Mesmerism and its opponents : with a narrative of cases

Preface

The following pages have grown out of a little pamphlet, that was published last summer, called "Mesmerism the Gift of God."

The favorable reception of that letter by the public, and the demand for a second impression, have induced the Author, at the suggestion of several friends, to enter more fully into the subject, and to meet the various and contradictory objections that are popularly advanced.

This work, therefore, professes, not only to treat of the religious scruples that have been raised in the minds of some Christians, but to discuss w T ith the philosopher the previous question as to the truth of Mesmerism, for a due inquiry into wmich, circumstances have greatly favored the writer.

The First Chapter is little more than a reprint of the original pamphlet, in answer to the charge of Satanic agency.

The Second Chapter enters more at large into the same topic ; and showing the tendency of the human mind to see the mysterious in the inexplicable, proves, by example, the periodical re-appearance of this absurd accusation. The Author also examines the unfortunate mistake, which too many of his own profession are disposed to commit, be their religious creed what it may, of thinking that they do God service by depreciating his gifts; because the parties that employ them, hold opposite tenets to their own. This feeling is shown to arise, sometimes from a zeal without knowledge, and often from that love of spiritual power, which has disfigured the brightest pages in the history of the Church.

It PREFACE.

The Third and Fourth Chapters contain an analysis of the common objections against the truth of Mesmerism. Some remarkable cases are adduced from the writer's own experience. An accumulation of other facts is given from the testimony of parties whose standing in society is a pledge for the correctness of what they state. The curative power of Mesmerism in disease is proved by induction and observation. And the medical profession is invited to a reconsideration of their unfavorable verdict.

The Fifth Chapter discusses a common opinion as to the dangers of Mesmerism ; — and its fallacy is in great measure exposed.

At the request of a friend, the Sixth Chapter has examined, at some length, the bearing of the wonders of Mesmerism on the miracles of the New Testament. It is notorious, that a feeling is gaining ground that these several facts exhibit an equality of power ; and that the divine nature of the one is impaired by the extraordinary character of the other. The consideration of this part of the subject necessarily led to a detailed analysis of the Scriptural events : of course, the unbeliever in the phenomena will deem such an inquiry preposterous and laughable ; the Christian, however, who knows that Mesmerism is an existing fact in nature, will not regard the examination as superfluous ; and even to the philosopher such an investigation ought to be interesting.

The concluding Chapter compares the phenomena of natural somnambulism and of Mesmerism with certain modern miracles among the Wesleyans and Roman Catholics. The latter facts are stripped of the marvellous by a narrative of what occurred in the jhouse of a friend. Particular allusion is made to those wonders in the Tyrol, with the account of which the Earl of Shrewsbury, in a recent letter addressed to Mr. Ambrose Phillips, perplexed and pleased the Protestant or Romish Churches.

TREFACE. r

In the Appendix are given a few factSj taken from the history of several natural sleepwalkers, by which it will be seen that the " miracles of Mesmerism " are nothing else than certain phenomena, which have been often developed by nature, in the spontaneous action of disease.

No inquiry is made into the practical part of the subject, or into the system of treatment that is adopted with a patient. For information under that head, the reader is referred to Deleuze and Teste.

The Author cannot conclude without acknowledging the vast obligations that he owes to the " Isis Revelata " of Mr. Colquhoun, and to " Facts in Mesmerism " by the Rev. Chauncy H, Townshend. Those who are disposed to follow up the subject, cannot but turn with profit to the varied information that those able works afford.

i

Chapter I

Progress of Mesmerism — Opposition to Mesmerism — Charge of Satanic Agency — Sermon preached at Liverpool — Rev. Hugh M'Neile — Examination of Sermon — Mesmerism and Electricity — Mesmerism not supernatural — Why general Laws of Mesmerism not stated — Why Mesmeric Phenomena not uniform in all Patients — Sermon unworthy of Mr. M'Neile's Reputation.

CHAPTER H.

