MEMORANDA OF PERSONS, PLACES, AND EYENTS; EMBRACING AUTHENTIC FACTS, VISIONS, IMPRESSIONS, DISCOVERIES, MAGNETISM, CLAIRVOYANCE, SPIRITUALISM, ALSO QUOTATIONS FROM THE OPPOSITION. BY ANDREW JACKSON DAVIS. WITH AIST APPENDIX, CONTAINING ZSCHOKKE's GREAT STORY OF " HORTENSIA," VIVIDLY POR- TRAYING THE "WIDE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE ORDINARY STATE AND THAT OF CLAIRVOYANCE. BOSTON": WILLIAM WHITE & COMPANY, 15S WASHINGTON" STREET, NEW YORK: BANNER OF LIGHT BRANCH OFFICE, 544 BROADWAY. 1868. ^ ST € Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by ANDKEW JACKSON DAYIS, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the District of New Jersey. MoCbka & Millbe, Stereotypes*. DEDICATION. THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED: FIRST -1Q PROUD MEN LN SCIENCE ; Hamlet. — Come hither, gentlemen. . . .Once more, good friends. Horatio. — But this is wondrous strange \ Hamlet.— And therefore as a stranger give it welcome. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. SECONDf-10 MORALISTS OF EVERY SCHOOL; Thrice is he armed who hath his quarrel just — And he but naked, though locked up in steel, Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted. — Shakespeare. THIRD,-T0 ANTI-PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIANS; Quench not the spirit; despise not prophesyings. Prove all thing3; hold fast that which is good. — Paul. FOURTff,-T0 RETICENT MEN OF IDEAS; No object really interests us but man, and in man only his superiorities.... Every •n is entitled to be valued at his best moments I look upon the simple and ci Mish virtues of veracity and honesty as the root of all that is sublime in character. . . .Speak as you think, be what you are, pay your debts of all kinds. — Emerson. FIFTm-TO TIMID MEN IN ALL PROFESSIONS; Any theory, hypothesis, philosophy, sect, creed, or institution, that fears investi- gation, openly manifests its own error. — Davis. SIXT^-TO EXCLUSIVES IN ALL RELIGIONS; Let no one call God, Father, who calls not Man, Brother.— A Spirit. ZASTLY,-W ALL HUMAN KIND, WITH THE FRATERNAL LOVE OF THEIR FRIEND AND BROTHER, THE AUTHOK. Oeange, N. J., March 16, 1863. PUBLISHERS' INTRODUCTION. It has been said, and we fear, with too much truth, that all new discoveries are " treated with hostility by the generation to whom they are addressed." Forty years ago railroads were considered as imprac- ticable. In an article in the " Quarterly Review," the editor said, " As to those persons who speculate on the making of railways, generally throughout the kingdom — superseding all the canals, all the wagons, mail and stage-coaches, post-chaises, and, in short, every other mode of conveyance by land and by water — we deem them and their visionary schemes unworthy of notice ;" and in allusion to an opinion expressed of the probability of railway engines running at the rate of eighteen miles an hour (!) on a railway, then in contemplation, be- tween London and "Woolwich, the reviewer adds : " We should as soon expect the people of Woolwich to suffer themselves to be fired off upon one of Congreve's ricochet rockets, as trust themselves to the mercy of a machine going at such a rate." It should be remarked that this volume is written in the interests of Ilistory — to put on record certain per- sonal events and corroboratives in their chronological order which authentically reveal the rise, progress, and prospects of one of the grandest eras in the spiritual growth of mankind. The contents of the following pages are extracted from the author's private journal, and not before published in any of his many works on Spiritualism and Philosophy. He has kept memoranda of particular events, incidents, impressions, visions, correspondence, corroborations, etc., etc., embracing a period of over twenty-two years ; during which time the most remarkable facts in Magnetism, Clairvoyance, and Spiritualism have been multiplied and established on both sides of the Atlantic. All who want the author's philosophical explanation of the many strange facts and accounts which are presented in this volume, without comments, should consult his previous works, inasmuch as this book is designed chiefly as a semi-autobiographical contribution k ' to the history of a new psychological epoch. This volume supplies links in the author's personal history which were omitted in the " Magic Staff." In these plain, straightforward memoranda, it will be observed, the author has presented the "pro" and the "con" regardless of the bearing the quotations have upon himself, individually ; therefore it is believed that this book will prove an excellent and reliable mirror, in which prejudiced opponents and calumnia- tors may see themselves reflected at full length. "With regard to opposers as a class, Mr. Combe remarks, that 6 " if they are to profit by the lessons of history, they ought, after surveying these mortifying examples of human weakness and wickedness, to dismiss from their minds every prejudice against the present subject founded on its hostile reception by men of established reputation of the present day." And he adds, that, " if the new theory should prove true, posterity will view the contumelies heaped on its founders as another dark speck In the history of discovery ; and that he who wishes to avoid all participation in this ungenerous treatment should dismiss prejudice and calmly listen to evidence and reason, and thus not encounter the chance of adding his name to the melancholy list of the enemies of mankind by refusing, on the strength of mere prejudice, to be instructed in the new doctrines when submitted to his consideration." The appendix to this volume contains Zschokke's remarkable and instructive story of the " Transfigura- tions," illustrating the curative power of human mag- netism, and the spiritual beauty and purity of the " superior condition ;" and, also, a carefully compiled, instructive, and most cheering history of the introduc- tion of the Harmonial Philosophy into Germany. MEMORANDA 1. A JOURNEY m THE DARK. New York, November 11th, 1845. I do not mean to think myself over-taxed or discon- tented, for this is not true. But my life is immersed in a sea of uncertainty. Late this afternoon I returned from a toilsome journey,* the incidents whereof so soon have passed out of memory! I dimly recall mud- puddles, streets, ferry-boats, oil-barrels, sea-chests, a dismal vault, tobacco smoke, torches, and the features of gypsy-looking men and women. But it is vanishing while I write, like the " baseless fabric of a vision ; " yet, incredible as it may seem to others, I have a feel- ing of positiveness that it was a real journey, and not a dream. It sometimes seems to me that I shall be the happiest boy in the world when the time comes for me to recollect and comprehend all the wonderful things I hear about myself. * Further information concerning this experience may be found in the " Present Age and Inner Life," p. 181, et seq. MEMORANDA. 3. TWO LIVES IN ONE BOY. No. 92 Greene Street, New Yore, November 28th, 1845. It is said that /am to begin a " Course of Lectures " to-night in the presence of witnesses ! Why isn't my heart fluttering and palpitating beneath this over- whelming mysterious responsibility ? Was any other boy ever so situated, and so uncomfortably perplexed about himself? I am sure that I have not a word of a " Lecture " in my mind. These two boys — or, rather, this one boy with his two lives — bother and confuse me. The boy in his natural state knows nothing of the same boy in the magnetic state. They tell me what was done when I am treating the sick, and they read to me the notes they took of what was said ; but it seems like an account of the doings and speeches of a person living in a distant country I am wonder- ing every few moments whether it will be possible for tli at other boy to lecture to-night ? And, if he does, what sort of a discourse will it be ! PRESENTIMENT OF A SUICIDE. 3. PRESENTIMENT OF A SUICIDE. Tuesday, November BOth, 1845. Eettjrning from my customary walk this morning, I chanced to meet a large crowd of Irish women and children in the highest state of excitement. A by- stander said they were nonsensically quarreling and fighting because one of the women had in a fit of anger kicked another's barking cur down the stairs. But whatever the cause of the disturbance, the row-loving inhabitants ran Out from their garrets and basements, and in a few minutes the street was so crammed with participants and spectators that the police had to inter- fere. But my attention was by some means attracted to a silent and sad-looking aged German woman stand- ing on the opposite sidewalk, wrapped in an old worn- out shawl, her once rather beautiful features disfigured by disease and shriveled by poverty and despair. As I looked at her, all forgetful of the great fight going on about the kicked dog, I saw a thick mist, resembling a black crape veil, drop in the twinkling of an eye be- tween her face and the outside world ! " Poor, sad soul ! " I instantly thought, " your hours on earth are numbered." The recollection of her unhappy face haunted me all the rest of the day. Taking up a re- 1* 10 MEMORANDA. cent morning paper, I read of a similar ease : " An elderly woman, who resided with her two sons in Hester Street, committed suicide yesterday afternoon by hang- ing. The act was committed in her bedroom, by means of a piece of muslin, which had been torn from a sheet, one end of which was attached to a book used for hanging up a looking-glass, and the other end was tied in a noose around the neck of deceased. "When discov- ered, life was extinct. The coroner being notified, pro- ceeded to the house, but, one of the sons being absent and the other drunk, he was unable to gain any particu- lars, and therefore postponed the inquest until to-day." VISIT FROM REV, SOLOMON SOBERTHOUGHT, LL. D. New York, December 4th, 1845. Eestored to my ordinary state — from the ever-mys- terious state of magnetic physical slumber, which with me is invariably accompanied by a peculiar mental transformation — the first word I heard spoken by a stranger in the room sounded like " * AnagosteleonP On looking around the parlor, I was astonished and embarrassed because of the great number of strangers present, mostly patients, or applicants for treatment, as I supposed ; and among them was a stout, red-faced, big-stomached, ancient, ecclesiastical personage, dressed in black, a white handkerchief around his neck, his scholarly face well-shaved, and his nose bearing aloft a pair of heavy gold spectacles. " The boy's clairvoyance," EXTK10EDINARY MENTAL PHENOMENA. 11 he said, addressing the gentleman at his elbow, " is absolutely of no importance." The other inquired, "Did the boy not correctly translate the words?" " Tolerably," he pompously replied, " but with in- numerable misspellings, involving awkwardness of ex- pression, with not the least accuracy as to the street, house, and situation of the furniture." ..... Subsequently I asked the magnetizer (Dr. Lyon) who it was, and what it all meant. He said the gentleman was Eev. Dr. Gr , of New York, who came with the avowed " intention " of demolishing clairvoyance as a monstrous invention of the devil. The Doctor said that I answered the questions of the round-counte- nanced and large-bodied minister in a foreign language, either Greek or Hebrew, he thought, which, at the time, the distinguished ecclesiastic seemed to understand, for his questions were apparently answered by me in his own tongue ; but what was meant by the word "Anagnostos," or " Anagosteleon" which he pronounced erroneous, I did not learn. This large-bodied clergy- man represents a class of prejudiced persons who resolve, before investigation, not to be influenced by any facts they may witness. Such visits are becoming frequent. 5. EXTRAORDINARY MENTAL PHENOMENA. 24= Tesey Street, New York, January 13th, 1846. The Lectures begin to excite a wide-spread interest in private circles. No person can be more excited with 12 MEMORANDA. curiosity than myself. I have been stationed all this morning in my "sleeping chair," examining diseased strangers — women, men, children, whom I have never seen with my natural eyes, and may never meet again. It sometimes seems to me that I am situated half-way toward the center of an unknown world. I suppose that all this magnetizing for years is for some beneficent purpose. Possibly, I am gaining a knowl- edge of something which no other pathway could lead to. My toil does not weary my muscles, like the cold and dull work of earth-plodders, who take no soul-in- terest in what they do from day to day. Yet a dark- some uncertainty occasionally envelops my mind, which is a weariness and a constraint ; and sometimes I almost wish, with a good deal of impatience, that the end had come. This morning, at 12, m., when the Doctor restored me from clairvoyance to full bodily wakefulness, a friend took from his pocket the New York Tribune, bearing to-day's date, and read aloud the following letter, written by the honored Scribe, thus : — To the Editor of the Tribune : Induction from tangible objects in the external world constituting, as it does, the common and habitual mode of reasoning, the public mind is naturally disposed to skepticism respecting alleged phenomena, the causes of which are not directly perceptible to the senses. At the back of all the visible operations of nature, how- ever, there is a hidden cause, to which all mechanical and organic causes are but secondary and subordinate; and the admission of this undeniable fact should open EXTRAORDINARY MENTAL PHENOMENA. 