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The Spiritist Review - Journal of Psychological Studies - 1863 > November > Examples of the moralizing effects of Spiritism
With the letters below we call the attention of those who pretend that, without the fear of the eternal penalties of humanity, would no longer have opportunities and that the denial of the eternal personal hell paves the way for all disorders and immoralities.
“Montreuil, August 23rd 1863
Last March, I still was what one can say “full strength of the word”, embedded in atheism and materialism. I would not spare to criticize the head of the Spiritist group in our small town, a colleague of mine, with mockery and sarcasm; I even referred him to homes of the mentally ill! He opposed my mockery with a stoic patience. Meanwhile during Lent a priest spoke against Spiritism from the pulpit. That excited my curiosity because I could not understand what was it that the Church had to do with Spiritism. I then read the little book – What is Spiritism? – promising myself not to give in as easily as certain convert materialists, then reaching all to all resources and persuaded that nothing could destroy the power of my arguments, having no doubt that I would enjoy total victory. How wrong! I had hardly reached page fifty and had already acknowledged the uselessness of my poor battery of arguments. For a few minutes I felt like illuminated; a subtle revolution took me over and here is what I wrote to my brother on June 18th:
Yes, as you say, my conversion was providential; I owe this sign of great benevolence to God. Yes, I believe in God, in my soul and its immortality after death. Before that my philosophy was a certain firmness of the Spirit with which I was placed above the tribulations and accidents of life but I fell before the many moral tortures imposed on me by pretense friends. The pain of such memories had poisoned my heart. I entertained a thousand and one projects of revenge and if I were not afraid of public humiliation to me and my loved ones I would have perhaps executed the dismal plans. But God saved me. Spiritism promptly led me to believe in the fundamental truths of religion from which I had been kept away by the Church with the horrible images of the eternal flames and for trying to impose on me dogmas that are in clear contradiction with the infinite attributes of God, as if they were articles of faith. I still remember the horror that I lived in 1814 when I was seven years old during the reading of this passage from the Christian Thoughts: … And when the condemned has suffered for as many as there are atoms in the air, leaves on trees and grains in the sand of the oceans, it will all count as nothing!!! And it was Church that dared say that blasphemy! God forgive! I continue this letter, dear Eugene, leaving to the Church the infernal property to which I have no claim.
The idea that my soul was renewed and the plurality of the worlds and existences are no longer in doubt, giving me now an undefinable moral satisfaction. The prospect of a cold and gloomy void used to freeze the blood in my veins; today I foresee myself inhabiting one of those more advanced worlds both morally, intellectual and physically when compared to our planet, expecting to achieve the state of pure Spirit.
In order to enjoy the benefits of God and to thoroughly deserve them I forgave my enemies, those who made me endure tough moral trials, all of those that in the end offended me, resigning from any thought of vengeance. Every day I thank God for the great benevolence towards me, quickly allowing me to leave the tortuous path that I was walking with atheism and materialism; I beg God to do the same favor to all of those that doubted and denied as I did.
I also ask God that my wife, my children, relatives, friends and enemies may enjoy the sweetness of Spiritism. I then ask for everybody, every suffering soul that may foresee the infinite goodness of God has not closed the door of regret to them. I also ask God to forgive my faults and the grace of practicing charity in all of its extension. Thus, I now find myself in a state of perfect calmness and tranquility with respect to the future. The idea of death no longer scares me because I have the unbreakable conviction that my soul will outlive the body and I have total faith in the future life. There is, however, only one thought that makes me feel bad and that is of leaving my loved ones on Earth fearing that they might be unhappy. Ah! Such a fear is very natural given the selfishness that impregnates most people in or world. God understands me. He knows that he has my full trust. I had the pleasure of seeing our dear Laura last December, a few days after her death. That is certainly an anticipated effect of his goodness towards me.”