Mesmeric Agent invisible — Gravitation — Anecdote from West Indies — New System of Remedies marvellous — Power of Clergy and spiritual Tyranny — Witchcraft — Bark introduced by Jesuits — Inoculation — Vaccination — Sin of arraigning God's Bounties — What Scripture Doctrine of Evil Spirits — Charge brought against Mesmerisers — Lines " On hearing Mesmerism called ' impious.' "

Chapter III

Unbelievers in Mesmerism — Author's own Experience — Remarkable Cases — Mesmerisers in England — Cures and Operations in England — Progress in Scotland, in Germany, in France, in United States — Mesmerism proved to be a powerful Remedy in Pain and Disease.

Chapter IV

Arguments against Truth of Mesmerism — Monotony — Hysteria — Imitation — Faith — Imagination — " Mesmerise me, and I will believe you " — First French Report — Second French Report of Medical Men alone — Mr. Wakley — London University — British Association and Mr. Braid — Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society — Great Names among Believers in Mesmerism.

Till

Chapter V

Dangers of Mesmerism, Physical and Moral — " Horror " of Mesmerism — Difficulties of Mesmerism — Hint for younger Members of the Faculty.

Chapter VI

Mesmeric Cuies and Miracles of New Testament— Comparison between them — Fears of the Christian groundless — Touch of the Mesmeriser — Clairvoyance not miraculous.

Chapter VII

Marvels and lying Wonders — Explanation of fancied Miracles— Ecstatic Dreamers and Prophetesses — Modern Miracles among Wesleyans and Roman Catholics tested by what occurred in a friend's house — Lord Shrewsbury and the Tyrols — w Transfer of Thought " — Mesmeric Action contagious — Conclusion.

i

MESMERISM

AND

ITS OPPONENTS

Chapter I

The decided advance that Mesmerism has made in this country within the last two years, — the number of cautious and practical men that maintain its reality and utility, — the variety of diseases to which it has been successfully applied, — all lead the friends of truth to hope that the public mind has taken a turn on the subject. In spite of the discredit under which it is often compelled to labor, through the vanity or ignorance of itinerant lecturers, the good cause is making a steady and certain progress. For it is not by public exhibitions at a theatre, that delicate experiments on the human frame can be conducted in due compliance with the conditions which are essential to their success. Those conditions can only be fully appreciated by men, that are accustomed to the niceties which the demonstration of the simplest phenomena in chemistry and electricity requires. The failures, therefore, that arise from the disturbing influences of a crowded audience on the nervous system of the patient, — the disgust occasioned by the disputes between the lecturer and the spectators, — the suspicion, and perhaps occasionally the detection, of imposture, are constantly checking, in different quarters, that tide of public opinion that is gradually rising in favor of this science.

Still, in defiance of these drawbacks, it keeps advancing. Men almost universally begin to think that " there is something in it" and on further investigation they find that that small " something" is a very powerful reality. No one, not even those who make inquiries on the subject, are aware of the great extent to which the practice of Mesmerism is carried on, quietly and unobtrusively, in private families. Having corresponded much on the subject, I have been astonished at finding the numbers who apply to it for relief. Men's minds are evidently ripening for its reception. They have clearly reached that state, in which an impression can be made. Till that state has, to a certain degree, arrived, it mat- 1 ters not what may be the subject-matter, no new truth can be successfully established. Be it in religion, or politics, or natural philosophy, or medicine, all the books and arguments in its favor fall unheeded on the public, till its facts and statements have been for some time well shaken together in men's minds, and other and external circumstances predisposed them towards its acceptance. No undue exertions can force this period forward, or bring it prematurely into being. Prejudice, ignorance, bad education, and self-interest, will have their triumph and their day. But when once the signs of vitality have shown themselves, we may accelerate the growth. We may then hasten the progress very materially. It is my conviction that Mesmerism has at length reached this critical point ; — that it has obtained a considerable lodgment among reasoning people ; — and that from opportunities with which I have been eminently favored, it is in my power to promote its establishment very essentially. It is, then, the purpose of this work to combat those arguments, which are most generally advanced against Mesmerism, — to strip the subject of those marvels with which popular if norance has surrounded it, and to show that animal magnetism is nothing else than the employment of a common and simple agent, which the Supreme Intelligence has provided in mercy for his creatures, and of which nothing but prejudice or superstition can decline to make use.

