THE. UNIVERSITY 6e ILLINOIS LIBRARY 130 B77r« Return this book on or before the Latest Date stamped below. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/manhisrelationsiOObrit OF THE MIND ON THE BODY; THE UELATIONS OF THE FACULTIES TO THE ORGANS, AND TO THE ELEMENTS OBJECTS AND PHENOMENA OF THE EXTERNAL WORLD. BY S. B. BRITTAN, M.D. THE SKEPTIC IS PRONE TO DISPUTE ; BUT IT IS THE PP.OVINCE OF THE PHILOSOPHER TO RE^^SON. ' SUCCESSOR TO W. A. TOWNSEND. 1865. V Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, by . W. A. TOWNSEND, 111 the Clerk’s Oflace of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New York. O. A. ALVORD, PRINTER. PREFACE. I N attempting to classify the phenomena that illustrate the laws and relations of the Human Mind, the Author the followi^ treatise has only obeyed a natural but irresistiblc^impulse. It is |^t of course pretended that he was summoned to this work by the commanding voice of a new Apocalypse, and he is quite sure that it was no mere caco'6th?s scrthendi that prompted him to write. It was rather a ra- tional but intense interest in whatever most deeply concerns the true nature and substantial progress of Man. The preliminary investigation was somewhat protracted ; and the philosophical suggestions that accom- pany the present classification of vital and mental phenomena, are deliberately offered as the result of a long course of observation and numerous experiments in the department of Psycho-physiology. The Author can only urge the force of his own convictions as a rea- son for his earnest manner, and a somewhat confident expression of his views on questions that may be regarded as unsettled. Had he ap- proached the difficult problems of psychological science with the timid circumspection, that holds itself at a great distance from the themes it proposes to discuss, he would have justly incurred the suspicion of trifling with a grave subject. Whilst he would offer no occasion for such a charge, he is forcibly reminded that a dogmatic spirit is wholly out of place in the philosophical treatment of profound questions. The facts that illustrate the power of the Imagination and the capa- city of the individual Will to influence the functions of other persons — as exhibited in both physiological and psychological eftects— are largely derived from the records of the Author’s experience ; but the results of his own Experiments certainly furnish proper criteria for an en- lightened judgment. Whilst the entire course of reasoning, and all the writer’s conclusions are cheerfully submitted to the ordeal of the most searching analysis and criticism, he can not acknowledge the right of any one to discredit the facts themselves, especially since they 939097 IV PREFACE. have been repeated, either before large public assemblies, or under the immediate inspection of many intelligent witnesses. It is not the province of the philosophical inquirer to consider the safety of old systems and popular superstitions. The scientific investi- gator should make it his chief business to discover and affirm the truth; at the same time, he may very properly leave the schoolmen to look after their own dogmas, and to the profitless task of attempting to pre- serve a kind of galvanic life in the forms of the dying and the dead. The labor of arranging the materials for the present volume ivas un- dertaken before the commencement of the Rebellion ; but the peculiar exigencies of the times occasioned a temporary suspension of the work, and the writer has but just completed his task. It has been empha- tically a labor of love, conceived and prosecuted with scarcely a thought of the prospective result, in any commercial sense. Should this treatise awaken in the mind of the reader a rational desire to know himself more perfectly, the labor of its composition will not have been in vain ; and the Author will not fail of securing a suitable recompense should the publication of his book promote the cardinal interests of Mankind. The Author must regard the general subject of this treatise as one of paramount importance. Indeed, natural objects and phenomena become more interesting as we advance from the lower toward the higher gradations of being. Every step upward from unorganized matter presents to the ordinary observer new objects of beauty, while it opens to the philosopher a wider field of investigation. But it is only when we approach the realm of I.ntelligence, that we become conscious of standing “ Oa the last verge of mortal being— by the enchanted confines of that World where souls exchange their earthly vestments for robes of Immortality. The whole subject is at once supremely solemn and sublime. This unfathomable mystery of thought ; this power to grasp the laws of Nature ; this majestic play of moral and material forces ; these golden memories and prophetic as- pirations, that unite the Past and the Future in the Present ! — all con- tribute to deepen the grand mystery of our microcosmical existence, whilst they impressively suggest that our scene of action is the Uni- verse ; that Eternity is our opportunity, and that we have Angels and God for our kindred. New Yoke, July, 1864. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. THE TENANT AND THE HOUSE Page. rfclimiuary Observations — 'Relations of Inward Forces and Essential Laws to the Forms and Plienome'na of the External "iVorld — The Kingdoms of Nature, Material Re- velations of the Divine Life — Archetypal Forms of Nature and Art — Duality of Man — Individualization of the 'Vital Principle — Forms and Qualities of Things essentially ex- ist in their Causes — Formation of the Embryo from the coexisting Interior Individu- ality — Supremacy of the Mind over the Body — General Illustrations — Atheistical Theories — Voluntary Powers of Animals and Man — Descartes’ Theory of the Universe — Man a Kingdom by himself— Intimate Relations of the Soul and Body CHAPTER II. ELECTRO-PHYSIOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES. Importance of the Subject — Agency of Vital Electricity in the Organic Functions— Researches of European Philosophers— Galvani -Volta— Aldini—Nobili -Matteucci — Humboldt— Emil du Bois— Reymond — Professor Buff— Alfred Smee — Mesmer — Decree of the French Academy — Distinguished Disciples — Triumph of Truth over Skepticism — Deleuze — Townshend — Georget — M. Foissac — M. Bertrand — Mialle — Baron Dupotet — Dr. Elliotson — Dr. Ashburner and Dr. Esdaile — Homogeneousness of the Nervous and the Electric Principles — ^Value of the Discovery to the Physiological Investigator and to Science 22 CHAPTER III. CIRCULATION OF THE ANIMAL FLUIDS. Defects of the Accredited Systems — Facts in Physiological Science — Amazing Forces and Complicated Functions— A.gency of Electricity in the Circulation of the Blood — Reference to Alfred Smee’s work — The Electrical Fishes — Observations of Humboldt and Prof. Beckeinsteiner — Demonstrative Experiment at Saratoga — Generation of Vital Heat by Electric action — Cause of the Change in the Color of the Blood 33 CHAPTER lY. CONDITIONS OF THE VITAL HARMONY. Opposite Forces — Illustrations among the Elements — Animated Nature — Health and Disease — Essential Conditions Specified— The Cooperation of Nature — A Strong Mind and 'W'eak Body — Passions and Pursuits as Disturbing Causes — Our Education Defect- ive-Fashionable Caricatures— The Ideal Harmony 43 VI . CONTENTS. CHAPTER V PHYSICAL CAUSES OP VITAL DERANGEMENT. , PAGE. Positive and Negative Forms of Disease — Improper Expenditure of Vital Energy — Inevitable Consequences — Results of Normal and Abnormal Physical Exercises — Ex- cessive Alimentiveness — Effects of Narcotics and Stimulants — A False Hypothesis- Amatory Perversions — Electrical Causes of Fevers and of Cholera — How to guard against the several causes of Vital Derangement 51 CHAPTER Vr. VOLUNTARY AND INVOLUNTARY FACULTIES The Mind and its Agent — Voluntary and Involuntary Faculties distinguished — Rela- ' tions of Mind to the Organic Functions — Its influence in Vital Chemistry — Ageuey of the Will — Power to resist Pain — St. Augustine and the Priest — The Italian Poet, Marini — Remarkable Powers of Charles W. Lawrence— Influence of Mental Excite- ment on Sensation — Case of Nathan B. Gates — How timid natures suffer and the brave endure ’. 61 CHAPTER VII. INFLUENCE OF THE PASSIONS ON THE SECRETIONS. Nature of the Passions— Opinions of Philosophers — The classification by Plato and Aristotle — Influence of the Passions on the processes of vital chemistry — Effects ot intense Sensuous Love — How certain Passions produce particular forms of Disease — Influence of Fear in changing the color of the Hair — Philosophy of the process — Pro- fessor Beckeinsteiner’s Experiments on Animals— Singular Experience of a Telegraph Operator — Irregularity of the change in persons of unequal mental, temperamental, and organic development — Illustration from the records of the writer’s observations — Further summary of the Electro-chemical and Physiological Effects of the Passions 70 CHAPTER VIII. THE MIND AS A DESTRUCTIVE AGENT Influence of Mind over the Vital Forces — How it deranges the Functions and De- stroys Life — Its Relations to Congestion, Paralysis, and other forms of Disease — Fatal Consequences of false impressions— Hydrophobia produced by the Mind— A fatal Bleeding without the loss of a drop of blood — Examples cited by Dr. Moore — A Man shot dead with blank cartridges— Death of another on the block— How a Pestilence may be arrested — Three fatal cases of Cholera as the result of the Mind’s action — An illustrative Fable— A Man killed by an ungovernable Temper — Irritable children and weak nerves — Mistakes at Coroner’s Inquests— The Broken Harp 8‘ CHAPTER IX. RENOVATING POWERS OF THE HUMAN MIND. Unreasoning confidence in Drugs - The Renovating Principle in Man— The restorative process— Its relations to the Mind — Influence of outward conditions — Consequences of opposite mental states — Total relaxation and inactivity dangerous— Faith superior to Physic — Relations of Amulets, Prayers, Incantations, etc., to physiological effects— CONTENTS Til Page. Importanco of giving a right direction to tho Mind— Health found in a pleasant Aro- matic-Disease removed with a hot Poker — The Paper-cure— A Psychological Emetic — Jesus observed tho Psycho-dynamic Laws — Absurdity of the theories of popular Materialism 94 CHAPTER X. MENTAL AND VITAL POWERS OF RESISTANCE. The inward Forces— False views of the nature of Disease— Conditions of the Earth and Atmosphere— Man’s positive relation in the outward World— How theCitadel may be defended— Experiments of Dutrochet— Structure of the membranes of animal and human Bodies — ^Relations of Mind to the powers of physical resistance— The Sisters of Charity — Strong mental Excitements may fortify the Body — Power to resist Heat and Cold — Reference to Dr. Kane, the Arctic Explorer — Col. Fremont’s Expeditions — Painful Experiences among the passes of the Sierra Nevada — The Colonel’s Inspiration —Conquests of the Positive Man 106 CHAPTER XI. EVILS OF EXCESSIVE PROCREATION. The higher Law — What things are pure and beautiful — Writers on the Philosophy of Impregnation — Rapid Propagation among the lower Classes — The Problem and the Solution — Destruction of the Unborn — Excessive Procreation at war with Nature —The evil Consequences — Legal and Conventional Morality— The Cannibalism of Lust — Infldels in the temple of the Affections— Indifference to momentous Consequences — A solemn Responsibility — ^Fearful self-sacrifice — Disease at the Baptism, and Crime at the Communion 319 CHAPTER XII. MENTAL ELECTROTYPING ON VITAL SURFACES. Relations of Light and Electricity to Vegetable Chemistry — Prismatic ofQce of the Flowers — Electrotyping on the body of a living Man— Philosophy of Marking Chil- dren — Relation of Poetry and Pictures to Ideality and Beauty— Influence of a Mouse and a Minister — Reproduction of the Golden Locks, and Reflection of the Violet Ray— John the Baptist and the Boy with one Suspender — A mournful case — Results of Obe- dience to Jhe Law 129 CHAPTER XIII. INFLUENCE OF OBJECTS AND IDEAS ON MIND AND MORALS Definition of Beauty— Views of Kant, Burke, Hogarth, Alison, Dugald, Stewart and Goethe — Influence of Music — Its action on the nervous circulation of Animals — Asa Remedial Agent — Case of Saul — Melodies of Nature — Irresistible power of Gentleness .and Love — ^Miss Dix in the Maniac’s cell — The Apostle John, Fenelon, Oberlin, and Howard— The Mystical Book of the Recording Angel — An essential Law of Organized Existence — Assimilation of Moral Elements — How we are transformed by our Ideals — Materialism of Modern Utilitarians— Material Symbols of Religious Ideas— The Goths in Italy — Grecian and Roman Art — Lessons from Nature — A Poet’s Vision— The Mes- senger in White Raiment— How we fashion the Angel Within 137 Vlll CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIY. RELATIONS^OF MIND TO PERSONAL BEAUTY. Page, General Observations — The Fine Arts and Civilization — The Magic Isles — Influence of Ancient Greece on Modern Ideas — Value of Personal Beauty — The Author’s Ana- lysis — Prevalence of false Views — Reference to Headley’s Letters from Italy — The Conceptions of French and Italian Ladle, s — Influence of the Mind on the Muscles — The History on the Wall — Expression as an element of Beauty — Creations of Ludovico Caracci, the Cyclops of Timanthes and the Cartoons of Raphael — Illustrations from practical Life -Desolating power of the Passions— Glory of a great Character 157 CHAPTER XY. RELATIONS OF MIND TO THE CHARACTER OF OFFSPRING An Organic Law— Natural Imperfections the Causes of Social and Moral Evils — Conditions and Laws of Vital and Moral Harmony— Law of Hereditary Transmission applicable to the whole Man — The Family Character and the Family Face — Apparent Exceptions to the Law — Mental and Moral States of Parents reproduced in their Off- spring -lilustrative Examples— A Melancholy Instance— The Question of Responsi- bility-Injustice of Criminal Tribunals — Obliquities of Reason and Conscience— Bar- barous Spirit of Popular Opinions— The Church Contaminated— Deliberate Murders under the Sanctions of Law and Religion — Members of Congress Honorable Excep- tions — Moral Blindness — A Mischievous Doctrine— One Law works ruin to Transgres- sors, while it redeems the Faithful 171 CHAPTER XVI. THE SENSES AND THEIR FUNCTIONS. Number of the Senses— The Faculties and Organs— Sight— Hearing— Smelling— Tasting — ^Feeling — Estimated number of Nerves in a single Organ — General diffusion of Sensibility— Philosophy of Vision— Views of the Platonists, Stoics and Epicurians — Mariotte’s Opinion respecting the seat of Vision - Sir David Brewster and M. Lchot — The Sensorial Processes — Alfred Smeo’s Experimental Illustrations 187 CHAPTER XYII. PSYCHOMETRIC PERCEPTION. Atmospheres of Worlds and of all Living Beings— Physical Elements and Moral Forces— The Soul-measuring power— Characteristics discovered in the subtle effluence from the Human Mind— Dr. Buchanan’s Earlier Investigations- IIow Psychometry was regarded by the Faculty— Discovery of Crimes and Detection of Criminals— Im- portant Experiments on the Brain— The Author’s Experimental Tc.sts — I’sychometric powers of Mrs. Mettler- Miss Parson’s graphic pictures of Distinguished Characters - Translation of Ancient Mysteries — Consecrated Places— Revelations to the Inward 197 CONTENTS. IX CHAPTER XVIII. PHILOSOPHY OF FASCINATION. Page. Isolation impossible— The democracy of Nature — The Elements impressive Teachers — All bodies have their Atmospheres— Reciprocal interchange of Elements— Universal Relations, Causes and Effects — Powers of Fascination directed to specific Objects — ^^Ex- amplcs of Charming — Birds fascinated by Serpents — Case of a Chibl near Gilb<^rt’s Mills — An illustration from Vaillant’s Travels in Africa -Opinion of Or. Newman— Serpent Charmers of India — The I.aplauder’s power over his Dogs — Sullivan and Rarey, the Horse-tamers — Fascination of Birds by a Belgian Beauty — Man the Go- vernor of the World — A lecture at Putnam — A Canine illustration 212 CHAPTER XIX. ANIMAL AND HUMAN MAGNETISM. Introductory Observations — Assumptions of Superficial Investigators — ^Testimony of the late Dr, Gregory— Philosophical Suggestions — Lawless Speculators and scientific Babel-builders — ^Criticism of the Great Plarnionia — Amazing production of Mechanical Force — Timely discovery of a common Error — Professional Fallacies — Science defined and Medicine found wanting — Phenomenal aspects of the Magnetic Sleep 223 CHAPTER XX. MAGNETISM AS A THERAPEUTIC AGENT. Absurdities of a routine Practice — Cosmological Changes— Progressive refinement of Human Nature — Modes of equalizing the Circulation — A system founded on Natural Law — Confirmation a Cure for Rheumatism — Observations by the Author — Mrs. Gardner cured of Asthma — Case of Catalepsis at the City Hotel, Springfield — Medical skill ineffectual — The young Lady suddenly restored — Asphyxiafrom a fall — Mrs. Mills cured of pleurisy — RheumatieJ’ever and Inflammation suddenly subdued — Philosophy of the Effects — Case of Miss Sarah Elizabeth Lockwood— Testimony of the Stamford Advocate — Letter from the Patient — Instantaneous cure of Symptomatic Derangement — ^The Lunatic clothed and in her right mind 236 CHAPTER XXI. IMPORTANCE OF MAGNETISM IN SURGERY Magnetism in the treatment of Disease — Its use in the practice of Surgery — Removal of a Cancerous Breast by AI. Cloquet— Singular ground of opposition to Magnetism — Stupidity of Dr. Copeland and a Scotch Divine — Dr. James Esdaile’s practice in British India — ^Seventy-three painless. operations at Hoogly — Case of Teencowrie Paulit — Removal of a Tumor weighing eighty pounds- Decisive Experiments— Opinion of Dr. Esdaile— Magnetism prevents excessive Hemorrhage and subsequent Inflamma- tion — Further observations— The Author’s Experiments — Application of Alagnetism m Dental Surgery — Saving a finger that had been off nearly half an hour— Scientific authorities mistaken— The Doctors mortified instead of the Patient’s finger 250 X CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXII. THE PHANTOM CREATION. Illusions of the Henses— How to test the accuracy of our Perceptions— Objects and their Shadows — Descartes’ theory— Newton’s discovery — The Mirage on the Eastern Deserts— The Fata Morgana, seen at the Straits of Messina— M. Monge’s Explanation before the Institute at Cairo, in Egypt— The forms of Ideas— The Phantom World- Philosophy of Sensorial Illusions — Illustrations from Dr. Abercrombie— Sir Isaac Newton on Ocular Spectra — The sense of Hearing deceived— Louis Brabant, the Ven- triloquist, and the beautiful Heiress— Personation of the Father’s ghost— The Banker of Lyons and his ideal Visitors — Louis obtains a fortune and marries his Mistress — M. St. Gill in a Convent — Remarkable Ventriloquial power— Chanting to a Voice — The Phantom Hosts of Disease and Dissipation Pagk 260 CHAPTER XXiri. PSYCHOLOGICAL HALLUCINATIONS. Nature the multiform expression of the Infinite Thought — The Psychological Power — Conditions of Impressibility — Action of material agents on the Body — Influence of Objects and Ideas on the Mind— Strong Men often the most Susceptible— The power of Speech — The Silent Language — Shadows of Ideas — Philosophy of Thought-reading — Electrical Influence of Oratory and Poetry — The mysterious Inward Fire — It kindles in the eye and burns on the lip — Summary of Illustrative Facts — Appeals to the Com- mon Experience — Influence of visitors on Sick Persons— Inferences from the Author’s Experimental Investigations 271 CHAPTER XXIV. MENTAL TELEGRAPHING. Casual Phenomena — The Author’s private Experiments — Vulgar and avaricious Pretenders — Human nature brutalized — Musical Experiments with Miss Wilder — Miss Buckeley and the Floral Exhibition — Spell of the Magnetic Water — The Revolver Test — Exquisite susceptibility of Mrs. Rice — A verbatim dispatch over the Mental Tele- graph — Curious Illustrations at a Social Party — Convincing proofs by a strange Lady — A young Man sent for — He answers the Mental Telegram in ten minutes— Tele- graphing from New Canaan to Norwalk— Mrs. Gardner is summoned by the Silent Courier— A Message sent eighteen miles, to Grace Goodyear — The Lady, receives it while she is asleep — A Dream inspired at a distance of One Hundred and Fifty Miles I— Objections Answered 281 CHAPTER XXV. THE FACULTY OF ABSTRACTION. Introversion of the Mind— Ideal and practical Men — Facts universally perceived — Principles seldom comprehended— Analytical and synthetical Powers- Vulgar con- ceptions of Utility— Fasting and Asceticism — Customs of the Ancic'ut Prophets — AVor- shiping in Groves and Mountains The Druids- Consecration of desolate places — In- CONTENTS. XI Page. flucnco of nipntal Introversion on Sensation — Archimedes of Syracuse — Statesmen, Philosophers and Poets— The mental Foci — State of Entrancement — Perversion of the Faculty — Vital and organic Derangements — Tendency to Fanaticism — Roger Bacon an d Si meon Sty lites 298 CHAPTER XXVI. THE PHILOSOPHY OF SLEEP. Introductory Observations — Analogy between the Vegetable and Animal Kingdoms — Uninterrupted slumber of the Foetus — Remarkable tendency to somnolence in Young Children— Reasons why they require more Sleep than Adults— General condition and aspects of the Sleeper — Philosophy of the Physical Phenomena— Boerhaave’s brass pan and water Soporific — Universal Action and Reaction — Diurnal ebb and flow of Vital Forces and Fluids — Brief Digest of Physiological Facts and Observations — We sleep and wake under the action of an irresistible Law— Loss of the Vital Equilibrium in Cataleptic and other Trances — Sleep essential to Vital Harmony and the preserva- tion of Life — Its Moral Influence and Spiritual Ministry 310 CHAPTER XXVII. PSYCHOLOGICAL MYSTERIES OF SLEEP. General Observations on the Nature of Sleep — Relations of Dreams to Physical Ob- jects and Physiological Laws— Dr. Gregory’s Dream — Relations of certain Dreams to the Passions — ^Phreno- Magnetism — Dreams inspired by Whispering in the Ear — Amus- ing Experiments on a Military Officer— Influence of Established Principles and Ideas in Dreams— Cuvier’s Humorous Illustration — Psychometric Dreaming— Remarkable Examples — Dreams Discovering lost Property— Witnessing Distant Occurrences in Sleep — A Thrilling Instance— Philosophy of Allegorical Dreams— The Author’s Exam- ples— Socrates and the Youth with the Flaming Torch— Reference to Professor Draper’s Views— Relations of the Soul to mental and Moral Forces — Nature and Dream-Land 323 CHAPTER XXVIII. INSPIRATIONS OF THE NIGHT. The Mental Faculties in Sleep — Illustration of their concentrated and orderly action — Curious Discoveries in Dream-Land— Cases of Mary Lyall and Cornelius Broomer —Experiences of De Quincy and Macnish— A rapid Voyage to India — An hour among the Pyramids of the Nile — Mechanical Inventions— Experiences of Dr. Franklin and Professor Gregory — Sermonizing in Sleep— A Legal Opinion by a Dreamer— Produc- tion of a Parody on Piron— Schonemann’s Improvisations- Fragments from the Tem- ple of the Muses — Tartini and the Devil’s Sonata— Philosophical Suggestions and Conclusion 348 Xll CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXIX. SOMNAMBULISM AND S OMNILO QUISM. Pagb. Physiological Aspects of the Sleep-walker — Somnambulism in the Lyric Drama — Dangers incidental to the State — Curious Case of a Dog — Examples from Dr. Gall, Mer- tinet, Dr. Pritchard, and Professor Soave— The Author’s Facts— Remarkable Case of a Student at Athens — An amusing Instance— Somniloquism — Influence of our Pursuits — Lady Macbeth, and the '’leep walker in Bellini’s Opera— Case of Rev. J. M. Cook — Personal Experiences— An Audience in the Bed chamber — Philosophical Suggestions — Association of Ideas and Movements— Testimony of Muller — Examples from Forty’s “ Mystical Revelations” — Jenny Lind and the Musical Somnambulist— Principles and Revelations of Nature 358 CHAPTER XXX. THE CLAIRVOYANT VISION. Preliminary Observations— Relations of Clairvoyance to the Pagan Mysteries — ^Illus- trations from the Scriptures — Croesus and the Emperor Trajan consult the Oracles — The Seer of Samos — Revelations of Apollonius — Testimony of St. Augustine— Examples from the Life of Swedenborg — The Seoress of Prevorst — Illustrative Facts from Dr. de Bonneville, Jacob Bohme, Stilling, and Zschokke— Remarkable Cases from Perty's Mystical Revelations— A Provost Marshal of France among the Seers — Discovery of Captain Austin and Sir John Franklin — Clairvoyance of Alexi.s — A Seoress in Hart- ford reads an Epitaph in Bermuda — She Discovers a Remedy for Yellow Fever — A Doctor mistakes Solids for Fluids — Seeing a Cambric Needle twenty four miles off, and a penny at a distance ol one thousand miles ! — Surprising Developments— A Fair Infidel and her Inamorato Exposed— Second Sight of the Highlanders — Application of the Argument to Science— Concluding Observations 377 CHAPTER XXXI. THE LAW OF PROPHECY. Material tendencies of Science — Influence of Literature and the Elegant Arts — Pre- monitions, a phase of Prophetic Inspiration — Reference to Sir Walter Scott — The prophetic element in Poetry — Wordsworth and Campbell — Death of Governor Marcy — His Daughter’s Premonition — Hon. N. P. Tallmadge, and the accident on the U, S. War Steamer Princeton— Miss M and the officer in the Peninsular Campaign — Loss of the Arctic — Prophetic Intimations to Five Persons — Life saved by a Premonition at the Norwalk Railroad Disaster — Prophecy of the Burning of the Henry Clay — Mrs. Swisshelm’s Report of Dr. Wilson’s Prophecies — Death of the Emperor Nicholas pre- dicted three months before it occurred — Jaspers, the Westphalian Shepherd — I-ottor to President Taylor concerning ancient Peruvian Prophecies— Goethe’s Experience — Prophecy of Cardicre, from the Life of Michael Angelo— Remarkable Prophecies by Roger Bacon — Inspiration, Heroic Achievements, and Martyrdom of the Shepherdess of Lorraine — Exposition of the Law of Prophecy 413 CONTENTS. Xlll CHAPTER XXXII. APPARITIONS OF THE LIVING. Pagb. Preliminary Observations — Extraordinary Experience of a Lady — Facts from “ The Night Side of Nature” — Professor Becker meets his own Shade — An Apparition appeals to Liunseus— A Man goes to Europe without his Body— Mysterious Interview in a London Colfee house— Mr. Wilson is visible in Hamilton while he is dreaming in Toronto — An Actor in New York when he is in Washington — A Lunatic in and out of the Asylum at the same time— Apparition of the late Joseph T. Bailey— Midnight Visit to a Boudoir in Lafayette Place — The Author’s Shadow in Louisville when his Substance is Five Hundred Miles off— Exciting Scene in a Ball-room— Refutation of Sir David Brewstrer’s Theory — Assumptions of theSadducean Philosophers— Explana- tion of the Phenomena, 445 CHAPTER XXXIII. STATES RESEMBLING DEATH. Preliminary Considerations — Hybernation— Life and Death defined — M. Jobert de Lamballe’s Experiments— The Vital Functions restored by Electricity— Institutions for the resuscitation of drowned Persons — A Surprising Story — An Indian Fakir entombed alive — He is restored after ten Months— Dr. George Watterson on Premature Burials — Case of D. C. Mitchell — Reanimation of Mrs. Columbia Lancaster — A Presbyterian Divine leaves the body and returns — A Man resuscitated at Memphis — Remarkable Case before the French Academy — Irresistible power of Love — Case of Rev. William Tennent — Examples from the Scriptures — Resurrection of Lazarus— Reference to M. Renan’s Life of Jesus— Concluding Observations 465 CHAPTER XXXIV. PHILOSOPHY OF INSPIRATION. The grand Harmony of the Universe — Nature the Divine Improvisation — Defini- tion of Inspiration — Men of Genius and their Works — The Poets and Musicians — • Mozart and his Requiem— Remarkable Improvisatores— Illustrations in the Curiosities of Literature — Harris and the Golden' Age — Sources of Inspired Ideas — Language an imperfect Medium — The Spirit and the Letter — Inspiration, a Vital Reality rather than a Fact of History — Imperfect Reports of the Teachings of Jesus and his Apostles — The Bible and its Authors — Cerebral Influence on Revelation — Analysis of Biblical Examples — The question of Plenary Inspiration — Theological Form of Materalism — Man the great Fact — Sacred Books and Religious Systems, Phenomena of Human Existence — God speaks to the World now 493 CHAPTER XXXV. RATIONALE OF WORSHIP. Natural Religion — Universality of the Sentiment — Illustrations from the inferior Kingdoms of Nature — Perversions of the Religious Principle — Historical Examples — True Religion and Spiritual Worship defined — Pagan Ideas among Christians — Incom- XIV CONTENTS. Page. patibility of the Outward Form and Inward Communion — ^The uses of Religious Sym- bols — How they assume the place of Essential Principles — Substituting the Shadow for the Substance — Religious influence of Natural Scenes and Objects — Inconsisten- cies of the Religious World — Grace and Trinity Churches — The Church of the Future — The true Christian Idea of Devotion — The Temple of Toil and the Worshipers 626 CHAPTER XXXVI. NATURAL EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. Question of Immortality — Indestructibility of Matter — The Life-Principle in all Sub- stance — Visible and Invisible Elements — Law of Organization— Unseen Realms of Organized Life — The Brain but the Instrument of the Mind — the ultimate seat of Sensation in the Soul — Exercise of the Faculties without the Corporeal Organs — The Body periodically Changed — ^Testimony of M, Favre before the French Academy — Elimination of Mineral Poisons — M. Orfila’s demonstrative Experiments— The Ma- terialist’s Objections — The Identity preserved through all Physical Changes — Argu- ment from Memory — Sensation and Consciousness neither suspended nor circumscrib- ed by the Amputation of Limbs— A popular Objection disposed of— The imperishable Body— Reasons for the apparent decay of the Faculties— Conclusion 564 MAN AND ms RELATIONS, CHAPTER I. THE TENANT AND THE HOUSE. Preliminary Observations — Relations of Inward Forces and Essential Laws to the Forms and Phenomena of the External World — The Kingdoms of Nature, Material Revelations of the Divine Life — Archetypal Forms of Nature and Art— Duality of Man — Individualization of the Vital Prin- ciple — Forms and qualities of Things essentially exist in their Causes — Formation of the Embryo from the coexisting interior Individuality — Supremacy of the Mind over the Body — General Illustrations — Atheistical Theories — Voluntary Powers of Animals and Man — Descartes’ Theory of the Universe — Man a Kingdom by himself. — Intimate Relations of the Soul and Body. L 1¥E is a spiritual and natural revelation of the Divine procedure. Not in outward seeming, nor in the changing phenomena of the terrestrial world, but in their vital prin- ciples and essential nature, all things endure. Effects are widely diversified ; they come and go in endless conti- nuity ; but essential causes cohere, and — like divergent streams — lead back to a common source. The ultimate springs of being are one in the Invisible ; and these great life-lines that connect external forms with the inward and central Life, are unbroken forever. The organic creation 10 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. is preserved and rendered imperishable, in respect to forms, functions and uses, by the great law and the curious pro- cesses of reproduction. It is true that specific forms perish and are decomposed, so that — in external outlines and super- ficial aspects — the world is destroyed every day. Yet the world remains ; and, in a most important sense, its forms are indestructible. The living germs of a creation that is ever new, take root in the ashes of this vast decay ; and the earth, even now, is far more radiant and beautiful than when it arose from the slumber of unconscious and shapeless being, “ In the young morning of Creation.’" In every part of the natural world the philosophical observer recognizes more than is immediately comprehended in our organic perceptions. The outward processes of Nature demonstrate the existence of inward forces ; specific forms are the material records of essential laws ; whilst the human body may be regarded as a living revelation of the indwell- ing soul. These observations will admit of universal appli- cation, from the highest to the lowest gradations of being. Simple elements, chemical combinations and physical forms, are the elementary and organic revelations of the essential Life and the inner World. In the process of crystalli- zation the separate particles assume their places under the action of inherent forces ; the atomic polarities and their mutual relations being determined — proxirnatcly by the subtile forces of imponderable agents, and in the last ana- lysis by the Supreme Intelligence. The crystal is the con- crete illustration of those mysterious attractions and alhn- ities whereby the ultimate atoms coalesce, remain united. THE TENANT AND THE HOUSE. 11 I and form the worlds. These potencies reside in all matter ; but they are chiefiy disclosed to us in the gross elements and ponderable bodies of the natural world, and through the outward avenues of perception ; without which the sensuous observer could neither discover their presence nor their exis- tence. The molecular deposites, chemical processes, and peculiar structure of each separate form, are dependent on the energies inherent in the simple elements, and especially on the great laws of organization and life as illustrated in the external creation. Every atom is a vehicle for the silent but irresistible power that renders it at once an exponent of its own affinities, and the conditions of its association with other elementary particles. Hence the visible world is but the phenomenal exhibition of that superior realm which comprehends the active forces, the primary forms, and the eternal laws of the Universe. The mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms are succeeding and progressive revelations of those invisible principles that pervade all substance, and pictorial illustrations of the Divine Life that animates the world. Through all the great kingdoms of Nature the inward force and essential law precede, in the order of time, the outward process and specific form. Hence all visible effects proceed from invisible causes. In the mineral kingdom the aggregation of particles is not determined by outward pres- sure, nor does cohesion depend on external restraints. The great forces of the natural world act from within — from their centers toward the circumference. The molecular gra- vitation occurs around the homocentric point of attraction ; and the inward force is at once the immediate source of the 2 12 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. material impulsion, and the soul of the particular association of piemen tary particles. Thus the elements involve the in- most springs of life, and the laws that determine all mate- rial combinations and rudimental forms. The acorn con- tains the oak ; and all the organized forms of the vegetable and animal kingdoms are unfolded from within, by virtue \ t of the forces that inhere in their germinal centers. In speaking of their development we distinctly intimate the j gradual unhiding of what before existed, but was invisible. It is impossible to form a distinct conception that is not as- k ^sociated in the mind with some idea of form. Every work of Art must exist as a mental conception, assuming a more f or less definite shape in the human brain. Hence all the ^1 i.objects of beauty and of use, fashioned by human hands, are but objective forms of ideas. In like manner, all natural objects are earthly shadows or reflections of archetypal forms inhabiting eternity, and forever present in the Infinite Consciousness. The first attempt to look into the Arcana of our own being, usually results in the discovery that Human Nature is at least two-fold. The student just entering on this course of investigation may be wholly incapable of making a criti- cal analysis, either of mind or body, and unequal to the task of a scientific classification of vital and mental phenomena ; but he can hardly fail to observe the dmlihj compreliended and exhibited in the form and functions of human existence. That the conscious intelligence and the corporeal instru- ment are, in a most essential sense, distinct^ while at the same time they are intimately united in the phenomenal illustrations of life, sensation, thouglit and action, is a truth THE TENANT AND THE HOUSE. IB sanctioned not alone by the philosopher's reason, but by familiar experience and universal consciousness. It might be interesting to examine the feeble beginnings of our individual existence in the light of modern scientific discoveries. It is true that the subject is still obscure, and all that is comprehended in the accepted theory of impreg- nation would fail to satisfy the philosophical inquirer. The first visible indication of the new form and individualized life of a human being, is an opaque speck floating in a thick fluid within a vesicle the size of a pea. But I do not pro- pose to discuss the philosophy of this subject. I shall not so much as pause to mark the successive stages of embryonic formation and fetal development ; notwithstanding the in- vestigation might prove to be profitable, at least by sug- gesting reflections calculated to humble our pride. I have already intimated that the forms, properties and uses of all things coexist — in a most important sense — with the very elements that enter into their composition and structures. Whatever belongs to the fully developed state of the plant, the animal and the Man must be latent in the causes of their production, and have a vital existence in the germs from which they severally proceed. Thus the embryo contains a man, not yet developed in his faculties and func- tions, nor complete in organic structure and external out- line. If we are right in entertaining the idea that all out- ward developments proceed from vital principles and arch- etypal forms within, it may be rationally inferred that our essential Manhood is invisible and spiritual ; and that the organic formation results from, and proceeds in harmony with the grand process of interior individualization. It is 14 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. coherent with the writer’s philosophy to ascribe priority of existence to the inward and invisible part of human nature. Each separate organ of the body may be regarded as the appropriate revelation of a hidden faculty of the mind, and a distinct prophecy of the functions it is designed and fitted to perform. The whole organic instrument thus represents that complete assemblage of faculties and affections which J together constitute the Human Spirit. | Whatever may be the reader’s idea of the nature of the k mind, he will be constrained to acknowledge its supremacy I over the realm of matter. This superiority is everywhere (' manifested by the exercise of our voluntary faculties. The f body is but the passive instrument of the mind. Moreover, cold and lifeless elements yield to our touch, and take the ' plastic shapes of living ideas. We mold them into innu- ' merable forms of utility and beauty, and Art has its monu- 1 ments wherever civilization has found its way. Forms instinct with seeming life, passion and sentiment, start out from the walls of the Vatican and the Louvre, while the sculptured memorials of Genius yet rise like pale specters among the mausoleums of Egypt and the shadows of the Parthenon, This dominion of mind over matter is not restricted to the more ponderable elements and forms of the physical world ; but it also extends to the imponderables and their myste- rious forces, in a degree that is only necessarily limited by our knowledge of the laws of those agents, and the sublime possibilities of human endeavor. Even* now we evoke the spirit of the waters to aid us, and it comes forth to move .our commerce and our navies against adverse winds and THE TENANT AND THE HOUSE. 15 tides. We put a soul in the wheel and intelligence in the shuttle. Remote nations speak to each other with tongues of fire. The finite mind cooperates with the silent forces of the world, and in the voices of Nature we recognize the presence of the Will in skillful and graceful modulations. There is a superficial and atheistical philosophy that makes the Universe at most but a vast galvanic pile, and Man no more than an automatic, calculating and locomotive machine. It conceives of the soul as common air, or a tran- sient flame arising from the process of vital combustion ; and of all human intelligence as the phosphorescent illumina- tion of the brain. In consonance with this cold and soulless ^ materialism, it is assumed that the suspension of vital mo-' tion, marks the termination of all feeling, all thought, all action, and all consciousness ; and hence the final extinction of being. This is wholly incompatible with a rational phi- losophy, nor can it be reconciled with the most significant facts in our experience. We must acknowledge the Mind^s dominion over the elements, forms and forces of the Phys- ical World, to be a government only limited in the exercise of its powers by the present standard of knowledge, and the imperfect development of the human faculties. W e certainly require no material and metaphysical analyses to enable us to decide a question of this nature. The most grovelling Materialist must accept what is at once so obvious to his senses, his reason and his consciousness ; namely, the superi- ority of the mind over the body ; and he must ascribe to the former all those faculties and forces which clothe human nature with more than regal powers. We have a class of speculative minds who accept the 16 MAN AND HIS DELATIONS. doctrine of immortality with peculiar modifications. They maintain that men have no souls until some time after their bodies are completely formed, and they have been fairly ushered into the external world ; and hence that the still- born have no existence hereafter. When the animal nature entirely predominates in the parents, it is conjectured that the spirit in the child is not individualized until several months or years after its birth, and in some instances not at all. This 'presupposes that men never directly heget their hind; hut that brutes are begotten^ and that with occasional exceptions they become truly human at their birth or some- time thereafter. It is perhaps the general opinion amongst this limited class of pseudo-philosophers that we become immortal by breathing the vital atmosphere. It is true that all other animals inhale the same air, and yet never ascend to the plane of human existence. It is difficult to under- stand why oxygen should exert this amazing spiritualizing power over the genus Homo while it has no si milar effect on the quadrumana. In fact we discover nothing probable in this singular hypothesis. On the contrary, we may presume that the work of individualizing the intelligent principle in man must commence with, and regulate the process of embryonic formation. The philosophical mind will not fail to observe in all animated nature something superior to the simple elements and forces of the material world. I refer to those volun- tary powers which belong to the animal creation. Only lifeless things float on the surface or with the tide. The living tenants of the air, the sea and the mountain streams move at pleasure against impetuous currents and the strong- THE TENA.NT AND THE HOUSE. 17 est tides. The acquatic birds, regardless of their relative specific gravity to water, dive beneath the surface, or rise at will above it, into the ethereal regions ; and thus illustrate the superiority of voluntary powers over the innate forces and laws of unorganized matter. But in Man we are presented with a far more diversified exhibition of voluntary faculties, displayed with sovereign- freedom and irresistible force. He is less than our concep- tion of Man who doubts or is disposed to pause at material obstacles. It is Mind that transforms the solid and shape- less rocks into splendid cities, and warms and illuminates them with materials derived from cold and rayless caverns of the mountains, thus bringing “ light out of darkness.’' It is intelligence that renders the most destructive agents harmless. It converts fierce lightnings into faithful couri- ers, more rapid and sure than the ancient wing-footed mes- senger of the gods. Thus Man lays his hand on the springs^ of Nature, and keeps the elements in subjection to his will ; ^ and the vast barriers between continents are converted into international highways, that Civilization may spread the white wings of commerce over every sea. That creature must be supremely sluggish, if not utterly ^ soulless, whose bleared sense and perverted imagination would make the Mind inferior to the Body ; or who is • willing to entertain the idea of such ignoble subordination. But it is illogical and preposterous to admit the superiority of the Mind, and yet maintain that it is only the offspring of our corporeal nature — born and extinguished with the animal fires— that the soul is merely phenomenal, and results from the slow combustion of carbonaceous matter, and the 18 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. inevitable action of air, light, electricity and other subtile agents on a curious organic structure. To presume that effects may be thus fundamentally different from their causes ; or, indeed, that they may even transcend their causes, in degrees that admit of no comparison, is simply absurd. Nor is this assumption rendered more rational or respectable by the constant misapplication of the terms Nature, Eeason and Philosophy. And yet popular Material- ism builds its earthworks on the shifting sands of such in- congruous assumptions. Life and all human powers and capabilities are regarded as the product of merely physical causes, that, in themselves, possess none of the attributes of intelligence, and no manifest life. Blind forces may -not organize and govern such a world as this ; lifeless elements do not generate and individualize the vital principle ; and the rotary motion of material particles in a vortex never evolved the rational soul. ‘ It is no part of the design of this work to consider Man, anatomically or otherwise, in his relation to the animal creation ; nor do I propose to discuss questions that relate to the origin and distinguishing characteristics of the different races and families of men. ^ Those who are prone 1 Reasoning from the Cartesian hypothesis and the centrifugal forces, Descartes undertook to account for the formation of the Universe, and the movements of the heavenly bodies. But while his theory was, at least * apparently, consistent with the motions of the planets — which revolve in nearly the same plane— it left the comets out to wander, as usual, in every direction through the fields of space, regardless alike of the limits of the Cartesian vortices and the reputation of the philosopher. 2 If the reader is seeking information in this branch of Ethnology, he is recommended to peruse the “ Types of Mankind, ” and Lyell on the “ Antiquity of Man,” if he has not done so already. THE TENANT AND THE HOUSE. 19 to consider man as only an animal endowed with superior faculties, have been unable to discover an unbroken connec- tion between human nature and the superior types of the animal kingdom. They have looked in vain to comparative anatomy for a demonstration of their theory. ^ But if in- stead of confining our observations to the physical depart- ment of his complex nature, we have regard to moral aspects and psychological attributes, we shall readily discover that Man is forever separated from the whole animal world by natural lines that are broader and deeper than any that define the limits of the other kingdoms. A great gulf divides the illimitable faculties and rational reverence of Man from the highest development of the brute instincts. Materialism, aided by the most ingenious sophistry, has never been able to bridge the chasm. The grand faculties and achievements which so distinguish Man from all inferior natures, plainly indicate that the Race constitutes a separate kingdom. In a treatise on the Unity of the Human Species M. Quatrefages says that “ Man must form a kingdom by 1“ The distribution of the fossil forms of Monkey, from which Man may be supposed to claim a genetic relation, entirely baffles our attempts to as- ^ sociate the existing races of Man with any of the species beneath him.” ********** “ We believe that all the higher faculties of human nature — all the powers that make us Max — are visibly independent of that mere structural organiza- tion in which, many of the animals surpass us. Take an animal gifted with the nicest sensuous faculties, and he will not approach in mental capacity the lowest of the human species. Take a man deprived or destitute of all his senses and animal powers ; there is still something in his capacity immeasurably superior to the whole brute creation. There is the gift of articulate language— the power of numbers — the power of generalization — the power of conceiving the relation of Man to his Creator — the power of foreseeing an immortal destiny — the power of knowing good from evil on eternal principles of justice and truth .” — Edinburgh Review, April, 1863. 20 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. himself, if once we permit his moral and intellectual endow- ments to have their due weight in classification.”* In liis interior being man presents an organic and beau- tiful union of many noble faculties and affections, all having a common center in the individual consciousness ; while the body is a delicate corporeal machine or instrument, with particular organs corresponding to the several faculties of the mind or spirit, each organ being adapted to specific functions of being. Through this complex organism the in- '! telligent Soul sustains intimate and vital relations to the elements and forms of the Physical World. Thus the im- i mortal powers of our spiritual being all meet, unite, and center in consciousness ; at the same time, their mundane , instruments belong to the ‘body, and have their organic center in the brain ; while the movements of the spirit, as revealed by its action on and through the body, may be ap- propriately denominated the organic functions. ; So intimate is the relation between the body and mind that they act reciprocally and powerfully on each other. Especially does the mind exert a mighty influence, for weal or woe, over the body. The mental and vital action are so inseparable that every silent emotion and unspoken thought leaves an image — dim and shadowy it may be — on the or- ganic structure. The vital fluids flow fast or slow, as tlie mind is excited, or is permitted to repose. The great thoughts of the poet and the orator quicken the blood in their veins, and accelerate the pulsation in millions of human bosoms. The heart of the poor exile leaps at the thought of his country and the memory of his home. The 1 “ Antiquity of Man,” page 495. THE TENANT AND THE HOUSE. 21 patriotic deed, and word, and thought even, strike the chords of life till they vibrate with a strange and ungovern- able energy. This relation of mental t3 vital motion must . be understood, if we desire to render health more secure, and life a more certain possession. Physiology and Anat- omy, as hitherto taught^in the schools, only present us with tlie outward structure, without the inward light that reveals the mysteries of the temple. It will be conceded that the importance of the present in- quiry is in no degree diminished by the obscurity that over- shadows the ultimate spring of life and thought. Rather is this an element in the strange and peculiar interest that belongs to the theme. Moreover, the .mysteries of human nature are not all inscrutable, and we may yet learn far more of ourselves than is contained in the catechism, or taught in the schools of modern science. And while I shall not attempt, in this treatise, a nice anatomical dissection of the human mind — with a view to those subtile and technical distinctions which the learned and deeply metaphysical in- quirer might be pleased to recognize — I shall, on the con- trary, without descending to the lower level of the unedu- cated intellect, aim to present my subject in a clear light to the common comprehension. In the prosecution of this work, I shall regard the distinctions of the metaphysi- cians, ancient and modern, only so far as they appear to accord with the laws of Nature and the light of a scientific philosophy. It were better to lose our way, occasionally, in the great Unknown, and to take some useless steps in our exploration, than with unquestioning faith and mechan- ical precision to follow every blind guide. CHAPTER n. ELECTRO-PHYSIOLOGICAL DISCOYERIES. Importance of the Subject — ^Agency of Vital Electricity in the Organic Functions— Researches of European Philosophers — Galvani — Volta — Al- dini — Nobili — Matteucci — Humboldt — Emil du Bois-Reymond — Professor Buff — Alfred Smee — Mesmer — Decree of the French Academy — Distin- guished Disciples — Triumph of Truth over Skepticism — Deleuze — T-own- shend — Georget — M. Foissac — M. Bertrand — ^Mialle — Baron Dupotet — Dr. Elliotson — Dr. Ashburner and Dr. Esdaile — Homogeneousness of the Nervous and the Electric Principles — ^Value of the Discovery to the Phy- siological Investigator and to Science. MONG the various departments of scientific inquiry, that which comprehends the laws of vital motion, sensa- tion, and thought, is, perhaps, of paramount importance, in- asmuch as it most intimately concerns the nature and preser- vation of human health and life. Critical observation and profound thought are indispensable to success in this depart- ment, and it must be confessed that few persons in this country have attempted the investigation in a scientific spirit. The subject has, however, engaged some of the no- blest minds in Europe, and we are permitted to anticipat the solution of its greatest problems. It is not my purpose to discuss the simple anatomy and physiology of the human body, for the reason that tliose of my readers who may be in need of information in that de- ELECTRO-PHYSIOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES. 23 partment will find what they require in the numerous scien- tific treatises already extant. But it will be proper in this place to speak briefly of the connecting medium between the Body and the Mind. The sublimated aura that pervades the brain and nervous system, and which is doubtless the proximate cause of all vital and voluntary motion and sensa- tion, is electrical in its nature. While Animal Electricity is the immediate agent in the production of all chemical changes that occur in living bodies, it is no less true that the agent itself is generated in all the processes of vital chemistry. The same subtile element is disengaged in all muscular motion, as has been demonstrated by a variety of scientific experiments, some of which I will briefly notice, as they will aid in the further elucidation of my subject. It is my purpose in this chapter to furnish a concise his tory of the researches and discoveries in Vital Electricity and Magnetism, without which the present treatise would be incomplete. In the latter part of the last centuiy Galvan I, a distinguished anatomist and physiologist of the Bologna school, and the celebrated Italian philosopher Volta, made numerous experiments with a view to illustrate the influence of galvanic electricity on ih.Q nerves and muscles of certain animals. The former discovered this agent, and the latter invented instruments for generating and directing it to scientific and other practical purposes. On this account the gent has been generally known as Galvanism, and the in struments as Voltaic apparatus. It was especially in the autumn of 1786 that Galvani's experiments, in producing muscular contractions by electrical currents, began to assume a profound significance. In 1791 he published his cele- 24 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. brated Commentary, which produced an intense commotion among pliysicians, physiologists, and philosophers through- out all Europe, and led to much speculation respecting the origin of nervous diseases, and the nature of the vital prin- ciple. But as metallic rods and other instruments had been employed in Galvani’s experiments, Volta contendeci that the phenomena did not result from the presence of animal electricity, but that the muscular contractions were caused by a heterogeneous combination of metallic substances. To meet this objection, Galvani pursued his experiments until he obtained the same results without the intervention of metals, and thus demonstrated, apparently at least, the exis- tence of animal electricity and its probable agency in all vital phenomena. A bitter controversy ensued ; V olta seemed likely to sub- vert the claims of his rival, when Humboldt published his work, entitled, “ Experiments on Stimulated Nervous and Muscular Fibers,’’ etc., in which he favored the position of Galvani. At length, near the close of 1799, the Italian philosopher made the discovery of the Voltaic hattery, which secured for his opinions a rapid triumph. Nothing further appeared in support of Galvani’s theory of animal elec- tricity, save an essay by his nephew Aldini, wherein the author recorded the results of many useless experiments, and attempted to appropriate to himself the honor of his uncle’s discoveries. Aldini’s work was published in French, in 1804, after which no particular attention was paid to the subject for nearly a quarter of a century. In 1827, Nobili made a grand improvement in the galvanometer, and demon strated more clearly than his predecessors had done, the ex- electro-physiolouical discoveries. 2o istcnce of the electro-magnetic current in the frog. Mat- teucci experimented on the frog and the torpedo, and soon attracted more general attention to these phenomena. The credit of having made the first really demonstrative experi- ments in this department is usually given to the author of the “ Physical Phenomena of Living Beings.” He forced the points of small needles into the muscles of living ani- mals, and then connected their opposite ends with the poles of a very sensitive galvanometer. When the animal moved the muscle, it was observed that the needle of the instru- ment was deflected, thus showing the presence and passage of an electric current simultaneously with the muscular con- traction. The experiments of Galvani and others, in causing mus- cular contractions by electricity, artificially generated and applied to the limbs of frogs, and the muscles of other life- less animals, seemed to afford significant suggestions respect- ing the homogeneous properties and effects of electricity and the nervous fluid. The observations of the scientific investi- gators who preceded him, and especially those of Matteucci, furnished a starting-point for Emil du Bois-Beymond, of the Berlin Academy, who constructed still more perfect appara- tus, which enabled him to discover not only the muscular current in the inferior animals, but in the living Man. The variation of the current by volition^ in the act of muscular contraction, was also clearly demonstrated by the experi ments of du Bois-Reymond, who described his modus ope- randi and the specific results, in a letter to Baron Hum- boldt, and in a statement communicated to the French 26 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. Academy. ’ Reymond’s mode of conducting the experiments in Yital Electricity will doubtless interest the reader : Taking two homogeneous pieces of platina, he immersed one end of each in a solution of common salt, contained in two cups, and then connected the opposite ends of the platina strips with the needle of his galvanometer. Having ar- ranged his apparatus, he plunged the index finger of each hand into the solution contained in the two vessels, where- upon he observed a slight deviation of the needle of his instrument. By alternately concentrating the will on the two arms, and thus timing the muscular contractions, the most decided oscillations were produced. Humboldt repeated Raymond's experiment, and confirmed (in fact and in the judgment of the scientific world) the result, by his success and the weight of his powerful testi- mony. Subsequently Prof. Buff, of G-iessen, experimented with still more extraordinary results. Having joined the hands of sixteen persons, he caused the individuals at the extremities of the line to complete the circuit by each dip- ping the hand that was disengagd into the contents of one of the cups. The cuticle — on the hands of the persons em- ployed in the experiment — having been previously moistened, opposed no resistance to a free circulation of the subtile element. Accordingly, when — at a word — every person in the circuit — in regular alternation — contracted the mus- cles of the right and left arm, the galvanic needle was pow- erfully moved, in opposite directions, and to the extent ot not less than fifty degrees. These results have been further 1 Annales de Chimie ct dc Physique, 3me sdrie, t. xxx. ELECTRO-PHYSIOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES. 27 corroborated by the experiments and observations of Alfred Smee of London, the present writer, and others, and they plainly show that an electro-motive 'power pervades the ifierves and muscles of all animal bodies d This agent is continually disengaged or evolved in the subtile processes of animal cliemistry, and we have valid reasons for the opinion that it is the chief agent in all vital and voluntary motion and sensation. Phenomena of a very different kind, yet manifestly depend-* ing more or less on the distribution and modified action of the same vital motive power — in other words, on vital elec- tricity and the electro-magnetic conditions of the several c rgans — attracted the attention of other minds, and led to curious and important discoveries. As early as 1774, F. Antoine Mesmer, a member of the Medical Faculty of Vi- enna, succeeded not only in reducing the novel processes and mysterious results of Animal Magnetism to something like a scientific formula, but in his own extensive practice he found numerous opportunities to test its value as an aux- iliary of medicine. The success of Mesmer, and the singular power of this new remedial agent exeited, among the Faculty of Paris, a spirit of jealousy and resentment, which was soon manifested through the Royal Medical Academy. An arbitrary degree was issued, declaring the use of Animal Magnetism unprofessional and injurious, and making expulsion from that institution the penalty for advocating its claims. In 1784 the committee appointed by the French Academy to examine the subject, having failed to see, feel, taste, smell. 1 See Dr. du Bois-Reymond, “ On Animal Electricity,” also, Smee’s “ Elec- tro-Biology.” Q 28 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. measure or weigh the subtile, miracle-working fluid which Mesmer had supposed to exist, reported that there was no such thing as Animal Magnetism. But tlic facts continued to occur, and to command attention in different parts of Europe. Cuvier, Laplace, Humboldt, Coleridge, Dugald Stewart and many other distinguished names, became identi- fied with the new science. In 1831 its claims to a place among the accredited sciences were duly acknowledged in the report of the scientific commission appointed, if we mis- take not, in 1825. Skepticism reluctantly gave up the ghost. The invisible pain-destroying agent was admitted into the hospitals of Paris and London, and a Professorship of Animal Magnetism was established in the Medical Colleg 3 of Berlin.^ 1 Several noted experimenters and authors appeared in dif- ferent parts of Europe, and the phenomena of the magnetic state were widely and critically observed. Rev. Chauncey Hare Townshend, of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, pursued the subject experimentally with great earnestness, and finally published his work, entitled “ Facts in Mesmerism,’^ about the beginning of 1840. During his investigations he had an op- portunity to witness the effects of the magnetic process on many persons in England ; also at Rome, Naples, and else- where ; and among his subjects were Signor Ranieri, the historian. Professor Agassiz, and other eminent persons. 1 The discoveries of Mesmer, and his dexterous use of the mysterious power, gave him an enviable position and a commanding influence. He had many distinguished pupils in Paris, received large sums for his course of in- struction, and was professionally employed by the principal nobles at the Court of Louis XVI. ELECTRO-PHYSIOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES. 29 But there were others in this field who are not to be for- p;otten. For nearly forty years M. Deleuze, a French prac- titioner and a most conscientious man, was engaged in the experimental illustration of the powers and uses of Animal Magnetism. Deleuze confined his experiments, with rare ex- ceptions, to invalids, and the results of his protracted experi- ence have been given to the public. Several other authors have likewise placed us under obligations for important contributions to the sum of scientific and popular informa- tion on this interesting subject. Georget, in a treatise entitled ^^Pliysiologie du SysUme Nerveux^^^ mentions the re- sult of certain experiments in this species of magnetism, by wliich he seemed to impart some new properties to water. When highly sensitive persons tasted the water, they could readily distinguish it from that which had not been subjected to the process. M. Foissac manipulated liquids in a similai* manner, and Paul Yillagrand, a somnambulist, would at once detect the presence of the magnetic influence by the sense of taste. M. Bertrand and others effected cures by the use of magnetized water, and M. Mialle, who at one time could find no repose on account of some painful indisposition, assures us that a piece of magnetized glass, which he placed on his chest — on retiring for the night — had the effect to greatly modify his symptoms, and to induce the presence of “ Tired nature’s sweet restorer, balmy Sleep.” i Among the practical operators in Animal Magnetism and the earnest defenders of its claims, the Baron Dupotet, Dr. ‘ See Dr. Alphonse Teste’s Manuel Pratique de Magndtisme Animal. Lon- don edition, pp. 208-210. 30 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. Elliotson and Dr. Ashburner have lon^ been distinguished. But no man has made a more beneficent use of this agent than Dr. James Esdaile, who was employed in a professional capacity by the British East India Company. His unrivaled success among the people of Bengal, is doubtless in a great measure to be ascribed to his own personal energy, superior skill in his profession, and to the benevolent impulses and aspirations of his heart. Dr. Esdaile found the natives of that country extremely susceptible of this magnetic influence, and in his efforts to meliorate their condition he permitted no occasion to pass unimproved. His surgical operations, were generally performed while the patients were in the magt netic trance. Notwithstanding many of these operations! were extremely difficult, and such as are usually attended with intense pain. Dr. Esdaile’s patients were all the while) in an unconscious state, and of course incapable of suffering. Indeed, so effectually were his subjects bound, that not a nerve quivered under the knife, nor was a single muscle con- vulsed by the burning iron in the process of actual cautery. The coma in some cases continued for hours after the opera- tion was completed, and when the patient awoke he was generally free from pain, and oblivious of what had trans- pired.^ Among the American practitioners in this department, who have occupied the largest share of public attention. Dr. John B. Dods and Laroy Sunderland have published small treatises illustrative of their peculiar views, and the modes they respectively adopted in their experiments. Dr. S. S. See “ Mesmerism in India, and its practical application in Surgery and Medicine by James Esdaile, M. D. ELECTRO-PHYSIOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES. 31 lijon, and many other respectable physicians, have employed Magnetism as a remedial agent, and as an auxiliary in their pathological investigations. The experimenters who have been attracted by the novelty of the subject, or from mer- cenary motives, have been very numerous, but they shall be nameless in this connection. With rare exceptions their investigations have been exceedingly superficial. Indeed, Science has nothing to expect from men who have a para- mount regard for money, and whose only aim has been to make an amusing and remunerative public exhibition. Such men have a passion for masquerade, and never hesitate to play the. harlequin in the abused name of Science, when a promising engagement is offered. The remarkable success which has attended the professional career of Professor Grimes, doubtless entitles that gentleman to the distinction of leading the nondescript army of fantastics, who make grave subjects ridiculous, and even sacred things disre- putable. A few years since, a great number of magnetic and psychological doctors — after pursuing their studies for a few hours — went forth to enlighten the public respecting the mysteries of “Electro-psychology,” “Biology,” and other kindred subjects. It must be admitted that they secured general attention, and prompted an examination of a variety of significant and important phenomena. While their pre- tended explanations were generally crude and wholly unsat- isfactory, it is doubtless true that their experiments often prepared the way for subsequent inquiries and enlightened convictions. I have had occasion to observe that Vital Electricity is 32 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. the immediate agent in the production of all motion and sensation in animal and human bodies. Hence, the varied and remarkable phenomena, developed in the magnetic states of the system, must depend on the power of the operator to influence the nervous circulation or to control the distribution of vital electricity. The discovery of the homogeneousness of the nervous and the electric power is one of great impor- tance to science, and especially to the physiological inquirer. It lights up the outward temple of our being ; it will aid us in solving the problem involved in the circulation of the animal fluids ; it suggests a rational philosophy of sensation, and opens the way to a clearer and more comprehensive knowledge of the laws of organic action and vital harmony, In the light of this discovery we shall hereafter survey the outer courts of the temple, and then do what we may to guide the mind of the thoughtful and reverent inquirer toward the inner sanctuary of his being. CHiPTER III. CIRCULATION OF THE ANIMAL FLUIDS. Defects of the Accredited System — ^Facts in Physiological Science — Amazing Forces and Complicated Fnnctions^Agency of Electricity in the Circula- tion of the Blood Reference to Alfred Smee’s Work— The Electrical Fishes— Observations of Humboldt and Prof. Beckeinsteiner— Demonstra- tive Experiment at Saratoga — Generation of Vital Heat by Electric action — Cause of Change in the Color of the Blood, P HYSIOLOGY, as explained in the class books and taught in schools, furnishes no scientific philosophy of the Yital Functions. Whilst the anatomist maps out the osseous, fibrous, nervous and circulatory systems, and exhibits their organic relations and mutual dependencies, the physiologist contributes his descriptive and technical disquisitions on their respective functions ; all of which — with the current knowledge of vital chemistry — is insufficient to satisfy the reasonable demands of the fearless and philosophical in- quirer. If the writer may not hope to dissipate the darkness that obscures the way to this temple of mystery, he will at least venture to diverge from the beaten track. It is ascertained that a well-developed human body con tains about twenty-eight pounds of blood, which, by a most perfect hydraulic process, is conveyed from the heart to the extremities at the rate of about three thousand gallons in 34 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. twenty-four hours ; while, in every year of our lives, not much less than one hundred thousand cubic feet of atmo- spheric air — passing through the six hundred millions of air cells in the lungs — are required to fan the vital fires. The force necessary to produce the organic action and to carry on the circulation in such a body, has been variously estimated at from fifteen to fifty tons. The attempts to eject fluids into the channels of the circulation — either in the living or the lifeless subject — with other imperfect experiments of the Faculty, scarcely enable us to form anything like an accurate judgment on a question of this nature. That an immense power is required to raise all the valves, and to force the blood to the minute and remote terminations of the capilla-; ries must be obvious to the truly scientific observer. If,^ however, we adopt as our standard the minimum number, i and estimate the vital force at fifteen tons, we shall still be^ startled and half inclined to dispute the credibility of oui own conclusions. The first suggestion is, that the human frame is too frail to resist or endure the action of such an internal force. But it is an accredited fact in science that every square inch of the external surface of the body sustains a column of air forty-five miles high, the weight of which is ascertained to be fourteen pounds. Thus it appears that the whole body supports the enormous weight of more than 30,000 pounds I The reason why this does not cause an instantaneous collapse, at once extinguishing the life of the body, is because the inside resistance of the electric forces and clastic (iuids precisely counterbalances the external atrnosplicric [)ressure. When tlic body is thus acted on by opposite forces CIRCULATION OF THE ANIMAL FLUIDS. 35 in equilihrio^ we are insensible of their presence. Moreover, this amazing force of fifteen tons, moving within the vital precincts, is so equally distributed, and applied with such precision to the different parts of the organization, that we are quite unconscious of its exercise. We even rest quietly with an electric engine of not less than one horse power at work between our ribs ; at the same time a chemical labor- atory — in some sense as extensive as Nature — is all the while in full operation within, and yet we are only disturbed when from some cause the work is partially suspended. Those suction and forcing pumps — that drive the vital fluids through innumerable channels in the mother’s breast, at the rate of some 15,000 hogsheads per annum — all operate so noiselessly that the little child sleeps peacefully on her bosom while the vital tide flows close by its ear. The tenant of the house has also a telegraphic apparatus that connects him with every department of the external world, and an inherent active power that destroys and rebuilds his whole establishment once in about seven years — and all of these complicated forces and functions are organically com- bined and exercised in a space two feet by six ! A power so vast and functions so delicate, complicated and wonderful, must be referred to adequate causes ; and here our physiology is at fault. The teachers of the science leave the beautiful temple of the soul in darkness. Viewed' in its external aspects, and from the position occupied by^ accredited science, the light on the altar is nothing more than the combustion of carbonaceous matter, while there is no divinity at the inner shrine. Science has faith in tlie reality of so much of human nature as can be seen and handled, 36 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. dissected, weighed, and put in a crucible. Beyond this it is faithless, and many of its professed friends resort to various shifts and quibbles to conceal their ignorance. For illustration : The course of the blood — as it flows from the heart to the extremities and returns — is clearly enough defined ; but when we ask for the cause of this cease- less motion, we are perhaps gravely informed that the heart contracts and dilates in regular alternation, and that with each succeeding pulsation tlie blood is forced out and propelled to the remotest points of capillary action, from which it returns through the venous system to the heart. * But when we push our inquiries, and demand to know what causes the heart to contract and dilate in the manner de- scribed, we may be told by some physiological Solomon, who is content to travel round in a circle, that it may be, or must ht, the exciting quality and action of the blood on the nerves of involuntary motion. Thus the heart is made to move th ^ blood while the blood moves the heart, and alleged causes are taken for effects, and effects for causes ad lihitwn, to suit the convenience of our blind guides; The vital electricity generated and evolved in all the pro- cesses of human and animal bodies, is an indispensable agent in the functions of life, motion, and sensation. It is, in fact, the motive 'power of the system on which the organic move- ment constantly depends. Without the action of electro- nervous forces, proceeding from the brain as their chief phy sical center, we have no proximate cause adequate to account for the distribution of the animal fluids. In the first cha])ter 1 Tlic quantity of blood bxpollod from tlie heart at each contraction does not ordinarily exceed two ounces. CIRCUIiATION OF THE ANIMAL FLUIDS. 37 it was made evident by the proofs of experimental science, that voluntary muscular motion depends on the transmission of electric currents from the brain. If the evidence be con- clusive with respect to all voluntary motion, it is scarcely less so in its application to the involuntary functions. These surely can not be presumed to depend on some other agent. The heart is a muscle, or bundle of compact fibers, possessing strong contractile powers, and its functions ob- viously depend on the same agent that moves the extensor contmunis digitorum, and all the voluntary muscles in the body. The electric force from the brain is sent to the heart by branches of the eighth and great intercostal pairs of nerves ; thence over the lines by which the nervous energy is distri- buted along the arterial channels, to be diffused among the capillary termini, where the nutritive elements in the blood are deposited to repair the gradual waste of the body. The arteries also have their fibrous coatings or elastic tissue, the distension and contraction of which is but the continuation ol the involuntary muscular motion commencing in the ven- tricles. The electric quality of the blood, acquired by its contact with atmospheric electricity in the lungs, and the force thereby communicated to the arterial circulation, being at length expended in the wide diffusion of the subtile prin- ciple, the blood returns through the vence cavce to the heart, in obedience to the natural and irresistible force whereby electrically positive and negative bodies and their elemental constituents are everywhere attracted. The whole organic action and the distribution of the fluids is ibus perceived to depend on the presence and power of vital voltaic currents. 38 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. Alfred Smee, F. R. S., in his valuable works on “ Electro- Biology” and “ Instinct and Reason,” has furnished impor- tant illustrations of my subject, contained in many instructive observations and convincing experiments. He has shown that the organs of sensation and motion, in animal and human bodies, are arranged on voltaic principles, and that their respective functions are governed by electrical laws, as modified by the powers of life, sensation, and intelligence. 1 extract the following paragraph : “ In all cases of sensation the impression is carried to the brain through the nervous fibers, by means of a voltaic current. The nervous fibers con sist of tubes, like those of gutta percha, containing a fiuid. The mode bj' which insulation is accomplished is somewhat curious. The nerve-tubes consist of a membrane which is of itself a conductor of electricity. The inside of this membrane, however, is lined with a layer of fat, which is an absolute non-conductor of electricity. In the interior of the fat there is a fiuid through which the electricity passes. An entire nerve consists of a , number of these primitive fibrils arranged together ; and the whole forms a series of communication precisely similar to the wires which are placed along the lines of railroads, to convey intelligence from station to station.” — Instinct and Reason, page 41. That electricity is everywhere employed in the develop- ment of vital and muscular motion, and that it is the opera- tive agent in all the processes of animal chemistry, may be further illustrated by a citation of facts. It is well known that the Silurus, the Torpedo, and the Gymnotus, arc organ- ized with a kind of electrical battery, which for self-preserva- tion, and for the purpose of securing their prey, they dis- charge in such a manner as to give a violent shock to the nervous systems of other animals. Though this power of CIRCULATION OF THE ANIMAL FLUIDS. 39 the electrical fishes was noticed as early as the time of Pliny and Aristotle, it remained for modern scientific investigators to discover and illustrate the nature of the agent that pro- duced the benumbing sensations. Humboldt testifies that when he was traveling in South America, horses were pros- trated in his presence by the Gymnotus, and that he also suf- fered severe pain in his own limbs, for several hours, in con- sequence of having accidentally set his foot on one immedi- ately after it was taken from the water. The structure, ar- rangement, and operation of the vital batteries in these fishes have been carefully examined by several modern phil- osophers. It is ascertained that in a single electrical organ of the Gymnotus, there are some twelve hundred cells, all connected by nervous channels of communication. These are the receptacles of the electric force. The resemblance of the cells in these fishes to small vesicular organs existing throughout animated nature — united by nerves and secreting mucus — was observed by Prof. Beckeinsteiner, of Lyons. These are plainly discoverable in almost all animals. More- over, in Man they are found to be most developed in indi- viduals who possess the greatest activity and strength, and at the season of complete maturity, while in old age they are diminished in size and deficient in moisture. All this is confirmed by the well-known fact, that the magnetic powers of the operator are diminished in proportion as the vital and voluntary energies of the system decline. Pew human beings can equal the Torpedo in the powerful concentration and disruptive discharge of vital electricity ; and yet the frequent repetition of the experiment has demonstrated the 10 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. fact, that a highly sensitive person may be temporarily paralyzed, or instantly prostrated, by the electro-nervous shock produced by the strong will of a skillful operator. ^ That electricity, when it moves in currents, acts power- fully on other and grosser elements, causing the molecules to be violently agitated, admits of several experimental il- lustrations. For example — if you pass an electric current over a siphon while a stream of water is flowing through it, the water will rush out with an increased velocity propor- tioned to the strength of the electrical current. That the blood in the arteries is thus acted on by vital electricity is evident from the fact that, in the precise degree that the 1 Some years since, while the writer was engaged in the village of Saratoga Springs, in the delivery of a course of lectures, on his electrical theory of the vital functions, Mr. Cook (an intelligent citizen of that place, whose ex- perimental inquiries in the department of electrical science had been liber- ally patronized by the government) boldly disputed the theory, and insisted tliat neither the functions of animated nature, nor the so-called psychologi- cal phenomena, depended in any way on the a«tion of vital electricity, either involuntarily applied, or employed as the agent of the will. He was willing to settle that question by the result of “ an experiment he was quite sure that he could “ knock a man down’’ with a disruptive discharge of electricity artificially generated by his apparatus, and when the gentleman, [the present writer] would do the same with his mental-electric battery, he would believe that electricity had something to do with the phenomena in question. Mr. Cook was held to his word in presence of the assembly. Two well known and highly esteemed citizens of that place — strangers to the writer — were selected for the experiment. After making such manipulations as were conceived to be necessary, I directed the two gentlemen to stand fii-mly at a distance of twelve or fifteen feet from the position I had assumed. Taking their places as directed, with the muscles firmly braced, and with a strong resolution not to yield to any outside influence, it is useless to say that they had no expectation of falling. The next moment, however, they were both prostrated by the psycho-electric action, and extended at lull length on the floor. This experiment, performed in the presence of hundreds of intelligent witnesses, terminated the controversy. CIIICULATION OF THE ANIMAL FLUIDS- 41 nervous force is unduly directed to any particular part, or concentrated on a single organ of the body, will the arte- rial circulation be found to increase in the same direction ? Thus the fluids circulate, and the ultimate molecules are de- posited in their appropriate places in the process of assimi- lation. Moreover, that vital or animal heat is evolved by the action of the same electric agent, and that the brain is the principal reservoir from which it is distributed to all parts of the system, is confirmed by the experiments of Brodic on the rabbit. Having destroyed or paralyzed the brain of the animal, he contrived to keep up the respiration )V artificial means ; but the temperature of the whole body YiiB steadily reduced to a degree far below the normal standard. Physiologists tell us that the change that occurs in the color of the blood, in its passage through the lungs, is occa- sioned by its decarbonization and its union with the oxygen of the atmosphere. But this is rather describing the chemi- cal process than explaining its cause. Or, I may say, such teachers merely seize on one part, or a single aspect of the elemental change, to account for itself, and for whatever else belongs to the whole process. This is leaving a dark sub- ject as they found it, except so far as learned and systematic ignorance serves to render it still more obscure. That the chemical process, involving the change in the color of the blood is produced by atmospheric electricity in the lungs, is confirmed by significant facts and substantial reasons. If we pass an electrical current through a quantity of venous blood, it will instantly exhibit the same change of color that occurs in its passage through the cliief organs of respiration. 42 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. This seems to justify the conclusion that one and the same agent produces the change in both cases. Indeed, it is by no means apparent that — in the process of respiration — the blood comes into direct contact with the air at all, except when some pulmonary vessel is ruptured. On the contrary, when the lungs are in a sound state, the blood is of course confined to its own appropriate channels — the pulmonary ar- teries and veins, while the atmosphere alone occupies the air-cells. I have thus furnished such evidence as the case seems to demand, in illustration of the important ofQce and the mys- terious power of vital electricity, as displayed in the distri - bution of the animal fluids. In the next Chapter the reade ’ will be invited to consider the laws and conditions of Vital Harmony. CHAPTER IV. CONDITIONS OF VITAL HARMONY. Oj)posite Forces— Illustrations among the Elements — Animated Nature — Health and Disease — Essential Conditions Specified — The Cooperation of Nature — A Strong Mind and a Weak Body — Passions and Pursuits as Disturbing Causes — Our Education Defective — Fashionable Caricatures — The Ideal Harmony. T he elements and forms of physical nature are not con- trolled by a single force acting forever in a direct line, but by opposite forces in equilihrio. The planets revolve, all Nature moves, and countless living forms are organized through the harmonic action of positive and negative forces that govern all the elements of matter. A precise balance of these forces is indispensable to the uniform and orderly operations of Nature. When the equilibrium is temporarily interrupted, motion is sure to become irregular, uncertain and destructive. The elements furnish familiar but very striking examples. When the generation of electricity — no matter from what cause — is more rapid in one place than in another, the atmo- spheric balance is liable to be interrupted. Electrical cur- rents first move toward the negative regions of the earth and atmosphere ; the air is put in motion in the same direc- tion ; tempests arise, and the wild rush of the elements — in 4 14 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. seeking their equilibrium — often spreads ruin like a mantle of darkness over stately forests, smiling fields, and the abodes of men. In like manner, when the explosive gases are suddenly ignited by electric forces and chemical fires, in the deep bosom of the earth, proud cities are demolished ; continents are rent asunder ; islands rise like bubbles in the midst of the sea ; and the great globe itself trembles be- neath the terrible pulse and the gigantic tread of the earth- quake ! It is well known that two opposing forces govern the movements of the heavenly bodies. Should one of these preponderate, there would be a sudden and awful pause in the music of the spheres. The planets would reel from- their orbits and scatter their ruins through the immeasurable fields of space. Annihilate one of these forces, and it is probable that all organized bodies would be decomposed and all matter in the Universe be reduced to its primary elements. That the forms and functions of animated nature depend on a similar law, must appear exceedingly probable to the mind of the philosophical observer. In the last Chapter it was shown that the existence of positive and negative elec- trical forces could alone account for tlie distribution of the animal fluids. If, therefore, the circulation and all tlie organic functions depend on the presence and equal action of .such forces, it will follow that the moment these become unequal a functional derangement must ensue, and this would be the incipient stage of disease. But here it may be well to define the terms I must employ as the representa- Uves of ideas. CONDITIONS OF VITAL HARMONY. 45 Health is the natural condition of a living body. I use the word "to indicate that equal development and perfect state of the physical system wherein the several organs are sound, and their united action characterized by freedom, precision and harmony. On the other hand, disease is any condition of an organized body in which the vital harmony is dis- turbed, so that the functions are rendered abnormal or irregular. In other words, disease is the loss of the eguili- hrium of tlie forces lohicli produce the vital and voluntary functions of the body. Whenever this occurs it may readily be perceived by an ordinary observer. The irregular beat of the pulse, the impaired digestion, nervous irritability and general derangement of the secretions, all furnish infallible evidence that the conditions of health have been disregarded, and the laws of life violated. Health being the normal or natural condition, disease, or vital derangement, necessarily presupposes a departure from a true state of Nature. As certainly as all causes produce corresponding effects, health can not continue where the laws of vital motion and organic harmony are perpetually infringed, nor can disease be de- veloped where those laws are clearly perceived and scrupu- lously obeyed. To secure health, therefore, it remains for us to adapt our manner of life to the precise requirements of Nature. The first, and therefore the most essential condition of vital harmony, is a sound and well developed body. When the organs are disproportioned at birth, or their subsequent growth is unequal, there can be no certain and lasting harmony in their functions. A perfect organic action is only possible when the organism itself is complete. Preci- 46 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. sion in the movement must depend on perfection in the vital mechanism. For example, if the vital organs be unusually small, or the space they occupy inadequate to admit of their free exercise and full development, the individual will suffer from constitutional debility ; health will be rendered inse- cure, and the continuance of life uncertain. Again : If the brain be very large, and the cerebral action intense and unremitting, the forces of the system will be unduly at- tracted to that organ ; this may occasion congestion, in- sanity, a softening of the brain, or some other local disorder. At the same time the extremities — not being properly warmed and energized by a diffusion of the vital principle — will be cold and weak ; digestion will be slow, respiration - perfect, ihe secretions irregular, and the enjoyment of iim .- terrupted health impossible. The opposite extremes in the development and action of the nutritive system may produce a Calvin Edson and a Daniel Lambert — the one a suitable subject for the anatomical museum ; and the other a huge mass of carbon, that only waits for a deranged actiov. of vital electricity to set it on fire, when the whole system may be consumed by what the doctors call an intense fever or acute inflammation — familiar terms to represent the process of accelerated vital combustion. Next in importance to a sound and well-developed organ- ization, is, the 'prosper application of the force on which the functions of the organs depend. When this is unequal, or is not so distributed as to supply each organ with its appro- priate share, the vital movement and temperature of neces- sity become irregular. The motive power — which wc have CONDITIONS OF VITAL HARMONY. 47 ascertained to be vital electricity — can not be unduly con- centrated on a particular organ without producing a corre- spondingly negative state of other portions of the body, and this condition must occasion disorder in the organic action. ' Whatever, therefore, disturbs the nervous forces, and thus interrupts the physical equilibrium, must produce disease. And yet — disease being an unnatural state of the system — it reqnires a more potent cause to permanently destroy the vital balance than to restore the equilibrium when it has been temporarily interrupted. For — it will be perceived — when we undertake to derange the forces and functions of our being, we must contend single-handed against Nature ; whereas, when we labor to preserve — or to reestablish if lost — the essential harmony, we have Nature to aid us by her constant and powerful cooperation. The operations of the mind, state of the affections, exer- cise of the passions, and our pursuits in life, determine how far the physical harmony may be preserved ; also, to what extent it is liable to be sacrificed. The intense action of the mind may weaken all the involuntary functions of the body, and a frail organization is often prematurely de- stroyed by a mind of unusual activity and power. When a mind of vast capacity is lodged in a frail body, the intel- lectual faculties should be exercised with great caution and reserve ; otherwise the action of the brain will exhaust all the vitality, and the body will rapidly decline. One might as well put an immense engine into a slender vessel, and proceed to test its utmost power in a rough sea, as to give full scope to a strong mind without regard to the 48 MAN AND ms RELATIONS. capacity of its organic instrument. Yet thousands make this mistake every year, and only realize their error when it is too late to avert the fatal consequences,’ Moreover, when the affections are deep and strong — especially when they have been given to unworthy objects — when confidence is lost, and bright prospects vanish like dissolving views ; when friends hold the wormwood to the lips, and Hope disappears or stands in the distance with veiled and averted face; when the heart is crucified, and one is left to wear a crown of thorns for the sake of those he loved! — Oh, then the nerves are swept with a tempest of human feeling ; the brain reels and burns, and the vital flame may be extinguished as the cold floods roll over him ! When the passions are excited to great intensity, and tlie soul falls amid the darkness of its wild delirium ; then, too, ^ I had a friend — an inheritor of genius. He was of a feeble frame, but his mind was wondrously endowed. He appeared to derive knowledge from spheres invisible and unknown. He was subject to rapt moods, and gave birth to divine ideas. As we have seen the clouds that hovered in the midnight sky suddenly break and pass away — revealing the glorious stars — so did darkness leave the subjects of his contemplation, and thus came the great thoughts to him ! And then, when all the faculties were awake, the action was mysterious and solemn, yet beautiful and musical. To the imaginative observer the mental and moral movement seemed like the music of a great organ — so did the polished dome and every inferior part of the temple shake beneath the action of the indwelling divinity. Like the tolling of a great bell in a frail, crumbling tower, every earnest heart-beat reminded us at once of death and immortality. At length the structure fell ! And when the bell tolled no more in the tower, old men, and beautiful women, and even little children came to watch and weep over the consecrated ruins. I would have no one disregard his relations to this world, or lightly esti- mate the boon of the present existence ; but the wrong — if, indeed, there be a wrong — is greatly mitigated when the body is thus made an offering to the higher life of the soul. The deed is characterized by a peculiar gran- deur, and I dare not say that Heaven will dishonor the sacrifice. CONDITIONS OF VITAL HARMONY. ‘H) ^ the vital powers and processes are deranged, and Life trem- bles in its mortal citadel. Moreover, when our pursuits are of such a nature as to exercise but a single class of the facul- ties ; when Reason’s commanding voice is silenced by the suggestions of a selfish policy ; when conscience is immolated at the polluted shrines of Custom and Mammon, the vital balance will soon be lost ; for the individual who has no mental or moral equipoise may not hope to enjoy health, or to preserve the integrity and harmony of his physical nature. It is greatly to be lamented that our modes of instruction and discipline are so poorly fitted to promote the normal growth and the true life of the Race. They usually cause an abnormal excitement of certain faculties and affections, while others — not less essential to the perfection of human nature — are permitted to remain inactive. These partial aims and defective methods produce various angularities of form and irregularities of function, while they seldom fail to destroy the symmetrical proportions of body, mind and character. If educated for a religious teacher, the man’s reverence is liable to be unduly exercised at the expense of his reason ; if trained for the law, his moral sensibilities may be blunted in the process of sharpening his wits ; if armed for the arena of political strife, his peculiar training too often renders him regardless of moral obligation, and indifferent to the sanctions of religion ; and, finally, if pre- pared after the most approved method for society, he be- comes the idle votary of fashion, and a servile worshiper at the shrine of Beauty. Among the multitudes that crowd the great avenues ot business, we rarely meet Avit^i a man wiio, in every act of his MAN AND HIS KELATIONS. . 