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Spiritist Review - Journal of Psychological Studies - 1866 > March > Spiritism and the Magistrature
Spiritism and the Magistrature
Judicial Persecution of the Spiritists – Letter from a Judge
Spiritism counts on several magistrates in its ranks, as we have said multiple times, not only in France but in also in Italy, Spain, Belgium, Germany and in most countries abroad. The majority of the detractors of the doctrine, that believe to have the privilege of common sense and hold as insensible those that do not share their skepticism about spiritual things, and we do not say supernatural because Spiritism does not admit it, are surprised to see men of intelligence and worth, in their opinion, falling in such a mistake.
Aren’t the magistrates free to have their opinion, faith, and belief? Don’t we find among them Catholics, Protestants, free-thinkers, Franco-Masons? Who could then incriminate those that are Spiritists? We are no longer in the times when a judge could be burnt for daring say publicly that it is Earth that turns.
Strange thing! There are people that would like to see that time revived to the Spiritists. In the last outcry, haven’t we seen men that call themselves apostles of freedom of speech to point at them as breachers of the law, exciting the crowds to stone them away, stigmatizing them and calling them names in journals and pamphlets? This happened not as a joke but out of true rage, that thanks to the times we live, ended in words. It was necessary to resort to the whole moral strength of the Spiritists, all the moderation that becomes a law in their own belief, to keep calm and cold blood in such circumstances, abstaining from reprisals that could be regrettable. This contrast shocked every impartial person.
Is Spiritism, then, an association, a terrible affiliation that is dangerous to society but obedient to a word of commandment? Do its followers have a pact among themselves? It is only ignorance and ill-faith that can sustain such absurd, considering that their doctrine has no secret to nobody and that they act in daylight.
Spiritism is a philosophy like any other, that is freely accepted if convenient, or repelled if not; that rests on an inalterable faith in God and in the future, and that only obliges its followers to one thing: to see brothers in every human being, irrespective of their belief, and do good, even to those that do us harm. Why, then, a magistrate could not openly declare himself to be a follower, declaring it to be good if he considers it good, as he can declare to be a follower of the doctrine of Aristotle, Descartes, or Leibnitz? Would they be afraid that his judgement would suffer because of that? That he became too indulgent to the followers? Here is naturally the place for some observations about it.
In a country, like ours, where opinions and religions are free by law, it would be a monstrosity to persecute an individual because he believes in Spirits and their manifestations. If a Spiritist would be delivered to the justice it would not be for his belief, as it was done in other times, but having breached the law. Therefore, it would be the fault that was punished and not the belief, and if guilty he would be fairly submitted to the penalties of the law. To incriminate the doctrine, it would be necessary to see if it contains any principle of maxim that would authorize or justify the fault. If, on the contrary, it is found in the doctrine a censorship to that fault, or instructions in the opposite directions, the doctrine could not be responsible for the ones that do not understand or practice it. Well, then! Have the doctrine analyzed with impartiality, and we challenge anyone to find a single word that can serve as support to any single act reprehensible to the eyes of moral, or regarding a neighbor or even that may be interpreted as bad, because everything in the doctrine is clear and unequivocal. Anyone that follows the precepts of the doctrine could not, therefore, suffer judicial persecution, unless the persecution is against the belief itself, and that would be persecution o faith. We are not aware of persecutions of such a kind in France, not even abroad, except for the condemnation followed by the auto-da-fé[1] in Barcelona, which was a sentence given by the bishop and not by a civil court. And they only burned books. As a matter of fact, why would them persecute persons that only preach order, tranquility, and respect to the law; that practice charity, not only among themselves, as it is done in exclusive sects, but towards everybody; whose main objective is to work for one’s own moral betterment; that reject any hatred and vengeance towards their enemies? Persons that profess such principles cannot be the troublemakers of society. They will not absolutely be the ones to cause disorder, something that led one police chief to say that if all those under his administration were Spiritists he could close shop.