I shall begin with that view of the question to which accidental circumstances more strongly, in the first instance, directed my attention, — I mean the opinion, that Mesmerism is a mysterious and unholy power, from the exercise of which good men and Christians ought to keep aloof. It is needful to make our commencement hence : for the class of readers to whom I more particularly address myself, must be first assured that the practice is neither presumptuous nor sinful, before we can expect them to study its phenomena, or be witnesses of its effect as a sanative process.

The opinion, then, of the irreligious character of this science has been mainly promoted by a sermon, that appeared in one of the numbers of the Penny Pulpit, and has been actively circulated through the country, entitled " Satanic Agency and Mesmerism," and which is alleged to have been preached in Liverpool by the Rev. Hugh M'Neile. ^ '

This sermon, however, was not published with the sanction of the preacher, and so far he is not responsible : but inasmuch as its sale is a matter of notoriety in the town wherein he resides ; — and as no steps have been taken by him for a disavowal of its contents, though an opening for that very purpose was goodnaturedly afforded him ; — and as the short-hand writer, from whose notes the sermon was printed, is ready, we are informed, to make affidavit of the accuracy of his report, — it may fairly be inferred, how incredible soever it may sound, that this sermon, with perhaps some little variation of language, was actually preached by Mr. M'Neile.

Now a sermon put forth, even in this unauthorized manner, with the prestige of so popular a name, certainly deserves every respectful consideration. The number, moreover, of Mr. M'Neile's admirers, and the zeal* with which they distribute this publication among the thoughtful and the religious, give additional importance to its pages ; — and it having come to my own knowledge, that several parties had been prevented from adopting or witnessing the curative effects of Mesmerism, through scruples of conscience raised by this very discourse, I was prepared to bestow upon it a much more careful perusal than intrinsically it requires.

Believing, then, as I do most firmly, that Mesmerism is a mighty remedial agent, mercifully vouchsafed by the beneficent Creator for the mitigation of human misery — a remedy to be employed, like every other remedy, prayerfully, thankfully, and with an humble dependence on the will of Him who sent the chastisement, and can alone remove it, — having daily reason, too, to bless God for the introduction of this very remedy within the circle of my own family, it is difficult for me to express the amazement, the regret, the feelings akin to something like shame, with which I first read this most deplorable publication. And knowing the delusion under which so many labor on this question — a delusion which the unfortunate language of this sermon has tended so greatly to strengthen amongst the ignorant and the superstitious, I feel it to be nothing short of a sacred Christian duty laid upon me to use my endeavors to lessen the error. And if these pages should be the means of removing the prejudices of but one family, or of alleviating the pains of but one afflicted sufferer, through his adoption of Mesmeric aid, the knowledge of it would give me a gratification which I would not exchange for many of the most coveted distinctions of eloquence and power.

To much, however, of the earlier passages of this sermon no Scriptural reader can offer any objection. Where it presents from the Bible a digest of the evidence for Satanic agency, and of the condition of the fallen angels, and of their power over the race of man ; where their fearful spiritual influence on our depraved nature and deceitful hearts is laid bare in all its deformity ;

* My readers may judge of the activity with which anti-mesmerists and their emissaries circulate this sermon, when they learn that some thousand, copies have been sold, and a reprint called for. It was sent, for instance, to my own house by some anonymous neighbors, with the intention, it is presumed, of deterring us in our course at the very moment we were receiving the most providential benefit; and it was in answer to this well-meant impertinence, and to the weak or wicked nonsense that was elsewhere muttered about a minister of the Gospel permitting diabolical practices under his roof, that I was originally induced, somewhat in self-defence, to take up the subject.