50 life, is governed by a clear perception of justice, and an en- lightened sense of moral obligation. We should be troubled to find a politician who steadily holds the demands of his party in subordination to the claims of his country. In the palace homes of wealth, and the gilded drawing-rooms ot fashionable society, we meet with few women in whom the uncorrupted love of natural grace, simplicity and beauty, predominates over the passion, for the modern, corrupt and frightful distortions of human nature* Instead of men and women, such as God made, with forms and faculties sym- metrically developed and harmoniously exercised, we have stuffed effigies of the natural form, and painted caricatures of “ the human face divine.” Such distorted and diseased images and forms of real life and health, move with artificial grace and automatic precision in all the gay saloons of Paris and New York. Not a few of them, when fairly disrobed, are found to be little else but filthy sepulchers of human hearts and minds. But when the body is rounded into complete human pro- portions, the temperaments properly blended, and the facul- ties and affections equally developed — when the appetites and passions are wisely restrained and truly spiritualized, health is rendered secure ; Man becomes a sweet-toned lyre, and the vital, mental, moral and spiritual powers of the world, all combine to sweep the chords and wake The living soul of Harmony.” CHAPTER. V. PHYSICAL CAUSES OF VITAL DERANGEMENT, Positive and Negative Forms of Disease -Improper Expenditure of Vital Energy — Inevitable Consequences — Results of Normal and Abnormal Physical Exercises — Excessive Alimentiveness— Effects of Narcotics and Stimulants — A False Hypothesis — Amatory Perversions— Electrical Causes of Fevers and of Cholera— How to guard against the Several Causes of Vital Derangement. W E are now prepared to inquire into the physical causes and conditions which dispose the human frame to dis- ease. Here a theme of inconceivable moment is suggested ; one that it might be profitable to discuss at far greater length than comports with my present plan. Nothing can be more essential to the temporal well-being of the race than reliable information on this subject ; for, if we well under- stand the general causes of disease, we may often shun o^ resist the evil by a prudent regard to existing physical states and relations. It has already been observed that the vital functions directly depend on positive and negative conditions and forces. Now the general states most likely to produce disease — those which comprehend all other conditions and circumstances tending to similar results — will be found to originate in an excess, or from an inadequate supply of this 52 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. electric medium — in short, from the too positive and nega- tive conditions of the human body, and the surrounding elements of the earth and atmosphere. The preponderance of this vital motor disposes the system to fevers and inflam- mations ; while a want of animal electricity will naturally result in such forms of disease as are attended with coldness of the body, and imperfect sensation, together with a want of vital power and organic activity. It is worthy of observation, that Nature — when undis- turbed in the exercise of her functions — provides a supply equal to the necessities of every occasion ; and whenever a deficiency occurs, we may be sure she has been taxed unlaw- fully. The vital forces and fluids are unnecessarily ex- pended, and the system rapidly exhausted by a variety of ways and means ; but I will first point out the general con- sequences of intense and protracted physical exercise, and the fearful results of the immoderate gratification of the appetites and passions. It .often happens with persons who are laboriously employed, that the weight of the body is gradually diminished. This is a very certain indication that the vital fluids are not produced or generated as rapidly as they are dissipated in the various processes of the body. This condition is unfavorable to health, and such a decline of the recuperative energies of the system, as compared with the current expenditure of vital power, can not long con- tinue without causing more aggravated forms of vital de- rangement. If the conservative powers of the body be unequal to the task of supplying whatever is demanded to repair the ordinary waste, it requires no prophet’s vision to enable the rational mind to perceive that — sooner or later — PHYSICAL CAUSES OF VITAL DERANGEMENT. 53 the system must inevitably suspend its operations. Those who understand tlie laws of trade will perhaps see the point more clearly in the light of a single illustration. Suppose that your neighbor has been engaged — during the past year — in some business with which he is but imper- fectly acquainted. From an examination of his books, it is made to appear that there has been an excess in the current expenses over the gross receipts. The consequence is, he is involved ; and a fair inventory of his assets awakens a sus- picion of his insolvency. If he resolves to continue business und6r such circumstances, and you have learned to reason from cause to effect, you may infallibly predict the disaster that awaits him. Now, analogous causes inevitably produce similar results in the case under consideration. Unless the production of vitality be equal to the demand in conducting the several operations of the physical system, the man will surely fail, and a final settlement of his affairs will be de- manded. Or, to drop the figure, disease will ensue, and death may abruptly close the business of life. The forces of the living body are expended as they are generated in the performance of the vital and voluntary functions. The proportion employed in voluntary effort is greater or less according to the perfection of the organic structure, combination of the temperaments, the temporal necessities and incidental circumstances of the individual. So long as physical exercise is regulated — as to the seasons and the modes — by an enlightened judgment, and otherwise graduated by the normal capabilities of the constitution, it serves to strengthen respiration, to accelerate the processes of vital chemistry, to increase the measure of animal elec- 54 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. tricity ; and thus to promote a free, natural and vigorous action of all the organs. But it is no less true that exces- sive toil diminishes the latent powers of life, enervates the organs, and restrains their appropriate functions ; until by degrees the recuperative energies are fairly exhausted, and the whole system sinks under the weight of its unnatural burden. The intelligent reader will perceive the reasons why too much exercise of the body is liable to interrupt the organic harmony. Whenever we labor excessively — or beyond the limitations which Nature has prescribed for the government of the individual — we make perpetual and unreasonable demands on such springs and resources of vital power as legitimately belong to the involuntary organs and their functions. These drafts are only honored at the expense of health, and, it may be, at the sacrifice of life. , When once we reach the proper limit of our powers of endurance, every additional hour spent in physical exertion, extracts some portion of the Life-principle from each separate organ in the vital system, or diverts the same from its appropriate chan- nel. The pulsation becomes labored, digestion is impaired, the liver is rendered inert, the powers of thought languish, the will relaxes its purpose and resigns its object, while the whole man suffers from consequent enervation. Excessive alimentiveness, with rapid and imperfect masti- cation, is liable to disturb the balance of nervous power and to derange the functions. It imposes an unnatural burden on a particular organ, and hence calls the vital electricity from otlier portions of the system to tlie stomach, in an undue degree, to tlie end tliat the process of digestion PHYSICAL CAUSES OF VITAL DERANGEMENT. may be accelerated. Several times a day an avalanche descends with fearful momentum — elements gross and ponder- able — while mingling torrents, hot and cold, follow in rapid succession. For a while the work goes on without any per- ceptible interruption. Nature applies all her forces to clear the way and make room for whatever may come next. The secretions are all increased beyond the normal limit, and the whole system is required to perform extra labor, which soon indisposes the individual to voluntary effort. A slug- gish state of mind and body succeeds with a tendency to indolent habits. Indolence in turn aggravates the difficulty. At length the oppressed and overburdened organs — so long restrained and obstructed in their functions — lose their vigor, and the reaction prostrates the whole system. The man is ill, and a Avise Providence destroys his appe- tite, that nature may have time for the elimination of the superfluous matter in the body. Such men resemble mills that are employed night and da}^ to crack, grind and bolt the grain of the neighborhood ; or, they may be regarded as vast receptacles of decaying vegeta- tion, and respectable locomotive sepulchers for the rest of the animal creation ! Omnivorous mortals ! your greatest triumphs among the elements and forms of matter have been achieved through the concentrated powers of the gastric juice ! Unlike Bunyan’s pilgrim, who had the good sense o shoulder the bundle of his iniquities, you impose upon the stomach the enormous and crushing weight of your manifold transgressions. The appetite for narcotics and stimulants^ when it exer- cises an irresistible influence, becomes a prolific source of 56 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. disease or vital derangement. It is well known tliai the appetite for food is diminished, and the digestive functions impaired, by the use of tobacco. The peristaltic action of the intestines may be quite suspended, sensation temporarily destroyed, and the faculties benumbed, by the use of power- ful narcotics. Moreover, those who are accustomed to the free use of tobacco — no matter in what form — exhibit un- natural restlessness and a morbid irritability when not under the» influence of that agent. They may be speedily quieted again by the narcotic spell ; and if their fears have been excited, they are allayed by the subtile influence of the poison. It has been demonstrated by post-mortem examina- tion, that the olfactories, the optic, dental and pneuma-gastric nerves become inflamed and impaired by the use of tobacco. ^ Indeed such agents are all intrinsically at war with the vifal principle, and when administered professionally, the practi- tioner aims to diminish pain and allay the tumultuous action of the nervous system by the very doubtful expedient of de- stroying nervous impressibility, and hence by a partial sus- pension of the forces and functions of life. It was once a favorite hypothesis that all disease origi- nated in debility, and therefore excitants or stimulants be- came the most important remedial agents. This notion lias been received with great favor by persons of intemperate habits. Such people generally feel weak early in the morn- ing, and frequently through the day ; and as often as they experience this debility, whether in the stomach, the knees, I While morphia, belladonna and stramonium produce similar general effects, physicians have observed that each has a specific action on particular portions of the system, which need not be described in this connection. PHYSICAL CAUSES OF VITAL UERANCxEMENT. 57 or in the resolution to reform, they resort to the treatment by taking brandy, or some other positive stimulant. This frequent and unnatural excitement of the vital energies is followed by a reaction, when the life-forces sink as far below the standard of normal activity as they had been raised above the vital equilibrium. At length the organic harmony is permanently interrupted ; the nervous system is unstrung ; the blood on fire ; and fortune, reputation, char- acter and manhood — all wrecked and lost in scenes of wild delirium — are engulfed in a burning sea. Thousands, by an inordinate indulgence of their passions — whether sanctioiied or condemned by the statute — do not scruple to lower the tone of the mind and the character, wliile they lay the foundations of shame, disease, and death for themselves and their posterity. The sexual attraction, when not restrained by reason, leads to fathomless perdition. When not refined and spiritualized by the higher law that forever unites congenial souls, it becomes immoral and adulterous, in spite of all legal enactments and definitions. Lust has a perpetual injunction on the faculties of such people, while their children after them are mortgaged to corruption, and death holds a quit-claim on their mortal bodies. They transgress and repent in regular alternation ; they cry, call on the Lord and the doctor — go to meeting and take physic — and then — sin again. The conditions of the human body are liable to be materially influenced by the existing electrical state of the earth and atmosphere. When thunder-storms are of rare occurrence, in the summer months, indicating an unusual absence of atmospheric electricity, this agent passes imper- 58 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. ceptibly from the living body — rapidly if the atmosphere be in a humid state — until the electro-vital power is so far reduced that negative forms of disease everywhere prevail. Cholera Asphyxia is well known to involve a cold or very negative state of the system. In this leading characteristic it is the opposite state to a fever. It is attended with a slow, feeble pulse, general lassitude, and a rapid decline and suspension of all the vital functions. It is a well known fact that the year 1832 — in the summer of which the cholera raged so fearfully in this country — was distinguished fo ’ an almost total absence of electrical phenomena. Nor is it less a matter of faet and of history that during that season there were no fevers, or at least the cases were of rare occurrence. About the first of September there were violent electrical storms in dilferent parts of the country, and the cholera speedily disappeared. That opposite electrical conditions produce fevers and inflammatory states of the body, is doubtless true, and might be illustrated at length — did our limits permit — by the cita- tion of numerous facts and reasons. I will, however, ob- serve, in this eonnection, that those phases of vital derange- ment, which I denominate the positive forms of disease^ arc wholly difierent in their symptomatic aspects from the class previously described and characterized as negative diseases. The disorders which result from an excess of vital electricity in the body, as a whole, or from an undue concentration o this agent on some particular organ, arc accompanied witl a higher temperature, an accelerated pulse, and a general irregularity in the organic action. The extent of tliis de- rangement may be estimated by observing tlie perisystole as PHYSICAL CAUSES OF VITAL DERANGEMENT. 5U the electro-thermal currents rise and fall. Moreover, the diseases of this class are most general and fatal when the atmosphere is in a highly electrical state, as evinced by frequent and violent thunder storms. The results may admit of some modifications from individual peculiarities and local conditions ; but it is presumed that the general correctness of our position will be confirmed by every care- ful observer.^ How shall we prevent the recurrence, or effect the re- moval, of the disorders already described ? My answer must necessarily be brief and general. Whenever the first of the several causes of vital derangement, indicated in the foregoing specification, does actually exist, or is likely to transpire — when vitality is or may be expended more rapidly than it is generated — measures should be taken to augment the vital resources ; or, what may be easier of accomplishment, to lessen their expenditure. If the indi- vidual has been accustomed to severe and protracted physical labor, it will be necessary to diminish the time and intensity of his efforts. If the derangement be caused by the excessive indulgence of the appetites, the subject should seriously engage in an investigation of the laws of health, and in the contemplation of such exalted subjects as will set 1 As a popular author of philosophical and spiritual books — who has long been familiar with the writer’s views respecting the relations of certain dis- eases to the positive and negative conditions of the human body and the surrounding atmosphere — may have expressed similar opinions, I deem it just and proper to observe that the present writer long since developed his whole theory of the essential causes of vital derangement, and the positive and negative forms of disease, in a course of lectures, which were prepared about twelve years since, and delivered in many large towns and cities as early as the year 1849. 5 6G MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. him free from their foul dominion. If inordinate sexual indulgence be the cause of vital inharmony, the individual must learn to discipline his passional nature, and subdue his erratic and delirious impulses by the exercise of Reason. And, finally, if the organic harmony be interrupted by intense and continual mental application, he must leave the study and wander in the fields, that a variety of objects may divert the mind from any laborious process. It becomes all who would guard against unnatural weak- ness and deformity, premature decay of the faculties, and an untimely departure from the sphere of their earthly rela- tions, to be careful that the physical energies are not wasted in unlawful pleasures and pursuits. Every violation of the laws of vital and organic harmony, is a blow aimed at the root of the tree of life ; and when at last by repeated blows we have interrupted its connection with earth and time, no power can arrest its fall. CHAPTER VI. VOLUNTARY AND INVOLUNTARY FACULTIES. The Mind and its Agent — Voluntary and Involuntary Faculties distinguished — Relations of Mind to the Organic Functions — Its influence in Vital Chemistry — Agency of the Will — Power to resist Pain — St. Augustin and the Priest — The Italian poet, Marini — Remarkable powers of Charles W. Lawrence — Influence of Mental Excitement on Sensation — Case of Nathan 'b. Gates — How timid natures suffer and the brave endure. “Who reigns within himself and rules Passions, desires, and fears, is more than king.” Milton. T he human economy presents at once the most beautiful organic arrangement, and the most complicated modes of action. Here, indeed, we find the perfection of organic re- lation and dependence, and the very “ poetry of motion.” When we ascribe the corporeal functions to vital electricity, as a proximate agent, we are quite sure that the alleged cause is adequate to produce all effects, though these are such complex and amazing revelations of inward power, as to re- quire the most subtile and potent principle in Nature; Nevertheless, the electrical element is but the subordinate agent of Mind, in whicli all motion has its origin. Whether as it relates to the human system, motion be voluntary or in- voluntary, the active power belongs to the spirit, and has its MAN AND HIS KELATI0N3. (,2 material residence in the brain ; while the chief office of the heart appears to be to regulate the vital momentum, or to measure the quantity, and to determine the rapidity of the circulation. The heart beats not of itself ; the nerves vibrate only as they are pervaded by a subtle energy that is disturbed by outward causes, or swept by the invisible powers of thought and feeling. Within the vital precincts ' of this ingenious mechanism, is the enshrined and unap- ' proachable presence that moves the whole — the “ Immortal Spirit of the chainless Mind.” But what has the mind do with the pulsation, and how can volition influence the involuntary action of the vital organs ? There are times when the mind is apparently at rest ; seasons when the judgment is powerless ; when Beason, like an uh- faithful sentinel, slumbers at his post, and — to our conscious- ness — not a single thought moves in the silent halls of the soul. And yet, at such times, the vital motive power is at work, and the necessary functions of being are still per- formed. Here I may observe that the Mind has its volmi' tary and involuntary 'powers^ and these are related as causes to the voluntary and involuntary functions of the Body. The passions and affections, in which the very rudiments of motion, form, life and sensation appear to have their incipi- ency, are involuntary. We can neither love nor hate at plcas- ure ; nor do we believe or disbelieve from choice. But the ability to recall past events, and to trace the relations of ex- ternal objects, may be — within certain natural limitations — voluntary poicers. It is no less true tliat whoever has the capacity may reason or not reason, according to his inclina- VOLUNTARY AND INVOLUNTARY FACULTIES. 63 tion. A plain distinction here finds a foundation in a funda- mental difference. All the functions and processes that may be prompted or suspended by the will, are voluntary. Of this class the powers of locomotion and speech afford fami- iar examples. There are other organic functions which do not depend on volition, such as the action of the heart, the process of digestion, the assimilation of foreign substances, and the secretions. These functions may be produced by the spirit acting (unconsciousl}^ to the external mind,) on the physical organs, through electric currents in the nerves of involuntary motion. Tnus the involuntary powers of the mind doubtless govern the involuntary functions of the body. By this silent, involuntary, and unconscious agency, the human heart pulsates more than one hundred thousand times in twenty-four hours ; and yet this motion continues, in some instances, more than one hundred years. Mysterious, beau- tiful and wonderful, indeed, are the phenomena of life ! We are amazed that an organism so delicate and complicated should keep in repair so long, and that it is even capable of sustaining a power so vast in degree, and so multiform in its modes of action. But the involuntary functions of the body may be strongly influenced, if they can not be absolutely controlled, by vol- untary mental effort. Some of the more familiar illustra- tions of this point may be seen in the effects which intense and protracted thought and feeling are liable to produce on the functions of respiration, digestion and secretion. In proportion as the forces are unduly attracted to, and ex- pended by the bra'n, the supply demanded by other vital organs is necessarily diminished. Hence, a vigorous and 64 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. continued exercise of the mind will weaken the digestive function, and< retard all the vital processes. While the organs of respiration move involuntarily, they are likewise provided with nerves of voluntary motion, and their action may be temporarily suspended by the executive power of the mind. But in certain mental states the respiratory organs are directly acted on, and their functions at least partially arrested, when the individual is wholly unconscious of any voluntary effort. It is well known that intense thought will almost suspend respiration ; hence the familiar observation that public assemblies, when deeply interested, listen with fixed and hreathless attention. Determined mental or physi- cal effort immediately after eating, renders the process of di- gestion labored and imperfect, because it diverts the electri- cal currents from the stomach, where an increased measure of vital electricity is demanded to facilitate the chemical process. For this reason, authors and other persons whose minds are too constantly exercised, are especially liable to suffer from indigestion, as well Jis from a general decline of nervous energy. It has been observed already that the mind acts directly on the electrical, or nervous circulation, and through that governs the distribution of all the grosser forms of matter in the body. Thus the molecular deposits are increased or diminished, in the several parts of the human system, in pro- portion as the different faculties and affections of tlie mind are called into action, and their appropriate organs are cor- respondingly exercised. It follows, therefore, that the action of the mind may derange or equalize the vital forces. The organic movement may in this manner b'^ accelerated or re- VOLUNTARY AND INVOLUNTARY FACULTIES. G-5 tarded, and the whole body wasted or renovated. This power of the mind is supreme. When misdirected or im- properly applied, it is not only capable of disturbing the vital harmony, but it is liable to produce the most terrible forms of disease, and may suddenly suspend the vital func- tions. When the voluntary faculties of the mind are properly disciplined and fully developed, their superiority over the powers of involuntary motion is strikingly displayed. Ner- vous impressibility may be greatly diminished by a resolute effort of the will, and the convulsive action of the nerves and muscles of involuntary motion may be resisted by a strong and unwavering purpose. In this manner a violent cough may be checked, and the paroxysms in hysteria greatly modified or wholly subdued. In certain deranged states of the nervous system, the patient is irresistibly disposed by turns to indulge in passionate weeping and immoderate laughter ; and these symptoms are most prevalent among females, who are ordinarily more inclined to yield to invol- untary impulses, at the same time they are less distinguished than men for executive capacity, or for strength and contin- uity in the exercise of the will. But there are more striking illustrations of the power of the mind over the forces and functions of involuntary motion, and in which the superiority of the rational mind over the natural operations of a merely physical agent will be clearly seen. Many persons have the power to drive pain from the different parts of their own bodies, while some are able to infuse new energy into a feeble organ by the voluntary agency of the mind. It is possible for a man of lieroic dis- 66 MAN AND HIS RET.ATIONS. position to resist— by the force of his will — the reflex ner- vous action, and to calmly submit to the lash or to the most painful surgical operation without so much as moving a muscle. The brave man, who thus bears the trial without shrinking, really suffers but little in comparison with the timid mortal who instinctively recoils at the sight of the scourge or the knife. This problem in human experience admits of an easy solution. The firm and resolute man, fortified by his own unflinching courage, braces his nerves against the shock. By the power of his will he prevents the nervous forces — when they are agitated at the extremi- ties or on the surface — from rushing impetuously toward the seat of life. He feels but little pain, because the electrical currents, through which impressions are conveyed to the brain, are but slightly disturbed. The vital balance is pre- served by the firm and steady action of the mind. On the other hand, the irresolute and cowardly man — by the sub- jection of his will and the recoiling action of his whole mind — permits the nervous circulation to rush with great violence from the seat of the injury to the sensorium, causing eveiy smitten and tortured nerve to writhe in the intense agony of the hour. The voluntary power of the mind to resist pain, and to influence the involuntary functions of the body, like every other faculty, may be augmented by appropriate exercises. The soul may be so far withdrawn from the outward avenues of sensation, as to render the physical organs entirely inope- rative. It is well known that a person in a complete state of magnetic coma will not suficr from a corporeal injury. But this state of physical insensibility may be self-induced. VOLUNTARY AND INVOLUNTARY FACULTIES. 67 St. Augustin refers to tlie case of a priest whose power of abstraction was so great that his body could be subjected to torture without his being conscious of the injury inflicted. It is also alleged respecting Marini, the Italian poet, that while engaged in a revision of his Adonis, he became so deeply absorbed that he put his foot in the fire, and kept it there for some time, without the slightest consciousness of his exposure to the devouring element. The Fakirs stop respiration, seemingly without injury, and in some instances vital motion is wholly suspended for an indefinite period. Mr. Charles Lawrence, with whom the writer was for several ’ years on familiar terms, possessed a remarkable voluntary power over sensation and vital motion. He could so para- lyze the censor nerves that his skin might be punctured without causing pain, and a violent blow did not occasion the least suffering. By the power of his volition he could immediately accelerate the pulsation in a surprising degree ; and he could also entirely suspend the heart’s action in three minutes ! These effects were repeatedly produced in the presence of the writer, before public asssemblie’s, and to the satisfaction of several committees composed of members of the medical profession. Brave men seldom speak of their pains, and they are cravens who suffer over much. Whenever the powers of the mind are all engrossed in the contemplation of a great subject, or concentrated for the achievement of some noble purpose, the nerves of sensation lose their susceptibility. We close the gates that open into the citadel of our being, and assume a defensive position and attitude. We resist all impressions while the whole electric force is being concen- 08 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. trated on the nerves and muscles of voluntary motion through which the mind aims at a free, forcible and effective expression. As all sensation belongs to the spirit, a man is not likely to experience pain, in consequence of a bodily injury, when all his faculties are otherwise and elsewhere employed. This suggests the reason why men do not suffer from physical violence when they are under the influence of a strong mental excitement. The writer has a nephew who has an intense passion for hunting. While pursuing his game, on a certain occasion, a companion in the chase dis- charged the contents of his gun into one of his lower limbs, neither party being aware of the fact for some minutes ; nor was the injured man the first to discover th*e accident. Moreover, those who are wounded in battle are often wholly unconscious of the fact until they faint from loss of blood. The history of the Church presents many examples of the supremacy of intense emotion, or holy passion, over all the powers and susceptibilities of mind and body. There were illustrious examples of patient endurance among the early Christian martyrs ; in the ranks of the followers of Peter the Hermit ; and before the bloody tribunals of the Auto de fL Archbishop Cranmer — prompted and sustained by intense feelings of mingled penitence and devotion — held forth the hand, employed in the indorsement of papal doctrines and unrighteous authorities, and exclaiming — repeatedly and with a firm voice — “ This hand has offended ! he deliberately held it in the fiercest flames until it was literally consumed. It is also recorded of James Bainliain that he appeared to be exalted in spirit beyond the jiossi- bility of physical suffering. When his limbs were partially VOLUNTAliy AND INVOLUNTARY FACULTIES, 60 consumed, lie called to the spectators to witness the miracle of his death ; and then, while the forked flames coiled around his whole body, he said — in a voice that indicated at once his amazing power of resistance and the deep serenity of his spirit — “ This fire is a bed of roses to me Others clapped their hands and shouted aloud for joy, until the devouring element stifled their utterance, and their enfran- chised spirits ascended in fiery chariots to heaven. I have learned from personal experience, as well as from long and careful observation, that the mind may so act on the sensorial medium of the nervous system, as to produce many strange and startling physiolological effects. Invisible spiritual powers may likewise be brought to bear on the earthly objects of their guardianship, in the temporary sus- pension of feeling ; so that any violence done to the mortal body may cause neither pain nor inconvenience. In view ot these facts, we may rationally infer that those who have all their faculties excited to action, and focalized in some mighty endeavor, may be quite incapable of suffering. Many a nervous woman has doubtless endured more pain while seated in the dentist’s chair, than the most illustrious mar- tyrs of Liberty and Keligion have suffered on the scaffold or at the stake. The historian has chronicled the names and deeds of moral heroes who were seemingly so elevated in soul as to be far above the reach of their persecutors. In their serene happiness and sublime integrity ; in the gener- ous enthusfasm of a great, unselfish purpose, and the fervor of intense devotion, they walked in holy triumph before God — wearing mantles of consuming fire — up to their great Immortality. r CHAPTER YIL INFLUENCE OF THE PASSIONS ON THE SECRETIONS. Nature of the Passions — Opinions of Philosophers — The classification bj Plato and Aristotle — Infiuence of the Passions on the processes of vital chemistry — Effects of intense Sensuous Love — How certain Passions pro- duce particular forms of Disease — Infiuence of Fear in changing the color of the Hair — Philosophy of the process — Professor Beckeinsteiner’s experi- ments on Animals — Singular experience of a Telegraph Operator — Irre- gularity of the change in persons of unequal mental, temperamental, and organic development — Illustration from the records of the writer’s obser- vations — Further summary of the Electro-chemical and Physiological effects of the Passions. T he faculties and passions of the human mind, like the organs of the body and their functions, depend on suit- able modes of exercise and discipline for the measure ot their strength, and the capacity to perform their normal ope- rations. We come into existence with vast latent powers of action, and immeasurable capacities for improvement ; but these remain concealed and inactive until the circum- stances and conditions of the outward life, or the more sub- tile powers of tlie inward world, awaken the unconscious possessor from the state of oblivious repose, and lie is sum- moned, by the very laws and necessities of his own being, into the wide arena of human activities. Thus we all enter on tlie career of our endless existence and progress. From INFLUENCE OF THE PASSIONS ON THE SECRETIONS. 71 its obscure beginning on earth, the great spiral of ascending / Life opens up to man through all the intermediate stages of corporeal and spiritual growtli, into the celestial degree of his nature, and the highest heaven of the immortal life and world. In the earlier stages of human development, we find the most powerful incentives to action in the excitements pecu- liar to the emotional nature. Philosophers have entertained different opinions respecting the source of those strong and impetuous mental emotions which we denominate the Pas- sions, Advocates of the material philosophy are of course disposed to locate them in the coriooreal system, where they profess to find everything that essentially belongs to man. Des Cartes entertained and inculcated this opinion, while Mallebranche conceived that they are “ agitations of the soul,” proceeding from the rapidity of the arterial circula- tion, and the impetuous flow of the animal spirits. This philosopher’s materialism is clearly enough exposed in the simple statement of his opinion. He mistakes effects for causes when he ascribes the soul’s action to the momentum of the fluids in the body. The rapid motion of the animal fluids does not precede the excitement of the Passions, but, on the other hand, the circulation is powerfully influenced by every tempest of passional feeling. While the mind may be com- posed, and free from any tendency to such excitement, the pulsation may be accelerated, and the blood flow with abnor- mal rapidity, under the intense electric action of a fever ; but the Passions are never aroused without communicating the excitement to the circulation and the whole organic action. The Passions may be defined to be those strong exercises 72 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. or movements of the spirit which are often rendered abnor- mal and dangerous by their suddenness, irregularity, or in- tensity, and wliich are chiefly caused by the contemplation of outward objects, and the occurrence of unexpected events. In the inferior or superficial mind the Passions may be rela- tively active and strong ; but such persons seldom exhibit the depth of feeling which characterizes their superiors. In a mind of great natural endowments, the Passions — if they obtain the ascendency over the Reason — exhibit correspond- ing intensity and power ; sometimes rising to the sublime extremes of desperate daring, and to almost supra-mortal achievements. The records of War furnish memorable ex- amples ; and when the Passions excited are intense hatred of oppression, and earnest love of Humanity, the contest is sanctioned by the common sense of the civilized world ; while the triumphant actor becomes, in some sense, a moral hero, whose deeds are approved, and whose name and memory are long and reverently cherished. The Passions have been variously classified by different authors. Plato comprehended all under love and hatred ; while Aristotle, by maintaining that each one of the passions is productive of either pleasure or pain, thus virtually re- duced them to two general classes. As viewed by physi- cians and physiologists, they have been divided into the ex- citing and the depressing passions ; and this classification has been determined by tlieir specific effects on the organic func tions. Whether each particular passion is to be regarded as an essential, innate disposition of the mind, or as the modi- fied action of the faculties, resulting from their peculiar com- bination in the individual, is a question that lias given rise INFLUENCE OF THE PASSIONS ON THE SECRETION.^ 73 to numerous theories and conjectures which scarcely require our attention, since they are rather curious than instructive. The substances or varieties of animal matter, chiefly sepa- rated and combined from the elements of the blood, in the processes of secretion, are, according to Bostock, aqueous, mucous, albuminous, gelatinous, fibrinous, oleaginous, resi- nous and saline ; all of which are comprised and classified in the brief statement of Magendie as exhalations, folliculai- and glandular secretions. Tlie influence of mental emotions on these processes in animal chemistry now demand our attention. No matter how many passions may be embraced and named in a precise classification, they are comprehended in desire, love, joy — fear, hatred, sorrow— all others being compounded of such as are included in this specification. Now, as the circulation of the animal fluids is directly dependent on the distribution of the electro-nervous force, it follows that the passions — by their direct action on the nerve-aura — must powerfully influ- ence all the secretory processes of the system. Ethical as well as scientific writers have observed that those states of passional excitement, in which love exerts a strong influence on the mind, are more compatible with the laws of vital harmony than such as spring from resentment and exhibit malevolence. This is doubtless true ; and yet when love is not refined and intellectual, but sensuous or passionate — exhibiting far less of rational affection than of animal desire — it has an immeasurable and dangerous power over the vital forces and fluids. It causes protracted and tumultuous action at the nerve-centers, with such an exces- sive determination of the electric forces to certain portions 71 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS of the delicate and complicated glandular structure, as often results in constant abnormal excitability, and a total suspen- sion of the natural functions. Many pious and passionate people — who respect “ the statute in such cases made and provided,’’ at the same time they religiously obey the Ten Commandments — have no proper control over their desires. Their conventional ideas of fidelity are about as good for body and soul as a sIoav but fatal poison. Love — though in a true sense it is one with Life — becomes a destroying flame that dissipates the fluids, interrupts the organic harmony, blunts the mental faculties, obscures the moral and spiritual perceptions, and enervates the whole man. Such people often kill themselves and others in a most reputable way, and thus illustrate the relations of suicide and homicide to the legal standard of propriety and virtue. The domination of a single passion over the mind and character — especially when it stimulates the secretions in a particular part of the body — is liable to interrupt the proper action of the glandular system, and thus to prevent the appro- priate distribution of the fluids. There are certain states of feeling and habits of life which may increase the action of the exhalent vessels, and diminish that of the absorbents, causing an effusion of serum. This diseased state of the system, and unnatural accumulation of water, is ordinarily denominated dropsy. If the aqueous accumulation be about the brain, it is known as hydrocephalus, and it is also distinguished by various other names, which are determined by the organs or parts of the system affected, and by its complication with other forms of disease. When, from the inllucnce of the passions, or from other causes, the normal action of the ab- INFLUENCE OF THE PASSIONS ON THE SECRETIONS. 76 (»* sorbing and secreting vessels is permanently disturbed, the waste or effete matter of the body is liable to be deposited at the points of electrical convergence, producing a variety of morbid states and affections. When the processes of se- cretion are thus deranged, the proper elimination of the several forms of animal matter is rendered impossible. If obstructions occur in the sacs and ducts of the glandular system, so that the matter — to be modified for the purposes of animal life, or to be expelled from the body as useless — is not properly prepared and absorbed, or excreted^ as the case may require, the derangement may result in adipose sar- coma^ a variety of glandular swellings, or tumors, strumous tubercles, or a diseased state of the system generally, if the morbid matter be more widely and equally distributed. Thus a vital organ — on account of its original disproportion, or from incidental causes — may become a point of electrical concentration, or a magnetic center, to which the elements may be unduly attracted. Fluids, which should have been elsewhere secreted, or expelled frofn the body through ap- propriate channels, accumulate, by an electro-hydraulic pro- cess, beyond the utmost capacity of the absorbing vessels, and the excretory processes of the system, to remove them ; and thus the vital harmony is disturbed, and the organic action may be fatally deranged. The power of the Passions to influence the processes of vital chemistry is strikingly displayed in the change that occurs in the color of the hair, in consequence of intense feeling or strong cerebral excitement. Though this change is generally gradual, it is sometimes sudden and almost in- 6 7G MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. staiitaneous. Our observations on the relations of elec- tricity to vital force and chemical action, suggest the proba- ble causes of all similar phenomena. A chemical analysis of the hair discovers — among other important constituents — phosphate and carbonate of lime, iron, oxide of mangan- ese, and sulphur. The substance last named enters very largely into its composition, and its presence is doubtless in- dispensable to this curious phenomenon, which I will here- undertake to explain. Any physical derangement or mental excitement, producing a strong determination of the vital forces to the brain, is liable to develop an electro-chemical action, in which the oil containing the coloring matter of the hair may be absorbed by the sulphur, which is then perceived through its transparent envelope. Thus hair of all colors and of every conceivable shade, assumes the same appear- ance. It is well known that extreme fear, or, indeed, any violent passion that occasions an undue determination of the nervous circulation to the head, is liable to produce this mysterious change. It has also been observed that fear some- times causes the hair to stand on end, and we are obliged to refer this fact to the same cause. Every novice in electrical science knows that electricity will produce this effect. It is only necessary to insulate a man, and pass an electric current through or over him, and each separate hair will assume an erect position. Now, if powerful cerebral excitements de- velop the same results, we may reasonably infer the presence and action of the same agent. This inference derives addi- tional confirmation from the fact, that if you pass the hand over the cranium of the man, or along the spinal column of INFLUENCE OP THE PASSIONS ON THE SECRETIONS. 77 a cat, while the nervous forces are thus excited, electrical sparks may be distinctly perceived. ’ There are other facts which forcibly illustrate the writer^s theory, and the following extract from an influential public journal furnishes a striking example : A most extraordinary effect, produced by electricity, lately happened at one of the electric telegraph stations in France. A gentleman — employed in one of the principal offices — was in communication with one of his colleagues, when the electric wire he was using happened to relax, and to come in con- tact with his arm. The current was passing through it, and the employe sus- tained a violent shock, which raised him from his chair and threw him vio- lently through a window opening on a garden. When he recovered his senses he could not recollect his adventure, and could only be convinced of it by perceiving that his hair and beard, which were formerly of a beautiful jet black, had become in various places as white as snow.” In this case the chemical action and the consequent change in the color of the hair resulted, perhaps, from the electrical discharge from the battery through the telegraphic wire ; and yet, it must be admitted, that it may have been produced by the sudden and powerful determination of vital electri- city to the brain, occasioned by the shock. Whether it was ^ Professor Beckeinsteiner’s directions respecting the mode of experiment-^ ing on animals, and the surprising results of his own experiments, are thus described : “ When the temperature is below thirty-two degrees, the wind north and the sky clear, expose a cat to the cold until bis fur lies close to the skin and appears greasy 5 expose your hands to make them equally cold ; then take the animal on your knees, apply the fingers of your left hand on its breast, and pass your right hand down its back, pressing moderately ; at the fifth or sixth pass you will receive a slight electric shock. At first the cat appears pleased, but as soon as it feels the shock it jumps away, and will not endure the repetition of the experiment the same day. After the exped- ment the animal looks tired ; some days after it loses its appetite, seeks soli- tude, drinks water at rare intervals, and dies in a fortnight. The same exper- iment succeeds with rabits, and they die the same day.” f8 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. the external or internal current, or both, that wrought the change, we may not absolutely determine ; but the relations of electricity to the phenomenon are sufficiently obvious, whatever hypothesis we may be pleased to adopt. The truth of my general idea is still further supported by the fact, that this change in the color of the hair is first manifested over those portions of the brain which are most exercised. Hence the change is unequal in all persons who are subject to violent impulses, or distinguished for angular mental developments ; at the same time the process not only occurs at a later period in life, but it is gradual and uniform among persons who possess a calm unruffled disposition. When the cerebral development is harmonious, and the vital forces are equally distributed, the change never occurs at an early period in life ; but with the victims of religious mono- mania and of hopeless love, it is usually very rapid, while the raven locks of certain terror-stricken ones have become white in a moment. I will here cite a single additional fact in illustration of my theory. While the writer was giving lectures in Worcester, Mass., on the general subject of this treatise — some ten years since — a lady who was suffering from severe physical derangement came to ask advice re- specting her health. She was a total stranger. Glancing at her head, I discovered that the hair over those portions of the brain wherein the phrenologists locate V eneration and Marvelousness, were almost white, while in the region of Hope it was still dark as the plumes of the raven. Madam, I observed, you have been fearfully excited on the subject of religion. She gazed at me a moment with a feeling of evi- dent astonishment, and then proceeded to say tliat slic had INFLUENCE OF THE PASSIONS ON THE SECRETIONS. 79 been greatly disturbed by the doctrines and preaching of “ Father Miller/’ and, on this account, that she had formerly been in the lunatic asylum I Admitting the general correctness of this philosophy, it will appear that the hair undergoes this change in old age because the vital electric forces *are gradually withdrawn from the extremities — from all external surfaces and portions of the body— and gathered up at the brain, where the life- principle remains to the last. It must be sufiSciently obvious to every observer of vital phenomena, that the passions act directly on the nervous forces, or the animal electricity of the body ; and hence all the delicate and mysterious processes of secretion must be immediately and powerfully influenced by the passions. But of their specific relations to such electro-chemical changes, I can not treat at greater length ; nor would the larger num- ber of ray readers be likely to be interested in the minute details of the subject. I will, however, further suggest, by a brief and imperfect statement, some of the more obvious effects of the passions on the secretions. J ealousy, by its tendency to increase the biliary secretion, is liable to overburden the hepatic duct and its tributaries ; grief so acts on the lachrymal gland, that tears are secreted and profusely discharged ; while excessive joy, and other strong mental emotions, sometimes produce the same or simi- lar effects. The functions of the skin are often strongly in- fluenced by the Passions. In this manner the insensible ex-‘ halations from the body are increased and diminished. Pro- fuse perspiration sometimes accompanies or succeeds violent mental emotions. The urinary secretion is thus varied in 80 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. quantity, and, doubtless, in its chemical constituents, by the influence of the Passions on the electrical forces that deter mine all the changes in the subtile chemistry of the living body. It is- a well known fact that the misdirected action or improper excitement of the mind, immediately after par- turition, has resulted in the sudden suppression o'f the lochia, and a repulsion of the lacteous secretion from the breasts. Indeed such is the power of the Passions to produce electro- chemical effects, in this direction, that a sudden fit of anger in the mother has produced violent spasms in the child at her bosom. In the light of the foregoing observations, the importance of restraining the Passions, and giving them a wise direc- tion, can not be too highly estimated. If, in this respect, we fail in the government of ourselves, we may extinguish the vital flame with a flood ; we may dissipate the life-fluids and be consumed by inward fires ; or, at least, the tempest of uncontrollable passion is left to break the essential har- mony of our being, while Discordia — daughter of Night and sister of Death — smites and snaps the chords of Life. CHAPTER VIII. THE MIND AS A DESTRUCTIVE AGENT. Influence of Mind over the Vital Forces — How it deranges the Functions and destroys Life — Its Relations to Congestion, Paralysis, and other forms of Disease — Fatal Consequences of false Impressions — Hydrophobia produced by the Mind — A fatal Bleeding without the loss of a drop of blood — Exam- ples cited by Dr. Moore — A Man shot dead with blank cartridges — Death of another on the block— How a Pestilence may be arrested— Three fatal cases of Cholera as the result of the Mind’s action — An illustrative Fable — A Man killed by an ungovernable Temper — Irritable Children and weak nerves — Mistakes at Coroners’ Inquests — The Broken Harp. the mind exerts a mysterious and wonderful control ■ over the body, must be obvious to every one who has ob- served the relations of its faculties and affections to physio- logical phenomena. The electro-chemical changes that occur in the vital laboratories are rendered irregular or uniform by the prevailing states and incidental exercises of the Mind. The most destructive elements in the physical world, when left to spend their whole force on the unprotected human body, are scarcely more disastrous in their effects than the misdirected action of its powers ; at the same time the life- forces may be augmented and equalized, and the wasting form mysteriously renewed by the appropriate exercise and right direction of the Mind. The fact is thus confirmed by universal experience, that / MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. the functions of life are influenced — accelerated, retarded or arrested — by the mental action oft the bodily organs. And as disease has its origin in a disturbance of the vital forces, and consequent derangement of the circulation, we at once dis^cover the vast importance of mental harmony to physical health. Many persons become diseased from believing they are so already. In a highly'nervous organization the action of mind may be so intense, and the body so easily impressed as to generate any conceivable form of disease in this way. Any powerful mental impression will generally leave its image, more or less perceptible, on the physical constitution. Thus a jealous, unsocial, or melancholy disposition, will be likely to occasion bilious derangement. Extreme fear, anger, or any other violent passion, will expose the system to spas- modic attacks ; while an anxious, sympathetic and restless state of mind will inevitably induce nervous diseases. Among the causes that act on and modify the electrical conditions of the body, there is not one that exerts a mightier influence than the Mind itself. Having a direct control over the immediate agent of vital motion, it affects the distri- bution of all the fluids, and determines many of the physio- logical changes that occur. The mode of this connection, between the mental and vital action, will admit of a philo- sophical explanation. It is well known that electricity ac- celerates the motion of the fluids. If you discliarge an electric current through a siphon while a stream of water is passing, the water will be driven out with great force, moving in the direction of the electric current. That the distribution of vital electricity — by tlie voluntary and invol- untary powers of the mind — lias the same eflcct on tlie blood THE MIND AS A DESTDUCTTVE AGENT. 83 in tliG arteries, and on the circulation of the animal fluids generally, is equally true, and is confirmed by a long course of observation. A single fact will suffice to illustrate this point. In all surgical operations performed while the patient is in a state of physical insensibility, whether induced by magnetic coma or otherwise, the loss of blood is inconsider- able. In such cases, the mind’s action being measurably sus- pended, the electrical forces are not disturbed, and the equi- librium of the circulation is not materially interrupted. But when the same operation is performed on a conscious, sensi- tive subject, the mind is of course concentrated at the seat of the injury ; the nervous forces and the blood necessarily exhibit the same tendency, and the patient is liable to bleed copiously, and, perhaps, may lose his life from excessive hemorrhage. I am not unconscious of the power of the elements on man. I know that, the fluids of animal bodies may be sud- denly dissipated by the frost and the fire. But the Mind, when misdirected, is not less powerful and mortal in its action. When, for example, a person is suddenly startled and terrified, the motive power is driven back from the sur- face and the extremities to tlie brain, which is so powerfully surcharged as frequently to cause dizziness, sometimes tem- porary insanity, and we have well-authenticated accounts of persons who have instantly expired, so terrible has been the shock occasioned by this violent determination of the nervo-electric forces to the brain. That precisely this physiological change does occur, is evident from the fol- lowing considerations : First, the partial or total loss of muscular energy in the extremities, appears to demonstrate 84 MAN AMD HIS RELATIONS. the absence of that electric agent on which all muscular power is made to depend. Second, increased motion in the region of the heart and the brain. The accelerated arterial action, and the intense cerebral excitement as evinced by the hurried and irregular character of the mental functions, furnish evidence not less convincing that the motive power is concentrated at the seat of life. ^ Having proved by repeated references to scientific experi- ments, that what is Usually denominated the nervous fluid in animal bodies, is a subtile form of electricity, and that the same is evolved from all parts of the system where there is either chemical or mechanical action, I shall now appeal to facts to illustrate the irresistible influence of this electrical medium — agent of the Mind — in the production of the greatest physiological changes of which the human body is susceptible. The facts illustrative of this point are numer- ous and conclusive, only a few of which can be comprehended in the present citation. The writer’s views respecting the power of the Mind over the electro-nervous currents and the arterial circulation, will receive strong confirmation from the further examination of the suh' the careful observer it will be obvious, tliat menli. "^^‘ofiuce correspond- ing physical u. . , ucnt".. As intense, io,* , v rjeiii iiate, sudden jealousy, exti rmie (> prehension, or any Du vs;rful mental impulse, will • tiy interrupt the vital equilibrium. 1 That the cerebral action is greatly increased under such circumstances, is rendered evident from the experiences of persons rescued from drowning, who assure us that, under the apprehension of immediate death, the mind acts with such incredible rapidity that the whole history of the drowning man passes before him in a single moment. THE MIND AS A DESTRUCTIVE AGENT. 85 it follows that the most aggravated forms of disease may have their origin in the Mind. If the individual is more distinguished for vigor of thought than for inteasity of feel- ing, the unbalanced tide of the circulation will flow to the brain, and be accompanied by a strange cerebral excitement and a flushed countenance. If, on the other hand, the person be characterized by blind, unreasoning passion, the vital torrent may rush to the heart, leaving the visage pale, and causing an accelerated arterial action. Not only a momen- tary functional derangement is thus produced, but conges- tion, paralysis, insanity and (Jeath, often occur in conse- quence of this direct power of the mind over the elemental principles and organic action of the body. To insure uniform health and a protracted earthly exist- ence, the corporeal development should be commensurate with the increasing mental activity and power. Any great disproportion will be found to be incompatible with mental and vital harmony. The capacity and intensity of the Mind’s action is not unfrequently the cause of increasing physical debility, and a premature dissolution of the body. Like powerful machinery in a frail building, the Mind shakes the slender fabric in every part. At length in some great emergency — when the storms of life break over us with terrific power, calling for herculean effort — the mind sud- denly breaks away from its frail and mortal fastenings, and \ the startled voyager finds himself beyond the vicissitudes of Time — floating at ease and gracefully in his immortal argosy — with an Angel at the helm, and the great ocean of the limitless Life before him. The intimate connection of the Mind with the vital prin- 85 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. ciple is forcibly illustrated by innumerable cases of disease, and many deaths, occurring coincidentally with the pre- vious anticipations of the victims. Whenever such fears and expectations are fostered, they are liable to acquire a dangerous influence over the mind, and, in the end to pro- duce the apprehended physical results; Strong mental impressions are sure to leave their images on the body, more or less distinctly, according to the active power of the one, and the intrinsic susceptibility of the other. The mem- branes are delicate chemical surfaces, and the Mind — by the forces at its command — electmtypes the forms and shadows of its thoughts and feelings. It is possible to produce any physiological change or condition which may be compre- hended in a distinct mental conception or impression. Let a number of persons meet the same individual during the day, and — without exciting a suspicion of collusion or mis- chief — assuVe him that he appears to be ill, and he will soon be seriously indisposed. This action of the mind has, in several instances, been carelessly excited and manifested by such startling and painful results as should suffice to admon- ish the ignorant and tlioughtless operator that all similar experiments are, at least in his hands, attended with extreme danger to the health and life of the subject. This power of mental action and association produces many sui^prising effects. Impress the mind of the magnetic sleeper that he must wake from his trance at a particular liour, and the vital force will so react on the body — under the mental impression — that it will be impossible for him to sleep beyond the prescribed limit. Moreover, while it re- quires a powerful effort to driyc a man out of his eartlily THE MIND AS A DESTRUCTIVE AGENT. 87 house, so long as he is determined to remain therein, it is quite impossible to restrain or keep him when he has once resolved to depart. The system can in ho way be more speedily and fatally deranged than by fixing in the mind a settled and intense conviction that the body is exposed to the impending evils of disease and death. Indeed, a dose of arsenic in the stomach, or a rifle-ball deposited within the pericardium, would scarcely be more fatal than a positive impression that death is inevitable. Physicians and others often speak of those who merely fancy or imagine that they are ill. If they mean that phy- sical disease, in such cases, originates in the disordered action of the mind, the writer has already expressed his concur- rence ; but if, on the contrary, such forms of expression are intended to imply that the disease, in all similar examples, has only an imaginary existence, I must dispute the assump- tion, because the most terrible forms of vital derangement are induced in this manner, and even death suddenly evoked by the action of the Mind. Many a business man has been prostrated by a violent nervous or bilious attack, in conse- quence of having his note protested. The rates of exchange often influence the appetite, while a rapid decline in the price of stocks may occasion a loss of flesh, or have some- thing to do with a chronic diarrhea. Large payments — espe- cially when money is worth “ two per cent, a month” — have tendency to relax the system, while “ bank credits” and “ bills receivable” possess wonderful tonic properties. Many persons have died only because they thought their time had come. Dr. George Moore mentions the case of a woman who had her dress torn by a dog ; she imagined that S8 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. the animal was rabid, and that the virus had been communi- cated to her ; and, strange to say, her death occurred soon after, and was preceded and accompanied by symptoms of hydrophobia, so marked and unmistakable that the Medical Faculty could find no occasion for so much as a technical distinction. He also records the fact that John Hunter, a distinguished anatomist, ascribed an affection of the heart, which finally terminated his life, to an apprehension that he had received the poison into his system while employed in dissecting the body of an individual who had died of hydro- phobia. ^ The reader has doubtless been informed of the nature and the results of an experiment made on a man in France who had been condemned for a capital offense. Having his arm concealed so that it was impossible for him to make observa- tions through the sense of vision, lhe cuticle was slightly scratched, without, however, drawing so much as a single drop of blood. At the same time warm water was poured over the arm into a receptacle. Thus the senses of feeling and hearing were made to aid in the deception ; and under the impression that he must inevitably expire from the loss of blood, he actually fainted and died. It is also said of a man who was doomed to be shot, that he instantly expired when a number of soldiers — at a word — disjcharged blank cartridges at him ; and I have somewhere read of a person who died on the block, thougli the executioner’s axe fell without disturbing a hair of his head. During the prevalence of epidemic diseases, multitudes 1 See Dr. Moore’s treatise on “ The Soul and the Body.” — 228. THE MIND AS A DESTRUCTIVE AGENT. 89 doubtless fall victims to tlieir own morbid apprehensions. Nothing can be more important under such circumstances than to create a neiv excitement in the common mind. When the black banner of the Destroyer is unfurled in the sluggish atmosphere of the doomed city, the currents of thought and feeling all tend in one general direction, and they act with startling and terrible force on the public health and the very springs of life. On such an occasion a threatened invasion, or the shock of an earthquake, might check the pestilence and save the lives of thousands. Any event that would oc- casion a sudden reaction of the universal mind would tend to produce a vital equilibrium, and hence to change the electro-chemical and physiological conditions to a more normal standard. The destructive power of the Mind is strikingly exhibited in the results of an experiment performed, some time since, on four Russians who had been condemned to death for political offenses. The reader may have seen the account that originally appeared in the London Medical Times. It is, however, too important as an illustration of my subject to be omitted in this connection. Under the supervision of distinguished members of the medical profession, the con- victs were permitted to occupy beds whereon persons had died of epidemic cholera. They were not, however, aware of their exposure in this instance, and not one of them had the disease. Subsequently, they were informed that they must sleep on beds which had been occupied by cholera pa- tients. But in this case the heds ivere neiv, and had never been used by any person ; nevertheless, under the more po- 90 MAN AND HIS EFLATIONS. tent action of the mind, three of the four took the disease — ^ in its most malignant form — and died within four hours ! Thus we perceive that absolute contact with the very elements of infection were powerless to injure the body, while under the more certain and fearful action of mind the disease was generated — death suddenly evoked, and his mis- sion accomplished. Numerous cases of a similar character may be found in medical books and in the public journals, while innumerable examples occur whereof no record is made. Verily our boasted culture and the advantages of modern civilization are turned to a poor account if they do but expose us to unnatural ills, and thus render us more miserable. It is impossible to disguise the fact that- among savages and wild beasts disease is comparatively unknown, while civilized man is cursed with a thousand mortal mal- adies. It will be found at last that most of these are born of the Mind. Ever does each passing thought move like an incarnate spirit over the chords of life, and horrible discords or beautiful harmonies awaken the soul as they echo through the mystical courts of its temple. Sometimes an important truth obtains expression in the form of an ingenious fiction ; and I find a significant illus- tration of my subject in an Oriental fable. It is represented that the Spirit of the Plague once met an Eastern Prince, and informed him that, during the year, he should remove ten thousand of his subjects. Before the close of that year one hundred thousand died. Meeting the Prince again, the Destroyer reminded him of the fulfillment of his prediction. “ But,’’ said the Prince, “ you have taken one hundred thou- THE MIND AS A DESTRUCTIVE AGENT. 91 sand.” “Nay,” rejoined the other, “I removed only ten thousand — Fear took the restP Men are startled when Death approaches suddenly, and they pause to consider the reason of his coming. But few are conscious that in the thought and deed of every day, men solicit his untimely presence. The evil of which we speak — the influence of mental disturbances on the functions of life — is not most terrible where it is most strikingly dis- played. To a certain extent — a fearful extent too — this evil is well nigh universal. Millions lay the foundations of wasting disease by yielding perpetually to violent impulses. A thousand, trivial circumstances in the common affairs of life are permitted to disturb the equilibrium of mind, and the angry thought strikes harshly on the vital chords until the instrument is unstrung, and Life’s song on earth is hushed forever. How strangely are we conquered by little things ! The man who stood firm under the great calamity — braving the stormy elements like some great rock in the midst of the troubled sea — now, in an unguarded moment, bows low be- neath the slightest breath of misfortune. Things so small that he would be ashamed to mention them, are his masters, and he their slave. I have seen a being in human form, raving as though he were possessed of a devil! and, on drawing near, I learned of the bystanders that Nature had not made his horse strong enough to bear the burden he imposed ; and for this cause he was mad. An angry spirit breathed over the fountains of life, until the vital tide rose in a crimson flood and submerged the brain — He died of congestion ! ^ 92 MAN AND HTS RELATIONS. I have been in many a domestic circle where the woman — whose mission should be to calm the little discords that break the harmony of social life — would lose the command of her temper every hour in the day. The most trifling inci- dent was sufficient to arouse the war-spirit in the littl citadel ; and small missiles, in the form of angry looks and wor^s — possibly deeds — were hurled at any one, as though all had offended. Much the good woman wondered that tlie children were cross, and that she was herself troubled ivith weak nerves ! And yet seldom indeed has any one lived thus, to the age of thirty-five years, who was not hopelessly diseased. Anxiety, like an omniverous worm, gnaws at the root of our peace ; Care, like an ugly old hag, stirs the fires of life to put them out ; false Pride and a selfish Ambition con- tribute to waste the nation’s health, and lead to a fearful prostitution of the noblest powers. Some die of chills brought on by a cold and comfortless faith ; others are con- sumed with the burning fever of a too intense devotion ; while many take a melancholy ivhim, and give up the ghost as honorably as those who take a rope, or prussic acid. Thus thousands perish every year, the victims of spasmodic emo- tions, and the abnormal operations of a disorderly mind. Many of them expire suddenly ; and, at the coroner’s in- quest, it is reported that they died of disease of the heart, congestion of the brain, excessive hemorrhage, or sudden paralysis. But the truth is, the primary causes are back of all such physical effects. Some die from extreme fear ; others from intense anger ; others still from fits of jealousy, or from a deep and silent soi-row ; many arc killed by an THE MIND AS A DESTRUCTIVE AGENT. 93 all-conquering idea^ and not a few from that ungovernable vet hopeless love that, like accumulated electric forces in the midnight sky, must rend the 'cloudy that it may follow its attraction and find its equilibrium. There is no security for the earthly tenement when the reckless occupant kindles a destroying fire within, and suffers the flames to run through all the apartments. If a man allows himself to be led by every wild impulse and erratic fancy, or if his disposition be like gun-cotton, he is never safe. His body becomes a kind of magazine in which the passions frequently explode and shake the whole build- ing. That man’s house will not be likely to last long, and he should pay an extra premium for insurance. The impor- tance of preserving a calm and equal frame of mind will be sufficiently apparent, if we but know and remember that the most frightful physical maladies result from disturbed mental conditions. Look at any person of ungovernable temper^ y who has reached the meridian of life, and you will find the body a wreck. The nervous system resembles a broken harp, hung in a tree that has been scathed by fierce light- nings. The harp is still swept by every wind of passion, and, in the fitful vibrations of each untoned string, a dismal spirit utters its mournful wail I CHAPTER IX. RENOVATING POWERS OP THE HITMAN MIND. Unreasonable confidence in Drugs — The Renovating Principle in Man — The restorative process — Its relations to the Mind — Influence of outward con- ditions — Consequences of Opposite Mental States — Total relaxation and inactivity dangerous — Faith superior to Physic —Relation of Amulets, Prayers, Incantations, etc., to physiological'efiects — Importance.of giving a right direction to the Mind — Health found in a pleasant Aromatic — Disease removed with a hot Poker — The Paper-cure— A Psychological Emetic — Jesus observed the Psycho-dynamic Laws — Absurdity of the theories of popular Materialism. T he true philosophy of disease, comprehending its causes and their action within the sphere of organic relation and dependence ; also the relative efficacy of physical and mental agents in its treatment, and the natural methods of physical restoration, have been but very imperfectly understood From reading of the wonderful virtues of certain nostrums, as well as from the avidity with which thousands swallow pills and powders, one might almost fancy that health, and life, and perhaps immortality^ are to be purchased at the drug shops. This state of things does not indicate an intelligent per- ception of the laws of life and health. On the contrary, it evinces a profound and almost universal ignorance of the whole subject, notwithstanding its intimate relations to the most vital interests of the present life. RENOVATING POWERS OF THE HUMAN MIND. 95 Here, I apprehend, is an evil as strongly rooted as the pernicious customs of our imperfect civilization, and as mis- chievous as the perverted habits of the people. Perhaps 1 can not render a more essential service, in this connection, than by exposing this evil, while, at the same time, I offer some suggestions concerning the nature of the restorative principle and the renovating powers of the mind. Let me observe, in transitu^ that the reader must not ex- pect me to practice the peculiar circumspection which prompts certain writers to stand at a great distance from a difficult theme. I shall hope to be forgiven if I do not approach the subject with all the caution and reserve which may seem to be appropriate to the occasion, seeing that, in its discussion, so many scientific men have already exhausted their learn- ing, and ignorant ones have exposed their folly. The renovating principle^ or restorative power ^ has no place in medicine : it exists in man, and is manifested in and through the living organization. It is well known that when any part of the body is im- paired, by accident, or otherwise. Nature, without delay, commences to repair the injury. If, for example, you lacer- ate a muscle, an unusual tendency of the vital forces to the injured part will at once be perceptible. This determination of the electric forces of the living body increases the molecu- lar deposits which finally unite the dissevered portions of the muscle as firmly as before. When a bone is fractured, Nature employs substantially the same process, and generally with similar results. If one organ of sense be destroyed, or rendered inoperative, the other senses are usually quickened, so as to afford at least a partial compensation or indemnity 96 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. for the loss sustained. Thus it it will be perceived that the renovating power is in Man^ and that it constitutes one of the essential laws of his constitution . Nature, I know, may be assisted — -by various extrinsic means and measures — in her efforts to recover the normal exercise of her powers. But the bandage, applied to a flesh wound, only serves to protect it from the action of the at- mosphere ; an internal vital power is required to make the wounded member whole again. The appendages applied by the surgeon to a broken limb, subserve no higher purpose than to keep it in place, while nature performs the more important office of uniting the bone. In like manner, when any internal organ becomes diseased, or a general functional derangement occurs, we employ remedial agents in vain, unless Nature summons her forces to the work of expelling the evil. All that she requires at our hands is, that we aid in removing the obstacles we have thrown in her way. And when the resources of modern science and art are fairly ex- hausted, the doctors are obliged to leave Nature to conquer the disease, and she often accomplishes her task, not only without their aid, but in spite of their opposition. The power of the mind, as exhibited in the application of the vital forces to the organs of the body, has already been variously illustrated. Moreover, that the mind’s action, when misdirected or greatly intensified, is capable of producing physical effects of the most startling and fatal character, is rendered obvious from our investigation of the laws of vital motion, and especially by the illustrative facts contained in the last Chapter. That disease, in its most aggravated forms, occurs from mental as Avell as from pliysical causes, RENOVATING POWERS OF THE HUMAN MIND. 97 will not be questioned ; and that Death often approaches suddenly, or gradually retires from our presence at the man- date of the kingly Mind, is scarcely less apparent to the thoughtful observer. Indeed, no mere physical agent can so powerfully influence the distribution of the electro-nervous forces, and, consequently, the health and life of the body. But if the abnormal exercise and the misdirected action of the human faculties and affections involve such disastrous consequences to the body, it will necessarily follow, that, where the mind acts consistently with the laws of life and health, rightly distributing the vital motive power, it must inevitably become the most efficient agent in the treatment of disease, and in the removal of all the causes of vital inharmony. I hazard nothing in affirming that many forms of disease may be far more effectually treated by the appli- cation of mental forces than by the use of physical agents. If the mind, when misdirected, occasions an irregular organic motion and diseased condition of the body, it can only be necessary to reverse or change its action, while we preserve the strength and intensity of the mental function, and the disease will be arrested and removed. There are certain states of the public mind which exert a great sanitary influence. When the season is fruitful, and the hopes of the husbandman are more than realized ; when the spirit of a living enterprise is in all the wheels and springs of our complicated mechanism ; when Commerce spreads her snowy pinions over all the rivers and seas ; when the laborer goes to his toil with an elastic step, and returns with a joyful song ; when the world is at peace, and every im- 98 MAN AND HTS RELATIONS. portant branch of national industry is stimulated, inspiring confidence in the universal mind and heart, there will be less business for physicians, nurses, coroners and undertakers. Comparatively few persons are likely to be sick, so long as they are successful, and the world smiles upon them. More- over, most people manage to live abou’t as long as they con- trive to make life profitable, by living truly in respect to themselves, and with a wise reference to the common welfare. A state of mental depression acts with a destructive power on the body. Restless and unhappy people are almost always lean and sickly. The animal fluids are dissipated by the inward fires ; the nerves become morbidly impressible and the mucous surfaces are rendered dry and feverish ; the acidity of the stomach is increased by the asperities of the disposition ; the outlines of feature and form leave Hogarth’s line of beauty to be supplied by the imagination ; while the muscles of the face are underscored by care, and all life is gravely accented. But the man of aspiring hopes, who per- petually looks on the sunny side of life, will seldom sulfer from disease. ' Agreeable emotions stimulate the functions of the nutritive system, at the same time the power of assim- ilation is sure to be greatly diminished by the dominion of such passions as exert a depressing influence on tlie mind. It is worthy of remark, that the digestive function is usually strong in those persons who have large mirthfulness, and whose acute perception and lively appreciation of the ludicrous phases and aspects of human character and life, incline them to “ the laughing philosophy.” Indeed, that fleshy people are uniformly good-natured, is a suggestive text RENOVATING POWERS OF THE HUMAN MIND. 99 from our proverbial philosophy. It is not, however, their flesli that determines their dispositions ; but, on the contrary^ the state of mind and feeling that induces flesh. Whatever strengthens our confidence in mankind, and inspires our hopes of future happiness, must energize the powers of life. The faculties of the mind require proper stimulants, and when these are employed with a wise dis- crimination, they exert an invigorating influence on the organs of the body. Our powers all decline when there are no strong incentives to action. It is hardly possible for one to live long who has no purpose in life. The man who has realized all that Fame and Fortune promised, and with laureled brow sits down to enjoy his possessions, experiences a sudden and powerful reaction of all the forces of his nature. From that reaction — consequent upon the existiuj state of the mind — few entirely recover, while thousands pass away. They remain so long as they have an object to live for, and only expire when life becomes vain and pur- poseless. Life and death furnish many impressive illustrations of my idea. While visiting in a large New England town, not long since, a gentleman who resides there called my attention to several costly mansions, whose wealthy owners, having retired from active business, died soon after they were fairly settled in their new and splendid abodes. Having accomplished their own great object in life — maldng 'princely fortunes for themselves — the chords of being were suddenly relaxed, sinking far below the standard of a natural tension and a healthful activity. True, there were thousands of homeless wanderers all around them in the world, and 100 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. ^millions more whose lives have been a desperate struggle with “ outrageous fortune f but all such were left to termi- I nate the fierce conflict with life itself. When no selfish object remained to invite the exercise of their powers, and ■ the narrow aims and interests of a false pride and a heartless ambition were all fully realized, the dwellers in princely mansions had, perhaps, no object for which to live and act. Accordingly, they sought rest, and found a lasting but ignoble respose. Thus life, to the selfish man, is but a poor ^ and profitless investment, even when “ they whose hearts are dry as summer dust, Burn to the socket.” Among the agents comprehended in our eclecticism. Faith Is doubtless far more potent than Physic. In fact, the articles embraced in the materia meclica often derive all their remedial powers from the patient’s preconceived idea of their curative properties. When faith in the efficacy of any agent, however powerless in itself, is sufficiently strong, the anticipated physical results are quite sure to follow its admin- istration, The protecting and renovating powers of Amulets and the fancied occult influence of charms, (so much in use in past ages,) employed by ignorant people to shield their bodies from disease, and their souls from the assaults of Satanic agents, are doubtless to be ascribed to tliis action of the mind within itself and on the body. No matter what the material instrumentalities may be, in any given case, since the results are not so directly and essentially dependent on these as on the mind’s action. Papal prayers and Pagan incantations will serve equally well ' at the exorcism of RENOVATING POWERS OF THE HUMAN MIND. 101 imaginary demons ; at the same time, a string of berries from the mountain-ash, the dry bones of a departed saint, or any one of the ingredients of the witches’ caldron, will cure a devout, ignorant man whose disease had its origin in the mind. The most accomplished practitioners are ordinarily those who use the least medicine, and depend most on giving a new and right direction to the patient’s mind. Those who disre- gard the relations of the mind to the body, and are ignorant of the psychical laws, can never be eminently successful. Where nothing is done to inspire the patient with confidence, very little will be accomplished by our efforts to remove his disease or to mitigate his sufferings. The specific effects of the most valuable remedies are often neutralized by the repulsive manner of the physician, while the patient’s doubts respecting his capacity are often stronger than ordinary tonics and strengthening plasters. On the other hand, when the patient’s faith is established and unwavering, .bread-pills, sugar-powders, or Dr. Townsend’s sweetened- water, will readily accomplish amazing psycho-physiological effects It may be necessary to disguise the real condition of a sick man, in order to save him from the fatal consequences which an actual knowledge of his case would be likely to produce. For similar reasons, and from the best motives, the discreet physician may resort to a seemingly innocent deception, in order to realize the most beneficent results. The writer was once called to visit a lady who had suffered from protracted indisposition and a long confinement. She was so seriously ill that her case had baffled the skill of eminent physicians. Her physical infirmities, originating 102 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. mainly in disordered mental states, reacted with most de- pressing and melancholy effects on her sensitive mind. She was strongly inclined to the opinion that her case was hopeless. The number of her chronic difficulties was only limited by her knowledge of the infirmities of poor human nature. She readily concluded that only those understood her case whose diagnostic readings confirmed her own preconceived opinions. The writer, of course, indulged her whimsicalities, (that is an essential part of the treatment,) but with an air of unusual gravity assured her that the case was, nevertheless, one that could be most successfully treated. At first she was incredulous, but at length confidence was fully established. Taking from my vest pocket a box of “^Hooper’s Cachous Aromatises,’^ I removed the label without attracting her attention. Having described in a most par- ticular and emphatic manner the specific action of my elec- trical pills, (the description comprehended the precise physio- logical changes necessary to a healthy action,) I handed her the box with minute directions, and the positive assurance that the contents of a single box would suffice to restore licr to perfect health. The lady pursued the treatment with the strictest fidelity, and was completely restored! Since her recovery she has repeatedly importuned the writer for several boxes of those electrical pills, which she desires to present to friends whose cases are similar to her own. It is said that Pliny recommended the warm blood of an expiring gladiator as a remedy for epilepsy ; and not more than two hundred years ago the lichens whicli grew from human skulls were the best remedy for tliat disease known to the medical faculty of England. Alfred Since, in a note RENOVATINCx POWERS OF THE HUMAN MIND. J03 to liis “ Instinct and Reason/’ (page 270,) mentions a cure which resulted from the directions given by the doctor to the nurse, Avho was instructed to apply, if necessary, a red-hot poker to the patient’s hack. A. physician with whom the writer is on familiar terms, affirms that he produced a pow erful cathartic action by the use of flour, moistened with saliva, and made into pills. Some days since I heard of the| case of a German, who being seriously indisposed, applied to one of our American physicians for professional aid. The doctor wrote a prescription, and handing the paper to the ; patient, said, “ There, take that,” presuming that he would go at once to the apothecary for the medicine. Meeting his patient some few days after, he inquired after the state of his health, whereupon the German replied that he Avas quite well, but that he found some difficulty in getting the doctor’s prescription down, as he was not used to taking paper ! ^ When this vigorous and renovating action of the mind can be otherwise induced and directed, the same results may be produced without the use of ordinary remedial agents, or other material means. Some years since, Avhile the writer was employed in delivering a series of lectures on mental and spiritual science — in Springfield, Mass. — the statement was made, that whenever the mind’s action can be controlled ^ The following fact is related by Dr. George Moore : — During the seige of Breda, in 1625, the garrison was on the point of surren- dering from the ravages of scurvy, principally induced by mental depression. A few vials of sham medicine were introduced, by order of the Prince of Orange as an infallible specific. It was given in drops and produced aston- ishing effects. Such as had not moved their limbs for months before, were seen walking in the streets — sound, straight and well . — The Soul and the Body, p. 225. lOtt . MAN AND HIS RELAIIONS. agreebly to psychological laws, the specific action of any medicine may be ‘produced by the direction given by the mind to the electro-vital forces. This was boldly disputed by the Medical Faculty ; and the experiment of administering a psychological emetic was accordingly made in the presence of a large public assembly — on a liealthy Irishman — which in less than three minutes resulted in his discharging the contents of his stomach. The great Physician of the Jews recognized this action of the mind as possessing a great renovating power over the body. Two blind men came to him on a certain occasion to have their sight restored. Jesus said to them, “ According to your faith be it unto you ; and their eyes were opened.’^ To the woman who “ touched the hem of his garment,” he said, “ Thy faith hath made thee wholeT — [Matthew, ninth chapter.] These and other similar forms of expression clearly indicate that the cures wrought by the Divinely-gifted Man of Nazareth were not arbitrary exhibitions of an independent power, but that they were in consonance with the psycho- dynamic laws. Cures are now daily accoiuplished when tlio material agents employed have no specific action on the system, and also when no such means are resorted to by the patient or the practitioner. In either case the cure must be ascribed to the action of the mind. So important is tliis concentration and application of mental forces to the diseased body — so essential is faith on the part of the patient, that without it the chances of recovery, in any serious case, are few and small. Few persons afllicted with clironic diseases are ever cured witliout strong confidence in the pliysician or Ids remedies. On the other hand, wiicn all the energies of RENOVATING POWERS OF THE HUMAN MIND. J Oo the soul are summoned to the work of deliverance, disease is straightway forced to resign its usurped dominion. ^ The idea that diseases may be removed and the body restored by the agency of the mind alone, involves — in the ^ judgment of many people — a great tax on human credulity. , They have no hesitation in believing that a small blue pill, a , little tincture of lobelia, or an infinitesimal dose of the fortieth dilution of some impotent drug will accomplisli the work of organic and functional renovation, whilst Mind, with all its • immortal powers and Godlike capabilities, is regarded as an i inadequate cause of similar effects. This is the woi’st conceivable form of Materialism. /It invests the smallest quantity of inorganic matter with a power greater than the soul is admitted to possess| It utterly denies the supremacy i of Mind over the realm of material forces, forms and elements ; ) while it virtually disputes the healing power of the great , Physician, because he did not give physic to the Jews, but removed their maladies by the mightier energies of Mind. The remarkable cures wrought — in the early part of the last century — at the tomb of the Abbe Paris, appear to have depended far more on the faith of the devotees themselves, than on the miraculous energy ascribed to the d y bones of the departed Saint. . CHAPTER X. MENTAL AND VITAL POWERS OF RESISTANCE. The Inward Forces — False views of the nature of Disease — Conditions of the Earth and atmosphere — Man’s positive relation in the outward World — How the Citadel may be defended — Experiments of Dutrochet— Structure of the membranes of animal and human Bodies — Relations of Mind to the powers of physical resistance— The Sisters of Charity — Strong mental excitements may fortify the Body— Power to resist Heat and Cold — Reference to Dr. Kane, the Arctic Explorer — Col. Fremont’s Expeditions — Painful Ex- periences among the passes of the Sierra Nevada — The Colonel’s Inspira- tion — Conquests of the Positive Man. ‘ ‘ All declare For what the Eternal Maker has ordained The powers of Man ; we feel within ourselves His energy divine.” I N the external economy of Human Nature — in its best estate — we are presented with a most majestic and beauti- ful earthly form ; with vital forces and organic instruments the most subtile and complicated, and with functions of being the most delicate, mysterious and wonderful. Nevertlieless, we should be wanting in the most significant and convincing illustration of the Divine wisdom and benevolence, if Man, with his exquisite susceptibility and transcendent powers, were surrounded by destructive agents, whose iireseiice he was unfitted to perceive, and against whose secret assaults he could oppose no adequate resistance. Ihit wo are not thus MENTAL AND VITAL POWERS OP RESISTANCE. 10 ," defenseless. On the contrary, tliere exists no outward cause of vital derangement for which Nature has not provided a sufficient inward protection. Man has only to comprehend his nature and relations, and to wisely apply the forces at his command, to insure his personal safety. When his latent powers are fairly called into the outward arena, being normally exercised and rightly directed, he will be strong in the integrity of his nature, and may walk forth- amidst a thousand dangers, with none to make him afraid. Many persons seem to entertain the idea that diseases have an independent existence^ and that they are individual- ized in the atmosphere. Those unphilosophical observers, in whose uncultivated minds idle fancies, and the most im- probable conjectures, assume the dignity and authority of an enlightened judgment and scientific conclusions, may readily imagine that the vital air is but the broad highway through which invisible forms of Evil — the ministers of infection and disease — go dov/n to the carnival of Death; and that an in- dignant Providence unchains the viewless winds, arms them with numberless poison shafts, and sends them forth to smite and to destroy. Such notions evince as little reason as rev- erence. The truth is. disease is only a deranged state of the vital forces and functions, or a temporary condition of an organic form induced by an infringement of some exist- ing law. As disease has no separate existence outside of organic forms and relations, but is wholly dependent on the violation of vital, physiological or other laws for its de- velopment, it follows, that to escape disease, we have but to live and act with a wise reference to the laws of our com- 8 M)S MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. mon nature. Neglect those laws, and earth has no asylum where the enemy will not find and punish the offender. But are there no conditions of the earth, and especially of the atmosphere, that may diminish the vital forces of the human body, or otherwise derange the organic action ? Obviously such conditions are liable to occur, at all seasons and in every part of the world. But when the body is in a perfectly normal state, it so readily accommodates itself to the electrical and atmospheric changes, that it suffers no injury from their occurrence. Occasionally a person lives eighty or one hundred years, in the enjoyment of complete and uninterrupted health. Such men must inevitably have been exposed, more or less, to the influence of the elements, and to all the ordinary vicissitudes of life ; and yet they are strangers to the physical infirmities of mankind. The ex- amples of this class may not be very numerous, but they indicate with sufficient clearness the inherent capacities of Man. The powers necessary to vital harmony and a pro- ( tracted existence — still latent in the great body of Humanity ^ — are here and there obscurely revealed in individuals, as prophecies of still nobler achievements for the Race, as we go forward to realize the great destiny and the sublime pos- sibilities of human nature on earth and in the heavens. The capacity to resist the outward causes of disease mainly depends on the positive nature and relation of man^ as compared, with the unorganized elements, and the surrounding forms of the organic creation. The human body is perpetually gen- erating and disengaging the vital electi'ic element tliat con- stitutes the circulating medium of the nervous system, and MENTAL AND VITAL POWERS OF RESISTANCE. 