which have thriven on the wisdom of their ancestors, and desire nothing more than "stare super vias antiquas," satisfied with things as they are, and content to "let well alone;" and there is also a general dislike in society to have its mind unsettled, and to be called upon to think again about matters supposed to have been set at rest long ago. We have the same affection for old familiar ideas that we entertain for old coats, shoes, and hats, because they humour the peculiarities of our constitutions.

But I hope the time has at last come for the public, and the medical profession, to listen patiently to a medical man, while he relates facts that have fallen under his observation regarding Mesmerism, and for the truth of which he pledges his private and professional character, as I hereby do.

Under such circumstances, a writer has a right to expect that his statements shall be believed till they are disproved, or till dishonesty in any the parties concerned shall be detected.

of

In considering a subject so new and wonderful, it will be necessary to clear away many thorns and thistles which have grown up in the mental soil, exhausting its strength, and unfitting it for receiving the seeds of truth, however freely and

carefully sown. At present it will be sufficient, if, as a preliminary, the reader will dismiss the respectable old notion, that the vital powers of our bodies are confined within their own limits, and cannot be transferred to and act upon others. On the contrary, there is good reason to believe that the vital fluid of one person can be poured into the system of another, upon which it has various effects, according to constitutional peculiarities, the demand for it as a remedy, and the manner and extent to which it is exhibited in order to answer different purposes. Man is not, as commonly supposed, shut up in that pent-house, his body, isolated, and impotent to affect his fellowcreatures beneficially by a benevolent will, and his own innate resources. A merciful God has ingrafted a communicable, life-giving, curative power in the human body, in order that when two individuals are found together, deprived of the aids of art, the one in health may often be able to soothe and relieve his sick companion, by imparting to him a portion of his vitality. To believe that we possess such a power is, surely, a proud and exalting idea, which I hope the public will entertain with pleasure; and I trust to be able to prove to the satisfaction of all dispassionate and reflecting minds, that this is no fond delusion of

an excited brain, but a substantial blessing, daily at work for good, extending immeasurably man's individual power of doing good by his unaided natural powers, and bringing healing and comfort to suffering humanity, all over the world.

Such is the force of habit, and aversion to a new train of thought, that this proposed extension of man's power has been received with as much distaste, as if it had been intended to deprive him of a limb, or one of his senses, and has been subjected to an irrational incredulity which nothing can satisfy. Nothing is more common than to hear persons boast, "that they will not believe it till they see it;"-some go a step farther in smothering their reason, and declare, that "they would not believe it, if they saw it;"-and I have known others, not only refuse the evidence of their senses, but deny their own deeds, because they had declared the thing to be "impossible!" It is a common and ludicrous error to see people mistaking obstinacy for strength of mind, and self-sufficiency for knowledge; and aiding the delusion, by calling themselves "Sceptics," that name having once been respectable in philosophy;

whereas, they have never had any doubt about the matter, and will never condescend to hear the subject mentioned without emphatic expressions

of contempt and disgust. These are the "enfans perdus" of knowledge, and must be left to the free indulgence of their passions and prejudices; for a man who never doubts, will never learn: he may grow older, but not wiser.

Few, in the solution of their doubts, can be privileged to the extent of St. Thomas; and the horizon of human knowledge would be miserably circumscribed, if we rejected all that we did not understand, and refused to believe facts, except on the evidence of our own senses. There is absolutely no merit in believing what we have seen and handled; this is no exercise of the judgment, and is level to the understanding of a savage: but it is the privilege of reason to be able to believe in the most surprising statements of others, if properly supported by evidence, and to adopt their conclusions, although the facts may have been observed, and the deductions drawn, by our antipodes. One such rational conversion is worth a thousand produced by crediting the senses; for its influence extends to reasoning minds all over the world. When a person says, "I would not have believed it, unless I had seen it," he must not be surprised at his neighbour requiring equal satisfaction. As a lover of truth for its own sake, I am very little gratified by

being told by my friends, "I believe it, because you say so." This is a very barren belief, and reaches only a small circle; our faith and opinions should be built upon a broader basis than personal confidence in any one. There are recognised laws of evidence for testing the credibility of human testimony, upon whatever subject it may be given; and however new or strange the proposition may be, we shall, by a careful and dispassionate examination of the proofs, be able to determine what we may safely believe, on what points we ought to suspend our judgments, and how much should be rejected. In spiritual matters, we have been told, "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." This blessing also follows the ready, but discriminating, reception of truth in philosophy, morals, and secular affairs. Mental satisfaction, honour, and profit, if cared for, reward the first discoverers of the secrets of nature; riches await the men of clear sense, who know how to turn the new truths to practical purposes; and in medicine, the early application of new remedies removes much human suffering that would probably have been otherwise hopeless. It is a curious psychological phenomenon, that a hard disbelief in Mesmerism seems to be in proportion to the