Spiritualism tested, or, The facts of its history classified, and their cause in nature verified : from ancient and modern testimonies
k^sS*7 oosg sa^fc ^«*r<3^ ^w iili^*- mmt mm iMi ■ v ,v ."• • a , \/i LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. PRESENTED BY UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. RfflQjii l^^ €iffpi 'f; *V ■:..,*»* Wfi^N ^ m?>w? $mi«ifl » «Wv* ..M'li ^MSa y« ^y.SB.vr'nyy'S »»V» V / 'tfi/H l»»#lfi SPIRITUALISM TESTED FACTS OF ITS HISTORY CLASSIFIED, AND THEIR CAUSE IN NATURE VERIFIED ghuutti oft gtairtni %ntivmtis. GEOKGE W. SAMSON, D. D. PRESIDENT OF COLUMBIAN COLLEGE, TASniNGTOS, D.C. BOSTON: aOULD AND LINCOLN, 59 Washington Street, NEW TOKK: SHELDON AND COMPANY. CISCES'SATI : GEORGE S. BLANCHARD. 1860. "If I am ignorant how anything is done, what is done I know. 'What ! can we doubt the force of lightning? So I argue about all kinds of divination."— Cicero. " The effects produced . . . are independent of all participation of the imagi- nation." "It appears clear that these effects are due to some communication which is established between their nervous systems." — Cuviee. " It seems not to have identity with electricity, nor with magnetism proper, nor is it the influence of imagination. It seems a new force."— Akago. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by GOULD AND LINCOLN, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. THE AUTHOR TO HIS READERS. The subject of which these letters treat has lost none of its freshness of interest, although the special phenomena which lately excited so much curiosity may no longer he viewed as strikingly novel. "Were it not that these phenomena are but a species under a genus, had not two or three differing forms of the same class of facts rapidly succeeded each other in our country, foretokening other forms yet to be developed, the in- quiry as to their possible source, might seem to come too late. It is only in the lull after the storm that men are calm enough to look facts steadily in the face, and rationally to search for their cause. The admission of the reality of the facts of the phenomena called "Spiritual Manifestations" may awaken a prejudice in the minds of one class of readers ; while the apparent sugges- tion of a natural cause for them, may disaffect inquirers of an opposite caste. But, have we not all learned that it is the imperfection of our nature which leads us all to idolize our preconceived opinions, and which makes us deny to ourselves a fair hearing of what seems counter to, or in advance of, our already formed judgments? Will not the reader, of whatever class, grant the credit of sincerity and impartiality professed IV THE AUTHOE TO HIS EEADEES. in the title " Spiritualism Tested;" and allow himself to he, for the time, the friend addressed in these familiar letters? It may he proper here to remark, that the main part of the present work was prepared, and a small edition issued, several years since, under the title " To Daimonion, by Traverse Old- field." Hence some may ask the reason for this change of title, and the unveiling of the author. The name "To Daimonion" has proved both a blinding and a deceiving guide to readers of these letters ; those who know the history of the word, doubt- ing whether the author uses it in the old Greek sense or not; while to most, it has had no meaning. What has no meaning, is useless ; and what may mislead, is sometimes worse than use- less. The period that has elapsed since its first publication, has given growing confirmations to the conclusions, and added accumulations to the facts embodied in the first twelve letters ; and has suggested the " supplementary letter," under the new title. Meanwhile, the disguise of the author having proved ineffectual, is thrown off ; because a mask savors of hypocrisy when it no longer conceals. The results reached in these pages, have been to the author an exceeding great re- ward for all the toil they have demanded, in the confirmation of his own faith, and the assurance of his own hope. It is be- cause they have aided other minds also, that they are now a second time given to the public. G. W. S. Columbian College, Washington, D. C, March 1, 1860. CONTENTS. LETTER I. Sympathy for the Inquirer. — Repulsive Replies of some. — Hint in College Days. — Future Study of the Ancients. — No Fact Explained. — Science only Classifies. — Spiritual Knowledge most Limited. — Three Developments in "Spiritual Rappings." — The "Tapping, Writing and Speaking" Media. — Object, to find a General Law 9 LETTER II. The Intermediate Agent between Matter and Spirit. — Allusions of the Ancients to it. — From Franklin's Day to HerschePs sup- posed to be Electricity. — The Nervous Principle as now under- stood. — Akin to Electricity. — Mode of its Action. — Exces- sive, Deficient, and Equable Development 16 LETTER III. Possible Principles an Illustration. — The Nervous Principle pos- sibly has the Laws of Electricity and Magnetism. — Electricity affects the Senses; so the Nervous Principle. — Impression varies with Constitution. — Three Classes seen in Joan of Arc. — The Natural of one Supernatural to another. — Electricity attracts Objects, and passes over Connected Conductors; and so may the Nervous Principle. — Report of the Royal Academy on Mesmerism. — " A Special Agent." — This the Nervous Princi- ple.