Example 6 - DOCTOR DEMEURE.

— He was a most distinguished homeopathic physician. His character, as much as his knowledge, had earned him the esteem and veneration of his fellow citizens. His kindness and charity were inexhaustible, and, despite his advanced age, no fatigue was ever known of him when it came to relieving poor patients. The price of the visits was what concerned him least, and he preferred to sacrifice his own comforts to the poor, saying that the rich, in his absence, could well turn to another physician. And how many, many times did he provide the patient without resources with what was needed for material requirements, in cases where these were more useful than the medicine itself. Of him it may be said that he was the Curé of Ars of Medicine.

Finding, in the Spiritist Doctrine, the key to problems whose solution he had vainly asked of Science as of all philosophies, Dr. Demeure had embraced that doctrine with ardor. Through the depth of his investigating spirit he suddenly grasped its full scope, in such a way as to become one of its most diligent propagators. Relations of mutual and lively sympathy had been established between us, and we corresponded.

We learned of his passing on January 30, and our immediate desire was to evoke him. Below we reproduce the communication obtained on that same day:

“Here I am. Still living, I undertook the commitment to manifest myself as soon as it should be possible for me, pressing the hand of my dear master and friend Allan Kardec.

“Death had lent my soul that heavy sleep called lethargy; yet my thought kept watch. I shook off the fatal torpor of the disturbance that follows death, I rose, and in a single bound I made the journey.

How happy I am! No longer old nor infirm. The body, that was but a disguise. Young and beautiful, with that eternally youthful beauty of the Spirits, whose hair does not turn gray under the action of time.

Agile as the bird that swiftly crosses the horizons of your hazy sky, I admire, I contemplate, I bless, I love, and I bow, atom that I am, before the greatness and wisdom of the Creator, synthesized in the marvels that surround me.

I am happy! happy in glory! Oh! who could ever convey the splendid beauty of the dwelling of the elect; the heavens, the worlds, the suns and their concurrence in the harmony of the Universe?

Well then: I shall try to do it, O my master; I am going to study, and I shall come to bring you the result of my labors as a Spirit, which beforehand, as a homage, I dedicate to you. Until soon.”

Demeure.

II.

The two following communications, given on February 1 and 2, concern the illness with which we were stricken at the time. Although of a personal character, we reproduce them as proofs that Dr. Demeure showed himself to be as good a Spirit as he had been a man.

“My good friend: have courage and confidence in us, for that crisis, though wearisome and painful, will not be long, and, with the prescribed counsels, you will be able, as you desire, to complete the work you have set for yourself as the aim of your existence.

It is I who am here; near you, and with the Spirit of Truth who permits me to speak in his name, since I am the most recently disincarnated of your friends. It is as though they were doing me the honors of the reception.

Dear master: how happy I feel to have disincarnated in time to be with these friends at this moment! freed sooner, I might perhaps have spared you this crisis which I did not foresee. My release was too recent for me to occupy myself with anything other than spiritual things; but now I shall watch over you, dear master. Here I am, happy as a Spirit, at your side, to render my services; 5 you know the proverb: “help yourself, and Heaven will help you.” Well then, help the good Spirits who assist you, by conforming to their prescriptions.

“It is very hot here: this smoke is irritating. While you are ill, it is best not to make a fire, so as not to increase your oppression. The gases released here are deleterious.

“Your friend, Demeure.

III.

“It is I, Demeure, the friend of Mr. Kardec. I come to tell him that I was accompanying him when the accident befell him. This would certainly have been fatal without the effective intervention in which I pride myself on having taken part.

In accordance with my observations and with the information gathered from a good source, it is evident to me that, the sooner his disincarnation occurs, the sooner he will reincarnate to complete his work.

It is necessary, however, before departing, to give the final touch to the works complementary to the doctrinal theory of which he is the initiator; 4 if, therefore, through excess of work, disregarding the imperfection of his organism, he should hasten his departure to here, he will be liable to the penalty of voluntary homicide.

It is fitting to tell him the whole truth, so that he may take precaution and strictly follow our prescriptions.” Demeure.

IV.

The following communication was obtained at Montauban, on January 26, the day after his disincarnation, in a circle of Spiritist friends that existed in that city.

“Antoine Demeure. I have not died for you, my friends, but for those who do not know the holy doctrine that reunites those who loved one another and had on Earth the same thoughts, the same sentiments of love and charity.

