JardinSociety, Paris, November 25th, 1859
The Journal de la Nievre reports: “A dismal accident occurred last Saturday at the train station. A sixty two year old man named Mr. Jardin was hit by the shafts of a carriage in the courtyard, as he was leaving the station. He exhaled his last breath a few hours later. That man’s death revealed one of the most extraordinary stories to which we would not have given any credit if were not supported by the trustworthy testimony of witnesses who attested to its authenticity. Here is what we were told:
Before his employment with the tobacco market in Nevers, Jardin lived in Cher, village of Saint-Germain-des-Bois, where he was a tailor. His wife had died in that village five years earlier, victimized by pneumonia. He then left the village of Saint-Germain and moved to Nevers eight years ago. A hard working and righteous man, Jardin was a devout Christian, strongly dedicated to religious practices; he had a kneeling bench in his bedroom that he used for his prayers. Friday night, alone with his daughter, he suddenly announced a secret premonition that his end was near.
• Listen, he told her, these are my last wishes: when I am dead you shall send the key to my kneeling bench to Mr. B… so that he can come and pick up whatever is inside and take to my coffin.
Surprised by this sudden recommendation, the daughter asked what could be found in the kneeling bench because she couldn’t tell if he was serious or not. He refused to respond in the beginning but as she insisted, he made the strange revelation that what was inside the kneeling bench was the remains of her late mother!
He told her that before leaving Saint-Germain-des-Bois he went to the cemetery at night. Everybody was asleep in the village; he was feeling really alone; he then went to the grave of his wife and with a shovel he excavated it until he found the remains of what had once been his companion. He would never be separated from her precious remains, thus he collected the bones and stored them in his kneeling bench.
The daughter, a little bit scared by the strange disclosure, but still suspicious that he could not be serious, she eventually promised to attend to his last wishes convinced that he wanted to make fun of her and that on the very next day he would give a logical explanation to his fantastic enigma. The following Saturday arrived and Jardin went to his office as usual. One hour later he was sent to the train station to pick up some bags of tobacco, destined to supply the market. He had just left the station when he was then hit straight in the chest, by the unnoticed shafts of a carriage that was parked among the heaps of other vehicles at the station parking area. He was knocked down by the violence of the impact and taken home unconscious. He recovered his senses after the application of some emergency care. The first responders wanted to remove his clothes to thoroughly examine the wounds but he strongly opposed; they insisted and he refused once again. Despite his refusal the responders decided to undress him when all at once, he suddenly subsided: he was dead.
The body was placed on a bed. What a surprise when those present removed his clothes to find a leather bag tied up around his chest, sitting on his heart. A doctor who was called in to attest the death cut the bag in two pieces, from which a dry hand fell!
Keeping in mind what her father had told her the day before, the daughter of Mr. Jardin advised Mr. B… and Mr. J… who were carpenters. The kneeling bench was opened and a schako (French military hat, round and tall) of the National Guard was found. On the bottom of the schako there was a dead person’s head, still with the hair in place; then they noticed the bones of a skeleton; it was the remains of Mrs. Jardin. Last Sunday Jardin’s body was taken to the grave. In order to attend the sexagenarian’s wishes, the remains of his wife were placed in his coffin and on top of his heart, the dry hand which had felt his heart beat for eight years, if we can say so.”
1. Evocation – A. I am here.
2. Who has warned you that we wanted to talk to you? – A. I know nothing; I was attracted here.
3. Where were you when we called you? – A. Near a man that I like, accompanied by my wife.
4. How could you have had the premonition of your death? – A. I was warned by the one I missed so much. God had allowed it from her prayers.
5. Was your wife then was always near you? – A. She had never left.
6. Was the cause of her presence the remains preserved by you? – A. Not at all but I believed so.
7. Thus, had you not preserved her remains she would still be by your side? – A. Isn’t thought more powerful to attract the spirit than the remains which have no importance?
8. Have you immediately met your wife, at the time of your death? – A. It was her who came to receive me and to enlighten me.
9. Were you immediately aware of yourself? – A. In a short time, I had an intuitive faith in the immortality of the soul.
10. Your wife must have had other existences, prior to the last one. How could she have forgotten them to be entirely dedicated to you? – A. She stayed by my side as a guide in my corporeal existence, without the need to renounce her former affections. When we say that we never abandon an incarnated spirit you must understand that what we mean, is that we shall be closer to that spirit more frequently than the others. The speed of our movement allows for that as easily as a conversation that you may hold with several speakers.
11. Do you remember your previous existences? – A. Yes. In my last one I was a poor peasant, without education; prior to that, however, I was a sincere and devoted religious person.
12. Wouldn’t the extraordinary affection dedicated to your wife have its cause in former relationships of prior existences? – A. No.
13. Are you happy as a spirit? – A. One cannot be more, you must understand that.
14. Can you define your current happiness and tell us about its cause? – A. I should not have the need to tell you this: I loved and missed a dear spirit; I loved God; I was honest; I found what I missed. These are the elements of happiness to the spirit.
15. What do you do as a spirit? – A. When I was called here I told you that I was near a man that I liked. I was trying to inspire in him the desire for the good, as always do the spirits that God deems worthy. We also have other occupations that cannot be revealed yet.
16. We thank you for your kindness in attending our call. – A. I also thank you.
