Modern spiritism; its science and religion - SpiritArchive.org

ITS HISTORY 19
in China, most pagan countries, amongst- the Red
Indians, and the sect of the Gnostics, Spiritism
was found; and history records how universally it
was practised in the Middle Ages, and the severe
laws against it.
The French Revolution is said to have brought in
an era of materialism that largely extinguished
Spiritism in civilised countries. It was revived by
Professors Mesmer and Swedenborg* in somewhat
different forms with great power, and carried on later
in France by its skilled exponent, Allan Kardec, a
great apostle of reincarnation, which, although
believed in by some 600 millions, is still without
any proof.
Spiritism in
England
It was little known in England until 1852, when it
became popular in the familiar phenomenon of tableturning.
It was the amusement of nearly every
drawing-room. During the Crimean War it was a
great resource in society circles. Simple, however,
though this is in itself, and apparently little more
than a parlour game, it leads on imperceptibly by
further steps to manifestations so remarkable that
it has often proved the beginning of an obsession
that has led to the most disastrous physical and
mental results. To their great credit, so far from
denying or concealing this danger, the leaders of the
cult are full of warnings of the risks attending practices
that may begin with simple table-turning.
Modern Spiritism aroused very widespread interest
*
Swedenborg was a great Spiritist, and was supposed to
speak with the mighty dead in all ages.