transmit its own skills and in that case we cannot see why a descendant of Charlemagne would not have spread the light of his actions around the world while Napoleon would have been supported by a vulgar soul. Say, however, that Napoleon descended from Charlemagne and that he came to the nineteenth century to continue his work initiated in the eighth and one can understand. With the principle of a single existence, though, there is nothing connecting Charlemagne to his descendants but that aroma that is transmitted bit by bit upon souls that were not created. In that case how can one explain why there were so many null and unworthy persons among his descendants and why Napoleon is a much greater genius than his obscure ancestors?


Regardless of what is done without reincarnation we struggle against insoluble questions every step of the way, difficulties that are only resolved by the preexistence of the soul in a simple and at the same time logical and thorough way because it gives the reason for everything.


Here is another issue. A well-known fact is that families degenerate when the alliances do not veer off from the straight line. The same that happens to animal species also happens to the human race.

Why then the need for cross marriages? What becomes of the unit of the trunk? Isn’t miixture of Spirits, an intrusion of alien Spirits into the family?


We will one day discuss this grave issue with all the developments that it requires.

After his death, Mr. Jobard communicated several times at the Society at sessions that, as he says, he almost always attended. Before publishing them we decided to wait until we had a series of them forming a set that would allow a better appreciation. We wanted to evoke him in our session on November 8^th but he got ahead of us and gave a spontaneous ee his necrology published in the last December issue of The Spiritist Review).

Here I am, the one who you will evoke, and I want to initially communicate through this medium that I have unsuccessfully requested so far.


To begin with I want to tell you about my first impressions at the time of separation of my soul. I felt a strange commotion and suddenly I remembered my birth, my youth, and my maturity. My whole life was vividly present in my memory. I felt a compassionate desire to be in the regions revealed by our dear belief. Then all that turmoil appeased. I was free and my body rested inert.

Ah! My dear friends, what an emotional feeling that of leaving the load of the body! How amazing the feeling of conquering the space! You must not believe, though, that I have suddenly become an elected of the Lord. No. I am among the Spirits who have learned a little and have a lot to learn still. It did not take me long to remember you, my brothers in exile, and I assure you that my whole sympathy and my best wishes were with you. I had at once the capability of communicating and I would have done so through this medium who feared to be deceived. She must rest assured for we love her.

Would you like to know who the Spirits that welcomed me were? What were my impressions? My friends, it was all of those who were evoked by us; all the brothers who took part into our works. I saw the splendor but I cannot describe it. I endeavored to distinguish what was true in the communications, ready to correct every wrong statement; finally, ready to be the knight of the truth in the other world as I was in yours. Hence we shall speak a lot and this is not but a preamble to show the dear medium my desire to be evoked by her and to show you my good will in coming here to respond to the questions addressed to me.

Jobard

1. When alive you made the recommendation to have you called when you had left Earth. We do so not only to satisfy your wishes but above all to renovate our testimony of a very lively and sincere sympathy, and also to the benefit of our own instruction since you, better than anybody else, have the condition to give us accurate teachings about the world where you are now. Thus, we shall be pleased in case you are willing to respond to our questions.
A. At this time your instruction is what matters the most. Regarding your sympathy I see that and understand it more than with the ears alone and that is a sign of progress.

2. To keep the ideas and to avoid speaking vaguely and also for the instruction of persons that are strange to the Society but who are present here we begin by asking where are you located here and how would we see you if we could do so? – A. I am near the medium. You would see me with the same appearance as that of the Jobard that used to sit with you at the table for your mortal eyes sees the Spirits in their mortal appearance.

3. Could you become visible to us? If negative, what is it that precludes you from doing so?
A. The disposition, something that is entirely personal to you. A clairvoyant medium would see me. The others do not see.

4. This is the place that you used to occupy when attending our sessions and that we reserve for you. However, those who used to see you here must imagine that they would see you as you were at that time. Although you are not present here with your material body, you are with your vaporous form that looks alike. We do not see you with the eyes of the body but in our thoughts. Since you cannot communicate through the spoken word you can write with the help of an interpreter. Hence our relationship with you is not broken by death and we can communicate with you as easily and thoroughly as before. Is that accurate? – A. Yes and you know that for a long time. I will take this place many times even unnoticeably because my spirit will live with you.

5. You sat here not long ago. Does your new situation seem strange to you? Which effect does it have on you? – A. The conditions do not seem strange because there was no disruption and my disincarnate spirit enjoys such a clarity that there is no fuzziness when facing the issues.

6. Do you remember being in the same condition before your last existence and do you observe any change? – A. I remember my previous existences and I believe to have improved. I see and understand what I see. As for my previous existences as a disoriented spirit I only kept partial memory of the earthly life.

7. Do you remember the existence that preceded that of Mr. Jobard’s? – A. In my previous existence I was a mechanic tormented by misery and by the desire of improving my work. As Jobard I made the dreams of the poor mechanic come true and I thank God whose infinite benevolence made germinate the seed that was planted in my mind.

8. Evocation. – A. I am here and delighted for the opportunity of talking to you (the medium) and you also.

9. It seems to us that you have a fondness for the medium. – A. Do not criticize me. I had to become a spirit to demonstrate that.