109 the vital motive power. The several processes of respiration, digestion, circulation, secretion, and the powers of molecular attraction, chemical affinity and muscular motion, are all employed in the evolution of the subtile principle, which is constantly passing off from the healthy body in inappre- ciable currents to pervade the material elements and ob- jective forms of the external world. As these processes are uninterrupted in the healthy body, the gradual waste is constantly supplied ; and so long as the inward forces and guL+iie elements continue to flow out from the vital centers to the circumference of our being, v/e can not be injured by the outward agents that induce disease. This determination of the electric forces from the center to the surface, not only carries the effete matter out of the body — thus cleansing the channels and purifying the elements of the circulation — but so long as this flow of the vital tide is not interrupted, the agents that disturb the electrical equilibrium, and the organic movement, are driven away, and the normal condition of the “body is preserved. It is only when the vital forces are dimin- ished at the seat of life, or when the electric currents set back from the external to the internal surfaces, that the avenues leading to the citadel are left open and defenseless. This point will admit of a clearer elucidation. When two bodies in opposite electrical conditions, or sustaining positive and negative relations, are brought together, there is an instantaneous effort on the part of Nature to establish an equilibrium between them. The subtile fluid emanates from the positive body and goes out to pervade the other. If the bodies be composed of homogeneous elements, in similar pro- portions, and hence have equal capacity as conductors, they no MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. will be reduced to the same electrical condition. If we charge a leyden jar, and a negative body that will serve as a con- ductor be placed in suitable relations to the same, the accumu- 0 lated electricity will be discharged from the jar to the body thus presented. Now, in a less sensible, though not less certain manner, the same phenomenon is constantly recurring from the contact of the human body with external objects. But the discharges occur on the inductive principle, and are not, therefore, perceptible, as in the disruptive discharge from the jar, or from the clouds, when summer showers are accom- panied by electrical phenomena. It has been observed that the human body, while in a healthy state, is positive to the inorganic substances,' and, I may add, to the forms of organized existence below man. I need not pause here to discuss the nature of the outward agents and specific conditions which induce disease in any given case ; but it may be clearly shown, that while the system preserves its natural or positive relation to the exter- nal elements, it can not be materially injured by their action. So long, for example, as the body continues to sustain this relation to the atmospheric changes, we can not take cold, nor are we liable to suffer from exposure to contagion. Tlie invisible arrows of the destroyer fall without the walls of the fortress in which the forces of life are entrenched. The enemy is kept at bay by virtue of the resistance which his positive relation enables man to exercise. While the normal condition is preserved, he is perpetually sending out electrical emanations, which pervade the surrounding atmosphere and the objects with which he is most intimately connected. On the contrary, when the relation is clianged — when the body MENTAL AND VITAL POWERS OF RESISTANCE. Ill becomes negative in the sphere of its outward relations — the corporeal organs and their functions may be impaired and deranged by the general state of the elements, or by the specific properties of surrounding forms and substances. Agreeably to this positive relation of living bodies, we find that tlie skin and other membranes are adapted to the exhalation rather than the inhalation or absorption of par- ticles. It was Dutrochet who demonstrated, by his experi- ments in Endosmose and Exosmose, the great exhaling ca- pacity of the membranes of animal bodies. At the same time his scientific investigations render it equally evident that the outward elements do not readily enter the body through the cutaneous envelop. While substances in a liquid state would easily pass out — from the inner to the outer surface — through the pores of the skin, no similar hydraulic pressure would suffice to force them through the perspiratory ducts in the opposite direction. The result of the experi- ment suggests the cause of this difference. When the force is applied from within, the valves of the epidermis are natu- rally thrown open ; but when the pressure is on the external surface, the oblique valvular openings — numbering some 2500 or 3000 to every square inch of the surface of the body — are closed as a means of protection. I am aware that some authors have maintained that certain substances in solution can be introduced into the system through the cuticle ; and it is even asserted that life has been preserved for some time by the absorption of nutrition. But these statements must be regarded as extremely improbable in the light of Du- trochet’s experiments ; at the same time other scientific ob- servations contribute to establish the fact, that the absorbing 112 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS- power of the membranes bears no proportion to their exhaling capacity. On this peculiarity in the membraneous structure and func- tions of the skin, the natural power of the living body to resist the outward causes of disease must in a great measure depend ; for not only is it thus qualified to expel — in a sum- mary manner — the impurities that would otherwise remain and generate disease, but it is likewise enabled -to resist the influx of foreign elements that might impair the organic func- tions and render life insecure. Thus the body is fitted by Nature to expel disease, rather than to imbibe the elements that generate the evil. So long, therefore, as the normal condition is faithfully preserved, and man sustains proper relations to the elements and forms of the physical v/orld, he is invulnerable to cold, to miasma, and to all the subtile agents of infection. It is well known that there are certain mental states that greatly increase and others tliat materially diminish our sus- ceptibility to sensorial impressions, and to the influence of such agents as are liable to disturb the organic harmony, The activity of the mind is not merely an indispensable con- dition of its own growth, but it is necessary to pliysical health, inasmuch as the body is liable to become negative when the mind is wholly inactive. A proper mental excitement imparts an additional stimulus to the organic functions. In the hours of rest we are entirely passive or negative, hence the in- creased liability during sleep, to take cold or imbibe disease from contagion. Whatever renders the body negative, in the sense here implied, exposes it to injury from outward causes. But as the mind is capable of sending the electrical MENTAL AND VITAL POWERS OF RESISTANCE. 1 1 forces to every part of the system, it follows that the walls which surroimd the powers of life may be strongly fortified. When the whole surface is electrically charged there is no opportunity for the admission — from external sources — of the elements Avhich produce disease. They are driven off, and the body is protected by the spontaneous fioAV of the electric forces from the center toward the circumference of our physical being. The phenomenal illustrations of this part of my subject are as significant and forcible as they are numerous and diversified. The timid watcher who goes reluctantly to the bedside of a sick friend — filled with the apprehension of a mortal danger — will so withdraw the electro-nervous forces by the recoiling action of his mind, that every avenue lead- ing to the seat of vital poAver will be left open, and he will almost ineAdtably fall a victim. On the contrary, the phy- sician, Avho Avith firm purpose and unshaken nerves, walks through the Avards of the hospital, is seldom injured by the foul atmosphere of disease and death. The Sisters of Charity, Avhose devotion to the interests of Humanity and the claims of their Religion prompt them to brave the secret agents of destruction, are very rarely sacrificed to the South- ern pestilence. Let a negative man sit still for two hours on a cold stone, Avhere the autumn winds chill the blood as they hymn their requiem to the dying year, and he may lose his own life in consequence ; at the same time, a li\e member of the Democratic party — if under the influence of strong political excitement — may stand at the corner of the street and quarrel with a Republican all night, Avithout sufifering from exposure to the Rosts and storms of Avinter. A delicate 114 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. and susceptible lady wlio would take cold from a moment^s contact with the damp ground, or from a slight exposure to the evening air, Avhen the mind is in a state of repose, may escape unharmed when she is under the influence of intense mental excitement. Let her be told for example that her child has fallen into the river, and the agitation of mind occasioned by the startling intelligence will enable her to expose her person to the fiercest action of the elements with impunity. The strong impulse of the soul sends the forces to the extremities, and so diffuses the electric aura over the whole surface of the body as to furnish a complete protection. The normal temperature of the body, among the human species, varies in different races and individuals from' 96 to 100^ Fahr., and is but slightly modified by the circumstances of geographical position and the vicissitudes of the Seasons. In Summer and Winter — in the frigid and the torrid zones, it remains the same. From this fact we may infer that the vital power to resist the variations of temperature is almost unlimited ; and this is one of the most essential laws in the economy of all Animated Nature. This inherent capacity to endure sudden changes and the greatest extremes of heat and cold, is often essential to the preservation of healtli and life. In certain persons this power has been exer- cised and developed in a surprising degree. Blagden was able to endure the atmosphere of an oven in which water boiled while the surface was covered with oil, and when the mercury stood 257° Fahr. We have also an account of two girls in France whose experiments demonstrated their ca- pacity to resist a still higlier temperature. Francisco Mar- tinez, a Spaniard, wlio made an exhibition of his powers at MENTAL AND VITAL POWERS OF RESISTANCE. Ho , Paris — some thirty years ago — did not liesitate to go into a large stove heated to 279°. Moreover, it appears from the testimony of a number of reliable witnesses, that the Convulsionaries at the grave of Saint Medard, in France, were no less distinguished for their ability to resist extreme heat. La Sonet, sur named the Salamander, in the course of two hours subjected her body to the action of fire for more than half an hour ; and during the time she was so exposed fifteen sticks of wood were consumed ; the flames at times uniting above the woman ^ and thus encircling the whole body. La Sonet manifested no signs of pain, but appeared to be sleeping. A certificate — attesting the actual occurrence of the facts in this case — was signed by several enlightened witnesses including a brother of Voltaire and a Protestant nobleman from Perth.’ In the year 1832 the writer witnessed some masterly illustrations of this power by a Frenchman, who was known as the ’‘Fire King.^’ Monsieur could enter a heated oven and I email! long enough to boil eggs or cook a steak, without any apparent inconvenience to himself. In his public exhi- bitions he was accustomed to take his place on an elevated platform, over which an iron frame was erected, and Avhere he was surrounded on all sides with light combustible materials, including several hundred blank cartridges. When his ar- rangements were completed he applied a lighted match to a fuse, and in a moment he would be so completely enveloped in flames as to be almost or altogether concealed from the spectators. His outside garments were always consumed, but the devouring elements left no signs of its power on the ‘ See Blake’s Encyc., — Art., Aidnial Heat. 16 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. person of the Fire King. It would be difficult to find more extraordinary illustrations of this amazing power of resist- ance, if we except the alleged miraculous experience of the tliree Hebrews, who were unharmed by the fiery ordeal ol Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace. The power to resist Frost chiefly depends on the condition and action of the mind. The chemical elements in all human bodies are essentially the same, and, when mental and vital motion are suspended, they will freeze at about the same temperature. Nevertheless, among living men one may be invulnerable — with respect to cold — while others are doomed to perish. It would not be safe to baptize a faithless man — having small vital powers — in the winter ; but the young convert — all glowing with the enthusiasm of his first love — with the fire of a deep and earnest devotion burning in his heart and warming his whole being, may experience no injury from immersion in the icy flood. We have a striking illustration of this point in the case of Dr. Kane, whose explorations have contributed so much to science and to secure for himself an honorable and lasting fame. If he was not endowed by Nature with robust health and great powers of physical endurance, he doubtless possessed gifts wliicli invest the individual mind and character with something more than kingly power — he possessed an eiiliglitencd mind, a strong will, and withal a magnanimity of soul that rose with tlie dignity of his purpose, and was equal to the neces- sities of the most trying emergency. Tlirough the long Arctic night he braved the tempests that vailed die boreal lieavens and swept the glacier steeps around liim. Otliors, less resolute and noble, were emtombed in icy sepulchers ; but the eternal frosts of tlie ])olai* regions could not cliill (lie MENTAL AND VITAL POWERS OP RESISTANCE. IIT blood that was quickened by a passion for adventure, warmed by an enthusiastic love of knowledge, and impelled by the strong incentives of a lofty and worthy ambition. I find other illustrative examples — not less instructive and convincing — in the history of Col. Fremont’s expeditions. When his less ambitious companions froze their limbs and their faces, gave up in despair and perished from cold, hunger and fatigue ; when others — rendered insane by long suffer- ing — wandered away from the party and were lost ; and even the hardy mules — huddling together — one after another froze, tumbled down, and were buried in the deep snows among the tributaries of the Rio Del Norte, the brave leader of the party wms unharmed by the frost. ’ Whether encamped among the snowy peaks and dangerous passes of the Sierra Nevada, or exposed to the remorseless fury of the wintry storms — as they swept over the lofty summits and through the deep defiles of the Rocky Mountains — Fremont was always resolute and always safe ; and through all the exhausting labors, intense sufferings, and hair-breadth es- capes, of his five expeditions across the continent, he seems ^ On one occasion when Col. Fremont was encamped among the rugged mountain passes, 12,000 feet above the sea, it became necessary to send sev- eral of his men to the Spanish settlements of New Mexico to obtain provisions and also to purchase mules to aid in the transportation of his baggage. After the departure of his men he became anxious for their safety, and with several of his brave companions traveled 160 miles, in the snow and on foot. At length, on the evening of the tenth day — when the four men who had un- dertaken to reach the Spanish settlements had been out twenty-two days — he found three of them exhausted and ready to perish — King, the leader of the little band, having already expired from hunger and fatigue. In speak- ing of this incident, Col. Fremont says : Hook vpon the anxiety which induced meio set out from the camp as an inspiration. Had I remained there waiting the arrival of the party which had been sent in, every man of us would probably have perished. — Upham's Life of Fremont,^. 287. 118 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. to have been shielded by an armor more impenetrable than steel. The soul is mightier far than strength of nerve and muscle, armed with all the implements of war ; and the hero who first unfurled the banner of his country from the loftiest summits of the Great Sierra and the Rocky Mountain ranges was strong in spirit ; he was illuminated by a conscious inspiration and armed with the all-conquering forces of his own unyielding will. Thus the active, the resolute, the positive man — the man / who walk^ forth with a firm step, and an intrepid spirit, is invested with an armor more invulnerable than the heavy mail of the days of chivalry. The dangers which have proved fatal to others, leave him unharmed. If he meets his enemies in the way, they retreat before him. The miasmatic exhalations which sometimes pervade the atmosphere are powerless to invade the walled citadel of his being. He walks with the pestilence, but an invisible protecting power is around, above, and beneath him. Nothing, therefore, can be more essential to health — more deeply inwrought with all that renders life secure and pleasurable — than the preservation of the relation which Nature has assigned to Man. ' To this end, dear reader, observe the laws which govern the human organization. Be free in thought ; be firm in purpose ; be energetic in action. If you are beset with dangers, never — as you value health and life — relinquish your self-possession. If fortune frowns be calm and you wdll conquer. The man of great pliysical and moral courage, if guided by wisdom, is well nigh immor- tal now. The negative man — the coward — dies a tliousand dcatlis, while the brave man dies but once. CHAPTER XL EVILS OF EXCESSIVE PEOCREATION. The higher Law — V hat thiEgs are pure and heautiful — Writers on the Philo- sophy of Impregnation— Rapid Propagation among the lower Classes — The Problem and the Solution — Destruction of the Unborn — Excessive Procrea- tion at war with Nature— The evil Consequences— Legal and Conventional Morality — The Cannibalism dt Lust — Infidels in the temple ol the Affections — Indiflerence to mcmenlcus Consequences — A solemn Responsibility- Fearful self-sacrifice — Disease at the Baptism, and Crime at the Communion, T hat man is an Atheist who does not recognize he exist- tence and the supremacy of the Divine natural law in and over all. The essential springs of our common life, the natural relations of the sexes, and the inevitable and lasting consequences which attach to every purpose and succeed every action, admonish us that, higher than the constitutions and court circulars of States and Empires, supreme over all legislative enactments, civil tribunals, and imperial decrees, are the laws of the Creator, as enacted and recorded in the very rudiments of our common nature. The laws of nations, and the civil policies of human governments, are wise — and they conduce to the progress and the happiness of the people — only so far as they are faithful translations of the statute- book of Nature into the living language of human speech and action. Moreover, in the precise degree that our legislators 120 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. depart from the Divine requirements, as expressed in the fundamental laws of Nature, the government becomes oppres- sive and degrading : at the same time, so far as the political institutions, the civil policy and the social life of a people are based on essential principles, and in unison with the inherent laws of universal hamony, they may furnish incen- tives to individual enterprise, or otherwise promote the col- lective interests of the race. The will of Heaven, in respect to this world, is conspic- uously revealed in the economy of the ivorld itself. Before that august tribunal all things are pure and beautiful — are intrinsically true and good — in proportion as they conform to the essential life, the organic laws, and the normal re- lations of our being, and are thus adapted to actualize the heavenly harmonies among men. Thus alone we may hope to realize the appropriate answer to the prayer : “ Thy king- dom come, thy will be done in earth as in heaven.’’ I do not expect to unfold, in this Chapter, the philosophy of impregnation ; nor will it be proper, in a popular treatise on a profound subject, to even attempt a subtile analysis and comprehensive exposition of the conditions, laws and pro- cesses involved in the reproduction of the species. The ob- scure beginnings of our organic formation and life are vailed in mystery ; and no one should undertake to enlighten the pulilic mind on a subject of this nature who has not been favored with extensive and varied orportunities for the most delicate experiments in vital electricity, and for minute and critical observations in the subtile chemistry of animal life. The writer’s opportunities for a microscopic inspection of these vital mysteries have been quite too limited' to justify EVILS OF EXCESSIVE PROCREATION. 121 the expression of an opinion ; and as this field is far removed from the sphere of ordinary observation, I will leave it to some future author, whose capacity for critical investigation may be equal to the task, and whose opportunities may be commensurate with his desires and the peculiar claims of the subject. In the meantime, those who desire to become better acquainted with the physiological theory of impregnation, may, if they please, peruse the works of Blumenbach, Velpeau, Spallanzani, Dutrochet, and other writers on Em- bryology. Under the influence of our corrupt civilization the prop- agation of the species is so rapid, that extreme poverty becomes the common inheritance of millions. Among the poor and laboring people the population increases with the greatest rapidity. This is not, of course, to J)e mainly ascribed to the superior strength of their vital energies and animal passions ; nor, on the other hand, chiefly to the ener- vating influence of a life of indolent pleasure and luxurious indulgence, on the part of the wealthier classes. It does not require the vision of a seer to enable the discerning mind to suggest other sufficient reasons for this difference, the particular elucidation of which may not be appropriate in this place. Suffice it to say, thousands of embryotic forms of j humanity are every year destroyed by professional men and j methods. Multitudes thus perish in secret which no man can number. Precisely where Nature develops the germs of new life, and God unfolds immortal entities, they find their sepulchers. If the poor are not restrained, in this respect, by reason and conscience, they may be by their ignorance of such destructive arts as have prevailed among 122 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. the more polished, fashionable and affluent circles. Those who possess wealth and influence, but whose false or super- ficial culture may have obscured the moral perceptions, are often the first to shrink from the most solemn responsibilities, and they have not been the last to pollute their own souls by the foul sin of foeticide, now so prevalent even among the polite and professedly pious circles of modern society. The circumstances of the laboring classes, more especially in great cities and populous manufacturing districts, are such that parents who have a numerous progeny, can scarcely provide adequate food and clothing. Under these unfavor- able conditions, the education of the young is of necessity sadly neglected ; and if soul and body are kept together for awhile, it is that the former may be vailed in darkness, and the latter clothed with rags. Both are almost inevitably engulphed in the great maelstrom of social wrongs and pop- ular vices ; and thus vast multitudes ignobly perish — “ Unwept, unhonored, and unsung.” They are all unnoticed and unknoion while living, except those who, with desperate energy, inscribe their names on the rolls of infamy, leaving their frightful record in lines of blood. These monstrous evils, which so enfeeble, debase and scourge our country and the civilized world, arc not to be removed by sherilfs, nor can they be shut up in prisons and kept out of sight. Moreover, they are not likely to be greatly diminislied so long as we are surrounded by tlie present imperfect social conditions, and our ideas of virtue and humanity are not elevated above the legal and fashion- able standards. These evils, great as tlicy confessedly are, EVILS QF EXCESSIVE PROCREATIDN. 123 under the most auspicious circumstances, are liable to be frequently aggravated by the commercial and financial revul- sions which occur in this country, from what incidental causes it is not my object to inquire. It is at least apparent to all observers that the great forces and interests of the business world are often temporarily deranged or paralyzed so that many are reduced by extreme want to some fatal alternative. Thus thousands are every year driven to desperation and ruin by some dire necessity. If we do not find an efficient remedy for these evils in the wholesome re- straints of a higher moral science, and the realization of a purer and nobler life, it must follow— as our country becomes more populous — that these evils will naturally and inevi- tably increase, until — ^in the United States as in the Old World — millions will be chained from the hour of their birth to the low sphere of degrading servitude, famine feed on multitudes, and despairing souls, with their necessities like a millstone about their necks, be swallowed up in the abyss of hopeless suffering and rayless oblivion. That the multitudes, however imperfect and deformed, will wholly restrain their natural, and especially their un- natural impulses, our knowledge of human nature does not authorize us to infer. We are not visionary enough to even dream that ordinary mortals can be suddenly transformed into angels of the celestial degree, by the total annihilation of their animal instincts. No such merciless crucifixion of human nature is demanded ; nor is such a state of ethereal- ization, for the present, to be desired. For, if it were fairly inaugurated, propagation might be suspended ; or, to say the least, the race become so ethereal as to be unfitted for the 9 124 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. present state of the natural world. But I would have men obey the dicta of Beason and Nature. Moreover, the present rapid indiscriminate, and lawless propagation of tlie species is not natural ; on the contrary, it is at war with Nature. At the same time, the sense of moral obligation is perpetually violated, and thousands are virtually put to death by those who should be their natural preservers. Who does not know that, in a state of nature, offspring are far less nu- merous than they are under the influence of our corrupt civilization. We have only to look at the facts developed in the character and history of the North American Indians, to perceive that, in this respect — as well as in other charac- teristics of civilized life — we are aliens from Nature, who rashly trample down her institutions, and yet murmur be- cause we are appropriately arraigned before her tribunal, and punished as her righteous Lawgiver decrees. We have a miserable conventional morality, sanctioned alike by the ministers of Religion and Law, and withal fatally fashionable. It leaves Virtue to wander about slip- shod, and sends Chastity on an exploring expedition into ‘ ideal regions ; while it covers lust and crime witli fine linen and a marriage certificate. The votaries of this legal mor- ality — who can conceive of nothing higher — arc ragged and filthy as the lazaroni. Such men are virtuous according to tlie statute, and as pure as the legal definition of chastity requires. The law provides that they shall only be allowed to debase and destroy one fair object at the same time. One after another they may defile the wliite slirincs ; commit sacrilege in temples cons^rated to Love by tlie ])rcscncc of , the Holy Spirit ; and like ruthless iconoclasts, may disligurc EVILS OF EXCESSIVE PROCREATION. 125 the images of beauty, or shiver the finest symbols of the angelic creation. It is only necessary to procure a license from a civil magistrate. Against the violence of such crim- inals^ the law interposes no barrier. At the same time> conscience has' leave of absence when the State asserts the paramount dignity and authority of the Constitution and the Courts. The innate sense of delicacy — so natural to the female in her virgin state — is seldom respected by sensuous men, who, like the carnivori^ live on flesh, and with whom the restraints of the criminal code determine the precise limits of virtuous indulgence. Men are often grave and thoughtful about trifles, while they are disposed to be thoughtless and trifling over the most important interests and solemn realities of life. A respectable mechanic will exercise far greater caution in tempering a cheap jack-hiike than most people display in determining the tempers of their own offspring ! That the predominant feeling and general tendency of mind existing in the parents at the time of conception, and — so far as the mother is concerned — during the successive stages of gestation, may determine the mental characteristics and prevaling disposition of the child, is confirmed by facts which- are quite too palpable to be overlooked or denied, and of too significant and momentous a character to be lightly regarded. The demands of this essential law of our being ’ will never be duly respected so long as the generation of, human beings is left to accident (?) sudden caprice, or uncon- querable passion. Millions of unwelcome children are forced into the world, and left unarmed^to grapple with a cruel destiny. The advent of each is viewed as a misfortune, or, 126 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS, perhaps, regarded as a Providential affliction. Children generated and born under such unsuitable conditions are liable to carry with them life-long consequences of the thoughtlessness or depravity of their progenitors ; especially when the unhappy state of feeling in the mother, during the whole period of gestation, has contributed to fix and deepen the impression. They are liable to be quite destitute of filial affection, and often possess an inherent feeling of oppo- sition to parental influence. It is criminal in the extreme' to assume this high responsibility without a wise reference to the natural and spiritual relations of the parties, and a due regard to existing physical, mental, and moral condi- tions. As no act in life is, or indeed can be, productive of more important and lasting consequences of weal or woe, it must be obvious that no human transaction demands a stricter observance of the laws of nature and the dictates of reason, or a more devout respect for the sug’gestions of con- science and religion. I have intimated that the legal morality is defective. In- deed, if it were brought to trial by a Divine standard, under an enlightened interpretation of the laws of Nature, it would be perceived to be grossly immoral. Many women have drunken husbands, and by the stern demands of the law are forced to live with them ; and, moreover, to submit to the foul dominion of morbid lusts, excited and corrupted by un- natural stimulants. Children are consequently begotten when '>^the husband^s wits are out and Reason has resigned her throne to Rum. To submit to tlie loathsome embrace is suffi- cient to shock all the finer sensibilities of woman ; but when there is added to this, tlie fearful apprehension that she may EVILS OF EXCESSIVE PROCREATION. 127 bear chiklreii when love is not in the act that determines their existence — that the offspring may be conceived in the wild delirium of unbridled lust and intoxication — oh, then, how sadly must all true human feelings be outraged and con- science violated ! Even life with such corrupt and corrupt- ing concomitants is rendered more terrible to a sensitive mind and a benevolent heart, than death with all its real or imaginary horrors. But even this does not reveal the deep- est shade that darkens the legal standard of morality. That is manifest in the disposition the law makes of those who are born out of wedlock. It often robs them of their inheritance, and thus loads them with legal disabilities and with the world’s reproach, as if it were a crime for the young and innocent ones to live. Consumption, Scrofula, Insanity and other frightful mala- dies, are known to be congenital diseases in many families ; and by an irresistible law these evils are transmitted from one generation to another. Disease poisons the currents of vitality ; the blood of nations is corrupted, and death is mir-"^ rored in the very fountains of this vitiated life. Is there no remedy for these stupendous ills ? Must they be perpetuated and augmented ad infinitum under the shallow and blasphe- mous pretext that Providence thus decrees ? Shall foul cor- ruption continue to be generated in high and low places, dressed in fine linen and taken to church to be baptized ? Must deformity, suffering and death be immortalized in the flesh that doctors may be supported ? These are grave ques- tions which humane and rational men are in conscience bound to answer. There is at least one sure way to arrest this tide of wrong and ruin. Alen and ivomen luJiose original constitu- . 128 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. tions or liahits of life unfit them for assuming smh a resportsi- hility, should not become parents. The streams of evil which have corrupted society so long must be cut ojff at their source ; and this can only be done by suspending the processes of re- production wherever the conditions are such as to render their continuance either inhuman or unwise. They are not common offenders against Humanity and Heaven who legalize great wrongs and make iniquity re spectable ; who polish the chains of low desire and gild the souks dungeon walls ; who — worse than all — (in the form of a comely personality) lead foul lusts and secret crimes to the baptism and the communion. Nay ; such are not vulgar sinners ; nor will an ordinary atonement sufi&ce for these. A righteous retribution will doubtless banish them from Heaven, and leave them to wander afar — until, like the lost Peri, they move the crystal bars of Paradise by tears of penitence. CHAPTER XII. MENTAL ELECTROTYPING ON VITiAL SURFACES, ■Relations of Light and Electricity to Vegetable Chemistry — Prismatic office of the Flowers — Electrotyping on the body of a living Man — Philosophy of marking Children —Relations of Poetry and Pictures to Ideality and Beauty— Influence of a Mouse and a Minister — Reproduction of the Golden Locks, and Reflection of the Violet Ray — John the Baptist and the Bo}'- with one Suspender — A mournful Case — Results of Obedience to the Law I N the organic chemistry of the living world Electricity and Light are the ever-active agents on whose subtile powers the most delicate processes in Nature constantly depend. We are assured by curious scientific experimenters that the growth of plants has been immensely stimulated by electrical, currents artificially generated, and directed to their roots. When this agent is thus set free, it moves the grosser elements through which the currents are transmitted, or as far as the electric excitation extends, stimulating molecular attraction, changing the polarities and the relations of the ultimate atoms, modifying and determining chemical affinities and combinations — so that the assimilation of foreign particles i. greatly accelerated, and the vegetable organism correspond ingly enlarged. It is also worthy of remark, that such trees as have pointed^ needh-shaped leaves^ like the pine, are invari- ' ably evergreens. This fact suggests the idea that possibly 130 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. the innumerable points which such trees present may so at- tract the atmospheric electricity as not only to preserve the ^ fluidity of the sap in the lowest temperature, but also to prevent its receding from the exposed surfaces of the branches when the mercury falls below the freezing point. That light is indispensable in the chemistry of the vegetable kingdom, must be apparent to every observer. The meanest shrub, or the humblest wayside flower makes silent but signi- ficant proclamation of this truth. The germs tliat are buried in the soil all sprout upward toward the ethereal regions of the atmosphere, and never downward toward the center of the earth. By a law of Nature they all reach out after the light. The flowers open with the morning, and close when day retires beyond the evening star. The rich verdure that ( clothes the fields and forests is fresh and beautiful, as if, at the world^s baptism, an emerald sphere had been fused in the , sun • and all the gorgeous colors of the floral empire arc born of LIGHT ! The flowers are the living prisms in whose deli- cate and beautiful structures the primal rays are mysteriously separated, variously combined, and reflected with such purity and intensity as admits of no successful imitation by human effort, aided by the most accomplished art. The rays reflected from the outlines of an object to the eye leave its image on the choroid membrane ; or, passing through the camera, produce a semblance of its form, with appropriate lights and shadows, on any delicate surface made sensitive by a suitable chemical preparation. In a similar manner the forms and, to some extent, the colors of objects may be electrotyped on the external surfaces of living humau bodies. I believe there arc several wcll-authciiticated facts MENTAL ELECTROTYPING ON VITAL SURFACES. 131 illustrative of this singular susceptibility. It is not long since it was stated in the public journals that a man who was standing near a tree when it was struck by lightning, imme- diately presented a vivid picture of the tree on the exposed side of his body. While he was not fatally injured by the shock, it would nevertheless appear that the passage of the current so near him acted on the chemical constituents of his body with such power as to electrotype the nearest object on the cuticle. It is also alleged that the bodies of several persons killed by lightning have exhibited a similar phe- nomenon. The singular ejffects produced on the unborn child by the sudden mental emotions of the mother are remarkable exam- ples of this kind of electro typing on the sensitive surfaces of living forms. It is doubtless true that the mind’s action, in such cases, may increase or diminish the molecular deposites in the several portions of the system. The precise place which each separate particle assumes in the new organic structure may be determined by the influence of thought or feeling. If in the mother there exists any unusual tendency of the vital forces to the brain, at the critical period, there will be a similar cerebral development and activity in the ofifspring. A lady who, during the period of gestatiou, was chiefly employed in reading the poets, and in giving form to her day-dreams of the ideal world, at the same time gave to her child (in phrenological parlance,) large Ideality and a liighly imaginative turn of mind. Some time since I met with a youth avIio has finely molded limbs and a symmetrical form throughout. His mother has a large, lean, attenuated frame, that does not offer so much as a single suggestion of 132 MAN AND ms RELATIONS. the beautiful. The boy is doubtless 'indebted for his line form to the presence of a beautiful French lithograph in his mother’s sleeping apartment, and which presented for her contemplation the faultless form of a naked child. Any object of intense desire, or that occasions sudden sur prise or extreme fear, is liable to be impressed on the foetus. These effects are most frequent among women whose minds and nervous systems are most active and impressible. By this psycho-electrical action external objects are instantly pictured on the delicate surface of the living form. This sudden involuntary action of the passions of tlie mind on and through the forces of the body, has produced many, startling effects, and thousands of human beings carry with them through life the living illustrations — sometimes mournful in the extreme — of this mysterious power. On one occasion, after the delivery of a lecture in a small town in Central New York, I went to the house of Mr. K , to pass the night. My theme had been, the power of the mind as ex- hibited in the organic formation and vital action of the body, and also in the various expressions of whicli the liiiman face is susceptible. Mrs. C , who was a member of the house- hold, intimated a desire to exhibit a marked illustration of the subject. Accordingly, calling her little son, of the age of three years, to her side, she exposed liis back to tlie in- spection of the company. Between his shoulders there was a most perfect representation of a mouse. Tlie mark — whicli was elevated somewhat above the surrounding surface — was literally covered with a thick coat of line hair, like that of the animal represented ; and, what was still more surjirisiiig, the cuticle also precisely resembled the skin of a mouse. MENTAL ELECTllOTYPING ON VITAL SURFACES. 1P.3 Tliis was the mind’s work of an instant ; and while such facts demonstrate its supremacy over the elements of matter, they also indicate the dano^er — under like circumstances — of yielding to sudden impulses, and the importance of a supreme self-control. The operation of this psycho-physiological law has sul> jected more than one innocent woman to grave suspicion. ’ Mere admiration of a person — if the emotion be continuous and strong — may suffice to impress the image of the admired object — more or less perfectly — on the offspring. That re- markable effects are produced in this way, the intelligent reader will not be disposed to deny ; and surely the philo- sophical observer will not be the first to indulge in unchari- table suspicions of female infidelity, should his children resemble some one else rather than himself. Some years since the writer was acquainted with a married lady, who lived in Fairfield county. Conn., and was universally re- spected and esteemed for her exemplary life and unblemished character. She was strongly attached to her church ; and her pastor — who was an earnest and forcible speaker — realized her ideal of- early and uncorrupted manhood. The lady was accustomed to listen — on each succeeding Sabbath — to his eloquent discourses, with reverent and wrapt atten- tion. She possessed a lively imagination, and a strong, but doubtless a strictly legitimate interest in the young clergy- man ; and the image so often presented to the eye and the mind, was transmitted to another. During the second year * It would seem from the account given in Genesis, (chapter xxx,) that the patriarch Jacob understood this law, and that it enabled him to practice a pious fraud, whereby he secured to himself the flocks of Laban. 134 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. of the ministry of Mr. , in that place, the lady referred to became the mother of a son, wlio, from his birth, was ob- served to resemble the minister ; nor is the likeness less ap- parent since the child has become a tall and graceful youth. A gentleman of our acquaintance, who has very dark eyes, hair and beard, is wedded to a lady with brown hair, and a complexion not lighter than his own. Of nine chil- dren — the offspring of their marriage — six are living, and, with a single exception, they all have dark, straight hair and hazel eyes. Indeed, for several generations, not a single member of either family has had curly hair. The exceptional case is a fair youth with large, blue, expressive eyes and golden locks, with a natural tendency to curl. Some time before his birth the parents had occasion to spend a month with a family in Boston, where there was a radiant child with delicate skin, mild blue eyes, and a profusion of sunny curls. The lady visitor became deeply interested in that beautiful child, and often gazed at it with rapturous ad- miration and delight. The strong impulse of the mind thus electrotyped the image on her own offspring, so regulating the subtile processes of the vital chemism, as not only to de- termine its general complexion, but also the precise color of the hair, and even blending the sublimated elements in the organic chemistry of the eye with such nice })recision as to fix and reflect the violet ray. The human mind thus leaves a multitude of images — beautiful and terrible — not only on the delicate organization through which it pcr])etually manifests its ])Owers — and which doubtless contains tlic mystical records of all its feeling, thought and action — but the mental impulses, wlicn MENTAL ELECTROTYPING ON VITAL SURFACES. 135 sufficiently inteiisilied, are reproduced in those vvlio come after. If such external objects and scenes as occasion the mental excitement, leave no visible outlines on the face or form, they may still be expressed in another way, and be no less distinguishable. A gentleman who resides in Le Eoy, N. Y., ill an' interview with the writer, some time since,, related a singular fact, that may be appropriately introduced in this connection. His wife had a beautiful picture of John > the Baptist hanging in her room. The figure was in a nude i state, except the loins, which were encircled with the girdle of camel’s hair, supported by a single strap passing over one shoulder. The lady being in delicate health for some time, ^ (antecedent.to the birth of a son, now some sixteen years of age,) had occasion to spend much of her time on a couch from which the picture was constantly exposed to view. ' The youth referred to presents one of the greatest novelties ■ in the category of psychological phenomena. It is a curious ^ fact that he tuill never icear hut one susj^ender! If com- manded to put on a pair, he will obey ; but he is quite sure * to have them both over the same shoulder that supports the ■ strap and the girdle in the picture. I well remember a young man, whose earth-life, of some thirty years’ duration, was the frightful embodiment and expression of one terrible scene. He had not opened his eyes to behold the light of the natural world, when a desolating tornado passed over his native town. The tall oaks, which had braved the storms of centuries, bowed low as the slender grass bends in the summer’s breeze ; or, rather as the grain is leveled by the reaper’s sickle. It was a fatal hour ! The sufferings of many years seemed condensed into one awful 136 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. moment of unspeakable horror, and the terrible scene cast its dark shadow over the whole life of a human being. That tempest was reproduced in that man. For nearly thirty years— and until the close of his mortal existence — • his eyes rolled in their sockets with a strange delirious ex- pression. Ever and anon he sighed heavily, as the winds sigh through the tall trees ; and his head and all his limbs swayed to and fro, perpetually, as the forest boughs are moved when the breath of the tempest sweeps over them. Poor mortal ! his melancholy life is over, and he has found rest at last where the storms of earth and time shall disturb his repose no more ! This case graphically illustrates the action of a law that operates as irresistibly as gravitation throughout the realm of our organic existence, and which is scarcely less manifest in its ordinary ejffects. By disregarding this law our children may be monsters in their physical conformation ; or, with respect to mind and character, they may be the breathing, conscious shadows of gigantic wrongs — for all moral, social, and political evils are but the reflected images of the imper- fect conditions under which we “ live and move and have our being. On the contrary, let that law be wisely re- spected, and those who shall succeed the present generation — in the drama of practical life and the records of authentic history — will present superior types of womanly grace and manly perfection ; and thus the Race may advance, in all that imparts a real value to life and true dignity to the human character, until the glory of a moral transfiguration — like a mantle of light and a crown of joy — encircles the universal Humanity. CHAPTER XIII, INFLUENCE OF OBJECTS AND IDEAS UPON THE AHND AND THE MOKAI5. Definition of Beauty — The Views of Kant, Burke, Hogarth, Alison, Dugald Stewart and Goethe — Influence of Music — Its action on the nervous circu- lation of Animals — As a Remedial Agent — Case of Saul — Melodies of Na- ture — Irresistible power of Gentleness and Love — Miss Dix in the Maniac’s cell — The Apostle John, Fenelon, Oberlin and Howard — The Mystical Book of the Recording Angel —An essential Law of Organized Existence — Assimilation of Moral Elements — How we are transformed by our Ideals — Materialism of Modern Utilitarians — Material Symbols of Religious Ideas — The Goths in Italy — Grecian and Roman Art— Lessons from Nature — A Poet’s Vision— The Visitor in White Raiment — Fashioning the Angel Within. C CORDING to Kant, Beauty is the regular conforma- tion of an object of Nature or Art, in which the mind intuitively perceives this configuration, without reflecting upon its ultimate design or purpose. Burke seriously sup- posed that beauty consisted in small forms, smooth surfaces and delicate structures. The celebrated Hogarth, in his Analysis, found it in curved lines, whilst Alison insisted that “ if there were any original and independent beauty, in any 'particular for'm^ the preference of this form would be early and decidedly marked, both in the language of children and the opinions of mankind.^’ While acute critics and great artists have disagreed respecting the sources of beauty, as well, as the philosophy of its effects on the mind “A Thing of Beauty is a joy forever.” 138 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. and character, 1 may be allowed to discover this supreme excellence wherever they respectively found it, and also where they did not so much as look for it at all. It will be observed that the definitions already cited, virtually restrict the application of the term to visible out- lines and material proportions ; and to such other super- ficial graces and aspects as the mind perceives through the direct agency of the senses. We can scarcely accept such definitions so long as the very sources of all outward beauty are internal, invisible and divine. If the harmony of the several parts of the human body, and of all external forms, constitutes physical beauty, there must also be intellectual, moral and spiritual beauty ; and these consist in the sym- metrical development, harmonious union, and esthetic action of all the human faculties and affections. To be suffi- ciently comprehensive, tlie definition of Beauty must apply to all physical, intellectual and moral excellence. The Universe is its majestic temple, adorned with expressive symbols, and consecrated by a pure and perpetual ministry, Every splendid creation of God in Nature and of human genius in Art, is an altar before which men admire and adore the indwelling Divinity. This is no profane adora- tion. The mere Mammon worshiper may, indeed, be re- garded as a miserable idolater ; but Life — Genius — Love Beauty — all these are earthly revelations of the Absolute Perfection. The glory of the Shekinah shines out from the material forms of the world, as through a diaphanous vail, and in the light of this perpetual transfiguration we — “ Look through Nature up to nature’s God.” If we restrict the application of the term to the works INFLUENCE OF OBJECTS AND IDEAS. of Nature or Art, Beauty must nevertheless be understood to compreliend many of tho^e lofty attributes and qualities which the word Sublime is especially used to distinguish. But the terms are by no means synonymous. The one may be properly applied to whatever is fitted to produce pleas- urable sensations ; on the other hand, the scenes that in- spire the deepest awe, and the objects and events which excite the greatest terror, may be replete with the elements of sublimity. It was observed by Dugakl Stewart that the distinctions of several authors are not usually warranted by a fundamental difference. While Beauty and Sublimity have many attributes in common, it will be perceived, that each is characterized by peculiar elements which distin- guish it from the other. Several writers, including the elo- quent Burke himself, feeling at times that any definition of Beauty that restricts it to symmetry of form, harmony of color, and “ poetry of motion,’’ is too contracted to express the whole truth, have been constrained to admit in fact, at least, if not in words — that Beauty consists in all such quali- ties as awaken emotions of tenderness, affection and delight. ’ 1 Goethe’s perception of beauty was too exquisite to be expressed ; and in his judgment the divine charm was so intangible as neither to admit of pre- cise description nor logical explanations. The Poet of Weiuiar — regarded by a princely admirer as “ the third in the great triumvirate with Homer and Shakspeare” — thus illustrates the subject : ‘‘Beauty is inexplicable. It appears to us a dream, when we contemplate the works of the great artists. It is a hovering, floating, and glittering sha- dow, whose outline eludes the grasp of definition. Mendelssohn, and others, trierl to catch beauty as a butterfly, and pin it down for inspection. They have succeeded in the same way as one succeeds with the butterfly ; the poor animal tremldes and struggles, and its brightest colors are gone ; or if you catch it without spoiling the colors, you have at best a stiff and awk- ward corpse. It wants that w'hich is most essential, namely, life — sph-it which spreads beauty on every thing.” 10 140 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. The word beauty is not ordinarily restricted to things cognizable by the vision alone. *By a very natural transition it is applied to musical sounds, and also to whatever either addresses the imagination, the reason or the moral sense, in such a manner as to gratify the human faculties and affec- tions. The sense of beauty is expressed with great delicacy and irresistible power in harmonic combinations of sounds ; or, more properly, by a succession of atmospheric vibrations occurring in consonance with the laws of Acoustics. The gentle undulations of the air, occasioned by the regular vi- bration of a sonorous body, produce astonishing effects on the nervous systems of men and beasts. The inferior ani- mals are never wholly insensible of the mysterious influence of Music. Even the Reptilia yield to the irresistible fascina- tion. The native Americans and the serpent charmers of India have this singular power in a remarkable degree. When the Indian juggler sings a slow tune, or blows gently on his instrument made of reeds, the serpents raise their heads and move to suit the measure of the music. 1 The following curious illustration of the mysterious influence of music on the nervous circulation, and consequently on the functions of animals, is ex- tracted from one of Madame Bretano’s letters to the German poet, Goethe : “ This winter I had a spider in my room ; when I played upon the guitar it descended hastily into a web, which it spun lower down, I placed myself be- fore it and drew my fingers across tiie strings ; it was clearly seen how it vibrated through its little limbs. When I changed the cord it changed its movements— they were involuntary ; by each different arpeggio, the rhythm in its motions was also changed. It cannot be otherwise — this little being was joy-penetrated or spirit-imbued, as long as my music lasted ; when the strain was ended, it retired. Another little play-fellow was a mouse 5 but he was more taken by vocal music. He chiefly made his appearance when I sung the gamut ; the fuller f swelled the tones, the nearer he catno My master was much delighted INFLUKXCE OF OBJECTS AND IDEAS. 141 This subtile and masterly power over the mind and ner- vous system of Man has been observed by physicians, physi- ologists and pliilosophers, in almost every age ; and so re- markable have been its effects, and withal so beneficial, that it has been employed as a remedial agent in certain forms of disease. There may be different opinions respecting the influence of music on the general character ; but all agree that it serves — temporarily, at least — to subdue the baser passions, and to awaken emotions of serene and intense joy. The Biblical student will recall the case of Saul, king of Israel, who being subject to a species of madness, was re- commended to have recourse to music as a remedy for his gloomy hallucination. Accordingly, he Sent for the Hebrew poet and musician, the tones of whose lyre subdued the ner- vous tension and mental agitation of the king, as the min- strel’s skillful hand unbound “ the sleeping soul of Harmony. There are few who have not felt the power of Music. The restless child falls asleep on its mother’s bosom with the sweet lullaby sounding in its ear. The worshiper in the Cathedral service feels the fire of devotion kindling in his heart, and a subtle influence running along every nerve of sense, as the lofty arches echo the solemn strain. All Nature is God’s temple ; and every reverent soul worships in the groves or by the waves while the elements chant their wild melodies among the boughs and in the shells. The pin- with the little animal ; he took great care not to disturb him. When I sung my songs and varying melodies, he seemed to be afraid ; he could not endure it and hastened away.” 142 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. nacles and the caves are tuneful, as if Euterpe had inspired the tleni of the mountain and the sea. We feel a mysteri- ous sense of a divine presence when music gently rocks the cradle of the atmosphere. Under this mysterious influence the destructive passions seek repose, and the wild delirium of feverish and brutal desire is subdued. Even the furious maniac, whom no man could bind, has been chained by a harp-string. Music is medicine for madness ; and whoever would at once restrain and restore the madman should go to him with a gentle voice and Moore’s Melodies. Twine musical chords around his troubled spirit, and his captivity will only make him gentle and joyful. If wild beasts are thus tamed, rude savages made civil, and the fierce maniac rendered harmless as -a little child, who shall resist the saving power of Music ? ‘‘ Who ne’er hath felt her hand assuasive steal Along his heart — that heart may never feel. ’Tis hers to chain the passions, soothe the soul, To snatch the dagger and to dash the bowl From Murder’s hand ; to smooth the couch of care, Extract the thorns and scatter roses there.” / I am not in error in ascribing a divine efficacy and re- deeming power to that moral beauty which is displayed in gentle words and righteous deeds. Tlie triumphs of the celebrated Pinel amongst the inmates of the mad-liouse in Paris, afi’ord striking illustrations of the majesty and divin- ity of that power. But we have at least one conspicu- ous example at home. It is recorded that Miss Dix, on one occasion, visited the cell of a maniac wlio was so wild and violent that he was kept constantly chained. Slie com- menced reading the Sermon on tlie Mount, in a voice modu- INFLUENCE OF OBJECTS AND IDEAS. 143 lated with great delicacy and irresistible pathos. In the gloom of that lonely cell, a gentle woman — frail in form but divinely strong and beautiful in the purpose of her heart ' and life— communed with the common Father. By her side was one whose soul was dark as the dismal precincts of his own dungeon. The smile that in youth illuminated those features was soft and radiant as the clear light of a spring morning without clouds. But the midday glory of his life was lost in a deep eclipse. Through the mournful gloom the fierce lightnings of disordered passion gleamed out like electric flames in the midnight sky ; while the tangled locks floated wildly over the terrible brow that once had been the throne of Reason ! But the madman was not yet beyond the influence of the divine harmonies. The words of the gentle minister were like oil poured over the troubled waves of feeling. His paroxysms gradually subsided. The tender sympathy and spiritual beauty of the being before him softened his ex- pression and subdued his frenzy. She was to him an Angel walking on lifers troubled sea, whose influence was silent yet sublime as the power that stilled the waves of Galilee. The wretched man bowed his head and wept ; and when at length the modest suppliant arose to depart he attempted to embrace her, and declared that she was an angel sent from Heaven to comfort him in his solitary despair. Such are the significant illustrations of the poet’s sentiment : — “ Mightier far Than strength of nerve, or sinew, or the chains, The heavy bolts, and bars and dungeon walls, Is Love.-' — ^Love, however manifested, is a great moral harmoni- 144 MAN AND HIS EELATIONS. zer, whose polyglot is comprehended by all races of men ; whose inspirations, like sunshine, clothe the moral world, with perennial beauty, and ‘filling even the wildernesses of human life with fresh flowers and immortal fruits. The words and deeds of some men are characterized’by a grand harmony, that renders existence itself a sweet symphony or a solemn psalm. It is never in vain that such men strive to harmonize the moral elements, for the world must feel their power. When we are tempest-tost, they stay the restless “tides in the affairs of men’’; they span the darkness of the retiring storm with the illuminated symbol of a great promise ; and when the deluge of unholy passion subsides they open the windows of the ark that the dove may return. The name and the precepts of Jesus have been all-power- ful over the disciples of every period and country, chiefly because his nature and his life were characterized by the highest elements of moral excellence and spiritual beauty. The Apostle John, Archbishop Fenelon, and John Fredrick Oberlin gave illustrations of the highest types of beauty ; while the life of Howard was a pathetic overture to the great unwritten oratorio of the Captives Redeemed. Such men banish discord from the scale of being, and make life musical in spite of those who live. We are now to consider the influence of external scenes and objects in the development of the human mind and the formation of character. The forms and plienomena of Nature make their impressions on the sensories and leave their images in the consciousness. Owing to the promin ence of present objects and events, they may seldom or never be awakened in the external memory. Indeed, they appear INFLUENCE OF OBJECTS AND IDEAS. J45 to come and go in endless succession. To the merely sen- suous mind they are swept away like names or figures traced in the sand on the sea-shore. Each passing wave of time and sense obliterates the previous impression, however the images remain in the soul forever. The consciousness is the Book of Life v/herein our thoughts and deeds are recorded. Those mystical records are imperishable as the deepest lines that mark ,the separate individualities among men, and in the great Hereafter they will be recognized as the spirit’s immortal possessions. / By a law of association those images are sometimes re- vived, when forgotten thoughts, and the shadowy forms of things perished from the earth, glide through the silent halls of memory. Occasionally, they come out in bolder relief ; chiefly in some great emergency, when a sudden shock jars the material connections of the spirit ; and we realize, for a moment, that we are standing on the confines of the invisi- ble life and world. At such a time, in the ordeal that tries the soul, images of all the past start out — sudden and specter-like — from the shadows, and appear in the vivid outline and startling detail of solemn reality. Thus, when the vail of flesh shall be removed, our souls will stand forth as living monuments, inscribed with the records of all feeling • — all thought-all action, which we have sensed, conceived, or performed from first to last, to be reviewed in the all- revealing light of eternity. This is neither a mere fancy nor an idle speculation ; but a truth of inconceivable importance in its bearings on the development and destiny of the Race. The poet’s idea that we become a part of whatever is around us, and the decla- 146 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. ration of an ancient author that, “ as a man thinketh so is he,'’’ are manifestly true as philosophical propositions ; for all things that occasion sensation or awaken thought, be- come incorporate elements in our individual character and social life. Our physical, intellectual and moral individu- ality is but the sum of all our experiences, organically com- bined and endowed with 'personality. Thus the Revelator and the poet discovered and announced one of the grand es- sential laws of human nature, and of all organized existence. Plants and animals are known to partake of the nature of the substances they assimilate ; nor can man be unlike the elements which nourish his body or serve as food for con- templation. All surrounding forms and substances con- tribute to supply his physical and spiritual necessities. In one way or another they enter into the composition of the body ; they awaken sensations, mold the forms of thought, or otherwise influence the manner and the issues of life. Men are ever transformed into the essential spirit and express images of their Ideals, by a law that operates as uni- formly as gravitation. In those wild, inhospitable and des- olate regions,, where Nature assumes her roughest garb, and Art exhibits only rude and ungraceful forms, we And men either savages or inclined to barbarism. The images of frightful objects and terrible events are like themselves, and hence they darken and disfigure the mind. Surround a man with horrible imagery; place olijects on every side which excite apprehension, resentment and disgust, and their terrible outlines, deep shadows and vivid colors, will be represented with fearful fidelity in his soul. In the Pacific Isles where men arc cannibals, every child INFLUENCE OF OBJECTS AND IDEAS. 147 inherits a life of disgusting brutality. The images im- pressed on the young mind vitiate the springs of being, distort the infant visage, and brutalize the deeds of man- hood. Men never tliink of going to the Cannibal Islands to complete their esthetic acquirements ; for the reason, doubtless, that every person endowed with common sense has some perception of the effect of surrounding objects on lumian development. In India and other unfavored por- tions of the earth, where the most imposing exhibitions of Art consist of clumsy idols whose open jaws, glaring eyes and monstrous forms shock the nerves of the civilized world, we find that the human mind and character are fashioned after such brutal ideals. Even the religion of the people is of the same general character. Juggernaut is the principal divinity, and his worship is celebrated by obscene rites and exhibitions of shocking barbarity. Travelers have assured us that, the road leading along the coast of Orissa to the temple of the great Idol, was paved with the bleaching skulls of millions who have perished by the way. Thus when hideous forms and corrupt ideas cast their shadows on the senses and tlie souls of men. they are — by a physical and moral necessity — incorporated with the essential elements of the human constitution. This immutable law is thus re- vealed in the mournful illustrations of its power. But wherever Nature puts on her robes of light; where Art consecrates temples, and the ideal perfection is recog- nized ; there the elements of beauty —by a natural process of assimilation — become essentially our own. There, also, we hnd the instrumentalities of human progress, and the work of intellectual culture and moral refinement actually 148 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. going on. It is important, therefore, that we associate — as far as possible — with beautiful forms and divine ideas, that we may imbibe their essential spirit, and grow into their likeness in outward form and actual life. Such ideas and objects as disturb the mind, and hence not only darken the soul, but interrupt the harmony of its natural life and phys- ical relations, should be promptly and forever dismissed, so far as this course does not involve a neglect of individual re- sponsibilities and the public welfare. If we desire to escape contamination we should cease to observe and think of such things as defile the man. Reading the lives of traitors, pirates and other abandoned criminals ; witnessing public executions, and listening to inflammatory and vindictive appeals to the baser passions — all belong to the same cate- gory. They inevitably quicken and strengthen the brute instincts in human nature, and hence they positively pervert the faculties of the mind, excite the destructive propensities, and degrade the whole character. If these views of human nature, and especially of one of the essential laws of its development are admitted to be well founded, it will appear that the subject, in its moral aspects, is of vital importance. The wide publicity given to the details of crime, by the newspaper press, is a most fruitful source of evil. It imposes no salutary restraint on those who are already shameless and abandoned ; but the young mind and heart are constantly darkened and depraved by perusing the frightful catalogue. Indeed, the community is thus constantly corrupted by a practice wliicli tlie calm judgment and enlightened conscience must con- demn. It is very questionable whether the ends of justice INFLUENCE OF OBJECTS AND IDEAS. 149 are in any way promoted by publisliing all criminal trans- actions, since the perpetrators are thus admonished to keep out of the way of the ministers of law. In this respect we can conceive of no adequate compensation for the manifold evils consequent on the course and conduct of the secular press. The conservation of the peace and safety of society Avill scarcely be accomplished by such means. On the con- trary, a common benefit would be conferred could the con- fessions and convictions under the criminal code be confined to the courts. For this reason we would seal up the annals of crime, and shut out from the rising generation the scenes that darken and defile the young mind and heart. Hew down the gallows, and wash the bloody stains from the magisterial ermine and the priestly robe ! Let the record ] of the law perish, and the memory of the execution and its' infernal engine be blotted out forever! Kant observes that the pleasure inspired by the elements of beauty does not depend on any idea of utility ; and it is for this reason that our modern utilitarians insist that it is a useless possession. But the simple fact that the pleasure derived from this source does .not arise from any associa- tion with the idea of material uses, sufficiently indicates its unselfish and spiritual nature. It is only because the ele- ments of essential beauty can not be coined into dimes, ex- - changed for merchandise, or otherwise made subservient to the corporeal appetites, that they are thus lightly esteemed. The vulgar conception of utility is the offspring of the grossest materialism. Those who still cherish it are unim- aginative and sensuous mortals, who would either buy or sell the Elysian Fields for a cotton plantation I Tliey would 150 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. recommend the Muses to learn and teach agriculture. If an i^^ngel should visit them, they would expect him to re- port the state of the stock market on the other side and they are prone to prize Heaven chiefly as an office of in- surance against destruction by fire ! 0, ye sensible and practical men, who never waste your time in dreaming — who never make an investment where it does not pay — is there no god but gold ? Can no power break through the concretion of sensuality that covers your souls? And is there nothing in Beauty and Divinity to divert your at- tention from the world, ye whose god is Mammon, and whose treasures are laid up in deep vaults and iron safes ? In this commercial age we are not likely to over-estimate the Fine Arts as instrumentalities of individual development and general progress. We should rejoice to witness any- thing like a proper appreciation of their silent ministry and irresistible power on the mind and the life of a people. Show us a tribe that has no love of beauty, or a country destitute of Art, and we need look no further for a barba- rous people and scenes of disgusting brutality. Coarseness, (Vulgarity and crime, are even more frequently associated with the rites of Religion than with the ideal conceptions and artistic creations of essential Loveliness. It is a sig- nificant fact that the religious sentiment may coexist with a depraved moral sense, and is often strongly manifested by persons of perverted passions and an abandoned life. At the same time the elegant Arts not only contribute to subdue the savage nature, to promote civilization and a higher mental culture, but tliey also help us to recognize the Divinity whose presence is veiled in every form of Beauty. INFLUENCE OF OBJECTS AND IDEAS. 151 The uncultivated mind has no power to recognize essen* tial principles and abstract ideas. Hence the multitudes re- quire some sensuous image or representation of whatever is to be apprehended, admired or worshiped. The Roman Catholic Church, realizing the necessity of its disciples, annually circulates millions of prints and plaster casts, rep- resenting the most touching and impressive scenes in the lives of Christ and his Apostles. Everything that reminds the disciple of his Master has a sacred significance, and the memorials of imprisoned and martyred saints at once in- spire his reverence and soften his heart. Every Catholic has a picture of the Virgin, or wears the cross as the expres- sive symbol of fidelity and ^patient suffering, and the assu- rance of his salvation. The reader may not require such material emblems of moral truths and spiritual realities. It is the province of the highly developed mind to dispense with the shadows of its thoughts, and to lay aside the perish- able symbols of its faith and worship, while it reverently walks into the very Pantheon of the gods. But the time has not come when even the more enlight- ened classes can profitably part with the physical forms of the objects of their affection and adoration. The worshiper still claims the symbols of his religion, and the lover sighs for something tangible to embrace. Perhaps we all prefer — at least in some qualified sense — to find and to grasp the sub- stance in tlie sJiadoiv. There is a kind of universal lan- guage in Painting as in Music ; and no oral speech can better portray the delicate shades of feeling, or give to the stormy passions a more forcible expression. Pictures are mute but eloquent teachers. Forms, apparently instinct 152 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. with life, passion, and sentiment, seem to start out from the silent walls of our dwellings, or they gaze at us tlirough the dim light of ancient galleries and deserted mansions. Each is the embodiment of an idea, rendered more captivating and impressive by the manner of its expression. We re- cognize Painting, Sculpture and Music as the graces whose triple influence surrounds the impersonal presence of Beauty ; and we find in their purest creations the distant but radiant images of the Divine Perfection. Their ministry softens the ruder features and aspects of this world ; it restrains and spiritualizes the passions; it inspires purer impulses and nobler motives, and elevates the world's common, thought and practical life. There is a tradition that when the Goths were masters of Athens they preserved the public Libraries, because they •were presumed to “ contribute to the effeminacy of the citi- zens.” Had those barbarous tribes been refined and en- nobled by the contemplation of the more perfect creations of Genius, they would certainly have spared the great monu- ments of Art when they overran Italy in the fifth century. It was a false religious idea tliat kindled the fiery zeal and nerved the strong arms of those ruthless iconoclasts. They led a life of warlike adventure, and even coveted death on the bloody field that they might be lionored with the society of heroes in the great palace and the presence of Odin. With such religious conceptions they did not hesitate to de- molish the civil institutions of the Koman Empire, and to bury Literature and the Arts in a common grave. But the languages of the Greeks and Romans Avere immortal ; and those who brought out from their national sepulchres — after INFLUENCE OF OBJECTS AND IDEAS. 153 the lapse of centuries — the splendid remains of Grecian and Roman art, revived the love of Beauty, and awakened the slumbering spirit that subsequently gave birth to Michael Angelo, Raphael, Correggio and Titian, and that still in- spires the living masters and the true lovers of Art in every part of the civilized world. Outward objects are often suggestive of spiritual ideas. Our first and our deepest religious impressions are inspired by the grand and beautiful forms and phenomena of Nature. Nor is this inspiration less divine because an observation of natural scenes and objects affords the occasion. The an- cient revelators were perhaps most frequently and highly inspired ^when engaged in such reflections. The Hebrew Poet was both humbled and exalted by the grandeur of the Universe, In the midst of his sublime contemplation, he exclaimed, “ When I consider the heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and stars which thou hast ordained. Lord, what is man V' And considering “ the lilies of the field,” Jesus declared with emphasis, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like these. Indeed, Nature is never want- ing in religious suggestions to the enlightened and reverent soul. Thus the earth and sea — the transparent ether— the shining worlds, that sentinel the heaven of heavens — aU great and solemn and sublime — naturally dispose the mind to de- vout meditations. '^Nature is a most eloquent preacher, and he is cold at heart who does not realize the divinity of her ministry. Those whom the world has not corrupted are never insen- sible ; and in childhood, especially, we feel her power. When Morning like a chaste virgin goes forth in robes of 154 MAX AND ms RELATIONS. light to walk on tlie tops of the mountains, the soul of Youth follows her like a spirit of prayer. Spring comes and breaths above the graves of the sleeping germs ; they spring- up and blossom ; and their resurrection to more abundant life, is an assurance that being and beauty are immortal. The rose that blooms by the cottage door blushes when it is kissed by the sun-beams, and loving inspirations kindle in the mind and warm the heart. And when the skylark sings in the morning, at the windows of heaven, his song is a sweet suggestion, that Nature is full of music, and that the objects and aims of life should be above all groveling and earthly things. It is with a feeling of profound adoration that we gaze at the -stars ; and if we meditate by the sea, where the winds and waves discourse of the Supreme Ma- jesty, we hear divine voices in the unrestrained elements ; and solemn reverberations, swelling “ Over each isle and continent and sea, Waking, enrapturing earth’s down-trodden nations, With God the Father’s great command — B e Fkee !” If the foregoing illustrations present at best but a feeble expression of an intense conviction, it is because language furnishes only a narrow and clumsy vehicle wlierein Truth rides with difficulty. However, the influence of physical objects and earthly scenes in the development of the human mind and the formation of character, must be so obvious as to render further elucidation unnecessary. That men are transformed into the moral and material likeness of the forms they observe, the natures they contemplate, and the ideal conceptions they entertain and cherish, will scarcely be denied j and we may, therefore, dismiss this part of the INFLUENCE OF OBJECTS AND IDEAS. 155 subject with a single additional illustration. I find the sug- gestion in a little poem entitled, “ Robin Gray.^’^ “ He dreamed that the angel Gabriel came And stood by his cottage door, And a wondrous light from his raiment fell, And shone on the sanded floor.” Robin gazed at the celestial visitor with deep amazement and silent admiration ; and when the vision departed — and while the illuminated shadow yet lingered in his soul — he felt an intense desire to preserve the image of that divine personality. Inspired with the thought, he commenced to mold the form of the Angel in marble. In the early morn- ing he went to his task and toiled until, the evening shades appeared. Thus he labored, day after day ; and ever and anon the Angel came and stood by him in visions of the night to revive the waning impression. But Robin grew thin and pale, and a strange light — like the mysterious glory of transfiguration — shone out through the sweet solemnity of his countenance. The vigor of his arm was impaired day by day, and yet the marble remained rough and cold in his hands. The divine form did not ap- pear in the stone ; “ But the Augel within his breast each day, More luminous grew and bright.” One morning avi early visitor found Robin prostrate on the floor of his little cell. He was pale, passionless, and pulse- less as the marble that, even in death, he still grasped with the energy of a living purpose. The materialist gazed on the scene and he said, alas, it is a failure ! He lived for I . onti’ibuted to ihe Sli^kinah by Mrs. S. S. > i,; h. 156 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. a single purpose to which he consecrated life and all his powers ; but tliis is the end of life, and his work is unfin- ished! Nay ! not so in the poet’s vision, nor in fact. That teas not the end of life. In one corner of that little cell — invisible to mortal eyes — stood Robin Gray, clad in the robes of a great immortality ; and stamped on every linea- ment — with such vivid distinctness as face answers to face in the untroubled waters — was the image of tlie Angel. If we may accept the poetic idea, that a beautiful statue is concealed in every block of marble whicli may be discov- ered by the skill of the sculptor, we may at least entertain the thought that an Angel reposes in the rufiest hoBCian form, which some skillful moral artist may awa|ken an^ exhibit en alto relievo. In this work no one can labor sinceii'ely and yet labor in vain. It is true our objects! may b^ misin- terpreted or disregarded by others ; and 'after long for- bearance, earnest effort, and patient sufiferiing, we may not develop the Angel where we waited and watched fo^ its ad- vent, But the failure, at most, can only be iipparent! ; since every such effort must serve to mold our o\^n natures into the likeness of the grand Ideal that stands jrevealed in the temple of the soul. A Christian Apostle recognized tl^is prin- ciple when he would have formed in the disqiple, ‘\tlie hope of glory,” in the image of the Divine Man, '^If, then, our attempts to develop in others the celestial form and : life on earth ’are not crowned with visible results, we may ,3mt be accounted worthy of a sublime success. WliBii the vpil that obscures the moral vision is removed, and wp stand at last in the clear light of the great Hereafter, alliwill be well if we shall have fashioned the Angel wiTiiiN.^ CHAPTER XIY. KELATIONS OP MIND TO PERSONAL BEAUTY. General Observations — The Fine Arts and Civilization — The Magic Isles — Influence of Ancient Greece on Modern Ideas — Value of Personal Beauty — The Author’s Analysis — Prevalence of false Views — Reference to Head- ley’s Letters from Italy — The Conceptions of French and Italian Ladies — Influence of the Mind on the Muscles— The History on the Wall — Expres- sion as an element of Beauty — Creations of Ludovico Caracci, the Cyclops of Timanthes and the Cartoons of Raphael — Illustrations from practical Life — Desolating pawer of the Passions — Glory of a great Character. “ Wny tinge the cheek of youth ! The snow^' neck Why load with jewels? V/hy anoint the hair? Oh, mortal, scorn such ^rts ! but richly deck Thy soul with virtues.” — Greek P< et. O UTWAItD Beauty is the sensuous image of a spiritual and divine Reality — the visible, though imperfect, expres- sion of the invisible and absolute Perfection. The mind that is liberally endowed by Nature, and refined by culture and the contemplation of the most perfect ideals, is never insensible* of the presence and the power of Beauty. Indeed, the inability to perceive this supreme excellence implies a radical defect in human nature, that is wholly incompat- ible with the highest intellectual, moral, and spiritual at- tainments. The love of Beauty adorns the eai-th Avith innu- merable creations to delight the senses and the soul. It plants the myrtle and the rose in the wilderness ; it makes the barren moors and desert solitudes blossom ; it cultivates Oriental gardens, and rears splendid temples and palaces ; 158 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. it inspired tiie great masters of Grecian Art, and they left their carved memorials and pictured thoughts in the world^s Pantheon to awaken the esthetic sense in the barbaric mind ; to refine the taste of every succeeding age, and to redeem the common life of the world from its grossness and sensual- ity. The truly spiritual mind — gifted with an acute percep- tion of beauty- — surveys the immortal images on the canvas and the shadows cast in marble, and finds in them a revela- tion of the hidden, spiritual and divine excellence. From the invisible Perfection the great artist derives his inspira- tion, and to that unseen Reality his aspirations constantly ascend. Nor is the attempt to realize his prayer, in the embodiment of his Idea ever in vain ; for he is a common benefactor who invests the world with new attractions. The love of Beauty is the worship of God. Nature and Art — every fair and glorious creation of earth and sea and sky — the human form and face divine, instinct with life, passion and sentiment, or smiling in marble or on tlie canvas — have all a sacred ministry — to inspire a love of the Perfect and to fashion a Divine Ideal in the conscious soul. Thus all beautiful things exert a redeeming influence on Man. They refine the passions of our common nature, wliile they lift us above the deformities of this present world. All Nature is the revelation of a Spiritual Presence in material forms, and the clearest elucidation of tlie Divine perfections. There are enchanting melodies, eloquent ser- mons, sublime philosophies, great poems, and a Gospel of re- deeming power — all embodied in the forms of the outward world. These are expressive symbols of the everlasting Life and Thought. There are also sweet lessons on the RELATIONS OF MIND TO PERSONAL BEAUTY. 159 cheek of innocence, in the bosom of love and in the eye of genius, that we should learn and cherish. We can never study them in vain, nor can it be irreverent to imitate them, as far as we are able, for thus we approach the radiant foot- prints of the Divine Artist, ‘ who made everything beautiful in his time.' The influence of the Fine Arts on our civilization and the relations of all the forms of Beauty to the intellectual development and moral elevation of the people, have seldom been wisely estimated. It is quite certain that we are indebted — in no small degree— to ancient Greece for an acquaintance with the sources of Beauty, and for some of the means of modern growth and refinement. Those magic Isles — “ Where burning Sappho wept and sung,” were consecrated to all that was most beautiful in Art. It was in that charmed region that letters were invented ; there the strings of the lyre first vibrated to harmonic numbers ; there Homer sang his immortal song ; there lived Solon and Lycurgus, and the fathers of theatrical tragedy. A popular author has denominated the Grecian architec- ture an “artistic revelation,’’ and the same may be said of its sculptured forms, which have never been excelled. While the philosophers and law-givers of ancient Greece doubtless continue to exert a wide influence in molding the Theology and the Legislation of all modern Christendom, it is certain that her inspired masters in eveiw department of the Elegant Arts have for centuries contributed to foster a love of the Beautiful, and human nature has been refined and exalted. The noblest forms of Art have perhaps done 160 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. more to redeem the world from savagism, than all the reli- gions on the face of the earth, Christianity alone excepted. It would be a moral impossibility for a man to look at the Graces every day for one year and remain an awkward clown ; nor would even a Barbarian think of offering human sacrifices to Venus or Apollo. We have defined Beauty to be, in the most comprehen- sive sense, the light and glory of the Divinity shining tiirough the material forms of the World. With such a defi- nition, even 'personal heaid'y — of the sources of which I am now to treat — is by no means to be lightly esteemed.^ It certainly inspires pleasurable sensations in every beholder, and cannot, therefore, be a worthless treasure in the estima- tion of others. It unbars our doors to the stranger, and gives him a passport to the confidence of his fellow-men, and hence can never be useless to its possessor. We all , /naturally associate the peculiarities of foimi, feature and expression, with certain mental and moral characteristics ; and we seldom or never find the man — in his essential char- acter — unlike the image he presents to the world. A careful personal inspection for lialf an liour may reverse the judgment founded on the most important testimony. It will be found that even those who profess to disregard ^ personal appearances, generally form their own estimate of ' the individual’s mind and character from what they observe in his exterior ; nor are the greatest and most discerning i Socrates called Beauty a short-lived tyranny ; but Plato viewed it as a privilege of Nature. Theophrastus said it was a silent cheat, whilst Aris- totle affirmed that it was better than all the recommendations in the world. Homer regarded it as a glorious natural gift, and Ovid esteemed it as a favor bestowed by the gods. / llELATIONS OF MIND TO PERSOXAL BEAUTY. 161 minds frequent exeeptions to tlie rule. The great dra- matic Poet lias said, respecting a beautiful human form, “ There’s nothing ill can dwell in such a temple.” And all admit that he was a profound interpreter of human nature. True, we may misinterpret the signs of character ; but we can scarcely overlook them. They are too con- spicuous to be readily concealed, and withal too deep and lasting to be obliterated even by “ Time’s effacing fingers.” When the essential elements of beauty are harmoniously blended, in one who is thus divinely commissioned to sway a scepter over the realm of the affections, the attributes of the celestial life are tangibly revealed on earth. Milton thus sings of such a being : “ Grace was in all her steps, heaven in her eyes, In every gesture dignity and love.” The elements of personal beauty are chiefly comprehended in symmetry of form and feature, in an agreeable associa- tion and blending of colors, in mingled softness, vivacity and force of expression, and in the grace and “ poetry of motion.” ^It is worthy of observation, that those who attach the highest value to personal attractions, often make the most fatal mistakes in their attempts to secure the coveted boon. In this country, especially, thousands vainly at- tempt to make up for their natural defects of form by the most ludicrous efforts to conceal them, rather than com mence and pursue such a course of physical exercise and dis cipline as must inevitably give elasticity and vigor to the different members, and rotundity to the whole body'. In- stead of directing the latent energies of Nature to the full 162 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. accomplishment of her appropriate work, too many employ the costumer to make up the form agreeably to the latest decrees of imperial Fashion. They trouble themselves to restrain and fetter their own natural powers, and then make great sacrifices to patch up their imperfections. Such persons — while they live and when they die — are but poor effigies of human nature, which the sage and the savage alike must regard with pity or derision. ^ / The same miserable infatuation is exhibited in the at tempts to produce and to preserve the particular combina- tions of color necessary to the perfection of personal beauty. Fair ladies pass their days in listless inactivity, in darkened parlors, without the inspiration of the free air, and away from the purple glories and the golden rays of the morning. Their nights are spent at the rout, and in crowded banquet- ting halls, until from the loss of natural repose at proper seasons, the intoxication of unnatural excitements, untimely and immoderate gratification of the appetites, the nervous system is unstrung, the digestion impaired, the skin becomes 1 In form the Italians excel us. Larger, fuller — they naturally aquire a fi-uer gait aod bearing. It is astonishing that our ladies should persist in that ridiculous notion, that a small waist is, and, ex necessitate, must be, beau- tiful. Why, many an Italian woman would cry for vexation, if she pos- sessed such a waist as some of our ladies acquire only by a long and painful process. I have sought the reason of this difference, and can see no other than that the Italians have their glorious statuary continually before them as models 5 and hence endeavor to assimilate themselves to them ; whereas our fashionables have no models except those French stuffed figures in th-> windows of the milliners’ shops. If an artist should presume to make a statue with the shape that seems to be regarded with us as the perfectiou of harmonious proportion, he would be laughed out of the city. It is a stand ing objection against the taste of our women, the world over, that they prac- tically assert that a French dressmaker understands how they should bo mado better than Nature herself. — Headley's Letters from Italy. RELATIONS OF MIND TO PERSONAL BEAUTY. l()o sallow, and the roses on the clieek wither in the night air or fade in the glare of the gas lights. When the weak votary of pleasure has thus sacrificed her personal charms, she vainly attempts to supply the lost tre^isure by the use of powder, rouge, and a species of enamel that closes the pores and suspends the functions of the skin. The same superfi- cial arts are employed alike in the palace-chamber and in the bordello. For a proud lady who values her beauty, thus to destroy all the freshness of spring, and extinguish the ruddy glow of the morning which once shone in her countenance, is lamentable enough ; but when she ti*ans- forms her delicate frame into a portrait pcdnter^s easel, and makes of her fair cheek a mere pallet for a very poor amateur, she presents for our contemplation one of the most ridiculous illustrations of human weakness and folly. “ Lo, with what vermil tints the apple blooms 1 Say, doth the rose the painter’s hand require ?'y We liave often been surprised that persons of large means expend so much for wardrobes, which are neither elegant nor convenient ; for carved furniture and costly equipage ; for jewels and other personal ornaments. It is a vulgar taste that is fed and satisfied with such an exhibition of elaborate trifles, and the useless attentions of a long retinue in gilded lixeries. The esthetic sense is scarcely awakened in persons of this description. The more cultivated mind requires higher forms of Art and types of Beauty. It is the peculiar province of the Poet and Musician, the Painter and the Sculptor, to minister to those who find in their purest crea- tions the distant but radiant images of the absolute Perfec- tion. Such souls need no gilded accessories. Whilst they 164 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. yet walk on earth, they wear crowns of light and the robes of a great Immortality. The free and harmonious exercise of the human faculties and affections is indispensable to a complete and symmetri- cal development of the body. Moreover, it has been ren- dered evident, by other portions of this treatise, that mental and moral harmony are productive of physical health. Thus the mind — when rightly exercised — by producing a normal condition and action of the whole system, may illuminate the deep azure of the eye, and cause the rose and the lily to bloom together on the cheek and the brow. Expression — wliich is but the action of passion, thought and sentiment, on the muscles of the face — of course depends on the states and exercises of the mind ; and — to use the expressive words of another — “ grace doth take therefrom its own existence.’’ Thus the ciiief sources of personal beauty are perceived to be within, and the outward form, features, expression and action, must generally constitute a reliable index to the mind, the heart and the life. Tlie power of the mind over the body, and the influence of sensation and thought in forming the features, and deter- mining their expression, is worthy of careful observation. So completely and indelibly does tlie mind stamp its image on the form, that in every lineament of tlie face we may trace the revelation of some moral attribute or mental pos- session. The spirit of kindness wreathes the countenance with smiles Hatred can never conceal its ugly visage behind a wall of flesh, but hangs it out for the world’s in- S})ection and instruction. While the man — shut up in liis earthly dwelling — vainly imagines that his real charactci* is RELATIONS OF MIND TO PERSONAL BEAUTY. 