to all this the well-instructed Christian tremblingly subscribes. When, therefore, Mr. M'Neile is alleged to state, " not only that there did exist such a thing as Satanic agency, but that it continued to exist after the incarnation of Christ ; that it continued to exist amongst men after the resurrection of Christ ; that it is predicted to exist until the second coming of Christ ;" to all these and similar positions I am not prepared to express any dissent. But when, from these premises, he goes on to assert that certain peculiar facts, recorded in Chambers' Edinburgh Journal, and of the reality of which he does not appear to doubt, are, " beyond all question, beyond the course of nature," or, in other words, supernatural and the result of some- miraculous or diabolical agency, what thinking mind does not see that such a conclusion is most illogical and absurd 1 Is there no other alternative ? Is nothing else possible ? Is nothing else probable ? Before so strong and momentous a decision were thus peremptorily pronounced, should not a fair and candid man at least stoop to inquire, to investigate, to consider calmly, whether some better explanation were not admissible ? Should a lover of truth — should a friend to whatever might alleviate suffering humanity, thus hastily, and, ex cathedra, deliver an adverse opinion upon a science which, to say the least, is at present only in its infancy ? If we cannot admire the reasoning faculty that this sermon evinces, can we, on the other hand, praise its charity ?

" In forming a judgment of this," says Mr. M'Neile, "I go, of course, on what I have read. / have seen nothing of it, nor do I think it right to tempt God by going to see it. I have not faith to go in the name of the Lord Jesus, and to command the Devil to depart." Really, any one would suppose that he were reading the ignorant ebullition of some dark monk in the middle ages, rather than the sentiments of an educated Protestant of the nineteenth century. What is this but a revival of the same spirit that called forth a papal anathema against the " starry " Galileo ? What, but an imitation of the same objections which pronounced the doctrine of Antipodes as incompatible with the faith, and maintained that the theory of Columbus threw discredit on the Bible ? Verily, the University of Salamanca, which opposed the dogged resistance of theological objections to the obscure Genoese, and the Inquisition at Rome, that condemned the philosopher of Pisa, might claim a kindred associate in the minister of St. Jude's ! For, according to Mr. M'Neile, Mesmerism must be " nothing but human fraud for gain sake," or something " beyond the power of unassisted man to accomplish." Is my brother-divine, then, so intimately versed in all the mighty secrets of Nature ? Has he so thoroughly fathomed her vast and various recesses, that he ventures to pronounce everything that may be contrary to, or beyond his own knowledge and experience, as the invention of evil spirits, or the contrivance of evil men ?

Is there nothing new to be discovered ? Are the regions of light and life exhausted and laid bare ? Have we at last reached the ultima Thule of art and science ? " It is not in nature for any one to bear to be so treated," says Mr. M'Neile, authoritatively ; introducing at the same time and in the midst of the same sentence this evasive and contradictory exception, " so far as we have yet learned.'''' And having previously assumed the sinfulness of Mesmerism, and rather regretted that he had not " the faith to bid the Devil to depart," he again goes on, and says, " there may be some power in nature . . . some secret operation . . . some latent power in nature, which is now being discovered . . . something like the power of compressed steam . . .or like electricity." Why, this is the very point in question. This is the very subject of the controversy. This is the very fact which the large and increasing body of believers in Mesmerism confidently assert. And " if there may be such a power in nature," why does he prematurely denounce it as diabolical, and the act of Satan, before the truth has been fairly and fully established ? Why not wait, and examine, and patiently and prayerfully study the statements, the experiments, and the results that present themselves, and with a serious thinking spirit revolve the evidence of the whole matter, and say whether perchance it may not be " the gift of God " (Eccl. iii. 13). " Be not rash with thy mouth (says the royal preacher), and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God ; for God is in heaven and thou upon earth ; therefore let thy words be few " (Eccl. v. 2). Surely it were the part of a wise and sober Christian, who remembereth that " nothing is impossible with God," to weigh a great and curious question like this in an humble posture of mind, and not rashly to pronounce of his fellow-men, who, for their faith and their attainments in grace, may, for aught he knows, be as acceptable with the Saviour as himself, that they are agents and instruments of the evil one ! Washington Irving* tells us, that when Petro Gonzales de Mendoza, Archbishop of Toledo and Grand Cardinal of Spain, became first acquainted with the views of Columbus, he feared that they were tainted with heterodoxy, and incompatible with the form of earth described in sacred Scripture. But we read, that " further explanations had their force," and " he perceived that there could be nothing irreligious in attempting to extend the bounds of human knowledge, and to ascertain the works of creation ;" and the great cardinal therefore gave the obscure navigator a " courteous and attentive hearing." Even Mr. M'Neile, with all his Scriptural attainments, might find a wholesome lesson for instruction in the example of this great Roman Catholic prelate, when listening to the novel theories of the unknown Columbus. For, with one breath to say, that there may " be such a power in nature," and