10. Have you given any communication elsewhere? – A. I have communicated a little. A spirit takes my name in several places. Sometimes I was present but I could not manifest directly. My death is so recent that I still suffer certain earthly influences. A perfect sympathy is needed so that I can express my thoughts. It won’t be long for me to be able to communicate indistinctively. For now – I repeat – I cannot. When a somewhat known person dies that person is requested all over the place and thousands of Spirits rush into taking their identity. That has happened to me in many cases. I assure you that few Spirits can communicate just after liberation, even by a preferred medium.

11. Have you changed your mind a little since Friday? – A. My mind is absolutely the same as it was on Friday. I have not given much thought to intellectual issues in the sense that you understand it. How could I if I was overwhelmed by the wonderful spectacle that surrounds me? It was only the more powerful than you can imagine links with Spiritism that brought me back to Earth, a planet that I am not glad to have left behind since it would be an impiety, but that I leave with a profound appreciation for the conquered freedom.

12. Do you see the Spirits that are here with us? – A. I mainly see Lazarus and Erastus; then, a little bit further away the Spirit of Truth, floating in space; then a multitude of friendly, thankful and benevolent Spirits that surround you. Be happy, friends, the good influences fight for you against the calamities of the error.

13. Still one question, please. Do you know the causes of your death? – A. Let us not talk about that yet.

OBSERVATION: Mrs. Costel says that she received a communication at home in which it was stated that Mr. Jobard died because he wanted to surpass the presently established limit of Spiritism. Hence, his passage had been precipitated for that reason. Mr. Jobard himself has not mentioned that issue yet. Several other communications seem to support that opinion but what really sticks out of certain facts is a kind of mystery the surrounds the circumstances of his precipitated death that as they say will be clarified later.

14. When alive you sustained the opinion that the formation of Earth had taken place by the incrustation of four planets that were mended together. Do you still hold that opinion? – A. It is a mistake. The new geological discoveries prove the convulsions of Earth and its successive formation. Like the other planets, Earth had its own formation and God does not require such disorder or such aggregation of planets. Water and fire are the only organic elements of Earth.

15. You also believed that humans could enter into a sort of cataleptic state for an undetermined period of time and that is how human beings were brought to Earth. – A. My deluded imagination that exceeded the limits. A cataleptic state can last long but not indefinitely.

Traditions and legends that were amplified by the oriental imagination. My friends, I have already suffered significantly when revising the illusions that fed my spirit. Make no mistake. I learned a lot and – I can say so – my intelligence always ready to absorb these vast and diverse studies had kept the love for the wonderful and supernatural since my last existence, added to the compilations taken from popular imagination.

16. Evocation. – A. Is it time to restart? What do you want from me then? I am here.

17. We have just learned about your death. Since you are one of the champions of our Doctrine, would you like to respond to some questions? – A. Well, I do not know who I am with but the Spirits tell me that this medium has received some messages that were published in the Review and that I liked them. I must pay back now. It has not being long since I left Earth and in a few years I will be born again here to retake the course of the mission that I had initiated since the angel of freedom interrupted it.

18. You speak of a mission that you had to accomplish on Earth. Can you elaborate on that? –
A. Mission of moral and intellectual progress that still are in a germinal state. The Doctrine or Spiritist Science has the fecund elements that must develop, grow and mature with the modern ideas of freedom, unity and fraternity. For that reason one must not fear the task of giving it a vigorous impulse that will take it over obstacles which such a force that cannot be restrained.

19. By moving faster than its time shouldn’t we fear to have the Doctrine harmed? – A. You will knock its adversaries down. Your low speed allows them to gain space. I do not like the sluggish and heavy rhythm of the turtle. I prefer the audacious flight of the king of the air.
Observation: This is a mistake. The followers of Spiritism gain terrain every day while its adversaries lose it. Mr. Jobard is always an enthusiast. He doesn’t get it that one can reach the objective more safely with prudence whilst we risk compromising the cause by jumping head first against the obstacles.

Allan Kardec

20. How can one then explain God’s designs by taking you out from Earth and so suddenly if you were such a necessary instrument to the rapid march of humanity towards its moral and intellectual progress? – A. Oh! What a leverage would that be to part of the Spiritists with my ideas! But, no. They are paralyzed by fear.

21. Could you explain God’s designs by calling you back before the accomplishment of your mission? – A. I was not upset. I see and learn to become stronger for the right moment of the fight. Double your fervor and zeal for the noble and sacred cause of humanity. One existence alone is not enough to see resolve the crises that must transform society and many among you who pave the way will reborn after some time to help again with the sacred and blessed task. I said enough tonight, haven’t I? I am at your service, though. I will come back because you are a good and eager follower. Good-bye. Tonight I want to attend the session with our dear master Allan Kardec.

22. You have not responded to my question about God’s designs by calling you before the accomplishment of your mission. – A. We are instruments to help God’s designs. He breaks us at will and gives us a new role whenever he finds useful. Let us then submit ourselves to God’s designs without any investigation since nobody has the right to tear off the veil that hides God’s immutable decrees from the eyes of the Spirits. So long!