— Statement of Cuvier. — The Clairvoyant the Magnetic Telegraph of the Inquirer. — Agreement of Prof. Gregory and other Mesmerists 26 1* VI CONTENTS. LETTER IV. Possible Truth, guides Practice. — As in a Thunder-storm. — Tables moved. — The Nervous Energy a Sufficient Power. — " Rappings " not new. — Media, Persons of Nervous Organism. — Communications accord with Temperament. — Arm Con- vulsed, as the Orator's. — Seraphic Eloquence, as the Excited Writer. — Communications of Things Forgotten. — All seen in Excited Speaker 36 LETTER V. The Inquiry may be practical soon. — Puritans Men of Strong Sense. — Their Precedents. — History of Witchcraft. — Sir Matthew Hale. — Three Opinions. — The Facts. — Convulsions. — Other Bodily Affections. — Metals attracted. — Objects moved. — Rappings. — Wonderful Eloquence. — Mysterious Knowledge, or Clairvoyance. — Developments the same as in our Day. — Excitements and Impressions of the Age. — Causes, as in Royal Academy's Report. — Mather and Brattle agreeing in Princi- ple. — The Nervous Principle harmonizes all. ...... 45 LETTER VI. No new Suggestion. — Link in the Middle Ages to Ancient Times. — Thorough Treatise of that Day. — Magic an Exalted Study. — "Soul of the World." — All Spirits Linked. — A Superior Spirit can control the Body of a Weaker. — As a Magnet the Spirit may attract Material Objects. — Disease Cured. — Power of Numbers. — Power of Song. — The Daemon, or Spiritual Princi- ple communicating Knowledge. — Aristotle's View. — Excited like Magnetism Electricity. — Sword of iEneas. — The Daemon nothing but Nervous Excitement. — Virgil's Testimony. — In- cense and Drugs excite. — Transformations of Circe and Fasci- nations in the Middle Ages. — Wonders we are yet to see. . 59 CONTENTS. VII LETTER VLL •* Ancient Authors " referred to. — Roman View practical. — Modes of seeking Knowledge. — Three Views of Source. — Juvenal's Satire, and Horace's Wit. — Virgil's Allegory, and Interpretation of it. — Plutarch. — His Matter of Fact. — Why Poetic Oracles ceased. — Why Delphi is silent. — The Nervous Exciter failed. — Reason and Religion agreed. — Pliny the Naturalist. — "Magical Vanities." — Hold three-fold, meeting Bodily, Intellectual, and Moral Want. — Some Shades of Truth. — Homer's Spirit called up. — The Naturalist's Conclusion. — Galen, the Physician. — Medical View of Indian, Greek, and Roman Physicians. — Power of Amulets. — Electric Illustra- tions. — The Physician's Conclusion 70 LETTER Vm. Who are "the Ancients." — The Greek Reflective. — Cicero a Roman-Greek. — Divination believed in by all the Greek Schools. — Facts and Reasonings as in our day. — Source, three- fold : Illusion, Corporeal Causes, the Spiritual Medium. — Dreams. — Homer, his Spirits. — Nervous Visions. — Hesiod, his Chain. — Pythagoras, "Music of the Spheres." — Plato, Inter- mediate Principle. — Conclusion as in Later Ages 84 LETTER IX. Champollion's Clues. — Wonders of India. — Serpents charmed — Nervous Swoons. — Detecting Thieves. — Man buried a Month. — Religious Trances. — Nervous Contest. — Stone raised. — Brazen Vessel moved. — Uniform Explanation. — Trial by Rice. — " Special Agent." — Fearful Initiation. — Magic an Art. — Hindoo Philosophy of Magic. — Serpent Charmers in Egypt. — Serpent drawn from Wall. — Goat Charmer. — His- tory of Charais. — Magnetizing Magician. — Clairvoyance in Egypt. — " Special Agent " universal. — A Law. — Ancient History uniform. — Blindfold Somnambule. — Healing by Mag- netism. — Phenomena ever the same 93 VIII CONTENTS LETTER X. Old Testament "antiquated." — Science reveres Scripture. — Sci- ence behind Scripture. — Moses learned. — Eight Forms of Egyptian Mystery. — Not behind our Mysteries. — Scripture View of these. — Accredit Science. — Daniel among Magi. — Abuse of Science condemned. — The True Supernatural. — Ma- gician's Testimony. — Magi's Testimony. — Picture of an An- cient Medium. — Why Men seek them. — Contrast of Natural and Supernatural. — Penalty of Curiosity. — Ancients appre- ciated these Things. — Christian Scholar in Egypt. — " Our Rock not as theirs." 110 LETTER XL Christian School in Egypt. — Greek Youth won. — Supernatural Revelation needed. — Greek and Roman View. — " Desire of all Nations." — Revelation not from Reason. — Not from the Spiritual Medium. — Jewish Art in Christ's Day. — Jewish Views of Christ's Miracles. — Mysterious Arts of Paul's Day. — Compared with Christ's Miracles. — Compared with Paul's Mira- cles. — Evil Spirits. — Possessions only in Christ's Day. — Good Angels. — No Revelation from them. — Miracles prove Inspira- tion.— The Ancients convinced. — All Ages convinced. . 126 LETTER XII. What Use. — Experience shows. — Dangerous Experimenting.— Physical and Moral Danger. — Nervous Epidemics. — Excite- ment on Spiritual Themes. — Cool Men cannot control it. — Avoid Exciting Causes. — Why Observers disagree. — Both Right, though differing. — Science a Growth of Ages. — Trained Men for the Risk. — Religious Experimenting. — Warning from the Past. — " Sure word of Prophecy." — No "Broken Cistern." 