* Life of Columbus, vol. i., book 2.

with another to describe men, who simply make use of that power, as those who deal with " familiar spirits," does appear the most monstrous instance of inconsistent condemnation we ever met with : it is a begging the whole question with a vengeance ; it is a summary judgment without appeal ; it is a decision afTecting papal infallibility. And yet this competent juryman says, " I have seen nothing of it, nor do I think it right to tempt God by going to see it."

After certain criticising observations, however, as to the scientific character of some Mesmeric proceedings, on which we will speak presently, he refers to the well-known " magnetic experiment" of the operation for a cancer in France, which a lady underwent without feeling any pain in its progress, and mentions it as " recorded in a report made by the Committee of the Royal Academy at Paris." And so determined is he to discover the evil spirit at work in the business, that he says — " If this be a falsehood, there is something almost supernatural in the fact, that we have a whole academy joining to tell the public this lie. If it be a truth, if the fact be so, then here, beyond all question, is something out of the range of nature — out of the present power of man, unless this is a new science." In this age of discoveries and marvels, surely a thinking mind need not deem it so very incredible, that some large addition to scientific knowledge, or even a " new science," as he calls it, should be brought to light. We have of late seen so many of the wonders of God's providence made manifest to our view — wonders, of whose existence our forefathers had not the shadow of a suspicion, that the Christian, while he contemplates them all with thankfulness and awe, might rather be expected to adopt the apostolic language, and say, " we know but in part," and we " see but through a glass darkly" " Lo !" (said the patient Job, while he was acknowledging the power of God to be infinite and unsearchable) — "lo, these are parts of his ways ; but how little a portion is heard of him 1 but the thunder of his power who can understand ?" (xxxvi. 14.) But, says Mr. M'Neile, on the contrary, " we know what sleep is, and we know what pain is !" Does he, indeed, " know" what sleep is ! Is he so accurate a physiologist that he is acquainted with all its varieties,* its appearances, its modifications and actions, according

* Does Mr. M'Neile, for instance, who so well "knows what sleep is," know and understand the nature of somnambulism ? Can he explain its peculiarities or its causes ? Yet this is sleep under one of its variations; — but how strange, and with what singular diversity of effect ! Still it is not so uncommon but that most persons, at some period of their lives, have known an example or two of it amongst their neighbors ; and we constantly meet with a paragraph in a newspaper, headed " Somnambulism," giving a tale of wonder for the curious. As Mr. Townshend says in his "Facts," " there are many who remember to have heard tell of some sleep-walker, who has been known to rise from his bed, and to display in slumber even more than his ordinary activity, balancing himself where the waking eye would sicken.

to the changes and conditions of the human frame ? Does he too " know" what pain is ? Is he so deeply read in pathology that he is prepared to state unerringly its effect upon the body of man under every possible contingency ? Why, he himself says — " We do not know all the properties of matter certainly, and there may be some occult property in matter which these men have discovered, and which may have the effect, when applied to the human frame, of rendering it insensible to pain." Again, I say, this is the point at issue. Why may there not be such an " occult property in matter," the beneficent " gift of God" for the use of his creature man, without calling up a diabolical machinery to explain the difficulty ? In an admonition that he gives to the medical profession, he quotes Shakspeare, and begs respectfully to suggest to them, that there are " more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in their philosophy." They might, with a beautiful propriety, fling back upon him his own quotation, and request him to apply it to this very question. A Christian minister, however, would rather go to the inspired Volume, and say — " Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge. Gird up now thy loins like a man, for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth 1

Declare, if thou hast understanding Have the gates of

death been opened unto thee 1 or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death ? Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth ? Declare, if thou knowest it all. Where is the way where light dwelleth? — and as for darkness, where is the place thereof? That thou shouldst take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof?" (Job, xxxviii. 3. &c.) The Almighty Father, whose judgments are unsearchable,