23. Evocation. – A. I do not know why you have evoked me. I am nothing and owe nothing to you. Also, I will not respond to anything without the Spirit of Truth who tells me that it was Kardec who asked you to have me called. Well! I am here. How can I help?

24. It is true that Mr. Allan Kardec asked us to evoke you in order to control several communications from you, comparing one to the others. It is a study and we hope that you will support us on that in the interest of the Spiritist Science, describing your situation and your impressions since you left our planet. – A. I was not with the truth in everything in my earthly life. I start to get it now. My thoughts reach a new clarity after the bewilderment phase and I promptly retreat from the mistakes in my beliefs. This is a blessing from God’s mercy but that comes a little bit late. Mr. Allan Kardec was not totally fond of me and that is how it should be. He is positive in his faith. I dreamed and groped beyond the borderline of reality. I am not sure about what I wanted but a better life. Spiritism came to show that to me and the most enlightened Spiritist lifted the veil of the spiritual life before my eyes. He was inspired by The Truth. The Spirits’ Book brought a true revolution upon my soul and did me a good that is impossible to describe. However, my spirit carried doubts about many things that are presented under a completely new light today. At the beginning of the communication I told you that after the confusion the spirit shows me what I could not see before. The spirit moves away; its detachment is not complete yet but has already communicated a number of times. However, something that is likely to look bizarre to your eyes is the change observed by the evokers of the spirit Jobard.

The same medium then received the following spontaneous message:


Jobard was a research spirit always wanting to move up, always up. The Spiritist ideas seemed to show him a way to work to this path. Jobard represented the spirit of curiosity. He wanted to know, always to know more. Such a need, such a thirst pushed him towards


research that was beyond the limits assigned by God to you. Therefore, you must not try to unveil the mysteries of his power! Jobard reached for the top and was upset. This is a teaching. You must seek the sun but you must not be audacious enough to stare at its beams for you shall become blind. Doesn’t God give you enough by sending you the Spirits? Leave to death its God given power which is to lift the veil to the one that deserves it. You will then be able of look at God, the Sun of Heavens, without the risk of becoming blind or frustrated by the power that tells you: “Do not go beyond!” That is what I have to tell you!


The Truth

Note: Mr. Jobard manifested several times in Mr. and Mrs. P… home, members of the Society. At one point he showed up spontaneously and without having anybody given any thought to him, showing himself to a somnambulist who described him with great accuracy and gave his name although she had never met him. A conversation was established between him and Mr. P… through the somnambulist. He remembered several particularities that left no doubt about his identity. There was something that impressed them in particular: it is the fact that the only occasion that they had the opportunity to see him at the Society he stared at them during almost the whole session, as if he had identified them as his acquaintances. This fact had been forgotten and Mr. Jobard brought that up through the somnambulist. The couple had never had any contact with him during his life and hence they wanted to know the reason for the sympathy that he seemed to demonstrate towards them. The following communication was about that subject.

“Non-believer! You needed this confirmation from the somnambulist to believe in my identity! Ungrateful! You forgot me for a long time under the pretext that others remember better. Nonetheless, let us stop the criticism and talk. Let us discuss the subject that drove the evocation. I can easily explain why my attention was focused on the couple that was strange to me but who I knew through a kind of instinct, a second vision or a foresight. After my freedom I realized that we had met previously and I then returned to them – that is the word.”


“I started to live my spiritual life more at peace and less disturbed by the evocations that were plentiful through indirect means. Fashion dominates, even among the Spirits. When the fashion Jobard gives space to someone else and I am forgotten by the humans I will then ask the serious friends – with that I refer the minds that do not forget – I will ask them to evoke me. We will then exhaustively discuss issues that are only superficially handled and your completely transfigured Jobard will be able to be useful to you, something that he wishes from the bottom of his heart.”

Mr. Henri Lacroix writes to us from Montreal saying that he had sent three letters to Mr. Jobard who had only received two of those. The third one arrived too late and he only responded to the first one. Learning about his death through the papers Mr. Lacroix received communications from several Spirits signed Voltaire, Volney, and Franklin assuring him that the news was false and that Mr. Jobard was very well. The Spiritist Review eliminated the doubts, confirming the fact. It was when the evoked spirit of Mr. Jobard gave the communication below whose accuracy Mr. Lacroix asks us to verify.

“My dear master, you say that I died. I am not dead since I speak with you. Those who told you that I was not dead certainly wanted to kid you. I do not know them yet but I will and then I will know why the acted like that. Write to Mr. Kardec and I will respond to you. I do not believe I can do that through the planchette. In any case, let us try and I will do my best. The two letters that I received from you had a strong contribution in the cause of my death. Later you will know how.”

Mr. Jobard was evoked about this on January 10^th, acknowledging as being the author of the communication, but the hypothetical portrayal made below was not his, something that we believe effortlessly since it absolutely does not look like him.

How could the reading of those two letters have contributed to your death? – A. I cannot and I do not want to say but that the reading of the letters after a meal caused a congestion that took me or, if you like, liberated me.

Observation: During this answer another medium wrote the following: Spirits that like to ramble without any commitment to the truth. “There are Spirits that act like humans: receive some news and either confirm or deny them in the same way.”

