The merciless baker - suicideA correspondence from Crefeld, Prussia, dated January 25th, 1862 and inserted in the
“Constitutionnel” on February 4th, carries the following fact:
“A poor widow, mother of three, comes to a bakery and insistently requests that a bread be sold to her on the basis of a future payment. The baker refuses. The widow diminishes her request to half a loaf and finally to a pound of bread so that she can feed her starving children. The baker refuses once again and leaves the place moving towards the back of the bakery. Believing that nobody was watching the woman grabs the bread and leaves. The theft, however, is promptly witnessed and the case taken to the police.
A police officer goes to the widow’s house and surprises her as she is slicing the bread for her children. She does not deny the theft and apologizes given her dire situation. Although criticizing the harshness of the baker, the officer insists that she follow him to interview with the police chief.
The widow asks for a few minutes so that she can get changed. She goes to her room. After some time and after losing his patience, the officer decides to open the door. The unfortunate widow was lying down on the floor covered in blood. She had ended her own life with the same knife that she was using to cut the bread to her children.”
The news was read at the session of the Society on February 14th, 1862 and a proposal was made to have the poor lady evoked when she spontaneously manifested herself giving the communication that follows. It is common to have Spirits communicating in such a way when their names are discussed in the sessions. There is no doubt that they are attracted by our thoughts that is a kind of tacit evocation. They know that we are talking about them and so they come. If they find an adequate time or a medium, they will communicate. From that it follows that there is no need to be a medium or even a Spiritist in order to attract the Spirits that populate our thoughts.
“God was good to the poor hallucinated and I come to thank you for your demonstrations of sympathy. Ah! Before the misery and hunger of my poor little ones I lost it and failed. I said to myself: If you are not capable of feeding your children and the baker refuses the bread to those who cannot pay; if you have no money or work, then die! If you are no longer with them someone else will come to help them.
In fact public charity has now adopted those poor orphans. God forgave me because he saw that I lost my mind in the fierce desperation. I was the innocent victim of an evil society, very badly organized. Ah! Thank God for having allowed you to be born in this great county of France where charity will find and mitigate all miseries.
Pray for me so that I can soon repair my own fault that I did not cowardly but out of maternal love. Our protector Spirits are so nice! They reassure me, give me strength and courage saying that my sacrifice did not displease the Great Spirit that under the eyes and the hand of God presides over the destines of humanity.”
Poor Mary
(Medium Mr. d’Ambel)
After this communication, Spirit Lamennais made the following assessment of the fact in question:
“That unfortunate woman is a victim of your world, of your laws and society. God judges the souls but also the times and circumstances; He judges forcible actions and desperation; He judges what is behind the appearances. I dare say that the miserable woman did not die out of a crime but for her scruples, fear and shame. When human justice is inexorable, it judges material facts but the divine justice probes the bottom of one’s heart and the conscience.
It would be nice that in certain privileged minds a special gift could be developed not for the courts but for the advancement of certain persons. The gift is a kind of somnambulism of the mind that can frequently uncover hidden things but that is neglected and attenuated by those used to a routine of negligence and a lack of faith.
It is certain that a medium of such a kind, when examining that poor lady would have said: The woman is blessed by God for she suffers and the man is cursed since he refused the bread. Oh God! When shall we have all of your gifts recognized and practiced? The one who refused the bread shall be punished to the eyes of your justice because Jesus said: Truly, I say to you, as you did feed one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.
Lamennais, medium Mr. A. Didier