1G5 unknown, and will remain concealed until bis mortal habi- tation is destroyed, he is unconsciously tracing his secret history on the outer walls of his house, where it may be read by all men. Tlie eyes, especially, are the windows of the mortal tenement, through which we perceive the disposition of the occupant, and tlie character of the guests he is wont to entertain. The predominant idea, ruling passion, and gov- erning sentiment of the individual are usually made mani- fest, even to the careless observer Some nerve vibrates, at the gentlest touch of a thought, or trembles beneath the) tread of fairy-footed sunbeams, as they come up from all they forms of the world to track the mystic halls of vision. “ Some chord ia unison with what we hear Is touched within us, and the soul replies!” And thus all the senses present avenues through which Nature — by her outward forms and physical phenomena — ap{)eals to the conscious soul. From day to day the spirit leaves a visible and impressive transcript of its history in the yielding clay. Thoughts have an influence over the nerves of motion, and our secret emotions are incarnated in our muscles. Thus the contracted, selfish, and bigoted man presents you with a diagram of his lean, dejected soul in the , acute angles of his visage. The poor miser wh'o unly lives to grasp yet more firmly what he has, and tif possible,) ivliat he has not, will be quite likely to form his face after the fashion of a steel trap ; while in the curved lines that arch - the expanded brow, and in the frank, generous and joyful expression, we recognize the genuine certificate of Nature, . bearing the seal of Divinity, Many faces present to the critical reader of character, a 166 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. terrible record of the exercise of perverted faculties ; of golden hours and opportunities squandered in indolence and dissipation ; of the indulgence of secret and wasting vices ; of bright hopes blasted in the morning of life, and eloquent promises of future usefulness, already forgotten and never to be redeemed. Oh, who would become the author of such a history ! Who would thus illustrate his life and times by frequent exhibitions of depraved and ungovernable passion, and the deep furrows which lust and crime leave on the darkened visage ! Alas, how many, with bright skies above them, begin life with clean hands, pure hearts, and good res- olutions, and yet seemingly live but to cherish the unwel- come thought, that the world is faithless and life is vain ! And yet the world — in an important sense — is precisely what we are pleased to have it. Only those who make grave mistakes in life, find the green earth desolate and the moral heavens darkened at mid-day. When the brand of conscious wrong is not on the brow, we walk erect and look the world in the face ; when the fair cheek is unsullied by a blush of shame, Hope hangs her bow of promise over against every storm of life. When our moral atmosphere is unclouded, we see clearly tliat this world is a living revelation of Beauty, basking forever in tlie liglit of tlie Divine love, and inspired with conscious and perpetual joyJ It is especially in expression that the mind exhibits the most direct, manifest, and masterly power over the nervous and muscular systems ; and here, also, it doubtless contri- butes most essentially to personal beauty. No face can be said to be really beautiful that is devoid of expression, while the features are often redeemed from their obvious HELATIOXS OF MIND TO PERSONAL BEAUTY. 167 irregularities by combined delicacy and force of expression. A face in which every thought reveals its image — wherein the sentiments and passions appear as if endowed with per- sonality and reflected in a mirror — becomes a living and moving picture, which is mysteriously changed by every wave of feeling, as well by the soft, gentle and compassion- ate emotions of the loving heart, as by the stern, aggresive and terrific passions of the enraged avenger. Those who would realize how much may be revealed by the silent lan- guage of the passions, as exhibited in expression — even on the canvas — may study the Cyclops of Timanthes, the works of Ludovico Caracci, and the Cartoons of Raphael. For a vivid conception of the bold and striking contrasts pre- sented in the living revelations of the tender and terrible passions of human nature, we may contemplate the humble penitent who seeks forgiveness at the Cross ; the Samaritan who bends in compassion over the fallen stranger ; the con- queror in the hour of his vietpry ; and the maniac, whose brow has been scathed by the fierce lightnings of disordered passion, and whose eyes — “ like meteors in eclipse, Cradle their hollow emptiness.” Man,' in respect to his body, is the chemical and organic embodiment of all the substances he has assimilated, or made a part of himself. By a law that governs every department of the human constitution, and the whole organized world, we become like the elements we feed upon. To render the mind vigorous and the character illustrious, it is necessary not only to become familiar with great thoughts and noble resolutions — by means of the ordinary commerce of ideas — 1G8 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. ^ but ive must assimilate themJ If they become a part of our- selves, by a gradual process of passional, intellectual, moral and spiritual assimilation, they never fail to fashion the character , at the same time, they leave indellible impres- sions on the outward form and in the actual life. There is much of organic deformity and functional inharmony in the world ; we are imperfect in ourselves, and surrounded, at least, by temporary evils on every liand ; but these may not overcome a great and resolute soul. Moreover, the world is radiant and glorious with the elements of Divine light and beauty, and it remains for us — ^by this power and pro- cess of assimilation— to make them our own. Those who would be truly beautiful in feature, expression and motion, must be pure in feeling and elevated in thought. They must appropriate all generous and noble sentiments, and all living and beautiful ideas. Thus the mind becomes a splen- did temple, at whose pure shrine the Graces minister, and wherein the images of all glorious forms have an abiding place. By the dynamics of the mind and muscles those im- ages will reappear in the face. The interior illumination is visible through the half- transparent shade, and the coun- tenance is transfigured in the light of the spirit. How strangely deformed, repulsive, and soulless do the patched and painted harlequins of fashionable society appear, when viewed in contrast with a character that is truly great, and a face whereon ineffable sweetness, unsullied honor and sovereign majesty are enthroned togetlier I The human form and face, when shattered and blasted by the violence of perverted appetites and destructive passions, may be compared to some feudal castle on wliich fierce bat- RELATIONS OP MIND TO PERSONAL BEAUTY. 169 tic-storms have spent their fury ; over wliose ruined turret the raven flaps his sable pinions, and in vrhose deserted halls the owl and the bat, and even slimy reptiles, find a congen- ial dwelling-place. The guests of such a man are lean, hun- gry demons ; lascivious satyrs ; many nameless monsters, and the embodied representatives of every vitiated sense i and depraved imagination. When the depressing and de- structive passions are permitted to have unlimited sway, they f are fatal to personal beauty, as they are to health or vital harmony. As the billowy flames sweep over the broad ^ prairie, consuming the tender herbage, and leaving the wide expanse a blackened waste, so the more fearful and destruc- ’ tive flames of intense and disorderly passion sear and darken | the human visage, consuming the fresh blossoms of Spring, and leaving no trace of the beauty of youth or the glory of ' life’s Summer time. Whoever thus submits to the foul do- minion of the baser appetites, will ere long be scathed b} ^ internal and unquenchable fires, until every flower of beauty withers wdiere it grew, and the human face is made to re- ^ semble those cheerless deserts which the burning sirocco . has blasted and made, desolate forever. But while some men thus live and die to admonish the weak and tlie unworthy, others who are guided by Reason — who rule the world in love — contribute to redeem man- kind by the truth and power of a noble example. The man who thus combines the elements of true greatness, is at once powerful in his gentleness, and gentle in the exhibitions of his power. His soul is tlie fit temple of the Virtues, and the living symbol of the Divine presence. In him great thoughts are vital realities that take form in glorious deeds. 170 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. He goes forth to meet the human world as Summer comes to the waiting earth — “ Sowing rich beauty over dens and tombs, And barren moors, and dismal solitudes.” The transcendent light of one such character can neither be extinguished nor concealed, for the elements of common earth, out of which our bodies are fashioned, are not imper- vious to its rays. Such a man is, indeed, an epitome of the Universe. The sun himself rises and shines in his soul, and over the full-orbed world that revolves within the orbit of his mind. Time, that destroys proud empires and wastes the pyramids, makes his soul more perfect, day by day, and its outward revelations ever more expressive and beautiful. And as the Years let fall their golden sands upon his head, the spirit absorbs and concentrates their light, that by reflec- tion it may illuminate the world. Even in his old age, the man who answers this description is never associated in the mind with mournful and deserted ruins. We rather look upon him as a venerable temple of the Paraclete, unspoiled by profane hands, and within whose consecrated courts no ruthless iconoclast has defaced the sacred images. Over those walls the ivy twines its tendrils in loving embrace ; beneath that illuminated dome the invisible soul of the Harmonies yet lingers ; and within the ,open portals the white-robed Spirit stands gazing, with unclouded vision, at the Sun — which seems largest at his setting.”/ CHAPTER XV. ftELATIONS OF MIND TO THE CHARACTER OF OFFSPRING. An Organic Law — Natural Imperfections the Causes of Social and Moral Evils— Conditions and Laws of Vital and Moral Harmony — Law of Here- ditary Transmission applicable to the whole Man — The Family Character and the Family Face — Apparent Exceptions to the Law — Mental and Moral States of Parents reproduced in their Offspring — Illustrative Exam" pies — A Melancholy Instance — The Question of Responsibility— Injustice of Criminal Tribunals — Obliquities of Reason and Conscience— Barbarous Spirit of Popular Opinions- The Church Contaminated— Deliberate Mur- ders under the Sanctions of Law and Religion — Members of Congress Honorable Exceptions — Moral Blindness — A Mischievous Doctrine — One Law works ruin to Transgressors, while it redeems the Faithful. T he whole world of orgaaized existence is subject to the action of one great Law. The particular forms and spe- cial qualities of all things are determined by the intrinsic nature and peculiar characteristics of the remote and gen- eral, and the immediate and individual, sources of their organic life. The operation of this law may be traced through the entire vegetable and animal kingdoms. The man Avho sows good seed in his field will be sure — other things being favorable — to reap an abundant harvest. On the contrary, if the grain be imperfect, the germs will be defective, and the plants being sickly will, perhaps, wither and die before the season of maturity. Under the same general law, the organic and other essential characteristics and specific dispositions of animals and men are transmitted to their olfspring. It would be unphilosophical and absurd 12 172 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. to expect the children of diseased and weakly parents to be constitutionally sound and vigorous. No more can we rationally expect that the offspring of ignorance, indolence and vice, will be distinguished for mental strength and vir- tuous activity. The imperfections transmitted from one generation to another are never restricted to the body. The whole man falls under the operation of the same law ; and thus the bodily health, intellectual capacity, and moral character are alike determined. These considerations war- rant the inference that there is much in the corporeal, men- tal, moral and religious condition of m.an, that results from antecedent causes, against which — in tlie very nature of the case — the individual can oppose no adequate resistance. The causes that determine human feeling, thought and action, are not, in all cases, subject to the control of the individual ; much less do they exist by his volition or ap- pointment. It may be said in truth of any man, that his original constitution laas not in all respects perfect ; also that the multifarious circumstances and conditions of his outward life are not precisely adapted to promote and secure his greatest usefulness and his highest happiness. No one, how- ever refined and exalted in all things that pertain to the physical, mental and spiritual life of the woi;ld, has yet reached the sublime moral altitude from which the illumi- nated soul “ Stoops to touch the loftiest thought.” But the capacity to ascend to the highest heaven is latent in the soul. The power to break away from our mortal restraints, and to rise above earthly ills and encumbrances • — revealed in our aspirations — will be realized in Ihc great INFLUENCE OF THE MIND ON OFFSPRING. 17H (Hereafter, as we rise from tlie present imperfect actual up through the infinitely unfolding Ideal of human existence. ^len do not create their own faculties nor, consciously, fashion the organic medium through which they act. The individual is not responsible for the blending of mental and temperamental qualities in his constitution ; he did not in- stitute the social order and the political systems of the world ; nor bring with him the unfavorable conditions and false relations which inevitably — in a greater or less degree — determine the manner and the issues of his life. To find the causes of these evils, and to account for the wide diver- sity in the characteristics of men, and the aspects of human existence, it would be necessary to go back beyond the dawn of consciousness in the individual. There we might, per- haps, discover the reason why one man is from his birth free from any organic defect, or constitutional infirmity, that may predispose him to sickness and death ; while, in many others, life is poisoned at the fountain. We might also discover that outward conditions often make human destiny on earth a painful problem, to be solved on the moral blackboard of perverted faculties and a misspent life. It has been observed that organic perfection is indispen- sable to vital harmony. If one organ be defective, the ac- tion of the whole system may be irregular, and its continu- ance uncertain. A man may constantly observe the organic laws, and in notliing disregard his relations to the physical world ; but if the body and the vital movement be incom- plete or irregular, all his efforts may be inadequate to secure permanent health and protracted existence. Improvement in such cases is certainlv not impossible ; on the contrary, a 174 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. faithful observance of the laws of our being cannot fail to secure comparative health and happiness. The mental and moral faculties, not less than their corporeal instruments, acquire new strength by right action. By this means we may escape many of the ills from which others suffer. We may fortify ourselves in such a manner as to guard against outward foes ; by which I mean, various maladies and causes of vital derangement, not involved in the laivs of procreation, and to which we have no constitutional predisposition. But when the foe is in possession of the citadel — lohich he holds hy a hereditary tide — when disease has its origin and its seat in the very rudiments of human nature, and its deadly virus is transfused through every vein and artery ; when its con- suming fires dissipate the fluids, torture the nerves, and tl.e tissues shrivel like parchments cast in flames —then, indeed, we may strive earnestly, but strive in vain, to dislodge the enemy or to resist his power. Many persons live just long enough to sow the seeds of misery, and then depart, leaving- others to reap the fearful harvest of pain and death. Wher- ever the elements of a congenital disease exist, and are transmitted, the subtile destroyer will sooner or later mani- fest his presence — if not otherwise — in the pale countenance, the frail, attenuated frame, the bloated limbs, or the demon- iac expression. Thus the blood of generations is polluted and set on fire ; and the fair forms of thousands fade and pass away in life’s morning hours. There are abrupt and painful contrasts in life, and it is impossible to overlook the deep shadows and startling col- ors combined in the picture of the ivorld as it is. But if there are organic imperfections, which inevitably result in INFLUENCE OF THE MIND ON OFFSPRING. 175 an irregular vital motion, uncertain health and premature dissolution ; so, also, there are many people in whom the cerebral development and action are no less unequal and irregular, and such persons are liable to be imbecile in mind or unstable in virtue. If, in the one case, there is a natural predisposition to disease and a speedy disorganization of the s}^stem, there is in the other an equally forcible manifes- tation of such mental and moral infirmities as lead to a still more fearful ruin of earthly interests and human hopes. If one person is rendered sickly by hereditary infirmities, which he could neither remove nor successfully resist, it is quite as obvious that another may be depraved and vicious from a similar cause. There is not so much as the poorest semblance of reason in the assumption — whether expressed or implied — that one part of man’s nature is thus subject to the law of hereditary transmission of forms and qualities, whilst other departments and attributes of his being are not so influenced and determined. Thus the original constitutions of some people are ren- dered as truly incompatible with strict moral rectitude, as others are with the laws of vital harmony and the realiza- tion of sound health. The child is as sure to resemble tlie parent in its moral characteristics as in its mental faculties and physical form, features, expression, complexion and other distinctive qualities. Hence the family character is often quite as perceptible — through succeeding generations —as is the family face. If it be objected that some individ- uals, in respect to character, are altogether different from their progenitors, my reply is— the child does not, in all cases, resemble the parents in form, feature and complexion. 176 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. These apparent exceptions to the universal law, doubtless, result from peculiar combinations of opposite personal qual- ities — thus united in the same organization — from the opera- tion of the psychical laws, and in part, perhaps, from causes which are neither accurately defined nor clearly understood. However, that the law I am endeavoring to elucidate really exists, no intelligent observer will be disposed to deny ; nor can we reasonably presume that any portion of human nature is beyond its dominion, or exempt from its influence. It will be perceived that the mental faculties and moral states of men and women are reproduced in their offspring. We are familiar with a gentleman of high respectability — the father of nine children, six of whom are living— who as- sures us that he is able to trace in each one the existing states, personal habits and general pursuits which character- ized his life at the time they were respectively generated. At one time, having just commenced his labors in the minis- try, his mind was for some months most solemnly impressed with the weight of his new responsibilities. Though natur- ally buoyant in spirit and somewhat inclined to mirth, lie seldom smiled, rarely conversed on trifling topics, but de- voted a large share of his time to silent meditation. Dur- ing that period his second daughter was born. The child was well organized, bright and intellectual ; but in her childhood was not disposed to talk, and was never known to laugh aloud until she was more than four months old. Some time since the writer spent several days in Western New York, at the residence of Mr. C , an honest and a generous man. Some twenty years ago he was employed in making extensive additions and repairs to his house. The INFLUENCE OF THE MIND ON OFFSPKINO. 177 work occupied a long time, having — from various causes — been repeatedly suspended. The premises were in a state of confusion all the while, and Mrs. C , though an excel- lent lady, was not one who could feel settled in mind so long as everything around her was in disorder. Possessing a most active temperament, acute sensibilities, and withal a large love of order, her discordant surroundings kept up an unpleasant excitement of mind, and increased her nervous irritability. There was no place where she could feel at rest, and she sighed in vain for the solace of undisturbed repose. Mr. and Mrs. C have a son who was conceived and born under the influence of this nervous and mental agi- tation. The young man is constitutionally restless, dissatis- fied and unhappy in a surprising degree. In his waking hours he seldom remains longer than a few minutes in one place, and during his whole life he has been constantly “seeking rest and finding none.’’ A miserable man— who often shocked the delicate sensi- bilities of his wife b}^ staggering into her presence in a state of intoxication — has not only transmitted his insatiable thirst to his unfortunate son, but even reproduced (either directly or through the action of the mother’s mind) his own irregular locomotion, so that the youth could never walk straight. It is but a few years since such a melancholy ex- ample came under the writer’s observation. The boy was then some fifteen years of age, and in other respects an in- teresting youth ; but, alas ! he is the moving, lifelong and appalling record of the great error of his sire ! A lifetime spent in penance, as an atonement, could never obliterate the fatal consequences of one such deplorable mistake. 178 MAN AND Ills TvELATtONS. Such mournful records do reckless men and thoughtless or abandoned women leave behind them to testify that they have lived ! But how does our general course of reasoning affect the question of individual responsibility ? It may be objected that if a man inclines to evil, on account of some original defect in his mental and moral constitution, it follows that he acts from an irresistible necessity ; that he is in no way responsible for his conduct, and we can do nothing to reform him. But our argument surely does not authorize the con- clusion that man is a mere machine, destitute of voluntary powers, and wholly subject to the control of foreign agents. The objection — which is based on a false inference — is in itself rathei- specious than sound. If a man be of a con- sumptive habit, it does not thence follow that he has nothing to do to preserve health. On the contrary, it is the more important for such an one to exercise the utmost caution. A well man may venture to inhale the night air, he may brave the storms, the floods and the frosts ; but for a sick man to expose himself in a similar manner would be rash and perhaps inexcusable. This will equally well apply to man as a moral agent. If there exists a constitutional in- clination to evil, or a perverted exercise of the faculties, it is the more necessary for the individual to be strictly guarded against every cause or circumstance which may favor his downward determination. It is the more import- ant that all good influences be brought to bear on him, for in this way we may restrain and strengthen him, and in the end give him a moral momentum from which ho will move onward and upward. INFLUENCE OF THE MIND ON OFFSPRING. 170 ITowevcr, from our investigation of tlie laws of Iminan nature, and the present imperfect conditions of society, it is rendered obvious tliat many transactions in tliis woi’ld are properly referable to such a predisposition of mind, on the part of the actor, as fairly places ‘him without the pale of ordinary responsibility. Legislators and jurists may be slow in the legal and practical recognition of this truth ; but the enlightened moral philosopher can entertain no doubt on this point. The man who is absolutely impelled in a wrong direction, should not be fiercely censured and rudely condemned for yielding to an irresistible impulsion. A moral obliquity may he as excusable as a spinal curvature. If, in respect to jiis moral nature, a man is lame, he must have extrinsic aids and supports to assist him through the world, and he should no more he sent to perdition for limping than any other cripple. Whoever inherits diseased appetites and perverted pas- sions may find them stronger than either the reverence for law or the love of liberty. Indeed, so long as life lasts they may defeat the best resolutions, and in every conflict con- quer the man ; though all the while, with an inward desire for a purer and nobler life, he continues to “ Resolve and re-resolve, then dies the same ’’ And even when life is over, according to the proverb, “ the ruling passion may be strong in death.” Now, in my judgment, a man is entitled to quite as much sympathy and compassion, if the defects of his constitution belong to the moral economy of his being, as if they were the more superficial evils which chiefly effect the body. Yet, strange to say, so far as congenital evils merely influence the 180 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. vital functions, or the operations of the intellect, they are regarded as blameless misfortunes ; at the same time, in every instance where they involve the moral constitution and action, they are viewed as criminal offenses.] It will be perceived that the ordinary treatment, in cases of moral dis- ease or derangement, derives no sanction or support from our course of analogical reasoning. ‘Moreover, the common dis- position of offenders against the laws is at war with the essential principles and the benign spirit of a true moral and Christian philosophy. Sick people — even when disease* is the result of careless exposure, or a conscious violation of some known law — are tenderly nursed. The deaf, dumb and blind, as well as idiots and insane people, are all kindly cared for ; but if one be morally incomplete, or some terri- ble malady has its origin in the very rudiments of his moral nature, he is savagely treated even by the professed minis- ters of justice^ How is humanity crushed and trodden under foot, and language perverted, when justice is but a softer name for cruelty and revenge ; and we are obliged to go, for the world’s definition, to the whipping-post and the gal- lows ; or to loathsome dungeons — fit sepulchers for dead men’s bones — where lizards copulate and multiply ! Even in this model Republic the high places of authority and re- sponsibility are often occupied by petty despots, and licensed criminals, who sit in judgment on their fellows. Professing to be human, to be civilized, and, withal, to be Christian; (?) tliey yet disfigure men’s bodies with the lash, or break their necks on the scaffold, in a formal manner, and before vulgar crowds. I The judgment of the court, the writing of the death-warrant, and the foul work’ of the executioner, are all INFLUENCE OF THE MIND ON OFFSPRING. 181 done midcr the high sanctions of Law and Religion ; and accompanied, too, with the solemnities of prayer ! In tlie in- sulted name of Jesus— who “ came not to destroy meids lives, but to save them” — some professed minister of his Gospel pronounces a benediction, and thus ends the horrid tragedy and. this injustice — according to the fashion of this world!/ ‘‘Earth is sick, and Heaven is weary, Of the heartless words that States and Kingdoms utter When they talk of justice !” It may be said that much that is abnormal and wrong in liiiman conduct cannot be traced to hereditary and organic predispositions to evil. This is very true. Many persons become depraved and vicious from the influence of corrupt examples, and from a variety of other causes. But we have looked in vain to the exponents of Law and the teachers of Religion for a wise discrimination in this matter. The de- gree of moral turpitude, in the individual, is measured and determined by the abstract nature of his act, and not at all by the man’s power or his incapacity to have acted other- wise. He may be as incapable of perceiving a moral dis- tinction as a blind man is of discerning colors, or a hole in 'the wall ; but this will avail nothing in extenuation. Phy- sical blindness, to be sure, is a great misfortune, and those who suffer from this disability are very properly sent to some asylum to receive a polite education ; but moral blind- ness is regarded as a crime, for which the poor victim may very justly be sent to prison here and to hell hereafter. Neither his natural constitution and temperament, nor his education and early associations, are competent to materially modify the legitimate course and bearing of the law. Yet 182 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. men who are imbecile in mind, and whose moral perceptions are obscure and therefore unreliable, often fall because un- able to see clearly, oi“ to preserve their moral equilibrium. They have not the strength to stand erect in truth and vir- tue, and — in numerous instances — they are no more to be’ blamed for falling than the traveler at night who stumbles over a precipice. However, if any unusual clemency is manifested, it is generally reserved for those who, perhaps, least deserve it. Our tribunals are sometimes merciful to the enlightened transgressor — the man who has had the advantages of a su- perior education and refined society, and who may therefore be presumed to have clearer perceptions of right and wrong. If any indulgence is granted, it is to %is class of genteel offenders, while all legal and deserved penalties are reserved for vulgar sinners, who have no influential friends to shield them. Even a coarse, blundering saint, is less respected in our modern fashionable society, than a polite and accom- plished knave ] and by common consent men of great wealth and members of Congress are entitled to the special privilege of shooting people and going unhung ! ^Punishments, to be salutary in their influence, must be be- nevolent in their design, and of such a nature as to increase the moral strength of the subject..' In all cases we should keep in view the legitimate objects of government and the true dignity of Man. Moreover, those who blindly seek and consummate their own ruin do not tliercby foifeit all claim to human sympathy and the Divine regard. If a naturally sound and vigorous man sliould lose, his liealth in conse- quence of his own imprudence, it would still be our duty to INFLUENCE OF THE MIND ON OFFSPRING. 183 watch over him in sickness and to minister to his wants. Or, should lie pluck out his own eyes, he would certainly deserve as much sympathy as an ordinary blind man. Nor is this remark untrue in its application to the moral nature. •What if thy fellow be willing to exchange an Eden of light and joy for a wilderness of darkness and despair ! To be thus morally insensible, is, of all other misfortunes, the,^ greatest and the most deeply to be deplored. The world ^ ^ / and the church may leave such to perish ; but the great Father will remember and watch over his wayward child. If we consider how much the life, character and condition of the individual are made dependent on preexisting causes, over which he can exercise no possible control, we shall be- come more charitable in our judgments, and more humane in our treatment of the abandoned and criminal classes. To reform the offender we must lift him up from his fallen con- dition. The wise husbandman who finds in his nursery a tree that is inclined to take an oblique direction, never treads it into the dust. On the contrary — if he designs to have it upright — he gently raises it up, and secures it in its proper place, until its original downward tendency is over- come, and it is prepared to stand erect in its own strength. Then let no one trample his fellow to the ground because he\ is morally bowed down. If he has “ fallen among thieves” \ who have stolen the divine loves from his heart, stripped him of the robes of innocence, and robbed him of his peace \ of mind ; be thou to him neither the priest nor the levite, \ but the good Samaritan. Have compassion and lift him up : again ; minister to his necessities, and he may yet stand up- right in the dignity of a divine Manhood. 1S4 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. ^Reader, if thou art strong in the integrity of mind, and ^ heart, and life ; let not that superior strength prompt thee ^ to despise thy brother of lower degree. He may have some I constitutional weakness ; some unfortunate tendency of mind ; I some obliquity of reason or perversion of the affections, against which he is struggling night and day^ — struggling, ( perhaps, in vain, yet with the sincerity and heroism of a I martyr. If he is no better than St. Paul, there may be “ a law in his members warring against the law of the mind, { and bringing him into captivity.’’ On the other hand the constitution of thy nature may be more fortunate. Moral ( powers and intellectual capacities, which have not fallen to his lot, may happily be thine. But “ who maketh thee to dif- I fer from another, and what hast thou that thou didst not re- ceive” ? Be not high-minded. If thou art great and strong, it is well. True greatness will neither minister to a vain pride nor foster a selfish ambition ; but will cause its posses- I sor to be humble and grateful. Come, 0 Spirit of Light and Charity ! Come quickly ! Speak to the listening world in I that deep prophetic voice that thrilled the soul of the Poet : “ When through the silence overhead An Angel with a trumpet said, Forevermore, Forevermore, The Reign of Violence is o’er. Then like an instrument, that flings Its music on another’s strings. The Trumpet of the Angel cast Upon the heavenly lyre its blast ; And on— from sphere to sphere— the vords Reechoed down the burning chords, Forevermore, Forevermore, • The Reign of Violence is o’er 1’^ It may be objected that our philosophy of tlie moral ob- INFLUENCE OF THE MfND ON OFFSPRING. iSj liquities of liiiman nature is opposed to tlie Divine justice and benevolence, since it presumes that the innocent some- times suffer for the guilty. It is written in an ancient Book that the iniquity of the fathers is, or may be, visited on the children to the third and fourth generations. It is true that the influence of our actions never can be restricted to our- selves, nor even to the times in which we live. From our intimate and indissoluble connection with the Race, it will extend to those around us, and in some degree to all who shall come after us. ^The doctrine, therefore, that the sove- reignty of the individual entitles liim to disregard his rela- tions to others and to society at large — gives him the right to do wrong, under the shallow pretense of taking the con- sequences to himself — is a selfish and mischievous falsehood. I Such an individual sovereignty does not exist, and this in- sidious and corrupting philosophy has no fellowship with Reason and Humanity. The institutions of Nature are not merely adapted to men in their individual circumstances, capacities and relations. They are parts of one universal system, and must be regarded not as separate and independ- ent forms of being, but they should be viewed in the light of that Wisdom which comprehends all things in thei^’ true re- lations, and with a wise reference to their ultimate results. The very law whereby the distinctive attributes and spe- cific tendencies of one individual are transmitted to another, forms no exception to the benevolence and wisdom which characterize the whole economy of Nature. It is granted and insisted that, through the operations of this law, men sometimes propagate disease and multiply murder. Millions are borne down the polluted stream of Time to perish on 186 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. tiie Stygian shorn. But with our limited knowledge we should be slow in our disposition to impeach the Divine wisdom. I think I perceive the justice of this law. True, if we disregard its requirements, our cliildren may be more frail and imperfect than ourselves. Nevertheless, I feel as- sured that this very law is at the foundation of our highest hopes, and inwrought with the imperishable glories of the immortal life and world. In the absence of such a law, the succeeding generations of men would occupy much the same position. At least, there could be no improvement in the natural constitutions of men resulting from obedience to the principles of natural rectitude ; hence, the general c.ondition of society, from age to age, would exhibit little or no im- provement in the Eace. The same law that involves the retrogression and ruin of transgressors, is the law of Pro- gression to those who observe its requirements. To all such it is the ladder on which they ascend to Heaven. Obey that law, and it shall be a lever to raise the world. Thus the whole Race may advance in intellectual, moral and spir- ^ itual excellence until Man shall rival the Angels, and be- come, in the highest and holiest sense — the child op God. The earnest prayer of Humanity will then be answered, and the sweet prophecy of a Divine Kingdom on earth fulfdlcd. The Philosopher will have found the New Atlantis; the PoePs dream of Utojyla will be realized ; and the fraternal nations will meet at the open gates of a vast Commonwealth more glorious than Campanella’s City of the Sun. Then shall the reign of Truth commence on earth, - And starting fresh, as from a second birtli, Man, in the sunshine of the world’s new spring, Shall walk transparent like some holy thing.” CHAPTER XVI. THE SENSES AND THEIR FUNCTIONS. Number of the Senses — The Faculties and Organs — Sight — Hearing — Smell ing — Tasting — Feeling — Estimated number of nerves in a single Organ — General diffusion of Sensibility — Philosophy of Vision — Views of the Platonists, Stoics and Epicureans — Mariotte’s opinion respecting the seat of Vision — Sir David. Brewster and M. Lehot — The Sensorial Processes— • Alfred Smee^s experimental Illustrations. Through all these faculties ablaze with light From God’s inlinitude I looked abroad. And each according to its form, its place, Its function or its element, received A separate splendor from the All in All. Lyric of the Golden Age. T he Senses are the faculties whereby we perceive the existence of the objective creation ; and become ac quainted with the precise outlines, relative positions, com- parative dimensions, and — to some extent — with the intrin- sic properties and existing states of material forms and substances. Several metaphysical writers, who were quite as much distinguished for the originality as for the accuracy of their speculations, have maintained the existence of six or Sdven distinct Senses S but the commonly accepted classifica- 1 Dr. Thomas Brown of Edinburgh, and also Whewell, in his Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences, maintained the existence of what they denominated the muscular sense. Moreover, several writers have spoken of the moral sense, and likewise of the esthetic sense, as if they were separate faculties of the mind, ana to be included in the category of the other senses. 13 ' .188 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. tion of our perceptions resolves them into Jive, namely, sight, hearing, smelling, tasting, and feeling. The Latin sentio, to feel — in its application alike to all the external phases and instruments of perception — is not misapplied ; for, in a ger • eral J'eeling may comprehend them all. From our inquiry into the nature of the Senses, as well as from all ordinary observations of their organic functions, we readily perceive that in their corporeal relations and external aspects, they belong to the whole animal creation as well as to Man, while — in a very limited degree — certain plants seem to exhibit a participation with animated nature in the myste* rious powers of sensation. Nevertheless, in human nature— as will be more clearly perceived hereafter — all the Senses converge and have their ultimate seat in the individual con- sciousness — in the spirit — as the several organs of sensation all center in the physical sensorium, . / Sight is very generally regarded as the most important of the five Senses. It is through the eye that we obtain the clearest perceptions of the particular forms and relative positions of all outward objects. Destroy the vision, and the panorama of the living world would be rolled up — the spectator left in the darkened lialls of space, and the stately procession of the stars would retire, to lie present to our cognition no more. Sight is the only sense from which we derive any pi'oper conception of color. Without the faculty of vision darkness of all things would be most substantiaJ, for day with night (in our experience,) would alternate no more. The beauty of the green earth ; the waters, as they (lance and shimmer in the sunlight ; the azure d(^ci)s, vailed with gold, crimson and purple draperies ; and tlie refidgent THE SENSES AND THEIR FUNCTIONS. isy dyes, diffused from the great alembic of Nature, making the flowers more beautiful than “ Solomon in all his glory’’ — all these with the forms of human beauty, and the smiles of joy and love, would be intangible and unknown. It required a great, inspired genius — overshadowed by the misfortune that hides the world — to give us Milton’s graphic picture : Thus with the year Seasons return ; hut not to me returns Day, or the sweet approach of eve or morn, Or sight of vernal bloom, or Summer’s rose. Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine ; But cloud instead, and ever-during dark Surround me 5 from the cheerful ways of men Cut otf, and, for the book of knowledge fair, Presented with an universal blank Of Nature’s work, to me expunged and ’rased, And wisdom at one entrance quite shut out.”/ Through the sense of Hearing we become acquainted with the peculiar motions of material bodies and the correspond- ing vibrations of subtile elements which produce the diver- sified phenomena of sound. Strictly speaking, sound is only a sensation, and hence an elastic medium of communication between the moving object or sonorous body and the acoustic organ, is indispensable to its production. This was demon- strated by the experiments of Hauksbee and Biot. When they suspended a bell in the exhausted receiver of an air pump, no sound was transmitted. It will be perceived that hearing is intinii^tely related to the laws of acoustics, as sight is to the whole science of optics and chromatics. Some knowledge of those branches of physics may therefore be necessary to a clear understanding of the subject ; but the 190 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. writer can not occupy tlie space allotted to this Chapter with a disquisition on collateral issues, or the particular sciences to which the general subject is so obviously related. /Tlie sense of hearing contributes very much to the proper education of the mind, and to the real pleasures of our social existence. We can but imperfectly conceive of its uses, even while they are a constant revelation to the consciousness ; and when the mournful contrast — suggested by the depri- vation of this sense — is presented in living forms before us, we seldom realize the truth, that the perpetual darkness that shrouds the sightless mortal is scarcely more intolerable, or more to be deplored, than the unbroken silence that reigns above, beneath, and around the man who is deprived of hearing. To him the elements are all dumb ; earth and air respond in no measured resonance — loud or soft. The birds are voiceless in the trees ; the grand quartette of the Winds — that made the mountain pines tuneful from sympathy — is hushed forever ; the liquid melodies of the rippling waters no more “ On bubbling keys are played even the deep, mysterious voices of the sea become inau- dible, while the soft tones and the sweet speech of Love expire together on the lip. To all such the world is silent, indeed, and existence is solitaryy The sense of Smell is far less important to man than siglit or hearing. It is also much less acute in tlie human race than in several species of animals. The dog will follow a fox or a hare for hours without once seeing the game, but wholly, it is presumed, from the peculiar odor that remains THE SENSES AND THEIR FUNCTIONS. 191 in tlic invisible footprints. Perhaps no otlier sense is so frequently defective or so liable to become impaired from slight causes ; and it is worthy of observation that there is not one which may be suspended with so little inconvenience to ourselves or others. Its loss docs not unfit a man for business, and it can not materially embarrass his intercourse with the world. But Avlien this sense is so perfect as to detect the presence of the most delicate aroma, it becomes a source of the most exquisite pleasure. In tropical climes the whole atmosphere is often pervaded by precious odors that daily rise with the ambrosial dews from Nature^s great censer. Those who inspire the perfumed atmosphere of Ceylon, or are fanned by breezes from the orange groves and spice fields, may conceive how much of pleasure comes to Man on the viewless air, and through one of the lesser avenues that lead from the outward world to the conscious soul. It is worthy of remark that while the sense of Smell may not be so indispensable to the business and the happiness of life as the other senses, it is far less likely to corrupt the character and the life. While sight, hearing, tasting, and feeling, may^ offer frequent occasions to the tempter, and perchance furnish the incen- tives to evil, this sense has done least of all to corrupt the fountains of our moral life, or to impair the integrity of our physical and spiritual being. It is true that all the Senses are equally pure when uncor- rupted by any abnormal exercise, or excessive indulgence ; but it does not follow, on the one hand, that all are equally essential to our mental growth and moral elevation : or, on 192 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. the other hand, tliat all are equally liable— by being cor- rupted — to impair the health of the body and the integrity of the soul. If in the general economy of our physical being, Taste is more important than the sense last named, it is also more likely to be perverted, and thus to become a pro- lific source of evil to ourselves and others. Indeed, no one of the senses has ever furnished half so many occasions for the violation of the laws of health and life as this one ; nor is there one among them all whose dominion over human nature is at once so extensive and so des^radina;. In some important sense Feeling may be regarded as the basis of all our special sensations. While the other senses have particular organs through which their functions are performed, this alone is so widely diffused that every part of the body has its electro-nervous lines of communication with the brain. The nervous papilhe, of the skin, though somewhat unequally distributed over the entire body, are numerous in every part ; and to the number of impressible nervous fibers some authors have ascribed the co) a plication as well as the delicacy and intensity of' our sensations. Alfred Since, in his work on “ Instinct and Reason,” expresses the conviction —as the result of a deliberate calculation — that the liumaii capacity to appreciate the sounds in a range of twelve and a half octaves, requires more than 3000 nerves to convey tlie impressions to the brain. This may be a speculative opinion ; but doubtless every one of the innumerable sensitive fila- ments — communicating with the centers of nervous energy and reaching the surface at tlie proper point — lias its peculiar function as well as its particular place ; and for aught we THE SENSES AND TIIEIIl FUNCTIONS. 193 know to tlio contrary, the complexity of oiir sensations may depend on the number of the papillm to wliich the electrical excitation from whatever cause is communicated. Tliis wide ' dilfusion of sensibility over the whole body serves as its most efficient protection. It is the shield that enables us to ward off the shafts of the destroyer, without which we should be in constant danger from heat and cold, as well as from many other causes, visible and invisible. Moreover, if feeling, like the other senses, were confined to some particular organ, other parts of the bod}^ might be ex- posed to injury without our knowledge. But by a wise arrangement of the physical economy of our being, we are enabled to anticipate the evil. Pain, like a trusty sentinel, guards every avenue leading to the citadel of life, and we are faithfully admonished whenever danger is approaching. It will be perceived that the nervous system is a most deli- cate and complicated telegraphic instrument, communicating in all directions — and in the most perfect manner — with the elements and objects of the external world. Respecting the ' ultimate seat of sensation, and the philosophy of the effects produced on the organs, diverse opinions liave been and are still entertained. Among the ancient philosophers, the Platonists as well as the Stoics, maintained that vision de- pended on rays proceeding from the eye to the object ; while the Epicureans supposed the process to be reversed, and that the sensorial phenomena were produced by the images of corporeal things reflected to the eye. In respect to this part of the process, there exists a more general agreement among modern philosophers. But the precise seat of tlie sensation, or the part of the visual organ in which the 11)4 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. images are formed and retained, is still a controverted question. The common opinion that the retina arrests and holds the images of outward objects, has been boldly ques- tioned since Mariotte accidentally discovered that the optic nerve, at its base, is insensible to light. This discovery led the author to the conclusion that the seat of vision is in the choroid coat ; and as that is opaque, while the retina is transparent, his conclusion has been favored by other philos- ophers, and by certain observations of Sir David Brewster. M. Lehot held that the vitreous humor is the seat of vision, but without furnishing such evidence in support of his opinion as scientific observers require to establish a rational conviction. Without proceeding further witii the citation and dis- cussion of the opinions of material philosophers, whose minute dissection of the organs, and classification of their functions, have failed to determine the ultimate seat of any one of the senses, I will now offer some general suggestions toward an explanation — on electrical principles — of the sensational processes, as they occur in animal and human bodies. In some of the preceding Chapters, the writer had occasion to show that Vital Electricity is the circulating medium of the nervous system, and the active agent in the processes of organic chemistry, and in all vital and muscular motion. The facts cited to prove that animal electricity performs this important office in the organic functions, need not be repeated in this connection. But it should be ob- served that if tliis subtile principle is the circulating medium of the nerves, it is the proximate agent of sensation, as well MS of motion. This conclusion is rendered j)robable by tlie THE SENSES AND THEIR FUNCTIONS. 1 nature of our sensations, and coiifirmed by various experi- ments in vital electricity, some of which have already been cited in the present treatise on Man and his Relations. I have only space sufficient for a very brief, general, and necessarily imperfect statement of the electrical theory of sensation. The rays of light reflected from the surfaces of outward objects to the eye, disturb or move the sensorial medium on the optic nerve, through which the electrical ex- citation is instantly conveyed to the sensorium. The undu- latory motion of the air — or the vibrations of some more Bubtile medium that pervades the atmosphere — occasions a similar electric action on the minute terminations of the auditory nerve, which are freely distributed over the delicate membrane that lines the internal cavities of the ear. Odors in like manner excite the electric aura that pervades the nervous filaments of the olfactory surfaces. We determine the presence of certain properties of matter by the sense of Taste^ the electro-nervous excitement in this case occurring on the delicate papillm of the tongue, and are thence com- municated to the brain. Moreover, each papilla in the true skin marks the termination of some sensatory nerve, and a point from which impressions from the external world may be electrically transmitted to the mind. Alfred Since, in the course of his biological experiments, observed that the voltaic force was moved in the nerves of animals when a proper stimulant was applied to the organs of sensation ; and he maintained that by the use of an in- strument, designed for that purpose, he could readily convey “ a knowledge of the presence of an odor to an adjoining room.” He also made an artificial tongue, by filling a Y-tube 196 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. with a solution of salt in water, and placing a platinum wire in the solution at each end of the tube. With this simple instrument, the savor of meat, and other articles of diet may be conveyed through the metallic nerve from one apart- ment to another. The same writer gives the results of similar experimental illustrations of the sense of Feeling. A brief extract will more clearly indicate the nature of his claims, founded on the results of his curious experiments : The sense of -tact is a sense of bodily changes ; but' the nerves which carry the knowledge are probably placed close to the skin. * * There is no experiment more easy in Electro-biology than to prove that the mechanism for this transmission of impressions is voltaic. I have ascertained the fact in cats, rabbits, eels, birds, and other creatures, over and over again A physical mechanism may be readily made (upon voltaic principles) which shall be excited by variations of temperature, and which shall convey the impressions to a distance.” ^ I have thus briefly discussed the nature and the organic functions of the Senses, in their relations to the body and to this world. As their higher relations to the spirit, and to the immortal life and world, do not properly belong to tlie oresent volume, it will be perceived that we liave reached the appropriate termination of the present Chapter. 1 Instinct and Reason, p. 40. CHAPTER XVII. PSYCHOMETRIC PERCEPTION. Atmospheres of Worlds and of all Living Beings — Physical Elements and Moral Forces — The Soul-measuring power — Characteristics discovered in the subtle effluence from the Human Mind — Dr. Buchanan’s earlier Investi- gations — How Psychometry was regarded by the Faculty— Discovery of Crimes and detection of Criminals — Important experiments on the brain — The Author’s experimental tests — Psychometric powers of Mrs. Mettler — Miss Parson’s graphic pictures of distinguished characters — Translation of Ancient Mysteries — Consecrated Places — Revelations to the Inward Sense. “ And shadows of all forms of life and thought, Moved through the solemn temple of the soul.” A VARIETY of curious phenomena contribute to estab- lish the general fact, that both animals and men leave subtile emanations from their bodies in all places which they have previously occupied. Every they have touched is pervaded by the invisible effltem^, and ©very sensitive nature feels its presence. Thus the dog is enal^ed to pursue the deer for hours without once seeing the game, 'following all the while by scenting, or otherwise perceiving The aroma from his footsteps. In like manner he finds his master in a crowd, 'or pursues him with an unerring certainty when he is far from home. Doubtless the dog discovers traces of otiior animals and of men by subtile emanations from their bodie.<, 198 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. wilicli pervade tliG earth and air. These aromal esseiicOvS appear to reach the animal sensorium througli the olfactory surfaces, though this is by no means certain, inasmuch as the instincts of some animals likewise enable them to perceive danger, when the causes are but indirectly, and, perhaps, very remotely related to living men and beasts. The dog has been known to exhibit great uneasiness when liis master was exposed to accident from secret snares and pit-falls. In places where bloody deeds were long since perpetrated, ani- mals have been known to manifest signs of extreme fear. In these respects it is alleged that the instinct of the horse is scarcely less mysterious and reliable than that of the dog. From the Scriptural account of Balaam’s peculiar experi- ence, it would appear that even the stupid beast on which he rode was endowed with clearer perceptions than many men, and that he was a far better discerner of spiritual things than the false prophet himself. All worlds have their atmospheres ; and the more subli- mated elements in the organic forms of the living creation are exhaled like the incense of flowers. Tliose ethereal essences are invisible ; but they are not less substantial in their essential nature, while they are far more powerful in their silent a^^n. Indeed, all the more potent agents in the natur^^ xTd-^y:e invisible save in their effects. Every one of tlj,. simple elements is represented in the great atmo- spheric sea that surrounds our orb ; and even the densest forms of matter arc susceptible of being so widely diffu^^gd •so'^ finely attenuated, as to become impalpable and im- ponderable. Immersed in this ethereal ocean — composed of subtile emanations from the earth and its inhabitants — we PSYCHOMETRIC PERCEPTION. 199 arc constantly liable to be influenced by intellectual powers and moral qualities as well as by physical elements and forces. A man with an infectious disease certainly can not appear in our streets and other public places, without endan- gering the health of many citizens, by the morbid and pesti- lential emanations from his body. Nor are the principles and laws which govern the mental and moral economy of human nature less potent and unerring. We may be sure that, whenever a moral pestilence — endowed with person- ality and locomotion — is permitted to appear in the market- place, the social circle, or the sanctuary, there is an accom- panying influence that inevitably lowers the general tone of society, and the moral health of the community is impaired. The electro-magnetic emanations from such persons possess all the qualities of the constitutions from which they pro- ceed ; and the uufortilied ones, who come within ^the phy- sical, mental and moral atmospheres of such people, are liable to be corrupted. The capacity for original and vigorous thought, the common sentiment, and all noble reso- lutions may thus be enfeebled and depraved. Persons of acute mental perceptions and exquisite moral sensibilities, detect the essential attributes and peculiar char- acteristics of others as soon as they are fairly within the charmed circle of their atmospheric emanations. Most men and women of cultivated minds and refined habits have an intuitive consciousness of the fundamental differences in the minds and morals of persons whom they meet, in social life and in the transactions of business. Every public speaker is conscious of being influenced by the subtile emanations from the multitude. These are so dissimilar, at diverse tinges and 20p MAN AND Ills RELATIONS. places, that on one occasion the orator may experience an unusual mental illumination — enabling him to rise into the highest heaven of thought — while under other circumstances an oppressive influence, like a leaden weight, rests on all his faculties. Sometimes the mere presence of a stranger, with ^vhom we have never spoken, inspires the mind and heart jwith serene and pleasurable emotions, while others make ^us restless and unhappy. Some people carry along with them a strange suggestive power, whereby they impregnate our souls. '^Under their influence the mind suddenly becomes prolific ; our faculties are excited, and we are drawn out in conversation ; while at the approach of other persons, we instinctively retire within ourselves. Their frigid or fiery natures shut up the avenues to the sensitive mind and heart, as the cold night winds close the flowers ; or we are made to feel that they come but to consume us with their burning breath, and the desolating storm of unbridled passions.^ The atmosphere is a principal vehicle whereby not only the pure aromas of the flowers, but also the grossest ex- halations from diseased bodies and unhealthy locations, are widely dilTused. The impregnation of the vital air, by un- wholesome emanations from corrupt forms and miasmatic districts, renders this great fountain of life and health the most efflcient agent in spreading contagion and death. Tlie invisible agents of infection arc carried in every direction by the atmospheric currents. Thus certain maladies become epidemic, and great cities arc devastated by the pestilence. In like manner every human being who has a sound con- stitution and unimpaired health, contributes to energize tlie springs of life in all who approach him. Sensitive persons rsyCIIOMETRIC PERCEPTION. 201 immediately feel the sustaining magnetism of his presence. This is sometimes sufficient to relieve severe pain ; to make the weak man suddenly strong ; and not unfrequently has this normal magnetie power equalized the vital forees, and thus harmonized the organic functions of persons who were completely prostrated by disease. If we reflect that a single grain of musk, or other diffusible aromatic, may completely permeate an immense volume of common air — so as to be perceived through an outward avenue of sensation — we shall scareely attempt to determine how far the invisible emana- tions from men and angels may extend ; nor shall we pre- sume to fix limits to their subtle influence on the faeulties of the human mind or the funetions of animal existence. Moreover, the principles involved in this part of my subject might be forcibly illustrated by appeals to ancient history and modern experience. But it is not my purpose to occupy space and the reader’s attention with a citation of accredited facts, though many such might be derived from the annals of the Church. It is recorded that a surprising virtue went out from Jesus of Nazareth, and restored a woman who merely “ touched the hem of his garment.” W e have witnessed cures that were scarcely less remarkable, and it is time for us to attempt something like a rational esti- mate of the importance of these subtle principles in the present economy, and the ultimate issues of human existence. Tlie subjeci; is not only interesting to the metaphysical philosopher, but viewed in its moral and practical relations and aspects, it is one of vast importance. The man wlio passes along the highway, changes the vital elements of the very air we breathe by the emanations from his body ami 202 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. mind ; the persons who prepare your food or share youi couch, modify all the conditions of being ; while the friends at the table and the fireside each exert a power for good or ill that remains long after tlie guests have departed. The capacity of certain impressible persons to perceive, by an exquisite power of cognition, or semi-spiritual sensation, the general and particular characteristics of distant and un known persons, by merely holding their autographs in the hand, or against the forehead, has been demonstrated to the satisfaction of numerous experimental observers. It was about the year 1842, that Joseph R. Buchanan, M. D., widely known as a free, fearless, and philosophical investigator — commenced his public lectures on Psychometry and other subjects embraced in his neurological system of Anthro- pology. He was, unquestionably, the first really scientific man who attempted to commend the revelations of the psy- chometric sense to the schools and the several learned pro- fessions. But in his intelligent and noble efforts to enligliten alike the learned and the ignorant, he derived but little encouragement from the former. Professional pride often stands in tlie way of honest convictions, and rarely permits a generous cooperation. Even the members of the Medical Profession — among whom Dr. Buchanan is a conspicuous light — were little disposed to treat the subject with the respect it deserved, and the candor that will be found to characterize every disinterested seeker after truth. Jbit in the late Dr. Samuel Forry of New York, Dr. Caldwell of Louisville, Ky., and the Faculty of the University of Indiana, Dr. Buchanan met with honorable exceptions. While many iiide[)ei)dcnt minds became interested in his psychoinetrical PSYCHOMETRIC PERCEPTION. 203 experiments, our recognized authorities in science, with rare exceptions, thought too much of reputation and ease, and too little of the truth, to venture into new lields of investiga- tion.^ Among those who manifested at that early period a becoming interest in the subject, were several literary and scientific gentlemen in the city of New York, who served on a committee of investigation, and reported through their chairman. Dr. Forry, that they had sufficient evidence to ‘ The Utopian anticipation that anv great truths would be received at once, merely because they had been logically or practically demonstrated, is speedily annihilated b}"^ experience and observation. Under our unphilo- sophical systems of education, pure reason is but little cultivated ; and in the daily course of life there is so little dispassionate reasoning, compared with the great number of acts proceeding from habit and the impulses of feel- ing, guided only by simple perception, that an appeal to pure reason is well known to be a very inefficient mode of guiding or convincing mankind. Preju- dice, association, example, and a misconceived self-interest, will blind the leading classes of society to the most palpable truths. The facts of Animal Magnetism, and especially clau’voyance, after being demonstrated before scientific medical committees, in Paris, and before tens of thousands, if not millions, of intelligent observers, throughout the civilized world, are still contemptuously ignored or rejected by the leading medical authors and re- viewers, without any conscientious inquiry into the reality of such facts. They are simply dismissed, with a sneer, without honest argument or inquiry, with a vehement scorn of human intelligence and human veracity, which might be appropriate in a convict steeped in vice, but which is inexcusable in the members of a scientific profession, and still more in those who aspire to be the leaders of human thought. That demoralizing and soul-hardening philosophy which treats the human race as a vast assemblage of knaves and fools, from which no word of truth should be expected, and whose testimony is utterly inadmissible in science, has so long ruled the high places of the medical profession, that it is vain to expect its abolition in the present gen- eration ; and under such a system it is vain to expect, in the authoritative quarters of the profession, the recognition of any wonderful facts when their supporting testimony is rejected, and tlie parties who reject conclusive evi- dence either totally refuse to make any investigation themselves, or enter upon it with a dogmatic and stubborn party spirit, determined to sustain their own foregone conclusions. — Introduction to Buchanan's Neurological system of Anthropology. 1 ^ 204 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. satisfy them that Dr. Buchanan^ s views have a rational ex- perimental foundation, and that the subject opens a field of investigation second to no other in immediate interest, and in promise of important f uture results to science and humanity:' While Dr. BuchaRan’s observations and experiments con- stitute the more important elements in the early history o£ Psychometry, it must be conceded that the fundamental facts and laws which the subject involves were discovered some time before the commencement of his investigations. The early experimenters in Animal Magnetism did not fail to observe that persons of acute sensibility were enabled to establish a sympathetic rapjDort with otliers at a distance, by holding a lock of hair, an article of clothing, or a finger-ring which the absent party had worn ; or, indeed, by taking in the hand any small article of personal property that had been in contact with the body. While the impressions made on the mind of the sensitive investigator, in such cases, were perhaps mainly derived from the organic, physiological and pathological conditions of the person under examina- tion, still it can not be denied that a mysterious soul-measur- ing faculty was frequently displayed. The diagnosis some- times comprehended the mental and moral, as well as tlic physical conditions of the subject. Crimes and criminals were occasionally discovered in this way. The smallest fragment of a cravat, worn by a thief, would liold liim fast ; a sliirt was a better means of detection than a sherilf ; and an old shoe would suffice to put the sensitive explorer on tlie track of those who were either concealed, absent or lost. ^Vhen the search resulted in linding the object, not only ])hv;:ical conditions end s})ccific localities could be described PSYCHOMETRIC PERCEPTION. 205 and pointed out, but the memory became an open book, that could be read in the darkness of midnight ; the unspoken tlioughts of men were mysteriously revealed ; and the most secret purposes were disclosed before time had afforded an opportunity for their actual accomplishment. This capacity to discover the measure and to define the limits of the mental and moral powers, did not necessarily depend on in- formation derived from autography. Similar information was otlierwise conveyed to the mind through the channels of psychometric perception ; and thus the organic combinations, the peculiar moods, and the superficial aspects of the human faculties, affections and passions, were clearly revealed. The fact that accurate pathological information was con- veyed through the processes already described, was quite sufficient to warrant the presumption that a know ledge of the mental exercises and moral qualities of the individual might be obtained in a similar manner. If the ordinaiy emanations from the body indicated the existing states of the several organs, it was reasonable to infer that a thought, expressed through 'the nerves of voluntary motion, would possibly carry along w'ith it to the paper a subtile principle wdiich might serve as an index to the whole character, or a key to all the treasures of the mind. And this amazing suggestion has been literally verified by numberless experiments ! Dr. Bu-[ chanan claims to have demonstrated the fact that a subtile] aura, in some respects distinct and peculiar, proceeds from every separate organ of the brain, and records in invisible but ineffaceable lines, the essential nature and precise measure of each mental manifestation. Having placed one end of a metallic conductor in the liand of a very sensitive subject, he 206 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. proceeded to touch the different organs of the brain of another person with the opposite end of the conductor, through which diO influence — proceeding from the organic action of the separate faculties — was transmitted with such force and distinctness as to be clearly perceived by the psjchometer, though he was not allowed to see what por- tions of the brain were touched. When the multitudes are divided between unreasoning skepticism on one side and blind credulity on the other, the friends of a recently discoverd truth are fortunate if they have a representative qualified by nature and education, to conduct a scientific investigation of a new subject with candor and discrimination. Dr. Buchanan did not fail to exliibit the requisite qualifications — neither rejecting facts when they were new and strange, nor yet rashly accepting results because they were specious, while there remains a chance to prove that they may have been chimerical. The ability to discern the real character of persons, by merely holding a letter against the forehead, certainly re- veals a faculty that may be frequently employed with great practical advantage. Language is often used to conceal the essential character and real intentions of the speaker or writer ; but the psychometrical power penetrates the frail disguise. With the aid of a simple autograpii tlic soul- measurer lifts the moral visor, strikes down the glittering hield, and reveals the naked falsehood that lurked behind. As the subject does not appear to call for a statement of illustrative facts and experiments, recorded at lengtii, the circumstantial details may be omitted. A brief reference to the following examples will suffice to show that, not only the PSYCHOMETRIC PERCEPTION. 207 general character and habits of thought are revealed by the psychometrical process, but the temporary moods of the mind, the existing thoughts and the present action are liable to cast their shadows over the sensitive soul. While Mrs. Mettler was holding a sealed letter from Dr. Buchanan — who was at that time editing the Journal of Man — she declared that the chief study of the writer was ‘‘ Man, in his lohole natiireJ When an envelope inclosing some stanzas / written by a convict, was placed in her hand, she observed, that the author had a double character — the sphere was unpleasant, but that the person could “ ivrite 'poetry tolerably wellJ A letter written by Kossuth, immediately after the delivery of a powerful speech in St. Louis, caused her to ges- ticulate as if she 'were addressing a multitude, and this tvas foUoived by a feeling of extreme exhaustion. The letter of an insane man, who had killed his own child, occasioned sympathetic delirium and convulsions. Some irregular pencil lines and scratches, traced by the hand of an infant child gave m impression. A very delicate picture on silk — painted by Miss Thomas, of Edwardsburg, Mich., and pre- sented to the writer — was handed to Mrs. M., under the cover of a sealed envelope, whereupon she affirmed that the autlior of the contents of the envelope had painted her idea, instead of expressing it in words. Twelve years since the present writer published a number of mental and moral portraits of distinguished persons in the Univercoelum. They were living pictures, drawn with re- markable strength, beauty and fidelity, by Miss Parsons, of Boston. When a letter, written at Chelsea, England — by Thomas Carlyie--was handed to Miss P., she said, “ The 208 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. sea is not far ofi' ; or a thought of the sea is in his mind.’’ When her hand was unconsciously resting on the autograph of Washington Allston, she pronounced his name. A letter from Ole Bull produced great exaltation of feeling. For some time she appeared to be immersed in a sea of music, as a few lines from her word-picture of the inspired Norwegian will plainly indicate. On clasping the letter in her hand, she at once exclaimed : Impetuous and enthusiastic ! * * He seems to me to be all soul, yet all expression. I would be breathless and listen — I would have perfect si- lence about me. I can not bear to hear my own voice, it is so discordant. Language is so stiff, and cold, and harsh ! Oh ! could you but hear the stars as they roll to music — the flowers as they grow — the rythm of the streams and birds ! This exquisite music calls up such adoration 1 This man tvorsMps. At first he is absorbed in prayer : then he is silent and solemn ; and self is \o^tm the Infinite.’’^ * * * While Thomas L. Harris was employed in the improvisation of his “ Epic of the Starry Heaven,” I made an experiment in Psychometry (in the presence of several witnesses), which was attended with surprising results. Mr. H. was one day under a foreign intelligent inllueuce, purporting to be spir- itual, and was irresistibly impelled to write the name, Dante. The slip of paper, bearing the name of tlie great Florentine poet, being properly inclosed, was })laced in tlie hands ol Mrs. Mettler. At first she exhibited emotions of sadness and grief. Then rising and walking toward a remote corner of the apartment — her eyes being closed — she appeared to hold converse with invisible beings. She paused and seemed looking at objects bencatli. Her whole frame sliook spas- modically, and the facial muscles were distorted and con- vulsed, as if frightful images were presented to lier vision. PSYCHOMETRIC PERCEPTION. 209 At length she spoke with uncommon emphasis, and in a strain that led those of the company who were acquainted with Dante’s history to think tliat she was literally immersed in the poet’s mental atmosphere ; and that visions of his earth- life and of the Divina Commedia were passing before her. But tlie historic and other extraordinary characters arc not the only ones that exert an influence on human affairs, long after the earthly drama of life is over. / Every man leaves a record that time can not obliterate^ Every worM of the individual heart and hands is an enduring monument of his soul’s ideal ; and his moral image is indelibly stamped, on everything which his thought, affection or passion have prompted him to touch. The conclusion is startling, but’ inevitable. It is, moreover, full of beautiful suggestions, useful instruction, and solemn warning. Every secret act is^ recorded, and may be openly reviewed by those who shall p come after us. It has been proved by experiment that the vital and mental influences which emanated from the actual i life and thought of the buried nations, still lingers about the enchanted ruins. The psychometer may decipher the hieroglyphics on the ancient tombs and tqmples, and thus | interpret the spirit of bygone ages. In this way we may ^ yet learn respecting the ancients what History did not chronicle. While we are daily preparing the life record, ^ that to-morrow may be submitted to this searching ordeal, it may be profitable to consider that wherever we go, and in i all that we do, we either grope in darkness, among the thorn we have planted, or we walk in light, scattering fresh flowers [ by the wayside, to cheer and bless those who may succeed us in the journey of life. / 210 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. / • The idea of the ancients, that certain localities were es- pecially consecrated, was not all fanciful. It is well known that in’ those places where spiritually-minded persons are accustomed to meet frequently for social and sacred pur- poses, certain invisible powers manifest their presence with far greater freedom and in a more tangible manner. Where true hearts meet and are united in pure affection ; where great thoughts shine out from the temples of the mind ; where the aspirations of congenial souls mingle and ascend in spiritual worship, then, and there^ will kindred natures from the Inner Temple assemble, and the place will be con- secrated by their presence. Their divine emanations fall on the altar of the heart and quicken the latent powers of tlie worshiper. Thus, by the law of spiritual attraction, the powers of the immortal world may assemble in such places as are consecrated by pure love and devotion, by noble deeds and sacred associations. j They walked by the haunted streams ; they met the old Druids in the solemn forests, and appeared in the lonely mountains by the altars of the ancient Prophets. When one is gifted with a keen psychometric sense, he at once perceives the nature of the emanations from Ids visitors, whether they are visible or invisible. If lie enters the haunts of deception and vice, clouds darken the spiritual vision, and ho finds the trail of the serpent in his way. Those who are distinguished for their exquisite suscepti- bility, seldom fail to perceive the general sphoi*o of the liouses they enter. Not unfrequontly are these i)sycliometric impressions, or intuitive revelations, made as soon as they cross the throsliold. Sometimes liarsli discords fall on the PSYCHOMETRIC PERCEPTIOJi. 211 inner sense, and the nerves vibrate under the painful pres- sure of domestic and social antagonisms. But the man- sions of domestic peace and true fidelity of soul, disclose Elysian fields of the aifections, where the Angels walk in light, or recline amid scenes of blissful repose. The j senses are all refined and exalted by a pure moral and spir- 1 itual atmosphere. Every object seems to be pervaded by a subtile, mysterious power, that gently sweeps the inmost chords of being. We feel that we are in one of the conse- crated places. The lively sense that elsewhere revealed the serpent’s trail, here finds the radiant footsteps of celestial ^ / visitors and heavenly emanations that make the place holy. “ The pure in heart” meet and dwell in lieavenly places. Angels stand by them in their transfigured beauty, and sur-/ round the loving heart with a sphere that is full of light and ■ melody. They come to lead the weary pilgrim from the rude scenes of outer life and consciousness, to mansions of inward rest. They leave their pure emanations behind Avhen they depart. Every earthly object they have touched is made luminous, and continues to scintillate with star-like radiations. To the spiritual eye their very foot-prints are visible in the lighten the floor. The glory of their presence dissipates the darkness of the world ; their smiles dissolve the frosts of years ; tliey restore the spring-time of the affections, and make life’s barren wastes bloom like the gardens of Paradise. While I write I am insphered in music, soft and soothing as the gentlest strains from ^olia, when the expiring winds whisper their last benison to the trembling chords of the Lyre. CHAPTER XVni. PHILOSOPHY OF FASCINATION. I Isolation impossible — The democracy of Nature — The Elements impressive Teachers — All bodies have their Atmospheres — Reciprocal interchange ot Elements — Universal Relations, Causes and Effects — Pov^er of Fascination directed to specific Objects — Examples of Charming — Birds fascinated by Serpents — Case of a Child near Gilbert’s Mills — An illustration from Vaillant’s Travels in Africa— Opinion of Dr. Newman — Serpent Charmers of India — The Laplander’s power over his Dogs — Sullivan and Rarey, the Horse-tamers — Fascination of Birds by a Belgian Beauty — Man the Gov- ernor of the World - A lecture at Putnam-— A Canine illustration. I C OMPLETE isolation is never one of the conditions ot being. The elements exist together, and are modified by mutual association and action. Ultimate particles, by a natural coalescence, unite and form the worlds. The great kingdoms of Nature — rising in orderly succession, one above another — have no absolute independence. Each sustains intimate relations to the others, and the whole resembles a vast pyramid, whose base is broad as terra, and whose com- mon vertex is Man. The forms of the organic creation all exhibit intimate relations, and are mutually dependent ; nor can man, with all his boasted freedom, sci)aratc himself from his natural relations, or break away from his apjiropriate place in the complex web of existence. Every day his pride is humlilcd by some lesson of painful ex|)criencc, and he is PHILOSOPHY OF FASCINATIOX. 213 made to feel tlie force of a natural law of democratic equal- ity. Providence permits inferior natures to share with him the common elements of the world. The same earth nourishes man and every meaner creature, and the same atmosphere moves the lungs of every living thing. The prince has small reason to frown on the beggar, or the philosopher to despise the savage, since those who consume most of the products or the earth are of all men most dependent. Before God the artificial* distinctions which elevate the inheritors of wealth, and power, and royalty, may only serve to reveal their in- trinsic poverty and the most abject dependence. The fire that consumes their dwellings and their goods, the frost that chills their blood, and the tempests that destroy their harvests, alike admonish them that Nature resorts to no special legis- lation in their behalf. Even the pestilential vapors from the loathsome hovels of the great city — borne along by the free winds — often become ministers of justice and equality, to teach the rich and the proud the unwelcome truth that they belong to the same fraternity with the wretched outcasts of St. Giles. This intimate relation of all the forms of tlie natural world to each other, involves a perpetual commingling of their sub- tile emanations and forces ; hence their reciprocal influence and all the phenomena of action and reaction. But I will be more explicit. Doubtless all material bodies have their atmospheres, composed of the more ethereal portions of the simple substances and organizations which constitute the forms of the material creation. Moreover, the mind that is gifted with acute and delicate powers of perception— from the conscious influence of these refined elements on the phases 214 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. of thought and feeling — may determine their respective sources, inasmuch as the essential nature and specific quali- ties of the emanations from all bodies must resemble the grosser elements, thus held in chemical and organic union by the power of cohesion and the mysterious principle of life. The ponderable and imponderable substances of the physical world are chiefly dissimilar in the existing states of the simple elements, and the conditions of organic and inorganic combination. It follows, therefore, that the material and spiritual worlds and their elemental principles, the earths and their organized forms, the souls of men and the hosts of heaven, all have atmospheres which combine and represent the essential attributes and qualities of their respective natures and peculiar states. The forms of organized life are constantly influenced by the existing conditions of the unorganized elements. The varying degrees of light and moisture, and the thermo-elec- trical changes constantly occurring in the earth and atmo- sphere, all modify the states and processes of vegetable, animal, and human existence. It is well known tliat plants and animals, by a natural and constant reciprocation, furnish each other with the essential elements of their mutual life and growth. Each is necessary to the normal existence of the other. Moreover, they exert an influence on man under all circumstances, and in every period of his mundane career. Gorgeous colors, harmonic sounds, delicate aromas, and exquisite flavors, all feast and delight the senses. But the invisible emanations from inanimate forms produce other and less agreeable effects. Invisible agents of iniectioii are e\'olvcd from the decomposing processes of the organic PHILOSOPHY OF FASCINATlOxY. 215 world. The smoke arising from tlie combustion of certain poisonous plants and trees, diffuses their deleterious proper- ties. Moreover, the natural exhalations from the Upas, in the forests of Java, and, to some extent, from trees that grow in our own country, are said to infect the atmosphere by their poisonous effluvia. A comprehensive law unites all things in one universal economy, embracing every orb and every atom. All receive their mysterious quickening from the same incomprehensible Center of life and motion ; and whatever antagonisms may appear on the remote surfaces of being, there is unity at the Heart. This relation of all things to a common source, involves a corelation of the several parts, one to another, and each to all. Hence the universal sympathies of Nature, as illustrated in the laws and processes of molecular attrac- tion, elective and chemical affinity, and the natural gravita- tion and cohesion of simple elements in worlds, and suns, and souls. If, then, a subtle influence emanates from every orb, and even from each ultimate particle which is irresistible as the gravitation that balances the Universe, and all the potencies of Nature, reside in sublimated invisible elements ; if every inanimate object sustains relations to all others, and each simple substance is thus surrounded by its own peculiar emanations — influential as far as its atmosphere extends — we need not be surprised to learn that similar influences pro- ceed from all the forms of animated nature ; and tfiat by voluntary effort they may be greatly intensified and easily directed to particular objects. While the absence of life and locomotion leave all inanimate things to preserve the 216 MAN AND HIS EELATIONS. same relative positions, the inhabitants of the animal king- dom — by the power of voluntary motion — are enabled to change their positions in respect to fixed objects and geo- graphical lines, and thus to change their relations to each other at pleasure. It will be perceived that the sphere of in visible, commingling elements, that surrounds the animal and the man, can scarcely remain unchanged during any two days in the whole existence of the individual. Hence the influences which excite and determine feeling, volition and action, are susceptible of an indefinite number of changes and combinations. Everything that lives and moves in our presence, modifies the very atmosphere we breathe. A man may not so much as speak or lift his hand — not even feel deeply or think earnestly — without moving the electro-mag- netic aura that surrounds his person. In this manner we unconsciously modify the conditions of being as far as our in- fluence may extend. And who shall define the ultimate limits of individual influence? It is not without some show of reason as well as fancy, that certain ingenious theorists have maintained that the ripple occasioned by dropping a pebble into the midst of the sea moves the surface to the distant shore ; that the reverberations of sound have no limit in space ; and that the great globe itself— in some inappreci- able degree — trembles beneath our footsteps. The mysterious forces of life, as developed through the agent of sensation, and of vital and voluntary motion, are essentially the same in all animal and human bodies. This electric agent, on which the functions of animated nature are perceived to depend, being homogeneous in all the forms of tfie living world, it is but natural tliat they should — PlilLOSOPHY OF FASCINATION. 217 tlirougli this refined and all-prevading medium — exert a powerful influence on each other. This being the proximate agent in all the functions of animal and human bodies, it is only necessary to control the distribution of this principle, in order to influence the Yoluntary and involuntary functions of all livins: beino-s. Whenever this refined aura is sent out from one animal or man to another individual of the same or of a distinct species, the creature to which it is directed may be influenced in a degree that varies according to the measure of executive force in the operator, and the degree of susceptibility in the subject. If the active force be strong, properly concentrated, and directed with unerring precision ; and if, at the same time, the recipient be in a passive condi- tion, or quieschnt state, so that the vital effluvium may be absorbed, or otherwise permitted to pervade the channels of nervous energy, the effects produced on the functions will be at once decided and wonderful. The subtile effluence from animals and men appropriately belongs to themselves, and may be influenced by them after it has been made to pervade other living forms. In proportion, therefore, as this homo- geneous agent of sensation and motion is infused by one liv- ing being into another, the two become — temporarily, at least — associated or conjoine^d. When this relation has been fairly established, and the common medium of electro-ner- vous communication flows uninterruptedly, the one acquires a mysterious and irresistible power over the sensations, affec- tions and movements of the other. The examples of the exercise of this power — when they occur among animals of the lower orders, and between man and inferior ci-eatures — are ordinarily distinguished and 218 MAN AND HIS EELATIONS. cliiiractcrlzccl by the terms fascination and cltarmmg. The plieDOmenal illustrations are numerous, but a few examples will suffice in this connection. That beasts of prey and serpents frequently exercise this remarkable power over other creatures, and that reptiles, birds, and quadrupeds arc susceptible of the influence, are facts established by the con- current testimony of many conscientious observers. The writer once witnessed the results of this species of enchant- ment. I was one day angling along the bank of a stream in Spencer, Massachusetts, when my attention was attracted by the wild, unusual notes and the rapid gyrations of a robin. The bird was moving in concentric circles about a little tree, and around a principle branch of whicli I espied the coil of a large black snake. The head of the serpent was elevated, and his eyes apparently fixed on his prey, while the bird was every moment drawing nearer to destruction. The natural enmity of man to all snakes, which (according to the theologians) I inherited from the common mother ot mankind, prompted a resolute assault on the serpent, broke the spell, and the affrighted bird escaped. In like manner serpents and cats charm mice, squirrels, and other small animals ; and instances are not wanting in which human beings have bec!ti spellbound by tliis subtile magnetism. Dr.' Newman, in his work on Fascination, refers to two or three persons who were fascinated by serpents ; and several well-authenticated cases have appeared in the newspapers. Among the number of recent examples, I am reminded of the case of a small boy — five years old — son ot a Mr. Martin, wJio lives near Gilbert’s Mills. The little fellow was observed to be very quiet, uncommunicative, and PIIILOSOniY OF FASCINATION. • 219 apparently failing in health. From day to day he was wont to leave his companions and spend some time alone, at a little distance from the house. One day a person, who was thus led to watch his movements, followed him to the bank of a creek. When the child had seated himself and commenced to eat his dinner, a large snake made his appearance, and coiling itself about the lad in the most familiar way, shared the child^s repast, licking his fingers and rubbing against the cheek of the charmed boy, as if caressing him with the fondest affection. The snake was killed, and the child soon recovered his normal health and disposition. If such ex- amples do not render the Hebrew story of Eve’s seduction more than probable, we must leave the skeptics in the hands of the theologians. It may not be safe, in all cases, to abruptly destroy the reptile under such circumstances. When the operator and the subject are both human, it is often found that there is such a complete blending of the nervous forces of the two bodies, that any injury inflicted on the former is instantly felt by the latter. Indeed, the magnetized subject will often sense the least violence done to his magnetizer, when he is not sensible of the injury done to his own body. Yaillant, in the account of his Travels in Africa, relates that on one occasion he shot a large serpent while the reptile was in the act of charming a bird. He was surprised on observing that the bird did not move as he approached. On a closer in- spection the reason was obvious — the bird was dead. In the opinion of Dr. Newman, either fear or this strange power of fascination destroyed its life ; but in the judgment of the present writer the death of the bird is not to be ascribed to 15 220 ' MAN AND HIS EELATIONS. tlic one or the other of the causes narhed. Doubtless the same shot that killed the serpent destroyed the life of the bird also, owing to the intimate blending of the nervous or vital forces of the two bodies. While few men have been fascinated by snakes, the serpent charmers of India all possess this remarkable influence over the reptillia of their country, and nothing is more common among the barbarous African Tribes than this power of fascination. Travelers inform us that the natives handle scorpions and vipers with the greatest freedom, and without the slightest injury or apprehension, placing them in their bosoms or throwing them among their children. According to Mr. Bruce, who had abundant opportunities for personal observation, the venomous creatures close their eyes, and appear to be rendered powerless by handling ; and he affirms that they make no resistance when the barbarians devour them alive. When the serpent exercises this power, either over the animal or human subject, the head assumes an erect position, and the eyes, which are directed to the object, exhibit an unusual brilliancy. The electric forces are most intensely focalized about the organs of vision when tlie attention is thus concentrated, and the subtile influence is projected in invisible shafts while the gaze continues to be fixed. This is substantially the method adopted by the human operator, while the whole process and the actual results are funda- mentally the same. By this influence the Laplander at once . J subdues his furious dogs, rendering tliern perfectly harmless I and docile in a surprising degree. We have lion and tiger j tamers in our own country, before whose fixed gaze and *1 PHILOSOPHY OF FASCINATION. * 221 resolute will the ferocious beasts quail and become submis- sive. Other men tame wild horses. Townsend gives an account of one James Sullivan, who was familiarly known as the ivhisperer. He would enter the stable alone with the most vicious horse, and in half an hour the animal would oe completely subdued by the fascinating spell of Sullivan. Rarey has quite recently attracted general attention in this country and in Europe by his truly masterly exercise of the same power. Birds are susceptible of this power of fascination ; but ' from among the illustrations of this class I can only cite a single example. Some time since Mademoiselle Yander- meersch, a beautiful young lady from Belgium, created a pe- culiar interest by an exhibition of her learned birds. Some may be inclined to ascribe the results in this case to an or- , dinary educational process ; but it was apparently under the Q / / ti action of her will that the birds were impelled to answer various questions correctly, by drawing cards on which the appropriate answers were inscribed. When the beautiful charmer demanded to. know the hour, her goldfinch would hop out from his cage a,nd look about among the cards, apparently engaged in serious deliberation. At length he would lay hold of the right card, and tossing it to the com- pany in a cavalier manner, would return to his perch in the cage. In this way a great number and variety of question s were answered with surprising accuracy./ That Humanity possesses this inherent pnw^r nvpr thp. brute creation, the writer has no doubt. in this chapter are incidental illustrations occurring under a great law, that is broad and comprehensive in its scope as 222 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. the nature and relations of animal and human existence. Had that law been everywhere perceived and universally acted on, it is quite likely that all inferior creatures would have recognized man’s right to the scepter of the world. But through his ignorance and his cruelty he has trampled that law under foot ; and, as a natural consequence, the stronger animals have manifested a determined resistance to his authority. 