bereavements, and that her health was much impaired, a desire to relieve her sufferings made me resolve to try whether she could be brought under the influence of Mesmerism. An opportunity presented itself shortly after her arrival here. On the evening of the 9th of this month (June), the oppressive heat of the weather rendered her languid; her voice was very rough, and she was evidently labouring under a slight attack of bronchitis. Believing that the inflammation might be subdued by means of Mesmerism, I requested permission to try its efficacy. This having been kindly granted, I subjected her to the usual manipulation for half an hour. She became perfectly placid, but did not fall asleep; she was merely drowsy, and disinclined to rise. No marked symptoms having been exhibited, I concluded that the experiment had failed; but, next morning, I was agreeably surprised to learn that she had passed a most comfortable night, and had slept for seven hours and a half without waking. Her voice also was clear, the expression of languor had left her countenance, and she felt so well that she ventured to dine at the house of a friend, distant three miles from the Manse. Whatever was the cause of the improvement, I was delighted to see my friend evidently better, and

resolved again to mesmerise her. On our return from a saunter in the garden, on the evening of the 11th (June), she lay down on the sofa, waiting the entrance of the servants to prayers. As they happened to be longer in coming than we expected, I said, "Suppose I try to mesmerise you?" The reply being "Very well," I commenced my manipulations at five minutes before Before that hour struck, we had the follow

ten.

ing conversation. "Oh! I am very sleepy.""Do you really think I am exerting any influence over you?" "How can I doubt it? I never felt this way before. I am in a state of the most delightful placidity."-" Why, then, I had better put off the prayers, and keep the house quiet for a little." "No, no; don't do that. I am very drowsy," and with these words she relinquished the attempt to rise, and sank her head on the pillow. Having slipped out of the room, and ordered no noise to be made, I found her on my return still very somnolent, and, without saying another word, proceeded with my manipulations for twenty minutes. I then spoke, and, receiving no answer, proceeded to get a witness of my subsequent doings. Calling my housekeeper, I said

"Come and try if you can waken Mrs. C.: I have mesmerised her, I think." She tried every

means so to do, but in vain. Her respect for the lady would not allow her to obey my order to prick her with a pin; I therefore took a sharppointed instrument, and pricked her hand till the marks were visible. No uneasiness being manifested, I was now certain that the mesmeric sleep was established, and proceeded to test its intensity by loudly calling, and clapping my hands close to the face of the sleeper. Not a feature moved; and the exquisitely placid countenance of my entranced friend will long live in my memory.

As she was laid on a sofa in the dining-room, I could not permit her to remain there without sitting up all night to watch her, or causing my servants to do so. Circumstances rendering this inconvenient, I proceeded, at 11 o'clock, to demesmerise her. This proved a work of the greatest difficulty: for half an hour I used all the methods resorted to by the mesmerists, but with hardly any success. Being resolved, however, to break in upon her repose, I applied the strongest smelling salts to her nostrils, threw cold water on her face, and blew upon it with a pair of bellows. This rough usage roused her a little; but even after I got her to sit up, she fell helplessly into my arms, and, if let alone, would instantly have been as fast asleep as ever.

y

On questioning her next morning, she could give no account of what had happened. She only remembered that she lay down, and that I soon made her very drowsy. She acknowledged that I might have done with her whatever I chose, and expressed her conviction that had I amputated a limb, she would have been unconscious of the operation. What a power, then, is this for evil as well as for good! How foolish in people to expose themselves to the machinations of the wicked, by treating Mesmerism as a fraud or a delusion! It is a fact, proved by incontestable evidence; and capable of being applied to the relief of suffering humanity, or perverted so as to accomplish the designs of villany. As a clergyman, I shall be happy to apply it, gratuitously for the relief of the sick, until medical men become convinced of the therapeutic value of Mesmerism, and introduce it into their practice. And for the encouragement of non-professional persons, who, like myself, are anxious to investigate the truth, I am glad to be able to state that a benevolent bishop in England, and his amiable family, are successfully employed in relieving the afflicted; and that my friend Mrs. C. expresses the warmest gratitude for the benefit she has derived from my mesmeric treatment.

a

The above remarks are for the general reader. I would now respectfully invite the attention of the medical profession to the facts detailed by my brother. He is neither a quack nor an enthusiast, but a regularly educated, truth-loving physician, whose reputation for talent and honesty is unquestionable. The facts he adduces cannot be controverted, and, as I was happy to learn from a medical man just arrived from Hooghly, are admitted both by Europeans and natives, on the spot where they occurred. If he, then, in eight months, has performed no less than seventy-six operations, besides relieving eighteen medical cases, how can medical men in this country justify their heartless apathy in regard to Mesmerism ? It is a fact, in the highest degree disgraceful to them, that our doctors will not be persuaded even to try whether their patients can be benefited by the mesmeric agency. They insist on going on inflicting tortures, without an attempt to ascertain whether they may not be obviated by Mesmerism. The Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society of London permitted Dr. Copland, without a word of disapprobation, to declare that "pain is a wise provision of nature; and patients ought to suffer pain while their surgeon is operating; they are all the better for it, and recover