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Leader (1850-1860), 17th January 1852, Edition Town of 1, Page 64

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      Untitled Article

      this way I explain the phenomena of what we term clairvoyance , _ As to what constitutes the essence of the influence thus communicable from one individual to another , I believe it to be simply electricity : But 1 must repeat that I am only a student in the science ; that we are all groping in the darkness of a mystery which is still unrevealed . The relation between cause and effect is not yet traced out in Animal Magnetism . With regard to the practical purpose to which it may he directed , I think it might be used as a curative agent in more

      forms of disease- ^—especially nervous diseases—than I can well reckon up . Without entering into particulars , one great boon I know it can confer on humanity—it can produce sleep ; a sleep from which every one awakens refreshed . Think of the disorders fatally aggravated by want of sleep , or inefficiently relieved by the short , unhealthy sleep produced by opiates . Think of what might be effected in the earliest stages of insanity , by procuring for the patient a long sleep , that could be made to last , if

      necessary , for days together . This I know might Jje-donairuthe vast majority of cases ; and surely this alone is something 1 But let us get from speech to action . I will first throw V— into the magnetic sleep ; and after that you can take your choice of the experiments that shall be tried . I must premise , however , that I do not promise to succeed in all . She is not the same on every occasion under the magnetic influence . An experiment which succeeded last night may not succeed to-night , and vice versa . Nevertheless , we will try anything you

      like . " The manner of putting V——to sleep was singular enough . While we were talking , she had been at work , joining two lace cuffs to make a collar . The Count took her thimble and magnetized it with his hands . She was to put it on her finger again , and by its influence she was to be thrown into the sleep . But , while it still remained on the table , a watch was put before me , and I was desired ta fix in my own mind the time she should go to sleep in—of course , without communicating the decision to any one . The time I thus secretly determined , was five _ minutes . No one prompted me to this choice : it was understood , at the outset , that I was free to select any time , long or short , that I chose .

      I was close by her when she took up the thimble . Exactly at the instant when she put it on her finger , I marked the position of the minute hand on the dial of the watch . I was left free to take any means I chose of trying to keep her awake— -not merely by talking to her , but by clapping my hands , if I chose , before her face . We sat close together : she at one side , I at the other , of the same corner of the table . For the first three or four minutes , I kept her almost incessantly laughing and talking : she looked at me and spoke to me , as usual . But , as the fourth minute passed , a change came , which no talking

      could avert . FirBt , her articulation began to grow thick and low ; very different from the clear rapid utterance of a Frenchwoman . Then her eyes got strangely dim and dull when she raised them to me . She still went on with her work ; but slowly , and with increasing hesitation . The next alteration was in her mouth ; her lips became firmly compressed , and grew pale like the lips of a corpse . Her complexion changed to a dull , unnatural , clayey hue ; her brow suddenly contracted ; her hands rapidly trembled ; her eyelids dropped heavily—she had fallen into the magnetic sleep .

      I immediately looked at the watch . Eight minutes exactly had passed since she first put the thimble on . Not betraying to any one , either byword or gesture , that Bhe had exceeded the time I had fixed on by three minutes , I next tested the fact of her being really asleep , by calling out close at her ear , and clapping my hands before her eyelids—neither nroceedinff produced the smallest effect , outwardly ;

      I especially remarked that her eyelids did not tremble or twitch in the slightest degree , when I tried to startle her b y clapping my hands within almost a hair ' s breadth of them . She could hear and answer a whisper from the magnetiser at the other end of the room , which was" too faint to be audible to any of us . To every one else present—> say what they mtght , as loudly aa t ; hey chose—she was deaf and dumb .

      She was now questioned as to the matter of time by the Count . Had she gone to sleep in the time I had fixed on ?—No . In a longer or a shorter time?—A longer . How long a time was it?—Eight minutes . What time had I fixed on ?¦—Five minutes . When the last answer was delivered—and not till then ~ 4 he Count asked me whether she was right or wrong , and reported my reply to her . I

      know , as well as I know the fact of my own existence , that neither by an involuntary word , look , or sigh , did I betray to any one present what time I had fixed for her to go to sleep in— -or what difference there was between the period I had settled on , and the period she hatl actually occup ied in falling asleep . Two inferences , and two alone , could be drawn from this first experiment . The perfect correctness of all four answers was either really produced by-the magnetic influence , working within her by operations which can neither be understood

      nor reasoned on ; or what we had heard was merely the result of pure guess-work . I confess , for my own part , that I have not credulity enough to believe in four random guesses following close on each other , all turning out perfectly right ! She now complained of cold , and was removed to a large , old-fashioned arm-chair , with a high back , which stood near the fire . We were then shown how to place ourselves in communication with her , so that she might hear what we said . To do this , it was only , necessary to touch any part

      of the ^ chair in which she sat , while speaking to her . Thus addressed , she smiled and answered immediately . Great amusement was produced while we were trying her in this way by one of my fr iends , whose hearty English jokes , translated literally into very English French , appeared to astonish and delight V- —— beyond measure . She was sometimes literally in fits of laughter when he touched # he chair and spoke to her . When he did not touch , it , nothing that he said produced the smallest outward effe ct on any feature . I watched her closely , and could be certain of this .