It is obvious that the names who signed the denial of Mr. Jobard’s death are apocryphal. In order acknowledge that it would be enough to consider that Spirits like Franklin, Volney, and Voltaire are occupied with serious things and that details of such a nature are incompatible with their character. This should only raise doubt with respect to their identities and consequently with respect to the truthfulness of the communications. It would never be too much to repeat: it is only a serious, complete and attentive study of the Spiritist Science that can provide the means of unmasking the mystifications of deceiving Spirits that expose the novice who lacks experience.


You only responded to the first letter from Mr. Lacroix. He would like to get the answer to the other two and specially the third one that, as he says, had a private meaning and that could only be understood by you. – A. He will get it later. At the moment I cannot answer. It would be useless to provoke it since he would certainly know that the answer was no mine.


Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies, February 21^st, 1862 – medium Ms. Stephany


When the Society initiated a fund-raising in favor of the brothers of Lyon a member pledged 50 francs from which 25 were from his account and 25 in the name of Mr. Jobard. The latter gave the following communication about that:

“I will respond once more my dear Kardec. I am touched and thankful for not have being forgotten among my Spiritist friends. Thanks to the generous heart to have given you an offering that I would have made if I were still in your world. There is no need for money where I am now. Hence, it was necessary to take it from the purse of friendship to give material proofs that I was moved by the misery of our brothers of Lyon. Brave workers that eagerly harvest the vines of our Lord, how much you must believe that charity is not a vain word since the small and the great demonstrate their sympathy and fraternity towards you! You walk the great humanitarian avenue of progress. May God keep you there and may you be happier. Friendly Spirits will sustain you and you will triumph!”

Jobard

When the papers announced the construction of a monument to Mr. Jobard, Mr. Allan Kardec notified the Society at the session on January 31^st last. He considered mentioning this in the Review but postponed the announcement since the resources were scarce since most of the proceeds have been used in other areas. He also wanted to give some thought to the choice between giving bread to the poor and stones to the dead.

Once questioned about that Mr. Jobard responded:


“Certainly. But I gave some thought: Do you want to know if I like statues? To begin with give your support to the unfortunate ones and if at the end you still have some coins leftover in your pockets you then have a statue erected. That will always keep an artist alive.”

Hence, the Society will receive donations with that objective and credit the amounts to an account that was opened for that with the journal La Proprieté Industrielle at Rue Bergère, 21 where the subscription was originated.

It is well-known that one of the difficulties of Spiritism resides in the identification of the manifesting Spirits and the means employed to not always yield positive identification. From that point of view the best proofs are those that come from the spontaneity of the communications. Although these proofs are not rare, when well characterized it is better to confirm them first for one’s own satisfaction and as an object of study, and on another hand to respond to the objections of those who deny their possibility probably because they were unsuccessful for having being badly applied or due to their own preconceived ideas.

We repeat here what we said somewhere else that the identity of the Spirits who lived at distant times and that come to bring us their teachings is almost impossible to verify and only a relative importance must be given to the names that they use. Is their message good or bad, rational or illogical, worthy or unworthy of the names that they bear? That is the whole issue. The same does not apply to the contemporary Spirits whose character and habits are known by us, Spirits that can demonstrate their identity through particularities and details that are only rarely obtained when requested and that is necessary to learn to wait. Such is the fact reported in the letter below:

“Bordeaux, January 25^th, 1862 My dear Mr. Kardec,

You know that we like to submit our works to you, entirely accepting your enlightenment and the appreciation of your experience. Thus, when dealing with cases of shocking identity, we just limit ourselves to the exposition of the details.

The following letter was sent to us by Mr. Guipon, Head Accountant of the Southern Railways Co. and leading member of the Spiritist Society of Bordeaux, on the 14^th of the present month:

‘My dear Mr. Sabò,

On the 18^th of the same month we carried out the requested evocation, in the presence of about ten honorable persons of our town.

3. Why do you show yourself to that person? – A. Ah! I was going to die. I was afraid and others feared for me. They searched for a Christ everywhere to help me transpose the difficult passage between life and death. There was a person to whom I show up had one but refused to lend that to me to have it placed upon my dying lips and between my hands like a token of peace and love. Well! The person will have to see me many times. She will always see me there. I must leave now. I feel bad here. Let me go. Good-bye.

Immediately after the evocation I opened the sealed envelope that contained the following details:

‘On the occasion of the death of Carrère, Deputy Supervisor of the Bordeaux team, deceased on December 18^th last, Mr. Beautey, Head of the P.V. station, had the body transported to the passengers terminal and sent one of the workers to his house to ask Mrs. Beautey for a Christ to have it placed on the corpse. That lady responded that the Christ was broken and could not lend it. On January 10^th Mrs. Beautey confessed to her husband that the Christ that she had refused to lend was not broken but that she did not want to loan it to avoid experiencing the emotions that followed a similar incident, which occurred more or less in the same conditions. Next she added that she would never refuse anything to any deceased person, thus justifying: - During the whole night of that man’s death he was visible to me; for a long time I saw him around the Christ then by its side. Mrs. Beautey who had never seen that man before described him so well to her husband that he acknowledged as if he was present. In fact this is not the first time that Mrs. Beautey sees Spirits in her wake state. However, a remarkable fact is that the spirit of Carrère left a strong impression on her, something that would not happen when she saw other Spirits.’