Most persecutions, in similar cases, aim at the illegal practice of medicine, or accusations of charlatanism, prestidigitation or deception, through mediumship.
To begin with we say that Spiritism cannot be responsible for individuals that unduly assume the quality of mediums, as much as the true science cannot be responsible for swindlers that call themselves physicists. A charlatan can, consequently, say that he acts with the help of the Spirits, as a con artist say that he acts with the support of physics. It is a means, like any other, of throwing dust on the eyes. That is too bad for those that allow themselves to be tricked. Second, by condemning the exploitation of mediumship for being contrary to the principles of the doctrine, from a moral point of view, and additionally demonstrating that it must not and it cannot be a profession, and that every medium that takes any advantage of their faculty, directly or indirectly, ostensive or in disguise, by condemning all these Spiritism keeps away even the suspicion of trickery or charlatanism. Considering that the medium is not driven by any material interest, charlatanism does not make sense. The medium that understands the seriousness and the sacred gift would see profanation in utilizing it to serve mundane things, for oneself or others, or by turning it into an object of fun and curiosity. The medium respect the Spirits, in the same way the they would like to be respect when become Spirits, and do not expose them to exhibition. Besides, they know that mediumship cannot be a means of foretelling, and that it cannot help them to uncover treasures or inheritances, nor facilitate success with serendipitous things. The medium will never be a reader of luck, not by money or anything else, and therefore will never be in trouble with the law. As for the healing mediumship, it does exist, it is true. But it is subordinated to restrictive conditions, that exclude the possibility of open office, without suspicion of charlatanism. It is the work of devotion and sacrifice, and not speculation.
When it is practiced with selflessness, prudence, and wisdom, and contained within the limits delineated by the doctrine, it cannot fall before the strokes of the law. The medium, in short, according to the designs of the Providence and under the eyes of Spiritism, may she be an artificer or a princess, since they are found in the palaces and in the shanties, she received a mandate that is accomplished religiously and with dignity. She only sees in her faculty a means of glorifying God and serving her neighbor, and not an instrument to serve her own interests and to satisfy her vanity. She is liked and respected for her simplicity, modesty, and abnegation, something that does not happen to those that make a trampoline out of that mandate.
The rigor of the law does not harm the doctrine, but the abuse, when it reaches the exploiting mediums, those that misuse a real faculty or that simulate a faculty that they do not have. Well, serious Spiritism, without abuse, can only gain consideration with this, and would not support those that could deviate public opinion on their own. By assuming facts and causes, Spiritism would take responsibility for what they do, because those are not true Spiritists, even if they were real mediums.
While persecuting in a Spiritist, or in those that call themselves so, only the acts that are reprehensible to the eyes of the law, the role of the defender is to discuss the action in itself, abstraction made of the belief of the accused. It would be a serious mistake to try to justify the action in the name of the doctrine. On the contrary, he must endeavor to demonstrate that the doctrine is alien to the action. The accused then falls in the common law.
It is incontestable that the broader and more varied the knowledge of a magistrate, the better they are to appreciate the facts under analysis for pronunciation. In a case of legal medicine, for example, it is obvious that the one that is not totally foreign to the science will be able to better judge the value of the argumentation, from both accusation and defense, than another one that ignores its basic principles. In a case where Spiritism would be in question, in these times when it is in the order of the day and may incidentally appear as principal or accessory in a number of cases, there is a real need for the magistrates to know, at least, what it is about, without being taken as Spiritists for that matter. In one of the cases above, they would incontestably know to distinguish the abuse from the truth.
Spiritism by infiltrating more and more among the ideas, and already taking a place among the accepted beliefs, it is not far the day when not a single enlightened person will be allowed to ignore what it is, in the same way that the first principles of science cannot be ignored. Now, since it reaches all scientific and moral issues, many things that seemed strange, at first sight, will be better understood. That is how, for example, the doctor will find the true cause of certain diseases; the artist will collect numerous themes of inspiration; the magistrate and the lawyer will find, in many circumstances, a source of light.