145 %tiiti /ioh THE NATURE OF THE SPIRITUAL MEDIUM NOT TO BE EXPLAINED. " Hoc sum contentus, quod, etiam si quomodo quidque fiat ignorem, quid fiat intelligo. Pro omni divinatione idem * * respondebo. * * Quid ! de fulgurum vi, dubitare num possunt ? nonne cum muka alia mirabilia, tunc illud in primis ? * * Causarum enim ignoratio in re nova mira- tionem facit : eadem ignoratio, si in rebus usitatis est, non miraniur." — Cicero de Divinatione, i.,9, 10, & n., 22. [With this I am content, that even if I am ignorant in what way any- thing happens, what does happen I know. In reference to every kind of divination I will reply the same. What ! can we doubt as to power of lightniugs ? Is it not so that while there are many other things wonderful, this is among the first ? * * For ignorance of causes in a new occurrence produces wonder : the same ignorance, if it exists in common occurrences, we do not wonder at. ] Sympathy for the Inquirer. — Repulsive Replies of some. — Hint in College Days. — Future Study of the Ancients. — No Fact Explained. — Science only Classifies. — Spiritual Knowledge most Limited. — Three Developments in "Spiritual Rappings." — The "Tapping, Writing and Speaking " Media. — Object, to find a General Law. My Dear Charles : I am glad you have written so freely of your obser- vations and inquiries, of your doubts and difficulties, in reference to the " Spiritual Rappings." Be assured you have one that knows how to sympathize with you ; a friend whose own mind has been struggling for years through the mist, seeking a rock to stand upon ; and 10 SYMPATHY FOR THE INQUIRER. who, with a shipwrecked comrade's eagerness, delights to reach a hand or to fling a rope to the aid of a brother yet tossed on the billows of an unsettled faith, and if possible to help hirn to a foot-hold. What a pity it is that youth too often doubt the sin- cerity or the ability of their elder, and, therefore, more experienced, comrades in the voyage of life ! Too often the aged and experienced, and even the intelligent and learned, do not enter into the mental trials of inquiring youth ; they do not give themselves time to come back to their own early years, and to recall to mind their own days of doubt and uncertainty. Absorbed in their own particular pursuits, they listen with but half an ear to half the story ; and they have not time nor patience to give the reasons of their own instinctive decision, — that, though mysterious, there is for these wonders of our day a natural though unexplained cause. Some- times, also, the man of matured views on these subjects replies too abruptly when questioned ; responding with one or the other of these two curt declarations, accord- ing as his temperament is secular or religious, — " It is all humbug" — or, " It is all from the devil." But, Charles, do not distrust therefore the heart or the head, the feeling or the conviction, of your experienced and intelligent friends. They may be hasty in assigning the ultimate cause of these phenomena which perplex you ; and yet they may be right in the main conviction, that there is nothing supernatural in them. Nearly twenty years since, the first experiments in " Mesmerism " were agitating our community. In the STUDY OF THE ANCIENTS. 11 city near by our university, lecturers were performing nightly ; and one of my own classmates was a successful operator. Our scientific professor visited and witnessed these exhibitions. Eagerly one morning, when on the subject that called it up, did we watch for the views of our acute Professor of Physiology. From that morn- ing" the conviction rested on some of our minds, that in all the phenomena relating to spiritual media there is the working of a wondrous power in our nature, myste- rious, indeed, and unexplained, yet not supernatural. It is not delusion nor the devil ; not, on the one hand, all deception, nor, on the other hand, a supernatural influence wrought by an evil agent. As, in interested survey, histories of the past and thrilling scenes in other lands have since added their clustering confirma- tions, a lengthening chain of past testimonials, and a widening web of now witnessed facts, has seemed to invest as with the robe and insignia of truth the chance thought of the college lecture-room. In every land and every age, by men most renowned in science and letters, by Franklin and Hale, by G-alen, Pliny and Cicero, by Plato, Socrates and Zoroaster, as well as by Luke and Paul and Moses, mysterious manifestations of the spir- itual medium were beheld, wondered at and commented on ; and, with an accordance of idea greater than their language at first indicates, a cause in the nature of things has been suggested. You ask, Charles, that the phenomena of the " spir- itual rappings " be explained. Will you let me remind you of two things, before we begin our examination ? 