Since the time of that letter, dear Sir, I have been feeling better. In the past, I got irritated by the tiniest opposition. My patience is really remarkable today, succeeding violence and impulse. The victory conquered a short while ago over a very tough trial demonstrates that. It would have certainly been different last March. It is precisely in such circumstances that the Spiritist Doctrine exerts its soothing influence. Those that criticize it say that the Doctrine is full of seductions and I don’t believe I can deny such praise since I find it delightful. My return to religion caused surprise here since up until now I was connected to the deepest materialism. A very logical consequence of that is that I am now the center of mockery and sarcasm to which I am insensitive and as you wisely say all of that flows over Spiritism like the water on marble.
My dear Sir, I must terminate this already lengthy letter to spare you from wasting your precious time.
Please accept my gratitude for my moral satisfaction, reassuring hope and the well-being that you have given me. Continue with your sacred mission for which you have been blessed by God!
Roussel (Adolphe)
Certified notary, former auction official
PS – In the interest of Spiritism you may use this letter in part or in full”
OBSERVATION: We have already published several letters of this kind but we would need volumes to publish all that we have received and what is no less impressive is that the majority of them come from mostly unknown individuals, solicited by nobody but the ascendency of the Doctrine.
Hence, here we have a man reached by the anathema of Mr. Bishop of Alger, a person that would have died an atheism and materialism without the Spiritist Doctrine. This would have been mercilessly unacceptable had he sought the sacraments of the Church.
Who brought him to God? Was it the fear for the eternal penalties? No, because it was exactly the theory of such penalties that sent him away. Who then had the power of calming his impulsiveness turning him into a kind and harmless man; to make him renounce his ideas of vengeance and to forgive his enemies? It was Spiritism where he found an unbreakable faith in the future.
That is the doctrine that you want to eradicate from your dioceses where there are certainly many individuals in the same condition and that in your opinion they are a shameful cancer to the colony. Who do you want to convince that it would have been better to this many to have remained where he was? If it were objected that this is an exception rather than the rule, we would respond with thousands of similar cases and even if it were an exception we would respond by the parabola of the one hundred sheep from which one veered off but the shepherd went after it.
What would you have offered him instead to produce a similar transformation? It is always the perspective of the eternal penalty, the only one in your opinion capable of dominating immorality and disorder. Finally, who led him to study Spiritism? Was it a gang of Spiritists? No because he ran anyways from the Spiritists. It was a sermon given against Spiritism. Why was he then converted to Spiritism and not by the sermon? It seems that apparently the arguments of Spiritism were more convincing than those of the sermon. That is how it has been with every analogue preaching. That is how it is going to be with the episcopal order of Alger that will have, we predict, a very different result as compared to what they expect from it.
To the author of this letter we say: “Brother, this kind of confession of yours before humanity is a great gesture of humility. There is never shame but greatness in acknowledging that one was wrong, confessing one’s mistakes. God loves the humble ones because theirs is the kingdom of heavens.”
The letter below is not a less touching example of what Spiritism can operate in the consciences and here the result is much more remarkable because it is not about a man of the world, living in an educated environment whose bad inclinations may be contained by the fear of future life or at least by the opinion, but from a man hurt by justice and condemned to the reclusion of life in prison.
“September 20th, 1863
Dear Sir,
I was fortunate to read and study some of your excellent books about Spiritism and the effect was so impactful that I believe it is my duty to let you know and, in order for you understand it well, I need to explain the current circumstances.
I have unfortunately been condemned to six years in prison as a consequence of my former behavior and for that I have no right to complain. That explains the order of my report below.
Just a month ago I considered myself lost forever. Why do I think differently today and why does hope shine in my heart? Wouldn’t that be because Spiritism made me understand that the earthly assets are nothing by unveiling to me the sublimity of its maxims; that happiness only exist really to those who practice the virtues taught by Jesus Christ, virtues that take us closer to God, our common father?
Isn’t that also because since I have fallen into a state of misery and although shamed by society I can expect to be reborn somehow and thus prepare my soul for a better life by the practices of virtues and the love to God and the neighbor?
I don’t know if these are the true causes of the changes that I experienced. All I know is that something happened to me that I cannot define. I have more empathy to the unfortunate ones that like myself are kept under the ferule of society. I have certain authority on about a hundred of them and I am decided to only use that for good. My moral condition seems less painful to me. I consider my sufferings as a fair atonement and that helps me to endure them. Finally, I no longer see society the eyes of hate. I pay society with the tribute that is due.
