According to a principle of canon law applied to censures, _Ecclesia de
internis non judicat_, the Church in the matter of crime does not
concern itself with interior dispositions, excommunication far from
being a sentence of damnation in the next world, is a penalty pertaining
to the external forum of the Church in this life. Even if the penalty
follows the corpse so far as to exclude it from Christian burial, even
here the purpose of the Church is not to pronounce a verdict of the loss
of the contumacious soul in the Hereafter, but to stigmatize among the
living, the memory of the person and so to inspire in them a hatred of
the evil condemned and a respect for law. The story of Manfred now
follows:
"And one of them began: 'Whoe'er thou art,
Thus going turn thine eyes, consider well
If e'er thou saw me in the other world'
I turned me tow'rds him, and looked at him closely;
Blond was he, beautiful, and of noble aspect,
But one of his eyebrows had a blow divided.
When with humility I had disclaimed
E'er having seen him, 'Now behold,' he said.
And showed me high upon his breast a wound.
Then said he with a smile: 'I am Manfredi,
The grandson of the Empress Costanza;
Therefore, when thou returnest, I beseech thee
Go to my daughter beautiful, the mother
Of Sicily's honor and of Aragon's,
And the truth tell her, if aught else be told.
Pages:
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173