CONTENTS.
| PAGE | |
| INTRODUCTION | [1] |
| CHAPTER THE FIRST. | |
| MAN IS THE RESULT OF THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE OF THEBODY, THE SOUL, AND LIFE.—OF WHAT DOES DEATHCONSIST? | [6] |
| CHAPTER THE SECOND. | |
| WHAT BECOMES, AFTER DEATH, OF THE BODY, THE SOUL,AND LIFE? | [9] |
| CHAPTER THE THIRD. | |
| WHERE DOES THE SUPERHUMAN BEING RESIDE? | [16] |
| CHAPTER THE FOURTH. | |
| DO ALL MEN PASS AFTER DEATH TO THE STATE OF SUPERHUMANBEINGS?—RE-INCARNATIONS OF PERVERSE SOULS.—RE-INCARNATIONOF CHILDREN WHO HAVE DIED ININFANCY | [24] |
| CHAPTER THE FIFTH. | |
| WHAT ARE THE ATTRIBUTES OF THE SUPERHUMAN BEING?PHYSICAL SHAPE, SENSES, DEGREE OF INTELLIGENCE.—FACULTIESOF THE SUPERHUMAN BEING | [30] |
| CHAPTER THE SIXTH. | |
| WHAT BECOMES OF THE SUPERHUMAN BEING AFTER DEATH?—DEATHS,RESURRECTIONS, AND NEW INCARNATIONS INTHE ETHEREAL SPACES | [55] |
| CHAPTER THE SEVENTH. | |
| PHYSICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE SUN | [61] |
| CHAPTER THE EIGHTH. | |
| THE SUN.—DEFINITIVE SOJOURN OF SOULS ARRIVED AT THEHIGHEST DEGREE OF THE CELESTIAL HIERARCHY.—THESUN IS THE FINAL AND COMMON SOJOURN OF THE SOULSWHICH COME FROM THE EARTH.—PHYSICAL CONSTITUTIONOF THE SUN.—THIS HEAVENLY BODY IS A MASS OF BURNINGGAS | [89] |
| CHAPTER THE NINTH. | |
| THE INHABITANTS OF THE SUN ARE PURELY SPIRITUALBEINGS.—THE SOLAR RAYS ARE EMANATIONS FROMSPIRITUAL BEINGS THAT LIVE IN THE SUN.—THESEBEINGS THUS PRODUCE VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL LIFEON EARTH.—THE CONTINUITY OF SOLAR RADIATION, INEXPLICABLEBY PHYSICISTS, EXPLAINED BY EMANATIONSFROM THE SOULS OF THE INHABITANTS OF THE SUN.—THEWORSHIP OF FIRE, AND THE ADORATION OF THESUN IN DIFFERENT NATIONS, ANCIENT AND MODERN | [104] |
| CHAPTER THE TENTH. | |
| WHAT ARE OUR RELATIONS WITH SUPERHUMAN BEINGS? | [122] |
| CHAPTER THE ELEVENTH. | |
| WHAT IS THE ANIMAL?—THE SOULS OF ANIMALS.—MIGRATIONSOF SOULS THROUGH THE BODIES OF ANIMALS | [138] |
| CHAPTER THE TWELFTH. | |
| WHAT IS THE PLANT?—THE PLANT CAN FEEL.—HOWDIFFICULT IT IS TO DISTINGUISH PLANTS FROM ANIMALS.—GENERALCHAIN OF LIVING BEINGS | [149] |
| CHAPTER THE THIRTEENTH. | |
| DOES MAN EXIST ELSEWHERE THAN ON THE EARTH?—DESCRIPTIONOF THE PLANETS.—PLURALITY OF THEINHABITED WORLDS | [177] |