Guipon

Down below there is the following statement:


This narrative is perfectly accurate. Beautey, Chief of Station

I thought I should report the case of identity that I have just exposed, incidentally rare and that has certainly occurred with God’s permission, utilizing every means to challenge disbelief and indifference. In case you find it useful to publish the interesting episode you will find below the signature of all persons that attended the session. They ask me to let you know that their names can be published since it would be a mistake to keep their names incognito in this case. The names that appear in the evocation of Carrère can also be published.

Your dedicated servant,

As always the non-believers will take this case as if it were imagined. They will say, for example, that Mrs. Beautey was shocked by her refusal and that she was led to believe that she saw Mr. Carrère out of remorse. We recognize that it is possible. However, the detractors who do not have the habit of analyzing before judging do not examine if there is any circumstance that escapes their theory. How would they explain her description of a man that she had never seen before? How about the evocation, will you also say that the medium was just translating his own thoughts or those of the attendees since the circumstances were ignored? Was it also chance?

- No. However, among the attendees was Mr. Guipon, author of the sealed letter and knowledgeable of the facts. Well, his thoughts would have been transmitted to the medium through the chain of fluids since the mediums are always in a state of febrile super- excitation, provoked and fed by the concentration of the attendees and his own will. Well, in such an abnormal state that is nothing else but a biological state, according to Mr. Figuier, there are emanations that escape from the brain giving exceptional perception originated from the expansion of the fluids, which in turn establish relationships between present and even absent persons. Hence, you see by this a much clearer, logical explanation. There is no need to resource to the intervention of the supposed Spirits that only exist in your imagination.

- Such reasoning, we humbly confess, is beyond our intelligence. We ask you: Do you understand that well?

The Hague envoy – medium M. le Baron de Kock

“The doctrine of reincarnation is an incontestable truth and if someone wants to only think of God’s love, wisdom and justice then one cannot admit any other doctrine. It is true that the following words are found in the sacred books: “Man will be rewarded for his works, after death”; But one does not pay enough attention to the endless quotes that tell you that it is completely unacceptable that modern man is punished for the mistakes and crimes of those who lived before Christ. I cannot go back to so many examples and demonstrations given by those who believe in reincarnation. You can do that yourself and the good Spirits will help you with that, and it will be a pleasant task for you. You can add this to the message I gave you and to those I will give you if God allows. Rest assured of God's love for humanity; God wants the happiness of His children but the only way for them to one day reach such supreme happiness is thoroughly in the successive reincarnations.


I already told you that what Kardec wrote about that fallen angels is the greatest truth. The majority of the Spirits that populate your world have always done so. If they are the same who return for so many centuries is that few have earned the reward promised by God.


Christ said: "This race will be destroyed, and soon the prophecy will be fulfilled". If you believe in a God of love and justice, how can we admit that a person who currently lives and even who has lived for eighteen centuries could be guilty of Christ’s death without admitting reincarnation? Yes, the feeling of love for God, the punishments and rewards of the future life, and the idea of reincarnation are innate in humans for centuries. Look into all stories, see the writings of the sages of antiquity, and you will be convinced that this doctrine has always been accepted by everyone who understood the righteousness of God. Now you understand the meaning of our Earth, and how the time has come for the prophecies of Christ to be fulfilled.


I am so sorry that you only find a few people that think like us. Your countrymen only think of greatness, money and name. They reject everything that can preclude bad passions. May that not withdraw your courage, though! Work for your own happiness and for the good of those who may renounce to their mistakes. Persevere on your work; always have God and Jesus in your thoughts and the heavenly beatitude will be your reward.


If the problem is examined without prejudiced, taking into account the existence of humankind in the several conditions of society and conciliate that existence with God’s love, wisdom and justice and every doubt with respect to reincarnation will disappear.


In fact, how can one reconcile that justice and love with a single existence where everyone is born in different social positions; where one is rich and great while the other is poor and miserable; where one enjoys good health while the other endures diseases of all sorts? Here joy and pleasure; sadness and pain elsewhere; a well-developed intelligence in some while it is just above the brute in others. How to believe in a God that is all love and who made beings condemned to idiotism and madness for life? Who allows children at the spring of their lives to be taken away from the kind warmth of their parents?


I even dare ask if one can attribute love, wisdom and justice to God before those individuals that are immersed in ignorance and barbarism when compared to the civilized nations where there is the rule of law and order and where art and sciences are cherished.


It is not enough to say: “That is how God has established things in His wisdom”. No, the wisdom of God that is love before anything else must become clear for the understanding of everyone. The dogma of reincarnation explains everything. That dogma given by God Himself cannot oppose the precepts found in the Sacred Scriptures. Far for that, the dogma explains the principles from which moral betterment and perfection stems out. The future revealed by Christ is in agreement with the infinite attributes of God. Jesus said: “All humans are not only children of God: they are also brothers and sisters of the same family”. Now, those expressions must be well understood.


Will a worldly father give to some children what is denied to others? Will he throw one of them into the abyss of misery while the other is cumulated with wealth, distinction and dignity? Besides, since the love of God is infinite it cannot be compared to that of a man for his children. Since the different positions of people have a cause and since that cause is based on the principle of love, wisdom, benevolence and justice of God then their only explanation must be found in the doctrine of reincarnation.