      The next experiment failed . The Count took a piece of sugar , and desired me to write down and show him what I wished her to believe the sugar to be . I first wrote " An olive , " and then " Chocolate . " He magnetized the sugar in both instances ; and in both instances , when he gave it to her and asked what it was , she answered at once , " Sugar , "

      He could not accountfor this ; perhaps we had tried the experiment too soon ; perhaps she had not been magnetized enough yet ; all he could say was that he had succeeded an evening or two before , where he had failed now . My friends saw , in this very failure , a guarantee of the genuineness of the proceedings ; and I agreed with them . A conjuring trick would . have been better rehearsed before it

      was exhibited to the spectator . Three experiments were tried after this , and all with success . In performing the first , the Count placed himself behind her chair , in a position where she could not see him , unless she raised herse and turned round . At a sign from me , as I stood by his side ( also out of her sight ) , he made her alternately sensible and insensible to the touch ; each time by a single gesture with his hand , which it was physically impossible , from her position , that she could see . Sensible , she smiled when her hand was taken—insensible , vou might squeeze it , pinch

      it , hold it up above her head , and let it drop violently in her lap , without producing the smallest effect . This done , the magnetiser , after making some preliminary passes ( still standing in the same position ) , drew his fight hand slowly upward . Inch by inch , as it moved , her right arm raised itself , until it was extended , stiff and straight , at its full stretch , above her head . There it remained , until he moved his hand sideways j and then it followed

      the direction thus given—just as a needle would have followed a magnet—sometimes to the left , and sometimes to the right . When lie dropped hii hand ( quite noiselessly ) , her hand fell at the same instant into her lap . I was in front of her during this experiment , looking close under her eyes ; and satisfied myself that her eyelids were firmly closed . The back of her head was against the back of the chair , behind which , at a distance of full three feet , the Count was standing . ;

      The third experiment was still more curious . The magnetiser was now about to fix her , beyond the possibility of being moved , in her chair . Before he began we each took her by the shoulders and lifted tier with ease ; she laughed excessively as we did so . Then , after the Count had made one pass with his hand ( still behind her ) , we tried again . I tried first . She was reclining in the chair ^ with

      both her hands on her lap . I grasped her by both shoulders , and pulled ; but only succeeded in moving the chair . Then placing my knees against it to keep it steady , and to serve me as a lever as well , I made another effort with all my strength . I might as well have endeavoured to pull the Monument towards me—I could not move her , even in the slightest degree . Both my friends tried ( one of them a tall , powerful man ) , and with no more

      success . I closely observed her face at this time . It bore a perfectly placid expression ; a calm , unconscious look . Her colour did not betray even so much as an approach to heightening . She seemed to be slumbering as calmly and as sweetly as a child * - ¦¦ ¦ /¦ , ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ . - •¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ „ . ¦ ¦; . ¦ . - . ¦ ¦ . ; ¦• • ¦ , . - ... . ¦ ¦ •¦¦¦ She was now in a highly magnetized state , so much so as to conmlain from time to time of an &UUW 4 A Ol # at ) -WJ UUlUpAOUJI UUlit VM . MAAV VIS . VUUW , w * V * U

      oppression in her head , which was relieved by passes . The Count proposed a fresh experiment , as likely to succeed in her present condition . This new evidence of the power of magnetic influence was so painful to behold , that I much doubt whether we should have been willing to see it , could we have known what symptoms were to be displayed beforehand . W . W . C . January , 1852 . To be continued . * )

      Untitled Article

      TE DEUM . Being the real Prayer of the President on his Prie-Dieu , at the late Installation . By It . H . Hqrke . 0 God of Bayonets , all my own , I thank thee on this day , When Notre Dame , with priest and psalm , My glory doth display ! . 1 thank my generals , prefects , tools , For deeds of skill and note ; For barricades , and massacres , And for my people ' s vote . I thank the priesthood for their aid , And will remember them ; I thank , the friends of " order " - —trade—I thank the press—( ahem /) I thank Baroche , for his good speech—My mission ' s own . suggestion-r-Thdugh dishes , cooked with forced-meat balls , Require a strong digestion . But , most of all , I thank myself , And my nepotic will—Ambition , and hypocrisy , That shall direct me still . Wherefore , G God of Bayonets , Grant m& my Uncle ' s crowfrr And Thou shalt soon invade a land , And sack a wealthy town ! As for the other Power , it rests In my gilt prie-dieu here : The show takes well—but thou , O Lord , ' Can ' st neither see nor hear !

      Untitled Article

      VIVIAN IN HIS * STUDY . On returning from the country to my own snug home , I always feel myself more intensely at home in pacing up . and down my study , and looking at the silent friends gathered there upon the shelves , some in mute reproach at my neglect , others recalling the happy , happy hours spent in their companionship . What friends books are ! How varied , how constant , how unfailing 1 Bobert Southey is not a poet for whom I have a lively admiration , but he has written these verses , of which I ani very fond i— " My days among the dead are passed , Around me I behold , Where ' er these casual eyes I cast , The mighty minds of old . My neverfailmg friends are they , With whom I converse day by day . " The mighty minds of old are with us still , as teachers and exemplars , giving us the impulse to rival them , and offering us their wisdom as a stepping stone . And yet I seldom pace up and down my study without feeling almost oppressed by the immensity of work there is to do—shamed by my own shortcomings—the

      " Blank misgivings of a creature Moving about in worlds unrealized . " So much to do , so little done , so little , of the steadfast will to doitl There , as they beckon to me , those loved , neglected Friends , what thoughts they reoal of frustrated ambition , of noble endeavour fallen away , of serious-labour yielded to the pressing temptations of facile work and daily needs ! They tell me

      " To scorn delights and live laborious days 'the spirit within me leaps up at the sound , is willing and exultant ; but the morrow comes , and finds me . frittering away this God-given life in details that one cannot even remember , they are bo trivial I Sermons in Books r Ay , there a ** » ermons solemn

      Untitled Article

      ——64 — Mtt &W& ** . \ Sa * uj ^>

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  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 17, 1852, page 64, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1918/page/20/