That is how Mr. Jaubert, honorable Vice-President of the Carcassonne Court, conceives it. To him it is more than an additional knowledge: it is a matter of conviction because he understands its moral reach. Although he had never hidden his opinion about it, convinced of being right and of the moralizing power of the doctrine, he wanted to give the authority of his name, now that faith fades away in skepticism, at the very moment when the doctrine was attacked with maximum violence, resolutely defying mockery, and showing his adversaries his indifference towards their sarcasm. Given his position, and the circumstances, the letter that he asked us to have published, and that we inserted in our last January issue, was an act of courage, from which every sincere Spiritist will keep as a precious memory. It will leave its mark in the history of establishment of Spiritism.
The following letter, that we are equally authorized to publish, ranks alongside that of Mr. Jaubert. It is one of those adhesions, frankly explicit and motivated, in which the position of the author gives more weight, for being spontaneous and since we did not have the honor of knowing this gentleman. He judges the doctrine by the simple impression of the works, for he had seen nothing. It is the best answer to the accusation of ineptitude and charlatanism launched against Spiritism and its followers, without distinction.
November 21st, 1865
“Dear Sir,
Allow me, as a new and keen follower, to testify my whole recognition to you for having initiated me, through your writings, in the Spiritist science. I read The Spirits Book, out of curiosity; but, after an attentive reading, an admiration and total conviction followed, after a mistrustful disbelief. The doctrine that ensues from it, in fact, provides the most logical solution, the most satisfying to reason, of all questions that have seriously concerned thinkers of all times, to define the conditions of the existence of mankind on Earth, to explain the vicissitudes of humanity and determine their final objectives. This remarkable doctrine is incontestably the sanction of the purest and most fecund moral, the demonstrated exaltation of the goodness of God and the sublime works of creation, as well as the safest and strongest basis of the social order. I have not witnessed Spiritist manifestations, but this element of proof, in no way contrary to my religion (Catholic), is not necessary to my conviction. To begin with, I only need to find, in the order of the Providence, the reason for the inequalities of conditions on Earth, in one word, the reason for the material and moral evil. In fact, my reason totally admits, as for justifying the existence of moral and material evil, the soul leaving the hands of the Creator, simple and ignorant, dignified by the free-will, progressing through successive trials and atonements, and only arriving at the sovereign happiness by acquiring the plenitude of its ethereal essence, by the complete liberation from the material bonds, that altering the conditions of beatitude, must have served its progress. In this order of ideas, what is more rational than the Spirits, in their multiple phases of progressive depuration, communicating among themselves, from one world to the other, incarnate or invisible, to enlighten themselves, to help one another, to mutually concur to their advancement, facilitating their trials and entering in the healing path of remorse and return to God! What is more rational, I say, than such a continuity, such a strengthening of family links, friendship and charity, uniting mankind in their passage by this Earth, with the final objective of reuniting them all in a single family in the heart of God!
What a sublime trace of union: love departing from heavens and embracing the whole humanity with its Divine breath, inhabiting the universe, reconducting humanity to God, enjoying the eternal beatitude from which the source is that love! What can be more worthy of the wisdom, justice, and infinite goodness of the Creator! What a grandiose image of the works, whose harmony and immensity is revealed by Spiritism, lifting the tip of the veil that still does not allow mankind to penetrate all mysteries! How much have men restricted the immensurable greatness, placing humanity on an imperceptible spot, lost in space, and only granting to a small group of elected ones, the eternal happiness reserved to all! They thus reduced the Divine artisan to the tiny proportion of their perceptions, of the tyrannic aspirations, cruel and vindictive, inherent to their imperfections.
Finally, it is enough to my reason to find in this doctrine the serenity of the soul, crowning an existence resigned to the providential tribulations of a life, honestly realized by the accomplishment of its duties, and the practice of charity, the firmness of faith, by the solution of doubts that compress the aspirations to God, and finally this total trust in the justice, goodness, and in the merciful and paternal solicitude of the Creator.
