Several opinions on this subject, collected and ordered by a Ghost.
[1]For the greatest part, being the future life out of the question, a demonstration becomes somehow superfluous, because it is somehow as if we wanted to prove that the sun rises every morning. However, since there are blind people who do not see the sun rising, it is good to know how one can prove it to them; well, that is the task undertaken by the Ghost, author of this book. This Ghost is an illustrious engineer whom we know by reputation, from other philosophical books that bear his name; but since he did not judge it appropriate to use his name on this one, we do not believe that we have the right to make an indiscretion, although we know for a fact that he makes no secret of his beliefs.
This book proves once again that science does not inevitably lead to materialism, and that a mathematician can be a firm believer in God, in the soul, in the future life and in all its consequences.
It is not a simple profession of faith, but a demonstration worthy of a mathematician by his strict and irresistible logic. Nor is it an arid and dogmatic dissertation, but a guided controversy in the form of a familiar conversation, where the pros and cons are impartially discussed.
The author recounts that attending the funeral of one of his friends, he began to talk with several guests along the way. The circumstance and the emotions of the ceremony lead the conversation to the fate of man after death. It first started with a Nihilist
[2] to whom he decided to demonstrate the reality of the future life, by arguments linked with admirable art, and without shocking or offending him, naturally bringing him to his ideas.
By the tomb, two speeches are delivered in a diametrically opposite direction on the question of the future, producing different impressions. On the way back, new interlocutors join the first two; they agree to meet at
the house of one of them, and there a serious controversy begins, in which the various opinions put forward the basis that sustain their positions.
This book, of an endearing reading, has all the appeal of a story, and all the depth of a philosophical thesis. We will add that, among the principles he advocates, we have not found a single in contradiction with the Spiritist doctrine by which the author must have been inspired.
The need of reincarnation for progress, its evidence, its agreement with God's justice, the atonement and reparation through the encounter of those who have harmed themselves in a previous existence, are demonstrated with striking clarity. Several cited examples prove that the forgetfulness of the past, in the life of relationship, is a blessing of the Providence, and that this momentary forgetfulness does not prevent us from taking advantage of the past experience, since the soul remembers in the moments of detachment.
Here, in a few words, is one of the facts told by one of the interlocutors and which, he says, is personal to him.
He was an apprentice in a large factory; by his conduct, intelligence, and character, he conquered the esteem and friendship of the boss who later associated him with his house. Several facts of which he did not realize then, prove in him the perception and intuition of things during the sleep; such faculty even served him to prevent an accident that could have disastrous consequences for the factory.
The boss's daughter, a charming eight-year-old child, befriends him and enjoys being with him; but every time she approaches him, he experiences a freezing cold and an instinctive repulsion; her contact displeases him. However, that feeling weakens gradually, and fades away. Later, he married her; she is good, affectionate, considerate and the union is very happy.
One night, he had an awful dream. He saw himself in his previous incarnation; his wife had conducted herself in an undignified manner, and had been the cause of his death, and strange thing! He could not separate the idea of that woman from his present wife; it seemed to him that it was the same person. Upset with that vision, he is sad when he wakes up; pressed by his wife to tell him the cause, he decides to tell her about his nightmare. "
It's singular," she says, "
I had a similar dream, and I was the culprit." The circumstances led both to recognize that they were not united for the first time; the husband explains the repulsion he
had for his wife when she was a child; the woman redoubles her care to erase her past; but she is already forgiven, for reparation has taken place, and the household continues to be prosperous.
Hence the conclusion that these two beings have again found themselves reunited, one to repair, the other to forgive; that if they had had the memory of the past, they would have kept away, and that they would have lost the benefit of reparation to one, and forgiveness to the other.
To give an accurate idea of the interest of this book, it should be quoted almost in full. We shall limit ourselves to the following passage:
“
You ask me if I believe in the future life, an old general told me. If we soldiers believe it! And how do you want it to be otherwise unless we're a triple brute? What do you want us to think on the eve of a combat, an assault, when all indications are that it must be deadly?... After saying goodbye, in thoughts, to the loved ones we are threatened with leaving, we instinctvely return to the maternal teachings that showed us a future life where sympathetic beings meet. We draw from those memories a redoubling of courage that makes us face the greatest dangers, according to our temperament, with calm or with a certain enthusiasm, and even more often with an outburst, a cheerfulness, that are the characteristic features of the French army."After all, we are the descendants of those brave Gauls whose belief in the future life was so great that they borrowed sums of money to be repaid in another life. I go further, I am convinced that we are still those children of old Gaul, that between the time of Caesar and ours, went through many existences, conquering in each one a higher rank in the earthly phalanges.” This book will be read fruitfully by the firmest believers, because from that they will draw new arguments to refute their opponents.
[1] One volume, in-12, price 3 francs.
[2] Nihilism: a viewpoint that traditional values and beliefs are unfounded, and that existence is senseless and useless (Merriam-Webster dictionary, T.N.)
