* *

tions; and, lastly, to the impressions which may be experienced from the proximity of the metals, or of a running water." * "We are," he says, "so far from being acquainted with all the agents of nature, that it would be quite unphilosophical to deny the existence of the phenomena, merely because they are inexplicable in the present state of our knowledge." It would be well, I think, for those of our American brethren, who denounce the claims of magnetism and clairvoyance without one examination, to repent themselves, and adopt some of that honest modesty of La Place, which enabled him to acknowledge that the wisest do not yet know "all the agents of nature,"-hence, that a denial of any such phenomena is eminently unphilosophical and absurd.

But let us look at the testimony of the celebrated Cuvier, whose opinion has much weight as a man of close discrimination: "We must confess," says he, " that it is very difficult,-in the experiments which have for their object the action which the nervous system of two different individuals can exercise one upon another, to distinguish the effect of the imagination of the individual upon whom the experiment is tried, from the physical result produced by the person who acts for him. The effects, however, on persons ignorant of the cause, and upon persons whom the operation itself has deprived of consciousness, and those effects which animals present, do not permit us to doubt, that the proximity of two animated bodies in certain electrical conditions, combined with certain movements, have a real effect, independently of all participation of the fancy." In this connection, it may prove profitable to notice, particularly, the testimony of the author of an elaborate work on Human Physiology, Dr. Elliotson, of England,-who says:-"I have now, for three years, carefully and dispassionately investigated this subject by experiments performed almost every day upon a variety of persons; and I do not only repeat my firm conviction of the truth of mesmerism, but also of the truth of many points in it upon which

I formerly gave no opinion." It is very evident, that the Doctor beheld more of magnetism than is admitted by the few itinerant psychologists of to-day; for he says "The production of the peculiar coma (or profound sleep) by mesmerism, independently of all mental impressions, is a truth now admitted by a very large number of the best informed, acutest, and least credulous men in England." Another eminent physician says-"there is no longer any doubt, among those who have examined the subject, that in somnambulism the intellectual functions are not only very active, but frequently more developed than when the individual is awake." My impressions refer me to these remote testimonies as the proper historical beginnings of this particular science.

There is no longer any reason why some of our American scientifics and academicians should withhold their attention from a scientific philosophy, which walks among them, interrogating their repositories of learning, even while the sun shines forth from its zenith and the heavens emit no darkness. They can not still, with truth" on their side," affirm that "weak" and "credulous" minds constitute the only disciples; neither can they attribute all the phenomena to imposture or imagination; for they do not yet know "all the agents of nature." While the majority of medical men, and the generality of the clergy, turn aside, with a supercilious expression, from the candid investigation of these high manifestations of mind; that very eminent philosopher, Dugald Stuart, with much dignity of thought, says :-"Among all the phenomena, however, to which the theme of mind has led our attention, none are, perhaps, so wonderful as those which have been recently brought to light, in consequence of the philosophical inquiries occasioned by the medical claims of Mesmer and his associates."-But I will quote no further.

For the moral utility of magnetism, I refer you to hundreds and thousands of our own countrymen who have been led from physical

darkness into spiritual light and joy, by its developments. And the same number can testify, of the physical utility of this science, in all parts of the world. Dr. Elliotson published a pamphlet entitled "Numerous Cases of Surgical Operations, without Pain, in the Mesmeric State;" from which you can glean the adequate evidence of the scientific, theological, and therapeutic utility of human Magnetism. Indeed, the shelves of the popular bookstores are literally studded with confirmatory publications concerning this unseen power.

The time has nearly arrived when the intelligent people of the United States will require a magnetic Institution, wherein the laws of psychological science and of human magnetism may be systematically administered to the sick and diseased. Magnetism has already accomplished so much for the souls and bodies of men, that, to longer deprive it of an appropriate position amid the established sciences, would be to deny to truth the possession of her just demands. An Institution is necessary to a proper administration of magnetism.

Let each one do all the good he can in the fields of suffering and ignorant humanity. The best preventative of disease, both moral and physical, is unwavering obedience to the established laws of Nature. But while there is suffering, let human magnetism play most energetically from your hands into its fountain-head.

LECTURE XXI.

CONCERNING THE SPIRITUAL STATE AND ITS EXTERNAL

MANIFESTATIONS.

MENTAL illumination! I speak of no poetical fancy-no dream of the mind-under the influence of narcotics, opium, or stimulants. It is a high reality-a supremely superior condition. And yet it is a state with which but few are acquainted. It comes not within the sphere of every-day experience. It is that which brings the soul into close proximity with that "Interior Life," which holds perpetual commerce with the high, the holy, and the sanctified. I speak now of mental or spiritual illumination,-of an expansion of the expansive energies of the mind,—a subjugation of the material to the spiritual; the body to the soul!

You doubtless well remember what I have said concerning the states of somnambulism and clairvoyance. It was shown to be a fact, in mental science, that the somnambulic condition, is, properly and philosophically speaking, the first and lowest manifestation of the mind in the exercise of its spiritual capacities,-especially of the eyes of the mind," which require no sunlight or artificial mediums of vision; but which see through the agency of a high species of terrestrial electricity. And it was also shown that clairvoyance is, properly considered, but the further development of the natural conditions and proclivities of the somnambulic state.

In all matters pertaining to these mental conditions, without any presumption, I may safely claim to be familiar; both by spiritual impression and personal experience. They are familiar to my mind as household words. They are not mere theories. They are not mental

hallucinations, or the locomotive symptoms of nocturnal dreams; the principles of truth are flowing through them all. And when I speak of the laws, whereby these mental conditions are developed and regulated, I refer to nothing hypothetical or beyond the reach of human experience. The whole subject is present with me-a friend, with whom I hold the most delightful and confidential correspondence.

Nor are the manifestations of these states, however numerous and varied in different individuals, any strange or unexpected phases of mind to me; they all stand arrayed along the rectilinear line of natural cause and effect, and it is easy to pronounce a rational verdict upon a subject so absolutely transparent and comprehensible. But most of you are, perhaps, not thus experimentally familiar with the laws and workings of the human mind. Yet you all have experience of some description. The ordinary capacities of your souls, to say the least, are constantly called into action. Your very existence makes this inevitable. You must feel, and think, and compare, and analyze, and reason, and act; there is no alternative. Each one, consequently, possesses some absolute knowledge based upon experience. Every memory contains some peculiar picture; a concourse of people, a cluster of houses, a flock of birds, a combination of words. Each one remembers something particular; a word, a face, a song, a journey, a scene of infant years, a line of poetry. Each one has some experience of a mental nature; data, from which to commence a line of philosophical argumentation. Now, let me ask, how came these impressions so fixed upon your mind? Are they appended to, or daguerreotyped upon, your brain ; the substance wrought up into living pictures? If so, how can you explain this department of your experience? If not, how can you explain the philosophy of memory? Your minds are ladened with wonders; mysteries, which you do not and can not readily comprehend. And why is it so? Because you are more perceptive than reflective; you discern more than you have time or the ability to