the stomach, be added the sound condition-the unputrefied state of the œsophagus and intestines, seven months and a half after death, there probably would have been found few persons, either on the bench, at the bar, or in the jury-box, who could resist the conclusion that arsenic was the cause of his death,-by whom administered, is a question for others than medical men to try and determine.

G.

[When the present work was projected, about the close of the month of April, a letter was addressed by Dr. A. W. Ives, in behalf of the writer, to the Rev. Mr. Kirk of Albany, for such information as he might be able to furnish respecting the commencement of the prophetical career of Matthews in Albany. Mr. Kirk replied very promptly, but the letter was nearly a month in reaching its destination; and the work was more than half through the press when it was received. It is now inserted in this place.]

DR. A. W. IVES;

Albany, May 2, 1835.

DEAR SIR, Your communication came to me in the pressure of business. I would not add to the obloquy already resting on the wicked man to whom you refer. But if I can state any facts which may help to guard others against his vile impositions, I will cheerfully contribute them. He called upon me about the time when the church under my care was organized, which was in February, 1829. In our first interview, his conversation was sensible, scriptural, and in the highest tone of the reforming spirit. But there was nothing very remarkable to make a favourable or unfavourable impression. He subscribed a small sum towards the erection of our church edifice. It was remarked at the time by some of whom he had purchased lumber, "He is a lazy, thriftless, dishonest fellow; and will never pay it." Whether the declaration was true or not, the prophecy was. He applied for admission to our church, and at the same time made severe

and unfounded charges against two of its most respectable members. Every inquiry we made satisfied us that we should bring a firebrand into our society if he were admitted. We accordingly rejected his application. But finding his family in want of suitable clothing, we provided for them, that they might attend the services of public worship. This was objected to by many of our church, because he was a very ingenious, skilful carpenter, who could command the highest wages; and therefore, by our charity, we were said to be sustaining him in idleness. And this proved to be true. He would neither work nor let others work. He was an incessant talker. And being a stanch advocate for temperance, he would go to workshops, and irritate the men by his dogmatic and injudicious mode of urging that important cause. was frequently said, at that time, that he would stay in grocery stores at night, proclaiming the doctrines of temperance, until he was turned out. I saw but little of him from the time of his rejection by our session. But the more I saw, the more I suspected the purity of his zeal, and the more manifest it was, that his disposition was exceedingly unlovely and unchristian.

It

The next peculiar information I had concerning him, was by a note sent to my pulpit one Sabbath morning from the mayor of the city, calling on the citizens to turn out and search for Matthews, who had gone off in a strange manner with his children, and left his wife in great distress and alone. Search was accordingly made; he was found thirty miles from the city. His account of the matter was, that Albany was Sodom, and to be immediately destroyed; and he had fled with his children for safety. I believe he was imprisoned a little while as an insane man. I saw him soon after with

a long beard, haranguing in the street; and was convinced that he meant to take advantage of his notoriety, and by imposing on the credulous, find an easier way to get food and raiment than by the exercise of his mechanical skill and industry. I then lost sight and sound of him for some time, until the name of Matthias the Prophet was reported from New-York. A little inquiry developed the fact that this was the very Robert Matthews who had proved himself here either insane or an impostor. From that time you can trace him. I may mention one other circumstance upon which I have recently obtained light. I saw Mr. Folger after Matthias's

arrest, and asked him how he could be deluded by so bad a man. He told me it was solely by his entire confidence in Mr. Pierson; and that Matthews had told him I agreed entirely in doctrine with him (M.). Now the fact which this explains is, that Mr. Pierson called and introduced himself to me, perhaps two years ago, and talked on the subject of religion in a way which I did not then understand. But I now see that the poor fellow came to have the assertion of Matthews confirmed. This deliberate lie, when mentioned by Mr. Folger, convinced me he was not crazy. And yet I consider this whole affair as affording a melancholy confirmation of this truth-When a man begins to do wrong, he knows not where he will end. "Is thy servant a dog," &c., I have thought again and again, while reading the horrible detail of this man's career since I first saw him. You may use my name or communication in any way.

E. N. KIRK.

H.

It was not, however, until Deslon, a French physician of some eminence, had announced himself a convert and joined Mesmer in the practice of magnetism, that it acquired much renown. Their method of operating was as follows:

In the centre of the room was placed a vessel of an oval or circular shape, about four feet in diameter and one foot deep. In this were laid a number of bottles, disposed in radii, with their necks directed outward, well corked and filled with magnetized water. Water was then poured into the vessel so as to cover the bottles, and occasionally pounded glass or filings of iron were added to the water. This vessel was termed the baquet. From its cover, which was pierced with many holes, issued long, thin, moveable rods of iron, which could be applied by the patients to the affected part. Besides, to the ring of the cover was attached a cord which, when the patients were seated in a circle, was carried round them all so as to form a chain of connexion; a second chain was formed by the union of their hands, and it was recommended that they should sit so close that those adjoining should touch by their knees and feet, which was supposed wonderfully to facilitate the passage of the magnetic fluid. In addition to this, the magnet

ists went round, placed themselves en rapport with the patients, embraced them between their knees, and gently rubbed them down along the course of the nerves, using gentle pressure over different regions of the chest and abdomen. The effect of such treatment on delicate women might have been foretold, but it was not left to work alone.

The house which Mesmer inhabited was delightfully situated; his rooms spacious and sumptuously furnished; stained glass and coloured blinds shed a dim, religious light; mirrors gleamed at intervals along the walls; a mysterious silence was preserved, delicate perfumes floated in the air, and occasionally the melodious sounds of the harmonica or the voice came to lend their aid to his magnetic powers. His salons became the daily resort of all that was brilliant and spirituel in the Parisian fashionable world. Ladies of rank, whom indolence, voluptuous indulgence, or satiety of pleasure, had filled with vapours or nervous affections; men of luxurious habits, enervated by enjoyment, who had drained sensuality of all that it could offer, and gained in return a shattered constitution and premature old age, came in crowds to seek after the delightful emotions and novel sensations which this mighty magician was said to dispense. They approached with imaginations heated by curiosity and desire; they believed, because they were ignorant; and this belief was all that was required for the action of the magnetic charm. The women, always the most ardent in enthusiasm, first experienced yawnings, stretching, then slight nervous spasms, and finally, crises of excitation, according as the assistant magnetizers (jeunes hommes, beaux et robustes comme des Hercules) multiplied and prolonged the soft passes or attouchemens by which the magnetic influence was supposed to be communicated. The emotions once begun were soon transmitted to the rest, as we know one hysterical female, if affected, will induce an attack in all others similarly predisposed in the same apartment. In the midst of this strange scene entered Mesmer, clothed in a long flowing robe of lilac-coloured silk, richly embroidered with golden flowers, and holding in his hand a long white wand. Advancing with an air of authority and magic gravity, he seemed to govern the life and movements of the individuals in crises. Women panting were threatened with suffocation, they must be unlaced; others tore the walls, or rolled themselves on the ground, with strong spasms in the

throat, and occasionally uttering loud shrieks,—the violence of the crises must be moderated. He approached, traced over their bodies certain lines with his wand; they became instantly calm, acknowledged his power, and felt streams of cold or burning vapours through their entire frames according to the direction in which he waved his hand.-Foreign Quarterly Review on the Report of the French Royal Academy, and the Royal Academy of Medicine.