The law of retaliation.

– A correspondent of the Society transmits the following note to him:

“Mr. Antonio B…, one of my relatives, a writer of merit, esteemed by his fellow citizens, having discharged with distinction and integrity public functions in Lombardy, fell, about six years ago, as a consequence of an attack of apoplexy, into a state of apparent death which, unfortunately, as sometimes happens in such cases, caused his death to be considered real, the traces of decomposition observed on the body contributing still more to the error. Two weeks after the burial, a fortuitous circumstance led the family to decide upon the exhumation. It was a matter of a medallion, by chance forgotten in the coffin. But what was not the astonishment of those present when, upon opening it, they noticed that the body had changed position, turning face down and – a horrible thing – that one of the hands had been partly eaten by the deceased. It then became evident that the unfortunate Antonio B… had been buried alive, and must have succumbed under the action of despair and hunger. Be that as it may, of this sad occurrence and its moral consequences, would it not be interesting, from the Spiritist and psychological point of view, to make an inquiry in the world of the Spirits?”

Evocation of Antonio B…

Answer. – What do you want of me?

At the request of one of your relatives, we evoke you with pleasure and shall be happy if you would answer us.

Answer. – Yes, I wish to do so.

Do you remember the incidents of your death?

Answer. – Ah! Certainly I remember: – But why revive that memory of the punishment?

Were you indeed buried through carelessness?

Answer. – So it had to be, since the apparent death bore all the characteristics of real death: I was almost bloodless. One should not, however, impute to anyone an event that was predestined for me from the moment I was born.

Do these questions trouble you? Should we put an end to them?

Answer. – No. You may continue.

Because you left the reputation of a good man, we expected that you would be happy.

Answer. – I thank you, for I know that you will intercede for me. I shall do my best to answer you, and, if I cannot do so, one of your guides will do it for me.

Can you describe to us your sensations of that moment?

Answer. – What a painful ordeal to feel myself enclosed between four boards, hindered, absolutely hindered! To cry out? Impossible! The voice, for lack of air, had no echo! Ah! what torture is that of the unfortunate one who strives in vain to breathe in a confined space! I was like one condemned to the mouth of a furnace, leaving aside the heat. To no one do I wish an end consummated by such tortures. No, I wish no one such an end! Oh! cruel punishment of a cruel and ferocious existence! I could not say what I then thought; only, reviewing the past, I vaguely glimpsed the future.

You said: – cruel punishment of a ferocious existence… How can this assertion be reconciled with your unblemished reputation?

Answer. – What is one existence worth before eternity?! Certainly, I sought to be honest and good in my last incarnation, but I had accepted such an epilogue beforehand, that is, before incarnating. Ah!… Why question me about that painful past, which only I and the good Spirits sent by the Lord knew? But, since it must be so, I will tell you that in a previous existence I had walled up a woman – my own – alive in an underground tomb. The law of retaliation had to be applied to me. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

We thank you for these answers and ask God to forgive you the past, in consideration of the merit of your last incarnation.

Answer. – I will return later, but, nevertheless, the Spirit Erasto will complete this communication of mine.

REFLECTIONS OF LAMENNAIS ON THIS EVOCATION.

God is good! But, in order to attain perfection, man must suffer the cruelest trials. This unfortunate one lived several centuries during his desperate agony, and although his last existence was honorable, this trial had to be realized, for he had chosen it.

REFLECTIONS OF ERASTO.

From this communication you may infer the co-relativity and immediate dependence of your existences upon one another; the tribulations, the vicissitudes, the difficulties and human sorrows are always the consequences of a previous life, guilty or ill-used. I must, however, tell you that outcomes like this of Antonio B… are rare, since, if a correct existence ended in such a manner, it was because he himself had requested it, with the aim of shortening his erraticity and reaching the higher spheres more quickly. Indeed, after a period of disturbance and moral suffering, inherent to the expiation of the hideous crime, this will be forgiven him, and he will rise to a better world, where the victim, who long ago forgave him, awaits him. Make use of this cruel example, dear Spiritists, in order to bear, with patience, the moral and physical sufferings, all the small miseries of the Earth. Q. – What benefit can Humanity derive from such punishments?

Answer. – The penalties do not exist to develop Humanity, but to punish those who err. In fact, Humanity can have no interest in the suffering of one of its members. In this case, the punishment was appropriate to the fault. Why are there madmen, idiots, paralytics? Why do these die burned, while those endure the tortures of a long agony between life and death? Ah! believe me; respect the sovereign will and do not seek to fathom the reason for the decrees of Providence! God is just and does only good. Erasto. n Observation. – Does this fact not enclose a terrible teaching? Sometimes late, the justice of God nevertheless does not fail to reach the guilty one, continuing in its warning. n It is highly moralizing to know that, if great culprits end peacefully, in the abundance of earthly goods, the hour of expiation will nonetheless sooner or later sound for them. Such penalties are comprehensible, not only because they are more or less within reach of our sight, but because they are logical. Now, we ask whether this picture, which Spiritism unfolds at every moment before us, is not more apt to impress, so as to hold one back at the edge of the abyss, than the fear of the eternal flames, in which we no longer believe? If we merely reread the evocations published in this Review, we shall see that there is not a vice that does not determine its punishment, nor a virtue that does not give rise to its reward, proportioned to the merit or to the degree of culpability, since God takes into account all the circumstances that may attenuate the evil or increase the reward of the good. [1] Translator’s note: See Heaven and Hell, Part 2, Chapter VIII: ANTONIO B – Buried alive – The law of retaliation.

[2] [see Erasto.]

[3] [How the justice of God always reaches the guilty one and, being sometimes late, nonetheless none the less follows its course. – Ainsi la justice de Dieu atteint toujours le coupable, et pour être quelquefois tardive, elle n’en suit pas moins son cours.]