These are – I am sure – the causes that operated upon my Spirit and that will make me a man of God and that loves the neighbors – I have a kind hope – practicing charity and one’s duties.
Who should I thank for this fortunate metamorphosis that turned a bad man into a lover of virtue? First, I must thank God, to whom we must inform everything, and then to your excellent writings. Thus, Sir, allow me to say, the objective of this letter is to let you know about my gratitude. But why is it necessary that my Spiritist education is incomplete? There is no doubt that it is the will of God. His will be done!
I must let you know, Sir, the name of the person to whom I owe what I know now: it is Mr. Benoît that having noticed in me a desire to rebuild my past wanted to have me initiated in the Spiritist Doctrine. I will unfortunately lose him because his new position would not allow him to come to see me. He brings me a lot of happiness, I must confess, because he adds example to his advices. He also owes his betterment to the Doctrine. He once said: Until I was enlightened by the Spiritist Spirit I used to go to the café and there I frequently forgot not only my duties with my family but also with my employer. The time that I used to spend like that today I spend with the reading of Spiritist books, reading that I do out loud so that my family may enjoy. And that, added Mr. Benoit, is worth more because it is the beginning of the true and only happiness.
I beg you to forgive my pretension and particularly the extension of this letter, yours…etc.
D.”
That Mr. Benoît is a simple worker. He was educated in Spiritism by a lady from the town from which the prisoner had sent the letter. He sent this letter to her before his instructor left:
“Madam,
I am certainly pretentious by daring to send you these words but I hope you can forgive me out of your benevolence, particularly given the causes that made me act. To begin with, I want to thank you, ma’am, from the bottom of my heart, from my soul, for the good you did to me, allowing Mr. Benoît to educate me with respect to Spiritism, this sublime doctrine called to regenerate the world, and that knows so well to demonstrate to everyone what is due to God, to one’s family, to society and to oneself; that by demonstrating that not everything ends with this life, stimulating and preparing us for another life. I believe I learned well the teachings I received because now I enjoy a feeling that gives me more empathy towards my fellow human beings, always keeping my thoughts in heavens. Is it the beginning of a faith? I hope so.
Unfortunately, Mr. Benoît will leave and with him the hopes that I can learn more. I know that you are a good person and that you have thought of helping in my instruction. I kneel and beg you that you continue the work that was initiated. It will be taken into account by God for you have the hopes of turning an unfortunate person lost in the vices of the world into a virtuous man, a man worth of such a name, well deserving his family and society.
Looking forward to the day in which I will be able to demonstrate that I will always praise you for being my guiding Spirit in this world; I will have you in my prayers and there will come a day when I will also be able to teach my family and thank you, venerate you since you have given them back a son, an honest brother. It is impossible to be different when one does sincerely serve God.
I then finish, ma’am, asking you to be my good Spirit on Earth, guiding me on the good path. Your work will be accounted among the good ones. As for myself I promise you that I will be meek to your teachings.
I end by wishing… etc.”
OBSERVATION: Thus, that Mr. Benoît, a simple worker, was a recent example of the moralizing effect of Spiritism, that already brings back to the good path a lost soul; returns an honest man to his family and to society, instead of a criminal, a good job for which a good lady concurred, a lady that was unknown to both but that was animated by the desire of doing good. And all of that is done in the shadow, without ostentation, with the sole testimony of the conscience.
Spiritists, these are the miracles that must make you proud, that all of you can do and for which you don’t need any special skill because all it is needed is the desire of doing good.
If Spiritism has such a power upon the stained souls what shouldn’t we expect for the regeneration of humanity when it has been converted into a common belief and each and every one utilizes it in their own sphere of action!
All of you who throw stones at Spiritism and say that it fulfills the homes of the mentally ill provide something instead, something that does better than it does. The quality of the tree is recognized by the fruit. Hence you must judge Spiritism by its fruits and go and produce better fruits. You will be followed then.