'I can not omit some reference in this connection to an in- teresting incident in my own experience. I was on one oc- .casion illustrating this idea of the natural supremacy of man, in the course of a public lecture, delivered in the Tillage Hall, Putnam, Conn., when I observed that a strange dog was laying at full length on the floor, at a distance of not less than thirty or forty feet from the platform. The noble animal — a large one of his kind — appeared to be asleep, and no more interested than other drowsy hearers. The speaker was insisting, with some earnestness, that had man strictly obeyed the natural law, designed to regulate his relations to the animal kingdom, the whole brute creation would probably have yielded instinctive obedience to his aidhority. Just at that point in the discourse the dog, without any apparent cause, was suddenly disturbed. Rising from his recumbent position, he walked slowly to the- front of the speaker’s stand. Looking steadily in my face for a minute or two, he deliberately ascended the stairs and stretched himself at my feet, at the very moment the argument was concluded ; tlius presenting a most interesting and impressive illustration of a curious and profound subject, i CHAPTER XIX. ANIMAL AND HUMAN MAGNETISM. Introductory Observations — Assumptions of Superficial Investigators — Tes- timony of the late Dr. Gregory — Philosophical Suggestions — Lawless Spec- ulators and scientific Babel-builders — Criticism of the Great Harmonia — Amazing production of Mechanical Force — Timely discovery of a common Error — Professional Fallacies — Science defined and Medicine found want- ing — Phenomenal aspects of the Magnetic Sleep. S electrical forces develop and regulate the processes of organic chemistry, the functions of voluntary and invol- untary motion and sensation, and the circulation of all the animal fluids, it will be no less apparent, that all forms of vital and functional derangement originate — as to their or- system. By a natural and necessary sequence we therefore conclude, that any method or process whereby the prac- tioner, in the healing art, is enabled to directly govern the electrical forces, or materially influence the distribution of this subtile agent, at once invests him with a masterly power over the various forms of disease. It was observed, in the former part of this treatise, that aU disturbances of the vital forces, and consequent irregularities in the organic action, may be comprehended in two general classes, namely, the positive and negative forms of disease* ganic incipiency — in eleetrical disturbances of the nervous 224 MAN AND HIS IJELATIONS. Every departure from the normal standard involves either an excess or a deficiency of the electro-vital motive power. Moreover, the positive and negative states of the body, and of the particular organs, are invariably accompanied by a correspondingly increased or diminished electro-thermal, chemical, vascular and organic action. To accelerate or to retard these processes and functions — as circumstances re- quire in the treatment of diesase — we must of course act on and through the very agent on which they severally and col- lectively depend. Vital electricity being the. operative agent in animal chemistry ; in the generation of vital heat and organic force ; in the circulation of the fluids ; and. in all the functions of sensation and voluntary motion, it follows of necessity, that the power to control the circulation and action of this agent qualifies its possessor to determine the physiological action and the pathological states of the sys- tem, and hence to subdue all the curable forms. of disease. Among the pretenders to a knowledge of the Magnetic Mysteries of the living world, very few have pursued the investigation of the subject in a truly scientific spirit. Even those who set up the most imposing claims to public confi- fidence, often expose themselves and the subject to derision, by their large faith in the infallibility of their own desultory speculations and impressions. With such pretended philos- ophers the observation of a new class of phenomena is at once presumedTo confer something more than a hypothetical existence on a hitherto undiscovered imponderable. Some animal “ Magnetic Fluid,’’ “ Ethereum,” or “ Od Force,’ is alleged to exist and to be the operative cause in the produc- tion of the newly classified phenomena. Vain and superficial ANIMAL AND HUMAN MAGNETISM. 225 investigators are quick to herald their discoveries and slow to learn that they were only imaginary. Such men are accustomed to treat the whole ideal family auras as if they belonged to the category of demonstrated realities. If one can not derive instruction from such weakness and credulity, he may at least be amused to see with what readiness certain grave and distinguished persons mistake a specious hypothe- sis for a scientihc deduction, and promptly pay their respects to the whole retinue of imaginary agents ; at the same time they indorse the paper of every last discoverer of a “ new fluid’^ until it passes current with the people. If in order to avoid a too frequent repetition of the same words in similar relations, different terms are employed in the same general sense — or to denote the same thing — it may be all very well, and the only question likely to arise would relate merely to the proprieties of speech ; but if each sepa- rate term be understood to represent some new principle or force in Nature, distinguished by essential qualities, from the one agent on which the phenomena of life, sensation and motion are known to depend, the error assumes a grave character, and should be exposed. Not only do the experi- ments of Galvani, Matteucci, Reymond, Humboldt, Buff, Since, and others demonstrate that the vital, sensorial and- volun- tary functions of human and. animal bodies are electrically 'produced; but other distinguished electricians, chemists and physiologists — without pursuing a similar course of ex periment — have adopted their conclusions. To the list of scientific authorities — already referred to for confirmation of the writer’s views — I will only add the name and testi- mony of the late Dr. Gregory, for many years professor of 226 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. Electricity and Chemistry in the University of Edinburgh. I extract the following passage from his chemical science : “ The existence in all parts of the body of an alkaline liquid, the blood, and an acid liquid, the juice of the flesh, separated by a very thin membrane, and in contact with muscle and nerve, seems to have some relation to the fact, now established, of the existence of electric currents in the body and particularly to those which occur when the muscles contract. The animal body may therefore be regarded as a galvanic engine for the production of mechanical ^jrce A working man, it has been calculated, produces in twenty-four hours an amount of heating or thermal eftect equal to the demand in raising nealy fourteen millions of pounds to the height of one foot. . . .But from causes connected with the range of temperature, he can only produce, in the form of actual work done, about as much mechanical efiect as would raise three million flve hundred thousand pounds the hight of one foot in twenty-four hours.” If vital and voluntary motion and sensation thus depend on the presence and motion of a subtile fluid known as ani- mal electricity — the actual existence of which no scientific observer pretends to dispute — it must be obvious that the various chemical, physiological, and psychological changes which result from the magnetic manipulations directly depend on the influence exerted over this known and acknowledged agent of feeling, thought and motion. If the excitation of the electric fluid that pervades the sensories occasions sensa- tion, there is no valid reason for presuming that some other agent — not absolutely known to exist^ — is acted u})on when the avenues of sensation are closed, as in tlic magnetic sleeps or opened to the phantom throng of psycho-sensorial illu- sions. It must be obvious that whenever feeling is cither increased, diminished or suspended, the effects must be pro- duced through the unequal distribution or abnormal action ANIMAL AND HUMAN MAGNETISM. 227 of the very agent on which the sensation, in all its phases, proximately depends. Moreover, the medium of vital motion must be the subtile principle through which we operate when the organic functions are accelerated, retarded or otherwise influenced by the manipulations of the magnetizer or the will of the psychologist. The assumption that a fluid, distinct from vital electricity, is either imparted or withdrawn from the subject in the production of these effects, derives no con- firmation from the record of scientific discovery. Nor is it logical to infer, from the facts themselves, the existence and action of some undiscovered imponderable, so long as an agent already known to exist will suffice to account for all the phenomena. Certain undisciplined minds are extreiffely liable to mistake/ a peculiar looseness of statement for remarkable freedom of thought. Such men discover only useless landmarks and arbitrary restraints in the ordinary demonstrations of science,/ while the best evidence that they are independent thinker s< is to be found in their mental recklessness and irresponsi-- bility. We have teachers who insist that Magnetism is a subtile fluid ; that it exists essentially as well as phenom- enally ; that Magnetism is warm whilst Electricity is cold : that the one iS the agent of sensation in animal and human bodies, while muscular motion directly depends on the other ; that Magnetism is the positive force in the vital constitution, and Electricity the negative force ; that in producing the magnetic state we must withdraw the positive force from the subject hy the still more 'positive power of the operator. In the name of Philosophy all this and much more is very freely offered and as promptly rejected. 228 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. 7'r-Si The foregoing assumptions, taken together, do not consti- tute a comprehensible thesis, but an unintelligible jargon, with no better foundation than the erratic and lawless spec- ulations of the uneducated mind. I may be pardoned if I ^do not understand true mental freedom to consist in a total Q: indifference to natural law, in the absence of rational j restraints, and in ignorance of scientific discoveries. It is quite natural for those who have been enfranchised to this unlimited extent, to feel that they a.re entitled to “ the largest liberty.’’ They may permit the imagination to “ take a spree” in the new realms of thought ; the nobler faculties — for want of more serious, orderly, and profitable employment — may each in turn play the harlequin ; and even Reason^ — intoxicated with self-love — be allowed to appear in perpet- ual masquerade. But instead of a mere repetition of this species of “ground and lofty tumbling” (for the further enter- tainment of those who are, for the most part, convinced and interested by the mere prestige of certain proper names,) an indestructible basis — natural forces, accredited facts, and discovered laws — is here offered as the foundation of a rational philosophy. By logical deductions from such premi- ses we shall proceed to the final conclusion, leaving such speculators in fancy stocks as are determined to build the whole temple of Science on visions and impressions, to “ Dive at stars and fasten in the mud.” While there may be no such “ magnetic fluid, universally diffused” in Nature, as is presumed to exist in the thesis of Anthony Mesmer, and in the faith of his willing disciples, still the phenomena under discussion arc neither unreal nor ANIMAL AND HUMAN MAGNETISM. 229 unimportant. In respect to animated nature, therefore, the term Magnetism may properly represent a variety of curious and instructive phenomena, all depending on certain electro - physiological conditions and changes in animal and human bodies. The popular notion that the so-ealled magnetic phenomena depend on the agency of a fluid, distinct from the animal electricity evolved in the processes of vital chemistry, and disengaged in the organic functions of the system, rests on nothing better than a very common assumption. It is nei- ther sustained by a single principle nor illustrated by a sol- itary fact in science. Moreover, it will be time to consider the temperature of Magnetism when it is fairly demonstrated that such a fluid has anything more substantial than an im- aginary existence. The kindred assertion that “ electricity is cold'' is not illustrated in a very clear and convincing Tvay by the results of its action, as seen in the sudden com- bustion of buildings, in the fusion of metals and solid rocks, and in the evidences of intense heat found on the. barren plains of Silesia and Persia, where the sands are often melted and formed into vitreous tubes of several yards in length, by the disruptive electrical discharges from the atmospheric, batteries. ^ But I have not done. That the nervous medium of sen- sation is essentially distinct from the agent of vital and vol- untary motion, is not even supported by a remote probability. W e are not authorized to infer that the nervous fluid is one thing, when it is excited at the papillary terminations — by ^ See Webster’s Elements of Physics, London edition, page 470. 230 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. outward elements and external objects — and something es- sentially different, when it is disturbed at the source of the motors, or at the nervous centers — by some involuntary emo- tion, or the action of the will. Nor is this all. The notion that, in order to produce a state of coma, the magnetic or positive force of the body is withdrawn by the still more positive power of the maguetizer, does not appear to be ac- cording to the natural law ; for since positive and negative objects and forces, only, exhibit attraction, it would follow that if the positive force of the subject be extracted at all, it would seek and find its equilibrium alone in a union with what is negative in the operator. ^ The nervous system is a most delicate, complicated and beautiful electro-telegraphic machine. The intelligent ope- rator — the Spirit — has his chief residence and principal sta- j tion in the physical sensorium, from which tlie lines of communication diverge to all points. He has one large and many smaller batteries with corresponding reservoirs, to- gether with suitable machinery, alkalies, acids, 9tc., for the generation of the electric force required on all the lines of communication, and for numerous other important purposes. ; The whole realm covered by the infinite ramifications of the ^ nervo-telegraphic network, is one splendid workshop, and the property of the same individual. The proprietor employs f electro-hydraulic and caloric engines of small dimensions but ’ of great power. Beside a force — estimated at fifty tons — expended in blowing the vital fires, in driving the engines, working the forcing- pumps, in the transportation of liquid and solid substances to every part of the industrial domain, ' The reader is referred to the Great Ilarmonia, Vol. Ill, Leeture XI. ANIMAL AND HUMAN MAGNETISM. 231 and ill frequently moving tlie whole coneern from place to j place, the owner — under favorable circumstances — is sure to ^ have a surplus electro-thermal power — applicable to mechan- ical purposes — which, (according to the calculation of Dr. ^ Gregory and other scientific authorities) is sufficient to annu- ally carry seventeen hundred tons from the foundation to the top of St. Paul’s in London ! Such parts of the business as do not require a constant, intelligent supervision, proceed uninterruptedly through the night, The ivhole business of the establishment is prosecuted, on an average, some sixteen ■ hours in twenty-four, during which time the superintendent keeps his office doors and all the windows open ; but gene- ^ rally he drops his curtains at regular intervals, bars the doors, and retiring to an inner chamber, rests for several hours without interruption. As the writer does not belong to any school in Medicine, and is not otherwise employed in the practice of the healing art, he may reasonably expect to escape the suspicion ol writing to advertise his claims as a practitioner. Other mo- tives and objects demand a reference to my own experiments in this department, and to these I shall devote the succeed- ing Chapter. I am reminded that when one undertakes the advocacy of new views, calculated to unsettle the general confidence in existing systems, the public has a right to de- mand the best evidence the case will admit of, and may lustly withhold so much as even an implied indorsement in the absence of all tangible proofs. Mere theorists and phi- losophical speculators, who support their fanciful and im- probable notions by no substantial evidence, can not reasona- bly expect to inspire confidence, either in the value or the 232 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. correctness of their peculiar ideas. Moreover, no intelli- gent, fair-minded man will be disposed to cling to his pre- conceived opinions when once they are plainly disproved by the discovered laws of Nature and the results of scientific experiment. ^ It was only after suffering for years the painful consc- ^ quences of my error, (the very common and often fatal mis- take of supposing that health is to be sought in nostrums and purchased of apothecaries, rather than found in an in- i telligent perception of, and a strict obedience to, the laws of ' vital harmony,) that the fallacies of the Profession were ^ fairly uncovered and comprehended, and the use of medicine ' — as ordinarily administered — was perceived to be the trial ' of doubtful expedients, rather than a truly scientific adapta- tion of means to ends. I can not be unjust toward others without impoverishing myself ; and I have certainly nothing to gain by undervaluing the learned professions. I am well aware that the Medical Profession has already furnished a long list of illustrious names of men, whose discoveries oc- cupy a large space in the scientific records of our country and the world. Perhaps no profession is now dignified by a greater number of free, enlightened and noble minds ; and it is precisely for this reason that I shall not bo accused of treating the subject unfairly. It will doubtless bo conceded that Science properly comprehends not merely a classification I of particular facts ^ hut likewise an explanation of the essen- {^tial laws on which such facts depend. Wherever this defini- /tion is accepted, it will be perceived that Medicine does not [answer the description. It is readily granted that we arc supplied with the necessary classification of the })henoineiial ANIMAL AND HUMAN MAGNETISM. 233 effects of Medicine and the superficial aspects of disease ; but we wait for the discovery of the essential laws under which all physiological, pathological, and therapeutic effects occur ; and until those laws are clearly recognized and duly respected, the practice of Medicine, at best, is but a course of doubtful experiment which may destroy the constitution with the disease. In returning from this digression, a brief summary of the phenomenal aspects of the Magnetic slumber will conclude this Chapter. When sleep is induced by magnetic manipu- lations, the avenues leading from the outer world to the soul are closed ; the process of telegraphic communication is sus- pended, and the physical and mental functions — so far as they depend on voluntary effort — are temporarily arrested. These effects can only be produced by the direct influence exerted over the known and accredited agent of sensation and motion. By the concentration of that agent at certain points, and by the wide diffusion of the subtile principle ; by its equal and unequal distribution ; by its sudden dissipa- tion from particular organs and the centers of electro-nervous energy ; by alternately interrupting and restoring the elec- trical equilibrium of the brain and other vital parts ; and by changing the polarity of the organs—all of which effects the skillful operator may develop, agreeably to certain phys- ical and psycho-electrical laws — we produce all the mysteri- ous changes in the processes of animal chemistry ; in the varying phenomena of sensation ; and in the organic action of the whole body, which are known to occur under the hand, the eye, and the will of any person who is skilled in vital magnetics. 234 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. ^ The condition of the magnetic sleeper is usually one of serene and profound repose. He gradually becomes uncon- scious of time and space, and, in a greater or less degree, regardless of his relations to external objects. When all the outward avenues, through which the soul is wont to re- ceive its impressions, are thus closed, a temporary paralysis rests on the physical medium and instruments of sensation A leaden slumber weighs down the eyelids ; the ear is dull and insensible ; and the delicate “nerve spirit,^’ that like a fleet courier ran through and along each sensitive fiber, and every nerve of motion — keeping the soul in correspondence with the external world — like a weary traveler rests by the way. Thus the portals of our mortal tabernacle are closed for a season ; the conscious and voluntary faculties of the mind are held in subjection by a spell that finds its most striking analogy in death ; while the immortal dweller in the • temple retires alone — to the inner sanctuary — for the sweet solace of calm repose and silent communion, j CHAPTER XX. MAGNETISM AS A THERAPEUTIC AGENT. . Absurdities of a routine Practice— Cosmological Changes — Progressive refine- ment of Human Nature — Modes of equalizing the Circulation — A System founded on Natural Law — Confirmation a Cure for Rheumatism — Obser" vations by the Author — Mrs. Gardner cured of Asthma — Case of Catalepsis at the City Hotel, Springfield — Medical skill ineffectual — The young Lady suddenly restored — Asphyxia from a fall — Mrs. Mills cured of pleurisy — Rheumatic Fever and Inflammation immediately subdued — Philosophy of the Effects — Case of Miss Sarah Elizabeth Lockwood — Spinal Disease accom- panied by loss of Speech and Locomotion — Testimony of the Stamford Ad- vocate— Leiiev from the Patient — Instantaneous cure of Symptomatic De- rangement — The Lunatic clothed and in her right mind. T he remedial agents employed with success in one case may totally fail in another — and even prove to be inju- rious — owing to the endless diversity among men, in respect to physical organization, combination of temperaments, states of the mind, and varying degrees of susceptibility to physical mental and moral influences. Hence the same medical treatment in all cases — for the same general type of disease* — without such modifications as the individual constitution may require, can never be uniformly successful. Much less can a routine practice, founded on ancient medical author ities, be pursued at this day with any reasonable hope of beneficial results. The constitutions of men ; our manner of life ; our pursuits and habits of thought ; and even the 16 28(3 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. earth and atmosphere, have all changed. We are becoming sublimated by the progress of civilization, the influence of Literature, Art, Science and Commerce, and the develop- ment of the mental and spiritual faculties and forces of human nature. Moreover, the same kinds of food that once were readily digested and assimilated — thus freely contributing to aug- ment the vital energies— are now burdensome to the stomach and wholly unsuited to promote either physical health or mental activity. Similar changes have occurred in the specific forms of disease. All these should be carefully observed, and their relations to the fundamental iaws of being comprehended. The wisest physicians already per- ceive the necessity for corresponding changes and modifica- tions in the professional modes of practice ; and hence they administer medicine wdth caution, in alterative doses and sublimated forms. Some centhries ago, when men were less human, and far more gross and animal than now, they sur- vived the action of powerful drugs and a thorough course of depletion, such as would now be followed by a complete and hopeless prostration of the system. It is barely })Ossible that the inhabitants of Central Africa and the South Sea Islands might still be benefitted by such treatment, but it is absolutely certain that the more refined nations of Europe and America require it no longer. When the physician is called to attend a sick man, his first object is to equalize the circulation. If this purpose can be accomplished by the use of the doctor’s remedial agents, the patient will be sure to recover. But with rare exceptions the means and modes adopted by the Faculty ai*e neither llie MAGNETISM AS A THERAPEUTIC AGENT. 237 most direct nor the most effectual. Attempts to sustain tlie< vital principle by the use of deadly poisons ; to equalize the I forces and to restore organic harmony by causing a general ♦ insurrection in the stomacli, followed by fierce, intestinal i tempests ; removing pain by the administration of opiates that deaden and destroy sensation ; diminishing the systolic ^ and diastolic action by tapping the tributaries of the vena / cava ; and sending mercury like a swift sheriff to arrest the disorderly vital forces and, perhaps, to transform the phy- sical man into an instrument for barometrical observations ^ for the remainder of his natural life — all these are the I clumsy, unnatural, and dangerous devices of scientific igno- I ranee and titled empiricism.j But I am to present the claims of a more rational and effectual treatment, founded on the existence and recognition of a fundamental law in the vital economy, and the discovery and adaptation of natural means to the most beneficent ends. Some of the simpler phenomena in this department occur so frequently as to be matters of common observation. It is well known that severe pain is often greatly alleviated or wholly removed, by gently passing the hand a number of times, over the affected part. A similar motion of the hand from the brain, along the spinal column of an animal, will produce a state of unusual passivity ; and cats, dogs and other quadrupeds, not unfrequenly fall asleep when thus subjected to the influence of even the inexperienced and unskillful experimenter. Fifteen minutes in a barber^s chair — with the manipulations of the tonsorial operator about the cranium — may suffice to cure a headache. By a similar process, and agreeably to the same general law, nurses — 288 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. almost unconsciously to themselves — subdue the nervous irritability and restlessness of children ; and it often happens that the moral and physical resistance of older persons is overcome by the magnetism of the hand. I find a humorous illustration of the subject in an anecdote that recently appeared in the papers. An ignorant old lady, / who had but recently received confirmation at the hands of \ the Bishop, presented herself a second time as a candidate, j saying, she wanted to be confirmed again — because it was so ^ good for her “ rlieumati%r Though little understood, this natural mode of treating diseases is far more effectual .than the means and methods prescribed by the scientific authorities in medicine. It is practiced with success among heathen nations and savage tribes, often accompanied by mystical ceremonies, the invo- cation of occult powers, conjurations and incantations — all of which may be useless in themselves. In the common judg- ment of more enlightened nations, they sustain no relations to the physical result — the restoration of the 'patient — except as their influence is exerted on the body through the excited reverence and increased faith of the ignorant being in whose behalf they are practiced. Many cures, thus wrouglit by the imposition of hands — by 'manipulations that equalize the electrical forces, and thus harmonize the organic action — have led multitudes to suppose that the successful practitioner was endowed with preternatural and superhuman powers.’ In all such cures the electro-magnetic operator should come nito 1 The idea that the most benighted Pagan may be aided by kindred spirit- ual beings, is not to be wholly discredited by any one acquainted with the laws of the mental and moral world. MAGNETISM AS A THERAPEUTIC AGENT. 239 tangible relations and mental rapport with the patient. Wlien the relation is fairly established — with a wise refer- ence to the fundamental law, and the specific conditions of the parties — the most astonishing results are speedily pro- duced. Violent pains are suddenly removed ; acute inflam- mations rapidly subdued ; the vital energies excited and aug- mented, sensation and muscular motion restored, while stru- mous tumors and other swellings gradually disappear under the hands of the magnetizer. Moreover, the world has yet to learn that this species of natural magic — in other words, the art of so directing the subtile elements and invisible forces of the natural universe as to develop apparently super- natural results— may coexist with a positive philosophy and a Spiritual Rationalism, as well as with ignorance and the most degrading superstition. Before entering on a course of practical experiment, I was led, by reading, observation and reflection, to the conclusion that all forms of disease commence in the nervous system, by a disturbance or unequal distribution of vital electricity ; and that the organic, functional and symptomatic effects all resulted from this derangement of the electro-motive power of the organization. Having satisfied myself on this point, it was but natural to conjecture that the specific effects of all remedial agents occur under the action of the electro-ner- vous forces, and agreeably to the laws of vital electricity. I had observed the surprising results produced by magnetic manipulations — had often produced those effects. Acute pains were readily removed ; extreme nervous irritability was rapidly subdued ; sarcomatous and encysted tumors, rheumatic and other swellings, had mysteriously disappeared 240 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. under the hands of the operator. I had also marked the salutary results of the Hydropathic treatment in fevers, and the beneficial effects of poultices and other moist applications in subduing local inflammations. I had no doubt that these and all similar effects occurred agreeably to an electro-vital principle. Regarding inflammation as proceeding from a highly electrical state of the parts affected, it could only be necessary — provided I had really discovered the fundamen- tal electrical law — to adapt the treatment to that law in its relations to the human system, and the conditions would be rapidly changed ; so that in every case, where no destruction of the organs or tissues had occurred, a normal state would necessarily and almost instantly supervene. These general observations, respecting the philosophy of the subject, may be more clearly elucidated by a citation of particular facts. As my limits will only admit of the introduction of a few experimental illustrations, I shall endeavor to select such examples from my own experience as will combine the larg- est possible variety of causes and effects. In the early part of my investigations — some fourteen years since — I became acquainted with Rev. Charles H. Gardner and his family. Mrs. G. had suffered long and severely from a distressing asthmatic affection. As medicine afforded no certain relief, and promised no permanent cure, she expressed a desire to test the efficacy of Magnetism, and at her solicitation tlie writer made a trial of his powers. Mrs. Gardner proved to be a highly susceptible subject ; a state of complete coma was readily induced, and the first experiment resulted in a thorough cure of the asthma. In December, 1819, 1 made an experiment at a public house MAGNETISM AS A THERAPEUTIC AGENT. 241 in Spring-field, Mass., the result of which occasioned no little interest at the time. Plaving just completed a protracted course of lectures on vital and mental phenomena, I had ac- cepted an invitation to pass the last evening I designed to remain in town, with a select company at the house of a friend. I left the old Hampden at an early hour, without in- forming any one where I might be found, should my presence be demanded in the course of the evening. The incident 1 am about to relate occurred at the City Hotel. At about the hour of seven o’clock, p. M., while a number of young people — assembled in the parlor — were engaged in an ani- mated and playful conversation, a young lady, of remarkable beauty and accomplishments, was seized with catalepsis in its most frightful form . Y oluntary motion, sensation , respira- tion and consciousness, were all instantly suspended. The report was rapidly circulated that the young lady was dying ; and as she was widely known, and had many friends and admirers, the excitement soon caused a crowd of two or three hundred people to assemble in and about the hotel. Three physicians were called in, whose united efforts to relieve the patient were unavailing. At length, in the course of the evening, some earnest friends of the lady — whose faith was not exactly restricted to the ordinary anti-spastic agents em- ployed by the medical profession — having ascertained the writer’s whereabouts, came to solicit my presence and assist- ance. It was half-past ten o’clock when I reached the City Hotel, and the young woman had been in the cataleptic state more than three hours without exhibiting the least indication of returning consciousness and animation. I felt assured that this abrupt and complete suspension of 242 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. the functions liad resulted from a sudden loss of the electri- cal equilibrium — that some constitutional cause, or incidental circuuistance, affecting the vital forces through the agency of the mind, had occasioned an instantaneous determination of the nervous circulation to some vital organ — probably the brain or the heart, and that an observation of the relative temperature of different parts of the body would enable me to ascertain the precise point of the electrical concentration. An examination at once settled this question in my own mind, and without a moment’s delay I commenced making appropriate manipulations in all directions from the supposed point of electrical convergence. It was very soon apparent that I had not misjudged. Visible signs of a speedy resto- ration of all the faculties immediately followed the applica- tion of the treatment, and in fourteen minutes after the writer entered the apartment y the 'patient was fully restored, and employed in adjusting her hair before the mirror. Some years since while on a visit to Greenfield, Mass., I chanced one day to be present when a young man acciden- tally fell from an elevated platform or scaffold, striking on his head— the weight of the blow being directly over and under the left eye. I was instantly at his side, and found liim completely insensible. Though the shock was so pow- erful as to produce temporary asphyxia, he struck the ground in such a manner as to occasion no abrasion of the skin. Knowing that the electro-nervous forces would naturally rush to the seat of the injury, and that the arterial circula- tion — being graduated by the distribution of vdtal electricity would immediately follow in a corresponding degree, causing irregular vascular action and congestion, I instantly set my- MAGNETISM AS A THERAPEUTIC AGENT. 2 lo self to work to prevent any unpleasant result. Applying cold water to the surface — chiefly with a view of rendering the cuticle a good conductor, so that the accumulated vital electricity might readily escape, and the blood be removed by resolution — I commenced, after the magneto-electric method, to dissipate the forces. I soon succeeded in pro- ducing a strong counter action and an increased determina- tion of the electrical circulation to other points. Conscious- ness and all the voluntary powers were rapidly restored. The operation occupied half an hour, and resulted in the complete removal of all the consequences of the aceident. The next day there was not the least soreness felt, or dis- coloration visible, to indicate whieh side of the head had been injured. I need not record the details of the next case, a brief comprehensive statement being all that is required. Mrs. Anna Mills was an acutely sensitive person, with a finely wrought nervous system. She frequently suffered from acute inflammation of the thoracic and abdominal viscera, and the vital forces were often deranged by the slightest causes. At the time the writer’s services were demanded, a professional diagnosis disclosed an extreme inflammation of the pleura. It was a critical case, that did not yield to the action of medicine in the least possible degree. In this instance the most 'perfect relief ivas afforded in fifteen minutes, and the next day the patient was moving about the house, and appa rently quite well. In the year 1852 a gentleman who lived in Newark, N. J.r and had there listened to several lectures on the electrical theory of the vital functions, called on the writer and de- 244 MAN AND ms RELATIONS. scribed the case of a young woman, eighteen years old, who belonged to his circle of acquaintance. The patient was vitally strong and ordinarily enjoyed the most vigorous health ; but at the time she was represented as suffering in- tensely from acute inflammation in one leg. Her friend was extremely anxious that I should personally attend to her case ; but as my sphere of action was the platform rather than the sick room, and especially as my time was much occu- pied, I perseveringly declined the responsibility. Several times in the course of one week the gentleman came to me and urged the peculiar claims of the case, until at last I re- luctantly yielded to his repeated solicitations and called on the patient. I found her suffering from a rheumatic fever and intense inflammation of one lower limb, extending from the extremity to the hip, and affecting the joints, tendons, and all the fibrous textures. The limb was stretched at full length, and in a horizontal position. It rested on a pillow placed in one chair while the patient was seated in another, which she had constantly occupied during tlie preceding seven days and nights, without one hour’s sleep or a single moment’s freedom from pain. Tlic leg was swelled to an amazing size, and about the joints the venous congestion gave the entire surface a dark purple appearance. On inquiry I learned that the physician — in his attempt to reduce the inflammation — had depended chiefly on the appli- cation of a liniment, that appeared to bo composed of origa- num and other vegetable oils. Feeling assured that the application of sucli an oleaginous compound must of neces- sity check tlie insensible perspiration — whicli always fiicili- tates the escape of vital electricity from tlie body — render MAGNETISM AS A THERAPEUTIC AGENT. 245 the cuticle a non-conductor, and thus increase the inflamma- tion, I did not hesitate to express the conviction, (without an intimation from any one respecting the actual facts in the case) that the inflammation had greatly increased since the hirst appliccdion of the liniment. My observation was in- stantly confirmed by the concurrent testimony of the whole family, though all had attributed the aggravated symptoms to other causes than he doctor^s prescription. The case afforded an excellent opportunity to test the reality of the supposed discovery, to which reference has already been made. If a cure could be effected — agreeably to the electri- cal law involved in the theory, developed in this treatise^ — I had no doubt of its speedy as well as its certain accomplish- ment. It was only necessary to render the cuticle a good conductor of vital electricity, and then — by the proper appli- cation of an electrically negative body — the excess of the subtile element would be set free, its rapid diffusion inevita- ble occurring on the conductive principle. I will here give the simple treatment and the surprising result. Adding an ounce of spirits of ammonia to a pint of cold water, I sponged the limb thoroughly, and until the oily substance was entirely removed from the surface. Then re- laxing the muscles of my own arms and hands, by withdraw- ing the nervous forces as much as possible — thus rendering the extremities electrically negative — I commenced manipu- lating lightly — making the negative passes from the highest point to which the inflammation extended, to the . ends of the toes. As often as the surface of the patient’s limb became dry by the rapid process of evaporation, occasioned by the unusual heat, the wet sponge was again passed lightly over 246 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. tlie surface, thus restoring and increasing the conducting ca- pacity of the cuticle — which is always suspended in propor- tion as the skin is deprived of its natural humidity.’ Thus the manipulations over the moist surface were continued without interruption for forty minutes ; The inflammation was greatly reduced, and after the first operation the patient could move her limb and had the partial use of all the joints, not one of which had been moved in the least during the seven or eight days next preceding the application of this treatment. At the expiration of twelve hours I repeated the operation, occupying some forty minutes, when the patient was relieved of all pain and could support the weight of her body on that limb. Once more, after a similar interval the same treatment was again applied for half an hour, where- upon the patient ran up and down stairs without the least pain or inconvenience. On the evening of the next day she walked to Library Hall, a distance of half a mile, to attend a lecture delivered by the writer — walked home again — and from that time had not the slightest symptom of inflammation. The reader’s attention is now invited to a case of a wholly difi’erent nature. Miss Sarah Elizabeth Lockwood, of Stamford, Conn., a young lady some twenty years of age, had suffered long and fearfully (according to the physicians who had treated her case for several years) from a spinal ‘ It is well known that when the insensible perspiration is arrested by cold, or from any other cause, leaving the surface dry, it occasions fever ; the elec- tro-thermal, chemical, and organic action, are all rapidly increased ; and this derangement of the vital forces may result in an acute inflammation of some internal organ or membrane. When the natural process — whereby animal electricity is disengaged or set free— is thus suddenly suspended, the vital motive power inevitably accumulates, and it is but natural that the molecular and organic motion should be correspondingly accelerated. MAGNETISM AS A THERAPEUTIC AGENT. 247 disease, which had resulted in a suspension of the peristaltic motion of the intestines ; suppression of the catamenia ; a total paralysis of the lower limbs, and complete loss of the voice. The treatment had been topical bleeding, blisters, setons in the back, etc. ; and every inch of the cuticle, from the medulla oblongata to the lower extremity of the spinal column, gave evidence of the faithful application of the professional treatment, which of course had subserved no good purpose. Indeed, the poor victim of disease and mal- practice — like the woman whose case is reported in the practice of Jesus — “ had suffered many things of many phy- sicians .... and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse .’’ — {Mark v., 26.) When the writer first called to see Miss Lockwood, she was in many respects more helpless than an infant. She had no power to move her lower limbs at all, or even to hold up her head, and she had not spoken above a whisper in eight months. I have not space to describe the precise method adopted in her case. Suffice it to say, the application of the treatment was in strict accordance with the principles involved in the writer’s theory. Concerning the result, the patient may very properly be permitted to speak for herself. The following introduction to the statement of Miss L. is from the pen of Mr. Hoyt, the intelligent and gentlemanly editor of the Advocate, in whose paper the letter was origi- nally published, in July, 1850 : — FKOM THE STAMFOKD (CONN.) ADVOCATE. “ Mr Brittan has not only been successful in explaining the philosophy of his subject, but eminently so in the practical application of the principles to the treatment and cure of some of the most aggravated forms of disease. By permission of the parties, we publish the following communication from Miss 248 MAN AND Ills RELATIONS. Lockwood. It is a strong case ; the facts are generally known in this com- munity, and may be said to have occurred within the sphere of our own ob- servation : — Prop. Brittan : — Dear Friend — Actuated by a lively sense of the great ben- efits conferred by your treatment, I am constrained to make the following statement : — In the Spring of 1846, while at school, I began to be troubled with a pain in my side and head, and extreme general debility. During the ensuing year I was treated by two physicians of different schools, with very indifferent success. In May, 1847, another physician was called to attend me ; but for some months I was absent from the vicinity of this gentleman’s residence, and his visits were only occasional till the autumn of the same year, when, on my return home, very much reduced in physical energy, and dejected in spirits, it became necessary for him to attend me constantly. I was confined to my bed for some fifteen or eighteen months, during the period from 1847 to 1850. Four or five other physicians saw me at different times, but I received no permanent relief from their prescriptions. I wms virtually given up, my case not admitting of a rational hope of recovery. I continued in a perfectly helpless condition until April, 1850. It was impossible for me at this time to hold up my head, for a single moment, or to change my position in the bed. Added to the feeble- ness of infancy, I was unable to find much rest or sleep. I suffered con- stantly the most acute, burning and painful sensaf ions in my head and spine. My circulation was so terribly unbalanced that my limbs were almost as cold as death. In this situation you found me, and justice requires me to add, that from this prostrate and seemingly hopeless condition you have succeeded in raising me. For the last three or four weeks I have been visiting my friends, and you can not imagine how delighted I am that I am able to go out once more. If it had not been for you, doubtless I should have passed many more w^earisome weeks and months, buried from the world and all its enjoyments. When 1 think ho w perfectly helpless I was, when you first saw mo. it seems to me almost a miracle that you relieved me so soon. I can not find words to express ray gratitude to you. I think if physicians would adopt your mode of treatment they would be more successful than they are now, in curing some diseases, at least. It is to be very much regretted that you will not devote your time to the sick. That you personally may be blessed with health, the greatest of all blessings, is the wish of your friend, Sarah B. Lockwood. P S. — For the information and encouragement of others, I will further re- mark : — While I do not profess to understand the principles of Mr. Brittan ’s electrical system, I may venture to speak with confidence of the results in my own case. The third time he called to sec m'>, 1 was made to speak in a MAGNETISM AS A THERAPEUTIC AGENT. 249 full voice, which I had not done for eight months ; to support myself on my feet, and to walk across the room. All pain and nervous irritability now rapidly subsided, and 1 began to feel the energy of new life in evefy part of my frame. During the past month I seem to have entered op a new existence. My sleep is sound, unbroken and refreshing ; my appetite good, and I am rap- idly gaining strength. I shall not cease to hold in the most grateful remembrance the kind Prov- idence that placed me in his care ; nor shall I neglect to commend his treat ment to others who are aidicted. With much respect, yours, S. E. L. Stamford, Conn., Jane 2i, 1850. With a brief citation of one other case I must leave this department of my subject. I was once called to the bed-side of a young girl of some seventeen summers, who was raving with the wildest delirium. For two days and nights it had required two or three persons constantly to keep her on the bed. With my right hand I grasped both of her hands, and placed my left hand on the patient’s forehead, thus forming an electro-vital circuit, by which I hoped to equalize the electric forces of her brain and nervous system. The vio lence of the paroxysm was subdued in less than one minute. The patient was soon quieted ; the pupil of the eye con- tracted, and the countenance rapidly assumed a natural ex- pression. The eyelids, began to droop, and in five minutes she slept. I thereupon disengaged myself, and occupying a seat, at a distance of two or three yards from the bed, I watdied the patient attentiv_ely. She slept fifteen minutes without stirring a muscle, when she opened her eyes in a per- fectly sane state ; and immediately she was clothed^ and ve- mained in her right mind. CHAPTER XXI. IMPORTANCE OP MAGNETISM IN SURGERY. Magnetism in the treatment of Disease — Its use in the practice of Surgery- Removal of a Cancerous Breast by M. Cloquet— Singular ground of oppo- sition to Magnetism — Stupidity of Dr. Copeland and a Scotch divine — Dr. James Esdaile’s practice in British India — Seventy -three painless' operations at Hoogly — Case of Teencowrie Paulit — Removal of a Tumor weighing eighty pounds — Decisive Experiments — Opinion of Dr. Esdaile — Magnetism prevents excessive Hemorrhage and subsequent Inflammation — Further ob- servations — The Author’s Experiments — Application of Magnetism in Dental Surgery — Saving a finger that had been off nearly half an hour — Scientific authorities mistaken — The Doctors mortified instead of the Pa- tient’s finger. only are the magnetic processes of the utmost iim. - - ' portance in the treatment of al] neuralgic affections, every phase of inflammation, chlorosis, anchylosis and paralysis, and likewise in removing sarcoma and anasarca, together with all abnormal obstructions and morbid secretions, by increasing the electro-anastomotic action ; but it may also be employed, with most beneficient results, in the practice of Surgery. The modes whereby we influence the distribution of vital electricity, enable the skillful operator to control sensation in the subject ; and hence the most difficult, pro- tracted and painful surgical operations may be performed without pain. Moreover, that the danger from hemorrhage, and from subsequent inflammation, is gi-eatly diminislicd by IMPORTANCE OF MAGNETISM IN SURGERY. 251 Magnetism — when a complete state of coma lias been induced — will scarcely admit of a rational doubt in the mind of any one who has witnessed the results of its application. It is now more than a quarter of a century since M. Clo- quet, an eminent surgeon, removed a cancerous breast from a woman wliile in a magnetic trance, and whose insensibility to pain during the operation was demonstrated to his entire satisfaction. Indeed, the use of Magnetism was, for a time, opposed in Europe on account of its pain-destroying power — ' opposed by certain doctors, who probably loved to see their patients shrink from the knife, or writhe under the process of cauterization. It is said that the Royal Medical and Chi- rurgical Society of London received, with implied approba-‘ tion, the absurd assumption of Dr. Copeland, that patients , ought to suffer while their surgeon is operating He appears to have regarded pain, not only as a wise and necessary pro- vision of Nature, but also as an agreeable pastime for those who are duly commissioned by the authorities of science and law to inflict it on their hapless victims. The science of Dr. Copeland was about as remarkable as the piety of a stupid old Scotch divine, who, not long since, opposed the use of chloroform, in obstetric cases, as an unholy and profane at- tempt to subvert the Divine law, woman having been visited with a special curse because she took the initiative in the * transgression ' Isolated cases, illustrating the use of the magnetic pro- cesses in the alleviation of human suffering, have occurred in the experience of many practitioners, both in this country and in Europe ; but the application of this beneficient agent, 1 See Genesis, Chap. IIL, ItRb verse. 252 MAN AND HIS DELATIONS. in the jiractice of Dr. James Esdaile, as surgeon in the ser- vice of the British East India Company, perhaps affords the clearest experimental demonstrations of its paramount im- portance. He found the natives of Bengal extremely im- pressible, and a few trials, by himself or his assistants, generally subdued their natural powers of resistance, leaving them in a state of profound coma, and insensible of pain. In the short period of eight months he performed, at Hoogly, no less than seventy-three painless operations in surgery, em- bracing among others the dissection and amputation of dif- ferent members of the body, operations for scrotocele and hydrocele, removal of scrotal and other tumorsN actual and potential cauteries, etc., etc. In these operations the subjects were entirely deprived of physical sensation ; with rare exceptions, they were altogether unconscious, and often expressed the greatest surprise on learning what had been done to them during the interval of oblivious repose. The operations were seldom followed by much pain or inllarnma- tion, and the process of cicatrization generally occurred by the first intention. In order to give the reader — wl^o^rnay not have access to Dr. Esdaile’s book — some idea of the difficult and painful nature of some of his surgical operations, and also of the benign influence and salutary results of Magnetism in such cases, I will here refer, in a more explicit manner, to two cases. Teencowrie Paulit, of the age of forty years, ha. been “ suffering for two years, from a tumor in the antnun maxillare,^’ which— in the language of the doctor — had |)ushed up the orbit of the eye, filled the nose, passed into the throat, and caused an enlargement of tlic glands of the IMPORTANCE OP MAGNETISM IN SURGERY. 253 neck.” Respiration was rendered so difficult that he had slept but very little for five months. After repeated and fruitless trials on tlie part of Dr. Esdaile^s assistants, the doctor himself at last made the effort, and succeeded, in about forty-live minutes, in producing the state of magnetic catalepsy, when he at once proceeded to remove the tumor — the operation being one of the most protracted and painful in surgery — and the patient being all the while in a comatose and unconscious state. The following extract is from Dr. Esdaile’s description of the operation : “ I put a long knife in at the corner of his mouth, and brought the point out over the cheek-bone, dividing the parts between ; from this I pushed it through the skin at the inner corner of the eye, and dissected the cheek back to the nose. The presence of the tumor had caused the absorption of the anterior wall of the antrum, and on pressing my fingers between it and the bones, it burst, and a shocking gush of blood and brain-like matter followed. The tumor extended as far as my fingers could reach under the orbit and cheek-bone, and passed into the gullet, having destroyed the bones and par- tition of the nose. No one touched the man, and I turned his head into any position I desired, without resistance, and there it remained until I wished to move it again. When the blood accumulated, I bent his head for- ward, and it ran from his mouth as from a leaden spout. The man never moved, nor showed any signs of life, except an occasional indistinct moan ; but when I threw back his head, and passed my fingers into his throat to de- tach the mass in that direction, the stream of blood was directed into his wind-pipe, and some instinctive effort became necessary for existence ; he therefore coughed, and leaned forward, to get rid of the blood 5 and I sup- posed that he then awoke. The operation was by this time finished, and he was laid on the floor to have his face sewed up ; and while this was being done, he for the first time opened his eyes.” The man subsequently declared, in the most unequivocal manner, and with peculiar emphasis, that he experienced no 254 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. pain during the operation ; and it appeared that not only the coughing, but even the forward movement, to pi^event suffo- cation by discharging the blood, ’was involuntarily and un- consciously performed. When the wounds were dressed — on the third day after the operation — it was found that the parts were united throughout by the first intention, and the man could both breathe freely and speak plainly.' The case of Gooroochuan Shah, a native shop-keeper, is perhaps the most extraordinary of its class on record. He had a tumor of almost incredible dimensions. For years it had served him as a “ luriting-deskJ^ This enormous, mass, weighing eighty pounds, was removed by Dr. Esdaile while the man was in a death-like sleep that suspended all the powers of sensation. When the patient was restored to consciousness, he affirmed that “ nothing had disturbed him.” Had the tumor been removed while the man was awake, and the voluntary powers of his mind actively employed, it is not probable that he could have survived the operation. On this point Dr. Esdaile expresses his opinion as follows : “ I think it extremely likely that, if the circulation had been hurried by pain and struggling ; or, if the shock to the system had been increased by bodily and menial anguish, the man would have bled to death ; or never have rallied from the effects of the operation. But the sudden loss of blood was all he had to contend against ; and, though in so weak a condition, he has surmounted this, and gone on very well.”^ In five weeks Gooroochuan Shah was so far recovered that he was permitted to leave the hospital and return liome. Skepticism on a subject of this nature was excusable in the ' American edition of Mesmerism in India, pp. 14G-49 2 Ibid, pp. 221, 222. IMPORTANCE OF MAGNETISM IN SURGERY. 255 time of Mesmer, but at this late day it is only compatible with a most incorrigible indifference and a mournful destitu- tion of all knowledge on a subject of great moment. The domain of accredited science comprehends no phenomena more real, or more susceptible of a clear and triumphant authentication and defense, than those developed by the mag- netic processes ; and we shall look in vain for any that more deeply concern the vital interests of mankind. To say nothing of the psychological phases of the phenomena, the physiological effects are such as can neither be counter- feited nor mistaken. Sensation and voluntary motion are often wholly suspended ] the limbs become rigid, preserving any position in which they may be placed by the operator ; and sometimes the thoracic movement is completely arrested. Those who £fre suffering from a serious derangement of the nervous forces, and in consequence experience extreme pain, or a partial suspension of the power of voluntary motion, in certain portions of the system, often find that the magnetic sleep results in an equilibration of the vital motive power, and hence of the entire circulation. The arterial action and the respiration are invariably diminished by the magnetic processes, and the temperature of the body falls in the same proportion. Hence the efficacy of magnetic manipulations and the consequent state of coma in subduing fever and inflammation. Under the mysterious spell, the eyes roll wildly about the orbit as the magnetic needle oscillates when suddenly acted on ; the iris loses its contractibility under the strongest hydro-oxygen light ; neither muriatic acid nor a hot iron applied to the flesh occasions the slightest pain ; the strongest fumes of liquid ammonia make no impression 256 MAN AND HIS EELATIONS. on the olfactory surfaces ; and the discharge of heavily loaded firearms close to the ear, will not in the least disturb the unconscious sleeper. It will be in vain to look for the ex'perimentum crucis elsewhere, if it may not be found in these various and wonderful phenomena. Tliat all the effects produced, on and through the motive and sensorial medium of the living body, are occasioned by the irregular distribution and consequent action of vital electricity, we have no room to doubt. While Dr. Esdaile does not to attempt to furnish a philosophy of the facts, developed in his interesting experience, he drops occasional observations from which it appears, that he more than sus- pected that all the magnetic phenomena depended on the ca-, pacity of tlie operator to give a new direction to the nervous circulation, and thus to either increase or diminish the action at the centers of nervous energy. On this* point he thus suggests the view he is inclined to entertain : “It seems to me that irregularity in the distribution of the nervous energy is at the bottom of all the mesmeric symptoms, however produced, whether naturally or artificially ; and I suspect that the same efiects may follow a state of exhaustion or repletion of the nervous system.”^ When the patient is conscious during the performance of a surgical operation, and the voluntary faculties of the mind are fully aroused and painfully excited, the mental forces will inevitably be concentrated at the point where the injury is inflicted. The electrical currents are tlius increased in tliat particular direction, and their action greatly intensified; and as the distribution of this agent graduates the measure ‘ Mesmerism in India, p. 131. IMPORTANCE OF MAGNETISM IN SURGERY. 257 and the motion of the blood and all the animal fluids, it follows of necessity that the arterial tide is augmented in tlie same direction, and in a corresponding degree, produc- ing excessive hemorrhage ; while tliis concentrated electri- cal action, at the seat of the injury, increases the subsequent tendency to inflammation. But the loss of blood, and the danger of inflammation in all surgical operations, must be greatly diminislied by the magnetic sleep. No careful observer of the facts in the case will be disposed to question this, and whoever discerns the laws that regulate the vital action, and the circulation of the fluids in animal and human bodies, will be able to compre- hend, at least in part, the philosophy of these effects. When the patient is insensible of pain, and unconscious of the in- jury inflicted, the general circulation is undisturbed by any excited action of the mind. There is no sudden agitation of the fountain of life ; the arterial currents move through their channels with a steady, rhythmical flow, under the nor- mal play of the electric forces on the vital organs. All this is confirmed by the following observations of Dr. Esdaile, founded on the results of his numerous experiments. Hav- ing in view the importance of Magnetism in the practice of Surgery, he says : “ The benefits are not confined to the extinction of pain during the oper- ation, but are of the greatest general and particular advantage in the after- treatment of surgical diseases. The nerves and brain have not been shat- tered by bodily and mental anguish, which generally excites an irritative fever in the system, wasting the powers of life, and rousing local infiamma- tion in the injured part ; thereby often destroying all the hopes and precau- tions of the surgeon. In the mesmeric sleep, only the necessary local in- jury has been inflicted ; and on awaking, the patient sometimes feels no pain whatever, and generally only a slight smarting in the wound ; and the consti- 258 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. tution sets about repairing the breach of substance quietly, and under the best possible circumstances. If local pains follow, they can be easily re- moved by topical manipulations.”^ Of necessity tlie writer’s own opportunities to witness the application of Magnetism in practical surgery, have been very limited ; and yet I am not without a small experience even in this department. On one occasion— some years since — I magnetized the wife of a clergyman, who had nine decayed teeth extracted without once breaking the spell. On the restoration of sensation and consciousness, she was most agreeably surprised to find that the cause of long and severe suffering had been completely removed, without in* dieting upon her sensitive nature a single pang. Indeed, all persons who are susceptible of this state of complete coma, may have the sensories temporarily paralyzed at the pleasure of the magnetizer. The skin may be punctured and tlie flesh lacerated, and yet the sleeper will feel no pain ; though it is worthy of observation that he is keenly sensitive to the slightest personal violence that may be done to the operator. Some ten years since, while the writer was living in Stam- ford, Conn., Mr. C. P. Price, who lived in an adjoining house, accidentally cut off the end of tlie indfex finger of his left hand, while employed in cutting liay for Ids horse. Mr. P. walked directly to the house, leaving the dissevered por- tion of his finger in the hay at the barn. One after another, the physicians, to the number of three, were sent for but tliey were all absent. In tins emergency the writer was called in— when some twenty minutes had elapsed after the accident — and the separated portion of the finger was quite 1 Dr. Esdaile-'s Journal, Chap. VII., pp. 189, 190. IMPORTANCE OF MAGNETISM IN SURGERY. 259 cold. • But I conceived the idea that if it were properly adjusted to tlie stump, and the electro-vital action could be restored by magnetic manipulations, it migiit be possible to restore it. Accordingly, I procured tlie end of the fin- ger and adjusted it as accurately as possible, with the aid of the needle and several narrow strips of adhesive plaster. When this was properly done, I commenced the magneto- electric action, making the passes from above the third joint to the end of the finger. This was continued until the natural temperature was restored to the dissevered portion, when it was carefully bound up in brown sugar and spirits. At night, when the doctors returned, tliey were disposed to amuse themselves at the expense of the writer and his patient. Of course the village authorities in medical science all concurred in the opinion, that it was impossible to save the finger, and that it would inevitably mortify. However, it united completely by the first intention, and in three iveeks it was entirely well, except that the sensation was not quite as acute as before,^ If the doctors never put on limbs when amputation has occurred accidently, it must be confessed that they make up for every such deficiency by the cheerful grace with which they cut them ojBf ! “ They laugh at scars who never felt a wound. ' It is worthy of record, that not long after the occurrence already de- scribed — while I w^as far from home — a youthful member of the writer’s family had the misfortune to lose two fingers in the same machine. On this occasion, Dr. Lockwood (one of the physicians just referred to as having witnessed the results of my own experiment on Mr. Price) was immediately called, but lie mado no effort to save the fingers. CHAPTER XXII. THE PHANTOM CREATION. Illusions of the Senses — How to test the accuracy of our Perceptions — Objects and their Shadows -Descartes’ theory — Newton’s discovery — The Mirage on the Eastern deserts — The Fata Morgana, seen at the Straits of Messina — M. Monge's Explanation before the institute at Cairo, in Egypt — The forms of Ideas — The Phantom World — Philosophy of Sensorial Illusions — Illustrations from Dr. Ambercrombie— Sir Isaac Newton on Ocular Spectra — The sense of Hearing deceived — Louis Brabant, the Ventriloquist, and the beautiful Heiress — Personation of the Father’s ghost — The Banker of Lyons and his ideal Visitors — Louis obtains a fortune and marries his Mistress— M. St. Gill in a Convent— Remarkable Ventriloquial power — Chanting to a Voice — The Phantom Hosts of Disease and Dissipation HE organs of sensation do not always convey correct in- formation to the mind. When the coporeal instruments are not imperfect in their structure, or their general integrity otherwise impaired, the functions may still be temporarily de- ranged by the improper distribution of the medium of vital motion and sensation. The subtile agent that transmits the images of outward objects to the sensorium, may possibly be so disturbed, from causes within and without, as to occa- sion all sorts of illusions, and deceive us witli their mysterious semblance of reality. The slightest organic imperfection may change the general ap- pearance, or modify the particular aspects of the whole ob- jective creation. Whenever the nature of tlic case suggests strange phantoms, rising as the mists arise,” THE PHANTOM CREATION. 201 tlie possibility of deception, it is proper to test the ro^ela- tions of one sense by tlie exercise of all the others, (so far as they may be employed in the trial,) and by the aid of Reason. It is seldom that an illusion of more than one sense occurs at tlie same time ; and hence, if we have the concurrent testimony of two or more of the senses to the fact of the existence or occurrence of any outward object or event, the probability of our being deceived by sensorial il- lusions is greatly diminished ; and the strength of the evi- dence — of the reality of what appears to have an objective existence — is increased in proportion to the number of these witnesses and the general coherence of their testimony. Wherever substantial things exist we may reasonably ex- pect to find their shadows, more or less clearlj^ defined, and as widely varied as the nature of the objects themselves, the degrees of light — state of the atmosphere, and the strength and clearness of the individual powers of perception. The irisated arch has its secondary bow, formed by the second reflection and refraction of the sun’s rays, and these are seg- ments of concentric' circles. Descartes doubtless furnished the true theory of the exterior bow, in his Dioptrics ; and the philosophy of this splendid meteoric phenomenon was clearly explained — and the disposition of the colors in the solar spectrum accounted for — by Newton’s great discovery of the unequal refrangibility of the different primal rays. The shadows or images of natural objects often appear at great distances from the bodies they represent, as in eclipses of the sun and moon and the transits of the planets. But the optical phenomenon known as the mirage, offers a more suggestive illustration. This is sometimes seen by the trav- 2G2 MAN" AND HIS RELATIONS. eler on the great Eastern deserts, but more frequently by persons at sea. Ships have been perceived and recognized at the distance of thirty miles or more — even before they were visible above the horizon’s verge — by their inverted images seen in the upper strata of the atmosphere. This singular illusion — known among the Italians as the Fata Morgana — is perhaps nowhere more perfect than atong the Straits of Messina, where, if we may credit the testimony of travelers, the various objects on shore are represented with remarka- ble fidelity in the aerial regions above the sea. M. Monge, who read a philosophical paper on the subject, before the Institute at Cairo — at the time of the invasion of Egypt by the French — referred this singular phenomenon to the differ- ence in the density of the upper and lower strata of the atmosphere. He supposed that the rays coming from the lower portions of the atmospheric heavens are refracted by coming in contact with a stratum of air of different density, and in such a manner as to produce the images of terrestrial objects in the sky. The laws of light and the philosophy of vision may possi- bly aid us to suggest the proper explanation of many optical and spectral illusions. It is worthy of observation that ideas have forms ^ which are only imperfectly represented in their material incarnation ; and a mental conception may be sufficiently forcible to leave a distinct image seemingly before the eye as well as the mind. When the electric forces of the brain are deranged, and, especially, when they arc greatly intensified in their action, from whatever cause, the ideal images become so vivid that they may he duplicated by reflec- tion, and thus be made to assume every appearance of out- THE PHANTOM CREATION. 263 standing forms of the objective creation. A whole Phantom World is tlius suddenly called into being. The fantastic shapes stand by tlie midnight watcher in his lonely vigil ; they haunt the imtenanted houses ; they appear in the dim twilight about graveyards ; they are multitudinous in the de- serted halls of old castles ; and they start out from the deep shadows of every* venerable ruin ; while the guilty man hears their low wail in the autumn winds, or their footsteps in the rustling of the leaves. The brain and the visual organs become a kind of 'phantasmagoria^ the images of what 'is within being cast up from the cerebral camera, and made to appear like tangible objects. Even in the broad light of day “ The soul — Wrapt in strange visions of the unreal, paints the illusive form.” * That our ideas and emotions do, in some important sense, take forms, and are ultimated or expressed outside of our selves, even at a dtstance, is made evident from the capacity of thousands to take impressions from other minds, through some silent agent and by an invisible process. Moreover, if ideas or mental conceptions, by their more direct action, occasion a similar electrical excitation at the sensorium, to that which is produced by external objects through the subtile medium that pervades the optic nerve, it must be obvious that our ideas may — when conceived with sufficient energy — assume visible forms. In every case where tangible objects are presented to the eye, their images are subjective. In other words, the'y are all in the brain, and remain more or less per- fectly defined when the material forms have been withdrawn •from the outward field of observation. Though the objects 2G4 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. themselves are outstanding, the pictures presented in the oc- ular spectrum arc all in the man, doubtless on the choroid membrane, or the second coat of the eye. When the images are derived from external forms, they are transmitted by means of the electrical excitation at the extremity of the optic nerve, occasioned by the rays of light reflected from the surfaces of such objects. That an intense mental ac- tion and cerebral excitement may suffice to produce similar pictures on the same delicate membrane, and that such im- ages would appear to be objective — perhaps at a distance from the observer — there can be no occasion for a rational doubt. Thus it appears that highly imaginative persons, whose thoughts and passions are strongly conceived and pow- erfully exercised, sometimes project images of their ideal conceptions fi*om the brain, and are startled on beholding the forms of their own creation. Some of the phrenologists profess to have discovered and located a particular organ, whose office ii said to be the. pro- duction of spectral illusions ; *but this assumption does not so well accord with the facts in the case as tho view in which they are regarded as reflex images of ideas, produced by the retroactive powers of the mind, more or less clearly defined according to the distinctness of the primary image. Dr. Abercrombie refers to the experience of Dr. Ferriar, who, after viewing any interesting natural scenery, a military review, or some venerable ruin, could reproduce the whole picture at pleasure — whenever he had occasion to retire to a dark room— and with all the apparent reality and brilliancy of the real scene as actually viewed by daylight. The same author speaks of a man who had been looking steadily, and THE PHANTOM CREATION. 205 with intense interest, at a picture of the Virgin, until—on suddenly raising his head — he was startled and amazed at beholding the same figure at the opposite end of the apart- ment. Sir Isaac Newton appears to have been the first really scientific observer of the phenomena of ocular spectra. Concerning his observations in this direction, I extract the following passage from a popular author, already named in this connection : “ When he produced a spectrum of the sun by looking at it with the right eye, the left being uncovered, upon uncovering the left, and looking- upon a white ground, a spectrum of the sun was seen with it also. He likewise ac- quired the power of recalling the spectra, after they had ceased, when he went into the dark, and directed his mind intensely, ‘ as when a man looks earnestly to see a thing which is difficult to be seen.’ By repeating these ex- periments frequently, such an effect was produced on his eyes, ‘ that for some months after,’ he says, ‘ the spectrum of the sun began to return as often as I began to meditate upon the phenomena, even though 1 lay in bed at midnight with my curtains drawn.’ ” ^ If you Stop in the street with the attention fixed, and — pointing in a particular direction — you proceed in an earnest manner to describe a balloon which you have just discovered at a great altitude, you will be surprised to learn that about one in three or five of the bystanders — after gazing for a few moments — will be able to see it, though no such thing exists save as an ideal image. Thus the more sus- ceptible and imaginative observers discern the form of a mental image or conception, produced by the cunning device of a trickster, aided by the psycho-dynamic action of their own minds. The psychological hallucinations, of which I ^ “ Inquires concerning the Intellectual Powers, etc.,” by John Aber- crombie, M. D., F.R.S. Harper’s Edition, p. 64. 266 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. sliall treat m another Chapter, are in part illustrations of this class. The sense of hearing is often deceived in a sim- ilar manner, by the remarkable ventriloquial powers of certain persons — different voices appearing to proceed from above and beneath, and likewise from various localities re- mote from the position occupied by the speaker. This enter- taining deception altogether depends on a skillful imitation of sounds, assisted by the capacity of the hearer to assign them any specific locality, that may be determined by his preconceived idea. ' It is now a century and a half since the English aristo- cracy and the whole fashionable world, in and about the British Metropolis, attended, night after night, to witness the performances of the celebrated Tom King, the crowning feature of which consisted in killing a calf. The ventrilo- quist retired behind a screen where the whole performance was enacted. The animal was dragged in, the dog barked, several men conversed respecting the value of the animal, the price paid, and the prospective profits of the investment, all of which was accompanied by the sounds of knife, and steel, and rope, following in immediate succession. At tlie very instant of the catastrophe the curtain was removed when only King remained — quietly seated in liis cliair ; the calf, a dog, and three butchers having been kindly supplied by the imaginations of his polite hearers.’ An interesting story is related of Louis Brabant, who was valet de charabre to Francis I. The accomplished but mis- chievous Louis was deeply enamored with a young lady who j)ossessed all the attractions of youth, beauty and wealth ; ' Blake’s Eacyclopcdia— Art., Ventriloquism, p. 933. THE PHANTOM CREATION. 26 T but lie had been rejected by her parents on account of his Inferiority in rank and fortune. At length the father of the beautiful heiress departed this life, and Erabant soon found an occasion to visit the widow and her daughter. During the interview he was successful in personating the deceased husband and father. The widow was most impressively addressed by a voice so much like that of her husband, that she was forced to believe that he had spoken to her from within the vail. The oracular shade commanded her to give the daugliter to their guest— who was worthy of her — and he declared that he was himself suffering the pains of purgatory for having refused his consent to their union. Of course young Brabant was politely complimented as a man of fine accomplishments and an excellent character. It is scarcely necessary to add, that with this emphatic indorsement from on higli, the venerable matron decided to accept the unscru- pulous valet for her son-in-law/ But the drama was not yet complete. Tlie next scene opened at Lyons in the mansion of a rich banker by the name of Cornu. After cultivating this man’s acquaintance and acquiring his confidence in a good degree, he one day inter- ested him in a conversation concerning the Invisible World. During the interview, the banker heard the voices of his father, and other deceased relations, commanding him in the name of God to assist his guest by giving him a large sum of money, for a certain humane and religious object. The cunning valet did not omit to affect the utmost surprise on the occasion, accompanied by expressive signs of awe and apprehension. Cornu took time to deliberate, his avarice, however — more than anything in the nature of the perform- 17 268 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS ance — liaving excited his suspicions. The ghosts were more imperative at a subsequent interview, and the banker could no longer resist the voices which appeare*d to come from above, and with the authority of Heaven. Cornu yielded to the mysterious oracles, and Louis Brabant re- turned to Paris with ten thousand crowns, and soon after led the object of his idolatry to the altar/ Mons. St. Gill, the ventriloquist, having on one occasion sought shelter from a storm in a Convent, found the commu- nity overshadowed by a great bereavement. The fraternity had just been deprived of one of its most dis^tinguished mem- bers. While M. St. Gill was standing by the tomb— in con- versation with several persons who accompanied him, and who spoke witli much feeling of the virtues and graces of the defunct — the voice of the departed was suddenly heard in tones of deep lamentation and words of stern reproof. The voice seemed to fall from the roof of the choir, and to inspire emotions of the deepest solemnity in the minds of all who were present. The shade complained, as in the former case, that he was in purgatory, and he solicited the performance of special religious services in his own behalf The wliole community was immediately called together, and wliile they were chanting, a De Profundis, in a full choir, the gliost em- ployed the occasion — during the intervals in the performance to express his satisfaction, and to intimate the timely relief derived from their devotional exercises. The phantoms that haunt the minds of tlie sick are very numerous and greatly diversified. They often take form and appear to the sense of vision as independent objects, and the patient never suspects that he has liad anytliing to do THE PHANTOM CREATION. 269 witli their origin or continued existence. A patient when recovering from the measles — so observes Dr. Abercrombie — saw all objects diminished to the smallest discernible pro- portions. When a patient who had typhoid fever began to convalesce, he all at once discovered that he was ten feet high, and that his bed was about eight feet from the floor ! The same author mentions, on the authority of Baron Larry, the case of a gentleman who — after being partially cured of amaurosis — saw all objects immensely magnified ; and it is also recorded of the mnn whom Jesus restored, tliat he saw “ men as trees walking.'^ The writer once had a singular experience that may be noticed here. I was suffering from a bilious fever, and for many days could see my own body, and conceive of myself, only as a pile of hickory plank by the road-side . Being greatly worn and attenuated by a long^ confinement, it was not without an adequate' reason that^ I was constantly troubled by great pressure on the bottom ‘ pla7ifc, which, was required to support the superincumbent^ weight of all the others. Thus the senses are deranged by disease. In inflammatory fevers, especially when there is great electro-nervous excitation in the region of the brain, the shadowy hosts of the Phantom World gather in great numbers about the sick man. When health returns, “They strike their cloudy tents, and silently Shrink to their own nonentity again.’’ Ambition and fancy build their airy castles ; the living cre- ations of Genius are iinvailed in our presence, and Utopian visions, born of the poetic imagination, are cast up from the cerebral camera into the moral heavens. If the phantom throng were all of this pleasant description, they might be 270 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. x\ V very comfortably endured, and many persons, no doubt, would be inclined to say witli Pope, “ Ye soft illusions, dear deceits, arise !” But, alas, the hosts of hell follow in the train ! Those who make a free use of narcotics and stimulants, sooner or later disturb the forces of the nervous system, and many learn at last that their own disordered faculties are the open portals of Pandemonium. The senses of the opium-eater are often strangely deranged, and his faculties sadly impaired. The poor wretch made delirious by alcoholic stimulants, is left to wrestle desperately with foul demons and every nameless monster. Basilisks charm him with their fatal magnetism, and fiery serpents coil about the distracted brain. When the delirium subsides and the fearful tension is succeeded by the reaction, the nervous system resembles an untuned lyre. The nerves are morbidly impressible ; all sounds seem to be harsh, and all scenes are repulsive or terrible. The poor victim starts at a footfall, or turns pale at the rustling of a leaf. The gentlest music of the summer winds is liollow and mournful as the desparing wail of imprisoned spirits. Where once he beheld only graceful forms, warmed with youthful fire, and all glowing with love, now cold, spectral shapes, appear — grim-featured and gliastly — to haunt the long, deep midnight of the soul. It is granted that these are extreme conditions ; yet in delirium tremens and other forms of disease, which follow from excessive dissipation and protracted abuse of the nervous system, tliey frequently occur. Such cases impressively admonish us that we trifle with our peace, when we defile the temple of the soul. / CHAPTER XXIII, PSYCHOLOGICAL HALLUCINATIONS. Nature the multiform expression of the Infinite Thought — The Psychologi- cal Power — Conditions of Impressibility — Action of material agents on the Body — Influence of Objects and Ideas on the Mind — Strong Men often the most Susceptible — The power of Speech— The Silent Language — Shadows of Ideas— Philosophy of Thought-reading — Electrical influ- ence of Oratory and Poetry — The mysterious Inward Fire — It kindles in the eye and burns on the lip — Summary of Illustrative Facts — Appeals to the Common Experience — Influence of visitors on Sick Persons — Infer- ences from the Author’s Experimental Investigations. And heart saw heart, translucid through the rays. One same harmonious-, ucivers >1 law, Atom to atom, s*ar to star can draw And miud to m nd ! Swift d irte, as from the ^uu, The strong attraction, and the charm is done.’* HE idea that ascribes the Universe to Infinite Intelli- gence, and recognizes its adaptation to beneficent re- sults, accords as well with the reason of the Philosopher as with the reverence of the Christian, If we may not trace the chain of universal relation and dependence, we may still rest assured that no link is wanting to render that chain com- plete, Everything is related to all things, and all motion, form, life, sensation and thought, are but outward expressions of archetypes existing forever in the Divine consciousness. ^ The concatenation of intermediate agencies may be so com- plex and infinitesimal as to baffle the most subtile powers “ So gazo met gaze, 272 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. of analysis; but could we follow the chain of causation throughout, we should doubtless at last trace all mental and physical phenomena to spiritual causes. Moreover, all ma- terial changes and transformations, from the simplest pro- cess in the laboratory up to the most stupendous revolutions in the world of Matter, are governed by established laws. The invisible, eternal forces, , and their modus operandi in Nature, are but the multifarious expression of the Infinite Idea. If all matter is thus subservient to the Supreme voli- tion, the universe of Mind can not be left to lawless disobe- dience ; but, in a certain qualified sense, the Divine Wisdom must be more conspicuously revealed in the realms of mind than in the domain of matter — in so far as the former ex- hibits a nearer approximation to himself. It can neither be vain nor unwise for the Christian philosopher to pursue his investigations in this department ; for if the truth, concern- ing the Mind, is more difficult of discovery or elucidation, it certainly cannot be said to be less real in itself or important in its inculcations. That phase of Psychological Science which comprehends the relations of animal electricity to the vital and mental functions, and the influence of mind over mind, has, within a few years, been signalized by a great number and variety of curious experiments. But men, long accustomed to doubt and dispute, who have always an objection, but seldom a reason, have boldly questioned the reality of the phenomena. The fact that all persons are not alike susceptible of the in- . fluence of the same agent, is presumed to furnish the ground of a grave and difficult objection. Yet nothing is more obvious than that certain conditions — either comprehended PSYCHOLOGICAL HALLUCINATIONS. 273 or unknown — are essential to success in every experiment ; and this is equally true in its application to all departments of scientific investigation. Among the conditions requisite in the particular case under consideration, one alone will suffice to destroy the- influence of this objection. Electrical phe- nomena are known to depend, in all cases, on the existence of positive and negative states, relations and forces. Vital electricity, being the agent through which tlie biological or psychological experimenter acts on the nerves and muscular fibers, in the production of the diversified and remarkable physical and mental experiments, it follows that these oppo- site conditions must meet in the operator and the subject, to develop any striking results. When we reflect that probably no two persons in a thousand will be found to sustain pre- cisely the same relation to the experimenter, it will be per- ceived that the various degrees of susceptibility, exhibited by different individuals, can only be regarded as natural and inevitable results, and as strong presumptive proofs of the genuineness of the phenomena; General- observation and universal experience establish the fact, that all persons are not inflaenced in the same degree, nor in a similar manner, by any one of the thousand agents in the world of matter and of miild. Our frequent atmospheric changes induce colds or fevers, in some persons, while -others escape unharmed. One walks securely among the unseen agents of infection, while another falls a victim to the invisible shafts of the destroyer. The writer has been vaccinated some twenty times, with as little effect as the same operation would have on the bark Of a tree ; at the same time the agent has been powerfully operative in others. Nor 274 MAN AND ms RELATIONS. are the effects wrought by external agency on the body more multifarious than those produced by outward forms and men- tal faculties on the mind. An object, regarded by one man with profound indifference, kindles in the bosom of another the fires of consuming passion ; and the great thought that, in its conception and birth, thrilled the soul of Genius with its marvelous beauty and significance, is but a meaningless mystery with the world. That men, corporeally and men- tally, are so diversely constituted as to exhibit these conflict- ing results — wlien subjected to the action of the same agent — is quite too manifest to be denied. Neither are the weak in body nor the imbecile in mind always the first, as many STippose, to bo affected by foreign agents, whether material or spiritual. ' The mightiest mind, like the strong oak, has been smitten and laid low. We have known the giant to suffer from miasma when the dwarf escaped ; and the feeble- ness of infancy has more than once survived the action of frost, and the little child has been found alive and nestling in the frozen and pulseless bosom of its mother. The mental control over the vital action, as exhibited in the constitution of man, has already been illustrated, in this treatise, by a citation of numerous facts and a discussion of essential principles. But if we are reciprocally affected by Avhatever relates to the physical condition of each other, so that health and disease may be imbibed or. communicated, we are certainly not less susceptible of inOucnces emanating from the minds of those with whom we arc in correspond- ence. Nor is this power of mind wholly dependent on the ordinary and sensible modes of coniniunication. As the su- perior faculties arc progressively develo])ed, the grosser PSYCHOLOGICAL HALLUCINATIONS. 275 vehicles of thought may be gradually laid aside ; the pres- ence of the mind may be felt and its desires made known through a more ethereal medium than the common speech of the world. The pen may be mightier far than sword, and j spear, and kingly scepter ; the language of tlie lips may ^ drive the blood back frozen to the heart, or send it in burn- / ing torrents to the brain, kindling into intense combustion ,• the magazine of the passions ; it may nerve the stout heart j and arm to deeds of desperate daring ; or, like an all-pene- ^ trating, fiery music, fall gently on the charmed senses, en- ^ trancing the soul by its mysterious power. But the human mind in its progress employs media and methods of communication, suited to the several stages of its development. However serviceable these instrumentalities may be — each in its appropriate time and place — they may be inadequate to meet the higher demands of more enlight- ened periods. We realize the insufficiency of written oral language to express the highest thoughts and the d< est emotions. There is another — it ma^^ possibly become. — a more perfect medium of communication. This language, though unwritten and unspoken, maybe adequate to a fuller expression of all we feel and know. It is not unfrequently the means — little as it is practiced and understood — of re- vealing thoughts, and impulses to which a vocal utterance has been denied. We give forms to thoughts, and impress those forms on the receptive mind ; we have power to hold 1 up the ideal images we have created before the transfigured spirit, it may be as higher natures cast the shadows of their thoughts on the inspired mind, and write their higher law^ in the willing heart. 276 ItlAN AN'D HIS RELATIONS. It is well known that tho-se who are highl}^ susceptible of electro-nervous disturbances, may be influenced, and often controlled, by the will of another person, even when there is no direct physical contact. If you chance to occupy the same apartment with persons of this description, a vigorous effort of mind will enable you to command their attention without seeming to regard them. Enter a room where a person of this class is in a profound slumber — fix your eyes steadily on the face of the sleeper — exert the will powerfully, and you will produce such a disturbance of the electro-ner- vous circulation as will cause him to awake. It not unfre- quently occurs that persons are singularly anticipated in what they are about to say — some other person giving utter- ance to the same thought in the same words. Lovers, and I all persons of intuitive and impressible natures, especially when united by a strong attachment, readily, divine each \ other’s thoughts, and read — in a silent but deeply express- ' ive language — the secret conceptions and impulses of the l mind and heart. This intercommunication of mind with mind, is carried on through an excitation of the electrical medium of the ner- vous system, which is quite as readily produced by mental forces as by physical forms. When tliere is no corporeal conjunction of the parties, the impression is obviously trans- mitted through the intervening electrical medium of tlie eartli and atmosphere. We have had occasion to observe that this power is perceptible in the ability of some men to tame wild beasts, and to subdue their enemies. It is strikingly dis- played in the electrical excitement that runs tlirougli and pervades a vast multitude, when some inspired orator moves PSYCHOLOGICAL HALLUCINATIONS. 