8. Realizationd

Had not Urban Grandier been immolated, one of two things would have occurred: either the possessed nuns would have died in frightful convulsions or the phenomena of diabolical frenzy would have so gained in strength and influence, epidemically, that Grandier, notwithstanding his knowledge and his reason, would also have become hallucinated, and to such a degree that he would have denounced himself, like the unhappy Gaufridy, or would otherwise have perished suddenly, with all the appalling characteristics of poisoning or of divine vengeance. In the eighteenth century the unfortunate poet Gilbert fell a victim to his audacity in braving the current of opinion and even of philosophical fanaticism which characterized his epoch. Guilty of philosophical treason, he died raving mad, possessed by the most incredible terrors, as if God Himself had punished him for defending His cause out of season. As a fact, he perished by reason of a law of Nature of which assuredly he knew nothing; he set himself against an electric current and was struck down as by lightning. Had Marat not been assassinated by Charlotte Corday, he would have been destroyed infallibly by a reaction of public feeling. It was the execration of decent people which afflicted him with leprosy, and he would have had to succumb thereto. The reprobation excited by the massacre of St. Bartholomew was the sole cause of the atrocious disease and death of Charles IX, while, had not Henry IV been sustained by an immense popularity, which he owed to the projecting power of sympathetic force of his astral life, he would scarcely have outlived his conversion, but would have perished under the contempt of Protestants, combined with the suspicion and ill-will of Catholics. Unpopularity may be a proof of integrity and courage, but never of policy or prudence: the wounds inflicted by opinion are mortal for statesmen. We may recall the premature and violent end of many illustrious persons whom it would be inexpedient to mention here. The brandings of public opinion may be often great injustices, but none the less they condemn their victims to failure and are often a death-sentence. On the other hand, acts of injustice done to a single individual can and should, if unatoned, cause the ruin of an entire nation or of a whole society: this is what is called the cry of blood, for at the root of every injustice there is the germ of homicide. By reason of these terrible laws of solidarity, Christianity recommends so strongly the forgiveness of injuries and reconciliation. He who dies unforgiving casts himself dagger-armed into eternity and condemns himself to the horrors of an eternal murder. The efficacy of paternal or maternal blessings or curses is an invincible popular tradition and belief. As a fact, the closer the bonds which unite two persons, the more terrible are the consequences of hatred between them. The brand of Althaea consuming the life of Meleager is the mythological symbol of this terrible power. Let parents be ever on their guard, for no one can kindle hell in his own blood, or devote his own issue to misfortune, without being himself burnt and made wretched. To pardon is never a crime, but to curse is always a danger and an evil action.