Still a few years and you will see many other prodigies, not signs of heavens, to hurt the eyes as the Pharisee demanded, prodigies of people’s hearts from which the greater one will be to shut the mouth of the detractors and to open the eyes of the blind for it is necessary that the predictions of Jesus Christ come true and they will all do.
“Montreuil, August 23rd 1863
Last March, I still was what one can say “full strength of the word”, embedded in atheism and materialism. I would not spare to criticize the head of the Spiritist group in our small town, a colleague of mine, with mockery and sarcasm; I even referred him to homes of the mentally ill! He opposed my mockery with a stoic patience. Meanwhile during Lent a priest spoke against Spiritism from the pulpit. That excited my curiosity because I could not understand what was it that the Church had to do with Spiritism. I then read the little book – What is Spiritism? – promising myself not to give in as easily as certain convert materialists, then reaching all to all resources and persuaded that nothing could destroy the power of my arguments, having no doubt that I would enjoy total victory. How wrong! I had hardly reached page fifty and had already acknowledged the uselessness of my poor battery of arguments. For a few minutes I felt like illuminated; a subtle revolution took me over and here is what I wrote to my brother on June 18th:
Yes, as you say, my conversion was providential; I owe this sign of great benevolence to God. Yes, I believe in God, in my soul and its immortality after death. Before that my philosophy was a certain firmness of the Spirit with which I was placed above the tribulations and accidents of life but I fell before the many moral tortures imposed on me by pretense friends. The pain of such memories had poisoned my heart. I entertained a thousand and one projects of revenge and if I were not afraid of public humiliation to me and my loved ones I would have perhaps executed the dismal plans. But God saved me. Spiritism promptly led me to believe in the fundamental truths of religion from which I had been kept away by the Church with the horrible images of the eternal flames and for trying to impose on me dogmas that are in clear contradiction with the infinite attributes of God, as if they were articles of faith. I still remember the horror that I lived in 1814 when I was seven years old during the reading of this passage from the Christian Thoughts: … And when the condemned has suffered for as many as there are atoms in the air, leaves on trees and grains in the sand of the oceans, it will all count as nothing!!! And it was Church that dared say that blasphemy! God forgive! I continue this letter, dear Eugene, leaving to the Church the infernal property to which I have no claim.
The idea that my soul was renewed and the plurality of the worlds and existences are no longer in doubt, giving me now an undefinable moral satisfaction. The prospect of a cold and gloomy void used to freeze the blood in my veins; today I foresee myself inhabiting one of those more advanced worlds both morally, intellectual and physically when compared to our planet, expecting to achieve the state of pure Spirit.
In order to enjoy the benefits of God and to thoroughly deserve them I forgave my enemies, those who made me endure tough moral trials, all of those that in the end offended me, resigning from any thought of vengeance. Every day I thank God for the great benevolence towards me, quickly allowing me to leave the tortuous path that I was walking with atheism and materialism; I beg God to do the same favor to all of those that doubted and denied as I did.
I also ask God that my wife, my children, relatives, friends and enemies may enjoy the sweetness of Spiritism. I then ask for everybody, every suffering soul that may foresee the infinite goodness of God has not closed the door of regret to them. I also ask God to forgive my faults and the grace of practicing charity in all of its extension. Thus, I now find myself in a state of perfect calmness and tranquility with respect to the future. The idea of death no longer scares me because I have the unbreakable conviction that my soul will outlive the body and I have total faith in the future life. There is, however, only one thought that makes me feel bad and that is of leaving my loved ones on Earth fearing that they might be unhappy. Ah! Such a fear is very natural given the selfishness that impregnates most people in or world. God understands me. He knows that he has my full trust. I had the pleasure of seeing our dear Laura last December, a few days after her death. That is certainly an anticipated effect of his goodness towards me.”
Since the time of that letter, dear Sir, I have been feeling better. In the past, I got irritated by the tiniest opposition. My patience is really remarkable today, succeeding violence and impulse. The victory conquered a short while ago over a very tough trial demonstrates that. It would have certainly been different last March. It is precisely in such circumstances that the Spiritist Doctrine exerts its soothing influence. Those that criticize it say that the Doctrine is full of seductions and I don’t believe I can deny such praise since I find it delightful. My return to religion caused surprise here since up until now I was connected to the deepest materialism. A very logical consequence of that is that I am now the center of mockery and sarcasm to which I am insensitive and as you wisely say all of that flows over Spiritism like the water on marble.
