A father negligent with his children.

Charles-Emmanuel Jean was a good artisan of gentle character, but given to drunkenness from his youth. He had been seized with an ardent passion for a young woman of his acquaintance, whom he had asked in marriage in vain. She had always rebuffed him, saying that she would never wed a drunkard. He married another, by whom he had several children; but, absorbed by drink, he concerned himself neither with their education nor with their future. He died around 1823, without anyone knowing what had become of him. One of the sons followed in his father's footsteps; he left for Africa and was never heard from again. The other was of an entirely different nature; his conduct was always orderly. Entering apprenticeship early, he made himself loved and esteemed by his employers as a skilled, hardworking, active and intelligent worker. Through his labor and his savings, he won an honorable position in industry and very fittingly raised a numerous family. He is today a fervent and devoted Spiritist. One day, in an intimate conversation, he expressed regret at not having been able to assure his children an independent fortune; we sought to set his conscience at ease, congratulating him, on the contrary, on the manner in which he had fulfilled his duties as a father. As he is a good medium, we asked him to request a communication, without appealing to any particular Spirit. He wrote: “It is I, Charles-Emmanuel.”

It is my father, he said. Poor father! he is not happy.

The Spirit continues: Yes, the master is right; you did more for your children than I did for you, which is why I have a harsh task to fulfill. Bless God, who gave you the love of family.

Question (By Mr. Allan Kardec) – Whence came your inclination for drink?

Reply – A habit of my father's, which I inherited. It is a trial that I ought to have combated.

Observation. – Indeed, his father had the same defect, but it is not exact to say that it was a habit he had inherited; he simply yielded to the influence of bad example. Defects of character are not inherited as congenital malformations are. Free will can do everything regarding the former and nothing regarding the latter. Q. – What is your present position in the world of the Spirits?

Reply. – I am incessantly in search of my children and of the one who made me suffer so much; the one who always rejected me.

Q. – You must have a consolation in your son Jean, who is an honorable and esteemed man, and who prays for you, although you concerned yourself little with him.

Reply. – Yes, I know; he has done so and does so still; that is why I am permitted to speak with you. I am always near him, trying to ease his fatigue; it is my mission; it will end only with the coming of my son to be among us.

Q. – In what situation did you find yourself as a Spirit, after you died?

Reply. – At first I did not believe myself dead; I drank without cease; I saw Antoinette, whom I wished to reach and who fled from me. Then I sought my children, whom I loved in spite of everything, and whom my wife would not give up. Then I rebelled, recognizing my insignificance and my impotence, and God condemned me to watch over my son Jean, who will never die by accident, because everywhere and always I save him from a violent death. Observation. – In effect, Mr. Jean has many times escaped, as if by miracle, from imminent dangers; he nearly drowned, nearly burned, was nearly crushed in the gears of an engine and nearly blown up with a steam machine; in his youth he was hanged by accident and an unexpected aid always saved him at the most critical moment, which is to be attributed, as everything indicates, to the vigilance exercised by the father. Q. – You said that God condemned you to watch over your son's safety. I do not see in this a punishment; since you love him this must be, on the contrary, a satisfaction for you. Many Spirits are charged with the guardianship of incarnate beings, of whom they are protectors, and this is a task they feel happy to carry out. Reply. – Yes, master. I ought not to have abandoned my children, as I did. So the law of justice condemns me to make reparation. I do not do it reluctantly; I feel happy to do it out of love for my son; but the pain he would experience in the accidents from which I save him, it is I who bear it; were he to be pierced by ten bullets I would feel the hurt he would suffer if the thing were realized. Such is the just punishment I drew upon myself, by not fulfilling toward him my duties as a father when alive. Q. (By Mr. Jean) – Do you see my brother Numa, and can you say where he is? (The one who had given himself to drink and whose fate was unknown).

Reply. – No, I do not see him; I seek him. Your daughter Jeanne saw him on the coast of Africa, falling into the sea. I was not there to rescue him; I could not.

Observation. – Mr. Jean's daughter, in a moment of ecstasy, had in fact seen him fall into the sea, at the time of his disappearance.

The punishment of this Spirit offers this peculiarity: he feels the pains he is to spare his son. One understands, then, that the mission is painful. But as he does not complain, considers it just reparation and this in no way diminishes his affection for him, the expiation is profitable to him.