12 SCIENCE ONLY CLASSIFIES. No phenomenon in nature, either in the material or spiritual world, ever has been or ever will be explained to us while we are in this life. Science itself even explains nothing ; it only classifies phenomena, draw- ing out the law or order of sequence, according to which events occur, but not accounting for the law. In the material world facts in many a field of inquiry have been grouped and generalized ; but no one fact has really been accounted for. Every plant now growing is every hour taking up from the soil through its roots, and in from the air through its leaves, chemical ingre- dients, with which it is building itself up ; actually creating, every moment, particles of matter into root, stalk, leaf and flower. Everybody sees it ; science classifies the phenomena ; but who ever thinks of explaining the process ? In the fields of spiritual investigation, in mental science, how much less has been accomplished ! While every year some new prin- ciple of material things is discovered, or some new appli- cation of natural law is made to the arts of human life, philosophers in their examination of our spiritual being seem to have noted no more facts, to have fixed no more settled conclusions, to have demonstrated no more positive laws, than were known and recorded by the ancient wise men of Greece and Rome, and even of India and Egypt. Expect not, then, my young friend, that the "spiritual rappings" will be explained to you. There are limits to human knowledge. A very Newton has to stop on the shore even of material inves- tigation, and he must be content to be but a boy picking SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE LIMITED. 13 up a few pebbles, while the whole ocean of truth lies unexplored beyond. And as to researches in the spir- itucd world, that is plunging beneath the surface, into the ocean, where we have no eye to see with. God has hidden all these dark depths from us, now creatures of sense, meaning that the study shall in another life have a freshness of interest ; when his own Son's promise will be realized, " What thou knowest not now, thou shalt know hereafter." Bear in mind, then, if we can but trace in human nature, in other ages and nations, developments similar to these of the spiritual rappings, if we can see enough in them to satisfy ourselves that they are not sw^er-natural, but natural, that they are not communications from disembodied spirits, but mysterious yet universal workings of our own spiritual and nervous organism, we shall have arrived at all which even science can hope to attain. It is the " spiritual rappings " in which you are interested, and which you wish explained. You are aware, however, that this term was applied to the first development of the mysterious agency, whose working is now so extensively observed and wondered at. It has now come to be synonymous with the wider expres- sion, spiritual communications. There are now thought to be three distinct modes of communication with disem- bodied spirits. There is the tapping (or rapping) me- dium ; through which communications are supposed to be given by taps on a table ; two or three successive indicating assent, or the presence of a spirit ; particular messages being received by the inquirer's touching suc- 2 14 A GENERAL LAW TO BE SOUGHT. cessively the letters of the alphabet printed on a card, noting those when touched which are responded to by the tappings, and writing down such letters in order, until words and sentences are thus obtained. There is, again, " the writing medium," the man or woman influenced seeming to lose control of the right arm, when the pen or pencil is taken ; and the hand being driven up and down and over the paper in confused scrawls, or in irregular letters and lines, making out intelligible or unintelligible words and sentences. There is, finally, " the speaking medium," the person influenced being lost in a swoon or trance, and then uttering strange and unaccountable sentiments and expressions. Moreover, it is now asserted as the teaching of these media, that the scenes of the Salem witchcraft, so called, were the attempts of the spirits in another world to make their presence known, and to convey communications to the living. It is also intimated that they may be found to have a connection with other mysterious phenomena of a similar nature, which have occurred in the history of our race. You will perceive, therefore, that an investigation of one branch of this subject requires a notice of all its branches, as now they appear; and, moreover, a judgment formed as to the developments of our day must have reference to those of other days also. It will be a thrilling, if not a pleasing adventure, to travel over the past, tracing back sometimes through the obscure by-paths of ancient history the footprints marked by the feet of men long gone from earth. It will be instructive to seek out some general law, deep- IF A LAW NOT SUPERNATURAL. 