Kindly count me, dear Sir, on the number of your brothers in Spiritism, and accept etc.
Bonnamy, Judge of Instruction.”
A communication given by the father of Mr. Bonnamy provoked the following letter. We did not reproduce that communication for its personal and intimate character, but we give below the second letter of general interest.
“Dear Sir and Teacher, a thousand times thank you for having kindly evoked my father. Long time no hear that loved voice. It revives today after being extinct so many years ago! It is a dream coming true to my saddened imagination, a dream conceived under the impression of our painful separation. What a sweet, what a consoling revelation, so full of hopes to me! Yes, I see my father and my mother in the world of the Spirits, watching over me, lavishing on me the benefit of their anxious solicitude with which they surrounded me on Earth. My holy mother, in her tender concern for the future, penetrating me with her fragrance to bring me to God and show me the way of the eternal truths, that sparkled for me in a distant nebulous!
How happy I would be if, according to my father’s wishes of communicating again, his evocation could be considered useful for the progress of the Spiritist science, and join the providential teachings reserved to the works! I would then find, in your journal, the elements of the Spiritist instructions, sometimes mixed up with the sweetness of the family conversations. It is a simple wish, if you will, dear teacher. I take much into account the demands of the mission that you carry out, to make a request out of this wish. I give total authorization for the publication of my letter. I will, in good faith, take the grain of sand to the construction of the Spiritist edifice, happy if, to the contact of my profound belief, the doubts of some were diluted and the skeptical would consider to think more seriously. Allow me, dear teacher, to address some words of sympathy and encouragement to you for your tough undertaking. Spiritism is a providential light house, whose dazzling and fecund light must open all eyes, confound men’s pride, and touch every conscience. Its irradiation will be irresistible. What treasures of consolation, mercy and love you are the distributor!
Yours, etc.
Bonnamy”
[1] Auto-da-fé, (Portuguese: “act of faith”) , plural autos-da-fé, Spanish auto de fé, a public ceremony during which the sentences upon those brought before the Spanish Inquisition were read and after which the sentences were executed by the secular authorities. (source: Britanica.com, T.N.)
Spiritism counts on several magistrates in its ranks, as we have said multiple times, not only in France but in also in Italy, Spain, Belgium, Germany and in most countries abroad. The majority of the detractors of the doctrine, that believe to have the privilege of common sense and hold as insensible those that do not share their skepticism about spiritual things, and we do not say supernatural because Spiritism does not admit it, are surprised to see men of intelligence and worth, in their opinion, falling in such a mistake.
Aren’t the magistrates free to have their opinion, faith, and belief? Don’t we find among them Catholics, Protestants, free-thinkers, Franco-Masons? Who could then incriminate those that are Spiritists? We are no longer in the times when a judge could be burnt for daring say publicly that it is Earth that turns.
Strange thing! There are people that would like to see that time revived to the Spiritists. In the last outcry, haven’t we seen men that call themselves apostles of freedom of speech to point at them as breachers of the law, exciting the crowds to stone them away, stigmatizing them and calling them names in journals and pamphlets? This happened not as a joke but out of true rage, that thanks to the times we live, ended in words. It was necessary to resort to the whole moral strength of the Spiritists, all the moderation that becomes a law in their own belief, to keep calm and cold blood in such circumstances, abstaining from reprisals that could be regrettable. This contrast shocked every impartial person.
Is Spiritism, then, an association, a terrible affiliation that is dangerous to society but obedient to a word of commandment? Do its followers have a pact among themselves? It is only ignorance and ill-faith that can sustain such absurd, considering that their doctrine has no secret to nobody and that they act in daylight.
Spiritism is a philosophy like any other, that is freely accepted if convenient, or repelled if not; that rests on an inalterable faith in God and in the future, and that only obliges its followers to one thing: to see brothers in every human being, irrespective of their belief, and do good, even to those that do us harm. Why, then, a magistrate could not openly declare himself to be a follower, declaring it to be good if he considers it good, as he can declare to be a follower of the doctrine of Aristotle, Descartes, or Leibnitz? Would they be afraid that his judgement would suffer because of that? That he became too indulgent to the followers? Here is naturally the place for some observations about it.