God created all Spirits equal, simple, innocent, without vices or virtues, but with the free-will of controlling their actions according to an instinct named conscience, an instinct that gives them the ability to distinguish between good and bad. Each spirit is destined to reach the highest perfection after God and Jesus. In order to achieve that the spirit must acquire the whole knowledge through the study of all sciences; be initiated in all truths and purify through the practice of all virtues. Well, since these superior qualities cannot be acquired in a single existence they all have to live several lives in order to acquire the multiple degrees of knowledge.


Human life is the school of the spiritual perfection in a series of tests. That is why the spirit must know all social conditions and do what it takes to carry out the divine will in all of them. Wealth and power as poverty and humbleness are tests; pain, idiotism, madness, etc. are punishments for some bad deed of a previous life. As with the free will, the individual may pass or fail the test to which one is submitted. In the first case the reward will not be long: it consists on a progression towards the spiritual perfecting. In the second case the spirit is punished through the reparation in a new life of a lost opportunity in the preceding existence from which the spirit was not able to take advantage. Before the incarnation the Spirits wander in the celestial spheres: the good ones enjoying happiness, the bad ones regretting, victimized by the pain of being abandoned by God. However, keeping the memory of the past allow the Spirits to remember their breaches of God’s laws and God allows them to choose their tests and conditions in a new existence, and that explains why we frequently find noble feelings and advanced understanding in the lower echelons of society while sometimes finding ignoble inclinations and brute Spirits in superior classes.


Can we speak of injustice when a person that has badly employed her life can repair her faults in a new existence and get to the final destination? Wouldn’t injustice be in the immediate condemnation and without a possible way back? The Bible speaks of eternal penalties but that should not really apply to a single life, so sad and short, that instant, that blink of an eye when compared to eternity.

Many people ask why God would have hidden this dogma for such a long time, a dogma whose knowledge is useful to our happiness. Would God have loved humanity less than in our time?


The love of God is for the whole eternity. In order to enlighten us He sent wise people, prophets and the Savior Jesus Christ. Isn’t that a proof of an infinite love? However, how has humanity received that love? Have they improved?


Jesus said: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now”⁹. If we take the Sacred Scriptures in their intellectual meaning we will find many citations that seem to indicate that the spirit must experience several lives before reaching the end. Besides, do not we find the same ideas about reincarnation in the works of old philosophers?


The world has progressed significantly in the material aspect, in sciences and social institutions but from a moral point of view it is still crawling behind. Humanity still ignores God’s law and no longer listen to Jesus’ words; that is why God gives them as a last resort and as a means of getting to know the principles of the eternal happiness the direct communication with the Spirits and the teaching of the principle of reincarnation, words that are plentiful of consolation and that illuminate the darkness of the dogmas of so many different religions.


Hands on! May the search be carried out with love and confidence! Read without prejudices; think of everything that God has done to humanity since the creation of the world and you will be confirmed in the faith that reincarnation is a sacred and divine truth.”


OBSERVATION: We did not have the honor of knowing Mr. Baron de Kock. This communication that agree with all principles of Spiritism is not the product of any personal influence.

I

Paintings are another art whose objective is to portray the most beautiful and elevated terrestrial scenery and eventually just imitate nature through the magic of truth. It is a boundless art, so to speak, particularly in your time. Art must not be just about personality in your days. It must be, if I can say so, the comprehension of everything that it has been in history, and the requirements of the local color, far from precluding the originality and personality of the artist, amplify their horizons, develop and purify the taste entailing the creation of interesting works to art itself and to those who want to see a fallen civilization and forgotten ideas in that art.


The so-called historical painting of your schools is not up to the demands of the century. I dare say that there is more future to the artist in their individual researches about art and history than in that avenue where some say I began to tread. There is only one thing that can save art in your time. It is a new impulse and a new school through an alliance between two said contrary principles – realism and idealism – that leads the youngsters to understand that if the masters were called so it is because they lived with nature and their powerful imagination invented where it was necessary to invent but obeyed when needed to obey.


To a large number of arts ignorant people dispositions frequently replace knowledge and observation. Thus, one can find all over persons of interesting imagination, even artists, but not painters. These shall be accounted for as very ingenious draftsmen in history. The speedily work and prompt realization of imagination are gradually acquired through the study and practice in a continuous effort, despite the fact that one may have the skills to paint fast. Art in your century, and I do not say that in every way, fortunately materializes alongside impressive efforts of renowned names of modern painting. Why such a trend? That is what I will show in the forthcoming communication.

II

To understand paintings, as I said in my last communication, one needs to successively go from practice to concept and from concept to practice. I have spent almost my entire life in Rome; when contemplating the works of the masters, I tried to capture the intimate connection, the relationships and harmony of the highest idealism and the true realism. I have rarely seen a masterpiece that meets these two principles; I saw the ideal and the sense of brevity next to a brutal truth and I said to myself: this is the work of a human mind; this is where thought and work meet, soul and body: the whole life. I witnessed the ideas and the views of the soft masters in their understanding, in their forms, their colors, their effects; the expression of their minds was uncertain, their movements banal and without greatness. It takes a long initiation to understand the secrets, the whims and sublimity of nature. It is not just the will of the painter; there is also the huge task of observation and the struggle in one’s mind and in the ongoing realization of art; at some point it must bring to

the work at the hand the instincts and the sens d things, in a word it is always the two main principles: soul and body.