277 — as by a single impulse — the hearts of thousands. We have felt its thrilling power — •* la the song of the poet, when love’s bright spells O’er the strings of his wild harp sweep in the responsive utterances of kindred spirits, and the sweet cadence of commingling voices in the vespers. It is felt when we press the warm hand, and heart answers to heart in the rapid measure of intense delight. We are sensible of the mysterious power when the electric fires of congenial souls kindle in the eye and burn on the parted lips of Genius and Love ; and ever do we yield to the intangible and irre- sistible presence, as impulses wild, joyous, or terrible, come leaping up from the unfathomable depths of Being./ About fifteen years since I commenced an experimental investigation of this subject, which has been continued as opportunity has offered until the present time. The course of experiment has been greatly diversified, and the results have been carefully observed. Curious and startling phe- nomena have met me at every step in my progress, and these all furnish instructive' and impressive illustrations of the amazing power of mind over the functions and the faculties of animals and men. The facts are deeply suggestive, and the whole subject opens an immeasurable field for scien- tific research. I have met with many persons to whom I could readily, yet silently, communicate the inmost secrets of the mind. When in immediate rapport with such persons, it is never difficult to direct the whole current of thought and feeling. In this way a constant succession of images may be rendered distinctly visible, while they have merely an ideal existence in the controlling mind. These effects, and a vari- 278 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. et_y of sensorial impressions— not demanding a precise speci- fication in this connection — are manifestly produced agree- ably to the same general principles which govern ordinary sensation. Thus thoughts and feelings, corresponding to our own, are — by a mental-electric process — awakened or inspired in the passive mind. Indeed, the greatest electro- nervous excitements result from the emotional and executive powers of the soul. This electrical excitation is communi- cated to and through the sensor nerves of the subject, and corresponding cerebral impressions are produced. These electrical disturbances at the sensorium occasion all the di- versified phenomena of sensation, and their interpretation by the soul constitutes thought. The casual illustrations of this power of the mind have been numerous, and they should be convincing. Ideas are often transmitted by mental-electrical currents to kindred minds in the same assembly. By some invisible means we are frequently reminded of absent persons, .and made to feel I and believe that they are approaching some time before tlie ■ fact is cognizable by the senses. Many persons experience a slight spastic action of the nerves whenever they converse with one who expresses his thoughts witli uncommon ear- nestness. We have experienced something resembling the chills and fever while witnessing a masterly dramatic per- formance, and a powerful speaker may even raise the hearer from his seat, by the mysterious force that elevates the mind to the liighest heaven of imagination. Some people are con- scious of a soporific inlluence, when within the splicres or magnetic emanations of certain individuals, while other persons banish sleep from our presence This susceptibility PSYCHOLOGICAL HALLUCINATIONS. 279 is often greatly inereased by disease. Tliere are friends who come to the sick room, whose presence is an anodyne ; others greatly aggravate the nervous irritability and wake- fulness of the patient. Sleep is often driven from the couch of pain by the anxiety and restlessness of sympathising friends, whose minds are fixed on the sufferer. Thus the mind, acting througli the subtile medium of vital motion and sensation, produces both physiological and psychological effects. The sensorial impressions — made by the tangible objects of the terrestrial world — are certainly not more intense and lasting than the electrical excitation and mental emotions produced by thoughts when they are armed with the power of volition. The instances wherein we are singularly anticipated in what we are about to say, numerous as they are, might be presumed to depend on an association of ideas ; or they misrlit be ascribed to a similarity in the intellectual develop- ment and general habits of thought peculiar to the indi- viduals, did they not often occur under such circumstances as must preclude the adoption of either of these hypotheses. The thought conceived and simultaneously expressed very often sustains no relation, however remote, to any subject of previous remark. Nor are we able to discern, always or generally, any marked resemblance of the parties to each other ; either in their cerebral conformation or other physical and mental peculiarities. Nevertheless, the facts are matters of common observation and experience, and the philosophic mind is disposed to seek for some law to which such mental phenomena may be referri^. A fact that is perpetually recurring, proves the existence 280 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. of some active principle and regulating law, of which such fact or phenomenon is the appropriate and natural expres- sion. In the course of my investigations it has been clearly demonstrated — by experiments on a great number of persons — that the mind exerts a direct power over the subtile me- dium of vital motion and sensation, and hence that it may influence both the voluntary and involuntary functions of animals and men. It is further manifest from these ex- periments that the earth and atmosphere, or more properly their imponderables, may serve to establish this connection, and thus to open the intercommunication of mind with mind. This observation is confirmed by every experiment wherein one person is controlled or influenced — when at a distance — by the unexpressed will or thought of another.* The elec- tro-physiological and psychological changes, produced by mental action, are facts as real and indisputable as any within the whole domain of physical science. The vital aura is so highly sublimated that it is readily disturbed by the slightest causes, producing nervous vibrations and cerebral impressions. Its ebb and flow mark the occurrence of every emotion — the gentle no less than the terrible — while in the flaming intensity of passion, as well as in the mysterious and delicate enginery of thought, we have the stirring reve- lations of its presence and its power. * The mind that acts with the greatest vigor and method, will be the most likely to excite distinct emotions and clearly defined ideas by this psycbo- electric process ; at the same time, it will be equally obvious that the ab* sence of the executive power of the mind— or the temporary suspension of its functions — will greatly increase the susceptibility of the subject to im- pressions by the Mental Telegraph. CHAPTER im. MENTAL TELEGRAPHING. Casual Phenomena — The Author’s private Experiments — Vulgar and avari- cious Pretenders — Human nature brutalized — Musical Experiments with Miss Wilder — Miss Buckeley and the Floral Exhibition — Spell of the Magnetic Water — The Revolver Test — Exquisite susceptibility of Mrs. Rice — A verbatim dispatch over the Mental Telegraph — Curious illustra- tions at a Social Party — Convincing proofs by a strange Lady — A Young Man sent for — He answers the Mental Telegram in ten minutes — Tele- graphing from New Canaan to Norwalk — Mrs, Gardner is summoned by the silent Courier — A Message sent eighteen iniles, to Grace Goodyear — The Lady receives it while she is asleep— A Dream inspired at a distance of One Hundred and Fifty Miles ! — Objections Answered. And thoughts, /ike sun-fires penetrate the world, And go whe'-e they are sent : thus mind meets mind Though mountains rise and oceans roll between. T he results of individual experience constitute the accu- mulated wisdom of the world. It is cheerfully conceded that the experience of other persons may he fraught with a deeper interest than our own ; but those who restrict them- selves to the repetition of what others may have felt, and thought, and spoken, add little or nothing to the common stock of ideas. The man who has a serious purpose will find more useful and honorable employment. Moreover, to seek a name in this way is to rob the dead of their immor- 282 MAN AND HIS EELATIONS. tality. It were far more commendable to die and leave no memorial, than to tax the nerves and employ the brains of other men to build a monument. Long before undertaking the labor of a systematic inquiry into the philosophy of the vital functions and the laws of mind, I had witnessed and performed some experiments, at- tended with results so remarkable as to render them worthy of being preserved among the more interesting incidents of my private experience. I liave not heretofore omitted to record other facts, occurring without the range of personal observation, whenever they afforded the most suitable illus- trations of my subject ; nor do I deem it necessary to offer an apology for presenting the experimental results of my own investigations as often as these will best serve my pur- pose. From an observation of facts incidentally occurring, I was prompted to a succession of voluntary efforts, which were signalized by still more remarkable results. In numer- ous instances I tried the experiment of thinking intensely of some person, present or absent, with a view to ascertain whether the mind of that person would not revert to me at the same time. This experiment, though many times re- peated, with different subjects — frequently with persons at a distance— was eminently successful. The individuals select- ed were usually, though not always, personal friends and familiar acquaintances of the writer ; but the success of the experiments did not appear to depend at all on the previous intimacy of the parties. The curious facts in this department, whether compre- hended under the several heads of “ Magnetism,’’ “ Mesmer- ism,” “ Pathetism,” “ Electro -Psychology,” “ Biology,” or MENTAL TELEGRAPHING. 283 nny otlior term — properly or improperly derived and applied — are all illustrations (^rlien they are real) of the same es- sentiarprinciples and laws. Moreover, the men who, sever- ally, either claim to have made an original discovery, or to have founded a distinct branch of science, are generally mere 'pretenders, who at most have only varied the forms of experiment or, perhaps, coined a new and less appropriate name for the same thing. Many of the professed expound- ers of the psychological hallucinations, and other similar phenomena, have illustrated nothing more clearly than their own ignorance of the philosophy of the whole subject ; while their public experiments have^for the most part, been of so gross and repulsive a character as to justly offend the good taste and the moral sense of the intelligent and refined spec- tator. More than one poor catch-penny, prompted alike by coarseness and avarice to pander to a vitiated and vulgar, taste, has compelled an intelligent human being to walk on all-fours, to bark like a dog, or to bray like a donkey ! The writer once witnessed such a performance, with a feeling of almost irrepressible indignation, that a Man should be thus degraded — even in imagination, for a moment — to the level of four-footed beasts. No man who has not already unfortu-'\ nately defiled his own garments by a groveling and beastly/ life, and thus disfigured or obscured the image of God in his\ own soul, would so prostitute his mental powers and debase^ the common humanity. Those who utterly disregard the claims of science and willingly brutalize their own species, are seldom capable of giving any iiltelligible idea of the subject on which they jirofess to discourse. They are usually very positive in their 18 284 JIAN AND ms RELATIONS. assumptions, and extremely negative in their proofs. The public experiments of such professed interpreters of the psy- chological mysteries, are djpsigned to amuse rather than to instruct, and the pretended results are often transparent frauds. The operators of this class are accustomed to tell the subject, in a most emphatic manner, precisely what they expect him to see, hear, feel, taste,- smell or do, so that there is every opportunity for collusion, and — if the subject has fine imitative powers — he may deceive the uninitiated spec- tator. A biological “ doctor,’’ whom the writer once met at Louisville, Ky. — a rough Stone in the temple of humanity — assured his audiences that the experiments did not require the exercise of the ivill ; also that mind (meaning the mind of the operator) had nothing to do with the results ; (others thought so in his particular case) but that all tlie effects on the body and mind of the subject, were to be accounted for “ on the doctrine of impressionsJ’ This unmeaning assertion — repeated often and with peculiar emphasis — the Doctor appeared to regard as a most lucid exposition of the whole subject ; and, accordingly, he traveled from place to place - -by land and sea — ‘‘ Explaining bis mysteries to tbe nations. But never explaining his explanations.” The experimental illustrations wiiich follow in tliis con- nection are of a widely different cfiaracter ; at tlie same time tliey demonstrate tlie fact of a silent intercourse of mind wdth mind through the subtile medium of sensation. They leave no room to doubt that passions, sentiments and thoughts -not less than external forms and pliysical phe- nomena — serve to disturb tlie electric aura of the nervous MENTAL TELEGRAPHING. 285 system, through which their images are conveyed to the cor- poreal seat of sensation, and thence reflected to the inner consciousness of the spirit. I now propose to illustrate the nature and results of my experiments by the introduction of particular examples. Miss Wilder, of Leominster, Mass., possessed a melodious voice, and no little skill in musical execution. She was so extremely impressible that any piece of music, of whicli one might chance to be thinking in her presence, could be com- municated to her by the slightest touch. When, occasion- ally, the impression was indefinite, she would seem to be listening for an instant, and then — starting as though she had heard a voice — would exclaim, “ Yes, I hear ! I have it !” and immediately commence singing, at the same time furnishing her own accompaniment on the guitar. Mr. Davis, an amateur violinist, and several others, repeated the experiment, at my suggestion, with similar success. This lady was, on numerous occasions, the subject of many curi- ous experiments, in which the electro-mental susceptibility displayed was extremely beautiful in its nature, and truly wonderful in its results. Some time since, while the writer was in Louisville, Ky., a number of experiments were made with Miss Bulkeley, an interesting young lady who displayed remarkable readiness in receiving communications by the mental telegraph. The subject was eminently free from any tendency to disease, and the experimental results, in her case, were such as to excite tlie admii’ation of many intelligent ladies and gentlemen. Being in electro-mental rapport with Miss B., the writer re- ceived — from strangers and disint 'i c.- ted persons— cards and 286 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. slips of paper to the number of twelve or fifteen, on each of which the name of some flower had been previously written. The collection embraced the violet, pink, rose, dahlia, sun- flower, tulip, honeysuckle, snowball, water-lily, and others of which our recollection is imperfect. Taking these severally in my hand, I formed an ideal image of the particular flower designated on each separate card or slip of paper, and the images were successively conveyed by this silent, psycho- logical process to the mind of the young lady, who — with scarcely a moment’s delay in any instance — pronounced the names of the flowers, each in its proper place, as the card bearing the corresponding name was taken up. All the flowers nam.ed above were thus designated except the snow- ball, which, though not named, was otherwise described as a large white jioioer. A middle-aged Lady, residing in Louisville, whose nervous system was so morbidly impressible that slie would start with a violent, involuntary motion, whenever the door of her room was opened or closed suddenly, was also a highly susceptible subject. In her case, the external avenues of sensation could be opened and closed at pleasure. In pres- ence of a large audience she distinguished sugar, salt, pep- per, vinegar, and other articles, the instant I tasted of each, notwithstanding I was ten feet from her at the time, and siie had not the sliglitest reason to presume that any one of the articles named was in the room, or could be conveniently obtained under the circumstances. With a glass of magnetic water, and a few manipulations, accompanied by the action of the will, I completely suspended sensation in five minutes or less. With a view of trying tlic sense of liearing by a MENTAL TELEGRAPHING. 287 severe and demonstrative test, a Kentuckian furnished me with a heavily loaded revolver, throe barrels of which I in- stantly discharged over the back of the Lady’s head, with- out causing the slightest motion of a single muscle. Mrs.' Rice, of Worcester, Mass., was distinguished for a , most delicate susceptibility of mental impressions. Having been invited to visit her one afternoon — at her residence, j and in company with several friends — I seated myself at her side, at the same time requesting her to take an excursion, j and to describe whatever she might observe by the way. Without giving the slightest intimation respecting the di- rection we were to travel, I proceeded on an ideal journey, ( by railroad and steamboat, to New York. Madam Rice described with singular fidelity all the important objects on ^ the route of which the writer could form a distinct concep- tion — spoke of persons whom she met by the way, and re- . peated the very words they were by me supposed to utter. On the same occasion, I imaguied a letter to be placed be- fore her, when she suddenly exclaimed, “ Here is a letter from Mr. mentioning the name of an absent friend of whom I was thinking at that moment ; and going through with the appropriate motions, as if she were really breaking a seal and unfolding the sheet, she commenced and read ver- batim, from my mind, for several minutes. These were the first and only experiments made with Mrs. Rice. I once attended a social party given by M rs. Kirkpatrick, at her residence in Albany. In the company was a lady (Mrs. Mills) whom I had been led to infer might be highly susceptible of electro- nervous impressions, though I had never confirmed my opinion by a single experiment. Taking 288 MAN AND HIS KELATIONS. a seat by a gentleman who was known to be extremely skep- tical, I observed that it might be possible to dem'onstrate the existence of a mental power he was disposed to deny ; that, although I had never conversed with Mrs. M. on the subject, nor made the slightest effort to subject her to psychological impressions, I had little hesitation in saying, that the volun- tary functions of mind and body might be controlled — with- out physical contact — by the unaided power of volition. - This gentleman having expressed a desire to witness the ’ experiment, it was agreed that I should cause the lady to ^ leave her place at the opposite side of the room, and occupy a vacant chair by his side. In less than one minute she | obeyed the silent action of my will and seated herself in the | unoccupied chair. In like manner she was impelled to !,■ change her position several times, and finally to leave the i room temporarily, with no specific object in view, and with- ^ out so much as suspecting the origin of an impulse she was I quite unable to resist. | ( The tea-table was the scene of an interesting experiment. / Mrs. Mills was in the act of removing from the board — I having finished her repast— when several dishes were handed to her, all of which were refused. Mrs. Kirkpatrick urged Mrs. M. to accept another dish of tea, wliich the latter posi- tively declined. Without uttering a word, I succeeded in - changing her inclination, and, obedient to my volition, she immediately drew her chair again to the table, and called for a dish of tea. On my passing the several dislies she had just refused, Mrs. Mills freely partook of each, as if it were for the first time. At an early hour she proposed to go home ; but my friend MENTAL TELEGRAPHINCr. 289 who had given the entertainment, apprehensive that others might follow the example, and thus the company be broken up, desired me to restrain her. Mrs. Mills instantly obeyed the executive action of the mind, observing that the attrac- tions the occasion presented were so numerous, and withal so powerful, that she could not break away. In this manner her desire to go home was neutralized, and Mrs. M. remained until the company separated. f Several years ago, while spending an afternoon with sev- eral ladies and gentlemen — mostly strangers to the writer — some illustrations of mental telegraping were called for by the company. Among the persons present, two or three were more or less influenced. But Miss. A , a lady of intelligence and refinement, with whom the writer had had no previous acquaintance, was discovered to yield with great readiness and astonishing precision to the action of the will. Though at the time perfectly awake — and until then totally unconscious of possessing any such susceptibility — this lady bestowed several rings and other valuables on different members of the party, following in every instance, and in a most unerring manner, the writer^s volition. Without affording the slightest opportunity for the fair subject to learn, by any external indications, the nature of the requests made, a number of difficult trials were suggested by persons composing the company. Several of these experiments — attended with the most satisfactory results — may be thus briefly mentioned : Miss. A. promptly obeyed the silent man- date of my mind, and going to the center-table, selected a •particular book, that had been singled out from among a number of others equally conspicuous. Some one required 290 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. that she miglit be incited to take up another book, of five hundred pages, and turn to a short poem — somewhere about the middle of the volume — which was accordingly done with- out the least hesitation. Again, by a similar effort, this lady was influenced to make choice of a particular engraving, from amongst a number contained in an annual. While looking at my watch, she announced the time within a few seconds. On a subsequent occasion, similar efforts were made to impress the mind of this person, but from some defect in the requisite conditions, the results were certainly not satisfactory. y /When the mental and moral gravitation has been mutual I have been scarcely less successful in my experiments on persons at a distance. On one occasion, while spending a few days at Waterbury, Conn., I found it necessary to see a young man in the village. The immediate presence of the youth was of considerable importance to me, but not know- ing his residence, place of business, or oven his name, I could not send for him. In this emergency, 1 undertook to tele- graph him, by concentrating my mind on the young man, with a fixed determination to bring him to me. Some ton minutes had elapsed when he came to the house and inquired for the writer. Meeting a gentleman at the door, lie asked, with much apparent interest, wliether 1 wanted to see him. On being interrogated by this individual, he stated that a few moments before, and while actively engaged in his workshop — distant one fourth of a mile — he suddenly felt that he must seek my presence without delay, lie declared that ho was conscious of the existence and iidluenco of some strange power, acting chiefly on the anterior [)ortion of his brain, MENTAL TELEGRAPHING. 291 and drawing liiin with irresistible energy. His work being urgent, he resolved at lirst to resist this unaccountable incli- nation, but after a determined effort, found himself unequal to the task. 1 While employed in lecturing at New Canaan, Conn., sev- eral years since, I chanced one night to be thinking ear- nestly of a young man who was living in the adjoining town of Norwalk — at a distance of several miles — and who had been the subject of some experiments on a previous occasion. This youth happened at that precise time, as I subsequently learned, to be in company with several gentlemen who were subjecting him to some similar experiments, when all at once — and in a manner most unaccountable to all present — he escaped from their influence, declaring, with great earnest- ness, that Mr. Brittan wanted to see him, and that he must go immediately. The wife of Rev. C. H. Gardner proved to be an excel- lent telegraphic instrument. I had personally subjected the lady to a single experiment, resulting in the cure of a dis- tressing asthma, from which she had suflerecl intensely and for a long time. I had not spoken with this person for three months, when one day her arrival, in company with her husband, was unexpectedly announced. After a brief inter- view, which did not occupy more than five minutes, I with- drew and retired to my study to complete the task I had left unfinished, leaving Mr. and Mrs. G. with my family and sev- eral other persons. Not the slightest allusion had been made to any further experiments, and certainly none were then premeditated. Several liours elapsed — 1 know not how long — when the 292 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. silence of my apartment was broken by sounds of mirth proceeding from the company below. They were engaged in some amusement which excited a spirited conversation and immoderate laughter. The voice of Mrs. Gardner was dis- tinctly heard. At that moment the idea of taking her from the company occurred to me. But the occasion seemed to be in all respects unfavorable. She had no intimation that any such effort would be made ; she was in a remote part of the house, and we were separated by a long flight of stairs and two partitions. Moreover, surrounded by others, and excited by outward circumstances, the soul is not in the most suitable state to be successfully approached and strongly influenced through the subtile, invisible media employed by the mind. Nevertheless, I resolved to make the experiment. Closing my eyes to shut out all external objects, I fixed my mind on Mrs. G., with a determination to bring her to the library. Doubtless the mental effort, in that instance, would have been quite sufficient — had it been applied tlirougli the muscles — to overcome the physical resistance of an object equal to the weight of the lady’s person. 1 was, however, not a little astonished on witnessing the result of this expe- riment. In about two minutes the door opened and Mrs. Gardner entered with her eyes closed, when the following conversation ensued : “ You appeared to be very happy with the Iriends below.” I observed, inquiringly. “ I was.” Why, then, did you leave the company V” “ I don’t know.” ‘ Why, or for what purpose, did you come liere ?” MENTAL TELEGRAPHING. 293 “ I thought you wanted me, and I could not help obeying the summons.”. While on a visit at Newtown, Conn., some seven or eight years since, I became acquainted with Miss Grace Goodyear, wliosc extreme impressibility was evident from her read- iness to divine the thoughts and feelings of those around her. In the course of our interview, an experiment was suggested for the purpose of ascertaining whether her exqui- site susceptibility would admit of her receiving telegraphic communications from a distance. It was mutually agreed that on the succeeding Tuesday evening, at ten 'o’clock, she should retire to her private apartment, and write her thoughts for half an hour, during which time I was to tele- graph her, if possible, from my house in Bridgeport, the dis- tance being about an hour’s ride by railway. The time set apart for the trial found me occupied with a subject of such absorbing interest, that the hour actually passed before I sus- pected it had arrived. It was precisely thirty minutes after ten, when I was suddenly reminded of my engagement, but it was then too late to make the proposed trial. Under these circumstances I resolved to make an experiment that, if suc- cessful, would be still more convincing, because unpremedi- tated. Accordingly, I waited until eleven o’clock and thirty minutes, when presuming that she must be asleep, I occupied the remaining half hour before midnight in an effort to pro- ject certain images before the mind, at a distance of eighteen miles ! The ideal picture represented a sylvan scene, enli- vened by clear flowing waters, and a variety of such natural objects as are necessary to complete an enchanting land- scape ; while beneath the inviting shade — on the flowery 294 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. inargiL of the stream — I placed the subject of the experi- ment, and a tall, graceful youth with a guitar, whose music fixed attention and entranced the soul. Several days after, I received a letter containing, in sub- stance, the following ; — You either did not make the ex- periment at the time, and in the manner proposed, or else did not succeed, as I received no impression, during the half hour, that could be traced to any foreign source. But after retiring for the night, and falling into a natural slumber, a beautiful dream-like vision passed before me.’’ Subsequently, at my request, she related the dream — her narrative com- mencing thus : — “ I was standing by a clear stream , whose banks were covered with beautiful groves and the re- mainder of the recital indicated a striking resemblance of the dream to the images formed in the mind of the writer. Requesting the lady to denote, as nearly as possible, the hour of her singular- experience, she stated that she retired at eleven o’clock, and, on awaking from the dream, found the precise time to be ten minutes 'past tivelve, which deter- mines the hour with sufficient exactness to warrant the con- clusion that there may have been, and doubtless was, actual commerce of thought and feeling, carried on through the intervening distance between Newtown and Bridgeport. From among the numerous examples of this power, I sliall record but one more in this connection. In the montli of September, 1847, I was one night on my way from Now York city to New London, Conn. In its solemn silence and spiritual beauty, the night was more enchanting tlian the day. The elements were in a state of profound repose, and the full moon poured a flood of silvery liglit far over the I MENTAL TELEGRAPHING. 295 distant land -and the surrounding’ waters. Long Island Sound seemed like a sea of glass, in which tlie gods might see their faces, and wherein the sublime and glorious heavens were faithfully mirrored. It was a time for meditation and deep communion of soul, when the presence of the absent is felt, and the portals of the Spirit-home are open to man. Gazing away into the infinite inane, it seemed that the unre- vealed glory of the Invisible was only concealed from mortal eyes by thin nebulous curtains, let down by Angel-hands over the windows of heaven. Looking away over tlie peace- ful waters, and up through the luminous atmosphere, I fancied that the spirit, like light, might travel afar over mountain and plain to the objects for which it has affinity. And why not? the spirit within involuntarily demanded. Surely the spirit — the man — the immortal — is as subtile as light. In the order of Nature, the soul exceeds, in the degree of its refinement, all that is subject to sensuous observation. Mind is far more ethereal than electricity ; thought may, therefore, travel with more than electric speed. With no battery but the brain, with no clumsy intervention of tele- graphic posts and wires, the mind may send out its thoughts, on invisible electric waves, to the remembered and distant objects of its devotion. / It was about midnight when I resolved on an effort to impress the mind of Mrs. Brittan. We were separated by an intervening distance of about one hundred and fifty miles in a direct line. Abstracting the mind from the sphere of outward and visible objects, I labored for some time — I know not how long — in one intense effort of mind. I sought to invest my thoughts with forms, and to bear them away to 296 MAN AND HIS EELATIONS. the hearth and home where the shadows of their forms might fall on the passive spirit, causing it to have dreams and visions of the objects and scenes my fancy had portrayed. Nor was this an abortive effort. On my return, Mrs. B. related a singular dream that occurred in my absence, and on the identical night already described. Improbable as the statement may appear to many persons, the dream corres- ponded, in its essential particulars, to the imaginary images I had fashioned on the occasion of that midnight abstraction. ^ It may be objected that a knowledge of such mysterious agents, and the exercise of such faculties, confer a dangerous power. That will depend on the character of those who possess the knowledge and exercise the faculty. All power is dangerous in the hands of bad men. The man who has a large, muscular arm may seize his victim in the public high- way — rob him of his purse or of his life — but it is neverthe- less desirable to have a strong arm. The voice that thrills us with its divine music may be used to beguile. The syren may float on the stream of its burnished eloquence, only to entrance the unconscious victim with a bewildering and fatal enchantment. The Press, though among the world’s greatest blessings, may be so perverted as to become its most Avither- ing curse. When wielded by unscrupulous men — men who denounce the noblest gifts of Heaven as satanic emanations — it becomes a scourge. When the innocent and the humble are defamed — the poor defrauded of reputation and the means of usefulness — when Reason and Science are “ Impeached of Godlessness,” then does the Press become a dangerous power ; and tlio MENTAL TELEGRAPH INU. 297 fearful responsibility of its prostitution to some of these unholy purposes will be likely to rest on a somewhat numer- ous class of American journalists. ' Delicate nerves are doubtless sometimes temporarily de- ranged by an inexperienced practitioner. But this furnishes no substantial ground of objection. It does not prove that the agent is necessarily a dangerous one ; but it forcibly illustrates the great danger of that incorrigible ignorance which so many affectionately cherish. A clumsy and un- practiced surgeon might sever an artery, and leave his patient to expire fi'om loss of blood ; but we must look elsewhere for a valid objection to surgery, since this only too clearly demonstrates the paramount importance of a thorough knowledge of the subject. There have always been ignorant pretenders in every art and science, as there have been hypocrites in religion for whose ignoble conduct, neither the sacred cause itself, nor its more faithful disciples, should be deemed responsible. Examples are not wanting wherein every great and God-like attribute has been per- verted ; and there is no position, how exalted soever, that has not been invaded by the tempter, and from which men have not descended to realms where dwell the children of perdition. The apostleship of “one of the twelve” was the very instrumentality employed in the betrayal and death of •the Master 5 but Religion is still a sublime reality ; and Jesus — viewed at the coronation of Calvary — is shorn of none of his peculiar glory .y CHAPTER XXY. THE FACULTY OF ABSTRACTION. Introversion of the Mind — Ideal and practical Men — Facts universally per ceived — Principles seldom comprehended — Analytical and synthetical Powers— Vulgar conceptions of Utility — Fasting and Asceticism — Customs of the Ancient Prophets — Worshiping in Groves and. Mountains — The Druids — Consecration of desolate places — Influence of mental Introver- sion on Sensation — Archimedes of Syracuse — Statesmen, Philosophers and Poets — The mental Foci — State of Entrancement — Perversion of the Faculty — ^Vital and organic Derangements — Tendency to Fanaticism- Roger Bacon and Simeon Stylites. I ^HE capacity of the soul to withdraw itself from the physical avenues of sensation, and the mental and corpo- real effects known to accompany the exercise of that power, will constitute the subject of the present Chapter. All per- sons accustomed to reflection are conscious of being al)le to separate the mind, in some degree at least, from tlie spliere of outward perception and action. The measure of this power varies as the peculiarities of original constitution are more or less favorable to its exercise ; and is inert or ope- rative according to tlie temperament, disposition, liabits and general pursuits of tlie individual. Of the nature of this power, and the magnitude of its consequences, very few en- tertain an adequate conception. Certain pursuits require great concentration of mind ; but THE FACULTY OF ABSTRACTION. 299 it is readily granted that others are most successfully prose- cuted by those who are capable of a kind mental diffusion The greatest intensity and power are exhibited when the mental energies concenter. I would not speak disrespect- fully of any class of minds, nor designedly undervalue the feeblest effort, if well intended ; but among the so-called practical men — the men who know how to make money, and to keep it — there is an unbecoming disposition to ridicule, as mere dreamers, all who entertain an ideal that transcends the dusty walks of vulgar life. It is conceded that those who pursue some miscellaneous business — for example, the man who sells goods and the writer of short items for the news-' paper — would accomplish comparatively little, if given to in- tense concentration and profound abstraction of mind, since the successful discharge of their respective duties is made to depend on the facility with which the mind passes from one object to another. But however indispensable this transitive faculty may be to the man of the world, it is seldom associated with the creative enetgy of acknowledged genius, or the vast comprehensiveness of the real philosopher. Tlie class denom- inated practical men, may be men of great research and careful observation ; but they are neither distinguished for an intuitive perception of truth, nor for profound and inde- pendent thought. Their minds are almost wholly employed in the outer world. They feel the force of facts rather than of principles, and hence realize the value of the Senses while they scarcely comprehend the use of Reason. Such persons seldom attempt to fathom the depths of human nature, while they as rarely respect the highest demands of the time. ’Nevertheless, they have their appropriate place in the scale 19 300 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. of being, and, doubtless, well perform their peculiar func- tions. It must be conceded that material objects and physical phenomena still furnish the forms of evidence which appeal with the greatest power to most minds. This is manifestly true of the multitudes in whom the reasoning faculties are but feebly exercised. . An essential service may, therefore, be rendered by recording the facts of daily experience, even when the individual himself is not qualified to weigh an ar- gument or to feel the force of a logical deduction. It how- ever requires but little intelligence to perceive a .fact that addresses itself to the outward sense ; and yet millions are prone to restrict the operations of their minds to the low sphere of sensuous observation. They are often heard to say, “I will only believe when I can have the evidence of my senses — I must see, hear, or handle, as the case may require, for myself.’^ Thus they unconsciously but clearly define their true position ; and virtually proclaim the fact that they occupy the animal plane of existelice. The dog knows enough to follow his instincts ; the wild beasts run to their hiding-places when the tempest approaches ; even the ass, f (proverbial for his stupidity,) would inevitably become cog- nizant of the particular fact, should the roof of the stable fall on his head, though his ears might never be open to a discussion of the general laws of attraction. The phi- losophy of such people — when they have any — is generally fragmentary and superficial. Seldom or never admitted into close communion with the hidden principles of Nature^ they are chiefiy qualified to notice lier outward cxju-cssions, while it is given to other minds to receive lier sublime oi'aclcs, THE FACULTY OF ABSTRACTION. 301 Thus it would seem to be the peculiar prov ince of one class to observe and record ; of the other, to reveal and create. Among the decomposing agents in Nature may be justly comprehended a certain class of minds, gifted with peculiar powers of analysis, and holding a kind of hereditary mas- tery over the great realm of little things. These are often sharp critics, but seldom, indeed, has .one been a great poet, a profound philosopher, or a comprehensive historian. To this class of minds, the Universe is not One, but a disorderly aggregation of separate forms and distinct entities, sustain- ing no very intimate relations. Another, and as we conceive a far higher power is necessary in grouping the disorganized elements, so as to form them into new and living creations. It requires but an ordinary medical student and a scalpel to dissect a body that only God could create. ^ Many of our practical men appear to be materialists, whatever they may be in fact or in their own estimation. They very properly esteem the cultivation of potatoes and the growth of cotton as matters of universal concern ; but the production of ideas and the culture of the soul are deemed to be .interesting chiefly to divines, metaphyscians, and the fraternity of dreamers. These inveterate utilitarians esti- mate all things — not even excepting the grace of God and the ministry of Angels — by their capacity to yield- an im- mediate practical result — a result that may he included in the next inventory. The genuine fire of Prometheus is worthless, ' except it will supply the place of fuel ; and the Muses, are / they not all fools, unless Parnassus be made a corn-field I Such views, however prevalent, have not the power to enlist those who are greatly distinguished for independent thought 302 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. and super-sensual attainments. The man of intuitive nature would rather be numbered with dreamers, than lose sight of his immortality. /Not only the noblest thoughts are evolved in seasons of profound mental abstraction, but the mind is made to feel a deeper consciousness of its relations to the invisible, and is rendered more susceptible of the influence of super-terrestrial natures. Fasting and asceticism materially aid in this retire- ment of the soul from the senses. The ancient Prophets and Seers were accustomed to seek the wilderness, or some lonely mountain, where they would invoke the spiritual presence. Moses withdrew from the idolatrous multitude into the Mount, where, surrounded by the sublimities of Nature, he is supposed to have received the Law. It was when the Prophet bowed his head and covered his face with his mantle — shutting out from his senses the impressive symbols of the tempest and the fire — that the “ still small voice” obtained an utterance in his soul. Christ found in the desert soli- tudes the spiritual strength which earthly companionsliip could not afibrd. Protracted fasting, a home in the wilder- ness, and silent communion with the Spirit-world, served to diminish his susceptibility of mere pliysical suffering, and to render him strong in spirit, and mighty to endure his trial. The ancients seem to have been deeply conscious of the fact that retirement from the world was necessary to the highest functions of the immortal nature, and to all the noblest tri- umphs of the mind. Hence the Patriarchs planted groves as places of worship, and preferred to perform their religious rites on the summits of lofty mountains. The Druids, who were hold in the greatest veneration by the ancient Britons THE FACULTY OF ABSTRACTION. ‘^03 and Gauls, consecrated the most desolate scenes in nature to the purposes of their religion, and to the education of their youth, who were required to retire into caves and the deepest i-ecesses of the forest, sometimes for a period of twenty years. Manifestly, all these discerned the shadow of the same great law, and sought to quicken and invigorate the soul by withdrawing it from the scenes of its earthly life. Since the mind may govern the distribution of the forces of vital motion, it is but natural that all the fluids, and more especially that refined aura which pervades the nervous system, and is the agent of its mysterious functions — should recede from the external surfaces of the body, whenever the mind is deeply abstracted. If, in the order of the Universe,' ^ mind be superior to matter, we are authorized to presume*^ ^ that the latter is of necessity subject to the former. That mind is an ever active force, and that matter, separately con- sidered, is inert and destitute of the power of motion, is illustrated by the various phenomena which spring from their most intimate relations. In proportion, therefore, as the mind is abstracted, the sensorial medium must be with- drawn from the extremities of the nerves, and the natural susceptibility of the organs be temporarily suspended. But we are not necessarily confined to the argument' a priori in the illustration of our proposition. Facts, cognizable by the senses, are disclosed to the observation of all, and these lead us to the same general conclusion. It is well known that whenever a state of mental abstraction is induced, it serves to deaden the sensibility to pain, and to diminish the con- sciousness of outward danger. When all the powers of the soul are engrossed witli some one great object or idea, no 304 MAN AND ms RELATIONS. room is left for the intrusion of thoughts or purposes of inferior moment. Then earth and time, with their gilded treasures and empty honors, are disregarded, and in our S transfiguration we forget that we are mortal. It can not be necessary to cite a great number of facts in this connection. Yet illustrations of the principle are scat- tered through all history. The martyrs of Liberty and Religion, whose shouts of victory and songs of triumph have risen above the discord of war, or been heard amidst the crackling fagots at the stake, show how regardless mortals are of danger, how almost insensible to pain is man, when the soul is fired by a holy enthusiasm, and all its powers consecrated to a sacred cause. But not in these pursuits and conquests alone do men experience this deadening of the external senses. All persons of studious habits are con- scious of a similar loss of physical sensibility, whenever the mind is profoundly occupied. Some men possess this power of abstraction in a very remarkable degree ; and persons of this class have often been greatly distinguished for their boldness and originality of thought. ^A. gentleman, known to many of our readers, has, on several occasions, while ad- dressing public assemblies on some important subject, expe- rienced a temporary loss of sensation, accompanied by an abnormal quickening of the mental and moral faculties ; so that while all forms of persons, and other objects within the range of vision, were gradually obliterated, the understand- ing was mysteriously illuminated. While under the inllii- ence of this spell, he loses all consciousness of time and [)lace, and speaks with far more than his accustomed ease and power.y THE FACULTY OP ABSTRACTlOxY. 305 That this abstraction diminishes physical sensibility, and renders the mind indifferent to outward objects, and even regardless of the body, is forcibly illustrated in the case of Archimedes of Syracuse. When his native city was be- sieged and taken by the Romans, Metellus, their commander, desired to spare the life of this distinguished man ; but, in the midst of the conflict, a soldier entered his apartment and placed a glittering sword at his throat. The great, geome- trician wms engaged in the solution of a problem, and so deeply absorbed that he remained calm and unawed by the certain prospect of death. At length, with great ap- parent calmness, he said, “ Hold, but for one moment, and my demonstration will be finished !” But the soldier seeing a box in which Archimedes kept his instruments, and think ing it contained gold, was unable to resist the temptation, and killed him on the spot. ^o be greatly distinguished in any department of thought, it becomes necessary that the theme should engross all the mental energies ; and this demands a separation of the fac- ulties of the mind from other objects, and, in a degree, from the whole sphere of sensuous impressions. We may judge of the extent of the mind^s abstraction from the body by the increasing insensibility to outward objects and circum- stances. In proportion as the soul is engaged by internal realities, we lose the consciousness of external forms, and become insensible to impressions on the physical organs. The statesman is lost in the midst of his profound design ; wlien oppressed with the nation’s care, he heeds not the beauty that crowds the gilded avenues of fashionable life. The philosopher loses his own individuality in the deeper MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. ‘m consciousness of all that is around, beneath and above him. ^Awed by the sublime presence of Nature ; standing unvailed before her august ministers, and questioning her living ora,- cles, he heeds no more the petty strifes of common men. The poet is charmed in his reveries. Far away from earth and its grossness, he feels the pulses of a life more spiri- tual and divine. An angelic magnetism separates him from the world, and he is borne away to other spheres, and worlds invisible my disclosed to the mysterious vision of Genius.) It is especially when man is thus separated from the earth- life, that the soul gives birth to its noblest creations, and realizes something of the divine in its ideal. The highest truths are begotten from the Heavens. It is only when the soul retires to the inmost, and receives its impregnation from the forces of angelic life and thought, that its conceptions are truly exalted and spiritual. When the mental energies are divided and dissipated among a variety of outward objects, the mind makes no conquests. Mist and darkness gather around the higliest subjects of human thought. Minds thus constituted and exercised cause a divergence of the light that shines thrcugh them, while others possess a mighty focal ijoiver, under which all subjects become lumi- nous ; the light of the mental world finds a point of concen- tration, and tlie soul burns up the very grossiiess and darkness which obstructed its vision. In all things tlie in tensity of action is dependent on the accumulation of foi-ces. The various agents in Nature are rendered ])otent by the processes necessary to concentrate their essential virtues and their peculiar action. Archimedes, the great geometrician THE FACULTY OF ABSTRACTION. 307 of antiquity, destroyed a Roman fleet, more than two thou- sand years ago, setting it on fire by the glasses with which he concentrated the sun’s rays. When the electric medium is everywhere equally diffused, its power is neutralized and we are insensible of its presence ; but when powerfully con- centrated, it rends the darkest cloud, and reveals to us the glory of the heavens beyond. Thus, when the mental forces converge, we become aware of the mind’s power ; the clouds ' that vailed the deepest problems of Nature, break and pass ( away, and amid the illuminated mysteries we follow the ' kindling soul b}^ its track of fire ! Those who are profoundly abstracted, are often magne- tized by the Angels. Not merely as an agreeable fancy, but rather as a solemn and beautiful reality, do I entertain and express the thought. Some higher intelligence wins the rapt soul away from earth, and it dwells above and blends with the Infinite. In the charmed hours when we are able"! to retire from the dull sphere of grosser life, we think most' deeply and truly. Only when earthly sounds are hushed^ ^ when earthly scenes grow dim and then invisible, do we ascend to the highest heaven of thought. Communion with external nature ; the investigation of her interior laws j the consciousness of the still higher spiritual realities that surround us, and the soul’s true worship, are the subjects and exercises best adapted to induce this state of mind. When wholly absorbed with the material objects and events of time, the mind is fettered in its thought. Chained down to earth by a material magnetism, it is difficult to rise above the cramped plane of artificial life. For this reason the mind’s noblest monuments have ever been wrought out from 308 MAN AND HIS EELATIONS. invisible worlds, where, vailed forever, are the sources of its liighest inspiration. In conclusion, I must speak briefly of the dangers inci- dental to the exercise of this power. While a just obser- vance of the principle under consideration must serve to quicken and inspire the faculties, history has recorded many melancholy examples of its perversion to the most painful and fatal ends. So great is the power of mind over the body, that portions of the animal economy are sometimes paralyzed by its action. Constant exercise of mind, with- out the use of the senses, not only tends to withdraw the circulating medium of the nervous system from the external surfaces, but, of necessity, renders the health and life of the j body insecure. Intense thought — when long continued — j may occasion an undue determination of the vital forces and j fluids to the brain, and thus produce congestion or some i derano’ement of the faculties. The conditions of mind and i body, which cause a temporary suspension of sensation, may, ] if greatly protracted, preclude the restoration of the phys- j ical functions. I have known several authors who have i prematurely lost the sense of hearing, as there is reason to j believe, from this cause. ' j But there are other dangers not less fatal to personal use- j fulness, and far more destructive to the interests of society. > This disposition to withdraw from the world lias prompted * many to neglect the ordinary duties of life. Not a few have 1 been tempted to fly from all civilized society, and have spent their lives in caves and mountains, away from tlie ills which | they had not the manhood to meet. It is a morbid alienation ' of reason, with a sickly disgust of life and all temporal in- ; THE FACULTY OP ABSTRACTION. 309 tercsts, that leads to these extremes. Neither Nature nor the spirit of Divine wisdom can be the incentive to action, when men thus disregard their relations to this world, and treat the gifts of God and the blessings of earth with pious scorn. The ascteicism that prevailed in the early Church, \ and the corporeal inflictions that men in different ages , have voluntarily suffered, witness to us how sadly the noblest powers and privileges may be perverted. Think , of old Eoger Bacon, the anchoret ; and Simeon Stylites, dis- tinguished among the Ascetics as the renowned pillar-saint, . what a martyr was he !’ There may be no more like these ; but there are, yet in the flesh, many victims of their own melancholy whims ; men whose disgust of this laboring world | proceeds from a love of indolence and a fondness for dream- ' ing ; gifted souls whose mission is not to labor — gifted with visions in arm-chairs — visions of ease projected from their ^ own brains — and who, if only their usefulness is to be consid- ered, might as well follow the example of the English monk. ^ ’ Simeon Stylites was a native of Syria. He lived during a period of thirty - seven years on the top of a pillar, gradually increasing its hight as he be- came lean in body and sublimated in soul, until he obtained the elevation, coporeal and spiritual, of some sixty feet. Having progressed to this sublime extent, he acquired a great reputation as an oracle, and became the head of a sect, the history of which can be distinctly traced for more than five hundred years. CHAPTER XXVI, THE PHILOSOPHY OF SLEEP. Introductory Observations — Analogy between the Vegetable and Animal Kingdoms — Uninterrupted slumber of the Foetus — Remarkable, tendency to somnolence in Young Children — Reasons why they require more Sleep thau Adults — General condition and aspects of the Sleeper— Philosophy of the Physical Phenomena — Boerhaave’s brass pan and water Soporific — Uni- versal Action and Reaction — Diurnal ebb and flow of Vital Forces and Fluids — Brief Digest of Physiological Facts and Observations — We sleep and wake under the action of an irresistible Law — Loss of the Vital Equi- librium in Cataleptic and other Trances — Sleep essential to Vital Harmony and the preservation of Life — Its Moral Influence and Spiritual Ministry. “Sleep halh its own world And a wide realm of wild reality, And dreams in their development have breath, And tears, and tortures, and the touch of joy.” T he remarkable physiological changes invariably devel- oped in Sleep, and the mysterious psychical phenomena that frequently accompany the state, have engaged the at- tention of ancient and modern philosophers, and given birth to many curious conjectures and speculative theories.’ Yet so little has been positively determined, in respect to the true philosophy of Sleep, and the immediate or remote causes of i Those who desire to become acquainted with the fixcts and theories ob- served and entertained by the most distinguished authors who luive writlen on the subject, may peruse the works of Aristotle, Lucretius, Democritus, Locke, Newton, Stewart, Abercrombie, Macnish. and Dr. George Moore. THE PHILOSOPHY OP SLEEP. 311 its corpoi'cal and metaphysical concomitants, that the author of the last physiological treatise commences his chapter on this particular subject, thus : “ What is Sleep ? We do not hiowJ’^ After this very modest confession, the author re- ferred to occupies twenty-two pages with a view of impart- ing instruction to others. That the subject presents many difficult problems, is readily granted ; and the present writer has not the vanity to presume that he will be able to afford such a solution, in every instance, as will wholly satisfy the judgment of the reader. Nevertheless, the discovery and elucidation of certain fundamental principles — overlooked or disregarded by others — may furnish to some future in- quirer a key wherewith he shall unlock the Arcana of our unconscious existence, and more fully explore the enchanted avenues that lead to our eternal life. The state denominated Sleep occurs with considerable regularity through all the gradations of human and animal existence. Moreover, a condition resembling this — in its essential nature, and phenomenal aspects — is scarcely less perceptible in the economy of vegetable life. The leaves of plants alternately droop or assume an erect position, and the flowers open and close their petals, as they are exposed to the alternations of light and shade, and the vicissitudes of moisture and temperature. In the vegetable as well as in the animal kingdom, the period of repose is not the same with all the species and genera. While the Acacia spreads its leaves horizontally to the rising sun, or vertically “ When the sun is high in his meridian tower, the night blooming Cerea (a species of cactus, indigenous MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. in the island of Jamaica) only opens the enormous corolla in darkness, and pours out the wealth of precious aroma on the midnight air. Nor does the analogy between tliese two great kingdoms in Nature, terminate here. It is well known that the process of assimilation, in all organized forms, is accelerated during the period of Sleep ; and it is no less ap- parent tliat the condition of many plants in winter resembles the hibernating existence of certain animals. The exceptions to the general law may be few or many ; still light and darkness doubtless sustain natural relations to activity and repose. The Avorld awakes in the morning, not so much from the force of habit as by the power of an irre- sistible law. The god of day opens the palace halls of the Orient that the earth may rejoice in the light of his smile. In his presence the majestic mountains are arrayed in soft robes of living beauty, while the valleys blossom and offer grateful incense. Weird strains of sweet and joyful music echo through Nature’s airy halls ; there is prayer in the as- piring tendency of all tilings ; the Divine presence is every- wliere visible in outward forms ; and life itself is a manifold benediction. In the morning man goes to his labor with a light heart and elastic step ; and millions of sentient beings are made glad by the possession of conscious and delighted existence. Labor and rest are alike divine benehictions/ When they succeed each other at proper intervals, they are equally pleasurable. After protracted toil and incessant activity we become weary, and a season of relaxation is re- quired to restore the normal energies of the system. Then the discordant sounds of day give place to silence, and vig- orous action is succeeded by profound repose. While the THE PHILOSOPHY OF SLEEP. o 1 o busy world quietly slumbers through the night watches, the earth is clothed with fresher verdure and more vivid beauty ; and with the coming light Man goes forth with all his powers renewed. In the opinion of many physiologists Sleep is uninter- rupted during the periods of embryotic formation and foetal development. This is doubtless true so far as regards con- sciousness ; the use of the organs of special sensation, and the exercise of all the voluntary powers of mind and body. Thus we commence our individual existence in a state of oblivious repose, and having completed the career on earth, “ Our life is rounded with a sleep.” Moreover, with the new born child the extraordinary ten- dency to somnolence continues for some time after the out- ward conditions of being are entirely changed ; and very young children — so long as they are neither disturbed by pain nor the imperative demands for food — pass most of their time in sleep. At this early period of human life, a strong inward concentration of the electric forces is doubt- less required to develop the vital powers and to stimulate the functions of the entire nutritive system. The processes of di- gestion and assimilation are known to be extremely rapid in infant children. Hence the growth of the body is greatest during the earliest periods of our existence. . But by de- grees, as the human economy is unfolded, the chemical action and organic movement become slower, and the molecular deposits are proportionately less. The individual is more wakeful, and ^the electrical motive power of the organs exhibits a greater determination to the nerves and muscles 314 MAX AND Ills RELATIONS. of voliiLtary motion. This is accompanied with increased vascular action, a higher temperature, and the development of muscular power. Wherever the agent of vital motion and sensation is especially employed, or most powerfully concentrated, there the most decided effects will be pro- duced. Hence the greater activity of the digestive and nutritive powers of young children, and their amazing growth during the first year of their lives. Here, also, we may discover the reason why the subsequent stages oi corporeal development become slower in proportion as our years are multiplied, and we are prompted by inclination or necessity to expend a greater portion of vital energy in the active pursuits of life. I propose to discuss the philosophy of Sleep chiefly in its relations to human nature. The electric agent of all vital and voluntary motion, and of our sensorial impressions, is rapidly expended while we are actively employed. During our waking hours the forces of the nervous system go out in an increased degree to the extremities, and to the entire ex- ternal surface of the body. The voluntary nerves and muscles are electrically charged, which quickens the vasculai* functions in all the organs that are directly influenced by the will ; at the same time the temperature at the surface is in- creased in a correspondent degree. But as the vital motive power — accumulated during the previous season of repose — is gradually dissipated, by the mental efforts and industrial })ursuits of the day, the wliole body is enfeebled ; a feeling of general lassitude seizes every faculty ; the functions arc all performed with greater labor, and arc attended by a constantly increasing sensation of fatigue and exhaustion. THE PHILOSOPHY OF SLEEP. B15 At lengtli the electro-nervous forces suddenly react, and the whole circulation at once exhibits a similar tendency toward the centers of nervous energy, and the organs of vital motion. Sensorial susceptibility is rapidly diminished ; the impressions on the mind are gradually obscured, distorted and, at last, obliterated ; there is less action in the sub-cuta- neous nerves and in all the superficial ramifications of the arterial and venous systems ; the muscles are completely relaxed ; every limb is chained and motionless, and the giant is as powerless as the child. It is worthy of observation that the reaction of the ner- vous forces — as it occurs in natural sleep — may be induced by various artificial means. Several expedients have been successfully resorted to with a view of producing this state. Indeed, whatever may serve to disengage the mental facul- ties, or to limit their exercise ; in short, any device that will call home the thoughts, and fix the attention on a single idea or object, will materially aid in producing the psycho-physi- ological condition that results in Sleep. When the mind is withdrawn from the external world, and the forms and ele- ments adapted to excite a variety of sensations — whether of pleasure or pain — are persistently disregarded, the senses, one by one, cease to act, and we approach the mystical realm of forgetfulness. When a single sensation or thought is all that yet remains, it is only necessary to obliterate the last impression from the mind, and total obliviousness must necessarily supervene. Hence those occupations that de- mand the combined exercise of several faculties^ render the actors wakeful, while monotonous employments are quite likely to produce opposite effects on all who are thus en- 20 316 MAN AND HIS EELATTONS. gaged. Monotonous sounds invariably exert a similar influ- ence on the sensories and the mind. When Boerhaave had a restless patient who could not sleep, he prescribed the reg- ular dropping of water on a brass pan as a soporific. Look- ing steadily in one direction, and at the same object, will produce the same general results. For this reason the psy- chological experimenters are accustomed to place a small coin or other object in the hand of the subject, and on which he is required to fix his attention. A speaker who chiefly exereises a single faculty, will be sure to make his hearers drowsy, while one who agreeably diversifies his discourse, by successful appeals to a number of different faculties, will so excite the electric forces of the brain as to render the hearer wakeful and attentive. The orator whose voice is skillfully managed, whose argument is clothed with poetic imagery, and whose “ eloquence is logic set on fire,’’ will always com- mand attention, and sway a scepter over the whole realm of thought and feeling. In every part of the universal economy of being there is constant action and reaction. A common law — variously 1 modified by the simple elements and the organic structures which it governs — runs through the entire creation. Light and darkness succeed each other in regular alternation ; the flowers open during the seasons of their waking life, and close when they sleep ; the ocean tides rise and fall, and the waters ascend and descend ; all Nature expands and con- tracts at the approach of the Seasons ; there is perpetual influx and efflux through all things, animate and inanimate ; and plants, and animals, and worlds respire. ^The same law that directs the atmospheric currents regulates tlie pulses of THE PHILOSOPHY OF SLEEP. 317 the sea, and governs alike the attractions and repulsions of atoms and orbs, of souls and systems./ Action and reaction are thus beautifully illustrated in all the phenomena of life ; especially in respiration, and in the diastaltic and systolic motion of the heart and the arteries. Moreover, the vital tides have their diurnal ebb and flow. In the morning, and during the season of our waking existence, the nervous forces and the arterial circulation flow out to the surface, and with evenirg comes the period of recession, when the tide of life sets back, the outward channels are closed, and the Soul retires in silence to the Inward World. This alternate ebb and flow of the nerve- aura, and, conse- quently, of the fluids of living bodies, is clearly illustrated by many of the phenomena of organic and animal life. Moreover, if we may presume that the sun and moon regu- late the ocean tides, and otherwise modify the elements and determine the conditions of physical existence on earth, it would be preposterous to affirm that human beings are utterly free from the influence of all” foreign agents, and, beyond the dominion of super-terrestrial powers. It is not, however, my purpose to consider — at this time — an intricate question that is so remotely related to the subject of the present inquiry. But the philosophy of Sleep, and the writer’s theory of the vital functions, may be placed in a clearer light and more forcibly illustrated, by the following summary statement of physiological facts and observations : I. It is well known that the objects and elements of the external world make no impressions on the organs of sensa- tion during the continuance of perfect sleep. As life, how- ever, remains, and all the faculties of the mind still exist ; 318 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. and especially as the organic instruments of sensorial per- ception are in no degree impaired, we are left to ascribe the temporary suspension of their appropriate functions to a withdrawal of the subtile medium of sensation from the ex- tremities of the nerves. 2. The relaxed state of the cutaneous vessels and the vol- untary muscles ; and, withal, the total absence of the con- tractile force of the muscular fibers — possessed and exer- cised in our waking hours— furnishes another proof of the absence of the principle, that (under the direction of the will) imparts to them a surprising activity and power. 3. The circulation is less rapid in sleep, and a similar change occurs in the thoracic movement ; at the same time, the processes of digestion and molecular assimilation arc. accelerated. These facts indicate an important change in the determination of the motive forces of the system, and one that accords with the writer’s theory of electro-vital action and reaction. 4. In Sleep the circulation through all the organs of vo- lition is materially diminished, while the cerebrum contracts and is inactive. This is not merely apparent, but the fact has been demonstrated by Blumenbach, who — in the opera- tion of trepanning a patient — so exposed the brain that he could make careful observations. There was an obvious contraction among the congeries and convolutions of that organ when the patient was sleeping. It seemed to close like the flowers at night ; and like them it opened in the morning, or whenever the cerebrum resumed its functious, 5. A similar contraction of the wliole body occurs in Sleep, and edematous swellings frequently disappear in the THE PHILOSOPHY OF SLEEP. 319 night, or during the intervals of oblivious repose. These efiects doubtless result from the internal tendency of the forces that govern the circulation of the animal fluids, and the consequent activity of the lymphatic or absorbent ves- sels^ 6. The diminished action of the ganglionic nerves of common sensation, and the limited circulation through all the superficial channels of the arterial, venous, and capillary systems, is further confirmed by thermometrical observa- tions, showing the influence of Sleep in reducing the tempe- rature of the surface of the body. 7. Diseased persons, who have an unnatural heat and dry- ness of the skin, are often relieved from these symptoms during the season of rest and unconsciousness. These re- sults are to be attributed in part to the reaction of the electro-vital forces from the surface ; and, in a greater or less degree, to the dissipation of animal electricity from the body, which occurs on the conductive principle. The in- creased perspiration while we sleep renders the cuticle a better conductor, and the subtile agent — an excess of which ' Macknish mentions a fact in the experience of Dr. Solander, who accom- panied Captain Cook in one or more of his voyages, which will illustrate this point. The Doctor — in company with a friend and two colored servants — was engaged incollectiug botanical specimens among the mountains, when he was overcome with cold and an irresistible inclination to sleep. No one member of the party was so well qualified to comprehend the danger of sleeping under such circurastanijes, as Dr. Solander himself ; but in spite of the earnest efforts of his friend (Mr? Banks) to keep him awake, he resigned his self-con- trol and fell asleep. As soon as Mr. B. could kindle a fire he roused the Doctor ; but during that brief slumber the powerful determination of the electric forces and the fiuids toward the nervous centers and vital organs so contracted his limbs that “ his shoes fell from his feet.” — {Lewes' ^‘■Physiolocy of Common Life, pp. 206-7.) 320 MAJf AND HIS RELATIO.NS. never fails to produce fevers or inflammations — is more readily disengaged or imparted to the surrounding objects and elements of the earth and atmosphere. 8. The vital action and reaction, or the periodical ebb and flow of nervous energy, is still further illustrated by the psy- cho-electric or magnetic powers of Man. Many practition ers in the department of Animal Magnetism have observed that this power gradually increases during the morning hours — exhibiting the utmost strength and intensity as the sun approaches the meridian — and that it as regularly de- clines toward the close of the day. It should be observed that the proportion of time required to restore the vital energies to the normal standard, is varied by the age, health, habits, pursuits and other circum- stances of the individual. Hence arbitrary rules and au- thorities that prescribe the same limits in all cases are mani- festly incompatible with the laws of health. Young children require more sleep than adults, and unless this demand of Nature is duly respected, the development of the body will be slow and incomplete. Moreover, invalids and ail persons whose vital constitutions are feeble, must have more time for repose than those vigorous persons in whom the recuperative powers are strong and the processes of pliysical renovation more rapid and uniform. Whenever the vital tide reaches the proper point, the reaction occurs naturally ; the nervous and arterial currents flow toward the surface in an increased measure, and the sleeper awakes in obedience to an essential law of his nature. But the law here referred to, admits of several important exceptions. These consist of occasional examples of ])ro- THE PHILOSUPHY OP SLEEP. 321 found mental abstraction or introversion ; a predisposition to congestion of the vital organs, and other forms of physi- cal derangement, involving a temporary loss of the vital balance. Such persons are liable to be suddenly deprived of sensation, voluntary motion or consciousness ; and they sometimes relapse into cataleptic trances in which the or- ganic functions are entirely suspended for several days to- gether. It should be remembered that a vigorous applica- tion of natural agents and artificial means may — in such cases — aid in the recovery of the vital equilibrium. Never- theless, the organic forces react with remarkable precision, as often as the process of assimilation has repaired the diur- nal waste of the system ; and with occasional exceptions, (the more important ones are comprehended in our specifica- tion,) Nature should be allowed to determine the respective limits of our sleeping and waking existence. '^The regular alternation of the periods of conscious and un- _ conscious life constitutes a wise and beneficent arrangement in the Divine economy of human existence. We could not long exist without Sleep. The constant tension would soon destroy the integrity of the nervous system ; the continuous action of outward elements and objects on the sensories, and the perpetual exercise of the voluntary faculties — without so much as the possibility of repose, would drive the world to madness ; the very tissues would waste away like parcH- ments exposed to the fire • and the brain itself soften and decompose under the ceaseless and intense action of electric forces. But slumber is our savior from these terrible evils ; nor does its peaceful ministry terminate here. Viewed in another aspect. Sleep comes to the restless and sorrowing 322 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. world with a healing balm and a holy benediction. The poor forget their poverty ; beggars become princes ; and the exiled, friendless and forgotten are honored with ovations.y / Nor is the moral influence of Sleep less conducive to the highest human interests. The peace of multitudes is daily interrupted by unpleasant discords, and the elements of our own little world are frequently and harshly disturbed. Many are annoyed, and not a few exasperated, by the expe- rience of every day ; but slumber subdues their resentment, and they awake at peace with the world. It is w^orthy of remark that capital offences are rarely committed early in the morning, except when the perpetrators have been awake through the night. It is usually after the battle of the day, when the blood is heated ; after the nerves have been sub- jected to the daily torture, and wliile the selfish passions are excited, that men of discordant natures become reckless and are driven to deeds of desperation. To all such Sleep is a minister of righteousness. The frequent recurrence of this state prevents our becoming wholly absorbed with the ephemeral interests of earth and time. It disengages the mind, temporarily, at least, from the scenes of its groveling and its impiisonment. By an invisible hand we are led away to the very confines of mortal being, that we may stand for a brief season by the veiled portals of the invisi- ble Temple. Next to Death, tho supreme pacificator. Sleep is the chief conqueror of the passions, and tho great harmon- izer of moral elements. “ Sleep that knits up the ravelled sleeve of care, The death of each day’s life, sore labor’s bath ; Balm of hurt minds, great Nature’s second course, Cliief nourisher in life’s feast.” . CHAPTER XXVIl. PSYCHOLOGICAL MYSTERIES OF SLEEP. General Observations on the Nature of Sleep — Relations of Dreams to Phy- sical Objects and Physiological Laws — Dr. Gregory’s Dream— Relations of certain Dreams to the Passions — Phreno-Magnetism — Dreams inspired by Whispering in the Ear — Amusing Experiments on a Military Officer — Influence of Established Principles and Ideas in Dreams — Cuvier’s nu- merous Illustration — Psychometric Dreaming— Remarkable Examples — Dreams Discovering lost Property — Witnessing distant Occurrences in Sleep— A thrilling Instance— Philosophy of Allegorical Dreams — The Au- thor’s Examples — Socrates and the Youth with the Flaming Torch — Re- ference to Professor Draper's Views — Relations of the Soul to Mental and Moral Forces — Nature and Dream-Land. M an is susceptible of no condition that is more remarka- ble for its beautiful mysteries than Sleep. Tlie functions of the eye and the ear are suspended, and all the outward avenues of the senses are closed and sealed. The connec- tion and intercourse with the external world being interrupt- ed, our earthly plans are disregarded and forgotten ; at the same time the scenes and objects presented in dreams and “ visions of the night,” are discerned through inward vistas and more ethereal media. Having devoted the preceding Chapter to the electro-chemical and physiological forces, functions and aspects of living beings, as the same are illus- trated in Sleep, we are now to consider the psychological mysteries of the slumbering world. It is well known that Sleep ordinarily occurs in conse- 324 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. quence of physical exhaustion ; but it may bo induced by several other causes. Extreme cold — by driving the electri- cal forces and animal fluids from the surface of the body to- ward the centers of vital energy — invariably occasions drowsiness, and often an irresistible inclination to sleep. All persons who experience death from this cause, gradually lose sensation and consciousness in a profound slumber, from which they awake no more on earth. Sleep may also be in- duced by magnetic manipulations, the administration of cer- tain drugs, and by a variety of other means. It is worthy of remark that most persons of careless ob- servation and superficial thought readily conclude that the magnetic sleep must be fundamentally different from a natu- ral slumber, apparently, for the same reason that they con- ceive of the ordinary phenomena of life as subjeet to natural law, whilst such occurrences as are extraordinary — in the sense of being infrequent — are presumed to be miraculous. But this is unreasonable and false. In fact, and in the com- prehensive judgment of the philosopher, all objects and events are subject to law. Moreover, the specific conditions of body and mind are never so various as the particular cir- cumstances that operate in their production. For illustra- tion — the proximate causes of fever are numerous, and re- quire no speeification ; consumption is one form of disease, whether produced by a cold or a scrofulous diatlicsis ; and insanity is only modified by the peculiar constitution and incidental experiences of the individual. It is equally true that Sleep is intrinsically the same state, whether occurring from natural causes or as the result of artificial expedients. If there are satisfactory illustrations of our philosophy in PSYCHOLOGICAL MYSTERIES OF SLEEP. 325 tlie physiological phenomena of Sleep, we may find others not less convincing in the coincident operations of the mind. At times the mind travels amongst a multitude of obscure and grotesque images ; its impressions being all indefinite, and its vagaries numerous, wild and improbable. While the mind thus wanders along the dim confines of our conscious existence — surrounded by a phantom creation — the Imagina- tion may be intensely active whilst Reason reposes or be- comes unreliable. This is obviously true in respect to the psychical phenomena developed in ordinary sleep ; and the mental processes of the magnetic sleeper are neither more nor less than a kind of dreaming. But while dreams are often confused, disjointed and meaningless, they are some- times orderly, connected, and deeply significant.^ If in the magnetic slumber the mind occasionally exhibits amazing powers, and important disclosures are made, it is no less apparent that dreams are in some instances prophetic, or are otlierwise rendered the vehicles of important informa- tion. It may also be observed that the vision of the Som- nambulist and the Clairvoyance developed in a state of mag- netic coma, are essentially the same, and may be equally clear and reliable. Moreover, the mind may be constantly active in sleep, though our inward experiences leave no traces in the walk- ing memory, A large proportion of our dreams doubtless consist of the irregular exercises of certain faculties, in a ^ The suggestions made to the mind in sleep were carefully studied by the Ancients, It is stated on the authority of Cicero that a dream of Ce- cilia, daughter of Barbaricus, elicited a decree of the Senate , and accord- ing to Plutarch, a grandson of Aristides made the interpretation of dreams a profession, from which he realized his wealth. 326 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. state of incomplete slumber ; at tlie same time the organic functions of other faculties are temporarily suspended, and the avenues of sensatioii imperfectly closed. Such dreams may originate in the existing states of the system ; also from the position of the body, or from its relations to the elements, objects and forces of the visible and invisible worlds. Any condition, object or circumstance, that either obstructs respiration, or serves to attract the circulation to a particular part of the body, may — by its influence in the distribution of the animal fluids — develop certain psycholog- ical phenomena. Sleeping with a tight cravat might cause a person to dream of hanging himself, or of being strangled in some other way ; and the additional weight of two or three extra quilts might very naturally cause the sleeper to dream of bearing some heavy burden. ^ Some time since the writer, having retired at a late hour, without opening a window of the apartment occupied, dreamed — in the course of the night— of being partially suf- focated in the confined atmosphere of a tomb. In this case it is obvious that the want of proper ventilation and a free respiration, produced the dream ; and — by a law of associa- tion-supplied the scene, and the particular images that ac- companied the mental proceedure.^ When two or more persons are in electro-psychological rapport — established by direct physical contact — the circu- 1 The late Dr. Gregory, of Scotland, having one night retired with a bottle of hot water at his feet, dreamed that he was ascending Mount Etna, and that the intense heat of the ground rendered his journey unpleasant and painful. Dreams of the Inquisition have originated in a paroxyism of gout and Macnish mentions the case of a person who was inspired by a blister on his head, and dreamed that he was scalped by a party of Indians. PSYCHOLOGICAL MYSTERIES OF SLEEP. 327 latiou in botli will tend toward the points oi conjunction, agreeably to a natural and irrOsistible law. This will be made apparent ny simply holding the hand of another per- son. If the hand be cold when the connection is established, it soon becomes warm. The positive and negative, condi- tions and relations of bodies thus conjoined, cause an imme- diate determination of the electrical currents toward the more negative portions of the vital circuit, and such a mu- tual attraction of the elements of the circulation that the blood vessels become distended, and the color of the skin clearly indicates increased vascular action. Moreover, what- ever changes the determination of the nervous currents, or otherwise influences sensation, is liable to produce various pLsychological effects. The several processes of secretion, and the predominance , of certain faculties, affections and passions, operate as imme- diate causes in the production of many dreams and visions. * Uncover the sleeper in a frosty night and he may dream of being cold, and his sensations will be quite likely to suggest I to the mind the desolate scenes of winter. Hydrocephalus may cause one to dream of water, or of drowning ; while inflammation of the brain would as naturally — through a sensation of intense heat — produce the congruous images of fire and its effects- The excessive accumulation of water in the bladder will cause young children to dream, and the reaction of the mind on the organs of the body often pro- duces involuntary relief. During the period of lactation mothers are liable to dream of nursing their children ; and dreams of offspring frequently accompany the later stages of utero-gestation. These, by their vivid semblance of real- 328 MAN AND ms RELATIONS. ity, inspire the mind of the fair sleeper with all that tender solicitude and intense pleasure which naturally belong to maternity. The mind of the hero — even when he sleeps — may be peopled with the images of war — of long marches, of bloody battle-fields and brilliant victories ; whilst the man of great reverence dreams of consecrated places and solemn assemblies ; of devotional feelings and religious ceremonies. The most active faculties and the strongest impulses gen- erally influence and frequently determine the operations of the mind in sleep. A person in whom the sexual passion and the imagination are equally active and strong,' will be very likely to dream of Love and its ideal forms and actual concomitants. In such a case, slight pressure on the procre- ative organs, by attracting the vital, electric forces, may produce aphrodisiacal effects, while the physical orgasm in- evitably projects analogous images before the mind. The sleeper finds forbidden pleasures in some enchanted bower ; or, in his amatory expeditions, ‘‘ He capers nimbly in some lady’s chamber, To the lascivious pleasing of a' lute.” The virtuous lover as naturally dreams of the altar and the ceremouial — of the domestic fireside and the bridal couch — of Love’s silent ecstacy and the bliss of sweet repose, where peaceful ‘‘ Sleep is on velvet eyelids lightly pressed, And dreamy sights upheave the spotless breast.” The relation of the physical to the mental processes, in the illustrations already cited, must be clearly perceived by any person of ordinary capacity, and it may be further illus- trated by a variety of experiments. The sense of hearing PSYCHOLOGICAL MYSTERIES OF SLEEP. 329 generally continues in operation some time after tlie appro- priate functions of the other organs of sensation are sus- pended. The sleeper may hear imperfectly, and even an- swer if directly addressed, when he no longer possesses his normal consciousness. Whispering in the ear at this stage of mental introversion will often excite the faculties ; and while the sensorial impressions may be wholly forgotten, the operations of the mind may be distinctly remembered. Pressing a finger on or over any particular organ or portion of the brain, will attract the nervous circulation to that part ; and this convergence of the electrical forces will ne- cessarily increase the cerebral action, and the functions of the organs may be involuntarily performed. Such experi- ments belong to what has been denominated Plireno-mag- netism; and though they have— with rare exceptions — been confined to subjects in the magnetic sleep, they may be equally successful at the proper stage of a natural slumber. An interesting and authentic illustration of this sensorial susceptibility, and its relations to the psychological phenom- ena of sleep, is furnished by Dr. Gregory. An officer en- gaged in the expedition to Louisburgh, in 1685^ exhibited while asleep, a remarkable degree of mental impressibility through the auditory nerve. He was the unconscious sub- ject of many experiments which greatl}! amused his compan- ions. They could readily inspire a dream by whispering in his ear. On one occasion they involved him in a quarrel, going through with all the details, including the prelimina- ries for a hostile meeting. When, at length, his imaginary antagonist was supposed to be present, and ready for the mortal contest, a loaded pistol was placed in the hands of 330 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. the sleeper, which he promptly discharged, and was awak- ened by the report. On another occasion, while he was sleeping on a locker in the cabin, some one of his companions caused him to dream of falling overboard. He was told that a shark was after him, and urged to swim for his life. He instantly obeyed the suggestion, striking out with such vehemence as to throw himself from the locker on to the floor of the cabin. After the landing of the army at Louisburgh, his friends \ finding him asleep one day in his tent, amused themselves again at his expense. At first they annoyed the officer by fiercely cannonading his position. When his apprehensions were awakened, he manifested a desire to run. They re- monstrated against a precipitate retreat, but still played upon his fears, by representing the shouts of the enemy and the groans of his dying friends. At length he was told that the man at his side had fallen, whereupon he instantly jumped up and rushed out, stumbling over the tent-ropes in his violent effort to escape. Notwithstanding our dreams are often wholly incompati- ble with the ideas we are accustomed to entertain when awake, still in many instances they appear to be determined or strongly influenced by our established opinions and hab- its of thought. Especially those who have firm convictions — in whom the force of education and tlie normal action of the mind are intense and strong — are liable to be so influ- enced. We sometimes dream of contending earnestly for our most cherished principles and ideas. If tlie man of un- yielding virtue is exposed to great temptations in his dreams, the expression of his feelings may be governed by a nic^ PSYCHOLOGICAL MYSTERIES OF SLEEP. 331 sense of propriety, and liis ideal acts be in consonance with the sober dictates of reason and conscience. On the con- trary, the man of weak resolution and lose liabits is not likely to es’en dream of resisting temptation.’ Forms and substances on which others have left the sub- tile emanations from their bodies, are not unfrequently in- strumental in determining the operations of tlie mind in sleep. In another part of this treatise the reader’s attention has been called to several convincing illustrations of the fact, that an impalpable effluence proceeds from the mind and body, and that it pervades all objects that we have han- dled and every expression of our thoughts. This may be denominated psychometric dreaming. The illustrations of this class are very curious and suggestive. Through these emanations persons sleeping in the same bed, especially if they touch each other, are liable to have a commerce of ideas, or similar dreams, and occasionally the operations of two minds, thus related, have been identical both in fact and time. Of this general class of dreams two illustrative ex- amples may be sufficient. The following singular case of psychometric dreaming is stated on the authority of a respectable physician who re- sides in Brooklyn, ^ew York. In the winter of 18 — a fatal accident occurred on the Schuylkill river, near Philadelphia. 1 The inflaence of scientific pursuits and established ideas on the mind in sleep, is illuslTated by a humorous anecdote that is related of Cuvier. The great naturalist dreamed one night that the devil came to him in form as he is represented in the popular superstition, and threatened to eat him up. Cuvier calmly surveyed the strange cloven-footed beast from head to foot, and then exclaimed, “ You, eat me ! Homs ! Hoofs ! — Graminivorous ! I am not afraid of you.” 21 332 MAN AND HIS R ILLATIONS. To vary the amusements of the multitude that daily went to the River for exercise and recreation, a post had been set up through the ice. Attached by a pivot and a socket to the upper end of the perpendicular post was a horizontal revolving shaft, to the opposite end of which a large sled was fastened by a rope. The shaft could be made to rotate so that the persons on the sled were moved round in a circle, and with great rapidity. One day, while a negro occupied the sled, it was made to revolve with such velocity that he was hurled headlong from his seat by the centrifugal force against fragments of ice — abruptly piled up by the currents — and instantly killed ! Among the persons who witnessed the accident was a physician who, the same evening, had occasion to prepare some pills for a lady of very delicate organization, and withal exquisitely susceptible of the magnetic influence. Several persons were in his office while he was employed in compounding the medicine, to whom he related all the cir- cumstances of the accident on the river ; at the same time he was shaping the pills in his fingers. The Doctor sent the pills to his patient, who took them on retiring for the night. The lady had no knowledge of the accident, but on falling asleep, had 3n unusually vivid dream, which slie related on the following morning. She was on the ice, and in the midst of a great company of persons, who were amusing themselves on skates, and otherwise. In tlie crowd she ob- served a negro seating himself on tlie revolving sled ; and she declared that he was instantly killed by being thrown with great violence against a cake of ice. The philosopliical mind will not be tlie first to dispute PSYCHOLOGICAL MYSTERIES OF SLEEP. 333 this curious fact. It is well known that the processes of vegetable and animal chemistry develop new properties in matter and prepare the simple elements for superior func- tions and uses. The more frequently they are made to as- sume organic forms and relations the more sublimated they become, and the higher is the degree of their manifest vital- ity. It is also to be observed that the triturations and chemical combinations of the laboratory greatly modify the substances employed in our Materia Medica. Moreover, it is manifest to the critical observer, that the operation of any remedial agent is liable to be influenced by the manipula- tions of the person who prepares and administers the same, and that, too, in a degree that far transcends the conception of the ordinary practitioner. A glass of water from th^ hand of a skillful magnetiser may operate on a sensitive per- son, either as an emetic, cathartic, tonic or soporific. In a similar manner we are liable to modify — whether consciously or otherwise — the active properties of matter and the condi- tions of all the forms of sentient existence with which we may chance to sustain intimate relations. If the mercury marks every change in the temperature, and tlie needle of a delicate electrometer is moved by the slightest galvanic cur- rent, why may not the mind feel the action of mental forces, when a suitable connecting medium is placed in direct con- tact with the most delicate nerves of sensation ? On one occasion, having at a late hour received a written message from a near relative, for whom I cherished a very strong and tender attachment, I retired with the open letter in my hand. I soon fell asleep and had a dream, in which that person was most strikingly portrayed and extremelj’’ 334 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. active. On waking I felt assured that there was some sub- tile connecting agent between the letter and the dream. I was still in physical contact with the paper, and my knowl- edge of the dynamics of mysterious agents appeared to jus- tify the conclusion, that the impalpable emanations from the mind of my correspondent — imparted to me through the medium of his letter — had suggested or inspired the concur- rent operations of my own mind. Desiring to render the experiment as conclusive as the nature of the case would admit, I placed the open sheet on the pillow, and resting my head on the same, once more fell asleep arid again dreamed of the author of the communication, who appeared with sucli preternatural vividness as to awaken a deep sense of the reality of his presence. The mind wanders in sleep, and by a mysterious power of cognition often perceives distant objects and occurren- ces, or discovers its lost treasures and absent friends. An object that we have once possessed — if mislaid, lost or stolen — is far more likely to be found, by the clairvoyant' or the ordinary dreamer, than one that has never been in our hands. We establish a kind of magnetic rapport with every- thing we touch, and that serves to connect the mind with the object. By a kind of instinct the dreamer sometimes traces the obscure connections between himself and his lost possessions, or, in obedience to a species of spiritual gravi- tation, he may find the remote but well-rernernbered objects of his love. A case of truthful dreaming, involving tlie recovery of a treasure, was originally published in the Los Angelos Star, in the Spring of 1854. Colonel Reese and his train had, PSYCHOLOGICAL MYSTERIES OF SLEEP. 