In a country, like ours, where opinions and religions are free by law, it would be a monstrosity to persecute an individual because he believes in Spirits and their manifestations. If a Spiritist would be delivered to the justice it would not be for his belief, as it was done in other times, but having breached the law. Therefore, it would be the fault that was punished and not the belief, and if guilty he would be fairly submitted to the penalties of the law. To incriminate the doctrine, it would be necessary to see if it contains any principle of maxim that would authorize or justify the fault. If, on the contrary, it is found in the doctrine a censorship to that fault, or instructions in the opposite directions, the doctrine could not be responsible for the ones that do not understand or practice it. Well, then! Have the doctrine analyzed with impartiality, and we challenge anyone to find a single word that can serve as support to any single act reprehensible to the eyes of moral, or regarding a neighbor or even that may be interpreted as bad, because everything in the doctrine is clear and unequivocal. Anyone that follows the precepts of the doctrine could not, therefore, suffer judicial persecution, unless the persecution is against the belief itself, and that would be persecution o faith. We are not aware of persecutions of such a kind in France, not even abroad, except for the condemnation followed by the auto-da-fé[1] in Barcelona, which was a sentence given by the bishop and not by a civil court. And they only burned books. As a matter of fact, why would them persecute persons that only preach order, tranquility, and respect to the law; that practice charity, not only among themselves, as it is done in exclusive sects, but towards everybody; whose main objective is to work for one’s own moral betterment; that reject any hatred and vengeance towards their enemies? Persons that profess such principles cannot be the troublemakers of society. They will not absolutely be the ones to cause disorder, something that led one police chief to say that if all those under his administration were Spiritists he could close shop.
Most persecutions, in similar cases, aim at the illegal practice of medicine, or accusations of charlatanism, prestidigitation or deception, through mediumship.
To begin with we say that Spiritism cannot be responsible for individuals that unduly assume the quality of mediums, as much as the true science cannot be responsible for swindlers that call themselves physicists. A charlatan can, consequently, say that he acts with the help of the Spirits, as a con artist say that he acts with the support of physics. It is a means, like any other, of throwing dust on the eyes. That is too bad for those that allow themselves to be tricked. Second, by condemning the exploitation of mediumship for being contrary to the principles of the doctrine, from a moral point of view, and additionally demonstrating that it must not and it cannot be a profession, and that every medium that takes any advantage of their faculty, directly or indirectly, ostensive or in disguise, by condemning all these Spiritism keeps away even the suspicion of trickery or charlatanism. Considering that the medium is not driven by any material interest, charlatanism does not make sense. The medium that understands the seriousness and the sacred gift would see profanation in utilizing it to serve mundane things, for oneself or others, or by turning it into an object of fun and curiosity. The medium respect the Spirits, in the same way the they would like to be respect when become Spirits, and do not expose them to exhibition. Besides, they know that mediumship cannot be a means of foretelling, and that it cannot help them to uncover treasures or inheritances, nor facilitate success with serendipitous things. The medium will never be a reader of luck, not by money or anything else, and therefore will never be in trouble with the law. As for the healing mediumship, it does exist, it is true. But it is subordinated to restrictive conditions, that exclude the possibility of open office, without suspicion of charlatanism. It is the work of devotion and sacrifice, and not speculation.
When it is practiced with selflessness, prudence, and wisdom, and contained within the limits delineated by the doctrine, it cannot fall before the strokes of the law. The medium, in short, according to the designs of the Providence and under the eyes of Spiritism, may she be an artificer or a princess, since they are found in the palaces and in the shanties, she received a mandate that is accomplished religiously and with dignity. She only sees in her faculty a means of glorifying God and serving her neighbor, and not an instrument to serve her own interests and to satisfy her vanity. She is liked and respected for her simplicity, modesty, and abnegation, something that does not happen to those that make a trampoline out of that mandate.