13 our minds to conviction of well-attested phenomena, especially as connected with the mysterious economy of mind — whether these do or do not agree with pre- vious experience, or point to a definite and adequate cause. Philosophers, for instance, have never succeed- ed in demonstrating to the senses any theory of the cause of gravitation / yet the fact undeniably exists. Physiologists have never demonstrated the cause of natural somnambulism, and the surprising phenomena usually attending it ; yet these facts also exist, and are acknowledged by all. If, then, tangible and well- attested instances of the phenomena known as Animal Magnetism and Clairvoyance are produced, should not these, in like manner, be acknowledged as true, even though their causes could not be directly traced ? These considerations, superadded to the fact that many of the profoundest thinkers, both in this country and in Europe, have been forced to believe in the sciences last named, will, we hope, prepare the reader at least to bestow a respectful attention upon the fol- lowing statements, to test the truth or falsity of which we earnestly invite the most searching investigation. Mr. A. J. Davis, extensively known as the " Pough- keepsie Clairvoyant," is among the very few persons in the world whom magnetism places in a state entirely beyond the control of the operator's will, and all other influences of the external world. In the less perfect stages of magnetic somnambulism, the mental suscepti- bilities are so enhanced, and the imagination is so exalted, as to give the vividness of real fact to the mere conceptions of fancy ; and hence the accounts of such clairvoyants are not always to be depended upon. 14 MEMORANDA. « Mr. Davis explains these facts in his clairvoyant state, and claims, and shows by a process of connected rea- soning, that he is in that highest state of magnetism, in "which the physical system of himself and that of the operator form one being in all its magnetic forces ; and that the vital action of the body being thus sustained sympathetically by the operator, the presence of the mental essence is not necessary to continue these func- tions ; and that hence the mind, for the time being, is able to free itself from the organization, and to view existences both in the material and spiritual world, with that unclouded perception with which they would be viewed by a disembodied spirit. He says that the state in which he is placed is analagous to that of death — only that the mind is still connected with the body by an exceedingly rare and subtle medium, such as connects one thought with another ; and by the same medium, the mind, after making an excursion for information, returns to the body to communicate its impressions. I will not trouble you, Mr. Editor, with a recital of the wonders he performs while in the clairvo} T ant state. Suffice it to say, he seems to have access to every species of information. The human system par- ticularly, it would seem, is perfectly transparent before him ; and his examinations of its condition, and pre- scriptions for its diseases, evince a clearness of percep- tion and accuracy of judgment truly surprising ; and hundreds have experienced the benefits of his treat- ment. He uses the technical language of Anatomy and Physiology, and with the whole range of Materia Medica lie seems perfectly familiar ; though in his waking state his acquirements are singularly deficient, EXTRAORDINARY MENTAL PHENOMENA. 15 his education having been confined to five months' tuition in a common school ! These statements, I grant, would at first view appear improbable ; but if not true, they will be publicly contradicted by some one of the numerous persons who know Mr. Davis in his two states. But the main object of this communication is to speak of a course of Lectures which Mr. Davis is now engaged in delivering, while in the clairvoyant state, concerning matters pertaining both to the material and spiritual world. These are delivered in the presence of Dr. S. S. Lyon, his magnetizer, 24 Vesey Street, the writer of this, who reports them for publication, and one or more of three witnesses, appointed to be present during their delivery, that they may testify to the medium through which the communication is given to the "world. These witnesses are : Rev. J. Parker, 129 Avenue D. ; Isaac S. Smith, M. D., 384 Broome Street ; and Mr. Theron R. Lapham, 236 Canal Street. Mr. Davis commences his work by a description of the evils which have in past ages, and which do still afHict society, and shows that these can not much longer continue. He shows that the remedy of these will, in general terms, consist in moral and intellectual pro- gression. He opens a new field of progress in estab- lishing a new ground of reasoning. He clearly and fully establishes the important conclusion, that the proper reality of all things consists in an inward invisi- ble principle; and that the tangible objects of the external world are mere transient forms which this principle has assumed as its effects and ultimates. He clearly and intelligibly explains the phenomena e 16 MEMORANDA. of Animal Magnetism and Clairvoyance, and shows where and how lie gets his information, stripping these subjects of much of their mystery. He shows that there is no such thing as positive inertia in matter, but that there is a perpetual, though invisible motion in the particles of the most solid rock ; that matter was originally formed from a spiritual essence, and that in its progress of refinement, from the earth to the plant, from the plant to the animal, and from the animal to man, it will finally form spirit individualized — and that this is endlessly progressive in knowledge and refine- ment, continually approaching nearer and nearer to the great eternal Positive Mind — the Fountain and Con- troller of all existence. He shows that there is one gen- eral, unchangeable law of development in undeviating and eternal operation throughout the universe ; and that each successive link in the great chain of progress bears a general correspondence with all other links through- out eternity, and that by knowing one, we may form a general conception of the whole / His generalizations are of the most stupendous kind, and his phraseology is surprisingly expressive, sometimes sweeping, as it were, the whole universe in a single sentence. The first part of his work is mainly devoted to a dis- cussion of natural principles. The second is to contain a revelation, touching both the material and spiritual world ; and the third part is to consist of practical rules for the government of society, as deduced from what is to precede. The writer of this is fully aware that the foregoing statements will subject him to the ridicule of the in- credulous ; but truth is omnipotent, and will sustain SUFFERING FROM OVER-SENSITIVENESS. 17 him. To us these facts are of intense interest, viewed merely as psychological phenomena, and considered simply as such it is proper that they should be famil- iarly known to the public, to say nothing about the intellectual pretensions of the Clairvoyant, in which much intercourse with him has compelled us fully to believe. We would, however, earnestly invite investi- gation ; and for this purpose further inquiries may be made of the appointed witnesses, as named above, or of Wm. Fishbough. 6. SUFFERING FROM OVER-SENSITIVENESS. Vesey Street, near Broadway, N. Y., January 18, 1846. "Why is it that, like a flash of electric pain through the heart, I suffer with a strange, undefinable grief, whenever I pass certain individuals in the street? I feel their conditions, physically and mentally. This feeling of pity and sympathy becomes a harden, which I carry about with, me for days, or until it is superseded by another impression of somebody's unhappiness. If a person is very poor, or very sick, or mentally out of balance, I seem to know it all instantly, whether I touch him or not ; and ofttimes I am thus overpowered by the conditions of unknown individuals when I pass the dwellings in which they live. It is becoming painful, yes, almost intolerable, to walk through some of the side streets, and even in Broadway, where wealth, rank, education, and luxury abound. I can not understand 18 3VIEM0RANDA. what good there is in this overpowering impressibility. It often makes me very weary and strangely anxious, as though I had on my heart the great weight of the misery of whole families in the city. I am perfectly willing to help the poor and unhappy to the extent of my power ; but I can not consent to waste my strength in feeling without benefiting somebody. Perhaps this great sensitiveness, so much increased of late, may result in something useful. PROF. GEORGE BUSH AND EDGAR A. POE. New York, January 19, 1846. These gentlemen are attracted by the Scribe's recent article published in the Tribune. It is said that they belong to that wonderful class of college-educated per- sons called "literati" But to me they are simply human beings — sacred and fearful, as is every thing that represents the indestructible qualities of the human mind. Prof. Bush's face shines with a rare religious emanation. His presence causes one to think of a holy and profoundly learned man living in ancient Jerusa- lem. His eyes look into oriental mysteries, and his voice, although not unpleasant, sounds as from the bot- tom of a deep well. They whisper that he is Professor of Hebrew in the University of New York. Edgar A. Poe's personal presence conveys me, in feeling, to a beauteous field, or to a kind of blooming valley, surrounded by a high wall of craggy mountains. VISION OF A MEDICAL CLAIRVOYANT. 19 So high appear these mountains that the sun can scarcely shine over their summits during any portion of the twenty-four hours. There is, too, something un- natural in his voice, and something dispossessing in his manners. He is, in spirit, a foreigner. My sympathies are strangely excited. There are conflicting breathings of commanding power in his mind. But as he walked in through the hall, and again when he left, at the conclu- sion of his call, I saw a perfect shadow of himself in the air in front of him, as though the sun was constantly shining behind and casting shadows before him, causing the singular appearance of one walking into a dark fog produced by himself. DEMONSTRATION" OF THE VISION OF A MEDICAL CLAIR- VOYANT. New York, March 10, 1846. The newspapers and magazines are teeming with slashing discussions upon the subject of Magnetism and Clairvoyance. Miss Martineau's Letters on Mag- netism give the materialistic solution of all these per- plexing mental phenomena, which is generally received, showing that " it is neither imposture on the one hand, nor a revelation on the other." The religious press is unanimous in condemnation. The following para- graphs, from the pen of a distinguished magazinist, em- bodies the theory most generally accepted at this time (i.e., twenty-two years ago), and it is doubtless the con- viction of many at all times : — 20 MEMORANDA. " Coleridge preserved the anecdote of an ignorant Dutch cham- bermaid, who, when suffering from delirium, raved in excellent Hebrew, to the religious wonderment of all the simple neighbors. They thought the woman seized with 'the gift of tongues,' until some scientific visitors explained the miracle by tracing her former domestication with a worthy clergyman who used to read Hebrew aloud in his study, while his female servant dusted his books of a morning. It was then agreed by the wiser ones, that the mechanical impressions daguerreotyped upon the girl's senses in former years, were simply reproduced by congestion of the brain (just as the flame brings out letters traced with lemon juice on paper, thus hinting at the properties of a more appall- ing kind of fire), even as we have attempted to show how such images may recur, when commenting upon Admiral Beaufort's letter in a late number of this journal. " The most startling phenomena of mesmerism, as now admit- ted by all intelligent observers to have a real existence, are, to our satisfaction at least, traceable to and explainable by the solu- tion which these anecdotes offer to a most interesting problem. The testimony to the sympathetic influence of one brain upon another, in certain conditions of the system of the operator and patient, can not at this day be set aside ; but the testimony as to any new impressions which were not before in the brain of the operator or patient, manifesting themselves from the mind of the latter when in an abnormal condition, stands by no means upon the same indisputable grounds of evidence. The phenomena of the one case, though not yet brought within the acknowledged pale of science, have been known to scientific men for ages. The pre- ternatural claims in the other case, though not less old, have in every instance been set aside when carefully examined by the en- lightened physiologist. Nor do we think that clairvoyance has necessarily any connection with the well-accredited phenomena of catalepsy as a natural malady, or as artificially produced by what is called mesmerism." The hypothesis that clairvoyance is simply a repro- duction of mental impressions, is overthrown by a fact VISION OF A MEDICAL CLAIRVOYANT. 21 which has just been made public. The clairvoyant disa- grees with the surgeons concerning the position and in- side dependencies of a tumor on her own shoulder-blade. Her perceptions are proved correct, and the tumor is ex- tracted while she is physically unconscious under the magnetic influence. The whole Case is familiarly re- ported by a correspondent to the Telegraph, as follows : I see there is a good deal about human magnetism in the Telegraph, especially in the last number, and not a few hesitate about believing all of it. Such things do appear strange ; but then the mystery is, that people have not become acquainted with these natural powers of the human system before ; and that they are so unwill- ing to believe the vast amount of evidence that is being accumulated on this subject. But the philosophy of the phenomena has not been satisfactorily explained ; and we are so constituted as to be strongly inclined to disbelieve what we can not account for : unless the evi- dence of its existence comes to us through such a me- dium as to leave no room for the possibility of deception. And some of its developments are so very wonderful, and exhibit capabilities of mind so far beyond what has been heretofore considered the scope of the human intel- lect, that I should hardly write such facts as come under my observation, were it not for the expectation that some editor will ere long exhibit the rationale of the whole thing in such a light as to leave it as clear from mystery as the most simple manifestations of ani- mated beings. A few days since I was at Mr. Tuttle's, in Byron, Genesee Co., whose wife has created no little excitement by her wonderful clairvoyant powers, which have, for the 22 MEMORANDA. most part, been manifested in examinations of diseases, and prescriptions for them ; and I shall now give yon something of an account of her, and her opinions in this department. Yon are aware that I called upon them last November, when, for the purpose of witness- ing her powers, I had her make an examination of my- self, which she did to perfection, commencing with the first causes of ill-health, and tracing their effects upon the system up to that time ; mentioning particularly the time when the effect of too severe application to study obliged me to leave school with blighted hopes and dark prospects. Satisfied with her knowledge of the to us unperceivable works of the human system, I requested a remedy ; and have used it since with quite as much benefit as she promised, and such as to open a door of hope for the future which had for a long time been pretty much closed. The commencement of her clairvoyant operations was entirely accidental, or providential, she having been at first magnetized for a different purpose, and having no expectation nor desire for that celebrity which is beginning to result from it ; having been, as she said, brought up in Tonawanda swamp, and desiring to live and die in the neighborhood of her nativity, unknown beyond the narrow circle of her early acquaintance. But being afflicted with a large tumor upon the left shoul- der, which it was necessary to have removed, she was magnetized for that purpose by Mr. Joseph C. Walker, who was at the time engaged in teaching the common school in the vicinity. Among her first clairvoyant developments was a statement respecting the position of some parts of the tumor, in which she disagreed w T ith VISION" OF A MEDICAL CLAIRVOYANT. 