335 among other misfortunes, lost a considerable sum of money, but precisely how or where could not be determined by any member of his party. On arriving at San Bernardino, Col. R. had a dream, in which the locality of the money was so vividly impressed on his mind, that he resolved to go back and find it. Some days after, Reese and his company re- turned to San Bernardino, having visited the spot indicated in the Colonel’s dream, where they found the entire sum of money in a buckskin bag. Some years since the Highland Eagle of Westchester County, New York, published the fact that Mr. Dykeman, Deputy Sheriff of Putnam County, had made a singular dis- covery in a dream. It was stated that George F. Sherman, of Cold Spring, had lost his pocket-book, containing three hundred and seventy-two dollars. On the night following the Deputy Sheriff dreamed that a clerk by the name of McNary had the money. Unable to resist the suspicion excited in his mind, Mr. Dykeman arrested McNary, who thereupon made a confession, and restored over three hun- dred dollars of the money, which he had concealed in places indicated in the dream. General Stephen Rowe Bradley, formerly of Westmin- ster, Vermont, a distinguished lawyer, and Senator in Con- gress from that State, being absent from home at a distance of one hundred miles, dreamed that his son was drowned. The General was a man of firm nerves and rational judg- ment, and not at all likely to be influenced by superstitious notions ; but so intense and profound was the impression made on his mind, that he immediately started for home. On his arrival he found the funeral procession just leaving 336 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. the house, bearing to the grave what was mortal of his son. In this part of my classification I will only offer one addi- tional example. The following account of a remarkable case of reliable dreaming, comprehending all the particulars of a tragic scene that was enacted in California, on the 6th of December, 1854, originally appeared in tlie editorial columns of the Cincinnati Times. The subject of this singular expe- rience was a young married lady in that city — wife of a merchant doing business on Main street — and it should be observed that her dream and the actual occurrence were simultaneous : She dreamed of seeing her brother, who in 1852 left home to brave the hardships of a life in California, that he might secure a competence for him- self and his sister, She saw him rise from a bed, in a small hut-like tene- ment, and running his hand under the pillow, draw from thence a revolver and a huge bowie-knife, both of which he placed in a belt that encircled his body. The time was not far from midnight, for the embers were yet smok- ing on the rude hearth 5 and as they cast their lurid glare over his counte- nance, she thought that perhaps it was all a dream 5 but then she concluded that no dream could be so real, and became convinced that all was actual. While she gazed on his countenance, the expression suddenly changed — It betrayed an intense watchfulness ; all motion seemed suspended, and every heart throb muffled, while the eye was fixed on a particular spot near ^ the head of the bed, where — through a small aperture not noticed before — a / 1 (f ‘ human hand was visible, grasping a short, keen instrument, looking terribly like a dagger. It apparently sought the head of the bed, for as it touched the pillow it passed slowly down to about the supposed region of the heart, . and poised for a second, as if to make sure its aim. That second was suffi- cient for the brother to rise noiselessly from his seat, draw his bowie-knife from his belt, and advance a single step toward the bed. Just as the dagger descended into the blankets, the knife of the brother came down like a meat-axe, close to the aperture, completely severing the hand of the would- be assassin above the wrist, and causing the dagger and limb to fall on the bed, trophies of his victory. A deep, prolonged yell sounded from without, and on rushing to the aperture and convincing himself that there was but one, the brother unbolted the door and stepped out The moon was shining, and by its light was discovered a man writhing as if in the last agonies. The miner drew the body to the door, and turning his face to the fire, PSYCHOLOGICAL MYSTERIES OF SLEEP. 337 boliekl the visage of a Mexican who, for Fome fanc’ed injury, had sworn to never rest content until he had taken his (the brother’s) life. On examining the man closely, he was discovered to have a wound near the heart, which a long, sharp, two-edged blade in his left band abundantly accounted for. Failing in the attempt to assassinate his intended victim, he had, with his only remaining hand, driven another knife to his own heart. The lady awoke, and, vividly impressed with the dreani, related its substance to her husband, as it is hare recorded. Judge, then, of their surprise when, not long afci r, they received a letter from their brother in California (by the North Star), relating an adventure that occurred on the night of the sixth of D 'cember, corresponding in all its particulars with the scene witnessed by the lady in her dream. The foresToino: illustrations clearly indicate that the soul is not necessarily confined by its corporeal restraints to any specific locality ; but that it is free to traverse the world, and tliat distance can oppose no obstacle to its free commu- nion witli all kindred natures. The facts of this class are very numerous, but it is unnecessary to multiply examples. In the hours of sleep we often visit distant places, and the scenes that pass before the inward vision have at once the semblance and the substance of reality. Indeed, in some essential sense, the soul Imves the body, and makes excur- sions into remote regions ; and in many cases our dreams, no less than the mental impressions of our waking life, are found to be faithful representations of actual circumstances and events. Many dreams are doubtless to be attributed to the con- tinued activity of a particular class of faculties, after the action of others has been temporarily suspended by sleep. All allegorical dreams and visions may be — perhaps gene- rally — embraced in this category. If we suppose Ideality and Comparison to be unusually large, and the moi'al and perceptive faculties of the sleeper to be extremely active, 338 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. it may not be difficult to account for many allegorical repre- sentations in dreams. It is well known that the dominant faculties are the last to yield to the magnetism of sleep. In such an organization as I have supposed, the imagination, or creative power of tlie mind, being still awake, continues to form its images in the cerebral camera, and those images, by the cooperation of the moral sentiments, are made to assume relations to certain ideas, principles, ‘objects and events. By a law of nature and our moral constitution, we associate particular qualities and characteristics with cer- tain forms, and those forms often become the universally recognized symbols of moral and other qualities. By com- mon consent deception is represented by the sei-pent, fidelity by the dog, innocence by the lamb, and peace by the dove. We also recognize similar relations of particular ideas and individual attributes to inanimate objects and their uses. The strong mind that demolishes the theories and systems of ages may be likened to a battering ram ; a clumsy critic, or a stupid, careless fellow, is called a blunderbus ; whilst a rapier is the polished and pointed symbol of caustic wit and pungent satire. The mind of the sleeper may continue to recognize these relations of special qualities and abstract ideas to specific forms and individual characters, and hence the development of tliis class of dreams. Tliree illustrative examples will suffice in this connection. A friend, who is a critical and able writer, liaving been vehemently opposed and falsely accused by certain jiarties — who were too ignorant and groveling to either compreliend his principles or to appreciate his character — retired one evening after reviewing the conduct of his cneinios, and PSYCHOLOGICAL MYSTERIES OF SLEEP. ^^9 dreamed that while traveling in a barren and sandy region he suddenly encountered a serpent. The reptile was large, black, and seemingly venomous. The dreamer finding him- self armed with a long whip, proceeded to lash the snake about the head, which caused the most violent and painful contortions, while the monster vainly attempted to escape. Occasionally the serpent would bury his head in the sand to protect it from the lash ; but the dust blinded him, while his whole form writhed beneath the blows of the assailant. On another occasion the same gentleman, having com- pleted a just but severe and scathing review of a certain secular journal, folded the paper and laid it on the table. The same evening a lady of remarkable psychological sus- ceptibility — in whose mind ideas were commonly repre- sented by appropriate symbols — called on the reviewer, in company with several other persons. This lady had no knoftdedge of the particular business that had occupied my friend during the day. In the course of the evening, while reposing in an easy chair, she became somniloquent and de- dared that she saw a glittering two-edged sword, drawn by a strong hand from its scabbard and placed on the identical table at which the reviewer had performed his task, and whereon he had left his manuscript. The remaining example is selected from the writer’s per- sonal experience. Some time before the commencement of the Italian Revolution under Garibaldi, I was on one occa- sion seated in my room, and in meditation on the affairs of Europe, when I fell asleep. A brief interval of oblivious repose was succeeded by a state of inward waking and a significant dream or vision The time was early morning. 340 MAN AxND HIS RELATIONS. ] was standing on high ground, commanding an extended view of the surrounding country. On every side objects of classic beauty and impressive emblems of decay were visible in the gray twilight, while over ail reigned the silence of death. Moreover, there was a strange glory diffused over the heavens, irradiating the mountain-tops, while darkness yet vailed the plains and valleys and every object beneath. . "Suddenly a strong man appeared standing on an eminence before me. His countenance was highly illuminated as if the first rays of a rising sun had fallen like a golden bap- tism on his head. Majestic in form, and with a bearing more than kingly, he at once inspired me with profound re- spect and admiration. At first his right hand was on his left breast, and concealed beneath the folds of his mantle. But at length he drew from his bosom a great Lens which was made to revolve at the slightest suggestion of his will, and to assume every conceivable position with respect to the light and the objects to be illuminated. I was informed that the strong man was G-aribaldi, and that the great mov- ing Lens in his right hand was Revolution ! As the Lens revolved the concentrated rays shot arrow-like through the shades below, discovering in their course the forms of noble men chained and prostrate. But as rapidly as the light was diffused among them, their ehains fell asunder like untwisted flax when it is touched by a burning brand. The number of the disenthralled increased every moment until a vast multi- tude stood erect and rejoicing in. their recovered freedom. Again the Lens revolved, and the burning shaft fell in thick darkness, revealing a form clothed in faded and lilthy robes, and surrounded by the shattered symbols of regal PSYCHOLOGICAL MYSTERIES OP SLEEP. 341 authority. The form was wasted ; the tissues seemed to be shriveled, and the fluids dissipated, as if by the action of internal fires. The lips were compressed but tremulous, wliile the expression of the eye was restless and malignant. The \isage revealed no trace of human sympatliy. A dingy crown encircled the brow and the right hand grasped a broken scepter. I was made to know that this figure was the embodied representation of the existing political and spiritual despotisms. At length the scorching rays were brought to a focus on the scepter, which ignited and con- sumed away, the ashes falling over the palsied hand. From his elevated situation the Genius of Revolution calmly witnessed tlie spectacle. Once more the Lens moved in his hand, and as the consuming rays played over the blackened and blasted brow, the crown was fused and ran down the furrowed face like a scalding and bloody sweat. The form was now fearfully convulsed ; the throne crumbled at its base, and a frightful spasm seized the solid ground on which I was standing. The shock was powerful and diverted my attention for an instant. Recovering from my surprise, I looked again, but the smitten form and brokefi^; symbols of despotic authority were visible no more. The earth had closed over them \^J ^ Of this class was the significant dream of the great Athenian philoso- pher. On the night before he took the deleterious hemlock he slept calmly, and in the morning, being attended by his chief disciples, he described his vision in this simple and touching language. Socrates proceeded : I saw a beautiful youth come in to me. On his countenance were that still composure, and calm sobriety, which belong to the form divine. In his right hand he bore a burning torch, and a reddish glow, like that of eve- ning, was diffused over the darkness of my prison. The godlike youth gradually let down the torch ; but I seized his arm, as it seemed to me, and exclaimed : What are you going to do ? He re- 342 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. A complete classification would include other important psychological phenomena developed in sleep. Dreams that have led to discoveries in the Mechanic Arts, and such as have resulted in contributions to popular literature, will furnish the subject of the succeeding Chapter ; while the writer’s suggestions respecting prophetic dreaming will be presented in the elucidation of the Law of Prophecy. I am admonished that there are yet other dreams — ^of deep and peculiar import — that admit of no rational explanation on any principles, either comprehended by the common mind or recognized in the systems of material philosophy. “ Powers there are Tliat touch each other to the quick, in modes Whicli the gross world no sense hath to perceive, No soul to dream of The most subtile forces in Nature and the great powers of the moral world are seldom appreciated. While they are irresistible, they operate so silently that they elude the ordinary observer. Indeed, they are frequently quite orev- looked by authors of acknowledged erudition. Dr. John William Draper, in his late work, while referring to the sources of Cerebral action and mental impressions in sleep, does not appear to recognize the presence of any forces, or plied : “ I am extinguishing the torch !” Oh ! I entreat, do it not! It is to me a friendly light in the darkness of my prison. He smiled and said : It is the torch of the earthly life. Thou hast no further need of it. Por as soon as it is extinguished thine earthly eyes close forever, and thou sparest aloft to a higher world, where a pure and heavenly light beams around thee. Of what use to thee any longer is the self-con- suming earthly torch ? The flame was quenched ; and the philosopher, with a serene spirit awoke to find himself overshadowed by the gloom of his prison. Just then the door was opened, and Socrates welcomed the youth who boro the cup which was to extinguish the torch of Ufe. PSYCHOLOGICAL MYSTERIES OF SLEEP. 343 the active iiifliierice of any agents, except such as belong to the material creation. In the intellectual operations of the sleeper he finds little more than the fantastic creations of the unrestrained or distempered imagination, and the incon- gruous association of sensorial images, originally derived from the objects of the external world. I extract the fol- lowing from the author’s “ History of the Intellectual Devel- opment of Europe In the brain of man, impressions of whatever he has seen or heard, of whatever has been made manifest to him by his other senses, nay, even the vestiges of his former Ihouglits, are stored up. These traces are most vivid at first, but by degrees they decline in force, though they never probably completely die out. During our waking hours, while we are perpetually receiving new impressions from things that surround us, such vestiges ai’e overpowered, and can not attract the attention of the mind. But in the period of sleep, when external influences cease, they present themselves to our regard, and the mind, submitting to the delusion, groups them into the fantastic forms of dreams. By the use of opium and other drugs which can blunt our sensibility to passing events, these phantoms may be made to emerge. They also offer themselves in the delirium of fevers and in the hour of death. It is immaterial in what manner or by what agency our susceptibility to the impressions of surrounding objects is benumbed, whether by drugs or sleep, or disease, as soon as their force is no greater than that of forms already registered in the brain, these last will emerge before us, and dreams and apparitions are the result. So liable is the mind to practice deception on itself, that with the utmost difficulty it is aware of the delusion. (Pp. 317 - 18 .) The learned author looks among the phenomena of sleep for some shadowy suggestions of the life to come ; but only finds in dreams and “ visions of the night,” “ Combinations of disjointed things, And forms impalpable Whilst admitting the realities of another world, his dis- tant fellowship for the celestial authorities does not permit 344 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. of diplomatic relations or the commerce of ideas. The in- visible/ inspiring agents of the human race, very generally recognized in the past, by Pagans, Jews, Mohammedans and Christians, may have been mere phantoms and hallucina- tions. If the dmmon of Socrates was not his own “ con- science, we must infer that he labored under a mental malady.’’^ In the interest of popular materialism it is thus presumed, that the noblest man and the most celebrated philosopher of antiquity, was so diseased in mind that he could not distinguish the promptings of his own moral nature from the foreign influence and distinct personality of another. In consonance with such views it is but natural that Professor Draper should regard many profound reli- gious experiences as idle vagaries or strong delusions. Medical authors, and all whose, investigations are limited ! to their inquiry into the laws and operations of physical nature, are liable to become faithless. They are prone to lose siglit of the obvious fact, that the human mind exists, at ' all times, in the midst of a vast realm, every part of which is pervaded by mental and moral forces, and peopled by the invisible ministers of the Omnipresent One. These being inseparable from the sphere of the soubs existence, now and hereafter, it follows that they all influence the mind as na- turally and inevitably as the body is acted on by material forms and physical forces. Immersed in this mental deep, as in one fathomless and shoreless sea, the mind is never beyond the influence of silent forces and inspiring agents adapted to excite the faculties. Those secret forces touch 1 See History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, (p. 110.) PSYCHOLOGICAL MYSTERIES OF SLEEP. 345 tlie liiddcn springs of our common nature, and gentle lieings move around us, ‘‘ With feet that make no sound upon the floors.” Sleep half unbars the portals of' that realm of mystery. At death the soul enters and leaves the door ajar, when those wlio are near catch glimpses of the life that is to be. The mind brings back some precious tokens of divine ideas and visitations, and we feel that we are haunted as by some living presence. Nature inspires the soul through the sense. The low notes of the forest bird; the faint echoes of distant water-falls ; the voices of children in the vespers ; the soft murmurs of the shells along the strand, and the tremulous accents of first love — these, indeed, are all sweetly solemn and strangely pleasing. But Genius and Nature offer no suggestions that are more significant and beautiful than such as come to the innocent in Sleep. “ Such is the country, over whose existence The brooding shades of mortal doubt are cast ; Such is the realm that, dim with night and distance, Lies unexplored and vast. “ But when the Morning comes the spell is broken, ^ And like a dream the wondrous record seems ; And memory holds the solitary token Of the dim land of dreams.” CHAPTER XXVIII. INSPIRATIONS OF THE NIGHT. The Mental Faculties in Sleep — Illustrations of their concentrated and or- derly action — Curious Discoveries in Dream-Land — Cases of Mary Lyall and Cornelius Broomer — Experiences of De Quincey and Macnish — A rapid Voyage to India — An hour among the Pyramids of the Nile — Me- chanical Inventions — Experiences of Dr. Franklin and Professor Gregory — Sermonizing in Sleep — A Legal Opinion by a Dreamer — Production of a Parody on Piron — Schonemann’s Improvisations — Fragments from the Temple of the Muses — Tartini and the Devil’s Sonata — Philosophical Sug- gestions and Conclusion. “ Pay rules the sensuous mind, But Night the fettered spirit doth unbind. And through the silver palace-gates of Ijight, In dream and trance, she leads the soul away To the wide landi-capes of the inner Day ” — Harris. M ental faculties, not less than physical forces, may be strengthened by concentration. To produce tlie most decisive results they must be withdrawn from the wide realm of outward observation and thought, and directed in a single channel and to a particular subject. When tlie mind is oc- cupied with many tilings at the same time, its forces are of necessity widely diffused ; and this dissipation of the mental energies renders their action feeble ; at the same time great ideas and living thoughts are conceived, individualized, and illuminated in the foci of the mind. Whatever, therefore, serves to concentrate the faculties and give them a specific INSPIRATIOXS OF THE NIGHT. 347 direction, also intensifies tlieir action, and tluis renders the forms of their outward expression — whether in the parts of speech or the works of art — more forcible and complete. This mental concentration is very liable to occur in sleep, when only a part of tlie faculties find repose, and our slum- bers are But a contiiiuauce of enduring thought.” The more active powers of the mind are especially liable to be thus wakeful, while the others may be entirely inactive. Moreover, their operations are frequently direct, forcible and orderly in an eminent degree. This- convergence of mental forces has developed some surprising results, and the subject might be illustrated by striking examples derived from the experience of many persons. Men of genius are occasionally inspired in dreams, and original conceptions take form before the inward vision, or they may be embod- ied in appi'opriate language and imagery. Several literary compositions; also works belonging to the departments of Mechanical Invention and the Elegant Arts, have surely originated in this way, without any previous thought or conscious effort on the part of the sleeper. ^ • When the_ external avenues of sensation are closed', and the mind is measurably released from corporeal restraints, it readily associates with the homogeneous elements in all things. If, in the waking condition, it holds direct relations to external objects and physical phenomena, it may, in sleep, be no less intimately associated with their interior princi- ples and essential laws. Thus our dual nature and corres- ponding two-fold life alternately bring us, in some manner, into correspondence with the visible and invisible realms of 22 348 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. being. The periodical introversion of tlie faculties, which occurs at night — in the seasons of slumber — and the sha- dowy suggestions of our microcosrnical existence, all point to a sphere of inward realities ; and they lead the rational soul to the contemplation of a far more glorious World than the great Macrocosm that stands revealed to our organic perceptions in the clear light of day. A dream consists of an indefinite succession of thoughts, occurring in immediate connection, and during the hours of sleep ; tliough we very naturally limit the application of the term to such acts or operations of the mind as accupy a place and preserve their relations in the waking memory. A vision is a dream in which the sense of sight is excited by the mind’s action, or otherwise by subjective causes ; so ' that, by its cooperation, it embodies and represents the im- ages of whatever is comprehended in the mental conception and process. In sleep the soul may wander abroad, free from the physical restraints it is accustomed to recognize in the waking life ; and the occurrence of circumstances and events which Reason would regard as utterly impossible, seldom excite the least as.tonishment in the mind of the dreamer. Time and space are annihilated, and remote per- iods and distant objects appear to bo present. If one could sleep for months or years, without interruption, he would not, on waking, be able to form any proper conception of the lapse of time. The facts that illustrate the particular theme of this Chapter are curious and diversified. Mary Lyall slepty/i’c ti'ceks, and on being restored to a state of normal conscious- ness, supposed that her profound slumber had been limited'. INSPIRATIONS OF THE NIGHT. 340 to a single night.' The case of Cornelius Broomer, son of a farmer in Genesee County, N". Y., was still more remark- able. He fell into a cataleptic sleep, which continued — with occasional interruptions at irregular intervals — during a period of several years. When his normal consciousness and the voluntary functions of his body were restored, after an uninterrupted slumber of four months, he had no con- ception of the lapse of time. The fact that we often make long and laborious journeys in one hour, and have a con- scious experience, varied by all the thrilling realities of pleasure and pain — apparently requiring several days or weeks for the accomplishment of the whole train of events —is not less significant in its bearing on this point. In sleep, all our ideas respecting the relations of events and objects to the circumstances of time and space, are ut- terly disregarded. 2 He Quincey saw objects immensely en- larged and otherwise exaggerated in his dreams. Estimat- ing time by the number of sensorial changes or mental im- pressions, and the vastness of his experience while under the influence of opium, he occasionally felt that he had lived a century between sunset and dawn. Dr. Abercrombie refers to a friend who, in a dream, crossed the Atlantic and spent tivo iveeks in America. On reembarking he accidentally fell into the sea, when he awoke and found that he had only been in bed ten minutes ! Macnish, in his work on Sleep, assures us that he made a voyage to India, spending several ^ For au authentic statement of this case, the reader is referred to the Eighth Volume of the “ Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.’’ 2 The involuntary character of our dreams led Mr. Baxter to ascribe them to the immediate presence and direct influence of separate spirits . — DitgaLd Stewart’s “ Fkilosophy of the Human MineV’ — p. 293. 350 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. days in Calcutta ; that he subsequently continued his jour- ney to Egypt, visiting the cataracts and pyramids of the Nile ; and, moreover, that he had confidential interviews with Mehemet Ali, Cleopatra and Saladin, The whole of this remarkable experience — though it appeared to the dreamer to extend through a period of many months, may possibly have occupied a single hour. These facts plainly indicate that the mind, in sleep, sustains no arbitrary or fixed relations, either to time or space ; and hence, in at- tempting to solve the problem involved in such dreams, we must not conceive of the faculties of the mind as being sub- ject to mundane laws and limitations. A distinguished inventor informed the writer that all his discoveries — involving the application of mechanical laws to the construction of machinery — were made in dreams. An- other mechanic, whose business it was to exercise a constant supervision over the machinery of a large factory, was at one time annoyed by the irregular motion of a machine used in shearing cloth. Several pieces of goods were damaged ; and yet, after repeated examinations of every part of the machine — separately and in the relations of each to the whole — lie could discover no cause for the irregularity of the movement. After spending three or four days in fruit- less attempts to detect the cause of tlie miscliief, lie one night retired, discouraged and mortified in view of his seeming in- ability to discharge the duties of tlie place assigned him. In the course of the night he had a dream that disclosed tlie whole secret, and on the following morning he was enabled to obviate the difficulty in fifteen minutes I' 1 The Courier de V Europe mentions the fiict that Coelius RhodizLnus, when INSPIRATIONS OP THE NIGHT. 351 The facts in the case of a little girl — who displayed re- markable originality and skill in embroidery — were recently communicated to the writer. She obtained all her patterns while asleep. The designs were various, unique and beauti- ful, and their execution remarkably perfect. Moreover, the mother of the child confirmed the statement that they were drawn from archetypal forms or images presented to the mind and impressed on the memory in dreams.' A correspondent of the United States Gazette some time since gave an account of the manner in which the mode of making round shot was originally discovered. It is alleged that the mind of a plumber was long and severely exercised on the subject, but without his accomplishing any valuable practical result. One night he was suddenly awakened by a blow from his wife, who assured him that slie “ had found out how to make round shot.” She dreamed of going into a shop to purchase a hat for her child, and whilst there made the discovery. Hearing a hissing sound, which seemed to . proceed from an inner room, she inquired the cause, and was informed that they were making round shot. On look- ing up she saw a man pouring melted lead through a sieve from the top of the building, which fell into a tub of water laboring to correct the text of Pliny, which be is said to have obscured, was puzzled by a single word. He toiled a whole week in vain to ascertain the meaning. At length, wearied by his exertions, he fell asleep and ob- tained the solution in a dream. 1 Addison, in speaking of the inventive powers of the mind in sleep, says : “ There is not a more painful action of the mind than invention 5 yet in dreams it works with such ease and activity, that we are not sensible when the faculty is employed. For instance, I believe every one, some time or other, dreams that he is reading papers, books or letters ; in which case the invention prompts so readily, that the mind is imposed on, and mistakes its own suggestions for the composition of another.” 352 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. on the floor ; and on examination she found the tub con- tained shot that were perfectly round. At an early hour the next morning the plumber commenced his experiments by pouring the melted lead from the top of the stairs. The result satisfied him that the 'suggestions of his wife’s dream were highly important, and that he was about to accomplish his object. He then fused some lead and poured it from the top of the highest tower in the city, with still better results. Finally, he went to a mine in the neighborhood, and pouring the melted metal down a perpendicular shaft, he was de- lighted to find that he produced round shot.j Grave and profound questions have been mysteriously an- swered in the mind of the dreamer ; and the records of Psy- chology furnish illustrations of scientific instruction, legal wisdom and literary composition, resulting from the orderly exercises of the mind in sleep. It is alleged that Dr. Frank- lin obtained a solution, of certain political problems in his dreams, and that impending events were foreshadowed in a similar manner. The late Dr. Gregory, Professor of Elec- tricity and Chemistry in the University of Edinburgh, often obtained important ideas, scientific illustrations, and even particular forms of expf'ession in his dreams, which were subsequently used in his lectures, before the classes in the University, and in his published works.^ Abercrombie mentions the case of an eminent lawyer who ^ The late Rev. Menzes Rayner— formerly and for many years a re.-pected and able minister in the Episcopal and Universalist Churches — was on one occasion inspired with a complete sermon in a dream. In the morning the entire discourse was vividly impressed on his mind, and without any men- tal effort the mechanical labor of Transcription was speedily performed. Mr. R. assured the writer that he had preached that sermon in many places, and that it was everywhere regarded as one of his best efforts. INSPIRATIONS OF THE NIGHT. 353 belonged to a distinguislied family in Scotland. For seve- ral days he had been constantly occcupicd with a very in- tricate case of great importance. One night he left his bed and seating himself at a desk in his sleeping apartment, he commenced writing. His wife, who was a silent spectator of his movements, observed that he prepared a long paper which he deposited in the desk, and then returned to bed. The next morning he related to his wife what he remem- bered of his nocturnal experience. He dreamed of preparing a very lucid and masterly legal opinion in the case which had so engrossed and perplexed his mind, and lamented that he could not recover the train of thought, which had only left obscure images in his memory. His wife thereupon di- rected him to the desk, where he found his opinion written out in line style and with surpassing accuracy.^ The same author refers to a literary gentleman in Edinburgh, who, in a dream, composed a facetious parody on an epigram by Piron, which the latter had perpetrated at the expense of the French Academy. Yon Hennings also mentions the improvisations of Schonemann. He was but a poor poet when awake, but in a natural sleep often extemporized very fine verses, on themes furnished by his friends ; the manner of their utterance being deeply impressive. Schonemann’s poems never occupied a place in the waking memory of the ostensible author ; but they were in part preserved by an amanuensis, and are extant in the German language.^ Khubla Khan, by Coleridge, is an exquisite fragment of a dream. The poet being in ill health, had retired to a ^ “ Inquiries Concerning the Intellectual Powers.’^ etc. 2 See “ Dreams and Somnambulism,” p. 509. 354 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. quiet place not far from Devonshire. While under the in- fluence of an anodyne— which the nature of his indisposition had I'cndered necessary — his waking consciousness was gra- dually suspended, and in a tranquil siesta hfs brain gave a graceful form and becoming drapery to the beautiful con- ception. Macnish, in his “ Philosophy of Sleep, also men- tions the fact that Tartini, a celebrated violinist, once dreamed that the Devil came to him and challenged him to a trial of skill on his favorite instrument. The inspiration that immediately followed the proposal resulted in the pro- duction of his remarkable musical composition, entitled the DeviVs Sonata.^ Christabel is the poetic record of a vision. It is full of startling and beautiful images, while the very soul of music breathes in the masterly modulation of the verse. Retiring from the sphere of outward consciousness, and sinking gen- tly to rest, ‘‘ Lilie a pearl diver through the deep,” he brought up the treasure to the surface of his waking life. I The singular story respecting the origin of the Devil’s Sonata rests on the authority ot M. de Lande, chapel master to Louis XIV.— “ One night, in the year 1713, he dreamed he had made a compact with the devil, and bound him to liis service. In order to ascertain the musical abilities of his new associate, he gave him his violin, and desired Ijim, as the first proof of his obedience, to play him a solo ; which, to his great surprise, Satan exe- cuted with such surpassing svVeetness, and in so masterly a maimer, that, awaking in the ecstacy which it produced, he spran^r out of bed, and in- stantly seizing his instrument, endeavored to recall the delicious, fleeting sounds. Although not attended with the desired success, his efforts were yet so far effectual as to give rise to the piece since generally admired un- der the name of ‘ The Devil’s Sonata.’ Still the production was so inferior to that which he had lu-ard in his sleep, as to cause him to declare that, could he have procured subsistence in any other line, he should have broken his violin in despair, and renounced music forever.” INSPIRATIONS OF THE NIGHT. 855 It is said that lie awoke with the mysterious music of Chris- tabel in his soul, and with what appeared to be its recital rinfjino’ in his ear. Without intellectual effort he immedi- ately transcribed the first part of the poem from memory. The termination is abrupt, showing that the inspiration was suddenly suspended, or that only a part of the vision was recollected. Nor was the poet ever able to complete it in the style and spirit in which it was commenced. Indeed, he never completed it at all. In the language of another, “ it would have been almost as difficult to complete the Faery Queen, as to continue in the same spirit that witching strain of supernatural fancy and melodious verse.’’’ Christabel was one of the inspirations of the night — a broken but beau- tiful fragment from the inner temple of the Muses. It is worthy of remark that Coleridge comprehended in his faith and philosophy what appears so beautiful in the light of his poetic inspiration. '* Tiie massive gates of Paradise are thrown Wide open, and forth come, in fragments wild, Sweet echoes of unearthly melody, And odors snatched from beds of amaranth.” The faculties that exhibit the greatest activity will be the last to find repose. Hence the Mechanic dreamed of ma- chinery, and the Professor of the sciences to which he was chiefly devoted ; at the same time the Lawyer, the Poet and the Musician, each pursued a train of thought peculiar to himself, and clearly manifesting the association of ideas in sleep with the pursuits of our waking existence, and the continued normal action of the dominant faculties. More- i See Chamber’s Cyclopaedia of English Literature, p. 335. H56 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS* over, this psycho-physiological condition, like a state of voluntary abstraction, may render the powers that remain wakeful, unusually active and strong. This convergence of mental forces not only presents the particular subject in a strong light before the mental vision of the dreamer, but it may give to his conceptions sharp, bold outlines, and an in- tense expression. Whatever may serve to suspend the organic functions of a part of our faculties, is quite likely, by concentrating the mental energies, to augment other powers of the mind, giv- ing them at once a preternatural activity and a more forci- ble expression. This is one of the peculiarities of genius. Those who startle the world with the boldness and original- ity of their thoughts, are, with rare exceptions, men in whom some particular class of faculties will be found to predomi- nate, arresting and holding in subordination all the inferior powers of the mind. The dominant faculties thus give a particular direction to the electric forces of the brain, and an intense expression to the imperial idea and the ruling passion. It is this that kindles the lire on the orator’s lip, and converts the parts of speech into music. It illuminates the darkest problems in Nature ; it imparts the “ fine frenzy” to the poet’s eye, and makes his language like lightning. As sleep sometimes only suspends the exercise of a part of the faculties, it may, by bringing the mental energies to a focus, intensify the light that thus falls on the particular subjects that occupy the mind. Without either affirming or denying the interposition of foreign intelligent agents, in tlie occurrence of the more ex- traordinary facts cited above, I may observe that the phe- INSPIRATIONS OF THE NIGHT. 357 nomena indicate, that the particular faculties employed in their production were awake and organically active at the tiine, while the functions of otlier organs were suspended. Those powers of the mind which are most freely, constantly and vigorously employed, will always be most wakeful, and their orderly exercise will naturally continue some time after Sleep has chained the weaker faculties, and closed up the avenues that connect the mind with the external world. If the unconscious elements may be God’s messengers in the natural world, he is not without suitable agents and ministers in the higher departments of his Empire. Indeed, the Universe — in the most comprehensive sense — is one vast storehouse of means and instruments, all subject to his com- mand. And if the incarnate soul, whereon his seal is set, may possess the key to the penetralia of Nature, other be- ings, of finer composition and superior endowments, may serve his purpose effectually by informing the common mind. Whoever will condemn the idea, either as a vulgar supersti- tion or as a dangerous heresy, must be prepared to convict — with a multitude of others— the authors of Paradise Lost and the Epistle to the Hebrews. Both believed and taught that spiritual beings are wont to perform a silent but cease- less ministry among men, being Divinely commissioned to ‘‘ walk the earth Unseen, both when we wake and when we sleep.” CHAPTER XXIX. SOMNAMBULISM AND SOMNILOQUISM. Physiological Aspects of the Sleep-walker — Somnambulism in the Lyris Drama — Dangers incidental to the State — Curious Case of a Dog — Ex- amples from Dr. Gall, Mertinet, Dr. Prichard and Professor Soave — The Author’s Facts — Remarkable Case of a Student at Athens — An Amusing Instance— Somniloquism— Influence of our Pursuits — Lady Macbeth, and the Sleep-walker in Bellini’s Opera — Case of Rev. J. M. Cook — Personal Experiences — An Audience in the Bed-chamber — Philosophical Sugges- tions — Association of Ideas and Movements — Testimony of Mtiler— Ex- amples from Forty’s “Mystical Revelations” — Jenny Lind and the Musical Somnambulist — Principles and Revelations of Nature. “ The eouls of men are wanderer’s while they sleep, And Life’s continuous current ever flows, Whether to outward bliss the pulses 'eap, Or languid glide in silence and repose.” — Harris. T he powers of locomotion and speech are often exercised in sleep, and the faculty of the seer is conjointly exhib- ited in many curious and startling phenomena. The design of this work would be manifestly incomplete without a brief analysis and exposition of the facts illustrating tliis depart- ment of my subject, and hence the present Chapter may very properly be devoted to an elucidation of tlie two gen- eral classes of facts, developed in tlie exercise of the faculties already named. The functions of Somnambulation, and Som- niloquism, may each be manifested separately, or they may both be performed at one time, and by the same person. As SOMNAMBULISM AND SOMNILOQUISM. 359 they are liable to occur in this conjunction, it is possible the several facts cited in this connection may equally well illus- trate the two phases of the general subject. Somnambulism, from the Latin somno and ambulare, is the more familiar term employed to represent the act of walk- ing in sleep, the examples of which — especially among young persons of nervous temperaments and active habits — are far more numerous than careless observers would be led to imagine. The Somnambulist generally walks with his eyes wide open, though this is not always the case ; but whether the lids be opened or closed, the pupil is invariably dilated to its utmost capacity. The six muscles that move the eye appear to be motionless, and the expression is fixed, vacant and glassy. In this state the eye is evidently useless as the organic instrument of vision, since the optic nerve no longer conveys images of external objects to the mind. The pupil, though exposed to the solar rays, will never contract in the smallest appreciable degree ; nor is the influence of the strongest light perceptible in the action of the glandidce, h,clmjmales. These facts indicate with sufficient clearness, that the appropriate functions of the eye are temporarily suspended by a deathlike paralysis of the optic nerve, which is complete so long as the state continues. “ You see the eyes are open, But their sense is shut.” But while the earthly instruments of vision are inoper- ative, it often appears that the Sleep-walker discerns pres- ent objects and occurrences with the greatest distinctness — by a mysterious power of \ision that is equally independent of physical organs, of the natural light, and every artificial 360 MAX AND HIS RELATIONS. means of illumination. The functions of the soul may not necessarily depend on the bodily organs. Moreover, the immortal nature is not subject to the same law of gravita- tion that acts on physical objects ; and as sleep serves to ob- scure its corporeal relations, it is perhaps but natural that it should be indifferent to the dangers that menace the body with destruction. Hence the Somnambulist often walks in darkness, as well as in the light, and he usually shuns the obstacles in his pathway. He wdll even stand on the very verge of the steepest declivity, or walk on the roof of the house, seemingly without the least apprehension of falling, or so much as the consciousness of imminent danger. ^ The Somnambulist, though he occasionally ventures into ^ Somuambulism has been effectively employed in the Lyric Drama The chief interest of Bellini’s beautiful Opera centers in the character of Amina, an innocent girl who lived in a valley among the mountains of Switzerland. The maid was accustomed to walk when asleep, carrying a flickering light in one hand, and the superstitious people described her as a shade, robed in white, “ With streaming hair and glaring eyes.” A room in the village inn was often visited by the fair apparition. One night the beautiful specter entered the haunted chamber, while it was oc- cupied by Count Rodolpho. 'Just then a deputation from the village came to welcome the Count, and discovered Amina, who was apparently uncon- scious ; but her sleep was presumed to be feigned. She was suspected of being unchaste, and spurned by Elvino, to whom she was betrothed. In the excitement that follows the spell is broken, and Amina, greatly terrified, vaguely imagines she is dreaming. The poor girl becomes the unhappy victim of all the village gossips, till at length the discovery of her Bomnaiubulism is made. The village phantom is seen walking on a ruined bridge — long abandoned as impassable — above an impetuous torrent. The people discover that it is Amina, and gaze In mute astonishment, expect- ing every moment to see her plunged into the foaming flood. But sbe crosses in safety, thus unconsciously vindicating her virgin iimocence before the people. Elvino witnesses the thrilling spectacle ; and witli the restored conlidence and affect ion of her lover, Amina awakes to find that he has returned the espousal ring to her linger. SOMNAMBULISM AND SOMNILOQUISM. 3G1 most perilous situations, seldom falls or is otherwise injured if left undisturbed. But there is certainly great danger of some personal injury to the Sleep-walker if he is awakened while thus exposed. The sudden return to a state of normal consciousness, and the fears at once excited by the sense of danger, act so powerfully on the subtile medium of volun- tary motion as to render his control over the muscles uncer- tain, and his locomotion, at best, irregular. The accidents that happen to persons who walk in sleep doubtless result — with rare exceptions — from a sudden interruption of the somnambulic trance, which may occur from the influence of outward disturbances on the sensory nerves, or from the opej-ation of inward causes. It should be observed that our pursuits during the day maybe of such a nature as to cause a preternatural tendency of the electric forces to certain voluntary muscles ; and this undue determination of nervous energy toward such portions of the muscular system as have been most exercised, may continue in a degree after the direct action of the will has been suspended by Sleep. The consequent accumulation of vital electricity — in other words, the concentration of the nervous power — may occasion involuntary action. We have witnessed illustrations of this involuntary movement in the dog. When die falls asleep after a long chase, he often barks and moves his legs as if attempting to run.^ The physiological and mental phenomena exhibited by the I The following curious instance is related by a correspondent of the Spirit of the Times. He had returned with his dog from a day’s sport in the field, and in the course of the evening witnessed the phenomena he thu.'* describes : “ I was attracted by a very curious sound from the dog. and a strange , fixed look from his ey s, which wire set as though glazed in death, and 362 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. Somnambulist are greatly diversified, and the employments he seeks are generally such as have occupied his mind or engaged his hands during the day. Dr. Gall gives an ac- count of a miller who was in the habit of rising every night and running his mill. Mertinet mentions the case of a sad- dler who worked at his trade when sleeping ; and Dr. Prich- ard that of a farmer who got out of bed, dressed himself, saddled his horse, and rode to market while asleep. Pro- fessor Soave reports the case of an Apothecary’s clerk who not only walked while asleep, but would kindle his fire ; pursue his studies, examining authoritie-s ,* classify botanical specimens ; engage in animated controversies^ — with his em- ployer or Professor Soave — on Chemistry and other scienti- fic themes ; and, indeed, perform any duty or service that he was accustomed to do in his waking hours. He would carefully compound medicines, according to the prescriptions that were before him, but conscientiously declined filling false prescriptions, or such as would be likely to injure the patient.^ Mrs. Newton, a relative of the writer, was a skillful seamstress and was accustomed to the unconscious neither changed nor quivered in the slightest degree, though the blaze of a cheerful wood-fire shone brightly upon them. To my infinite astonishment, after stretching his limbs several times and whining, he gradually arose to his feet and assumed the attitude of pointing, in every particular just as I have seen him do a hundred times in the field, when the aroma from an en- tire covey was warm on the mild breeze. His lips were set, and quivered with eager but suppressed excitement — which a good pointer ever manifests when near his game — and the chiseled marble could not remain more stanch than this exliibltion of his point. When my surprise had a llUlo abated, I spoke to the dog ; but he manifested no consciousness, nor took the slightest notice of my voice, though several times repeated ; and it waa only when I touched him that the spell wuis broken ; when, running several times round the room, he quietly resumed his place before the fire.’’ ‘ Opuscoli Scelti, yd. III., p. 1780. See, also, Pert}' ’s “ Mystical Reve- lations of Human Nature,” p, 121. SOMNAMBULISM AND SOMNILOQUISM. 363 use of lier needle for lioiirs at night, when there was no liglit in her room. A friend, m'Iio was an accomplished horseman, often rode many miles while he was in a profound slumber ; and it is a still more remarkable fact — but well authenticated — that in the disastrous retreat of Sir John Moore, before the battle of Corunna, many of the soldiers fell asleep, yet continued to march with their comrades. The subjects that most deeply impress the mind are very likely to determine the movements of the Sleep-walker. Sometimes the student is so completely occupied with his studies that the mind’s exercise is not suspended in sleep, but it continues to act, as a ponderable body, that has ac- quired a certain momentum, will still move after the propel- ling force has been withdrawn. Some years since, while a young lady — a member of the Author’s family — was at school, it was observed that she succeeded in her Latin exercises, without apparently devoting much time or attention to the subjecto At length the secret of her easy progress was dis- covered. vShe was observed to leave her room at night — and taking her class books — she proceeded to a certain place on the bank of a small stream, where she remained but a short time, and then returned to the house. In the morning she was invariably unconscious of what had occurred during the night, but a glance at the lesson for the day usually resulted in the discovery that it was already quite as fami- liar to her mind as household words. The facts of a similar case were published in a late num- ber of Notes and Queries,” by D. J. Rhodocanakis, a gen- tleman from Greece, who now resides in Arthur Terrace, Manchester, England. The material portions of the state- 23 364 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. ment will interest the reader, and accordingly they are sub- mitted in this connection : When, in 185G, I was studying in a college at Athens, there was in the same class with me a young student from an island of the Greek Archipel- ago, who, though extremely stupid and unable to learn any lesson by heart, was yet making the best Latin exercises and solving the most difficult prob- lems of geometry and algebra. . . . The professors, although astonisned at the correctness of his themes and problems, for a long time forbore to inquire how they could be the productions of a mind apparently so dull. At last, however, the director of the college, suspecting that some member of a higher class was doing his work for him, locked him — for experi- ment, one night — in a room adjoining his own, and told him that he should visit him very early next morning, in order to see if he had solved his geometrical problem. ‘‘ Next morning, according to his promise, the director went to the room of the unhappy imprisoned scholar, and asked him if he had done his task. He answered, ‘Yes; but how I cannot explain. Last night, after trying many hours to solve it, and not being able, I slept, and when in the morn- ing I awoke, and was sorry beyond expression, thinking of the punishment I should receive, 0, wonder ! as I approached my writing table, I found it already solved, and in my own handwriting.’ “ The director, greatly surprised, immediately communicated the affair to the doctor of the college, who, thinking that the boy might be subject to somnambulism, and that under its influence he was solving the problems and making the exercises, decided to watch his proceedings during the next night. Accordingly, as soon as the young man locked his door, and, after reading for an hour, went to bed, the doctor walked into his room from a secret door, and took his seat. After waiting for nearly three hours, and when be was on the point of leaving the room, the boy awoke, lit his can- dle, began to write, and after half an hour’s labor, extinguished his candle, and again went to bed. The doctor at that retired to his room, and in the morning narrated his discovery to the director and the other professors, who immediately commenced debating how to prevent the same thing oc- curring again.” i I The writer in “ Notes and Queries” assures us that the young man SOMNAMBULISM AND SOMNILOQUISM. 365 I It appears that the Somnambulist is not very likely to be disturbed by such circumstances as he is led to apprehend ; and the slumber is not liable to be broken except by vital causes, the occurrence of unexpected events, or some arbi- trary change in his outward relations which may abruptly disturb the electrical equilibration of the nervous system. Hence, while the regular exercise of locomotion does not interrupt the trance, a false step might cause him to awake. A glass of cold water — dashed in the face — might instantly awaken a Somnambulist, for the obvious reason that this sudden violence would be wholly unexpected ; but when the sleep-walker anticipates what is coming, the nervous system seems to be so braced by the mind’s action that the shock is resisted, and the slumber continues unbroken. I have somewhere read an amusing account of the nocturnal move- ments of a man who occasionally, on waking in the morn- ing, found himself sans culottes. The mysterious disappear- ance of his garments could not be accounted for until some one watched at night in his apartment, and discovered that he left his bed, and with only a portion of his ordinary clothing on, proceeded to the river, which was not far off* On reaching the bank he disrobed liimself, and folding up his garments carefully placed them under a fallen tree, and plunged into the stream. Tlie nightly ablution being over the vSomnambulist, as usual, returned to his chamber, leav- ing his clothes where he had placed them, and where all could never he made to believe that he was a somnambulist ; but he insisted that his departed “ mother, pitying him, and not wishing him to be pun- ished by his professors, came every night while he was sleeping, and solved his problems and wrote his themes, imitating his handwriting, in order not to be detected by the professors.” 366 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. the missing articles from his wardrobe were subsequently found. In this case the mind and the sensories were prop* erly fortified, and the shock occasioned by a plunge bath, with the water many degrees below the vital temperature, did not in the least disturb the sleeper. Somniloquism, from somnus and loquor, is the practice of talking in sleep ; but when sleep results from sympathy — is induced by the magnetic process — the act of speaking is usu- ally expressed by the term somniloquy. The reader has doubtless observed that children of an active temperament are inclined to be constantly on their feet during tlie day ; they are, moreover, disposed to converse more freely — if not subject to arbitrary restraints — than older people. Nor do they cease to exhibit these proclivities at night, since they are far more inclined to walk and talk in sleep than persons of maturer years. We have already noticed the influence of our waking pursuits on the mind in a state of somnolence, and agreeably to this observation it will be found that per- sons whose intellectual faculties act with great intensity, and especially the orator, and all such as have large conversa- tional powers, are most likely to be communicative in sleep. Somniloquism is one of the most interesting of the psycho- physiological phenomena of a natural slumber The author of La Sonnambula makes the beautiful Sleep-walker lisp the name of her lover, and talk of the lost ring, while she wan- ders by night; and the great dramatist, who 'more than any other poet, ancient or modern — comprehended the phil- osophy of human nature, describes Lady Macbetli in the act of “ discharging the secrets of her infected mind to her deaf pillow.” It is especially when some subject engages all tlio SOMNAMBULISM AND SOMNILOQUISM. 367 faculties, or events of great moment weigh heavily on the mind at the close of the day, that we are most likely to give utterance to what is passing in the mind during the hours of Sleep. While multitudes, under such circumstances, talk in* I coherently, there are here and there persons who discuss grave questions with admirable method and surprising elo- quence. My limits will not admit of the citation of many examples ; nor are they required. Indeed, the proper eluci- dation of the subject does not so much depend on the num- ber as on the nature of the facts presented, and the use that is made of them in the treatment of the general subject. Among the more conspicuous illustrations, occurring with- in the sphere of personal observation, I may mention the case of the late Rev. J. M. Cook, a Clergyman of the Uni- versalist denomination, whose somniloquism was extraordi- nary. He was accustomed to extemporize his discourses, and he was at once a very natural and forcible speaker. This gentleman, while asleep, frequently conducted the en- tire religious services according to the formula of his Church. On one occasion, when returning from a convention — being a passenger on a boat and asleep in his berth — he gravely commenced the usual form of the public service by reciting a portion of Scripture, which attracted the attention of the other passengers. He then gave out a hjmn, and after offer- ing prayer took his text and preached a powerful discourse in illustration and defense of the doctrines of his Church. Among the conditions essential to successful intercourse with the sleeper, such relations as establish a psycho-electri- cal rapport^ and that inward sympathy which results from similar intellectual developments and moral attributes, are, 368 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. perhaps, the most important. When there is mutual sympa- thy, a nice adjustment of personal relations, and the circum- stances are quite favorable, the Somniloquist may respond with great freedom and in a pertinent manner. Perty, in his “Mystical Revelations,” refers to the case of Mrs. Yon U , a natural Somnambulist, who conversed with ease and fluency whenever her husband took hold of her hand. She made exact revelations of the thoughts and designs of persons in her presence, and her communications were occa- sionally prophetic, foreshadowing the events that were to occur on the succeeding day. I have a personal experience to relate. In the period of childPood and early youth. Sleep-walking was a common oc- currence, and the practice continued until an exciting and somewhat painful experience terminated my nocturnal ad- ventures. Being absent from home, on one occasion, it be- j came necessary for me to sleep in an open garret. In the j course of the night I dreamed of traveling, and the body i i moved off under this action of the mind. Whether the ac- j cident that followed was the result of a false step, or of a | sudden interruption of the somnambulic trance, from some \ other cause, it is impossible to determine ; but at length 1 \ found myself at the foot of the stairs, and in a horizontal position, having accomplished the descent by the force of gravity, unaided by locomotion. The rambling utterances that frequently accompanied the phenomenon of sleep-walking were succeeded, at a later per- iod in life, by speeches that exhibited (if I may acce})t the - testimony of many witnesses) an uninterru])ted flow of ideas, ^ expressed in coherent and forcible language. It was after SOMNAMBULISM AND SOMNILOQUISM. 369 adopting tlie clerical profession — which made it necessary for me to address public assemblies — that this practice of extemporizing in sleep assumed an orderly form, and began to awaken a lively interest in the minds of such persons as chanced to be my auditors. It was frequently remarked by the listeners that the discourses thus given were character- ized by unusnal boldness and originality of thought ; pecu- liar iptness and freshness in tfte modes of illustration, com- bined with logical discrimination and remarkable freedom in the use of language. It was evident that tlie nature of my profession strongly influenced the operations of the mind in sleep ; nor did the suspension of the clerical functions finally terminate those ministrations that often broke the impressive silence of the night. On resigning my original profession I did not find it con- venient to assume a strictly private relation ; but during a period of ten years I visited no less than twenty-three States of the Union in the capacity of a lecturer on moral and met- aphysical philosophy. This constant use of a particular class of faculties, combined with the exercise of the organs of speech, increased the tendency to somniloquism, and the free lectures, to private classes in dark chambers, became more frequent. I am reminded of an instance that occurred some years since at a Hotel in Connecticut. Wearied by the labors of the day, I retired at an early hour and imme- diaiiely fell asleep. On my return to a state of outward consciousness there were phantom-shapes moving in the room, which were plainly discerned by the light from the street lamp. I was not long in making tlie discovery that my visitors were incarnate spirits, and that I had uncon- 370 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. sciously summoned a very respectable audience (not exactly in fall dress), consisting of the proprietor’s family and a number of his guests. As the soul doubtless wanders when the sleeper is made to walk, so when he dreams of addressing public assemblies, or of conducting a conversation, he is most likely to become somniloquous. In one case the mind, by its involuntary ac- tion, naturally directs the nervous forces to the muscles of locomotion 5 in the other case, to the organs of speech ; and in both producing the appropriate bodily functions. These are but the organic expressions of the faculties employed, and the manner of their exercise. Thus when the mind travels the body is liable to be moved, and the somniloquist is but a dreamer whose thoughts are vocally expressed. ‘ The magnetic sleeper, with rare exceptions, will converse with his magnetizer, or any other person with whom he is in temporary rapport. In this state of coma the subject of somnipathy often discovers amazing powers of perception and a wide range of ideas entirely above the normal plain of his mind. In some cases, especially when the mental and moral atmosphere, and the magnetic influence of the opera- iMiiler, in his Physiology of the Senses, Voice, Muscular Motion, etc., (p. 944), says : “ The connection between ideas and movements is some- times as close as that between different ideas ; thus when an idea and a movement have frequently occurred in connection with each other, the idea often excites the involuntary production of the movement. Hence it is that a threatening movement before the eyes, even the passing of another person’s hand in front of them, causes the eyelids to be involuntarily closed; that we are accustomed always to accompany the expression of certain ideas with certain gestures, and that we involuntarily move our hands to catch a falling body. It is a general rule that the more frequently ideas and movements are voluntarily associated together, the more prone are the movements to be excited by those ideas rather than by the wilt.” SOMNAMBULISM AND SOMNILOQUISM. ' 371 tor are altogether congenial, the subject is acutely suscepti- ble of the slightest influence exerted on the medium of sen- sation and motion. Every sliade of feeling, and the most delicate operations of the mind, are all impressed on the sensorium of the sleeper, by a kind of electro-mental photo- graphy that can not fail to excite profound astonishment in the mind of the intelligent observer. In such cases the po'>vers of perception — on the part of the subject— may be wholly exercised through the brain of the operator, and the volition of the latter may determine every sensation and movement of the former. This automatic perception and action often displays the most exquisite susceptibility of sen- sorial and mental impressions, and is further characterized by a functional precision that is unsurpassed by the most perfect mathematical and mechanical combinations. The rapport between the magnetizer and his subject is often so intimate, and the commerce of thought and feeling so real and unlimited, that great prudence and circumspec- tion, on the part of the former, should be constantly ob- served. In some cases the sleeper feels every inclination of the operator, and may possibly be quite as ready to follow the impulse that actuates him. Nor does this automatic ac- tion necessarily depend on the immediate presence of the magnetizer ; but it is liable to occur at a distance, and may continue until the slumber is broken, or the magnetic rap- port is otherwise interrupted. An illustration of this kind was some years since communicated to the writer by the late Dr. Lockwood, of Stamford, Connecticut. The Doctor, having at one time a delicate female patient -not likely to he benefited by medicine— magnetized the lady and left her 872 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. asleep while he went to visit another patient. On his return he found that the sleeper had, during his absence, experi- enced all the promptings of his own nature, and had followed them so literally as to occasion unpleasant consequences. Dr. Spiritus found a good magnetic subject in the case of a girl whom he was treating professionally. When in the sleep she only preserved her conscious connection with the outward world through the Doctor’s senses. She read- ily perceived whatever affected hi?s sensory nerves. While she could not hear the report of a gun, she had no difficulty in hearing the ticking of the Doctor’s watch whenever he placed it by his own ear. When he filled his ears with cot- ton, she complained that he had made her deaf. If he was hurt, she felt the pain in the corresponding part of her own body. On one occasion he voluntarily suspended his respi- ration, when the girl fainted, and on her recovery she de- clared that she must have suffocated had the Doctor sup- pressed his breathing a little longer. Dr. Gmelin once made the experiment of taking an emetic, in the absence of a susceptible female patient, who found the medicine to act in her case as effectually as if she had taken it herself. 7 ^ Dr. Cataneo, of Genoa, found a rare magnetic subject in a young painter of Turin. The Doctor was at the time mucli exercised in mind witli reflections on the life and cliaracter of the conqueror Dschingischan. On one occasion, while the young artist was in the magnetic sleep, and in mental rapport with the Doctor, he executed a portrait of the great chief of the Tartars. At tlie same time a lady in another apartment — wlio was likewise in magnetic sympatliy with » Ferty’s “Mystical Revelations ot’Huin:ui Nature,’’ p. 174. somnambulism and somniloqutsm. 37^-^ tlie mind of Cataneo — gave a most graphic description of the same person. ‘ Feriiel reports the facts respecting a boy who could speak Greek and Latin when in tlie magnetic sleep. Lorry also mentions the case of a girl of ten years that would make long speeches when her mother placed one hand on her head. When the hand was removed the flow of words and ideas was immediately interrupted. Professor Agardh, of Lund, Sweden, furnishes another interesting example. Lie met with a magnetic sleeper in the person of a boy who could speak Latin with greater fluency than his native tongue. He could also converse in French. On one occa- sion, when a person educated in the English language had expressed doubts of his ability to speak languages he had never learned, the boy immediately commenced a conversa- tion in English, and the skeptic was obliged to acknowledge that he spoke the language as freely and correctly as an ed- ucated Englishman. At the same time the teacher affirmed that his pupil had never learned — by the ordinary process of scholastic training — a word that he had uttered.^ 1 find a most striking and perfect example of somnipathe- tic, sensorial perception and simultaneous muscular motion in the remarkable experiments made by the Swedish Night- ingale, some years since, on a magnetic subject in England. Jeuny Lind had been invited with several friends to attend a seance at the residence of Mr. Braid, under whose direc- ^Perty’s “ Mystical Revelations of Human Nature,” p. 418. 2 Macnish met with a girl that spoke Galish,-and Prof. La Mothe le Vayer with a citizen of La Ferre, near Rouen, who could answer questions in all languages, ancient and modern. MAN AND ms DELATIONS. ?>74 tion the experiments were made. The account oi the mag- netic and musical novelties, witnessed on that occasion, orig- inally appeared in the Manchester Courier, and the material portions of the same have been extensively re-published by the American press. The following extract will suffice to indicate the surprising nature of the performance, while it furnishes a curious and convincing illustration of my subject. “ Jenny Lind played and sang a slow air, with Swedish words, in which the Somnambulist accompanied her in the most perfect manner, both as re- garded words and music. Jenny now seemed resolved to test the powers of the Somnambulist to the utmost by a continued strain of the most difficult roulades and cadenzas, including some of her extraordinary sostinuto notes, with all their inflections from pianissimo to forte crescendo, and again di- minished to thread-like pianissimo ; but in all these fantastic tricks and dis- plays of genius, even to the shake, she was so closely and accurately tracked by the Somnambulist that several in the room occasionally could not have told, merely by hearing, that there were two individuals singing - so in- stantaneously did she catch the notes, and so perfectly did their voices blend and accord. “ Next, Jenny having been told by Mr. Braid that the subject might be tested by some other language, commenced ‘ Casta Diva,’ in which the fidel- ity of the Somnambulist’s performance, both in words and music, fully justi- fied all that Mr. Braid had alleged regarding her powers. The girl has nat- urally a good voice, and has had a little musical instruction in some of the ‘ Music for the Million,’ but is quite incompetent of performing any such feat in the waking condition, either as regards singing the notes or speak- ing the words with the accuracy she did when in the somnambulic state She was also tested by Mad’lle Lind in merely imitating language, when she gave most exact imitations ; and Mr. Schwabe also tried her by some difficult combinations of sound, which he said no one was capable of imitat- ing correctly without much practice ; but the Sornnaiubulist imitated them correctly at once, and that whether spoken slowly or quickly.” Whenever two individuals are in personal contact, a blend- ing — more or less perfect — of the electrical forces of their SOMNAMBULISM AND SOMNILOQUTSM. 375 bodies is sure to result from the connection ; and this occurs in the greatest degree when the conjunction is effected at the most sensitive points in the nervous system. This coales- cence of the forces — rendered inevitable by the homogen- iousness of the vital principle — is measured and determined by the operation of a natural law. If the persons thus united sustain positive and negative relations, respectively to each other, they become as one for the time being, and so long as the connection — -whether by actual contact or through the electro-magnetic atmospheres that surround them — remains unbroken. In such a case the negative .party virtually be- comes an additional member of the other, and may even feel through the same sensorium, and be moved by the agency of the same will. Among the most important magnetic revelations, appar- ently derived from communion with the subtile powers of the natural world, I may mention the book entitled, “ The Principles of Nature, her Divine Revelations, and a Voice to Mankind,’^ It can hardly be necessary to remind the in- telligent American reader that this large octavo volume was wholly dictated by, or through, Mr. A. J. Davis, while he was in a state of magnetic entrancement, induced by the manipulations of Dr. S. S. Lyon. The truth of this state- ment is supported by the concurrent testimony of many wit- nesses, the author of the present treatise being one of the number. Nature’s Revelations were made and published while Mr. Davis was but a youth, destitute of all scholastic attainments and undisciplined in mind ; and yet the work exhibits a peculiar method, great independence of thought, and mysterious powers of insight and comprehension. It is, 37G MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. however, 110 part of niy design to undertake a critical analy- sis of tlie contents of this work, for the purpose of showing its intrinsic merits and defects. It is only as a psycliologi- cal phenomenon that it now claims attention. Viewed in this light, it is a stupendous fact ; and we shall examine the records of psychological science and search all liistory in vain for one of this class that more forcibly suggests the amazing grandeur of Nature and the sublime possibilities of the Human Mind. There are few persons susceptible of the magnetic sleep who do not readily converse while in that state, though the inexperienced magnetizer is quite likely to produce a tem- porary paralysis of the organs of speech, as he is also liable to suspend — for the time being — other voluntary functions. In some instances the sleeper is limited in his- ideas and forms of expression to his own range of thought and use of language ; in other cases, his sphere is enlarged by what- ever belongs to the mental powers and acquirements of the magnetizer, or the person with whom the subject is in imme- diate sympathy ; while occasionally he rises, as on eagles’ wings, and with unclouded vision, above the normal plane of the human mind ; enters into sympathy with the invisible forces and the great laws of the Universe ; or, it may be, into sublime association and intimate fellowship with the higher sources of Intelligence. V CHAPTER XXX. THE CLAIRVOYANT VISION. Preliminary OLpcrvatioiis — Relations of Clairvoyance to the Pagan Mysteries — Illustrations from the Scriptures— Croesus and the Emperor Trajan con- sult the Oracles — The Seer of Samos — Revelations of Apollonius — Tes- timony of St. Augustine — Examples from the Life of Swedenborg — The Seeress of Prevorst — Illustrative Facts from Dr. de Bonneville, Jacob Bbhme, Stilling and Zschokke — Remarkable Cases from Perty’s Mystical Revelations — A Provost Marshall of France among the Seers — Discovery of Capt. Austin and Sir John Franklin — Clairvoyance of Alexis — A Seeress in Hartford reads an Epitaph in Bermuda — She Discovers a Remedy for Yellow Fever — A Doctor mistakes Solids for "fluids -Seeing a Cambric Needle twenty-four miles off, and a penny at a distance of one thousand miles ! — Surprising Developments — A Fair Infidel and her Inamorato Exposed — Second Sight of the Highlanders — Application of the Argu- ment to Science — Concluding Observations. “ The stranger at my fireside can not see The forms I see n >f hear the sounds I hear ; Fe hut perceives what is ; while unto me AV that has been is visible ?-nd cl Jar ” — Longfellow C L AIRY OYAN CE, derived from the French, literally sig- nifies dear sight ; but the term is especially employed to represent that mysterious power of perception whereby cer- tain persons discern distant objects and occurrences without the aid of light or the use of the organic instruments of vision. 'This power is more or less perfectly displayed by many persons and under a variety of conditions. In certain cases it appears to be a normal faculty ; in others its exer- cise occurs spontaneously at irregular intervals ; while in many it is induced by the magnetic sleep. It should be ob- served that the faculty itself is essentially the same in all $ MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. cases, whatever may be the immediate incentives to its ac- tion, and irrespective of the circumstances that accompany its development. But it is also to be observed, that this faculty varies in degree^ and in respect to the objects compre- hended within the field of vision. Its compass may be lim ited to material objects and occurrences already past, or ac- tually transpiring at the time ; or it may assume a wider range and embrace coming events and the realities of our spiritual and immortal life. When the rapport magnetlque is properly established with a susceptible person, it often happens that the latter per- ceives the physiological, pathological, mental and moral states and exercises of the former, by a kind of sympathetic feeling or psychometric sensation, which is frequently mis- taken by the ordinary observer for Clairvoyance. Sensitive persons are also liable to receive similar impressions — more or less reliable— from such other objects as may be submit- ted to them for inspection, and about which they may chance to feel a passing interest. This power of perception often discovers the most subtile properties of matter, at the same time it detects personal qualities of the most delicate nature, and private experiences which require concealment, though they may not escape detection. In this state, tlie sensibility of the subject may be so acute that he will almost instantly perceive the medicinal properties of a drug, as soon as a small portion of the same (which may be inclosed in a wrapper and invisible) is placed in the hand. Give liim either a cra- vat or a finger-ring, tliat a thief has worn, and lie will find the culprit without other warrant or the aid of a })olicoman. An old shoe will enable him to track the fugitive from jus- THE CLAIRVOYANT VISION. 370 tice ; from an antQfrraph he will delineate the character of a stranger, and a lock of hair from the head of a sick person — of whose existence he liad no previous knowledge — may be all that he requires, and he will put the doctor to shame by the superior accuracy of his diagnosis. But in tlie occurrence of such phenomena there may be no positive evidence of the development of the Clairvoyant Vision, This exquisite and semi-spiritual sensation usually corresponds to feeling rather than sight. But if one of the senses may be instrumental in this mysterious power of cog- nition, it is a fair inference that the others may be capable of a similar use, and this conclusion will be supported by the introduction of such facts as clearly demonstrate the exist- ence of that sublime faculty, in the exercise of which the Seer stands alone within the veil of the Temple. Illustrations of my subject may be found among all the races of men, and every period of human history has fur- nished examples. Neither the forms of government nor the systems of religion have power to change the essential con- stitution of the Soul. On the contrary, all human institu- tions are but outward expressions and organic revelations of whatever belongs to the nature of Man. The Egyptians had their sacred mysteries ; the Roman Senate consulted the Sibylline Oracles ; the G-reeks found inspiration in the wa- ters of the Castalian Spring ; the Priestess of Delphi gave clairvoyant responses ; and the Jewish high priest derived his mystical revelations from the Urim and Thummim, which bore a striking likeness to the Pagan Oracles. A Christian Apostle says that, “ G-od is no respecter of persons,’’ and Nature also inculcates the same doctrine ; but 24 380 \ MAX AND HIS RELATIONS. agreeably to the common notion of the Christian world, he has a peculiar respect for the Jews, who are especially as- sociated — at least in the popular conception— with all the most sacred realities of time and eternity. Even the man of varied scientific attainments is often led, by the force of his early theological education, to accredit the ancient Hebrews with the possession of the most remarkable gifts and divine graces, Avhile he may be slow in recognizing the existence of such powers and accomplishments elsewhere among men. Even when the identical faculties are manifested, by similar methods, and in our immediate presence, the results are often regarded as the tricks of the juggler. Indeed, we often meet with persons of easy faith, little learning and less reflection, who are quite disposed to give the Jews a monopoly of all spiritual faculties and divine endowments. I can not enter- tain this unphilosophical view of the subject. The faculties and susceptibilities of the Soul are fundamentally the same in all ages and countries, and therefore Man’s relation to the invisible sources of all inspired thoughts and ideas can neither be determined by geographical lines, nor otherwise limited by national distinctions. The early Apostles, and many of the Christian Fathers and disciples in the Church, for more than three hundred years, were gifted with the mysterious vision that compre- hends foreign persons and objects, while it often detects the shadows of coming events. This interior sight appeared to coexist with the natural vision of Jesus, and it was often either the source or the medium of ini})ortant information. When he was about to make his triumphal entry into Je- rusalem, he sent two of his disciples to a neigliboring hamlet. 'WT i’-i. i-O j rtf ^ /*J S //t THE CLAIRVOYANT VISION. 381 assuring them as soon as they entered the village they would lind a colt tied. He anticipated the objection that would be made on their attempting to take the animal away ; he instructed them what to say, and affirmed that the objector would acquiesce. The disciples went their way, and the re- sult confirmed the statement of their Master. On another occasion he directed certain fishermen when and where to cast their nets in the Lake. Following his suggestions, it is said that they filled two ships, so that they were in danger of sinking. (Luke, chap. v. 6-9.) Again, he saw Nathaniel under a fig-tree when the latter was far beyond the limit of natural vision. (John, chap, i : 48-50.) In his interesting interview with the woman at the well, this power was dis- played in reading her thoughts, and in such specific references to the incidents of her personal history that, in her report, the woman said, “ Come, see a man which told me all things that ever-I did.” (John, chap, iv.) Once more, when his friend Lazarus fell into a deathlike slumber, he was not personally present in loco ; but he at once perceived what had occurred, and said to the disciples that accompanied him, “ Our friend Lazarus sleepeth : but I go that I may awake him out of sleep.” (John, chap, xi.) The same faculty was exercised by St. Peter in discovering the deception and falsehood of Ana- nias and his wife, in respect to the price of some property which they had sold. (Acts, chap, v.) We have the history of some grand exhibitions of this power in the lives of the old Prophets. . When the King of Syria made war against Israel, he soon learned that by some means the latter was familiar with all his plans, and was ac- cordingly prepared to check every hostile movement. Fob 382 MAN AND HIS EELATIONS, lowing the natural tendencies of his mind, the Syrian king inferred that there must be some traitor in his camp, and, ^ calling his servants together, he demanded to know who was for the King of Israel ? One of the number thereupon an- swered, “None, my lord, 0 king; but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the King of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bed-chamber/’ (II. Kings, chap. vi. : 12.) Here was a clairvoyance that was neither obstructed by intervening obstacles nor otherwise limited by darkness or distance ; a clairaudience that detected the whispered words and silent thoughts of the King of Syria. By the Same su- pernal vision he discovered the celestial combatants assem- bled for his protection, when the Syrians, under cover of darkness, had encamped about the city. The Syrian armies presented a formidable array that alarmed the servant of Elisha ; but the Prophet, and subsequently the servant, be- held a far more numerous host, moving in fiery chariots over the mountains and filling all the air. These illustrations of the spiritual power of cognition comprehend alike the per- ception of remote and invisible objects; distant event? and circumstances ; and the interior forces and immortal entities of the unseen world. But the faculty which distinguished the ancient Prophets and Apostles of Judaism and Christianity was neither con- fined to them nor limited to tlieir nation. The Pagan world was favored with a similar illumination. The Greeks, esjie- cially, furnished distinguislied examples. If wo may ci-cdit the records of authentic history, tliis power was constantly exercised by the Oracles. On one occasion, Croesus, desir- ing to test the capabilities of the Pythoness, dispatched suit- THE CLAIRVOYANT VISION. 383 able persons to Delphi with instructions to consult the Ora- cle, on a 'particulcur day^ and, if possible, to ascertain what he (the King of Lydia) was doing. Having obtained an in- terview, the messengers submitted the question as directed, which at once elicited the following — the oracular response being uttered in hexametric verse : “ I know the number of the sands, and the measure of the sea ; I know ^ what the dumb would say ; I hear him who speaks not. There comes to me the odor of tortoise and lamb’s flesh, seething together in a brass vessel ; beneath the flesh is brass ; there is also brass above.” When the representatives of the king returned, Croesus read the message and was satisfied. “ For,’’ according to Herodotus, “ after the messenger had been sent to consult the Oracle, on the appointed day, he hit upon the following to be done, as something which he supposed might be diffi- cult to detect and describe : — Cutting up a tortoise and a lamb, he boiled them together in a brazen vessel,, which also had a cover of brass.” The Emperor Trajan, being about to invade Parthia, and wishing to know the probable result of his expedition, took the precaution to first test the powers of a celebrated Oracle in Syria, before accepting its authority in a matter of so much importance. For this purpose he sent sealed letters, to which he solicited replies in writing. The Oracle di- rected that blank papers should be sealed and sent. This occasioned no little surprise among the priests, who were unacquainted with the character of the Emperor’s letters. Trajan at once^ comprehended the answer, because he had sent blank tablets to the god. This inspired his confidence, and he then forwarded letters inquiring whether he should 384 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. return to Rome at the close of the contest. Thereupon the Oracle commanded that a vine should be cut in pieces, wrapt in linen, and carried to him. This symbolic answer was signally verified when the bones of the Emperor were at length carried back to Rome. ' Pythagoras, the beautiful Seer of Samos, who was re- ^ garded with deep and tender reverence, even by the philoso- phers who succeeded him, spent more than thirty years of his life with the Magi of Egypt and Babylon. He returned to Samos, skilled in all the learning of his time, and there founded a school. The purity of his principles and his life, not less than the beauty of his person and the simplicity of his manners, inspired in others the highest admiration and the purest love. His birth was predicted by the Oracle of Apollo, as his name implies ; and a Samian poet sings : “ Pythals, fairest of the Samian race, Bore, from the embraces of the god of day, Renowned Pythagoras, the friend of Jove.” It was prophesied that he would “surpass in beauty and wisdom all that ever lived,’’ and his biographer asserts that “ when he exerted all the powers of his intellect, Iw easily be- held every thing, as far as ten or tiventy ages of the human raeeP The authentic record of his life contains some sig- nificant facts that illustrate his powers as a seer. On one occasion he gave an accurate description of a shipwreck, concerning which he had no information tlirough any ordi- nary or external channel. Again, when drinking from a well, he announced the speedy* occurrence of an earthquake, and his statement was immediately confirmed by the fact. The Apocatastasis,” p. GL See also Macrobius Satunuil. L. i. c. 23. THE CLAIRVOYANT VISION. 385 When certain persons in liis presence expressed a wish to possess the treasures which they supposed a certain ship to contain, that was just then coming into port, Pythagoras as- sured them that they would only have a dead body ; and in this he was strictly correct, a corpse being the entire freight of the vessel. With all his knowledge of the occult powers of Nature and tlie mysteries of the Magi, he was accomplished in Music, and “ invented an instrument to measure musical intervals and the lyre.’’ He was, moreover, a profound ma- thematician and the great astronomer of his age and country. It is alleged, on eminent historical authority, that he an- nounced the Copernican theory, so that the sphericity of the earth, its rotary motion, and revolution round the center of our solat* system may have been clairvoyant discoveries five hundred years before the Christian Erao Apollonius discovered his own clairvoyant powers while in India, through the agency of a distinguished Brahmin, who was both a philosopher and a Seer. Having perfected his education in the Sanscrit language, and in the sacred mysteries of that country, Apollonius returned to be a popu- lar teacher. In his public discourses his remarkable psychi- cal powers were often displayed in a striking manner. On one occasion, while in the Island of Crete, he suddenly ex- claimed, “ The sea is bringing forth land !” It was subse- quently ascertained that, precisely at that hour, an island ap- peared in the H]gean Sea, not far off, it having been thrown up by an earthquake. Another interesting illustration of his powers occurred while lie was addressing a crowd in a grove near Ephesus. The attention of his auditors was at- tracted by a flock of birds on a tree. At length a solitary 386 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. bird alighted near them for a moment, whose peculiar note appeared to be the signal which caused the whole flock to fly away. This occasioned an interruption of the discourse, ' and Apollonius remarked that a boy, near one of the gates of the city — the name and direction of which were given — had spilled a quantity of grain, and that this solitary bird observing this came to inform his companions of the feast. Apollonius continued his discourse, while a number of his hearers hastened to ascertain if he had spoken the truth, fl he Seer had not flnislied his address when they returned witti enthusiastic expressions of admiration, having verified the correctness of his statement.^ At a later period, while discoursing at Ephesus one day, he paused abruptly, as if the train of thought had been sud- denly interrupted, or as when one is at a loss for a word. After a moments hesitation, he exclaimed, “ Strike ! strike the tyrant This eccentric conduct surprised the people, and excited no little curiosity, wliereupon Apollonius ex- plained b} saying, in substance, “ Courage, my friends, for tliis very day — nay, at the very moment I stopped speaking the tyrant was slain.’’ As soon as intelligence could be re- ceived from Rome this statement was confirmed, Domitian, the reigning tyrant, having been assassinated at that hour. (Idem, L. VIIL, C. 26.) St. Augustine, who maintained tliat demons have power to read men’s thoughts, gives circumstantial accounts of cases of clairvoyance that came under his personal observation. Among others, he refers to a presbyter who was en rapport with a sick person at the distance of twelve miles. The * riiiloslnit.us Vita A})ollouii Tyunensis, L. iv. 3. THE CLAIRVOYANT VISION, 387 })atient was clairvoyant, and would indicate the precise that tl?e presbyter left his house, and accurately mark his pro- ^rress and near approach. At length he would say, “ He is entering the farm — he has reached the house — he is at the door and at that moment he was sure to find the visitor standing in his presence. St. Augustine took an interest in such phenomena, but entreated that the learned would not ridicule him for his credulity, at the same time he does not ask the unlearned to accept what he is pleased to offer on his individual authority.^ The ancient Day was characterized by its own peculiar j glory ; but the light was obscured, and deep, cold shadows fell on the world when the great Philosophers of Antiquity ’ and the Apostles of Christianity retired from human obser- vation. Serene in spirit, and calm in their divine repose ; invested with more than mortal powers and regal honors, they went up to their great Immortality. Then came a long — long Night, xifter the beginning of the fourth century the human soul seemed to be destitute of any true spiritual illumination. The mind slept ; while darkness was on the face of the deep. And many a doubting mortal watched his brief hour, and thought that Night would never end. And when the hour— the sad, short hour— of earthly being had passed, with no light but the faint glimmering of the silent stars, the watcher went to his repose ; and another — silent, lonely and desolate — sat in his place. Thus wore the long Night away, until the Era of Universal Light, Liberty, and ■ Progress dawned on the World. Since the revival of letters, the amazing developments of , ^ A See “Notes and Queries,” for June, 1854. 388 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. modern science, art and civilization have served to quicken and strengthen the intellectual and moral faculties among all enlightened nations. To these developments we are chiefly indebted for the gradual dissipation of many absurd superstitions and pernicious errors, all generated in igno- rance and nursed in the bosom of the Medieval Ages. But with the well-grounded hope of true human advancement, which this change in the state and tendencies of the human mind naturally inspired, it soon became painfully apparent, that the more vital and essential principles of the popular faith were fast losing their place in the minds and their hold on the affections of the people. A growing skepti- cism was everywhere visible, especially among the more en- lightened classes. A material philosophy, that boldly threat- ened to overthrow our hopes of immortality,. occupied the places of honor and responsibility, and even stood within the pale of the Church. But the elements of the Inward Life were soon moved by the mental and moral forces of the New Era, and outwardly manifested in many striking exam- ples. The frequent and orderly development of the psychical faculties, at that period, was only a natural consequence of the general awakening of -the human mind. Indeed, such illustrations are old as history ; diversified as tlie cliaracter- i sties of races and nations, and as widely distributed as the human inhabitants of the earth. One of the greatest Seers of modern times was Emanuel Swedenborg, of Stockholm. The Swedish Baron was born as early as 1688, but Ids mysterious illumination did not oc- cur until 1743. He was then fifty-five yeai’S old ; and his high character, not less than his profound attainments in THE CLAIRVOYANT VISION. 