room, animation returned to her countenance, as she exclaimed with some vehemence, “ I am so glad that old man is gone." We asked why?" He does not believe in Mesmerism; I am sure he does not.” How do you know? we asked—“Oh, I know it.” We have since been told that this gentleman attributed the effects we produced to Satanic agency. This is one case out of many which we have witnessed : and we cannot but pity those poor creatures who are exposed in public lectures to all the malevolent emanations of the unbelievers, who, albeit unconsciously, hinder the experiments : they cannot approach to witness anything, and then go away greater sceptics than before. In numerously attended lectures very few people can see anything properly; the greater part, having amassed a few mistakes, go away, and denounce their blunders as if they were Mesmerism. Some mesmerized persons do not care much for the presence or contact of strangers; but we have ever found that, in conducting experiments, the fewer persons present the better, both for the experiments themselves, and for the sake of the accurate observation of those present. These remarks lead to the consideration of the general repugnance to non-mesmerized bodies, and aversion to persons not in communication. We could never extract from a person in the trance what particular sort of unpleasant feeling they experienced from the contact of a non-mesmerized body; but a person in whom the effects would continue for awhile after being awakened, said, the result was a sharp pricking, and she could handle nothing till the effects were gone. This, however, does not assign a sufficient cause for the extraordinary aversion manifested towards persons not in communication. We have seen mesmerized persons in full possession of the sense of hearing, who could with the utmost difficulty be brought to confess that they heard the voice of a stranger speaking: if addressed by such, they would keep their countenance unmoved, and appear as if the attention were abstracted on something else. If they were very desirous of speaking, as once or twice has happened, they would ask the mesmerizer to speak for them. There exists a method of overcoming the repugnance to a stranger which is called putting the stranger in communication with the subject; after this the stranger becomes so connected with the subject that no further repugnance is shown, and he is listened to with atten. tion; and strange to say, when the organ of hearing is paralyzed, so that no extraneous noise is heard, his voice is still distinguished. In all cases the subject can hear the voice of the mesmerizer : which forms a very perplexing point in the consideration of isolation, or the state in which the impressions from the senses are destroyed. Isolation and repugnance do not necessarily co-exist, and may generally be induced by the mesmerizer either separately or together : we say generally, because the mesmerizer's skill and power may not be sufficient in all cases. We have seen a person appear not to hear a stranger's voice, who yet could hear well enough the tones of a piano: this showed the existence of repugnance without isolation. Still repugnance often follows isolation, and a person thrown into the state so induced would have a tooth or a leg removed, and might be hardly aware of the circumstance; but let a person not in communication grasp him with his hand, and now would be seen all the shud derings of horror and pain. If a stranger were to thrust a needle into a mesmerized person, the poor creature would start, not with the pain of the puncture, but at the horror of the contact, and would start just as much without the needle as with it. We have observed this starting to be more especially manifested in the subject when the mesmerizer's attention was strongly fixed on him; if he were engaged on something else, the repugnance would oftentimes be slight; and here is shown the operation of the mere will, that appears to enter so largely into mesmeric experiments. Persons who neglect to observe this, would be very apt to complain that there is no uniformity in the experiments; neglecting the cause of the variation, they might consider the phenomenon as doubtful, as a thing that existed, or not, at hazard. It is also to be borne in mind, that it will sometimes, though rarely, happen, that some parts of the body are in the state of repugnance to foreign substances, and that others are not so. We have enabled an entranced person to touch non-mesmerized snbstances by mesmerizing the hand with that intention; but the usual way is to mesmerize the substance itself. Most substances, when they have received the virtue from the mesmerizer, cease to be unpleasant to the entranced, whose nerves are so finely susceptible to the mesmeric influence that he can immediately detect a body so operated on. Very many times have we seen this exemplified in the case of Miss A. We