published in the Revista Esp\u00edrita of November 1858. In full:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nSeven or eight months ago, Lu\u00eds G\u2026, a shoemaker, was dating the young Vitorina R\u2026, a boot stitcher, who he was supposed to marry soon, as the banns were being published. Things being at this point, the young people considered themselves almost definitely united and, as a cost-saving measure, the shoemaker came to have meals at the bride's house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having come last Wednesday, as usual, to have dinner at the seamstress' ((seamstress)) house, an argument ensued about something futile. They were obstinate, on both sides, and things got to the point where Lu\u00eds left the table and went away, swearing never to return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the next day, the shoemaker, very confused, came to ask for forgiveness. It is said that the night is a good advisor, but the worker, perhaps foreseeing, after the scene the night before, what could happen when there was no longer time to go back, refused to reconcile and neither the protests, nor the tears, nor despair could overcome her. However, as several days had passed since that outburst, hoping that his beloved would be more tractable, the night before last Lu\u00eds wanted to try one last explanation: he arrived, knocked on the door in order to make himself known, but she refused to open. New pleas from the abandoned poor, new protests through the door, but nothing moved the implacable elected official.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThen goodbye, oh wicked one!\u201d finally exclaimed the poor boy, \u201cGoodbye forever! Look for a husband who wants you as much as I do!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, the girl heard a kind of muffled groan, then the sound of a body sliding along the door, and everything went silent. She thought that Lu\u00eds had sat on the doorstep to wait for his first exit, but she promised herself not to set foot on the street while he was there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After just a quarter of an hour, one of the tenants who was passing through the courtyard with a light shouted for help. Soon the neighbors arrived and Miss Vitorina, having also opened her door, let out a scream of horror when she noticed the body of her fianc\u00e9 on the floor, pale and inanimate. Everyone rushed to help him and look for a doctor, but they soon found that everything was useless, as he had already ceased to exist. The unfortunate young man had buried the shoemaker's knife in his chest and the iron remained in the wound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fact that we found in Le Siecle <\/em>April 7th awakened in us the idea of asking a superior Spirit some questions about its moral consequences. Here they are, with the respective answers, given by the Spirit of S\u00e3o Lu\u00eds in the Society's session on August 1, 1858.<\/p>\n\n\n\n1. \u2500 Is the girl, the involuntary cause of her boyfriend's death, responsible? \u2500 Yes, because I didn\u2019t love him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. \u2500 To avoid this misfortune, should she marry him, even though she didn't love him? \u2500 She was looking for an opportunity to separate from him; He did at the beginning of his call what he would have done later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. \u2500 So the guilt consists of having harbored feelings in him that he did not share and which were the cause of the boy's death? \u2500 Yes. That's right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. \u2500 In this case, your responsibility must be proportional to the fault, which must not be as great as if it had, in any case, caused death. \u2500 This is obvious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5. \u2500 Is Lu\u00eds\u2019 suicide justified in the madness into which Vitorina\u2019s obstinacy plunged him? \u2500 Yes, because his suicide, provoked by love, is less criminal in the eyes of God than that of the man who wants to free himself from life out of cowardice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NOTE: Saying that this suicide is any less <\/em>criminal in the eyes of God, evidently means that there is criminality, even though it is minor. The lack consists of the weakness that he did not know how to overcome. It is undoubtedly a test to which he succumbed. Now, the Spirits teach us that merit lies in fighting victoriously against tests of all kinds, which are the essence of earthly life.<\/p>\n\n\n\nEvoked on another day, the Spirit of Lu\u00eds C\u2026 was asked the following questions, to which he responded:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. \u2500 What do you think about the action you took? \u2500 Vitorina is ungrateful. I was wrong to kill myself for her, because she didn't deserve it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. \u2500 So she didn\u2019t love you? \u2500 No. At first I thought so, but I was deluded. The scene I made opened his eyes. Afterwards, he felt happy with this pretext to get rid of me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. \u2500 And do you sincerely love her? \u2500 I had a passion for her. I believe it was just that. If I loved her with pure love, I wouldn't have wanted to hurt her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. \u2500 If she had known that you really wanted to kill each other, would she have persisted in refusing? \u2500 I don't know. I don't think so, because she wasn't bad. However, it would have been unfortunate. For her it was better that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5. \u2500 When you arrived at your door, did you intend to kill yourself if you were refused? \u2500 No. I didn't even think about that. I didn't think she was so obstinate. Only when I saw his stubbornness did I feel dizzy.
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6. \u2500 It seems that you only regret the suicide because Vitorina did not deserve it. Is it your only feeling? \u2500 Right now, yes. I still find myself disturbed. It seems to me to be on your doorstep. However, I feel something that I cannot define.
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7. \u2500 Will you understand later? \u2500 Yes, when I'm free... What I did was bad. I should have left her calm... I was weak and I suffer the consequences... As you see, passion leads man to blindness and to make absurd mistakes. He only understands when it is too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8. \u2500 You said you suffer the consequences. What punishment do you suffer? \u2500 I made a mistake by shortening my life. I shouldn't have done it. It should resist instead of ending everything prematurely. That's why I'm unhappy. I suffer. She's always the one who makes me suffer. It seems to me that I'm still on your doorstep. How ungrateful! Don't tell me about this anymore. I don't want to think anymore, because it hurts me so much. Goodbye.<\/p>\n
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