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CHAPTER XXX.

PARISIAN SOCIETY FOR PSYCHOLOGIC STUDIES.

[THIS chapter, containing only the Constitution and Bylaws of The Parisian Society for Psychologic Studies, has been omitted by the Translator as unimportant at the present day, that Society-founded by Allan Kardec in 1858, and of which he was President until his decease-having been, in accordance with the plans of its founder, superseded by The Joint-Stock Company for the Continuation of the Works of Allan Kardec, the last line of the draft of the Constitution of which he finished writing about an hour before he died; but as that Society has taken a leading part in the propagation of the spiritist philosophy, and has served as a model for the innumerable societies that have been established, for kindred purposes, in France and in other countries, the following brief account of the meetings of the Society to which it refers has been substituted in place of the original chapter.]

By Article I. of its Constitution, The Parisian Society for Psychologic Studies was stated to have "for its object the study of spirit-phenomena, and their bearing on moral, physical, historical, and psychological science. Politics, religious controversy, and questions of social economy," were, by that Article, "interdicted."

The Society met, every Friday evening, at 8 p.m. at the residence of its President, which, during the latter part of his life, was in the Rue St Anne. The meetings were strictly private, but admission to them, by letters of

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invitation, was easily obtained. The proceedings always began with a short prayer, asking of the Almighty that good spirits might be sent to take part in them, evil ones kept away, light given for distinguishing truth from falsehood, the mediums impressed with a sense of the sacredness of their mission, the incredulous and hostile helped to a better mind, and the Spirit-President of the Society (Saint Louis) enabled to watch over and assist the meeting.* Then followed the reading of the minutes of the preceding meeting; the Reports and Correspondence addressed to the Parisian Society by similar societies in France and elsewhere; the reading and discussion of the medianimic communications obtained at the preceding meeting or sent to the Society by other societies or by individuals; the consideration of some question of moral or scientific interest, or the evocation of some particular spirit as previously agreed upon; after which, all the mediums present seated themselves around a long table, and wrote under the influence of the spirits with whom they were in sympathy. The communications thus transmitted were usually in prose, occasionally in verse, and often very fine; they sometimes offered interesting peculiarities, such as names, dates, or statements of facts, etc., unknown to the medium, but subsequently ascertained to have been correct; sometimes, again, a trance-medium would be controlled by a spirit, giving rise to episodes of vivid, or even tragic, interest; a communication of exceptional acumen or beauty, or perhaps a short but pithy comment, from Saint Louis, being frequently given, at the close of a discussion in reference to the point which had been under consideration. When all the mediums had ceased writing, each of them read aloud, in turn, the communication which he, or she, had been made to write; and the proceedings terminated, about half-past ten, with a short form of thanks for the presence of the spirits who had taken part in them, and of

* See The Gospel Explained by Spirits, p. 388.

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prayer for any perverse or unhappy spirits who might have been brought to the meeting by their spirit-guides.

The communications obtained on these occasions, as well as those sent to the Society from a distance, were, by universal consent, regarded as being the property of the Society, were copied into "Registers" kept for that purpose, and deposited among its "Archives," and furnished the materials from which Allan Kardec successively compiled The Mediums' Book, Heaven and Hell, The Gospel Explained by Spirits, and Genesis. - TR.