The punishment

Wicked spirits, selfish and inflexible, are, soon after death, delivered up to a cruel doubt about their present and future destiny; at first they look around themselves and, because they see no subject upon which they might exercise their evil influence, despair takes hold of them, since isolation and inaction are intolerable to wicked spirits; they do not lift their gaze toward the places inhabited by the pure Spirits; they consider what surrounds them and soon, moved by the dejection of the weak and punished spirits, hurl themselves upon them as upon a prey, arming themselves with the memory of their past faults, incessantly brought into play by means of derisive gestures. This mockery not being enough for them, they cast themselves upon the Earth like famished vultures; they seek among men the soul that will give the easiest access to their temptations; they take hold of it, inflame its greed, attempt to extinguish its faith in God and, at last, when, masters of a conscience, they see the prey subdued, they spread the fatal contagion over all who approach their victim. The wicked spirit who gives vent to his rage is almost happy; he suffers only in the moments when he does not act, and also in those when good triumphs over evil.

Meanwhile, the centuries pass; the wicked spirit suddenly feels himself invaded by darkness. His circle of action tightens, and his conscience, until then mute, makes him feel the keen prickings of remorse. Inactive, dragged along by the whirlwind, he wanders, feeling, as the Scripture says, the hair of his flesh stand on end with terror; soon a great void forms within him and around him; the moment having come, he must expiate; reincarnation, threatening, is there; he sees, as in a mirage, the terrible trials that await him; he would like to draw back, but he advances and, hurled into the gaping abyss of life, he rolls in terror until the veil of ignorance falls over his eyes. He lives, he acts, he is still guilty; he feels within himself a kind of disquieting memory, of presentiments that make him tremble, but do not lead him to draw back from the path of evil. Drained of strength and of crimes, he is about to die. Stretched out upon the pallet or upon the bed—no matter—the guilty man feels, beneath an apparent immobility, a world of forgotten sensations stir and come to life! Beneath the closed eyelids he sees a glow arise and hears strange sounds; his soul, which is about to leave the body, stirs impatiently, while his clenched hands seek to grasp the sheets; he would like to speak, to cry out to those around him: Hold me back! I see the punishment! He cannot; death fixes itself upon the pallid lips, and the attendants say: There he is at peace! Meanwhile, he hears everything; he floats around the body, which he would not wish to abandon;

a secret force draws him: he sees, he recognizes what he has already seen. Distraught, he hurls himself into space, where he wishes to hide. There is no more refuge! There is no more rest!

Other spirits return to him the evil he has done and, punished, ridiculed, confused in his turn, he wanders and will wander until the divine glow penetrates his resistance and enlightens him, to show him the avenging God, the God triumphant over all evil, whom he will be able to appease only by dint of groans and expiations. [See:

Preliminary Observations.]

Georges.

Observation. – Never has a more eloquent, more terrible, and more truthful picture of the fate of the wicked been drawn. Is it then necessary to resort to the phantasmagoria of flames and physical tortures?