The rigor of the law does not harm the doctrine, but the abuse, when it reaches the exploiting mediums, those that misuse a real faculty or that simulate a faculty that they do not have. Well, serious Spiritism, without abuse, can only gain consideration with this, and would not support those that could deviate public opinion on their own. By assuming facts and causes, Spiritism would take responsibility for what they do, because those are not true Spiritists, even if they were real mediums.
While persecuting in a Spiritist, or in those that call themselves so, only the acts that are reprehensible to the eyes of the law, the role of the defender is to discuss the action in itself, abstraction made of the belief of the accused. It would be a serious mistake to try to justify the action in the name of the doctrine. On the contrary, he must endeavor to demonstrate that the doctrine is alien to the action. The accused then falls in the common law.
It is incontestable that the broader and more varied the knowledge of a magistrate, the better they are to appreciate the facts under analysis for pronunciation. In a case of legal medicine, for example, it is obvious that the one that is not totally foreign to the science will be able to better judge the value of the argumentation, from both accusation and defense, than another one that ignores its basic principles. In a case where Spiritism would be in question, in these times when it is in the order of the day and may incidentally appear as principal or accessory in a number of cases, there is a real need for the magistrates to know, at least, what it is about, without being taken as Spiritists for that matter. In one of the cases above, they would incontestably know to distinguish the abuse from the truth.
Spiritism by infiltrating more and more among the ideas, and already taking a place among the accepted beliefs, it is not far the day when not a single enlightened person will be allowed to ignore what it is, in the same way that the first principles of science cannot be ignored. Now, since it reaches all scientific and moral issues, many things that seemed strange, at first sight, will be better understood. That is how, for example, the doctor will find the true cause of certain diseases; the artist will collect numerous themes of inspiration; the magistrate and the lawyer will find, in many circumstances, a source of light.
That is how Mr. Jaubert, honorable Vice-President of the Carcassonne Court, conceives it. To him it is more than an additional knowledge: it is a matter of conviction because he understands its moral reach. Although he had never hidden his opinion about it, convinced of being right and of the moralizing power of the doctrine, he wanted to give the authority of his name, now that faith fades away in skepticism, at the very moment when the doctrine was attacked with maximum violence, resolutely defying mockery, and showing his adversaries his indifference towards their sarcasm. Given his position, and the circumstances, the letter that he asked us to have published, and that we inserted in our last January issue, was an act of courage, from which every sincere Spiritist will keep as a precious memory. It will leave its mark in the history of establishment of Spiritism.
The following letter, that we are equally authorized to publish, ranks alongside that of Mr. Jaubert. It is one of those adhesions, frankly explicit and motivated, in which the position of the author gives more weight, for being spontaneous and since we did not have the honor of knowing this gentleman. He judges the doctrine by the simple impression of the works, for he had seen nothing. It is the best answer to the accusation of ineptitude and charlatanism launched against Spiritism and its followers, without distinction.
November 21st, 1865
“Dear Sir,
Allow me, as a new and keen follower, to testify my whole recognition to you for having initiated me, through your writings, in the Spiritist science. I read The Spirits Book, out of curiosity; but, after an attentive reading, an admiration and total conviction followed, after a mistrustful disbelief. The doctrine that ensues from it, in fact, provides the most logical solution, the most satisfying to reason, of all questions that have seriously concerned thinkers of all times, to define the conditions of the existence of mankind on Earth, to explain the vicissitudes of humanity and determine their final objectives. This remarkable doctrine is incontestably the sanction of the purest and most fecund moral, the demonstrated exaltation of the goodness of God and the sublime works of creation, as well as the safest and strongest basis of the social order. I have not witnessed Spiritist manifestations, but this element of proof, in no way contrary to my religion (Catholic), is not necessary to my conviction. To begin with, I only need to find, in the order of the Providence, the reason for the inequalities of conditions on Earth, in one word, the reason for the material and moral evil. In fact, my reason totally admits, as for justifying the existence of moral and material evil, the soul leaving the hands of the Creator, simple and ignorant, dignified by the free-will, progressing through successive trials and atonements, and only arriving at the sovereign happiness by acquiring the plenitude of its ethereal essence, by the complete liberation from the material bonds, that altering the conditions of beatitude, must have served its progress. In this order of ideas, what is more rational than the Spirits, in their multiple phases of progressive depuration, communicating among themselves, from one world to the other, incarnate or invisible, to enlighten themselves, to help one another, to mutually concur to their advancement, facilitating their trials and entering in the healing path of remorse and return to God! What is more rational, I say, than such a continuity, such a strengthening of family links, friendship and charity, uniting mankind in their passage by this Earth, with the final objective of reuniting them all in a single family in the heart of God!