rather think that she did once or twice eat something that had not been mesmerized, excepting this, she could never be induced by any artifice to take as mesmerized what had not been so, even though she were longing for refreshment: she would push it away, and say that it was not nice. It might be very easy to feign such aversion, but it would also be very easy to detect a person trifling in such cases; so we not unfrequently use this test to try if the patient be really mesmerized.. . Of course, in such delicate experiments, we suppose to be absent the counteracting influence of sceptical and ill-disposed persons, and could scarcely give any weight to such experiments performed in public. Some experiments indeed might be exhibited, but even these would scarcely be shown so satisfactorily before many, as before few. And here we see one cause that tends to retard the progress of Mesmerism. A number of gentlemen assembled to test the phenomena of Mesmerism can scarcely arrive at a satisfactory conclusion. What then are the learned heads of the medical profession to do? They require an experimentum crucis. Do they really wish it ?-or do they only profess to? What can be more rational than that they should try for themselves ? It is a very simple thing to do. They have multitudes of opportunities, yet they linger in doubt, and will scarcely stir a finger for their own satisfaction. That unruly member, the tongue, they will indeed employ in scorn of their more diligent neighbours. There they stop, content with such a condemnation of the science of Mesmerism. If it be not sufficient to see, let them also operate. This will be the road to truth that may carry them beyond the systems of opinion and prejudice. per (To be continued.) A WORN SPIRIT'S CRY FOR PEACE. I. Deep in the bosom of some happy vale, Where pride might not intrude, nor guile prevail; Where free and all-unheeded I might roam, And list to Nature's never-ending tale- II. Yes ! every morning sees me, hears me, pray To be released from the exciting scene And Vice stalks forth with bold unblushing mien : I loathe the air of cities; I decay In soul and body ’neath the cloud of spleen III. And droop, and sicken in its healthless air; In every breath that fills my bosom there ; A lonely pris’ner, captive to Despair ; IV. I do adore her pure and holy smile,- Of suff'ring anguish, the false tones of guile, The heartless, mocking, accents of the vile; v. From man's too-crowded haunts and be at rest: I ne'er,-bear witness Night, bear witness Day, I ne'er can still that passion in my breast; I long for Earth's pure scenes,—where I may stray With thee my , and be truly blest; Where fetterless and free we might abide, Forgotten, reck'd not, by the world beside. VI. I hate the trammels of the senseless crowd That calls itself society : I scorn Yes ! bonds I say, though they're as jewels borne : What is it but a bond ? Oh, might I warn With seraph voice but once, I'd tell mankind How false is “Honour." "Tis the plague o' the mind; VII. An ignis fatuus, never to be caught ; A wild creation of disordered thought : By rich—by poor-by young-by old 'tis sought: VIII. That fill the day-sleep of the slumberer, Man ! Which gild the prospect of his raptured scan;- And wakes to realize them,-if he can ; IX. A sleep of mocking dreams, a sleep of day ! Whose life is Life, whose minds no visions sway; Who gather Truth while Time doth o'er them sweep, Enjoy the Real, escape from Pleasure's ray, And quit the crowd for Nature and for God, Oh! let me follow where such men have trod ! I say this not in vain and foolish pride, I am not weak enough to think that I And therefore from the rest o' the world should fly; Begone, foul thought! my heart thou ne'er shalt guide ! I hate and scorn such rank hypocrisy; XI. For man to wish his fellow-man to flee ; Some such there were to chide Childe Harold's song, And charge its author with misanthropy ; But ere they aim their darts and shafts at me, XII. I'd have my gentle critics bear in mind, Authorities supporting me I find ; And am to public punishment consigned, XIII. And ever sought Humanity to aid; So much in fewer words was never said : “Oh! for a lodge in some vast wilderness, Some boundless contiguity of shade, XIV. Was overflowing, thus his thoughts exprest, “ Oh! that I had the pinions of a dove, For then I'd flee away, and be at rest." The' unquiet earth—he feels within his breast Now in these wishes what is it we see ? That proud disdain of life and social ties Which men denominate misanthropy Which teaches man man's nature to despise, And so incites him from man's haunts to flee See ye this feeling in these poets' cries? XVI. The wrong and outrage with which Earth is filled; They see that Virtue's bowed at Error's feet, And Truth compelled to Falsehood's power to yield; Crime, bloodshed, anarchy, they're made to meet, Men's hearts to love and peacefulness are steel'd |