23 the surgeons, which she could not have known from sensation, and which proved to be correct when the operation was performed. This was done while she was in the magnetized state, and without pain, though the tumor was from two to three inches in extent, and fast to the shoulder-blade, which was scraped, to insure the complete removal of all possible remnants of the tumor. On being awakened, this arm was left para- lyzed, and it was some time before she became conscious of what had been done, she having been told before be- ing magnetized that the operation was to be performed the next day, which was done to prevent her from being agitated, as this might -have prevented a good sleep : but on coming into this condition she immediately un- deceived herself, and told the hour at which Dr. Coates would arrive, and the object of his visit. This was on the 17th of February, 1846.* She in this state prescribed the treatment for the wound, and also for her friends who wished her to do so ; but this brought her in contact with the interests of certain professional men, who, because their craft was in danger, took all possible methods to destroy her influence, and who, finding all other means insufficient, hesitated not themselves, or by instigating others, to attack that character for virtuous integrity which all noble-minded females prize above all price. But dis- * Although twenty-two years have elapsed since this test-case of clairvoyance was reported, I have the pleasure to record that I am per- sonally acquainted with the celebrated clairvoyant, Mrs. Tuttle, and with her excellent magnetizer, Mr. J. C. Walker (my wife's half-brother), and can testify that her powers are giving daily satisfaction to the sick who apply. Her address is as above. 24: MEMORANDA. creet in the manner of transacting their business, the family exhibited no flaw upon which the approaching demon of slander could rest his polluted and polluting foot ; and with full confidence in the noble nature of the mission, and in the ultimate triumph of truth, they kept steadily on their course, bravely stemming the strong torrents of abuse, obloquy, scorn, contempt, and derision with which the enemies of magnetic sci- ence endeavored to overwhelm them. And many are those who are and will be thankful that they did, for numbers are the cures they have performed, and which are being performed, through Mrs. T.'s prescriptions; many of which cases have baffled the skill of all medi- cal practitioners, and for the cure of which hope had ceased to promise, until, by the aid of a mind in its unclouded independence of sensation, the nature of the diseases were pointed out, and the proper remedies pre- scribed. And in her examinations and prescriptions it matters not whether the patients be present or absent, nor whether they send by their friends or by letter — all that is necessary being the knowledge that some person, somewhere, is desirous of being favored with such in- formation and advice respecting his health, as she is capable of giving, while in that state of unclouded vision in which the wonderful workings of vitality become an unsealed book, and when not only are its present operations, but its past, and future, spread as on an open page before the mind. That she does perfectly read the history of disease, hundreds are ready to tes- tify ; and that she understands what remedies are suit- able, very many of these are equally satisfied by having THE EIGHTH AND NINTH PLANETS. 25 used them with success. And though she is rather averse to explore other departments, it is not because they are any the less clearly discernable, for the most subtile works of the mind are equally manifest to her ; so that the most secret thoughts, whether present or past, are as clearly manifest to her as if transcribed in the plainest characters. It is therefore useless for per- sons to attempt to play a game upon her, for, perceiving their object, she is sure to give them any others than an- swers with which they could be pleased. Resting upon the consciousness of her own integrity, and standing far above the petty considerations which induce the grovel- ing to deceive, she disdains to say aught for the purpose of convincing those who are unwilling to accord to her that honesty of purpose and power of perception of which she is so perfectly conscious. DISCOVERY OF AN EIGHTH AND NINTH PLANET BY AN INTERIOR LIGHT. 252 Spring Street, New York, October 30, 1846. This glorious morning — the beginning of a great golden autumnal day— brought one of our patients, a distinguished "Wall Street banker, earlier than was usual for our medical examinations to commence. He held in his hand Mr. Greeley's Tribune, which, he said, " contained a very interesting letter from the Scribe." It being agreeable to all present, he proceeded to read, as follows : — 2 26 MEMORANDA. To the Editor of the Tribune : — From a paragraph in the Tribune- of the 28th ult., credited to the New Haven Palladium, and bearing the signature " O." (doubtless Prof. Olmstead), I learn that news has, by a late arrival from Europe, been re- ceived at Yale College of the actual discovery of an eighth planet ! It was first discovered by M. Galle, of Berlin, on the night of Sept. 23, and was seen at Lon- don, Sept. 30. The existence of this body was inferred a few months since by the French mathematician, Le Yerrier, from certain disturbances in the motions of Uranus ; but the announcement of this inference was not made in this country before some time in May or June last. Not to deprive the discoverers of this body of their deserved honors, and with no attempt to excite the marvelousness of your readers, I would say that the exist- ence not only of an eighth, but a ninth planet was dis- tinctly announced in March last. I will explain : Your readers were informed, some time since, that A. J. Davis, while in an abnormal and exceedingly exalted mental condition, is engaged in the dictation of a book in explanation of the whole structure of the Universe, and developing that knowledge of the universal laws of Nature on which can be based an organization of society on principles of harmony and reciprocation, the same as pervade the celestial spheres. His abnor- mal condition (induced by the manipulations of another person), is analogous to physical death; when the spiritual principle is free from its shackles, and appears to have immediate access tcfevery species of knowledge, and the reasoning power is entirely unclouded. THE EIGHTH AND NINTH PLANETS. 27 The following extracts concerning the eighth and ninth planets are from two lectures given by him, one on the 16th and the other on the 17th of March last. In order that what is said upon the planets may be under- stood, it is necessary to precede the extract with a few of his remarks upon the sun : — " The wonderful sun or center to which our solar system be- longs, may be understood as being a distant and extreme planet of another system, existing prior to its formation. And in ac- cordance with the general plan of suns and worlds in the uni- verse, its planets and satellites may be considered as satellites and asteroids belonging to a planet, and the planet as belonging to a sun. " The constitution of the sun is an accumulation and agglomera- tion of particles thrown from other spheres ; and these became united according to the law of mutual gravity and inherent and mutual attraction. Its igneous composition contains heat, light, and electricity, the successive developments of all primeval mat- ter existing in an agglomerated condition, and subjected to the general and universal law governing all matter." After explaining the rotary and orbicular motion of the sun (for the causes of which he accounts), he pro- ceeds : — " Therefore, the great internal portion or center of the sun is an immense body of liquid fire, evolving successively heat, light, and electricity, as developed and purified particles of the inte- rior composition. The evolved atmosphere may be understood as being a part of the great body, — still an emanation of the in- ternal by reason of its own constitution. This atmosphere, or immense zone of nebulous and accumulated particles extended to the circumference of the orbit that the immense planet occu- pies and traverses as a cometary body. This is one more planet than is now known, or has yet been detected by the observations made through the agency of the most powerful symbol of the human eye (the telescope). 28 MEMORANDA. "Eight planets-have been recognized and determined as nearly beyond all doubt. Still the eighth and ninth are not recognized as bodies or planets belonging to our solar system. But the orbit that the last one occupies was the extreme circumference of the atmospheric emanation from the sun." After proceeding with various remarks upon the laws of emanation, condensation, the origin of rotary and orbicular motions, the progression of primeval planetary matter to the development of the various (so called) elementary substances, &c, he continues : — " The ninth planet, or cometary body, being composed of par- ticles accumulated by the motion of the great sun, observed the same plane by the same specific force, but assumed a station in accordance with its magnitude; and obeying the laws of recipro- cal gravitation, it occupied its assumed orbit at a distance pro- portionate to its rarity, and in accordance with its peculiar con- stitution. " The eighth planet was next evolved, observing the same general law of motion and the same principles of formation ; and was situated within the outer merely because its constitution was more dense than the first one evolved. Its occupying, there- fore, the station and sphere thus described, is only in harmony with the established principles of gravitation, and general and rotary motions. "By virtue of the two great motions which the sun has, the successive formations of the planetary bodies were produced. As the eighth and ninth planets have not yet been recognized as belonging to our solar system, there can be no conception of the original magnitude and diameter of the sun, as including its ex- tended atmosphere. 1 ' After further philosophical remarks upon the pecu- liar elements, conditions, circumstances, &c, &c, as engaged in the formation of celestial spheres, he says : — "But let it be deeply impressed, that the peculiar circum- stances and conditions under which those elements mav be situated THE EIGHTH AND NINTH PLANETS. 29 will produce corresponding effects, according to the cause which occasions the manifestation of such consequences. This observa- tion will lead to a proper understanding of the amount of heat and light which the eighth planet receives from the sun. The ultimate discovery of this celestial body, and its revolution and diameter being specified, will contribute greatly to the interesting subject of astronomy, particularly when the aberrations and ro- fractions of light are known as they occur between it and the sun around which it revolves. "Its density is four-fifths that of water ; its diameter is unne- cessary to determine. Its rotation and period of revolution can be inferred analogically from the period that Uranus observes in its elliptic and almost inconceivable orbit. The atmosphere of the eighth planet is exceedingly rare, containing little oxygen, but being mostly composed of fluorine and nitrogen. No organic constitution that exists upon the earth could exist there alive for one moment. The human eye would be a useless organ ; for light there is of such a nature as to render its darkness, even at the darkest period, several hundred degrees above the present light emanating from the sun ! It has, like Uranus, six satellites. These were evolved and formed by the two motions given this planet ; the farthest from the primary being the extent of its original com- position, and the nearest satellite being the accumulation of dense atoms near the planet It is wholly unfitted for the habitation of any organic constitution ; yet life will ultimately cover its now undisturbed surfaces." That the above extracts are genuine, satisfactory demonstration can be given to any one who may re- quire it. Their existence in manuscript, as a part of Mr. Davis's course, has been known by many persons, and whose testimony will not be denied by any who know them. The lectures have, at promiscuous times, been witnessed by I. Kinsman, No. 1 New Street, T. Lea Smith, M. D., 9 Murray Street (now in Bermuda), II. G. Cox, M. D., 73 White Street, Theron E. Lapham, 30 MEMORANDA. 308 Stanton Street, B. S. Horner, 9 Murray Street, and others. In the same manner, Mr. Davis has revealed the formation, constitution, geological developments, in- habitants, &c, of all the other planets of our system. Indeed, his book aims to present in a general way, a knowledge of the constitution, laws, principles, and developments of the whole nni verse. He displays, while in his superior state, a power of analysis and generalization perfectly unparalleled and absolutely overwhelming ; thongh while in the normal state he is almost entirely uneducated, and he is now only about twenty years old. If these are facts (and if not, their falsity should, can, and will be exposed, )the reflecting mind can not fail to recognize the unspeakable import- ance of their bearings. The only rational explanation of this psychological phenomenon is that which Mr. Davis himself gives, viz. : that his mind, while in the abnormal state, receives the influx of the science un- derstood in the spiritual spheres with which his mind associates. Wm. Fishbough. io. ANNA CORA MOWATT ON THE STAGE. New York, November 10, 1846. I have been to witness a performance at the Park Theater, in which this singularly beautiful and spiritual lady played a part. She moves like one in the air, so LETTER FROM PROFESSOR BUSH. 31 well-governed and graceful are all her bodily expres- sions, and so fresh and intelligent are all her concep- tions of the part she is to personate. . . While passion- ately portraying the profound grief of the character she had assumed, and at the very moment when her cheek grew pale and bosom heaved with the fullness of agony and despair, I had the happiness to behold the reality of beautiful influence (spiritual) descend upon her face and figure, imparting an energy and a marvelous bril- liancy to her action and personal appearance, the effect of which everybody in the theater seemed to instantly recognize ; for the applause immediately was universal and enthusiastic. . . It seems to me that the noble sen- timents and profound feelings of human nature attract appreciable influences from the invisible sphere whence emanates "every good and perfect gift." 11. MAGNETIC MARVELS IN NEW YORK.