| CHAPTER THE FOURTEENTH. | |
| THAT WHICH TOOK PLACE ON EARTH FOR THE CREATIONOF ORGANIZED BEINGS MUST HAVE EQUALLY TAKENPLACE IN THE OTHER PLANETS.—SUCCESSIVE ORDER OFTHE APPEARANCE OF LIVING BEINGS ON OUR GLOBE.—THESAME SUCCESSION MUST HAVE TAKEN PLACE INEACH PLANET.—THE PLANETARY MAN.—THE PLANETARYMAN, LIKE THE TERRESTRIAL MAN, IS TRANSFORMED,AFTER DEATH, INTO A SUPERHUMAN BEING,AND PASSES INTO THE ETHER | [195] |
| CHAPTER THE FIFTEENTH. | |
| PROOFS OF THE PLURALITY OF HUMAN EXISTENCES, ANDOF RE-INCARNATIONS.—WITHOUT THE AID OF THISDOCTRINE THE PRESENCE OF MAN UPON THE EARTH ISINEXPLICABLE, LIKEWISE THE UNEQUAL CONDITIONS OFHUMAN LIFE, AND THE FATE OF CHILDREN WHO DIEIN INFANCY | [202] |
| CHAPTER THE SIXTEENTH. | |
| FACULTIES PECULIAR TO CERTAIN CHILDREN, APTITUDESAND VOCATIONS AMONG MEN, ARE ADDITIONAL PROOFSOF RE-INCARNATIONS.—EXPLANATION OF PHRENOLOGY.—DESCARTES'INNATE IDEAS, AND DUGALD STEWART'SPRINCIPLE OF CAUSALITY CAN ONLY BE EXPLAINED BYTHE PLURALITY OF LIVES.—VAGUE REMEMBRANCES OFOUR FORMER EXISTENCES | [212] |
| CHAPTER THE SEVENTEENTH. | |
| SUMMARY OF THE SYSTEM OF PLURALITY OF EXISTENCES | [226] |
| CHAPTER THE EIGHTEENTH. | |
| ANSWERS TO SOME OBJECTIONS.—FIRST: THE IMMORTALITYOF THE SOUL, WHICH SERVES AS THE BASIS TO THISSYSTEM, IS NOT DEMONSTRATED.—SECOND: WE HAVE NOREMEMBRANCE OF FORMER EXISTENCES.—THIRD: THISSYSTEM IS ONLY THE METEMPSYCHOSIS OF THE ANCIENTS.—FOURTH:THIS SYSTEM IS CONFOUNDED WITH DARWINISM | [232] |
| CHAPTER THE NINETEENTH. | |
| SEQUEL TO OBJECTIONS.—DIFFICULTY OF UNDERSTANDINGHOW THE RAYS OF THE SUN, MATERIAL SUBSTANCES, CANBE THE GERMS OF SOULS, IMMATERIAL SUBSTANCES | [259] |
| CHAPTER THE TWENTIETH. | |
| PRACTICAL RULES RESULTING FROM THE FACTS AND PRINCIPLESDEVELOPED IN THIS WORK.—TO ELEVATE ONE'SSOUL BY THE PRACTICE OF VIRTUES, AND BY TRYINGTO ACQUIRE A KNOWLEDGE OF NATURE AND ITS LAWSTHROUGH SCIENCE.—TO RENDER PUBLIC WORSHIP TOTHE DIVINITY.—WE SHOULD PRESERVE THE REMEMBRANCEOF THE DEAD.—WE SHOULD NOT FEAR DEATH.—DEATHIS BUT AN INSENSIBLE TRANSITION FROMONE STATE TO ANOTHER; IT IS NOT AN END, BUT AMETAMORPHOSIS.—IMPRESSIONS OF THE DYING.—THOSEWHO DIE YOUNG ARE LOVED BY THE GODS | [269] |
| EPILOGUE. | |
| IN WHICH WE SEEK GOD, AND IN OUR SEARCH DESCRIBETHE UNIVERSE | [284] |
THE DAY AFTER DEATH.
INTRODUCTION.