What a sublime trace of union: love departing from heavens and embracing the whole humanity with its Divine breath, inhabiting the universe, reconducting humanity to God, enjoying the eternal beatitude from which the source is that love! What can be more worthy of the wisdom, justice, and infinite goodness of the Creator! What a grandiose image of the works, whose harmony and immensity is revealed by Spiritism, lifting the tip of the veil that still does not allow mankind to penetrate all mysteries! How much have men restricted the immensurable greatness, placing humanity on an imperceptible spot, lost in space, and only granting to a small group of elected ones, the eternal happiness reserved to all! They thus reduced the Divine artisan to the tiny proportion of their perceptions, of the tyrannic aspirations, cruel and vindictive, inherent to their imperfections.
Finally, it is enough to my reason to find in this doctrine the serenity of the soul, crowning an existence resigned to the providential tribulations of a life, honestly realized by the accomplishment of its duties, and the practice of charity, the firmness of faith, by the solution of doubts that compress the aspirations to God, and finally this total trust in the justice, goodness, and in the merciful and paternal solicitude of the Creator.
Kindly count me, dear Sir, on the number of your brothers in Spiritism, and accept etc.
Bonnamy, Judge of Instruction.”
A communication given by the father of Mr. Bonnamy provoked the following letter. We did not reproduce that communication for its personal and intimate character, but we give below the second letter of general interest.
“Dear Sir and Teacher, a thousand times thank you for having kindly evoked my father. Long time no hear that loved voice. It revives today after being extinct so many years ago! It is a dream coming true to my saddened imagination, a dream conceived under the impression of our painful separation. What a sweet, what a consoling revelation, so full of hopes to me! Yes, I see my father and my mother in the world of the Spirits, watching over me, lavishing on me the benefit of their anxious solicitude with which they surrounded me on Earth. My holy mother, in her tender concern for the future, penetrating me with her fragrance to bring me to God and show me the way of the eternal truths, that sparkled for me in a distant nebulous!
How happy I would be if, according to my father’s wishes of communicating again, his evocation could be considered useful for the progress of the Spiritist science, and join the providential teachings reserved to the works! I would then find, in your journal, the elements of the Spiritist instructions, sometimes mixed up with the sweetness of the family conversations. It is a simple wish, if you will, dear teacher. I take much into account the demands of the mission that you carry out, to make a request out of this wish. I give total authorization for the publication of my letter. I will, in good faith, take the grain of sand to the construction of the Spiritist edifice, happy if, to the contact of my profound belief, the doubts of some were diluted and the skeptical would consider to think more seriously. Allow me, dear teacher, to address some words of sympathy and encouragement to you for your tough undertaking. Spiritism is a providential light house, whose dazzling and fecund light must open all eyes, confound men’s pride, and touch every conscience. Its irradiation will be irresistible. What treasures of consolation, mercy and love you are the distributor!
Yours, etc.
Bonnamy”
[1] Auto-da-fé, (Portuguese: “act of faith”) , plural autos-da-fé, Spanish auto de fé, a public ceremony during which the sentences upon those brought before the Spanish Inquisition were read and after which the sentences were executed by the secular authorities. (source: Britanica.com, T.N.)