15 seated and universal in human nature, which may make these mysterious and now appalling developments to appear the familiar though unexplained occurrences of other lands and ages ; developments which need not be either dreaded or trusted, as the communications of evil or of good spirits, unseen around us ; but which may be admired as God's wondrous gift to us whom he has fear- fully and wondrously made ; a gift to be studied with humility, and to be experimented upon with caution. ttihx InnitL E EXISTENCE OF THE SPIRITUAL MEDIUM, AND ITS EXCESSIVE, DEFICIENT, OK, EQUABLE DEVELOPMENT. " Quae omnia, si a nobis non videantur, non creduntur ; sed tentata cer- tificant. Quorum enim actio ex proprietate est, rationibus unde sit, com- prehendi non potest. Rationibus autem tantum comprehenduntur, quae sensibus subministrantur. Aliquand' ergo quaedam substantiae habent proprietatem ratione incomprehensibilem propter sui subtilitatem, sensibus non submininistratum propter magnam sui altitudinem." — Galen on the Power of Incantation in Healing. [All which things, unless they are seen by us, they are not believed. For the action of these influences is from a property the principles of whose origin we cannot comprehend. In their principles, indeed, only those thing3 are comprehended which affect the senses. Sometimes, therefore, certain substances have a property in its principle incomprehensible, on account of its subtilty, not affecting the senses because it is so deep seated.] " Of the nature of the nervous principle we are as ignorant as of the nature of light and of electricity •, but with its properties we are nearly as well acquainted as with those of light, or other imponderable agents." — Mailer's Physiology. The Intermediate Agent between Matter and Spirit. — Allusions of the Ancients to it. — From Franklin's Day to HerschePs sup- posed to be Electricity. — The Nervous Principle as now under- stood. — Akin to Electricity. — Mode of its Action. — Excessive, Deficient, and Equable Development. My Dear Charles: Let me, at this stage of our inquiry, recall to you some acknowledged principles of physiology and of men- tal science, as to the medium by which our spirits are united to our bodies, and as to the excessive, deficient or equable action of the one upon the other. There is, so say physiologists, a medium by which THE INTERMEDIATE AGENT. 17 soul and body are united and act on each other ; an intermediate agent, neither spirit nor matter, through which the mind controls the various members of the body, and by which the bodily senses convey their impressions to the secret soul. When I will to grasp an object with my hand, some mysterious agent runs from the mind's laboratory in the brain, and coursing along the nerves, like the electric fluid along the telegraph wires, contracts muscle after muscle, just at the instant of time, and up to the precise extent, demanded for the successful movement. How obedient and dutiful a ser- vant that mysterious messenger, thus prompt to do my bidding ! How mighty the power which can cause a cord of muscular fibres so to shrink as to draw up a hundred pounds weight ! I ought to be prepared to see wondrous movements and wondrous powers exhibited, when a peculiar excitement wakes it to action. As to the nature and properties of this mysterious agent even the ancients wrote ; and men in the old and eastern climes have known more of its secret powers than we have learned. As early as the time of the first great Greek physi- cian, Hippocrates, who lived 430 years before Christ, the intermediate agent was virtually recognized under the name (pucrts, from which our word physical is derived. To this all the movements of the body were ascribed ; a sort of intelligence even being attributed to it.1 Pure 1 See " An Elementary System of Physiology, by John Bos- took, M.D., F.R.S., Ac. Boston, 1825." Vol. i., Introd. pp. 2—4; also chap, it., § 2, p. 201. 2^ 1 8 HIPPOCRATES DESCARTES. spint was distinguished from this under the name yv%ij ; l showing that even the early Greek mind recognized an agent intermediate between spirit and matter ; to which, as we shall see, the mysteries of the "spiritual medium" were referred.2 Aristotle three hundred and eighty- four years before Christ, and Galen, one hundred and thirty-one years after Christ, followed up the suggestion of their earlier leader. The Romans made a similar distinction between the words anima and animus, when used in contrast.3 The former was with them an inter- mediate principle between matter and spirit ; and to it, as we shall see, they referred, to a certain extent at least, the phenomena which even now are mysterious.4 Descartes revived this theory ; and from his day the doctrine of " the animal spirits " was regarded a feature of the philosophy called " Cartesian" As Bostock remarks, "About two centuries ago everything that could not be otherwise explained was referred to the agency of some kind of refined spirit." 5 Yet, before his day, so universal in the east was the belief in an inter- mediate agent through spirit which acted on matter, that it formed the very basis of the famed Jewish system called the " Cabbala ; " the Hebrew name " Sephiroth" being used to express those intermediate principles which 1 See Leverett's Latin Lexicon, under anima. 2 See Letter vin., pp. 87, 92. 3 Leverett's Lexicon, on these words, with his quotations from Pliny, Juvenal, Seneca, Cicero, &c. ; also Bostock's Physiol., vol. I., p. 4. 4 See Letter vi., pp. 62, 66; vn., pp. 77, 83. 5 Bostock's 3 aysiol., vol. i., chap, iv, § 2, p. 201. ELECTRICITY THE AGENT. 