Who does not believe in the existence of such a state ? Doctors have descanted upon it with the precision of medical lore; metaphysicians have examined it as a curious feature of humanity; and the light and gay, regarding it as a mere matter of amusement, have flocked to see its mimicry in dramatic representation, enhanced by all the charms of music, and the fascinations of genius." (P. 190.) Now, can Mr. M'Neile explain this state of natural somnambulism ? Can he doubt its occasional existence ? Has he studied its very singular phenomena ? And if he have studied them, will he deny that they bear a close, nay, the very closest resemblance to the phenomena of Mesmerism, — so much so, that they appear to rise from the same state of the human organism, — with this difference, that the former arises spontaneously, and that the latter is produced artificially by the magnetic process ?

The reader is referred to that most philosophical, yet strictly practical, work, the "Isis Revelata" of Mr. Colquhoun. The student, who wishes to investisate this very peculiar state, should also consult the "Traite du Somnambulisme et des differentes Modifications qu'il presente," par A. Bertrand, Docteur de la Faculte de Medecine (!e Paris ; — a curious work, full of singular and well-authenticated facts. See also the " Instruction Pratique" of Deleuze, cap. 5; and see also an account of a very striking case in the "Encyclopaedia Britannica," art. Sleep-Walker.

and whose ways past finding out, hath hidden from the curious eyes of man the reasons and explanations of many of his gifts, and left us to grope ignorantly in the dark upon subjects the most familiar, and which are for ever present around us. But is this outside and superficial acquaintance with the works of nature to shut out from our remembrance the ever-present agency of the hand of God ? To condemn Mesmerism as an abomination of the devil, because little or nothing is yet known respecting it, is a line of argument, which, if pressed to its absurd conclusion, would ascribe half the wonders of creation to the care and contrivance of the spirit of evil. What, for instance, is our life — the bodily life of man ? In what does it consist ? What is its immediate and secondary cause ? What produces it — what terminates it — what gives it vitality and continuance ? I believe that the best physiologists are not prepared with any positive opinion on the matter. Some consider (and with great show of probability) Electricity to be analogous to the principle of life. Some consider Electricity to be the principle of life. We are aware that all nature abounds with electric matter — it is here and everywhere ; perchance, under God, in it we " live and move and have our being." We hear of Galvanism and Magnetic-electricity, or Electro -magnetism, and its efficacy, through machines, upon the human body, in relieving paralysis, and rheumatism, and different neuralgic disorders. Why might not Mesmerism, or Animal-magnetism, as it would appear to be appropriately called, be Electricity under a different character ?* Its residts are often the same, or rather

* In our present imperfect knowledge of Mesmerism, and before its facts are generally admitted, it may be premature to adopt a theory : still I cannot help expressing an opinion that electricity, under some modification or other, is the immediate agent to which the Mesmeric action must be referred. The Germans are so satisfied of this fact, that they have given to Mesmerism the new and appropriate name of " Electro-Physiology." Kant, it is well known, in one of his earlier works, gave it as his opinion, that the causes of common magnetism, of electricity, of galvanism, of heat, &c, were all the product of one common principle, differently modified. To these, of course, might now be added the immediate cause of Mesmerism. And thus we should have one simple and single principle uniting animated and inanimate nature in one common and connected operation, a communi vinculo. There are several facts which show this strong analogy between Electricity and Mesmerism. Here is one : the electric fluid escapes most readily from a point. Dr. Lardner, in his treatise, introduces several illustrations to prove this fact. He says, " the increase of electrical density at the angular edge of a conductor produces still more augmented effects at its corners: .... this effect is still further increased if any part of a conductor have the form of a point." (Lardner's "Cabinet Cyc." Electricity, p. 329.) Now all mesmerisers have found by experience that the Mesmeric medium is most powerfully conducted by the tips of the fingers, analogously to Lardner's illustrations. In regard to the resemblance between animal magnetism and mineral magnetism, I have seen, over and over again, the hand and head of the sleeper following the hand of the mesmeriser, in the same way as the needle follows he loadstone. This subject is treated most ably in the Rev. Chauncy