— LETTER FROM PROFESSOR GEORGE BUSH. New Yoek, Noveniber 15, 1846. Professor Bush's first letter, confirming the Scribe's, is published to-day, and reads as follows : — ■ To the Editor of the Tribune : — The account given in the Tribune of the 10th, of young Davis's announcement of the existence of an eighth planet in our solar system, and even intimating that its elements had already been calculated months before 32 MEMORANDA. any thing was known of the fact in this country, must be admitted to be, in any mode of explanation, exceed- ingly remarkable, especially when it is considered that in his normal state he knows almost nothing of astron- omy or of any other science. As to the asserted fact that this announcement by Mr. Davis was made in March last, I can testify that I heard it read at the time; and numerous gentlemen in this city are ready to bear witness that I informed them of the circumstance several months before the intelligence reached us of Le Verrier's discovery. This fact alone, if there was nothing else extraordi- nary in his case, would offer an astounding phenomenon to the world. But this is only one item of the many marvels which distinguish his mesmeric developments, and with which the public will in due time be made acquainted. Circumstances, which it is unnecessary for me to recite, having brought me into a peculiar re- lation to his revelations, and questions being almost daily proposed to me by friends respecting them, I am induced to seek the opportunity of stating through your columns that my forthcoming work on the " Re- lation of the Phenomena of Mesmerism to the Doctrines and Disclosures of Swedenborg" will contain a com- munication addressed to me by Mr. Davis, written by him in his abnormal or ecstatic state, and made up of a series of quotations, for the most part verbal, from a work of Swedenborg which he had never read ! The evidence of this is decisive from the testimony adduced, and if any thing is lacking on this score, it is supplied from the fact that he is continually giving forth in his Lectures matter scientific, historical, theological, and philosophical, of a character so astonishing as to make LETTER FROM PROFESSOR BUSH. 33 k entirely credible the narrative which I have related. On this head I remark as follows : — " I can solemnly affirm that I have heard him correctly quote the Hebrew language in his Lectures, and display a knowledge of geology which would have been astonishing in a person of his age, even if he had devoted years to the study. Yet to neither of these departments has he ever devoted a year's application in his life. I can, moreover, testify that in these lectures he has dis- cussed, with the most signal ability, the profoundest questions of Historical and Biblical Archseology, of Mythology, of the Origin and Affinity of Language, of the Progress of Civilization among the different nations of the globe, besides an immense variety of related topics, on all which, though the style is somewhat faulty, the results announced would do honor to any scholar of the age, even if, in reaching them, he had had the advantage of access to all the libraries in Christendom. Indeed, if he has acquired all the information he gives forth in these lectures, not in the two years since he left the shoemaker's bench, but in his whole life, with the most assiduous study, no prodigy of intellect of which the world has ever heard would be for a moment to be compared with him. Yet not a single volume on any of these subjects, if a page of a volume, has he ever read, nor, however intimate his friends may be with him, will one of them testify that during the last two years he has ever seen a book of science or history or literature in his hand. His daily life and habits are open to in- spection, and if any one is prepared to gainsay in any point the statement now made, I will pledge myself to make a recantation as public as I now make the statement." But this is not all ; I say moreover : " In this state I do not perceive that there is any definable limitation to his power of imparting light on any theme of human inquiry. He apparently discourses on all subjects with equal facility and correctness. The range of his intui- tions appears to be well nigh boundless." Indeed I am satisfied that, were his mind directed to it, he could 34 MEMORANDA. solve any problem in any science. But lie goes simply as he is led by supernatural guidance. On this head I observe : — "The manner in which Mr. D.'s remarkable gift is, so to speak, managed and overruled, is no less extraordinary than the gift it- self. It is uniformly held in entire subordination to some im- portant use. He submits to no experiments prompted by mere curiosity. He makes no revelations, offers no advice, expresses no opinion, which would in any way give one person an undue advantage over another. Though evidently possessing in his ab- normal state supernatural knowledge, no worldly inducement has the least effect toward persuading him to exercise it for any pur- pose which would not conduce to the good of the whole,, The most urgent solicitations have been made to him to aid individuals in the accomplishment of schemes of private interest, but all in vain. He invariably turns a deaf ear to all such propositions. He refuses, because he says it would not oe right, and because it would endanger the continuance of his clairvoyant power for higher and holier purposes. " As to the Lectures in which he is engaged, he maintains that their grand scope aims directly at the regeneration of society ; that a great moral crisis is impending in this world's history; and that he is selected as a humble instrument to aid, in a par- ticular sphere, in its accomplishment." Perhaps the most astonishing circumstance connected with these developments is the fact, that without ever having read a page of Swedenborg, he has reproduced, in the course of these Lectures, the leading features of his Philosophy of the Universe, and in several instances the coincidence is all but absolutely verbal. Of this I give a striking example in my work. Yet Sweden- borg's philosophical writings, as distinguished from his theological, are of exceedingly rare occurrence in this country, and as they have been but recently translated LETTER FROM PROFESSOR BUSH. 35 into English, and as the exact number of copies im- ported is known, as also in whose hands they are, it is easy to reduce the matter to a moral certainty that he has never consulted one of them. Indeed, I should feel entirely safe in offering a reward of one thousand dollars to any person who will exhibit evidence that Mr. Davis has ever read or seen a copy of the " Prin- cipia," the " Animal Kingdom," or the "Economy of the Animal Kingdom" of Swedenborg, which are the works containing the ideas that he most frequently echoes in his Lectures. He has, moreover, in several instances, quoted his works by their Latin titles, some of which are not known to be in existence in the original on this side the Atlantic, and of which it is utterly incredible that he could previously have known any thing at all. Viewed in any light whatever, the case of this young man presents a problem of the most astounding char- acter, and one the solution of which will be seen to be indissolubly involved with that of the question of the truth of Swedenborg's alleged revelations of the spir- itual world. This question, I am persuaded, can not be much longer staved off from consideration. It is press- ing upon the general mind of Christendom in every direction with an urgency that can not be resisted, and there are a calmly-awaiting few who ask for no assur- ance beforehand as to the manner in which the question will be decided. Kespectfully, yours, &c, Geo. Bush. 36 MEMOKANDA. 12. VISIT EROlf PROFESSOR TAYLOR LEWIS. 252 Spring Street, IsTew York, November 27, 1S46. I have just seen the particular acquaintance of Pro- fessor Bush. They have been long associated in the study and inculcation of Oriental Languages and Theo- logy. They arrived together, and spent some time in our Examination room, talking about a mesmerism," u magnetism," " second-sight," " clairvoyance," and other subjects in psychology and theology that I do not comprehend. It is said that Professor Lewis teaches Greek and Latin in the University of New York, and that he is a very learned and distinguished man. He is rather small in stature, and not personally prepossess- ing ; his head is large, and countenance expressive of erudition, and patient, laborious thoughtfulness. lie impresses like a self-satisfied, but incessantly meditative mind ; capable of persistent argumentation, with de- ficient appreciation of another's rights ; although this fundamental lack would be, in a good degree, com- pensated for and concealed by the fiat of his scholarly attainments Somehow, I can not feel per- sonally attracted to the distinguished teachers of those unpronounceable languages. Perhaps the fault is in REVELATIONS OF MESMERISM. 37 myself — in my sense of ignorance on all things in which they are chiefly interested — in my lack of education. Yet they seem to be as impoverished in what to me is Eternal Truth as I am poor in what they deem abso- lutely indispensable to a " classical education." "What is education? And who are the truly educated? I wonder whether Professor Lewis will investigate the phenomena of mesmerism and clairvoyance. . . . Some patients have just arrived. The doctor is coming to ask me to be thrown into the state of medical clair- voyance. I shall not refuse, for the condition is in- creasing! v attractive to me. 13. THOUGHTS ON THE REVELATIONS OF MESMERISM. New York, December 25, 1816. It seems that the gentleman who, one day last year, stood at the elbow of Kev. Dr. Solomon Sober- thought, was a man as well as a clergyman ; for, judg- ing from the following, just from his pen, he was not crushed by the assumption of elephantine importance on the part of the immense-bodied ecclesiastic ; but still lives, and what is better, dares to think and investigate for himself : — " Good St. Paul wrote some things beside revelations. So may Swedenborg have done; so may Mr. Davis do. Shall I then swallow down all that comes from either of them ; allowing their claims to supernatural vision to be just, simply because it comes from men sometimes inspired, without asking. Is it true ? Is it 38 MEMORANDA. in accordance with known principles of truth, that are immuta- ble ? Does it correspond to the All-Wise, who changes not? Verily not. While, then, I would exercise due caution against imposition upon the one hand, I would welcome with open heart and mind all that comes, from whatsoever source, in the name of truth and right. I have no fear of innovations or revolutions. I wish we had more of them. There is nothing to fear from the assumptions of any one. If they are true, they will be substan- tiated sooner or later ; if they are false, truth will not suffer. Thus much in regard to the general subject. In relation to the particular revelations of Swedenborg and Davis, I am free to confess, that, to me, they have an important bearing upon the progressive development of man. I have long, in common with many others, speculated upon the probable capability of spirit when separated from the body; whether it would survey at a glance an infinite extent, and know in a moment infinitely more than mortal ever conceived of here. I loved to think the mind, when disrobed of its earthly covering, would, like the bird uncaged, soar away on joyous wing, to revel in those exhanstless stores of wisdom, of which but little is seen in time ; and I shall rejoice whenever any evidence is presented that goes to establish this favorite idea, though I can hardly trust myself to decide upon the validity of testimony in which I am so much interested. Swedenborg assumed to have had re- vealed to him the manner of life in the spirit world. He claimed for his revelations consistency with reason, philosophy, and scrip- ture. Why, then, should there be any shrinking from an investi- gation of his claims? Mesmerism claims to unfold the hidden workings of creative and preservative principles in matter and spirit. It pushes the vision of the clairvoyant beyond the circle in which man has heretofore moved — marks out a new orbit for his future destiny, and bids him go where God and rea«on lead the way. Why should godlike beings fear or hesitate to attempt to follow ? If there is a mistake at the bottom of the whole mat- ter, somebody will find it out, while no one can be injured by it, if calm and prudent. If there is not, then glorious things are spoken of the City of our God. Who will take possession?" SUBSCRIPTION FOB A NEWSPAPER. 39 SUBSCRIPTION" FOR A COUNTRY NEWSPAPER. New York, January 3, 1847. The following is a copy of a letter I wrote this morn- ing to the editor of a little newspaper published in the country. It is the first letter I ever had the courage to write to an " editor." I am as timid about it as a child, but I shall try to write correctly, and say what I think : — ■ Mr. Editor : — With pleasure I have remarked seve- ral copies of your casket of valuable information. The form, freedom, and freshness of Truth are capti- vating to, and congenial with, my reason, and to my su- preme love of Nature and her divine soul ! But for the purpose of establishing the truth that I have never read a book, pamphlet, or paper treating on any science, or theology, and in order to keep my mind free from the immensity of the first and the contamination of the latter, I have till this period positively refused to read or subscribe for any book or paper published. Inas- much as the " Lectures" are near completed, in the de- velopment of which I have been and still continue to be an instrument employed, I am at liberty to subscribe a year for the present volume, including the already published numbers of your paper. 40 MEMOPwAFDA. I have been three years engaged, as a subject of hu- man Magnetism or Spiritual sympathy, and in some of the most novel, useful, and remarkable departments of terrestrial and celestial science. And manifesting a peculiar interior perception of external objects at any distance, or truths of great extent — comprehending, seemingly, the lowest and the highest creation at a glance — and yet naturally I am unacquainted with any of those vast and marvelous subjects so familiarly unfolded. I am aware that a change is constantly going on between my natural and spiritual, or inner and outer being — one imperceptibly approaches and flows into the other — an elevation of the faculties and an unfolding of their innate possessions, which caused my inferior to ascend to my superior condition. To Magnetism I owe unspeakable blessings ; for by it I have been, am now, and shall be, I trust, a useful being to the conflicting world of mankind. If I can be this, my existence will be one of happiness and profit. This will be determined hereafter, when the book is presented to the public, and then the truth will shine forth amid the darkness that now pervades the mental world. I speak concerning the lectures I have given in my spiritual condition, with the same degree of wonder, as would any person uninformed of the circumstances ; and I am seriously devoted to the interior manifestation of beau- tiful truths — feeling, as every mind should feel, a su- preme love of truth, anxious to have it known and ap- plied, the result of which will purify, unite, and elevate the human race. Respectfully yours, A. J. Davis. VISIT FROM A PHRENOLOGIST. 