READER, you must die. You may perhaps die to-morrow. What will become of you? What shall you be, on the day after your death? I do not now allude to your body; that is of no more importance than the clothes which it wears, or the shroud in which it will be buried. Like these garments, like that cerecloth, your body must be decomposed, and its elements distributed among Nature's great reservoirs of material, earth, air, and water. But your soul, whither shall it go? That which was free within you, that which thought, loved, and suffered, what shall become of it? Of course you do not believe that your soul will be extinguished with your life on the day of your decease, and that nothing will remain of that which has palpitated in your breast, vibrating to the emotions of joy and sorrow, to the tender affections, the numberless passions and disturbances of your life.
Where shall that sensible, existing soul, which must survive the tomb, go to? What will it become, what shall you be, my reader, the day after your death?
To the consideration of this question this book is devoted.
Almost all thinkers have declared that the problem of the future life defies solution. They have argued that the human mind is powerless to foresee so profound a mystery, and that therefore the only rational course is to abstain from the endeavour. This is the reasoning of the majority of mankind, partly from carelessness, or partly from conviction. Besides, when we venture to look at this tremendous question closely, we find ourselves immediately surrounded with such thick darkness that we lack courage to pursue the investigation. And thus we are led to turn away from all thought of the future life.
There are, nevertheless, circumstances which force us to reflect on this dark and difficult subject. When one finds oneself in danger of death, or when one has lost a dearly beloved object, there is no escape from meditation upon the future life. When we have dwelt long and earnestly upon the idea, we may be brought to acknowledge that the problem is not, as it has so long been believed, beyond the reach of the human mind.
During the greater portion of his life, the author of this book believed, in common with everybody else, that the problem of the future life is out of our reach, and that true wisdom consists in not troubling our minds about it. But, one dreadful day, a thunderbolt fell in his path. He lost the son in whom centred all the hope and ambition of his life. Then, in the bitterness of his grief he reflected deeply on the new life which must open for each of us, above the tomb. After long dwelling on this idea in solitary meditation, he asked of the exact sciences what positive information, on this question, they could furnish him with, and subsequently, he interrogated ignorant and simple people, peasants in their villages, and unlettered men in towns, an ever precious source of aid in re-ascending towards the true principles of nature, for it is not perverted by the progress of education, or by the routine of a commonplace philosophy.
Thus the author of this book succeeded in constructing for himself an entire system of ideas concerning the new life of man, which is to follow his terrestrial existence.
But his system is all contained in nature. Each organized being is attached to another which precedes, and another which follows it, in the chain of the living creation. The plant and the animal, the animal and the man, are linked, soldered to one another; the moral and physical order meet and mingle. It results from this, that any one who believes himself to have discovered the explanation of any one fact concerning this organization, is speedily led to extend this explanation to all living beings, to reconstruct, link by link, the great chain of nature. Thus it was with the author of this book. After having sought out the destination of man, when dismissed from his terrestrial life, he was led to apply his views to all other living beings, to animals, and then to plants. The power of logic forced him to study those beings, impossible to be seen by our organs of vision, by which he holds the planets, the suns, and all the innumerable stars dispersed over the vast extent of the heavens, to be inhabited. So that you will find in this book, not only an attempt at the solution of the problem of the future life by science, but also the statement of a complete theory of nature, of a true philosophy of the universe.
It may be that I am deceiving myself; it may be that I am taking the dreams of my imagination for serious views; I may lose myself in that dark region through which I am trying to grope my way; but at least I write with absolute sincerity, and that is my excuse for writing this book at all. I hope that others may be induced by my example to attempt similar efforts, to apply the exact sciences to the study of the great question of the destinies of man after this life. A series of works undertaken in this branch of learning, would be the greatest service which could be rendered to natural philosophy, and also to the progress of humanity.
After the terrible misfortunes of 1870 and 1871, there is not a family in France which has not had to mourn a kinsman or a friend. I found, not indeed consolation for my grief, but tranquillity for my mind, in the composition of this work; and I have therefore hoped that, in reading its pages, they who suffer and they who grieve might find some of the same hope and assurance which have lifted up my stricken heart.