My dear Sir, I must terminate this already lengthy letter to spare you from wasting your precious time.
Please accept my gratitude for my moral satisfaction, reassuring hope and the well-being that you have given me. Continue with your sacred mission for which you have been blessed by God!
Roussel (Adolphe)
Certified notary, former auction official
PS – In the interest of Spiritism you may use this letter in part or in full”
OBSERVATION: We have already published several letters of this kind but we would need volumes to publish all that we have received and what is no less impressive is that the majority of them come from mostly unknown individuals, solicited by nobody but the ascendency of the Doctrine.
Hence, here we have a man reached by the anathema of Mr. Bishop of Alger, a person that would have died an atheism and materialism without the Spiritist Doctrine. This would have been mercilessly unacceptable had he sought the sacraments of the Church.
Who brought him to God? Was it the fear for the eternal penalties? No, because it was exactly the theory of such penalties that sent him away. Who then had the power of calming his impulsiveness turning him into a kind and harmless man; to make him renounce his ideas of vengeance and to forgive his enemies? It was Spiritism where he found an unbreakable faith in the future.
That is the doctrine that you want to eradicate from your dioceses where there are certainly many individuals in the same condition and that in your opinion they are a shameful cancer to the colony. Who do you want to convince that it would have been better to this many to have remained where he was? If it were objected that this is an exception rather than the rule, we would respond with thousands of similar cases and even if it were an exception we would respond by the parabola of the one hundred sheep from which one veered off but the shepherd went after it.
What would you have offered him instead to produce a similar transformation? It is always the perspective of the eternal penalty, the only one in your opinion capable of dominating immorality and disorder. Finally, who led him to study Spiritism? Was it a gang of Spiritists? No because he ran anyways from the Spiritists. It was a sermon given against Spiritism. Why was he then converted to Spiritism and not by the sermon? It seems that apparently the arguments of Spiritism were more convincing than those of the sermon. That is how it has been with every analogue preaching. That is how it is going to be with the episcopal order of Alger that will have, we predict, a very different result as compared to what they expect from it.
To the author of this letter we say: “Brother, this kind of confession of yours before humanity is a great gesture of humility. There is never shame but greatness in acknowledging that one was wrong, confessing one’s mistakes. God loves the humble ones because theirs is the kingdom of heavens.”
The letter below is not a less touching example of what Spiritism can operate in the consciences and here the result is much more remarkable because it is not about a man of the world, living in an educated environment whose bad inclinations may be contained by the fear of future life or at least by the opinion, but from a man hurt by justice and condemned to the reclusion of life in prison.
“September 20th, 1863
Dear Sir,
I was fortunate to read and study some of your excellent books about Spiritism and the effect was so impactful that I believe it is my duty to let you know and, in order for you understand it well, I need to explain the current circumstances.
I have unfortunately been condemned to six years in prison as a consequence of my former behavior and for that I have no right to complain. That explains the order of my report below.
Just a month ago I considered myself lost forever. Why do I think differently today and why does hope shine in my heart? Wouldn’t that be because Spiritism made me understand that the earthly assets are nothing by unveiling to me the sublimity of its maxims; that happiness only exist really to those who practice the virtues taught by Jesus Christ, virtues that take us closer to God, our common father?
Isn’t that also because since I have fallen into a state of misery and although shamed by society I can expect to be reborn somehow and thus prepare my soul for a better life by the practices of virtues and the love to God and the neighbor?
I don’t know if these are the true causes of the changes that I experienced. All I know is that something happened to me that I cannot define. I have more empathy to the unfortunate ones that like myself are kept under the ferule of society. I have certain authority on about a hundred of them and I am decided to only use that for good. My moral condition seems less painful to me. I consider my sufferings as a fair atonement and that helps me to endure them. Finally, I no longer see society the eyes of hate. I pay society with the tribute that is due.