41 15. VISIT FROM A PHRENOLOGIST. New York, January 16, 1847. I begin to wonder whether the science (or what may be one day called a science) of magnetism, and its resultant clairvoyance, will ever be delivered of false and shameless pretenders. To-day, a man called, mak- ing the largest professions to mesmeric skill, &e. ; enough to disgust any common mind with the whole subject. And only yesterday a phrenologist visited us for the purpose of examining my head. He showed his " small bills " as well as his self-conceit, and pointed out a sentence which he understood to be a sort of editorial recommendation, to this effect : " It is not long since, in one of his lectures in the city of New Orleans, and also, I believe, elsewhere, a peripatetic head-reader demonstrated his ability to discover a man's religious tenets by the developments of his head ; he could thus distinguish an Episcopalian from a Catholic, a Baptist from a Methodist, and a Presbyterian from the whole. We do not often speak respectfully of traveling phrenologists," &c. But, notwithstand- ing this " favorable notice " printed on his programme, I did not put my head under his hands. In fact, by experience, through great and painful sensitiveness to per- 42 MEMORANDA. sonal conditions and conflicting magnetisms, I am con- strained to avoid, as far as possible, without seeming to be absolutely rude, all direct contact with the different individuals I meet in society. There are phrenologists, however, such as Prof. O. S. Fowler, and others of his school, in Nassau Street, for whose personal qualities and reformatory efforts I entertain the profoundest respect. Possibly, one of these days, I may become better acquainted with the science they teach. The other day, when I met Mr. O. S. Fowler, I seemed to see an architect, whose plans are large, and various, and desirable, with an unusual number of windows and doors in his proposed super- structure, but either lacking the suitable building ma- terial, or else not properly and congenially assisted by efficient carpenters and masons. 16. SEEING WITHOUT THE NATURAL EYES. New York, January 18, 1847. In order to show that the spiritual eye can read manuscript, without any outward contact, and inde- pendently of the bodily organs, I introduce the follow- ing voluntary attestation, from an interesting work, entitled, " Mesmer and Swedenborg," p. 179, by Prof. George Bush : — "And what is remarkable, although I had my manuscripts with me, from which I wished to propose certain queries relative to the correctness of my interpretation, I found I had no need to COMPLETION OF THE LECTURES. 43 refer to it, as he was evidently, from his replies, cognizant of its entire scope from beginning to end, though all the time closely bandaged, and unable to read a word by the outward eye. This will appear incredible, but it is strictly true. I had no occasion to refer to a single sentence in my papers; for it was evident that he was in possession of the whole, though he had not seen a line of what I had written, nor had previously known of the fact of my writing at all." 17. COMPLETION OF THE CLAIRVOYANT LECTURES. 252 Spring: Street, New York, January 25, 1847. They say that my lectures are completed ! Well — I do not feel any different. With the Doctor and the Scribe I share feelings of gratitude to the Immortal Power for blessings vouchsafed, and return thanks for the truths that have been imparted during the past few months. The world's millions know almost nothing of these remarkable experiences. A lecture would last forty minutes or longer, and the book, when published, will contain one hundred and fifty-seven of them. The first was delivered November 28, 1845, and the last, January 25, 1847. When delivering these lectures, I would receive impressions from the invisible world ; and then, with my natural organs of speech, I would slowly, distinctly, and audibly deliver them to the Scribe, in order that they should be accurately recorded. I would then return to the invisible world for another impression. If I were to write of the clairvoyant in the third person, I should say : In the personal appearance of 44 MEMOEANDA. Davis, there is nothing to attract particular attention ; his countenance indicates amiability and cheerfulness, rather than mental power ; physically, he is slim, but well-formed \ has very prominent features, black hair, a bilious, sanguine, nervous temperament ; and, accord- ing to phrenology, small development of the animal powers. This young man is so organized as not only to enter into what is called the ordinary mesmeric or somnam- bulic state, but to pass wholly into the spiritual world. In this condition, knowledge becomes a matter of direct intuition. In other words, whatever he is moved to seek to know, he does know at once, without any a priori or a posteriori process of acquisition. This clair- voyant and intuitive faculty has, generally, been em- ployed in the examination of cases of disease submitted to his inspection, and to the prescribing of the proper remedies. Besides this daily application of his faculty, however, he has been delivering a course of lectures. These lectures, it is said, are of the most universal character. They profess to explain the origin, progress, and development of the Universe, and all things in it, from the Deity himself down to man, and the animal and vegetable worlds. is. JAMES VICTOR WILSON'S OBSERVATIONS ON CLAIRVOY- ANCE. New York, January 26, 184T. A friend has just given me a newspaper containing the following testimony from the beloved Wilson, who Wilson's observations. 45 has been spending several months in New Orleans. He is so pure, so good, so truthful. He is very dear to me : — It is only in degrees far superior to somnambulism, where the manner of the subject's speech is so changed, and his style of expression is so much exalted above the ordinary, that you can implicitly confide in all his utterances. In this elevated state, his goodness of heart overflows every other sentiment, and no vast gre- garious inducements can tempt him to employ his new faculties for sordid or mercenary ends. His diction is elegant and precise, yet easy, pure, and simple. His manner is unimpassioned, without enthusiasm, and in- effably tranqnil, yet his tones and words are inimitably impressive. Having a distinct view of all he speaks, he proceeds with an entire conviction of the reality of what he says. There is an entire absence of the passions and opinions by which he is governed in his ordinary state, and even of all acquired ideas and talents ; and though he can recollect them at pleasure, yet he attaches to them little importance. His judg- ment is quick and correct, and accompanied by an in- timate conviction. He feels within himself a new light, whose rays are darted with an all-searching thorough- ness, upon all that excites within him an interest ; and the impressions and relations from without do not reach him. The author has been personally acquainted with but two cases of clairvoyance so perfect as to be applicable to this description — the boy Leon (French), of New Orleans, under the case of M. Coulon ; and the young Davis, of this city, to whom any description of this 46 MEMORANDA. kind would not "be justly adequate. There have been, and are, however, a few others, who have attained a similar perfection. The world will shortly be apprised of a triumph of clairvoyance through the celebrated Mr. Davis, which millions will be totally unprepared for. During the past year, this uneducated, unsophis- ticated, and amiable young man, has been delivering verbally, day by day, a comprehensive, well-planned, and extraordinary book — relating to all the vast questions of the age, to the physical sciences, to Nature, in all her infinite ramifications ; to man, in his innumerable modes of existence ; to God, in the unfathomable abysses of his love, power, and wisdom. No human author, in any department of literature or science, has ever electrified mankind to the degree that the elo- quent, yet simple reasonings, the lofty and sublime dis- closures will, that constitute this great compend of universal philosophy. Perhaps over four thousand different persons who have witnessed him in his medi- cal examinations or in his scientific discourses, live to testify to the astonishing exaltation of mind possessed by Mr. Davis in his abnormal state. The two new planets of our system, recently conjectured, were de- scribed in Davis's manuscripts fourteen months ago. I have seen him discoursing in a most angelic man- ner for more than four hours in succession. The above, his first and least work, is, I believe, nearly ready to be issued. WAKING CLAIRVOYANCE. 47 19. THE MAGNETIC SEPARATION, New York, April 10, 1847. I have an indescribable feeling, amounting almost to melancholy, that this day ends my magnetic relations to the kind-hearted operator. A voice from the sacred mountain sounds the prophecy in my spirit's ear. What is before me as a person, or what I am hereafter to accomplish for the world, I have not the least notion. But my reliance upon the supremacy and triumph of truth is profound and immovable. Besides, I have a sovereign staff in my soul, invisible to my operator, and equally unknown to all my personal friends, with which I alone may journey into the hidden future. so. SEEING CLAIRVOYANTLY WHILE IN A STATE OF BODILY WAKEFULNESS. Pougiikeepsie, May 16, 184T. To-day I begin a new psychological and personal career ! As I supposed, a magnetizer will be no longer a necessity. But, Oh, how careful must be my employ- 48 MEMORANDA. ment of this faculty ! I now begin to understand what Swedenborg meant when he wrote : — " There are two kinds of visions, differing from those which are ordinarily experienced, and which I was let into, only that I might know the nature of them, and what is meant by its being said in the Word that they were taken out of the body, and that they were carried by the spirit into another place. As to the first, viz., the being taken out of the body, the case is this : Man is reduced into a certain state, which is mediate between sleeping and waking; when he is in this state he can not know but that he is wholly awake, all his senses being as much awake as in the most perfect state of bodily wakefulness, not only those of sight and hearing, but, what is surprising, that of touch, also, which is then more exquisite than it is possible for it to be in bodily wakefulness. In this state, also, spirits and angels are seen to the life, and are also heard, and, what is won- derful, are touched, scarce any thing of the body then interven- ing. This is the state described as being 'taken out of the body,' and in which they know not whether they are in the body or out of the body. I have only been let into this state three or four times, just in order that I might know the nature of it, and that spirits and angels enjoy every sense, even touch, in a more per- fect and exquisite degree than that of the body. As to the other kind, viz., the being carried by the spirit to another place, the nature of this, also, was shown me, by lively experience, but only twice or three times. I will merely relate the experience. Walking through the streets of the city, and through the country, and being at the same time in discourse with spirits, I was not aware but that I was equally awake and seeing, as at other times, consequently walking without mistaking my way. In the mean time I was in vision, seeing groves, rivers, palaces, houses, men, and other objects; but after walking thus for some hours, on a sudden I was in bodily vision, and observed that I was in another place. Being greatly amazed at this, I perceived that I had been in such a state as they were of whom it is said that they were car- ried by the spirit to another place. It is so said, because, during BEADING BOOKS AT A DISTANCE. 4:9 the continuance of this state, there is no reflection on the length of the way, were it even many miles ; nor on the lapse of time, were it many hours or days ; nor is there any sense of fatigue ; the person is also led through ways which he, himself, is igno- rant of, until he comes to the place intended. This was done that I might know, also, that man may be led by the Lord with- out his knowing whence or whither." 31. READING THE CONTENTS OF BOOKS AT A DISTANCE. Poughkeepsie, August 10, 184T. Pkofessok Bush has been most cruelly misrepresented and constantly assailed for the indorsements and testi- monies he published in the Tribune. In self-defense he has once more appeared in that paper as follows : — " I confess myself to have taken a deep interest in this develop- ment from the outset, principally from its obvious relations with the psychological disclosures of Swedenborg, apart from which I am confident it can never be explained, but in connection with which the solution is easy and obvious. The modus of this it is not my purpose at present to dwell upon ; whoever forms an ac- quaintance with Swedenborg x , will soon find himself on the track of solving not only this, but all other psychological problems. My object is to advert to a particular passage in the Lectures, and examine its bearings upon the question of the source from which the information given by the so-called ' Clairvoyant' was derived. On p. 587 he has entered into a detailed and very accurate analy- sis of one of Swedenborg's scientific works, entitled ' The Economy of the Animal Kingdom,' in 2 vols. 8vo. He gives a minute account of the scope of each volume ; and he could not well have been more correct had the volumes been open before him for the express purpose of exhibiting a summary view of their contents. The Lecture containing this passage I heard read 3 50 MEMOEANDA. shortly after its delivery. It struck me as very remarkable, as the work in question had but recently arrived in this country; and I was confident, from various reasons, that neither Mr. Davis nor his associates could have seen it. I put several interroga- tories on this head, and received the most positive assurance that they had not only never seen it, but had never even heard of it. And, as a proof of this, on the part of the scribe, he remarked that he had noted the word ' Economy' as probably a mistake, as he had heard of a work of Swedenborg's, entitled simply 1 The Animal Kingdom,' which was translated and published in England a year or two before, though he had never seen it. Yet this he supposed to be meant. " My acquaintance with those gentlemen was sufficient to satisfy me that their disclaimer on this score was entitled to im- plicit belief; but, as I was aware that this would not be enough to satisfy others, I at once determined to institute an inquiry, the result of which should put the matter beyond all cavil. I saw clearly that if it could be shown that this young man had given a correct account of a work which- neither he nor his associates had ever seen or heard of, it must be a strong point gained to- ward confirming the truth of his general claim to preternatural insight, for the establishment of which I was indeed anxious, but yet as subordinate to a still higher interest. "I accordingly wrote to Mr. 0. Clapp, bookseller in Boston, whom I knew to be the only person in this country who imported Swedenborg's scientific works from England. They are there published, not by individual enterprise, but by an association, from whom all the copies ordered from this country are con- signed exclusively to Mr. C. I requested him to give me from his books, as far as possible, a detailed account of the disposal of every copy he had sold, as my object was to ascertain if any one of them could be traced to a point where it would be likely to fall into the hands of Mr. Davis or his companions. Mr. C. immediately replied, informing me df the number, of copies he had imported, which was not large, as the book is costly, and the demand limited mostly to Swedenborg's adherents, and also of the direction which nearly every one had taken. Of these there BEADING BOOKS AT A DISTANCE. 