19 ran through, the universe, having their masculine and feminine, or active and passive ; by which man's soul is united to his body, by which God operates on matter, and by which man gains a knowledge of God.1 Since Franklin discovered the laws of electric phe- nomena, and Galvani observed how the magnetic fluid contracts the muscles, physiologists have made the medium by which the mind acts on the body a special study. The results of the investigations made up to about twenty years ago Herschel thus stated : "Among the remarkable effects of electricity dis- closed by the researches of Galvani and Volta, perhaps the most so consisted in its influence on the nervous system of animals. The origin of muscular motion is one of those profound mysteries of nature which we can scarcely venture to hope will ever be fully explained. Physiologists, however, had long entertained a general conception of the conveyance of some subtle fluid, or spirit, from the brain to the muscles of animals, along the nerves ; and the discovery of the rapid transmission of electricity along conductors, with the violent effects produced by shocks, transmitted through the body, on the nervous system, would very naturally lead to the idea that this nervous fluid, if it had any real existence, might be no other than the electrical. But, until the discoveries of Galvani and Volta, this could be only looked upon as a vague conjecture. The character of a vera causa was wanting, to give it any degree of rational 1 See Bibliotheca Sacra, July s 1852, art. yii. 20 THE TORPEDO. plausibility, since no reason could be imagined for the disturbance of the electrical equilibrium in the animal frame, composed as it is entirely of conductors ; or, rather, it seemed contrary to the then known laws of electrical communication to suppose any such. Yet one strange and surprising phenomenon might be adduced indicative of the possibility of such disturbance, namely, the pow- erful shock given by the torpedo, and other fishes of the same kind, which presented so many analogies with those arising from electricity, that they could hardly be referred to a different source, though, besides the shock, neither spark nor any other indication of electrical ten- sion could be detected in them. " The benumbing effect of the torpedo had been ascer- tained to depend on certain singularly constructed organs, composed of membranous columns, filled from end to end with laminae, separated from each other by a fluid ; but of its mode of action no satisfactory account could be given, nor was there anything in its construction, and still less in the nature of its materials, to give the least ground for supposing it an electrical apparatus. But the pile of Volta supplied at once the analogies both of structure and effect, so as to leave little doubt of the electrical nature of the apparatus, or of the power, — a most wonderful one, certainly, — of the animal, to deter- mine, by an effort of its will, that concurrence of condi- tions on which its activity depends. " This remained, as it probably ever will remain, mys- terious and inexplicable ; but, the principle once estab- lished that there exists in the animal economy a power of THE NERVOUS PRINCIPLE. 21 determining the development of electric excitement, capa- ble of being transmitted along the nerves, and it being ascertained, by numerous and decisive experiments, that the transmission of Voltaic electricity along the nerves of even a dead animal is sufficient to produce the most vio- lent muscular action, it became an easy step to refer the origin of muscular motion in the living frame to a simi- lar cause ; and to look to the brain, a wonderfully con- structed organ, for which no mode of action possessing the least plausibility had ever been devised, as the source of the required electrical power." * The views thus expressed by Herschel have been slightly modified since he wrote ; not, however, so as to alter at all their practical bearing on our inquiry. Dr. M tiller, the great German physiologist, distinguishes between animal electricity, which is developed on the surface of the body (as in a cat), and the nervous energy which is generated in the brain ; his experiments having led to a satisfactory conclusion, that the two differ in their nature, though not in the general laws of their action. Of animal electricity, developed on the surface of the human body, he mentions, among others, these facts : that in men, who are healthy, it is generally positive ; that in women, it is negative oftener than it is in men, though no general rule exists ; that it is more easily excited in persons of a sanguine temperament, and less in those of a phlegmatic disposition ; and that it is 1 " A Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy, by John P. W. Herschel, Esq., A.M., &c. Philadelphia, 1835." Part ii., chap, vi., pp. 255, 6 & 7. 22 THREE CLASHES OF MIND. developed in a greater degree in the evening than dur- ing the day.1 The substance of his investigation, as to the agent by which the mind acts on the body, is con- densed in these sentences at the close of his lengthy discussion : " The laws of the action of the nervous principle are different from electricity. Of the nature of the nervous principle we are as ignorant as of the nature of light and of electricity ; but with its proper- ties we are nearly as well acquainted as with those of light, and of other imponderable agents."2 Of the manner in which the nervous principle acts he says : " The primitive fibres of all the voluntary nerves being at their central extremity, all spread out in the brain to receive the influence of the will, we may compare them, as they lie side by side in the organ of the mind, to the keys of a piano, on which our thoughts play or strike, and thus give rise to currents or vibrations of the ner- vous principle in a certain number of primitive nervous fibres, and consequently to motions." 