Mauritius epidemic A few months ago, one of our mediums, Mr. T…, who often falls into spontaneous somnambulism under the magnetization of the Spirits, told us that Mauritius was currently ravaged by a terrible epidemic, that was decimating the population. This forecast came true, even with aggravating circumstances. We have just received, from one of our correspondents in Mauritius, a letter dated May 8th, from which we extract the following passages:
“Several Spirits have announced to us, some clearly, others in prophetic terms, a destructive plague ready to strike us. We took these revelations from a moral point of view and not from a physical point of view. Suddenly, a strange disease breaks out on this poor island; a nameless fever, that takes all forms, starts slowly, hypocritically, then grows and knocks down anyone it can reach. It is now a real plague; the doctors do not understand it; not all struck by it have been able to recover, until now. These are terrible fits that break you down, and torture you, for at least twelve hours, attacking each important organ one by one; then, the disease stops for a day or two, leaving the patient overwhelmed, until the next return, and one thus goes, more or less rapidly, towards the fatal term.
For me, I see in all this one of those announced plagues, that must withdraw from the world part of the present generation, intended to operate a renewal that has become necessary. I'll give you an example of the infamies happening here:
Quinine in a very strong dose stops the attacks for a few days only; it is the only specific capable of at least momentarily stopping the progress of the cruel disease that decimates us.
The merchants and pharmacists had received a certain quantity at about 7 francs per ounce, but as this remedy was necessarily bought by everyone, those gentlemen took advantage of the situation to raise the price of an individual potion from 1 franc to 15 francs. Then the quinine ran out; meaning that those who had it, or who received it by the post, sold it at the fabulous retail price of 2.5 francs per grain, and wholesale 675 to 800 francs per ounce. In a potion there is at least 30 grains, that makes the potion 75 francs. Only the rich could get it, and those merchants saw, with indifference, thousands of unfortunate people dying around them, for the lack of money necessary to obtain that medicine.
What do you say about this? Alas! That's history! Still, at this moment, quinine is arriving in quantity; pharmacies are full of them, but nevertheless they do not want to give a dose for less than 12.5 francs; also, the poor always die, looking with a sad eye at this treasure that they cannot reach!
I, myself, have been affected by the epidemic, and I am in my fourth relapse. I bankrupt myself in quinine; this prolongs my existence, but if, as I fear, the relapses continue, my word dear sir, it is quite likely that before long, I will have the pleasure of attending your Parisian sessions in Spirit, and take part in it, God allowing. Once in the world of the Spirits, I will be closer to you and to the society than I am in Mauritius; with one thought I go to your sessions without fatigue, and without fear of bad weather. As a matter of fact, I do not have the slightest fear, I swear to you; I am too sincerely a Spiritist for that. All my precautions are taken, and if I come to leave this world, you will be informed.
In the meantime, dear Sir, please have the kindness of asking my brothers, of the Spiritist Society, to join their prayers to ours for the unfortunate victims of the epidemic, poor Spirits, too attached to matter, for the most part, and whose separation must be painful and long. Let us also pray for those, unfortunate in another way, who add inhumanity to the scourge of sickness.
Our little group has been scattered for three months; all members have been somewhat beaten, but none have died so far.
Receive, etc.”
One must be a true Spiritist to contemplate death with this coolness and indifference, when it spreads its ravages around us, and when its attacks are felt; it is because in such a situation, serious faith in the future, such as Spiritism alone can give, provides a moral strength that is itself a powerful preservative, as it was said about the cholera. (Spiritist Review, November 1865). This does not mean that, in epidemics, the Spiritists are necessarily spared, but it is certain that in such cases they have so far been the least affected. It goes without saying that these are the Spiritists of heart, and not those who only have the appearance of Spiritists.
The destructive plagues that must rage against humanity, not on one point of the globe, but everywhere, are sensed everywhere by the Spirits. The following verbal and spontaneous communication was given on this subject, and following the reading of the above letter.
Parisian Society, June 21st, 1867
(medium Mr. Morin, in spontaneous somnambulism)
“The hour advances, the hour marked on the large and perpetual dial of infinity, the hour at which the transformation of your globe will begin to take place, making it gravitate towards perfection. You have often been told that the most terrible scourges would decimate populations; shouldn't everything die to regenerate? But what is that? Death is only the transformation of matter; the Spirit does not die; it only changes its dwelling. Watch, and you will see all these predictions begin to come true. Oh! how happy are those who were touched by the sincere Spiritist faith, in these terrible trials! They remain calm amid the tempest, like a seasoned sailor in the face of a storm.
At this moment a spiritual personality, I had often been accused, by terrestrial personalities, of brutality, of hardness, of insensitivity! … It is true, I contemplate with calm all these destructive scourges, all these terrible physical sufferings; yes, I cross, without being touched, all these devastated plains, strewn with human debris! But if I can do it, it is because my spiritual sight goes beyond these sufferings; by anticipating the future, it is based on the general well-being that will be the consequence of these temporary troubles, for the future generation, for yourselves who will be part of that generation, and who will then collect the fruits that you will have sown.
Broad view, looking from the top of a sphere where he inhabited (often he speaks of himself in the third person), his eye remains dry; yet his soul throbs, his heart bleeds before all the miseries that humanity has to go through, but the spiritual sight rests on the other side of the horizon, contemplating the result that will be the sure result.
The great emigration is useful, and the hour is approaching when it must take place ... it begins already ... To whom will it be fatal or profitable? Take a good look, observers; consider the acts of those exploiters of human plagues, and you will distinguish, even with the eyes of the body, the men predestined to fall. See them bloodthirsty, stiff on their gain, attached to all earthly possessions, as to their own life, and suffering a thousand deaths at the loss of a piece of what they, nonetheless, must leave behind… How terrible it will be for them the eye for an eye, because in the exile that awaits them, they will be refused a glass of water to quench their thirst! ... Look at them, and you will recognize in them, under the wealth they accumulate at the expense of the unfortunate, the future fallen humans! Consider their jobs, and your conscience will tell you whether they are to be paid for up there, or down below! Take a good look at them, men of good will, and you will see that the tares begin to be separated from the wheat, on this earth.
My soul is strong, my will is great! - my soul is strong, because its strength is the result of a collective soul-to-soul work; my will is great, because it has for its fulcrum the immense column formed by all the feelings of justice and good, love and charity. That is why I am strong; that is why I am calm to watch; that is why his heart, that beats strong in his chest, is not moved. If decomposition is the necessary instrument of transformation, do witness, o my calm and impassive soul, this destruction!"