51 were, in all, nine copies sent to this city to Mr. John Allen, of which all but three or four were disposed of to purchasers abroad. Of those that remained in the city, every one can be traced to individuals who will at once testify that they have never been purchased, borrowed nor consulted, by Mr. Davis or his friends. I have made diligent inquiry on this head, and am perfectly satisfied that it is morally impossible that either of these gentlemen should have had access to any one of the copies owned in New York. " Still, I am perfectly aware that this statement will not, of itself, avail to overcome the rooted incredulity that opposes itself to such a demand upon faith. I now propose, therefore, to put this matter to a much more summary test, by applying a mag- net of the highest potency in drawing out truth, as well as other things, from all weaker affinities. I am authorized to make a bona fide offer of $500 to any person who will produce a single iota of evidence, properly substantiated, that the work in ques- tion was ever seen, heard of, consulted, or in any way employed, by either of the gentlemen above mentioned, up to the time of the delivery of said lecture by A. J. Davis. I simply demand that such evidence shall be clearly and unequivocally made out; and I pledge myself, upon the truth of an honest man, that the above sum shall be punctually paid over, in the presence of wit- nesses, to the person who, on the condition specified, shall come forward and claim it. "I can conceive nothing more fair or decisive than this propo- sition. If this book has been used for the purpose, it must have been obtained of somebody. It is not easily conceivable that such an one, if knowing to the fact, should have any motive for with- holding it sufficient to counterbalance the inducement held out in the present offer to divulge it. A refusal to impart the informa- tion sought, by any one who possesses it, can scarcely be antici- pated, except upon the ground of complicity in a grand scheme of imposture, which has been entered into by a knot of unprin- cipled men, with a view to palm upon the public a work charged as being of a \ directly undisguised infidel character.' But who are these men ? Who can be named as possessing a copy of 52 MEMORANDA. Swedenborg's work that would be likely to lend either it or him- self to such a contemptible piece of chicanery? Could such a man have any motive for this that would not be apt to yield to the certainty of pocketing the proffered reward? Has he more than five hundred dollars' worth of interest in bolstering up a pitiable delusion, which will be sure to be detected in the end, and cover with infamy the heads of all concerned ? For myself, I am satisfied that there is not a copy of the ' Economy of the Animal Kingdom' in the city but is in the hands of those who have the profoundest respect for Swedenborg as a philosopher and a moralist ; and no 6uch man could be, knowingly, an ac- complice in a scheme of pretended ' revelation,' the scope of a large portion of which is directly contrary to Swedenborg's teachings. What supposition more absurd ? If it be said that such an one might have come into the junto without knowing precisely what would be the issue, or what use would be made of his Swedenborgian contribution, the fact is now palpable ; he is undeceived, and what should prevent him from exposing the outrageous fraud, especially when he can spread the plaster of a $500 note over the sore of his chagrin ? The truth is, this whole supposition is incredible to the last degree. There is not a person in the community, who owns a copy of Swedenborg's 'Economy,' that could think for a mo- ment of prostituting the book or himself to such a despicable fabrication ; and I repeat, that the book is not to be found ex- cept with those who entertain sentiments in regard to this great and good man that would utterly preclude connivance at any clandestine procedure of the kind supposed. Should the offer now made — and which is made in the most positive good faith — fail to elicit any response contradictory to the assumption of the book, I would submit to every candid mind whether there does not arise from this source a powerful confirmation of its general claims. I do not say that such, considered in itself, is absolutely decisive. But it must surely be granted that it affords a strong proof of a collateral kind. The numerical count of probabilities is vastly on the side of the theory that the work in question has not been seen, if a generous premium fails of bringing to light PROF. LEWIS ATTACKS PKOF. BUSH. 53 the least evidence to the contrary ; and yet, if the assumption stands good, what an astounding power is here developed ! "What can not a mind bring forth which is thus enabled to de- clare the contents of books never read or seen ! "On the whole, then, I venture the assertion that but one conclusion can finally be rested in in regard to the circumstance I am now considering. Young Davis has correctly analyzed and characterized a work which he had never read nor heard of. As this is directly claimed to be the fact, so it is, all things weighed, the solution which is attended with the fewest dif- ficulties. No other than presumptive evidence can be adduced against it, nor will any other be attempted." 22. PROFESSOR LEWIS ATTACKS PROFESSOR BUSH, AND DE- NOUNCES DAYIS'S REVELATIONS. New York, August 15, 1847. The battle has begun ! I have just heard read the following very extraordinary letter by Professor Lewis, teacher of Greek and Latin in the University of New Fork :— To the Editor of the New York Tribune : — At the first announcement of the pretended revela- tions of Davis, I was requested by some friends, who knew that I had thoroughly examined the book and was familiar with the circumstances attending its pro- duction, to make some exposition of its true nature and merits. The fact, too, that it had been deemed worthy of six closely printed columns of commendation in the New York Tribune would also seem to have warranted 54: MEMORANDA. such a course. It was, however, judged impossible that the boasted intelligence of the nineteenth century should be deceived by a work carrying On the very face of it such evidence of gross imposture. It was deemed in- credible that a book abounding, not simply in philo- sophic skepticism, but in the lowest and most ribald in- fidelity of the school of Tom Paine — an authority whence a large part of it is evidently derived — could obtain any kind of countenance from a Christian community, or from any persons professing the lowest known form of belief in the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, For these reasons it was not deemed worthy of any extended notice, until the appearance of Professor Bush's indorsement in Friday's Tribune. He there speaks of it as a " work justly attracting a large share of public attention ;" he recommends it to the commu- nity as a remarkable production, worthy of the most unprejudiced and candid examination ; he exultingly speaks, in the style of a newspaper puff, of its remarka- ble sale of nine hundred copies in one week ; regards this as evidence of a great increase of faith in that supernat- ural revelation which denies as impossible the miracles and resurrection of Christ ; and, finally, makes a most remarkable manifestation of the high motives which should distinguish the scholar and the philosopher — to say nothing of the Christian teacher — in' suffering him- self to be the channel through which a reward of five hundred dollars is offered to any man who will swear that he has ever seen Davis reading a certain book of Swedenborg. This gentleman is a Professor of Hebrew and Bibli- cal literature, and a scholar and a writer of wide-spread PROF. LEWIS ATTACKS PEOF. BUSH. 55 reputation. This alone would render prop.er a notice of his communication in the Tribune, even if there existed no other reason. He is also a professed teacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ ; and this fact, too, of itself, would justify any severity of language which we have used or may use in relation to his strange course in this matter. Whatever delusions he may have been under in the commencement of this business, he now well knows that this book is thoroughly and unblushingly Infidel, in any, even the lowest, sense in which the advocates of the loosest form of Christianity would take the term. It attempts to disprove the very possibility of any super- natural revelation. It affirms that evil or sin can not possibly have any existence. It not only denies the supernatural of the Old Testament — some of the Pro- fessor's school miglit think this only a legitimate result of their doctrine of Progress — but pronounces false, and even affects to scoff at, all the miracles of the New. denies the resurrection of Christ. It asserts that he w, simply a moral reformer, but of an inferior kind, as be- ing one who understood only effects, without that knowl- edge of causes and of the interior of things, which is now made manifest in these revelations of Davis. It speaks of his illegitimacy, and describes him in terms of infe- x riority to Fourier. It asserts that Prophecy and Mira- cles are, in the very nature of things, impossibilities ; this, to be sure, by a most absurd and ridiculous attempt at reasoning, as we shall show ; but the assertion is all with which we are at present concerned. It makes out Christ and his commissioned Apostles to be the weakest of all deluded enthusiasts, or the most wicked of impos- tors. It denies all human accountability to any higher 56 MEMORANDA. power than Nature. It affects sometimes to be witty, and indulges in ribald scoffing at the claims of the Scrip- tures, and the sacred feelings which are associated with them in the believing soul. Every one of these posi- tions we will prove most abundantly if Professor Bush dares to deny them. He knows, too, that the ribald objections to the Bible, and especially to the Gospels, which appear in the latter parts of this book, are iden- tical, to a great degree, with the stale and oft-repeated blasphemies of Paine. With all this, he still — a pro- fessed teacher of Christ's Gospel — not only patronizes and encourages this avowedly Infidel production, but has done more than all other agents in the imposture combined, to give it currency with the public. Prof. Bush may reiterate the declaration that he does not indorse the absolute truth of these pretended reve- lations ; that he only views them as a remarkable psy- chological phenomena : he may even intimate, as he sometimes seems to do, that the contents are, to some extent, intrinsically evil and false, or the suggestions of evil spiritual agents — (certainly he must consistently deem them such, if they are blasphemies against that Being whom even he must in some sense regard as his Redeemer, and whom he professes to preach as the light of the world) — but what right, we ask, has he to aid the circulation of a work of the devil, whether that work be in the extraordinary way of a direct com- munication with the spiritual world, as claimed by Fishbough and Davis, or through those ordinary chan- nels of Satanic suggestion, which, according to the universal faith of the Church, the devil has ever em- ployed in instigating men to acts of wickedness and PROF. LEWIS ATTACKS PROF. BUSH. 57 imposture? Suppose it is one of Satan's lying won- ders ; suppose, as the Professor has himself suggested, it does illustrate the remarkable psychological phenome- non, that the spirit of Tom Paine is yet engaged in injecting his infidel ribaldry into this world, whenever he can find a clairvoyant pipe for that purpose ; — yet still, what right, even on the score of their marvelous- ness, has a Christian teacher to be puffing the devil's books, and so bravely offering $500 to any one who will prove that some man, and not the devil, wrote them ? But this argument will not avail. Whatever Prof. B. may say of the "sheer sophistry" of confounding some of the errors of the volume with the argument for its supernatural origin, yet still we are driven, by the very laws of the human mind, to make such connection. Nature teaches, and Christ and his apostles by their own course have sanctioned, the indelible lesson, that the fact of the " astoundingly supernatural " accom- panying a revelation professing to be from the other world, is strong evidence of the intrinsic truth of the revelation itself. Whenever there has been the oppo- site manifestation, as in the case of the Egyptian Ma- gicians (if there was in this instance a real intercourse with the agencies of the unseen world), there has ever . been the higher supernatural triumphing over and pre- venting that delusion into which, without such aid, the human mind, by its own laws, wotald naturally run. Prof. Bush has not yet made sufficient progress, con- sistently to believe all that Davis says about the impos- tures and delusions in Christ's pretended miracles ; but he accepts of almost all the rest. This must be so, or there is no meaning at all in a great deal of the reason- 3* 58 MEMORANDA. ing he has advanced on this subject. He believes that in the case of Davis there has really been most stu- pendously supernatural manifestation, a knowledge and use of languages which never came through the senses, or memory, or the reflective powers, or any innate ideas ; nor were received as suggestions from other minds ; and yet possessed and put forth as the soul's own consciously recognized furniture. Has the Professor ever seriously reflected on the astonishingly supernatural nature of this phenomenon, fully equal to, if not transcending, the miraculous gift of tongues im- parted as evidence of the truth of the apostolical mes- sage? . . . . . The subject is an awfully serious one ; and yet we can not well conceive of any thing, in the nature of an argument, more ridiculous than the one Prof. B. is so fond of employing in relation to this matter. The work, it is well known to him, denies directly the au- thority of the