Nicolas Poussin

“Time has come for the realization of what has been announced for the transformation of humanity. Fortunate the ones who have worked selflessly and without any other interest but charity in the land of the Lord! Their work shall be rewarded a hundred times more than expected. Fortunate the ones who have told their brothers: “Brothers, let us work together and let us unite our efforts so that when the master comes the work is done” for the master will tell you: “Come to me you good servants, you who muffled your envy and your disagreements to the benefit of the work!” Unfortunate are the ones, however, who have delayed the time of harvest for their quarrels since the storm will come and they shall be dragged in the turmoil! They will scream: “Grace! Grace!” but the Lord will say: “Why do you ask for grace since you had no pity on your brothers and sisters; since you refused to reach out to them; since instead of helping you smashed the weak? Why do you seek grace, you who sought your reward amidst the earthly joys and in the satisfaction of your pride? You have already gotten your reward as you wished. Ask no more. The heavenly rewards are for those who have not demanded them on Earth.”


Right now God carries out the census of the faithful servants and marks with his finger those who only have the appearance of dedication so that these do not steal the salary of the dedicated servants for God shall entrust the most difficult positions to those who do not retreat before their tasks in the great works of regeneration through Spiritism, and these words shall be accomplished: "But many who are first will be last; and the last, first in the Kingdom of Heavens!”

The Spirit of Truth

I come to you, poor ones lost in a slippery terrain whose inclination claims no more than a few steps to have you precipitated into the abyss. Like the good father I extend the charitable hand to spare you from danger. My greatest desire is to lead you to the paternal and divine shelter so that you can feel the love of God and work through the Christian faith and charity, through the peace and kind pleasures of a home. Like you, my dear children, I met joy and suffering and I know all the doubts in your minds and the struggles of your hearts. I will be just but strict and forearm you against your faults and show you the obstacles that can destroy you.


From up and above the celestial spheres that I dwell my eyes dive with satisfaction into your gatherings eagerly following your sacred instructions. However, while my soul rejoices on one side on another it experiences a bitter suffering when it still sees so much attachment to earthly things in your hearts. To the majority the sanctuary of your lessons is a theater of spectacles with the expectation of wonderful things from our side. We are not assigned with the task of showing you miracles but with that of working your hearts by opening long trenches to cast handfuls of divine seeds on them. We struggle incessantly to make them productive for we know that their roots must grow from one end to the other of Earth, covering its surface. The fruits that will be born from that shall be so beautiful, so pleasing and great that they shall reach heavens. Fortunate is the one who have harvested them and satiated for the blessed Spirits will come to them and crown their heads with the aura of the chosen ones walking them through the steps that lead to the majestic throne of the Eternal, inviting them to share the incomparable happiness, pleasures and endless joy of the celestial phalanx.


Unfortunate is the one who was given to see the light and hear the word of God and who have closed their eyes and shut their ears for the spirit of darkness will embrace them with its grim wings, taking them to the empire of darkness, making them atone their disobedience to the Lord for centuries through countless torments. It is time to apply prophet Hosea’s death sentence: “Coedam eos secundum auditionem coetus eorum”. May these words be like vapor spreading in the air but may them capture your attention and have you seriously meditating about them. Hurry up to dedicate the few moments that you still have to God. One day we will come to ask you what have you done with the lessons and how have you utilized the sacred doctrine of Spiritism.


Therefore, Spiritists of Paris, you who can do a lot given your personal position and your moral influence, you have the glory and the honor of giving the sublime example of the Christian virtues. Do not wait for misery to knock at your door. You must march ahead of your suffering brothers; give the poor the alms of the day; dry the tears of the orphan and the widow with kind and reassuring words. Lift the Spirits of the old person abated by the weight of the years and under the yoke of iniquities, bringing out of their souls the shiny and golden wings of hope in a better future life.


Spread love and consolation around you on your way. Raising your good deeds to the level of your thoughts you shall then honorably deserve the brilliant and glorious title that you are mentally attributed with by the Spirits of the country and from abroad whose eyes rest upon you, touched by admiration for the waves of light that escape from your gatherings, calling you the Sun of France.

Lacordaire

Finally, everyone shall come to work at the vineyard. I already see them coming in large numbers.
Hands on my children! God wants all of you at work.