3«0 every department of learning, had given him a most honor- able position in his own country, and a commanding' influence abroad, that was felt and acknowledged in every part of Europe. Among the recorded instances of his clairvoyance are many striking illustrations of my subject, but in this connection I can only make a brief resume of some of the more remarkable examples. It is alleged by M. Dieudonne Thiebault, Professor of Belles Letters in the Eoyal Academy of Berlin, that the Count de Montville, Ambassador from Holland to Stockholm, having died suddenly, a shopkeeper demanded of his widow the pay- ment of a bill, which she remembered had been paid in her husband’s lifetime. Not being able to find the shopkeeper’s receipt, she was induced to consult the distinguished Seer, though she did so less from credulity than cui'iosity. Swed- enborg informed her that her deceased husband had taken the shopkeeper’s receipt on a certain day (also naming the hour), while he was reading such an article in Bayle’s Dic- tionary, in his cabinet ; and that his attention being called immediately to some other concern, he put the receipt into the book to mark the place at which he left off ; where, in fact, it was found at the page described ! The Queen Dowager of Sweden, Louisa Ulrica, desiring to test the powers of Swedenborg, demanded a repetition of the words spoken by her deceased brother, the Prince Royal of Prussia, at the moment of her taking leave of him for the Court of Stockholm. The Seer requested a private audience, whereupon they retired to another apartment, when Sweden- borg replied to her interrogatory by saying, in substance, that she took leave of her august brother at Charlottenburg 390 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. — naming the day and the hour — that, while passing through the long gallery of the Castle, they met again, when the Prince, taking her hand, led her to a retired situation by a particular window which he described, where the last words were spoken. The Queen did not disclose the words, but protested with great solemnity, that they were the precise words pronounced by her brother at the termination of their parting interview ! When Swedenborg was in Gottenburg, three hundred miles from Stockholm, he announced the occurrence of a great fire in his native city, giving the facts respecting the time, place, and circumstances of its origin, and accurately describing its progress and termination. It was on Saturday night that this conflagration was described as occurring at that time. The. Seer repeated the substance of his state- ment to the Governor on Sunday morning. This was sub- stantially confirmed by a dispatch, received from Gotten- burg on Monday evening, and on Tuesday morning the ar- rival of the royal courier furnished an unqualified attesta- tion of the truth of all the particulars of the clairvoyant revelation. <^hese facts rest on no doubtful authority. Their authenticity is sanctioned by Kant, the groat German meta- physician, in whose judgment— to use his own words — they “ set the assertion of the extraordinary gift of Swedenborg out of all possibility of doubt.’^ Tlie state of inward waking and the same remarkable powers of perception, were soon illustrated by examples oc- curring in Germany and elsewhere. In the little village of Prevorst— situated far up among the mountains, near the town of Ldwenstcin- Frederica Ilaufle was born in 1801. THE CLAIRVOYANT VISION. 391 Secluded from the great world among the rugged summits of W Urtemburg, her young life was characterized by great simplicity. She was an uncorrupted child of Nature, en- dowed with remarkable powers of perception, and with a mind that was all unclouded by the superficial arts and per- nicious customs of fashionable society. At an early age she had prophetic dreams and presentiments ; and it is said by her conscientious biographer, that she discovered hidden springs and mineral deposits by some occult power. The singular powers of Frederica increased as she ad- vanced in years. Her extreme susceptibility of impressions, even from remote objects and events, enabled her to perceive absent persons and distant occurrences, often with great dis- tinctness. ’ Though her early mental culture was extremely limited, she displayed unusual knowledge of many profound subjects, and her clairvoyant revelations were curious and instructive. Moreover, her whole experience contributed to give her an unusual moral elevation, to inspire constant de- votional feeling, and to fashion a truly religious character. Her gifts continued, arid her vision was unclouded until the fifth of August, 1829, when suddenly — at the tepth hour of I Leibnitz and Yon Helmont said : “The soul is a mirror of the Uni- verse and the Seeress of Prevorst, in the elucidation of her Sun-circle, says : The life-circle, which is the soul, lies under the sun- circle, and thus becomes a mirror to it. So long as the soul continues in the center, she sees all round her — into the past, the future, and the infinite. She sees the world in all its laws, relations and properties, which are implanted in it through time and space. She sees all this without veil or partition- wall interposing. But in proportion as the soul is drawn from the center, by the attractions of the outer world, she advances into darkness, and loses this all-embracing vision and knowledge of the nature and properties of all that surrounds her. This insight is now given to us in the magnetic sleep, when we are withdrawn from the senses ! — History oj the Supernatural, p. 79. 392 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. the day— she experienced a new illumination, and, in an ec- stacy of joy and with a cry of triumph, her enfranchised soul left the earthly temple its presence had glorified. During the War of Independence, Dr. George de Bonne- ville exhibited remarkable prescience and unerring knowl- edge of certain events occurring at a distance, and beyond the utmost stretch of the ordinary powers of perception. While in Reading, Pa. — where he lived during the Revolu- tionary period — he informed his friends and neighbors of the precise time that the British forces evacuated Philadel- })hia. Jacob Bojime and the good Jung Stilling experienced a similar illumination in their time ; and Heinrich Zschokke, a popular German author, became a waking Seer of extra- ordinary powers. He read the unwritten histories of stran- gers as they approached him, including the most secret trans- actions of their lives. This mysterious illumination disclosed the dresses and movements of the actors ; also the rooms, furniture, and oilier accessories. For a long time he was prone to regard such visions as delusions of the fancy, or a kind of mental jugglery, and he felt an involuntary shudder as often as his auditors confirmed Ms statements. I subjoin (somewhat condensed) Zschokke’s description of a single illustration of his powers : “la company with two young student- foresters, I entered the Vine Inn, at Waldshut. We supped with a numerous company at the table d'hote^ where the guests were making merry with the peculiarities of the Swi?s, with Mesmer’s magnetism, Lavater’s physiognomy, etc. One of my com- panions, whose national pride was wounded, begged mo to make some reply, particularly to a handsome young man opposite to me, and who al- lowed himself extraordinary license. This man’s life was at that moment presented to my mind. I asked him whether he would answer me candidly THE CLAIRVOYANT VISION. 393 if! relatod to blrn some of the most sf>cret passages of his life, 1 knowing as little of him personally as he did of me ? That would be going a little fur- ther than Lavater did with his physiognomy He promised, if I were correct, to admit it frankly. I then related what my vision had shown, and the whole company were made acquainted with the private history of the young merchant ; his school-years, his youthful errors, and lastly, with a fault com- mitted in reference to the strong-box of his principal. I described to him the uninhabited room with whitened walls, where, to the right of the browm door, on a table, stood a black money-box, etc. A dead silence prevailed during the narrative, which I alone occasiojially interrupted by inquiring w'hether I spoke the truth? The young man confirmed every particular. Touched by his candor, I shook hands with him, and said no more.7 The Provost Marshal of Pithiviers, while playing cards with some friends, suddenly paused in the game, at 4 o’clock p. M. ; he appeared to be abstracted for a moment, and then exclaimed, “ The King is just murdered !” On the same afternoon — in the village of Patay, near Orleans — a young girl, of some fourteen years, named Simonne, inquired of her father who the King was ? On being answered that he was the chief person in France, whom the people were all bound to obey, the child exclaimed, “ Good gracious ! that man has just been slain!” Pithiviers and Orleans are at a distance of several hundred miles from the scene of the tragic occurrence.’ D’Aubigne (Memoirs Collection de Panthdon, p. 513j speaks of a man, in his service, who exhibited the same faculty in an eminent degree, tie' could communicate, respecting any stranger, the particulars of his birth-place, family connections, situation in life, and his thoughts at the time. He reported what Henry IV. of France was doing 1 Richelieu Memoirs Colb-'ction Michaud Ponjoulat, Second Series, Vol. VII., p. 23. Ferty’s Mystical Revelations of Human Nature. 894 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. on a particular day and hour ; named the persons in his suite and company ; and he also announced the time and manner of the King’s death before it occurred.^ / Dr. Garcia bad a patient, by the name of Michael, who could induce the magnetic sleep ad libitum. As often as some absent person was named, Michael would give a very accurate description of both the person and character. His vision extended to foreign countries, and embraced persons and their actions, together with other objects and their rela- tions. On one occasion he was directed to visit a certain Castle, and to report his discoveries. The liour was ten o’clock, p. M., when he saw four persons playing cards, and he gave a full description of their persons and vestments. In like manner he also witnessed the storming of Constan- tine, in Algiers, and announced the death of General Dam- remont, who fell in the first breach. In the year 1833, he gave a full aud graphic account of the loss of tlie ship Lilloise, and so real was the scene tliat at tlie moment he appeared to suffer from intense cold, and to experience all the hardships to which the crew were subjected, and as they were subsequently reported by the actual sufferers. ^ (Idem, p. 583.) Debay, in his “ Mysteries of the Magnetic Sleep,” 1 See PorLy’s Mystical Revelations of Human Nature, p. 583. 2 A similar case occurred some years since in presence of the "writer, Mrs. Harriet Porter, witaessing in a vision the destruction of a steamboat on the Hudson river. While seated in her room at Bridgeport, Connecti- cut, she declared that the steamer Henry Clay "was on fire ; and that, with the other objects presentccl, she could distinctly see the village of Yonkers. The sad catastrophe was described at length as if it were occurring in the immediate presence of the Seeress. The next morning the New York papers contained the particulars of that disaster, from which it appeared that her description of the thrilling scene and the actual occurrence were— in respect to the essential facts and the precise time — in strict coincidence. TIIR CLAIRVOYANT VISION. 395 page 61, mentions the clairvoyant vision of Mrs. De Saulco. The ladv was in the midst of a great assembly of the fasli- ionable world, in the city of' Paris, when she suddenly fell back in her chair, with the exclamation, “ My God, Mr. De Saulce [her husband] is dead The terrible reality of her vision was soon confirmed by information through the ordi- nary channels, Mr. De Saulce having been killed at that time by the negroes in Saint Domingo. (Idem, p. 581.) An interesting clairvoyant revelation was made in Scot- land on the 17th day of February, 1851. Letters written by Captain Austin and Sir John Franklin were placed in the hands of a Lady, who was at the time magnetically entranced. On being questioned concerning the respective positions and circumstances of those Arctic explorers, she stated that Captain xlustin was at that hour in longitude 95^ 45' west ; that Sir John Franklin was, at the same time, in longitude 101® 45', or about four hundred miles from the former, in a westerly direction ; that the latter had been previously re- lieved, and that the relief ship and his two vessels were fast in the ice. These statements were noticed at the time in several foreign journals, and they also appeared in a work by the late Dr. Gregory, of the University of Edinburg, where they will be found on page 306 of tlie American edition. The book was published long before the return of Captain Austin’s Expedition. The revelations of this Scotch Seeress were at length confirmed by the most positive evidence. In tlie London Times, of the date of September 12th, Captain Austin’s report will be found in extenso, from which it ap- pears, that from the 14th of February, 1851, until after the 18th of that month, he was confined in the ice between Cape 396 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. Mart}^r and Griffith Island. By referring to Johnson’s Map of the Arctic Zones, it will be perceived that the place named in the Captain’s report is in longitude 95^^ 45’ west from Greenwich. ’ Alexis claims attention as, perhaps, the most distinguished magnetic sleeper and Seer in Europe. For several years he has entertained the curious and astonished the savans by the illustrations of his Clairvoyance. With thick masses of cot- ton bound over his eyes, so as to preclude the possibility of his seeing in the ordinary way, he plays various games with experts, and usually wins. The Paris correspondent of our Daily Times^ in 1 853, had an interview with Alexis, at an American saloon in Paris. In this particular case the proofs of a clear and independent sight were so numerous and con- vincing that the skepticism of several gentlemen gave way to rational convictions. A brief extract will suffice to indi- cate the nature of the phenomena on that occasion : “ Alexis played a game of ecarle with a geiitleium frora Orleans, and won it. He picked up the tricks with a rapidity that showmd how clearly he knew the position of the cards upon the table. Keeping those dealt to him in his left hand, he held the card ho meant to play in his right, and never once changed it upon the play of his partner. He knew his adver- sary’s hand as well as he knew his own. I may add, that the cards used were bought at a grocer’s half an hour before, by myself, and that any suspicion of prepared cards would be completely idle and absurd. . . . Mr. Goodrich, who was an unbeliever, had brought from his office a letter, hidden in the corner of half a dozen envelopes, and the nature of whose enntonts no one knew but himself. He was willing to believe, if Alexis read the signature. After slight hesitation, and one error, in the first letter, he did rend it. lie ' The New York Evedivg Post noticed and pifblishcd the clairvoyant stat»’- ineiit. at the time it appeared, with the sanction of Dr. Gregory, and likewise its coufirmation by Captain Austin’s report, as publislied in tlie Times. THE CLAIRVOYANT VISION. 397 took a pencil and paper and wrote — Victor Dug — . He then exclaimed, without finishing the word, ‘C'est Victor Hugo !’ The envelopes were then opened, the letter w'as unfolded, and the signature, Victor Hugo, was cer- tainl}^ at the bottom of it. The H much resembled a D, and Alexis had taken it for one, until the sight of the remaining letters caused him to look back aud correct the error.” The Times'' correspondent gave several ^ther illustrative examples of the clairvoyance of Alexis. When a daguerre- otype of Hudson’s bust of Washington — inclosed in a mo- rocco case — was placed before him, he commenced to write the name ; but, without finishing it, he seized a book on America, which he had been reading, and — turning over the leaves rapidly^ — pointed to an engraved portrait of Wash- ington, and said, with emphasis, “ That's it ; the engraving and daguerreotype are one and the same." When requested to point out the best pianist in the room, several gentlemen present extended their hands to him, but each in turn was rejected. When left to make his clioice, lie seized the hand of M. Jules Cohen, a young man not eighteen years of age, who had won four first prizes at the Conservatoire, and was really the best pianist of his age in Europe. Mrs. Semantha Mettler, of Hartford, Conn., has long exer- cised her clairvoyant powers in discovering the immediate and remote causes of disease, its organic relations — noting, at any distance, its essential character and its phenomenal aspects -and in selecting from the great pharmacopaia of Nature the appropriate remedies for her patients. During a period of fifteen years she has been constantly before the public, in a professional capacity, and her diagnoses — made in the course of her daily transfigurations— amount to more than 40,000 in number. In numerous instances the repre- 398 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. sentatives of accredited science have been put to shame by Mrs. Mettler’s disclosures resjoecting the original cause, the particular seat, the precise nature, and the ultimate result of a disease, when these were previously all unknown by the afflicted parties, and not to be detected by ordinary profes- sional sagacity. But of her labors let those speak to wliom she has been a minister of hope, and liealth and life. Dr. T. Lea Smith, of Hamilton, Bermuda, in his account of an interview with Mrs. M., which occurred in Hartford, in the year 1853, declares that she gave accurate, general, and precise descriptions of objects in and around hiS Island home. A.mong other things, she discovered a plant that grows in great abundance in that Island — which the Doctor had previously regarded as a useless weed — and assured him that it would cure the yellow fever. In a letter written at Hamilton, under date of Oct. 29th, 1856, Dr. Smith says: “ During the last three months the fever has been making sad havoc in Bermuda, and we know not where it will stop ; it is very bad among tlie troops ; but I am happy to say that, out of two hundred cases, treated hy Mrs. Metiler's pre- scription, only four have died Tlie Doctor mentions — as occuring at a previous interview — another singular illus- tration of the powers of the Seeress. While in the magnetic trance, at Hartford, she visited the Island, went to the Ceme- tery at Hamilton, and read an inscription on a tombstone! The writer could easily fill a volume of facts illustrative of the Clairvoyance of Mrs. Mettler, but a brief digest of a few well-authenticated facts must sufflcc in this connection. Mrs, William B. Hodget, of Springfield, Mass., had extreme pain and inflammation in one of her limbs. Mrs. M. made THE CLAIRVOYANT VISION. 399 an examination at the distance of twenty-four miles, and dis- covered a. fine cambric needle concealed in the flesh. This staggered the faith of Mr. Hodget, and the family Physician was equally skeptical on the point of the needle ; but, to remove all doubts, he applied his lancet, when the needle was discovered and removed. Mrs. K. H. Smith, of Ravens- wood, L, I., was treated. by her physician for dropsy. The symptoms did not subside under professional treatment, and the attention of the Seeress was called to the case. Mrs Mettler at once discovered that she was enceinte, and that the difficulty which her physician had regarded as incurable would — in the natural coui-se of things — be entirely removed in about three months. The family Physician treated the revelations of the Clairvoyant with unmeasured derision and contempt. As often as his professional visits were repeated, he made himself merry at the expense of the Seeress and her dupes. However, at the expiration of three months, the doc- tor was one day startled and amazed at witnessing the un- expected recovery of Ids patient, whose sudden restoration added another “ little responsibility to the Smith family ! In the autumn of 1855, Mr. Charles Barker, of Jackson, Michigan, while out on a hunting excursion with a neigh- boring youth, was accidentally shot by his companion. The charge passed through the pocket of his pantaloons, shiver- ing his knife, trunk key, etc., and together with a portion of the contents of his pocket, was deeply buried in the fleshy part of his thigh. This unfortunate occurrence occasioned extreme suffering and close confinement for several months. At the time of the writer’s visit to Jackson, in the succeed- ing January, his continued pain, extreme debility, and in- 400 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. creasing emaciation, awakened in the minds of his friends intense anxiety for his safety. On my return from the West I took an early opportunity to submit this distressing case to the clairvoyant inspection of Mrs. Mettler, merely telling her that she was requested to examine a young man who had been shot. There was no intimation respecting the circum- stances attending the accident, the seat, or the extent of the injury ; nor was the existing condition of the young man in any way implied or refeiTed to. In the course of the inves- tigation and diagnosis — conducted at Hartford, while the patient was in Central Michigan — Mrs. M. discovered a piece of copper in the limb, and observed that the wound would not heal until it was removed. But young Barker was sure that he liad no copper in his pocket at the time of the accident ; and, inasmuch as the medical attendant had made no such discovery, it was presumed that the Seeress was mistaken. But some time after the foreign substance described became visible, when Mr. Barker’s mother — with a pair of embroidery scissors — removed a penny from the wound ! In such a case science is a stupid, sightless guide, and must stand out of the way. The doctors in Michigan could not see that penny when it was within their reach, and their eyes were wide open ; but this Seeress discovered it at a distance of nearly 1,000 miles with her eyes closed ! I will here introduce but two additional illustrations of Mrs. Mettler’s clear siglit. The names of the parties in both cases are withheld for reasons which the mind of tlic reader will readily suggest An Editor of a widely circulated jour- nal, published in New York city, one day called on iMrs. M. at her residence. In the course of a brief 6*6*a?icc, the clair- THE CLAIRVOYANT VISION. 101 voyant — witliout so much as a suggestion from the gentle- man — went to visit his wife, who was then in Bridgeport, over fifty miles from the scene of tliis interview. The gen- eral pliysical condition of the lady was accurately described ; but one particular statement occasioned no little surprise, and at the time it was supposed to be incorrect. The clair- voyant alleged that Mrs. was enceinte, and that the case involved something abnormal. It appeared to her that there was a malformation ; but it was observed that at that early period of utero-gestation she could not discern clearly the nature of the difficulty. Our editorial friend did not disclose this singular piece of information. Seven months after, having occasion to visit Hartford, he again called on the Seeress, who (being in the trance) informed him that she could then perceive the precise nature of the case, which had been but obscurely foreshadowed in the former diag- nosis. She then proceeded to make some very definite state- ments, the follovdng points being distinctly affirmed, namely, ‘ There was a plural conception ‘ the vital forces have been insufficient to develop the two forms f ‘ the organic struc- ture of one is altogether incomplete, though its weiglit may be some five pounds ‘ the other is perfect in organization and beautifully developed •/ ffit is a boy, and will weigh about nine pounds.’ Four weeks after the date of this inter- view, the accoucheur was sent for, when, strange to say, the foregoing statement of the clairvoyant luas, in every particu lar, verifed hy the facts. The writer’s authorities in this case are, the gentleman himself and the attendant physician. ^ ’ In the Life of General Charles James Napier is the record of a singular incident in the experience of General Fox, who accompanied the Duke of 402 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. In the year 185- a gentleman, whose home is in “ the land of steady habits,” had an interview with Mrs. Mettler — while she was entranced — which resulted in singular and important disclosures. He was told that his young wife— who was distinguished for remarkable personal beauty — was engaged in an intrigue with another man. The clairvoyant described a certain letter just received, and which the hus- band might find by going to her trunk ; and it was further observed that the letter would probably be answered in the afternoon of that day. On leaving the rooms of Mrs. M., the gentleman went immediately home and to his, wife’s trunk ; and finding the identical letter, he at once resolved to intercept the reply. At 3 o’clock, p. M., the answer was deposited in the Post-office, and by a previous arrangement with one of the clerks, it fell into the hands of the injured husband. The clairvo}mnt subsequently disclosed the inten- tions of the false fair one, pointed out the places where she would meet her inamorato, and likewise mentioned the fact that the wife was purchasing goods on her husband’s account preparatory to leaving him forever. All these statements were fully confirmed by persons employed to observe her movements. Very soon the husband had in his possession abundant evidence of the infidelity of his wife to her mar- Yoik to Flanders. Soon after the General’s departure his wife was con- fined. He was absent more than two years ; and, during that period, ]\Irs. Fox changed her residence and the child died. The father never saw the little one in the flesh ; but, becoming clairvoyant one night, he had a dis- tinct vision in which the room occupied, the furniture and the child, were all clearly revealed, lie also mentioned the day and hour of the child’s death. On his return he was introduced into a room in v\ hich he had never been before, whereupon he immediately identilied all tlni objects in the apartment, including a picture of his (diild. THE CLAIRVOYANT VISION. 403 riagc vows, including several letters written by the beautiful ainorette herself, and containing unmistakable proofs of her amours. Founding liis claim on the evidence thus elicited, he applied for and readily obtained a bill of divorce without the trouble of going to Indiana. The world is perpetually changing in its more superficial aspects,’ but the inherent principles of matter and the essen- tial laws of mind operate with unvarying precision. Nature, like a vast kaleidoscope, shows new forms and combinations with every movement of the elements, but the superstructure remains, matter is indestructible, and life immortal. The fundamental principles of Nature and the laws that regu- late tlie economy of human existence, are the same in all ages and countries ; but certain periods and particular local* ities may be especially favorable to their high and orderly development. The ancient Prophets found the pure air and the solemn silence of the most elevated regions conducive to the highest moral states and spiritual attainments. Accord- ingly, they erected altars on the summits of mountains, and Jesus of Nazareth consecrated the hills that overlooked Jerusalem, alike by his frequent visits and his most impres- sive teachings. There is something in the atmosphere of certain moun- tainous districts that is favorable to inward growth and a peculiar mental illumination. This is true in respect to por- tions of Germany, Denmark and Switzerland,* and the gift of second sight, or clairvoyance, has long distinguished the 1 The Swiss have a tradition that the patriot William Tell and the found- ers of the Helve'ic Confederation sleep together in a cave, near Lake Lucerne ; and that when their country is imperiled, they will awake to assert the rights and defend the liberties of the people. 404 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. Scotcli Higlilanders. Even the superstitions of the igno- rant ; tlie wild legends of the country, and all the incon- gruous elements and supernatural powers of a fanciful Spir- itualism, absurd as they may appear in the light of a rational philosophy, nevertheless clearly indicate the tendency of the common mind to a recognition of the psychical faculties and relations of human nature. If in the polytheistic' features and^ ordinary details of the manifestation of this spiritual element in the Highland life and character, there is much that is imaginary and false, there is also much that is deeply suggestive and essentially true. Those who dwell among the mountains, not only possess vital and muscular strength but often that clearness of perception which enables them to •interpret the mysteries of. Nature by the light of the Soul. The lake region of Scotland is full of the elements of poetic imagery and devout suggestion. The green banks of “ Wooded Windermir^re, the river-lake,’’ and that enchanting spot known as Belle Lsle, with its sweet liorne in the midst, appearing to the distant observer like “A Grecian temple rising from the deep the lofty peaks that point heavenward to the hight of two thousand feet ; the ruins of old castles and Hruidical tem- ples, with historic associations that stir the blood or solem- nize the mind ; the strange legends of the wood and the flood ; the habitations of great poets and the sacred memo- rials of their genius — these all contribute to exalt the mind and to spiritualize the faculties. There is enchantment in every scene and inspiration in the very atmosphere. Mrs TTIR CLAIRVOYANT VISION. 405 TTemans must have felt the subtile magnetism of Nature, and realized the presence of the invisible “ powers of the air,” when she sung thus of the sweet Yale of Grasmere : “ 0 vale and lake, within your mountain urn, Smiling so tranquilly, and set so deep ! Oft doth yoar dreamy loveliness return, Coloring the tender shadows of my sleep With light Elysian ; for the hues that steep Your shores in melting luster, seem to float On golden clouds from Spirit-lands, remote Isles of the blest ; and in our memory keep Their place with holiest harmonies. Fair scene, Most loved by evening and her dewy star ! Oh ! ne’er may man, with touch unhallow’d, jar The perfect music of the charm serene! Still, still unchanged, may one sweet region wear Smiles that subdue the soul to love, and tears and prayer !’ The examples presented in illustration of this part of my subject are altogether sufficient to place the cardinal fact of Clairvoyance among the demonstrated realties of human experience. Hereafter we may as well doubt the existence of the sense of vision itself as to dispute the proofs of this super-exalted power of perception. The facts are profoundly suggestive. Their relation to man’s spiritual nature and tlie great question of our immortality, will be considered here- after. While they demonstrate the development^ — in many persons— of this amazing power of vision, they also as clearly prove that the physical organs are, at tlie same time, utterly useless. The strongest light does not produce the slightest effect on the optic nerve, while the objects inspected are as clearly discovered through solid walls and in midnight dark- ness, as if they were surrounded on all sides by the impal- 406 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. pable ether, made transparent by the complete illumination and unclouded glory of noonday. But it is often objected that the results of this extraordi- nary exercise or function of the sense of sight, can not be depended upon ; that if such a power really exists, it is wholly unreliable. This assumption indicates but a super- ficial investigation of the subject, and a disposidon to form very hasty conclusions. Clairvoyance means char vision^ and clear sight is reliable ; for a distinct perception of any object, event or circumstance, must qualify the party, wlio perceives its existence or occurrence, to speak witlr confi- dence. Common observers are deceived, not because Clair- voyance is a lying oracle ; but the truth is, their oion iinper^ feet acquaintance luith the subject does not enable them to determine infallibly luhen and where this 'poioer exists^ and the precise limits of the sphere in ivhich it is operative. The field of vision, though more or less extended in differ- ent persons, and otherwise limited or enlarged by individ- ual idiosyncrasies, may possibly comprehend, in the totality of its exercise, all persons, objects, events and circumstances, whether within the range of ordinary perception and inves- tigation, or beyond the utmost reach of the senses in their normal exercise. Among the things revealed by the Clair- voyant are the subtile powers and the supra-mortal person- alities of the invisible life and world. The old Prophet and his servant beheld the shadowy hosts that peopled the ethereal regions — whose presence was as an impenetrable shield or wall of fire between them and their enemies ; the Woman of Endor saw and described Samuel ; Moses and Elias were visible to the disciples who witnessed the trans- THE CLAIRVOYANT VISION. 407 figuration; Jesus, by this power of interior perception, ‘knew what was in man’ ; heaven was opened to Peter, and Paul saw things of which it was not lawful for him to speak. Now it is worthy of remark that the Seers of otlier coun- tries and other times liave asserted their claims to the pos- session and exercise of the same faculty. This is true in respect to several of the clairvoyants named in the preced- ing classification. Swedenborg wa# one day walking along Cheapside with a friend, wlien he suddenly bowed very low. On being interrogated, he affirmed that ‘ he saw Moses pass by.’ Moreover, he claimed to have been intromitted to the heavens, and that he perceived the states of men after death. The pious Frederica Hauffe professed to see the inhabitants of the other world. The Eev. William Tennent, of New Jersey — a Presbyterian divine, who for ten days was in a trance resembling the post mortem state — seems, like Paul, to have been ‘ caught up into heaven.’ Like the Apostle, he was little disposed to converse respecting his vision of the eternal world ; but it is certain that the influence of that experience on the mind and character of the man continued until the close of his life on earth. In fact most of the persons who really have possessed the inward vision, have asserted the same claims with the utmost confidence and apparently with great sincerity.’ ‘ So generally do the Magnetic Seers of the present time set up tliis claim, that in the “ Secrets of the Life to Come, Revealed through Mag- netism,” the author, L. Alph. Cahagxet, affirms that “ the oxishmce, the form, and the occupations, of the Soul after its separation from the body, are proved by many years’ experiments, by the means of Eight Ecstatic Somnambulists, who had eighty perceptions of thirty-six deceased persons of various conditions and whose aspects, characters, and conversations are described and recorded in his curious book. 408 :,[AN AND HIS RELATIONS. Now what is llie rational presumption in view of these extraordinary facts and claims ? The author is neither inclined to blind credulity nor an unreasoning skepticism. The philosophical inquirer will scarcely be disposed to dog- matize on a point of this nature, and he certainly will not dispute the testimony of so many conscientious witnesses. If, when a witness testifies to several facts, we can and do readily demonstrate th« reliability of his perception, and his fidelity to truth, in all of the facts but one, it will not be denied that the logical inference is in favor of the accept- ance of his testimony in respect to the remaining fact, which does not admit of such demonstration. Such is the state of facts and the nature of the evidence in the case under re- view. When the Seer describes unknown persons, foreign countries, invisible objects and remote events ; reads sealed letters, perceives the properties of different substances, dis- covers the thoughts of men, unveils the forgotten past and penetrates into the unkown future of this world, we are able to verify his statements. In respect to all these, we have found Clairvoyance to be a strictly reliable witness ; and it now remains for us to either accept or reject such testimony — respecting the higher realities of the Inward Life — as the spirit of a rational faith and the dicta of a scientific philo- sophy may determine. / In the selection of facts I have been conlined to no par- ticular nation or period in human history. Moreover, the examples are sufficiently diversified to illustrate the several degrees and phases of Clairvoyance ; and they certainly warrant the conclusion that this power is essentially the same in all ages and countries. Now, if wo arc to credi*" THK CLAIRVOYANT VISION. 409 the ancient Hebrew Seers, when they profess to look into the invisible world, every principle of justice and rule of logic demand that we should respect the legitimate claims of the Seers of other nations and of modern times. Natural sight was the same in the Madonna and the Magdalen, in the chief Apostle and the vilest apostate. In like manner. Clair- voyance, or the vision of the Seer, is one and the same, whe- ther exercised by an ancient Jew or a modern Gentile ; by a canonized saint or a common sinner ; by a Pagan, Moham- medan or Christian. Will it be said that this superior power of perception is a divine faculty when displayed by an Apostle and that it becomes a profane endowment, or at best a worthless gift when in the possession of a heretic or an infidel ? Such arbitrary distinctions are not founded on any fundamental difference in the nature of the facts, and they can only be supported by the arrogant assumptions of pretended philosophers and tiieological dogmatists. It is not strange that scientific investigation so often leads to skepticism, since the savans confine themselves to their material methods, and’ insist on using only such tests as are applicable in the department of physics. Everything must be weighed and measured, dissected or put in a crucible. The presence of the Soul can not be determined by such means. Perhaps it will not turn the balance ; it can not be muti- lated by the scalpel, confined in a retort, or fused in the fire ; hence our modern masters are skeptical respecting the ex- istence of the Soul. Indeed, nothing can more clearly illus- trate the materialism of the age, than the prevalent disposi- tion to ascribe all psychical phenomena to a disordered action of the bodily- organs. This fs especially true in re- 410 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. spect to the schools ; and so great is the ignorance on this subject that our soi disant philosophers, and even some accredited authorities in modern science, are unable to dis- tinguish between a vision of heaven and an attack of niglit- mare ! The somnambulist is generally presumed to be a sick man ; tlie illuminated Seer is treated as a patient ; and all those powers that indicate, in their development, the supremacy of the spirit over the flesh, are regarded as evi- dences of vital or mental derangement — except such as are comprehended in the experience of the ancient Jews and early Christians. This is virtually presuming that the per- fection of the individual, and his accord with Nature, are best realized when his powers of perception are blunted by the influence of a material philosophy and a sensuous life ; and he is unconscious of the slightest possible illumination from super- terrestial sources. Angels and ministers of grace, defend us’’ from the titled empiricism that would lead the world to such gross and infidel issues ! Truly, the depths of apostacy are sounded, and Reason is immolated by those learned men (?) who thus include the highest developments of the soul and the physical maladies of the body in the same category ! The schools ore prone to be delving among the fossil remains of dead and forgotten things ; but wlien we invite them to investigate the most significant plicnomena that spring from the relations of tlie soul and the body, they seem inclined to regard the whole subject as beyond tlie })roper domain of science. 4 rue, the remarkable experi- ences of the Jews are ostensibly accejited as intrinsically probable ; but modern facts of analogous character, and THE CLAIRVOYANT VISION. 411 obviously depending on the same general laws, arc ungra- ciously rejected. But no candid man will profess to pursue the scientific method in his investijjations, while he thus makes an arbitrary distinction in favor of one particular nation, over all the men of every age and country who have witnessed the occurrence of similar facts. This course is utterly hostile to the true spirit of scientific investigation. Science knows no such distinctions ; and the philosopher has no right to recognize any, except such as grow out of, and necessarily depend on, existing natural differences. If there is anything sacred in the Scriptural illustrations of my subject, it surely is not in the languages that served to record the experiences of Prophets, and Apostles, and Seers. Verily the divine benefaction is not to be sought and found in Hebrew and Greek manuscripts — neither in chemical elements nor chirographical characters. But it was, and it is, in the great mental and moral illumination that renders an existence of poverty glorious, and life a sublime achievement, even when its termination is the death of the cross. If the same faculty still exists and is exer- cised among men, has it no longer a claim to our respectful consideration.? If the power to penetrate the unseen and to discern what is in man, was once a divine gift, who shall say that it has become a profane juggle? Yet such is the inconsistency of poor human nature, that multitudes — who cherish the simple history of Elisha’s clairvoyance, as a Divine communication and a priceless inheritance — would not so much as cross the street to witness the most impres- sive revelations of the same power. They speak of the old Prophets with voices modulated by the deepest reverence, 26 412 MAN AND HIS REI.ATIONS. while they may regard the living Seer, either as a fool or a knave, a lunatic, or at best as the victim of some strange hallucination. But I must respect the Seer as an interpreter of Nature, commissioned to stand in the inner courts of the temple, and to unfold the Divine mysteries. Through the forms of things, he \ et discerns their hidden properties; he uncovers the minds of men, and looks into the vital precincts of all living things ; he reverently removes the shroud from the buried nations, and speaks for such as have no voice. The distance of time is not required to invest his office with an air of enchantmeyit. I shall not wait for his apotheosis ; I will not consider the remote probabilities of his being can- onized ; it is sufficient that I have examined his credentials. Others may suspend judgment, if they will, until the dust of centuries has silently settled over his forgotten grave ; but I will recognize the divinity of his mission now. Ho stands beneath the Sun-circle of the Universe ; and his function is solemn and sublime as when the heavens opened to his enraptured vision above the mountains of Judea. Ho still holds the golden key to the penetralia of tlie Future ; and while men sleep ho lifts the groat veil from o'F the face of the World, that “ the invisible things of God” may be clearly seen in the light of his recognized presence. “ O, tUou^lit ineffable ! (J, vision blest ; Though worthless our conceptions all of Thee, Yet shall thy shadowed image fill each breast, And waft its homage to thy Deity. God 1 thus above my lonely thoughts can soar ; I hus seek thy presence. Being wise and good I ’Midst thy vast works admire, obey, adore ! And when the tongue is eloquent no more. The soul shall speak in songs of gratitude.” CHAPTER XXXI. THE LAW OF PROPHECY. Material tendencies of Science — Influence of Literature and the Elegant Arts — Premonitions, a phase of Prophetic Inspiration — Reference to Sir Walter Scott — The prophetic element in Poetry — Wordsworth and Camp- bell —Death of Governor Marcy — His Daughter’s Premonition — Hon. N. P. Tallmadge, and the accident on the U. S. War Steamer Princeton— Miss M — and the Officer in the Peninsular Campaign— Loss of the Arctic • — Prophetic Intimations to Five Persons — Life saved by a Premonition at the Norwalk Railroad Disaster— Prophecy of the Burning of the Henry Clay — Mrs. Swisshelm’s Report of Dr. Wilson’s Prophecies — Death of the Emperor Nicholas predicted three months before it occurred — Jaspers, the Westphalian Shepherd — Letter to President Taylor concerning ancient Peruvian Prophecies — Goethe’s Experience — Prophecy of Cardiere, from the Life of Michael Angelo— Remarkable Prophecies by Roger Bacon — Inspiration, Heroic Achievements, and Martyrdom of the Shepherdess ot" Lorraine — Exposition of the Law of Prophecy. “ There is no doubt that there exist such voices, Yet I will not call them Voices of warning that announce to us Only the inevitable, .flsthesun, Ere it be risen, sometimes paints its image In the atmosphere ; so often do the spirits Of great events stride on before the events ; And in to-day already walks to-morrow.” — Coleridge. Q CIEN CE has enabled us to determine the superficial dimensions of the earth ; to read its history in its several strata ; to analyze its rocks and earths ; to estimate its solid contents, and to ascertain the direction and velocity of its movements ; to weigh its atmosphere and measure its waters ; to classify the vegetables and animals on its surface, and to divide men into distinct races. But what has accredited science done to unveil the subtile agents employed by tlie 414 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. Creator as the proximate causes of these elemental changes and organic formations? Which of the material philoso- phers has traced the mysterious forces of gravitation, chem- ical affinity, and molecular attraction to their invisible sources ? What man has followed the occult powers to their ultimate hiding-places, and wrung from great Nature the secret whereby she conducts her stupendous operations ? How far has science disclosed the laws that individualize life and regulate the functions of organized existence ? Has any physiologist been fully conscious of the intimate relations of mental to vital motion as exhibited in Man ? .Where shall we find the man — in all the crowds that frequent the halls of science — who has solved the problem of animal sen- sation and instinct, and of human consciousness and reason ? Who has fully explained the philosophy of thought and the divine mystery of love ? It must be confessed tliat the most distinguished votaries of science have shed no ray of ligh^ on the inmost nature and relations of Man. The soul has never ceased to press certain grave questions concerning the indestructibility of its constitution, its undeveloped powers, and its immortal destiny ; but in respect to all these. Science has been dumb as a Pagan idol, and tlie dead are not so voiceless as those who wear her insignia to-day. The materialism of science was scarcely more apparent in the earliest stages of its development. We know something of the properties and uses of the simple elements, and of the results of their various combinations ; but comparatively little respecting the nature and capabilities of the imponderable agents. The schools have accomplished little more tlian a classification of mere physical forms and [)henomena, and the THE LAW OF PROPHECY. 415 elaboration of their technical disquisitions on whatever is least vital and signilicant. Thus human science and human minds have been materialized together, and it is now quite frequently acknowledged that great scientific attainments are unfavorable to religion ; that philosophy and faith are incom- patible ; and that the study of Nature leads the soul away from God. But this results from the superficial nature of our knowledge. Lord Bacon observed that a shallow phi- losophy, comprehending only the surface of things and the operation of second causes, led men into Atheism ; but that a profound philosophy must lead the wandering soul back to repose on the bosom of the Infinite. The man who con- fines his observations to what is merely external and apparent can not rationally expect to comprehend the essential con- stitution and internal reality of being. He may survey the surface of things and look at the outside of the world forever, and not satisfy his mind respecting the vital principles of existence, just as a hungry man might examine the shell of an oyster wdth the utmost care, and yet derive neither know- ledge nor nourishment from what it contains. If then the influence of modern science has not made men more devout I in a rational and true sense, it is because our science has been essentially external and material. But those who have ventured to break away from the arbitrary restraints of the schools, regardless of the limits prescribed by the accepted authorities— who have dared to explore the Unseen and to question the Infinite — have been rendered reverent by study. In proposing to accompany my classification of facts with philosophical suggestions on the subject of Prophecy, I may be regarded as a profane adventurer by those who view the X ■ ^ , 1 ^' > X 416 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. whole field as forbidden ground. So long have men been taught that the exercise of reason, on subjects of this nature, is hostile to Religion and dangerous to the soul, tliat few have felt authorized to pursue their inquiries on rational grounds. Hence doubt and irresolution have characterized the attempts to unveil the ethereal mysteries, and each step toward the Invisible has been taken with fear and trembling. /Whatever is beyond the limits already defined by the ac- j knowledged masters in Philosopln^, Morals and Religion, is treated with as much caution and reserve as if it were a I magazine of thunderbolts, or a Pandora’s box charged with ; the elements of the soul’s destruction. But we can not sympathize with those craven souls, whose fears have been their counsellors ; nor can we abandon the investigation because the subject is presumed to be far beyond the reach of our finite powers. They are feeole or indolent beings who will not reverently scan the Creator’s works and read the record of his word in all things. The subject is neither above human comprehension nor beyond the proper domain of science. If we fail, it is not because success is impossible, but rather for the reason that we question tlie ultimate designs of Providence, and have formed no just estimate of the sublime possibilities of human nature. The f man of large faith and strong determination seldom fails, ) while the weak and irresolute rarely succeed. Thus we dis- cover that Our doubts are traitors, A*nd make us lose the good we oft might wid, By fearing to attempt.’^ (The assumption that science must be forever confined to THE LA^Y OF PROPHECY. 417 pliysics, is too preposterous to merit a formal refutation, j We are willing to indulge the instincts tliat prompt so many to dive and delve ; but if others are impelled to rise — by virtue of a divine attraction, and the supreme law of their own affinities — into the higher departments of tfie Universe, there is no reason to question the wisdom of their choice. There are new and untrodden fields that must be explored and the minds of this class — by their superior power of cog- nition — must discern our relations to those grand realities that open inward and upward from the plain of our com- mon life. Surely the realm of divine principles and silent forces is subject to law, and characterized by a beautiful method and a sublime order. Those principles may be in- vestigated ; the laws of the inner life are disclosed to our spiritual consciousness, and the modes of the Divine proce- dure are revealed in Nature and in history. If then the fac- ulties and susceptibilities of the human mind — in the higher sphere of its action — are regulated by fixed principles, it follows that psychical phenomena may be observed and classified, and the laws that govern them may be discovered and explained. Such a classification of actual facts and ex- positions of essential laws, constitute science. And thus,i step by step — by the unerring line of a far-reaching induc- tion— Science may ascend from the smallest particulars on earth to the grandest realities of Heaven ; and at last — , shaking the dust from her garments — be baptized in “ the 1 River of Life.’' But while our scientific authorities have done but little tof foster the religious sentiment, and much to encourage popu- lar materialism, Literature, on the contrary, lias, to a gre^t - 418 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. (^extent, conserved these elements in human nature and its institutions. All nations have had their spiritual books ; S and the spiritual idea- ' “ Like crystal streams that murmur through the meads” — I runs noislessly through a large portion of the best literature of all countries, marking its silent progress, along every walk of life, with perennial freshness and beauty, and caus- ing the moral wildernesses to bloom like Paradise. The Elegant Arts have all been eloquent exponents of divine ideas. They are beautiful ministers that wait in the temples, and whose purest offerings have been laid- on the altars of Religion. Painting, Sculpture, Poetry, Music, Oratory and Architecture, have all contributed to restrain and refine the passions, and to furnish the most exalted ideals for human contemplation. They have spiritualized the popular thought and the common life of the world. Painting presents impressive illustrations on the walls of the Farnesian Palace and the Sistine Chapel, where Raphael and Michael Angelo left their immortal creations in the Banquet of the Gods and the Last Judgment. The hand of the latter is never to bo mistaken, and is visible in Ricciu/- relli’s Christ and the Women, in the Descent from the Cross. The feminine delicacy, exquisite pathos, and dramatic effect combined in the Frescos and other works of Raphael ; the epic grandeur and profound solemnity of Angelo’s vast con- ceptions ; and the faultless harmony and mysterious spells by which Correggio enchains the rohned sense and enlight- ened soul’, until it is entranced with “ the soft emotions of a delicious dream” — all, all attest the spiritual ministry of Art. But Painting is not the only form of Art tliat is morally THE LAW OF PROPHECY. 419 infliiO'Uial. Greece gav^e the world marble revelations, in the beautiful forms of her gods and goddesses ; tlie “ frozen music” of Architecture, performed in innumerable temples, wliose spires point upward to heaven ; the stately mauso- leums of kings, and saints, and martyrs, and the enduring memorials of all tlie illustrious dead, suggest the supreme authority of our religious impressions and spiritual aspira- tions. Making no particular references to the ordinary poetry and music, employed in the private devotions and public services of the church, we can only hint at the im- portance of the grandest illustrations of poetic and musical inspiration. In Poetry, we have the D Ivina Gommedia of Dante ; Milton’s Paradise Lost and Regained, and the Golden Age of Harris. In Music, the Laudi Spirituali of the Flor- entines; the Ascension, by Bach, and the Death of Jesus, by Graun ; Haydn’s Creation, Handel’s Messiah, and the Re- quiems of Mozart, Jomelli and Cherubine, are all significant recognitions of the religious nature of man, or the dominion of spiritual ideas in the developments of Genius and Art. Before attempting to explain or even to suggest tlie Law of Prophecy, it will be proper to examine such facts as may best serve to illustrate the subject. To discover the law we must necessarily go to the theater of its operations. Like the perception of the seer, the gift of prophetic inspiration is neither confined to a single nation nor restricted to par- ticular periods in human history ; at the same time personal habits and national conditions may either accelerate or re- strain its development. This surprising gift is exhibited in several degrees, and in greater or less perfection in the same individual, agreeably to the ever-varying states of mind, and 420 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. otlier circumstances that may influence the functions of his moral nature. The lowest degree of prophetic inspiration I is widely manifested. It consists of a sudden and unaccount- able impulse or feeling, often of apprehension, apparently I causeless and generally imdefinable. It is a vague shadow I on the mind, and an imperfect consciousness that some event, j of more than ordinary consequence, is about to transpire. The person thus impressed may neither have a distinct con- ^ ception of the specific character of that event* nor be able ^ to determine the precise time when it will occur. However, f when the impression is strong, the inference that the impend- j ing event is near is inevitable, and its essential nature may V^be apprehended from the effects produced on tlie mind. The phenomena referred to — as embracing the lowest phase of prophetic communication — are usually denominated Prg- monitions ; and the psycho>jgy of common life is often illus- trated by such impressive admonitions. The ambitious ab tempts of certain metapliysicians to dispose of tlie facts of this class, in a satisfactory manner, have been melancholy failures. The examples are very numerous and deeply sug- gestive. While the ignorant are generally prone to regard them as supernatural in their origin, the learned — with rare exceptions— have been disposed to set them aside as sensorial illusions, remarkable coincidences, or as tlie offspring of a prolific but distempered fancy. Sir Walter Scott could neither dispute the existence of such facts nor account for them on philosophical principles. lie found the evidence of their reality in all history, and especially in the legends of his country and the fireside memories of liis own ))eo]fle. The facts were more potent than any spell of po})ular skop- THE LAW OF PROPHECY. 421 ticisiii, and hence the exorcisms of genius and learning were as powerless to conceal them as to prevent their occurrence. Indeed, if Scott’s volumes on “Demonolog}" and Witchcraft,” illustrate one thing more clearly than another, it is the ob- vious truth, that many facts in human experience are of such a nature that material philosophers can neither comprehend nor explain them. Wordsworth evidently believed that the spirit of prophecy was, and is, given to men in every age and country ; and that the inner avenues of perception may be opened, either by a process of natural development or by superterrestrial influence. In the preface to the “ Excursion” he thus invokes the presence of the spirit : “ Descend, prophetic spirit ! that inspirest The human soul of universal earth, Dreaming of things to come ; and dost possess A metropolitan temple in the hearts Of mighty poets ; upon me bestow A gift of genuine insight.’’^ This mysterious perception of coming events has been otherwise used as an element in poetry, of which we have an example in the interview between the Seer and the warlike Chief of the Camerons. The latter is on his way to join the standard of Charles Stuart, when he is met by the Seer who predicts his overthrow. Lochiel denounces him as a vile wizzard ; but the prophet is made to say— in the language of the Poet— that he can not hide the terrible vision of im- pending disaster : “ For, dark and despairing, my bight I may seal, But man can not cover what God would reveal ; 'Tis the sunset of life gives me mystical lore, And coming events cast their shadows before.” The Seer proceeds, and the catastrophe is described. The 422 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. field and the conflict are before him, and as the Pretender and his legions fly in vision from the bloody scenes of Cul- loden, the Prophet invokes the ‘ wild tempests to rise and cover his flight,’ as if the elements themselves were intelli- gent agents, or subject to the influence of “ the prince of the power of the air.” It has already been observed that the phase of prophetic impression or inspiration, exhibited in premonitions, is not always such as distinctly reveals the precise nature of the coming event, though the general character and influence of the same may be clearly indicated. The facts of this class are innumerable, but for the purpose of the present elucida- tion, the subjoined examples are sufficient. The daughter of the late Governor Marcy, of New York, spent the fourth of July, 18 — , at the residence of a friend in Troy, a party of ladies and gentlemen being present. The company appeared to be in excellent spirits. Miss Marcy ex- cepted, who early in the day exhibited unusual depression. Her apparent unhappiness was the subject of remark, and occasional inquiries respecting the cause of her dejection. In reply to the interrogatories of her friends, she expressed the apprehension that an extraordinary calamity iiad overtaken some member of the family. Early in the afternoon the news of the death of her father reached the city, and was communi- cated to some of the gentlemen who had been in the same company with Miss Marcy in the morning. While these gentlemen were in a room by themselves, deliberating on the proper manner of communicating the painful intelligence to the daughter, and before she could have received the least intimation of her bereavement through any ordinary THE LAW OF PROPHECY. 423 cliamiel, her grief became ungovernable, and covering her face with her handkerchief she retired from the apartment. In 1844, Hon. N. P. Tallmadge was one of a company, invited by Commodore Stockton to make an excursion down the Potomac on the United States War Steamer Princeton. The party included the President and members of the Cabi- net, together witli many other distinguished gentlemen and ladies. The Commodore proposed to signalize the occasion by firing his “ Peace-maker^’ — a wrought-iron gun of large caliber. Accordingly, a portion of the company assembled upon the forward deck. Governor Tallmadge occupying a position at the breech of the gun. He felt no apprehension of danger ; and the first, second and third discharges were unaccompanied by any unpleasant results. The party then went below for refresliments. After dinner the Governor returned to the deck, when he observed that the great gun was about to be discharged for the fourth and last time. He at once assumed his former position. But the Commodore, President, and heads of the Executive Departments, were still below, and the firing was delayed for a few moments on their account. It was then that a mysterious feeling of ap- prehension and dread suddenly seized the Governor, and under an irresistible impulse he turned away and followed the ladies into the cabin. Immediately the report was heard, and the next moment came the startling and terrible intelli- gence that five distinguished gentlemen, including two mem- bers of the Cabinet, had been instantly killed by the last discharge. In his description of that frightful accident, Governor Tallmadge says: “I rushed on deck, saw the life- less and mangled bodies, and found that the gun had burst 424 MAN AND HIS KELATIONS. at the very spot where I had stood at the three former fires, and where — if I had remained at the fourth fire — I should have been perfectly demolished. ’ Miss M had a pure and deep affection for a young officer who accompanied Sir John Moore in the Peninsular Campaign. Her knowledge of the fact that her lover was constantly exposed to danger visibly disturbed her mind and impaired her health. By degrees the color faded from her cheek, and gradually she resigned herself to the dominion of a settled melancholy. She felt a positive conviction when she parted from her lover that they would meet no 'more on earth. Her friends tried to comfort her, but were pained to witness the failure of every scheme to dissipate the shadows from her mind. One fearful thought haunted her night and day. Opulence was powerless to command relief. Music had lost its enchantment; and in the midst of tlie gay crowd she was solitary. The tide of impetuous life ; the glittering phantoms of the fashionable world ; the heraldry of beauty and bravery ; inspiring mirth and sparkling wit ; the voices of revelry and the words of prayer — all were powerless to recall her from her abstraction. This young lady possessed tlie vision that is neither limited by distance nor obscured by darkness ; and one night — so she affirmed — her lover, wounded, pale and gory, entered her apartment ; and with the utmost gentleness informed her that he had fallen in battle. Otlicrs said that tlie phan- tom was the offspring of the anxious heart and the disordered imagination. But there was too much of reality in the vision ‘ latroduction to The Healing of the Nations ” by Hon. N. P. Tallmadge, formerly United States Senator from New York and Governor of Wisconsin. TEE LAW OF PROPHECY. 425 and its consequences : for, under tlie pressure of the sorrow- ful conviction, tlie maiden died in a few days. It was not long after that her friends received intelligence that the officer had lost his life at the battle of Corunna, and but a few hours before the occurrence of the mysterious visitation. The following instances of prophetic intimations of the same event all occurred, and were published in the New York papers, about the time of the loss of the Arctic. A lady who had intended to secure her passage on that steamer dreamed, two nights in succession, that the vessel had foun- dered at sea. Such was the impression on her mind that she persuaded several friends to change their purpose, and to take passage with her on the Baltic. Her dream, and the strange conviction it produced, were the subject of familiar conversation among the passengers, before anything had transpired to verify its painful suggestions. A gentleman who had a relative on board the Arctic, went to the wharf, on tlie Sunday when she was due, and was sur- prised on finding Mr. E. K. Collins there. Mr. C. said he scarcely expected to find the steamer in, and explained the occasion of his presence by saying, that he had been made a little uneasy by dreaming that she was wrecked. Three or four days before the news of the loss of the Arctic reached New York, a man entered the office of Mr. Collins, exhibiting great excitement. He declared that the Arctic was wrecked — that only thirty of her passengers were saved, and that among the lost was his brother. Mr. George Smith, of the commercial house of Messrs. Leupp and Company, was one of the passengers who per- ished in the Arctic. On the third of October, six days after 426 MAN AND HIS EELATIONS. tlie disaster, and before the steamer could bo considered over- due, a son of Mr. Smith died in New York. Some time before his dissolution the youtli assured his relatives that his father had lost his life at sea, and that the}^ would soon be con- vinced of the truth of his statement. A gentleman, whose wife and daughter were in England, and designing to return in the Arctic, were warned by him in a letter not to take passage in that steamer, as he was apprehensive some accident would occur. But the ladies, having several friends who had secured state-rooms in that vessel, concluded to embark with them. The fact that the request of the husband and father had been disregarded weighed heavily on the wife^s mind. She immediately began to experience the most painful forebodings, and was mys- teriously impressed with the tolling of the alarm-bell, on Bell Buoy, in the Irish Channel. Both ladies were lost ! The writer was present to witness the melancholy wreck of human life that resulted from the great railroad accident at Norwalk, Conneciicut. In that case the life of one person, at least, was saved by a timely premonition. A gentleman, who was occupying a seat at the forward end of one of the cars, was suddenly disturbed by an unaccountable apprehen- sion of danger. So strong was tlie impj-ession tliat he left liis seat and walked back and seated himself at the other end of the car, after which he felt at ease. Immediately another man, on entering the car, took the seat he had re- signed. In ten minutes the terrible catastrophe occurred, the locomotive and several of the cars being precipitated through the draw into the river. Strange to say, the train was so far arrested that only one half of the car, containing THE LAW OF PROPHECY. 42T tliG persons referred to, projected over tlie draw. This car broke in two in tlie middle, the forward part "oin^ into the river, and tlie otlier portion remaining on the bridge. The gentleman wlio liad been mysteriously admonished, escaped unharmed ; but when the mangled bodies were removed from tlie wreck, it was discovered that the man who occupied the abandoned seat was dead, a large splint from the side of the car having been driven directly through his brain. But there are other cases wherein the shadows of coming events assume more definite proportions, and instead of a blind impulse or feeling, unaccompanied by a mental concep- tion, a distinct impression is made on the mind, which may admit of a precise description. In other words, the impend- ing events— in their proper order, and in their relations to time, space, persons, institutions and circumstances — produce corresponding mental images, and these may be otherwise in- telligibly expressed in language. The succeeding examples illustrate the superior phases of this prophetic inspiration. The writer and several other persons were witnesses of a prophetic announcement of the destruction of the steamer Henry Clay, on the Hudson River, made by Mrs. Harriet Porter, at Bridgeport, Connecticut, on the 27th day of July, 1852 — the day before that boat was actually burned. On the 28th, at about tbe hour of three o’clock, p. m., Mi-s. Porter — being entranced in presence of several persons — again referred to the subject, and proceeded to describe the terrible catastrophe, which was then, as she affirmed, being enacted befoi-e her. Slie declared witli great emphasis that a steamboat was burning on the Hudson ; that she could see the name — Henry Clay; and that the village of Yonkers 428 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. was also distinctly visible. She appeared to be thrilled and terrified at the spectacle, and expressed the deepest anguish on account of the loss of so many lives. On the following morning the public journals contained the verification of all she had said, in the details of the mournful disaster, so mys- teriously foreshadowed and so graphically portrayed at the very hour of the fatal occurrence. Mrs. Swisshelm, in her public correspondence, records certain prophecies made by Rev. Dr. Wilson, who, in 1855, was settled in Alleghany City. Among the events predicted were the great fire of 1845, in Pittsburg; the Mexican war and its results : the war between Russia and the Western Powers, and the speedy limitation of the political power of the Pope. It may be very improper to recognize a prophet in Alleghany City, but it is worthy of remark tliat the events foretold have become history. Had this Professor of The- ology lived two or three thousand years ago, and on the riglit side of the Hlgean and Mediterranean seas, he would, doubtless, have enjoyed a fair reputation by this time. But Mr. Wilson is probably alive yet, and it is decreed by an ancient proverb, that a prophet may not hope to have honor in his own country.’’ / Mr. John F. Coles published in the New York Daily Times, of the date of December 3d, 1854, and more fully in the Sunday Dispatch, of December 10th, a propliecy of the death of the Emperor Nicholas. Having declared, on tlie night of the 29th of November, that in tliree montlis more — reckoning from that hour — tlie sudden death of a crowned licad would astonisli and bewilder tlie magnates of the Old World ; and having also compnred the monarchies of Europe THE LAW OP PROPHECY. 429 to a stupendous pyramid, which could be demolished by re- moving one stone at a time, the prophetic utterance — having reference to the Emperor — was thus continued : — “ There is trouble brewing between Nicholas and Menschikoff. Nicho- las is the top stone of the European pyramid. For thirty years he has lain quietly in his bed. The earth around the base is loosened — the top stone is already in motion.’^ It is a fact that in just tliree months from the date of this prophecy — making the proper allowance for the difference of time between St. Petersburgli and New York — the late Emperor of Russia died, suddenly ; and the last public act of his life was the removal of Menschikoff from his command at Sebas- topol, and the appointment of another General in his place. It will be perceived that these facts were published by the American press, three months before they were made known at St. Petersburg; and the principal fact - the death of the Czar — ninety days before the event occurred.*^ ' Among the German peasantry are many persons who have 1 “ There is something so pointed and direct of Kossuth as a prophet, that we cannot pass it by. I allude to the prophecy uttered in his speech at Glasgow. His spirit, yearning over prostrate, sorrowing nations, broke forth in that speech, and he p’rophesied to England and the world, that the proud alliance armed against Russia could not triumph while its goal was but the propping of old despotisms, and not the ireedom of enslaved peoples. He prophesied that the great fleets and armies wou' d fail ; that the steppes of the Crimea would become the sepulchers of Briton and Frank, ere victory should crown the Honed and eagled flags ; that of all the brave souls sent, up to that hour, from Albion’s shore, to war to a false end, not one in five would ever return. Many believed his words, and even the heart of throned power trembled at the prophecy ; but the alliance kept on its way. A few months have elapsed, and every line of the prophecy is fulfilled. The alliance is baffled — four out of five of ‘England’s braves’ have fallen; eleven thousand widows, brooding over their semi-ophaned children and des- olate homes, wail aloud in confirmation of the Prophet.” — Caklos D. Rtcaut. 430 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. remarkable prescience, and the power to foresee events is often possessed by those simple-hearted people. In 1850 a collection of their prophecies was published in BlacJauoocVs Magazine. , I can only cite a single example in this connection : “A Westphalian shepherd, by the name of Jaspers, a sincere and devout man, predicted in 1830 — before the construction of the first English railway — that just before his death ‘ a great road would be carried through the country, from west to east, which will pass through the forest of Bodol- schwing. On this road carriages will run without horses, and cause a dreadful noise. At the commencement of this work, great scarcity will prevail. . . Before this road is quite completed, a frightful war will break out, in which a small Northern Bower will be conqueror.” ' Jaspers has gone to dwell with the elder prophets in the fold of the Good Shepherd ; but his predictions have been literally verified. The line of railway from Cologne to Minden is through the district mentioned in the propliecy. Before the road was finished the partial famine occurred, and also the war, in which “a small Northern Power (Den- mark) was conqueror.’’ Dr. Justo Sahaurauria, of the ancient Peruvian city of Cuzco, who claimed — on what appeared to be convincing evidence — to be a lineal descendant from Huaynaccapac, the last reigning Inca, addressed a letter to President Taylor, containing some curious' facts illustrative of the proplietic inspiration of the aboriginal Peruvians, A son of the ven- erable Doctor was burned alive in the plaza of Caxamorca, by the Spanish conquerors of the country. I extract the following from'the letter to General Taylor, from whicli it will appear that the royal and sacerdotal classes of that peculiar people enjoyed the light of the proplietic spirit : “ When the Spaniards entered fhe Beruviau empire, they found in the THE LAW OF PROPHECY. 431 principal temple of Cuzco various prophecies, and among them one which foretold the dostniction of the empire, together with its rites and ceremonies ; and that this was to take place in the reign of the twelfth Emperor. When the Emperor Hiiaynaccapac was told by his vassals in Tumpis, that there had appeared on the coast certain canoe-like houses, the crews of which were composed of bearded men, he said that a tradition existed among the members of the royal family to the effect, that there should come from be- yond the sea an unknown p<"ople who would destroy the empire its religion, rights and ceremonies, and that this was to take place in the reign of the twelfth Emperor ; and as he was the twelfth, the prediction was doubtless about to be fulfilled.” The prophetic impulse may be experienced long before tlie occurrence of the event, and it may also be accompanied by impressions made through the nerves of special sensation. I extract the following illustration of this kind from the Memoirs of the German poet, Goethe : “ Notwithstanding the anxiety and extreme affliction I felt, I could not y withstand the desire of seeing Frederica once more ; it was a cruel day to ns, and its circumstances will never be effaced from my memory. When I had mounted my horse and offered my hand for the last time, I saw tears swimming in her eyes, and my heart suffered as much as hers. I proceeded along a path that leads to Drusenheim, when a strange vision, which must have been a presentiment, suddenly disturbed my mind I thought I saw my own image advancing toward me on horseback, in the same road. The figure wore a grey coat with gold lace, such as I had never worn. This singular illusion diverted my thoughts, for the time, from the grief of part- ing ; I felt my regret at quitting this fine country, and all that was lovely and beloved in it, gradually softened ; I roused myself at length from the extreme affliction in which this farewell day had plunged me, and I pursued my journey with greater serenity. It is singular enough that eight years after, as I was going to see Frederica once more, I found myself in the same road, dressed as T had dreamed — and wearing such a coat, accidentally, and, without having chosen it ” The material philosophers would hastily dispose of this 432 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. case by saying that the figure resembling Goethe was only an optical or spectral illusion, and that his subsequent i-eturn in the costume of the phantom was merely a circumstantial coincidence. This assertion is easily made, but it involves no explanation. Why the Poet’s brain should, at that par- ticular time, project an image of himself — in a dress he had never worn, and was not therefore likely to conceive of — is a question that finds no proper solution in a flippant and shal- low assumption. Moreover, why such a vision should afford immediate relief from mental suffering, and restore a serene state of mind, does not appear from any suggestion, derived from the illusion hypothesis. But if it be admitted that in- visible, intelligent beings may have an interest in mundane affairs, and that they may establish psychological relations with the human mind on earth, so as to influence sensation, awaken emotions, and inspire thoughts, all similar mysteries may be readily and philosophically explained. 'ibCardiere, an improvisatore of remarkable ability, and a personal friend of Michael Angelo, was employed in the house of Piero, where he exercised his singular powers of improvisation by singing on festive and other occasions, with a lyre accompaniment. This man, while in the presence of Angelo, predicted that Piero would be driven from his house to return no more. The great painter attached so much importance to this statement that he urged his friend to communicate his conviction to Piero, but Cardiere hesitated from an apprehension of unpleasant consequences. Subse- quently Michael Angelo, meeting Cardiere in the cortile of the palace, observed that the latter was terrified and sor- rowful. The prophetic impression rested with increased THE LAW OF PROPHECY. 4B3 weight on his mind. Angelo reproved him for neglecting to disclose his apprehensions to the party whom they most deeply concerned. At length Cardiere resolved to hazard the consequences of tlie proposed disclosures, and accord- ingly started on foot for the villa belonging to the Medici family, which was situated about three miles from Florence. While on the way he met Piero and his suit, who laughed at the revelation and ridiculed the fears of the prophet, one of the. number — afterward Cardinal de Bibbiena — telling him that he was out of his mind. The result of this interview was the humiliation of Car- diere, who deplored the consequences ; but Michael Angelo, becoming persuaded that the prediction was likely to be ful- filled, left Florence, with two of his companions, and went to Bologna. The biographer of Michael Angelo adds : — “ To whatever cause this prediction may be attributed, it so hap- pened that it was verified ; for the family de Medici, with all their suit, were driven from Florence and arrived at Bo- logna while Michael Angelo was there, and lodged in the house de Rossi ; Piero himself never returned to Florence, but after sufiering a succession of mortifications came to an y untimely death.’’* Among the persons especially gifted with the power to discern future events, Friar Bacon deserves particular notice as one whose remarkable prophecies have been most liter- ally fulfilled. Six hundred years ago some of the greatest modern inventions were thus foreshadowed by his prophetic inspiration : “Bridges, unsupported by arches, will be made to span the foaming 1 The authority for this statement is Duppa’s Life of Michael Angelo 434 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. current. Man shall descend to the bottom of the ocean, safely breathing, and treading with firm step on the golden sands, never brightened by the light of day. Call but the sacred powers of Sol and Luna into action, and behold a single steersman sitting at the helm, guiding the vessel, which divides the waves with greater rapidity than if she had been filled with a crew of mariners toiling at the oars ; and the loaded chariot no longer encumbered by the panting steeds, shall dart on its course with resistless force and rapidity. Let the simple elements do the labor ; bind the eternal forces and yoke them to the same plow ” When the foregoing predictions were made the author must have been regarded as a poet, or an early speculator infancy stocks, rather than as a rational philosopher or a reliable seer. It will be perceived that he embraces the Suspension Bridge, the Diving Bell, Steam Navigation, tlie Railroad and the Steam Plow, in the same chain of prophecies, and all of which are among the accoinplislicd realities of to-day. ’ The seclusion of the cloister, and the rigid discipline of his monastic life, did not prevent the soul of the monk from as- serting its relations to the great practical interests of time. By the exercise of a sublime power the veil of the temple of his spirit was rent, that he might look out from the dim re- ligious liglit of tlie monastery, far over the cloudy summits of the intervening ages, and behold tlie splendid achieve- ments of modern Science and Art. y^'Jeanne dWrc, the spotless shepherd girl, came from the solitudes of the forest that environed her native village of Domremy, to be the grave counsellor of kings and tlie de- fender of her country. The shepherds of Bethlehem were * Friar Bacon was doubtless Ihe original inventor of the telescope ; and it is evident that be had a correct idea of the composition of gunpowder, for be affirms that by the use of charcoal, sulphur and sail peter, the phe- nomena of thunder and lightning may be successfully imitated. THE LAW OF PROPHECY. 435 honored by an Ang-el’s visit, and the proclamation of ‘ gdad tidings to all people and this fair shepherdess — at once so comely in person, elevated in spirit, and divinely beautiful in her life, with the freshness and bloom of the hills and valleys on her cheek, and the fire of genius in her eye — like- wise professed to commune with departed saints and heroes ; to have visions of immortal realities, and to hear the voices of angelic ministers. And why may they not have spoken to her ? If they addressed those who watched their flocks on the plains of Judea, surely this pure-hearted and divinely- gifted shepherdess of Domremy was not beneath their regard. She also was called by Providence, being inspired with a divine life and prophetic spirit. Such was the virgin Evange- list, whose foot prints are yet “ beautiful on the mountains’^ of Lorraine./ The spirit of prophecy taught the Maid of Orleans that she was to be instrumental in restoring the nationality of France. She believed ; and suddenly emerging from the quiet seclusion of her pastoral life, she went forth to battle against the enemies of' her king and country. Rising thus from an obscure position, in the humbler walks of life, she at once assumed the direction of public affairs, and became tlie chief inspiring agent of the French people. The King of England was ready to lay his hand on the scepter of France ; Orleans was closely besieged ; Charles Mil. — the heir of the throne — was irresolute in the assertion of his claim, and the people were divided. The shadow of a great cross was in the path of the fair chieftain, but she was too heroic either to falter or turn aside. Never regarding her personal safety, she cheerfully obeyed the summons, but with 436 MAN AND HIS DELATIONS. the calm consciousness that she must uphold the throne and deliver her people by the sacrifice of herself. It was at this critical juncture that Joan of Arc sought the presence of Charles, who, with a view of testing her peculiar powers, protested that he was not the King. But disregarding his words and passing by his courtiers, she fell at his ff^et, and proposed to raise the siege and conduct him to his coronation at Rheims, She demanded a particular sword in the Church of St. Catherine. The King acquiesced, and the consecrated weapon was placed in her hands. With courage equal to the most trying situation ; with an un waver- ing faith in the accomplishment of her purpose, and the sublime enthusiasm of a Christian Apostle, she led the armies of France to victory and her King to his throne. Having placed the crown on the head of its rightful possessor, she felt that the chief object of her mission was accomplished ; but she continued in the same perilous service until she was taken prisoner and delivered into the hands of the English. Jeanne dWrc was but nineteen years of age when she was brought to trial for sorcery. The noblest virtues and graces which have ever adorned the human character, had been beautifully exemplified in her life. Not a single deed of cruelty, a word of irreverence, or so much as a feeling of selfishness could be justly charged to her account. Neverthe- less she was reviled as an apostate, and condemned by her heartless inquisitors to be burnt alive. She accepted the crown of martyrdom with cheerful grace and religious resig- nation — apparently with as much cordiality as she had placed the crown of France on the head of her king. On the char- acter of the duke of Bedford — third son of Henry lY. of THE LAW OF PROPHECY. 437 England— rests the foul stain of causing her execution in the public market-place at Rouen. When the torch was applied to the faggots, she betrayed no weakness. Those who crucified her looked in vain for some sign of irresolution and feeling of displeasure ; but her solemn purpose to meet death with composure was unshaken, and the serenity of her mind un- disturbed. Thus ran the pure current of her life toward the shoreless ocean, “Like a clear streamlet o’er its jagged bed, That by no torture can be hushed asleep.” She did not die ; but, robed with flaming fire, went up to her great immortality ! Her last words were spent in prayer, and the name of Jesus was on her lip when the remorseless flames stifled her utterance. A purer spirit never ascended to the Father. The scene was impressive beyond descrip- tion. An English soldier who had avowed his readiness to add fuel to the burning pile was smitten and overwhelmed by the moral grandeur of this last conquest— the victory OVER DEATH !— and turning from the thrilling spectacle, in deep contrition, he declared that from the ashes of the martyr a dove with white pinions went up to heaven.y/ Among the problems that have puzzled the brains of the metaphysicians, the frequent cases of Prevision are among the last in their judgment to admit of a satisfactory solution. The foregoing examples will suffice to show that many persons sre susceptible of such impressions. With a certain class of minds they are day-light experiences ; but they happen to a much larger number during the hours of sleep. It may not be the peculiar province of the writer to trace out the more obscure and intricate lines in the complex w^eb of our mental 438 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. operations. We may not always determine in what manner natural (physical) principles and moral laws coalesce in the economy of human life. It may often be difficult to discern ]irecisely wliere they meet, and how they cooperate in the dynamics of universal existence and progress ; nevertheless, the results of their united action are constantly subject to our inspection. ^Without presuming to dogmatize on so intricate a subject, I will here suggest my idea of the law of prophecy. In the most essential sense all things have a permanent existence, extending backward through the long chain of causation and forward through the unlimited succession of immediate effects and remote consequences ; and as all events really exist in the causes that produce them, before they actually transpire in the outward world of effects, it naturally follows that wlienever the mind — by vdiatever means -is uplifted to the proper moral and spiritual altitude, it perceives the event before it occurs in the sphere of outward manifestation. Tlie man gifted with prevision foresees what will happen, hecause he is able to discover the operative causes tuhich already exist, and must inevitably develop the apprehended, results. Thus our premonitions ; the visions of future occurrences ; and every prophetic impulse, may be subject to law and suscep- tible of a rational explanation. When an event depends on the secret designs of individ- uals, or the general state of public feeling, its future occur- rence may be readily apprehended, for the reason that the prescient mind may be en rapport with the })erson or people actuated by such purposes and passions as must inevitably find their ultimate expression in the predicted events. For THE LAW OF PROPHECY. 439 example, should an incendiary either conceive the idea or entertain the design, of firing his neighbor’s dwelling, or a band of conspirators plot the overthrow of the government, the mind gifted with this subtile power of cognition might — agreeably to psychological laws — perceive the existence of such criminal designs as soon as they were formed, and thus be enabled to predict their consummation. Many cases of prophecy are doubtless to be referred to this perception — by the prescient mind — of existing princi- ples and laws which are yet to find an ultimate expression in cosmical changes and human affairs. The forces and fac-' ulties of simple elements and organized beings, are superior to the mere material processes and functions which result from their action. In like manner all causes precede their effects in the order of time. If we can perceive existing causes, we may anticipate future events, with a degree of precision — in respect to time, place, and other circumstances --only equal to the clearness of our perception, and the accuracy of the judgment employed in estimating the opera- tion of inward principles in the production of external de- velopments. The intervention of lunnan acts and motives, in any supposed case, may serve to complicate the instru- mentalities employed without obscuring the event which they combine to produce. W e may predict that the tree will de- cay if we can perceive the omniverous worm at its root. Political prophets see the decline and fall of empires, in and through the existing causes of national weakness and degen- eracy. If the measure of life on earth be determined by the strength of the life principle in the individual, and otherwise by the operation of undeviating laws, it may be possible for 440 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. an illuminated mind to perceive the measure of the vital force, and to comprehend those laws wliich determine the limits of physical endurance. But in order to accurately number our days, the prescient mind must correctly estimate the vital capacity, and accurately wei^di all the circumstances likely to modify the conditions of being. When the rare gifts and comprehensive powers of the prophetic seer and the true phi- losopher are thus united in the same individual, he may be able to foretell events with surprising accuracy. Occasion- ally, a physician — whose profound insight qualifies him to comprehend the influence of certain forms of disease on the vital principle and organic action— is enabled to predict the day, and possibly the very hour when the death of his patient will occur ; and the prognosis sometimes embraces the more important symptoms that precede and accompany the final suspension of vital motion.^ It may be objected that our limited observation and im- perfect knowledge of the subject do not warrant the suppo- sition that prophetic communications result from the slow process of deliberate reflection and logical deduction. On the contrary, they appear to be spontaneous utterances of unexpected revelations It is not difficult to suggest the proper answer to tliis objection. We have had occasion to intimate already that the mind, in its most exalted moods. 1 Thomas Devin Reilly, who figured in an editorial capacity in the Irish journals in 1848, and subsequently as a writer for the Democratic Review, died at Washington, on the 7th of March, 1854. At the age of fifteen ho had an attack of apoplexy, and was successfully treated by a celebrated surgeon of Dublin, who expressed the conviction that he would have another attack at the age of thirty, which would either dostro}^ his life or shatter his constitution. The second attack occurred as predicted and was fatal. THE LAW OF PROPHECY. 441 acts witli preternatural force and precision. In the depart- ment of matlicinatical science, several modern prodigies have appeared, who could solve the most difficult problems in an instant, and with infallible certainty. In those physical and psychological conditions which involve tlie greatest intellec- tual freedom and moral elevation the intuitive mind instantly comprehends many particulars, and arrives at final results witli amar.ing rnpidity; as the eye, at a glance, takes in the intervening space and objects, between the observer and the utmost limit of his vision. Doubtless the common and the extraordinary events of the world, and all visible phenomena result from invisible physi-' cal, mental and moral forces and laws, and hence they must: virtually exist, in the most essential sense, some time before^ they occur in the external world, where alone they are cog-! nizable by the powers of sensation. The truth of this pro- position is rendered so obvious, by the very nature of. the case, that it will hardly be questioned by any rational mind. But the facts, in this particular department, that suggest the great- est possible difficulties are those that appear to be fortuitous. The destruction of property and life is often casual, and many other circumstances and occurrences appear to be accidental. The chief difficulty here consists in the apparent absence of any natural law in such cases. In the common mind an acci- dent is an occurrence that does not depend on any natural principle or established law. The popular definition is doubt- less a false one, that serves to magnify the difficulties in the way of a philosophical explanation of such mysteries. Never- theless, these casualties are not so easily disposed of as many otlier facts in human experience. When our dwellings decay, 442 AIAN AND HIS RELATIONS. by slow degrees, from the natural action'' of the elements ; when the tree withers in consequence of the gradual loss of its vitality ; and when liuman bodies are dissolved because they are rendered unserviceable by time —or some disaster lias made them unsuitable tenements for the developed spirit — we can readily apprehend the existence, and to some extent the nature of tlie laws that govern these results. But when the tree is either uprooted by a tornado or blasted by a thun- derbolt ; when our house is fired by lightning or the care- lessness of a domestic ; when steam-boilers explode and men lose their lives in consequence ; when ships collide at sea and multitudes sink beneatli the wave, because the night-watch for a moment slept at his post ; it may be far more difficult to perceive how the event can be foretold with certainty by any mundane intelligence. I But the utmost limits of the finite capacity are not to be determined by the standard of our individual powers and at- tainments ; nor does the inability to perceive a law disprove its existence. Only a shallow mind, intoxicated with self- conceit and blinded by an infidel skepticism, will presume to measure all natural laws and divine prerogatives .by its own want of perception and lack of knowledge. Moreover, if there are intelligent beings, of a superior order, existing either here or elsewhere, they may be capable of entering into psychological relations with the human mind on earth ; and it is consistent with our highest reason to infer, that they may have some interest in human affairs. From the high plain of their divine life and thought the past and future of this world may be clearly revealed, and the events of cen- turies, in their relations to the universal chain of causation, THE LAW OF PROPHECY. 443 may be present to the angelic perception and consciousness. If such beings exist and are attracted to us, either by the memory of former natural relations ; the laws of spiritual afiQnity, or by a disinterested desire for our elevation, tliey may inspire the human mind with their own superior wisdom. The possibility of such intervention will certainly be admit- ted in any enlightened view of the philosophy of prophecy. ’ ' To the mind of the prophetic Seer not only the past is present, but the great future may be comprehended within the field of his mysterious vision, long before Time unrolls the panorama of events. Wide as the sphere of intelligent existence, and the arena of our spiritual activities ; deep as the springs of life, and high as the latent capabilities of the aspiring mind, is this faith in these sublime possibilities of human nature. There are illuminated souls who stand within the veil, while they break the seals of the book of fate and unfold our destiny. We have physiological Seers who measure the vital forces and determine the limits of organic action ; political Seers who anticipate the rise, pro- gress, fall and desolation of empires ; spiritual Seers who unveil the arcana of the Invisible World ; and the effigies of many prophets occupy the common Pantheon of all Religions /Many terrible events have cast their shadows on the world, obscuring its hopes and darkening the pages of its history, and sensitive natures have struggled long and fearfully with a cruel destiny. The heavy cross, the crown of thorns, and the wormwood and gall, are expressive symbols of the com- 1 ‘‘It is a sublime and beautiful doc*xine, inculcated by the fathers, that there are guardian angels appointed to watch over cities and nations, to take care of good m^n, and to guard and guide the footsteps of helpless infancy.”— Irving. 28 MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. 4