Scriptures, both Old and New ; it blas- phemes Christ on any supposition of His having been specially sent by God ; it pronounces His miracles im- postures and His resurrection a fable ; in a word, it is an intrinsically bad and Infidel book ; and yet, says the Professor : " It justly attracts public attention, and is to be recommended as a most valuable production, be- cause it furnishes evidence 'of the existence of a devil and evil spirits." What is more wonderful and valua- ble still, it thereby confirms the Swedenborgian hypoth- esis in relation to these articles ; as though such had not been the faith of the Christian Church in all ages, or as though we could not confidently rest on what is so clearly revealed in the Old and New Testaments, PROF. LEWIS ATTACKS PROF. BUSH. 59 without the confirmation of Swedenborg ! What crowns the absurdity is the fact, that nothing is more vehemently affirmed by Davis, nor more strongly held by the other parties who are united with Prof. B. in the promotion of the circulation of this volume, than the non-existence of devils and evil spirits, and the utter absurdity and even impossibility of any such notions having an objective reality. There can be only three possible suppositions in this business : 1st. The book is true, and all the wonders in relation to it, extrinsically and intrinsically ; or, 2d. Davis is obsessed by evil spirits, who make him the pipe through which they inject into this world their lies and blasphemies ; or, 3d. It is, from beginning to end, a shameless and wicked imposture, practiced by evil spirits in this world, and for most wicked ends. The first position we will leave to the marvelous faith of the Infidel. If the second is correct, then every Christian man who has renounced the devil and his works, and who may happen to have the volume in his possession — having at the same time no better method of keeping it from doing harm to his children or others — should immediately throw it into the fire. If the last hypoth- esis is the true one, then all concerned in this nefa- rious juggle, and attempt to obtain money by false and impious pretenses, should be forthwith introduced to the acquaintance of the Grand Jury and District At- torney. The writer flourishes away with his " there/ores" and his " it follows" and "it is perfectly clear" &c, when nothing follows, and nothing is clear, and nothing is proved but his own ignorance and im- 60 MEMORANDA. pudence. He seems to be utterly unaware that in all this he is cheating himself with his own terms, ever assuming the very thing to be proved, and thus going round and round in an ever-revolving treadmill, in which the premises may continually become the con- clusion and the conclusion the premises, and from which it seems impossible for him ever to get out. The very question is — Is there a power above Nature? He says no ; because if so, it would be supernatural, and that which is supernatural is nothing ; therefore, &c, &c. Had he had sense enough to understand his own soph- istry, he might have made it look better by going a little farther back with his assumed position, and de- claring that Nature is an end in itself, with no moral world above it. Then there would have been some shadow of ground for the argument that its processes are unchangeable, because God would have no reason more ultimate for ever interfering with them. As it now stands, the only real connection of thought (if it can at all be called thought) to be traced in this cloud of words, may be simply stated thus : " It is the very nature of Nature to be natural. Whatever is natural, must take place, because every effect, or thing caused, comes from something causing, and, therefore, must occur, because it is caused by a natural instigation. But alleged miracles are supernatural ; whatever is supernatural is unnatural ; and whatever is unnatural is contrary to the laws of Nature. It is, therefore, utterly unreasonable that a miracle should take place, and every one who is acquainted with these laws, must at once conceive, that such an occurrence is entirely opposed to these laws, and can not therefore possibly PROF. LEWIS ATTACKS PKOF. BUSH. 61 occur (q. e. d.)." Is it riot most clearand conclusive, and quite Swedenborgian beside ? If he includes, in his word nature, God and the moral world, by such an abuse of the word he might have had the appearance of some more coherency of reasoning, but then his very clear conclusion would have been, that that which did not come from some cause, natural, moral, or divine, never could have been caused nor existed. In this case, however, it would not have been proved that what are called Christ's miracles never could have taken place, but only that they are excluded from his own absurd and arbitrary employment of the terms natural and supernatural. "What makes this the very quintessence of all foolishness, is the fact, that while this very " remarkable " person is denying the miracles of Christ, on the ground of their being natural impos- sibilities which no rational mind can believe, or even conceive, he is asking, on his own assertion, our credence in states of being, and manifestations of knowl- edge far more wonderful than any of the exhibitions of Jesus in healing the sick and casting out devils, or even turning water into w T ine. He utterly denies the very possibility of prophecy or predictions for a few centuries ; yet claims to know by intuition facts which took place fifty thousand years ago, and actually to have predicted discoveries in astronomy, by no natural observations, but by interior light ! Another marvel, greater than all, is, that men should be found in this nineteenth century of progress, and a Professor of Hebrew among them, who can believe all this, while they find it so hard to rest on the martyr testimony of Jesus and his apostles, together with that immense mass 62 MEMORANDA. of corroborating evidence which has been accruing in the Church for ages ! t. l. 23. A. POPULAR NEW YORK EDITOR REPLIES TO PROFESSOR LEWIS. New York, August 20, 1847. This morning a friend handed me the New York Sunday Dispatch, containing the following rational remarks : — Professor Lewis, a recognized champion of the Church, has taken up the cudgels against the meek and lowly A. J. Davis, and says, in almost so many words, that the shoemaker's apprentice is a cheat ; that he knows nothing about Latin, Greek, and Hebrew ; and that the reproduction of Swedenborg's philosophy through him, is the result of a conspiracy which, Professor Lewis in- timates, Professor Bush is the master spirit of! The champion of the Church denies, if we under- stand him right, the magnetic influence and clairvoyant power, notwithstanding the mass of evidence adduced to sustain both. Here he has committed a blunder, for which he deserves to lose his office and perquisites. Christianity has, within a hundred years, suffered more from the stupidity of its defenders, than from the assaults of its opponents. The churchmen, fearful of losing their influence and their salaries, have looked with jealous eyes upon the progress of scientific knowl- edge. Every new discovery has awakened their appre- hension lest it sliould overthrow one of the dogmas A NEW YORK EDITOR REPLIES. 63 of their faith, and weaken the others in the public be- lief. Never were the wrongs of the laboring classes — the oppressions and frauds practiced upon them — placed in a bolder light, than in 3d Part of Davis's Revelations. Allowing the correctness of Professor Lewis's favorite theory, the Devil has a much greater sympathy for suffering humanity than we have ever given him credit for. The positions of the three learned professions — Law, Medicine, and Divinity, are then analyzed. The interest of each of these great and noble professions is shown to be contrary to the interests of society, so that these must inevitably prevent nearly all philanthropic action. Thus it is actually for the interest of every lawyer, that there should be discord, contention, fraud, violence, and crime in every community. It is for the interest of every doctor that there should be violations of sanitary laws, sickness, pain, distress, immorality, and vice. And it is for the interest of clergymen, that people should be docile, obedient, superstitious — believing what they are taught, and exercising no independence of opinion. For, were people all honest and peaceful, there would be little need of lawyers. Were all so intelligent and virtuous as to regard the laws of life, there would be little need of doctors. And, should all men exercise the right of private judgment in matters of faith, there would be, at all events, fewer preachers. Thus, the interests of the members of these powerful 64: MEMOEANDA. professions are, according to the work we are noticing, antagonistic to the interests of society — and in regard to lawyers and doctors, we suppose it will scarcely be denied. ^4. MORE GUNS FROM THE FORTIFICATIONS OF ORTHO- DOXY. New York, August 24, 1847. The editor of one influential city journal replies to another editor, thus : — The Commercial Advertiser, of this city, with an ap- parent anxiety to forestall opinion on the subject of " Davis's Revelations," gave, early in the week, a notice of a full column in length, which was of so queer a character as to deserve some comment. The Commer- cial says, literally or in substance : — 1. This is so large a book that we have not read it, and shall not. 2. It is absurd and ridiculous. 3. It is incomprehensible. 4. It is dangerous. 5. It teaches materialism. 0. It teaches infidelity. 7. It is false. Finally, the Commercial is astonished that so many respectable men, both clergymen and laymen, should have given their names and influence to such a book. It strikes us that this is a droll piece of criticism to cor»"' from such a paper. We are forced to look upon THE " COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER." 65 the writer of such a criticism as this as an arrant block- head ; a blockhead, for saying so much of a book he had not read ; a blockhead for calling a thing dangerous which he had already pronounced absurd and ridiculous ; and a very great blockhead for pretending to tell what doctrines are taught by a book which he has pronounced incomprehensible without reading ! If this is a sample of the criticisms of such papers as the Commercial, the fewer the better. So much for the first gun, which begins the battle which is about to rage against this remarkable work. 25. THE CLAIRVOYANT'S BOOK AND THE "COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER." New York, September 2, 1847. I am more and more surprised at the great war that is raging among editors. The following review has just come into my hands : — We are too well assured of the interest connected with the remarkable work above mentioned, to fear that our readers will grow weary of a discussion of its merits. We know too well what hold such a book must have upon the mind of every intelligent person, not to be convinced that there is no subject with which we could occupy our columns to more advantage. Whatever may be the ultimate conclusion of the world in respect to this work, there can be no question of the importance of its pretensions. The Commercial Advertiser, a few days since, under 66 MEMORANDA. the head of " Religious Intelligence," contained a second attack upon this work, of a column and a half in length, some points of which we propose to notice. The Commercial says : — " A revelation Laving already been made to man from the Di- vine Being himself, as is unanswerably demonstrated by both fact and argument, no subsequent revelation from an inferior being can be received by men as authoritative. The minor can not over- rule the major, the inferior the superior. What God has revealed neither men nor angels may gainsay, qualify, improve upon, or add to ; when the Source of all being has made known his law, the profoundest investigations of the highest order of created intelli- gences, with their influences and conclusions, are of no account whatever, and are lighter than the small dust of the balance." The Commercial refers, we suppose, to the Bible — which is a collection of the revelations of various indi- viduals, supposed to be more or less inspired, and in which one adds to another, and the New Testament overrules the Old, as certainly as the Gospel has dis- placed the Law. Such a revelation, then, complete, in- disputable, and satisfactory, has never existed. What- ever may be thought of the Bible, in other respects, it must be conceded, that men can not understand it alike, and that it does not impress itself upon men's minds, as the clear and direct revelation of the Supreme Intelli- gence. A direct revelation from God, could not be mistaken by those for whom it was intended. The Commercial then narrows the question to this : — M Is Mr. Davis's book a revelation from God, or is it not ?" We should answer : it is rather a revelation of God — than from him. God is revealed in his works, and it is THE "COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER." 67 these works which are revealed in the book in question. The truths of Astronomy, of Geology, of Natural His- tory, are revelations, and of necessity, truthful revela- tions, of the Supreme Being. Defining further what a revelation is, or should be, the Commercial says : — ""What it reveals must be authentic, a dictum, an absolute, authoritative making known of the truth. It can take no cog- nizance of falsehood, and enter into no controversy. A revelation from such a source can not argue. The moment it does so, it ceases to be a revelation. If this rule be applied to the Bible, it is fatal to its claims as a revelation ; for there is scarcely a book be- tween its covers, which does not contain arguments of all kinds. Where is to be found a more elaborate reasoner than St. Paul, or a more pointed one than Christ himself ? The Commercial says : — " An argumentative exposition of that which is professedly re- ceived by revelation from the great source of truth, volunteered by the relator, is indeed an anomaly — it disproves either the rela- tor's avowed instant perception of the truth, or his confidence in the perception of the source whence he professes to have re- ceived it. How any one believing in the inspiration of Paul and Peter, could make such a sweeping assertion, passes our comprehension. But, in reality, the revelations of Davis have a wider scope than this critic seems to understand. He reveals not only processes of nature, but processes of thought. He does not merely say, God exists, but he reveals a process of logical reasoning, which demonstrates that sublime fact. And this, though an argument, is no less a revelation, because 68 MEMOEANDA. that Davis in his natural state is quite incapable of con- ceiving of such an argument. Thus, this is a revelation not merely to the credulity of man, but to his reason, and such a revelation must be argumentative and logical in the highest degree. Such a revelation as the Com- mercial describes is only fit for those who are incapa- ble of reasoniug. The