Sow, sow and one day you will reap abundantly. See the beautiful, dazzling and radiant Sun rising in the East! It comes to warm you up and allow the fruits of the vineyard to grow. Go on, children! The vintages shall be magnificent and each one will drink the chalice of the sacred wine of regeneration. It is the Lord’s wine to be served at the banquet of the universal fraternity! All nations will gather there in a single family, singing hosannas to only one God. Take on your plows and sickles, you who want to live forever. Tie up the grapevine cords; make sure they are upright and their tips will reach heavens. There will be some who will produce a hundred cubits, and the Spirits from the ethereal worlds will come to squeeze the fruits and refresh themselves; the juice will be so powerful that it will give strength and courage to the weak; it will be the nourishing milk to feed the little ones. That is the vintage that is in preparation; it is already done; the vessels that must contain the sacred liquor are being prepared. Approach your lips, you who want to taste because this liquor intoxicate you with heavenly intoxication, and you will see God in your dreams, until reality succeeds dream. Children! Spiritism is the splendid vine that must rise to God. Eager followers, you must show it powerful and strong, and you, little ones, it is necessary that you help the strong ones to propagate it! Cut the buds and plant them in another field; they will produce new vines and other buds in all countries of the world. Yes, I tell you, everyone will drink the juice from the vine in the Kingdom of Christ with our heavenly Father! Hence, be strong and ready and do not live a life of austerity. God does not demand that you live in austerities and deprivation; God does not ask you to be covered in cilice; God wants everybody to feel the warmth of His Sun and if some beams are colder than others it is to have his power and strength understood by all. No, do not cover yourself with cilice; do not mortify your flesh by the whip of discipline. One needs to be robust and powerful to work at the vineyard. One must sustain the God given vigor. God did not create humanity to transform it into an adulterated place; God created it with the manifestation of His glory and power.


You who wish to live the true life, you shall walk our Lord’s path when you have given bread to the unfortunate ones, the alms to misery and your prayers to God. Then, when your eyelids are definitely shut by death an angel of God will proclaim your deeds and carry your soul over to God on her white wings of charity, as pure and beautiful as the blossoming lily of the morning Spring day. Pray, love and do charity my brothers! The vineyard is large as is the field of the Lord. Come, come for God and Jesus call you and I bless you.

St. Augustine

“A man is in a life threatening situation. It is necessary to risk one’s life to save him. It is known that the person is a criminal and as such if saved he could commit new crimes. Despite all that should we risk ourselves to save him?”


The answer that follows was obtained by the medium Mr. A. Didier, at the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies, on February 7^th, 1862:


That is a very serious question that can be very naturally presented to the spirit. I will respond according to my own moral advancement since it is related to the issue of risking one’s life even for a wrongdoer.


Dedication is blind. One helps a personal enemy hence one must help an enemy of Society that is a criminal. Would you then believe that it is only death that we save him from? It could be his entire previous life. Think about this: In those rapid instants that steal the last minutes of his life the lost man sees his past life before his eyes. Death may come too soon for him and his reincarnation might be perhaps terrible. Go on, enlightened people by the Spiritist Science! Move on and subtract him from his doom and then, perhaps, that man who could die cursing you might embrace you. However, you must not ask if he will or will not do that. Just save him for by doing so you obey that voice from the heart that says: “You can save him; just do that!”

Lamennais

OBSERVATION: Out of an incredible coincidence some days ago we received the following communication from a Spiritist group in Le Havre, more or less dealing with the same subject. They tell us that after a conversation about the murderer of Dumollard, the spirit of Mrs. Elisabeth of France who have already given several messages, spontaneously dictated the following:


“True charity is one of the most sublime teachings that God has given the world. A complete fraternity must exist among the true disciples of his doctrine. You must love the miserable, the criminals as God’s creatures to whom forgiveness and mercy must be shown if they repent, like it has been done to yourselves for your faults against the law. Know this that you are more to blame than those to whom you deny forgiveness and commiseration for they frequently do not know God as you do and shall be less accountable than you. Do not judge. Oh! Do not judge my dear friends, for your judgment shall come back to you even more severely and you need indulgence to the sins that you do incessantly. Do not you know that there are many actions that are criminal to the eyes of God of purity and that are not even considered misdemeanor to the eyes of the world? True charity is not only the alms that you give, not even in the words of reassurance that follow. No. That is not the only thing that God expects from you. The sublime charity taught by Jesus Christ also consists on the benevolence towards your neighbor at all times and in all things. You can still exercise that sublime virtue towards many people that do not need alms but to whom your kind and consoling words will give courage and lead them to the Lord.

I also tell you this, the times when the great fraternity will reign in this globe are near. The law of Christ will rule the masses. He will be the only brake and the only hope and he will guide the souls to the dwellings of the blessings.


Hence, love one another as children of the same Father. Do not differentiate the other miserable ones for God wants all to be equal. Thus, you must neglect no one. God allows heartless criminals among you as a teaching. Soon, when the true laws of God govern the masses, there will no longer be the need for such teachings and all impure and revolted Spirits shall be spread out onto inferior worlds, according to their inclinations.


You own them the help of your prayers: that is true charity. One must not say of a criminal: “That is a ingrate; Earth must be cleansed of their presence; death that is imposed upon them is too kind a punishment to someone of that kind.” No. That is not how you should speak. Look at your model, Jesus. What did he say when he saw these type of individuals by his side? He was sorry for this very unfortunate person, reaching out to him. In reality you cannot do that but you can at least pray for that miserable person and assist their spirit over that time that they still have on Earth. Regret may touch their heart if you pray faithfully. He is your neighbor as much as the best of humanity. His strayed and disturbed soul was created like yours, to the image of a perfect God. Hence, pray for him. You must not be judgmental. Only God can.

Elisabeth of France