Society is in our day the prey of a deadly disease, of a moral canker, which threatens it with destruction. This disease is materialism. Materialism, which was preached first in Germany, in the universities, and in books of philosophy, and the natural sciences, afterwards spread rapidly in France. With brief delay, it came down from the level of the savans to that of the educated classes, and thence it penetrated the ranks of the people; and the people have undertaken to teach us the practical consequences of materialism. Little by little they have flung off every bond, they have discarded all respect of persons and principles; they no longer value religion or its ministers; the social hierarchy, their country, or liberty. That this must lead to some terrible result it was easy to foresee. After a long period of political anarchy, a body of furious madmen carried death, terror, and fire through the capital of France.
It was not patriotism which fired the illustrious and sacred monuments of Paris, it was materialism. Nothing can be more evident than that, from the moment one is convinced that everything comes to an end in this world, that there is nothing to follow this life, we have nothing better to do, one and all of us, than to appeal to violence, to excite disturbance, and invoke anarchy everywhere, in order to find, amid such propitious disorder, the means of satisfying our brutal desires, our unruly ambition, and our sensual passions. Civilization, society, and morals, are like a string of beads, whose fastening is the belief in the immortality of the soul. Break the fastening, and the beads are scattered.
Materialism is the scourge of our day, the origin of all the evils of European society. Now, materialism is fiercely fought in this book, which might be entitled, "Spiritualism Demonstrated by Science." Because this is its aim, and its motive, my friends have induced me to publish it.
CHAPTER THE FIRST.
MAN THE RESULT OF THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE OF THE BODY, THE SOUL, AND THE LIFE. WHAT CONSTITUTES DEATH.
BARTHEZ, Lordat, and the Medical School of Montpellier have created the doctrine of the human aggregate, which, in our opinion, affords the only explanation of the true nature of man. This doctrine of which we shall avail ourselves, as a guide in the earlier portions of this work, may be defined as follows:—
There exists in man three elements:—
1. The body, or the material substance.
2. The Life, or as Barthez calls it, the Vital Force.
3. The Soul, or as Lordat calls it, the Intimate Sense.
We must not confound the soul with the life, as the materialists and certain shallow philosophers have done. The soul and the life are essentially distinct. The life is perishable, while the soul is immortal; the life is a temporary condition, destined to decline and destruction; while the soul is impervious to every ill, and escapes from death. Life, like heat and electricity, is a force engendered by certain causes; after having had its commencement, it has its termination, which is altogether final. The soul, on the contrary, has no end.
Man may be defined as a perfected soul dwelling in a living body.
This definition permits us to specify what it is that constitutes death.
Death is the separation of the soul and the body. This separation is effected when the body has ceased to be animated by the life.
Plants and animals cannot live except under certain conditions: plants in the air or in the water, animals in the air, fish in the water; and if they are deprived of these conditions, they perish immediately. Again, there are existences which require special conditions for their support within the general ones.
Certain polypoid-worms can live only in carbonic acid, or azotic gas; the germs of cryptogams produced by damp can be developed only in aqueous infusions of vegetable matters; the fish which live in the sea, die in fresh, or only moderately salt, water.
Every living being has then its special habitat. The soul does not form an exception to this rule. The place, the habitat of the soul is a living body. The soul disappears from the body when this body ceases to live, just as a man forsakes a house when that house has been destroyed by fire.
Such is the doctrine of the triple alliance of the body, the soul, and the life, as formulated by the School of Montpellier, and such, as a consequence of this doctrine, is the mechanism of death.
It must be added that this triple alliance of the body, the soul, and the life, is not peculiar to man; it exists also in all animals. The animal has also a living body, and soul; but the soul in animals is much inferior to the soul in men, in the number and extent of its faculties. Having few wants, the animal has a very small number of faculties, which are all in a rudimentary condition. It is only in the very considerable development of the faculties of the soul that man differs from the superior animals, to which he bears a strong resemblance in his physiological functions, and his anatomical structure.
It must be remarked that the Montpellier School does not admit this view of the condition of animals. In another part of this work,[1] a fuller explanation of the distinctions which divide man from animal will be found.