“I am happy and happier than I expected, enjoying a lucidity rare among Spirits, relative to the time of my disincarnation.

Arm yourselves with courage, good friends, for I shall often be near you, instructing you in many things of which we are ignorant when bound to matter, that thick veil over so many magnificences, over so many joys.

Pray for those who are deprived of this happiness, for they do not know the harm they do to themselves.

“Today I shall not prolong myself, telling you only that I do not feel entirely a stranger in this world of the invisibles; it even seems to me that I have always dwelt here. Here I am happy in seeing my friends, communicating with them whenever I wish.

“Do not weep, my friends, for you would make me regret having known you. Let time run its course, and God will lead you toward this dwelling, where we must all at last be reunited. Good night, friends; may God comfort you, and I shall remain at your side.

Demeure.

V.

Again from a letter from Montauban we extract the following narrative:

“We had concealed from Mrs. G…, a somnambulistic medium and a very lucid clairvoyant, the death of Dr. Demeure, out of regard for her extreme sensitivity. No doubt, seconding our intention, the good doctor also avoided manifesting himself to her.

On February 10 we gathered at the invitation of the guides, who said they wished to relieve Mrs. G… of a dislocation, on account of which she had been suffering greatly since the day before. We knew nothing more, and were far from thinking of the surprise that awaited us.

As soon as that lady entered somnambulism, she began to utter piercing cries, pointing to her foot. Here is what was happening:

“Mrs. G… saw a Spirit bent at her feet, his face hidden, performing rubbings and massages on her, exerting from time to time a longitudinal traction on the dislocated part, exactly as any physician would do. The operation was so painful that the patient cried out, employing disordered movements.

Nevertheless, the crisis was not long, and at the end of some ten minutes the inflammation and the marks of the dislocation disappeared, the foot resuming its normal appearance. Mrs. G… was cured!

“The Spirit remained unknown to the medium, persisting in not revealing his features to her, when, showing a desire to withdraw, the patient, who moments before would not have taken a step, threw herself in a single bound to the center of the room to press the hand of her spiritual doctor.

Once again, the Spirit turned his face away, leaving his hand in the medium’s. At that moment Mrs. G… gave a cry and fell fainting to the floor, having just recognized Dr. Demeure in the Spirit who was operating on her.

During the syncope she received the care of many affectionate Spirits. At last, somnambulistic lucidity reappeared and she conversed with many of these Spirits, exchanging felicitations, above all with Dr. Demeure, who reciprocated her testimonies of affection, penetrating her with reparatory fluids.

“Is not such a scene surprisingly dramatic, considering the personages as though playing roles of human life? Is it not a proof, among a thousand others, that Spirits are beings effectively real, acting as if they were on Earth?

We are happy to see, in the friend Spirit, the same kind heart of the diligent and selfless physician that he was in this world. He had been, during his life, the physician of the medium, and, knowing her extreme sensitivity, he spared her as much as if she had been his own child.

This proof of identity, granted to those whom the Spirit cherished, is admirable and apt to make one regard the future life through a more consoling prism.” NOTE.

The spiritual situation of Dr. Demeure is precisely the one that could be foreseen in his life so worthily and so usefully employed. But, from these communications, there results yet another fact no less instructive—that of the activity he employs almost immediately after death, in the sense of making himself helpful.

By his high intelligence and moral qualities, he belongs to the category of very advanced Spirits. His happiness is not, however, that of inaction.

Only a few days ago he was treating patients as a physician, and scarcely is he released from matter than here he is treating them as a Spirit.

Certain people will say that nothing is gained, then, by remaining in the other world, since one does not enjoy repose there. This is the occasion to ask them whether it is nothing to no longer have cares, needs, ailments; to be able freely and without fatigue to traverse Space with the rapidity of thought, to see those who are ever dear to us at any hour, however distant from us they may be!

And we shall add: When in the other world, nothing will force your will; you could remain in beatific idleness, and for as long as it pleased you, but be assured that this egoistic repose would soon weary you, and you would be the first to ask for some occupation.

Then you would be told that if idleness wearies you, you must yourselves seek something to do, since occasions to be useful are not lacking, whether in the world of the Spirits or in that of men.

And thus it is that spiritual activity ceases to be an obligation in order to become a need, a pleasure relative to one’s tendencies and aptitudes, the tasks most propitious to the advancement of each one being chosen by preference. [See in the Review of the month of March 1865: Dr. Demeure.]