These are – I am sure – the causes that operated upon my Spirit and that will make me a man of God and that loves the neighbors – I have a kind hope – practicing charity and one’s duties.
Who should I thank for this fortunate metamorphosis that turned a bad man into a lover of virtue? First, I must thank God, to whom we must inform everything, and then to your excellent writings. Thus, Sir, allow me to say, the objective of this letter is to let you know about my gratitude. But why is it necessary that my Spiritist education is incomplete? There is no doubt that it is the will of God. His will be done!
I must let you know, Sir, the name of the person to whom I owe what I know now: it is Mr. Benoît that having noticed in me a desire to rebuild my past wanted to have me initiated in the Spiritist Doctrine. I will unfortunately lose him because his new position would not allow him to come to see me. He brings me a lot of happiness, I must confess, because he adds example to his advices. He also owes his betterment to the Doctrine. He once said: Until I was enlightened by the Spiritist Spirit I used to go to the café and there I frequently forgot not only my duties with my family but also with my employer. The time that I used to spend like that today I spend with the reading of Spiritist books, reading that I do out loud so that my family may enjoy. And that, added Mr. Benoit, is worth more because it is the beginning of the true and only happiness.
I beg you to forgive my pretension and particularly the extension of this letter, yours…etc.
D.”
That Mr. Benoît is a simple worker. He was educated in Spiritism by a lady from the town from which the prisoner had sent the letter. He sent this letter to her before his instructor left:
“Madam,
I am certainly pretentious by daring to send you these words but I hope you can forgive me out of your benevolence, particularly given the causes that made me act. To begin with, I want to thank you, ma’am, from the bottom of my heart, from my soul, for the good you did to me, allowing Mr. Benoît to educate me with respect to Spiritism, this sublime doctrine called to regenerate the world, and that knows so well to demonstrate to everyone what is due to God, to one’s family, to society and to oneself; that by demonstrating that not everything ends with this life, stimulating and preparing us for another life. I believe I learned well the teachings I received because now I enjoy a feeling that gives me more empathy towards my fellow human beings, always keeping my thoughts in heavens. Is it the beginning of a faith? I hope so.
Unfortunately, Mr. Benoît will leave and with him the hopes that I can learn more. I know that you are a good person and that you have thought of helping in my instruction. I kneel and beg you that you continue the work that was initiated. It will be taken into account by God for you have the hopes of turning an unfortunate person lost in the vices of the world into a virtuous man, a man worth of such a name, well deserving his family and society.
Looking forward to the day in which I will be able to demonstrate that I will always praise you for being my guiding Spirit in this world; I will have you in my prayers and there will come a day when I will also be able to teach my family and thank you, venerate you since you have given them back a son, an honest brother. It is impossible to be different when one does sincerely serve God.
I then finish, ma’am, asking you to be my good Spirit on Earth, guiding me on the good path. Your work will be accounted among the good ones. As for myself I promise you that I will be meek to your teachings.
I end by wishing… etc.”
OBSERVATION: Thus, that Mr. Benoît, a simple worker, was a recent example of the moralizing effect of Spiritism, that already brings back to the good path a lost soul; returns an honest man to his family and to society, instead of a criminal, a good job for which a good lady concurred, a lady that was unknown to both but that was animated by the desire of doing good. And all of that is done in the shadow, without ostentation, with the sole testimony of the conscience.
Spiritists, these are the miracles that must make you proud, that all of you can do and for which you don’t need any special skill because all it is needed is the desire of doing good.
If Spiritism has such a power upon the stained souls what shouldn’t we expect for the regeneration of humanity when it has been converted into a common belief and each and every one utilizes it in their own sphere of action!
All of you who throw stones at Spiritism and say that it fulfills the homes of the mentally ill provide something instead, something that does better than it does. The quality of the tree is recognized by the fruit. Hence you must judge Spiritism by its fruits and go and produce better fruits. You will be followed then.
Still a few years and you will see many other prodigies, not signs of heavens, to hurt the eyes as the Pharisee demanded, prodigies of people’s hearts from which the greater one will be to shut the mouth of the detractors and to open the eyes of the blind for it is necessary that the predictions of Jesus Christ come true and they will all do.