3 By this mysterious union, our minds are thus linked to our bodies. Through this medium the mind acts upon the body, employing, to a greater or less extent, the organs of sense to gain spiritual apprehensions. And according as the development of this agent has been excessive, deficient or equable, in men, so have their views of the sources of human knowledge ever varied. 1 Elements of Physiology, by J. Muller, M.D.; translated from the German, by Wm. Baly, M.D. London, 1838. See Introduction. 2 Miiller's Physiol., B. in., § 1, chap. 3. Ibid, B. in., § 3, chap. 1. THE REFLECTIVE CLASS, OR OVER-NERVOUS. 23 How far the mind is dependent on the body has always been a question among thinking men. On this question mental philosophers have in all ages been ranged under three great classes ; according as they have regarded the bodily senses alone, or the spirits i?itui- tions only, or the union of both these, as the ultimate source of our knowledge.1 In each of these classes, as professed adherents to these several views, have been ranked in every age and nation the prominent and noblest minds. To one or the other of these classes have really and practically belonged the mass of men in every community and generation, though they never have read a book on mental science, nor even have imagined that there is any law on which their own minds act. To the first class generally belong the reflective men among the educated ; men who love to live within them- selves, communing with their own thoughts, or with one of kindred spirit; shrinking from society, where they meet so much that is harsh and uncongenial ; and hav- ing little to do with the material world, except to admire the beauty of its varied scenes and myriad objects, while they love not to bend their sinews to draw profit from it. To this class belong a numerous band among our merchants, artisans and laborers, whose hands only are 1 For an exhibition of these three classes among the ancients, Hindoos, Greeks, &c, see " Epitome of the History of Philosophy," translated from the French by C. S. Henry, D.D. New York, 1842;" especially pp. 61 and 185. In confirmation of the general statement, see Cousin's History of Modern Philosophy, translated by H. 0. Wight; 2d series, 2d vol., § 12. 24 THE DEFICIENT AND EQUABLE. employed in their necessary pursuits, while their minds are dwelling on principles and laws beyond and above their pursuits. It is truth unappreciated by the senses such love to contemplate; the mysterious properties, the hidden laws which govern nature, the moving causes acting in the world of both matter and mind. In searching for and deciding upon spiritual truth, there- fore, in seeking for knowledge of God and of the spirit- world, such minds naturally turn to and rely upon those same sources of investigation which they most love to employ. They employ and trust their own spiritual intuitions. To the second class are to be referred the dogmatical among the educated, and the merely mechanical among business men ; minds which are interested only in their own particular pursuits; intellects which demand a mathematical demonstration for everything they receive ; men who can hardly believe anything, except what they themselves or some other credible witness has seen, and who, when they think of God and religious things, admit nothing but what their parents have taught, or their church has maintained, or they themselves have scanned on the surface of the word of God. In the third class move the mighty phalanx of men who both think and act, who both observe and reflect, and whose religion is both of the heart and the head. Remark, now, Charles, the conclusions to which we are brought bearing on the subject of our investigation. There is a spiritual medium. There is an intermediate agent by which mind acts on matter, and which is itself LAWS OP ELECTRICITY MYSTERIOUS. 25 neither mind nor matter. This agent, the nervous principle, is in this respect to be ranked with the other attracting and repelling forces of nature, as the capil- lary, gravitating, magnetic, and electrical forces. In many of the modes of its operation, it is similar to the magnetic and electrical principles ; having probably its negative and its positive, an attracting and a repelling power, which may either balance each other, or over- balance and control one the other. The nervous principle is moreover developed together with animal electricity; the two being together abundant in persons of strongly nervous temperament, and the two being developed so as to overcharge the system of the person who is under great excitement of body or mind. Know- ing, then, Charles, the mysterious powers of electricity so long regarded as supernatural, — powers which even now are exciting new amazement when seen in the*electric telegraph, locomotive, &c, — what wonders ought we not to be prepared to see in the working of that more subtle agent, " the nervous principle " ? 3 ttlitx €§1x1 POSSIBLE LAWS OF THE SPIRITUAL MEDIUM, ILLUSTRATED IN "ANIMAL MAGNETISM." " In Gallia Druidae sunt 5 e quibus ipse Diviaticum Aeduum, hospitem tuum laudatoremque cognovi : qui et naturae rationeni, quam physiologiana appellant, notam esse sibi profitebatur ; and partim auguriis, partim con- jectura quae essent futura dicebat." — Cicero de Divinatione. [In Gaul are the Druids ; one of whom, Diviaticus the Aeduan, thy guest and eulogizer, I myself knew : who professed that a principle of nature which the Greeks call physiology was known to himself, and partly by auguries, partly by conjecture, he told things which would come to pass.] " Of the nature of the nervous principle we are as ignorant as of the nature of electricity; but with its properties we are nearly as well acquainted as with those of light, and of other imponderables." — Miiller. Possible Principles an Illustration. — The Nervous Principle pos- sibly has the Laws of Electricity and Magnetism. — Electricity affects the Senses ; so the Nervous Principle. — Impression varies with Constitution. — Three Classes seen in Joan of Arc. — The Natural of one Supernatural to another. — Electricity attracts Objects, and passes over Connected Conductors ; and so may the Nervous Principle. — Report of the Royal Academy on Mesmerism. — "A Special Agent." — This the Nervous Princi- ple.— Statement of Cuvier. — The Clairvoyant the Magnetic Telegraph of the Inquirer. — Agreement of Prof. Gregory and other Mesmerists. My Dear Charles: It would be presumptuous to attempt to theorize about an agent whose nature and whose laws the ablest physiologists have been able but partially to compre- hend. Yet, avoiding that folly, we may with propriety POSSIBLE ANALOGY IN AGENTS. 27 glance at some possible principles which comparison suggests, and which experience and history seem to attest. They will be but unpretending suggestions; hinted as illustrations, not as explanations, which, if un- sound, will harm no one, but which, if only plausible, may give us the calm confidence that the mysterious spiritual manifestations often beheld are not supernat- ural ; they are the natural working of a known though uncomprehended intermediate agent. If the nervous principle belong to the class of agents intermediate between spirit and matter, to which elec- tricity and magnetism are referred, why should not the one have properties similar to the other, and produce like effects ? Certainly it is a probable suggestion ; and a long array of facts, extending through the world's his- tory, may tend to confirm the supposition to be at least plausible. The possibility of such a similarity is enough for our purpose. Electricity and magnetism, when developed so as to surcharge a substance, become appreciable to the bodily senses. The sense of sight, of hearing, of taste, of smell, and of feeling, and the muscular sense, are all affected by their action. Why should it not be thus with the nervous principle when over-excited ? The eye of the person thus affected may see real visions, and his ear hear real sounds ; he may have the actual taste of sweet or bitter, and the actual smell of pleasant or un- pleasant odors; and his touch may suffer a positive pang, and his muscles feel a positive pressure. The impression produced on the senses by the action of the 28 SENSATION FROM NERVOUS AGENT. nervous principle may be precisely that which the cor- responding material substance would produce. In con- firmation of these hints, the following statement of Muller may suffice : — " The sensation produced by the electric shock is not peculiar to that agent ; it may be produced by any strong excitement of the nerves, whether mechanical or mental. Kastner relates that in writing he frequently sustains slight shocks in the fin- gers. Some years ago, when I was laboring under a state of nervous excitability, I had this sensation very frequently on using the fingers much." l The mental impression which this over-action of the nervous principle produces on any individual will vary according to his intellectual constitution. If he be of acute mental organism, belonging to the first of the three classes already mentioned, he will regard them as supernatural, — actual spiritual manifestations. If he be of the grosser, more physical make, his blunt nervous susceptibilities may not be affected even in the slightest degree like those of his fellow of finer mould ; and he will regard the impression of the other as a mere delu- sion. The mind of more even balance may appreciate both the earthly and the spiritual element ; and will refer them to a real but natural influence, produced by the intermediate agency of the nervous principle. As a clear and striking example of this truth, the interesting instance seen in Joan of Arc may be cited.2 She lived 1 Miiller's Physiol., translated by Baly, B. in., sect, i., chap. m.5 p. 640. 2 See Histoire de France, par M. Miehelet, Paris, 1841; Tome V. chap. in. 