Co?nmercial' } s objection to this work, therefore, seems to us one of its highest merits. The Commercial insists that the evidence of the re- ality of this revelation is not sufficient. The evidence is not only superior to that connected with any other revelation that we know of, but is of the most absolute character. The names of some fifty to a hundred persons now living, as witnesses of this revelation, are subscribed to its manuscripts. These are, many of them, persons of high standing, and all men whose evidence is good in any Court of Justice. Have we any such evidence as this of the genuineness of St. John's gospel, which is doubted by profound theologians? This will not do. The evi- dence in regard to Davis's revelations, is complete and overwhelming. The Commercial? s next objection is, that these reve- lations — " Professing to come directly from the * focus ' of truth, have no feature in common with a prior revelation proved to have emanated from the same source." The writer of this sentence, it appears, has not read the work which he is criticising ; for Davis reveals, among other things, the degree of truth and authority which belongs to all prior revelations, and shows how 69 far, and in what sense they can be said to have ema- nated from the same source. The intimation of the Commercial, that this work ab- solutely contradicts, assails, and denies the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelations, and impinges the honesty and veracity of each of its writers, from Moses to St. John, is a falsehood of the grossest character / and proves conclusively, either that the writer of the arti- cle has not read the book, or that he is a deliberate falsifier ! In short, the whole column and a half of this " reli- gious intelligence" of the Commercial is a tissue of misrepresentations and falsehoods ; the offspring of inex- cusable ingorance or of a disregard of moral principle, which we refrain from characterizing in such terms as seem to us necessary to convey a proper idea of its baseness. The case of attempted imposition on Davis, by a clergyman, to which the Commercial alludes, is of little importance, and is susceptible of a very simple explana- tion. Besides, a clergyman who would lie to Davis, would lie to any body else, and is not worthy of credit. 26. PARKE GODWIN'S OPINION OF THE BOOK. Poughkeepsib, September 19, 1847. A gentleman has just called to read and leave with me the following paragraph, taken from an influential New York journal : — 70 MEMORANDA. Parke Godwin, Esq., of this city, a son-in-law of Wil- liam Cullen Bryant, and long associated with him in the management of the Evening Post; an author of deserved celebrity ; a translator of some of the great- est works that ever appeared in the German language ; in a word, a gentleman of fine taste and distinguished ability, in a letter published in the London People's Journal, says of this work of Davis, that " it is writ- ten with great coherence and profundity'' — that it " unfolds a true method of reasoning which any reader will confess is ingenious and profound " — that it contains " the most rigid and unflinching logic ;" — and that " as a mere work of speculation, to consider it in no other light, it is of the highest interest ;" — that it is an " extraordinary work in every light in which we may regard it ;" — that " it displays astonishing, almost pro- digious powers of generalization ;" and Mr. Godwin asserts that hundreds of the most respectable and sound- minded men in this city, are, after deliberate inquiry into all the circumstances of the case, most profoundly convinced of the claims of this work as the unaided production of Davis while in a state of mesmeric or magnetic clairvoyance. Such is the testimony, and such are the opinions, of Parke Godwin respecting a book, which the long-eared critic of the Commercial and Columbian calls " an im- pudent bamboozlement." In view ot such stupidity, we blush for the press, and humbly trust that it has very little to do with guiding and governing public opinion. ME. N. P. WILLIS, EDITOR. 71 S7. MR. N. P. WILLIS, EDITOR OF THE HOME JOURNAL. New Yokk, October 28, 1867. I find myself becoming more and more curious about notable people, who fill the conspicuous places in art and literature. An editor occupies to me an unknown station among men ; and an author , of high reputa- tion, is beyond my comprehension ! I begin to wonder whether I shall ever behold such renowned and world- stirring men as Bryant, Greeley, Bennett, Godwin, &c. % Whether it will ever be possible for me to speak to them, and to know them as fellow-members of the hu- man race-? Whether, when E meet them, and look at them with my intense curiosity, I shall have sufficient self-possession, and the requisite degree of spiritual tranquillity, to obtain a correct " impression" of their most interior qualities and ruling characteristics ? For tin's, after all, is the secret spring of my wishing to meet them. A few days since somebody presented me a printed slip from the pen of Mr. N. P. Willis. It was- the pre- face to a lengthy and appreciative review in the Home Journal of the " Lectures," and it read as follows : — " To an unbeliever it will be a most delicious and far-reaching work of imagination, written with a vast background of scien- 72 MEMORANDA. tific and philosophical knowledge, while to the believer it will be, of course, like converse with an archangel on the comparison of other worlds with ours. We simply propose to enrich our columns with an extract or two from the work, and to inform both be- lievers and unbelievers in clairvoyance, of the existence of a book which will be a ' witch's broom 1 to the imagination, enabling a dreamer to visit the past, to visit stars, to measure his own value in creation, and his own stage of progress between chaos and per- fection, and, in short, to forget care and trifles very effectively and go off on a revel of intoxicating and elevating imaginations. A more suggestive and edifying book, at the same time let us say, could scarcely come after the Bible. But without further intro- duction let us proceed at once to the work itself." To-day I have, for the first time, seen Mr. Willis ! He was standing (when a friend kindly pointed him out to me) on the steps of the Astor House. He ap- peared to be about six feet in height ; was easily and gracefully dressed ; a profusion of beautiful brown, curly hair ; and a countenance, the expression of which gave me, as I slowly walked by, a peculiarly exuberant at- mosphere of magnetism, emanating, seemingly, from a remarkable combination of eccentric but noble qualities, in a state of energetic impulsiveness — altogether a sin- gular mentality, and the thought awakened in my mind was : " What a shower of rich sunlight falls from Nature's beautiful flowers and forms into this man's feelings, but he is not quiet long enough at any one time to grow a field of wheat." He neither attracted nor repelled me. THE SPIRIT OF A SAILOR. 73 28. INTERVIEW WITH THE SPIRIT OF A SAILOR. Poughkeepsie, October 30, 1847. As I was strolling in the grove on the western de- clivity of " College Hill," musing rather than thinking, a blaze of keen-pointed magnetism suddenly enveloped my entire body. It was a primitive sensation; recalling the first time I experienced the mesmeric influence. "With singular distinctness, clearness and purity, a voice said : " Jackson — hear this child of misfortune I He passed out of earth a gray-haired and wild-eyed, strong- voiced, broken-hearted, and broken-headed sailor." The remarkable sweetness of the petitioning voice, emanating from unseen lips in the air, immediately se- cured my undivided attention. I became a spirit — un- conscious of a physical existence ; and thus I both saw and heard him who was called " The Child of Misfor- tune." He was an enthusiastic-looking man ; with an expression of fervid sympathy in his large eyes ; and around his mouth a smile of humor and universal good nature. " True," he said, in a voice melodious with a sort of impulsive tenderness — u true, I am a broken-headed sailor." " Your head is not broken," I replied, with a tone of playfulness. 74 MEMORANDA. " ISTo, sir, no ; it is not broken now. Although I left the earth through an opening a comrade made in my skull." Yividly and vigorously, as though he held the pencil of the most masterly artist, and with great emotion, he pictured before me in the air, as on a vast sheet, the living identities, the likenesses of persons once in flesh and blood, with the time, place, circumstances, &c, which entered into his personal recollections, and which, by their immense combination and power, made up the catalogue of unfortunate causes and miserable effects visible in the very life of his existence. The picture was a merchant-ship at sea ; a plot, a quarrel, and a mutiny; officers and sailors disputing and wrestling together, and pummeling one another in the most unmerciful manner; fists, handspikes, swords, bloody faces visible all around ; and the burly figure of the man then before me (as he appeared when a sailor), sinking down, lower and lower; he was sinking in the sea. A ruffianly-looking sailor, violently striking him on the head with a heavy club, fractured his skull, and threw him overboard during the tempestuous ex- citement of the fight. " Oh, I understand now," said I, " how you left the earth through a broken head." And, I added : " Do you seek revenge ? Would you jpunisli the man who broke your skull ?" A noble, generous smile illuminated his face, as he replied, firmly : " No, sir, no ; not that, sir, not that ; for that sailor was once a kind-hearted boy. We were boys together. In many a street fight he stood by me and I stood by him. One of these days, 'Dug' will THE UIOVEKCCELUM. 75 write the experience of that sailor-boy's brother ; and I want you to promise me that you will read it, every word, and hand it around among your neighbors and chums, for it will soften their feelings toward us sailors, and help the unfortunate boys on land." "Who is 'Dug'?" I asked. " ' Dug' is the lad that sailed on one voyage with us. He was the story-teller ! When you spy his yarn about the boy going to the gallows, read every word of it ; for it tells what is better than a rope for a poor boy." I gave him my promise that if I ever found " Dug's" story in print, it should receive my immediate atten- tion. Thus ended the interview. It seemed to me that I had been physically unconscious about two hours ; but the distant clock, on the steeple of the old Dutch Reformed Church, had recorded the flight of only twenty minutes. This feeling was attributable to the mind's usual estimate of the amount of time con- sumed in the transpiration of a given number of events. 29. FIRST NUMBER OF THE UNIYERCCELUM. Poughkeepsie, November 4, 1847. The ship is launched. It is the first step in a new experience. The public will now have a fair opportu- nity to learn something of the principles of the new "Spiritual Philosophers."* And my name is put in * The reader of this volume is referred, for numerous important, sin- gular events in the author's personal psychological history, to his Auto- biography, " The Magic Staff." 76 MEMORANDA. as one of the editors ! The Scribe's editorial, in the first number, now before the world, embodies the only true position. Eead and remember these two paragraphs : — But though the book entitled " The Principles of Nature," &c, by Mr. Davis, the clairvoyant, is, as we confess, the immediate cause which has led to the crea- tion of this journal, we would not be understood as re- ceiving this or any other mere book as infallible author- ity in matters of faith and practice. To erect this, or any other book, as an infallible standard, and to bow slavishly to its teachings, without boldly inquiring into their intrinsic propriety, would be at once to sacrifice the high prerogatives of Reason, and to do violence to those principles of free and unrestricted thought incul- cated on almost every page of this same book. Mr. Davis's book, therefore, will be regarded as a light rather than as an authority ; and whatever devotion we may manifest toward its teachings will be exhibited because those teachings are presented to our reason in a reliable form. .The word " Univercozlum" which we have selected as our title, means, literally translated, "the united revolv- ing heavens. " It was coined by the youthful clairvoyant in the dictation of his wonderful book, and was used by him as significant of all things, terrestrial and celestial, existing in infinite space. We adopt this title, there- fore, as an appropriate indication of the most expansive possible sphere of inquiry ; and consistently with its import, we shall know no party save the whole human race, and no restriction of thought save that which is prescribed by the laws of nature and the capacities of the human mind. brenkenhof's truthful dream. 77 The complete reasonableness of this position must be apparent to every rational and unprejudiced intellect. This signifies true and lasting freedom from all arbi- trary standards in religion. 30. BRENKENHOF'S TRUTHFUL DREAM. Poughkeepsie, November 6, 1 847. A correspondent sends me, by to-day's mail, a translation of what he deems an interesting illustration of " Special Spiritual Providence." It is called the " Dream of the celebrated Mr. Yon Brenkenhof," which has already been fully published and widely circulated. The truth of it is beyond a doubt, and it is related as follows : — " This gentleman dreamed one night that he was in a desert and very dreary region, from which he longed to depart. He, however, saw a man who induced him to remain there, and he soon after saw this person, to whom he felt attached, expire. At the same time he saw a long train of people in a strange and un- usual dress, and then he awoke. The countenance and the whole exterior of the man whom he saw in his dream made such an im- pression upon his imagination, that he almost saw him when awake. The whole scene was never obliterated from his mem- ory, during his whole life. Some time afterward, he received a commission from Frederick II., king of Prussia, to proceed to Pomerania, in order to succor those provinces which had been devastated by the Russians in the seven years' war. Brenkenhof journeyed thither, but found the wretchedness so great, and the more closely he examined into it the greater he found it, that, despairing of being able to render any assistance, he determined 78" MEMOEANDA. to write to the king and inform Mm that he could not devise any means, nor give any advice how the country might be restored to its former state, particularly because of the deficiency of in- habitants. " Occupied with these ideas, and while traveling to a certain place, a person came up to his coach, the sight of whom struck him with the greatest astonishment, for his appearance answered most exactly that of the man whom he had seen in his dream. It is easy to suppose that lie was highly pleased at the sight of him, and immediately placed great confidence in him. He was the magistrate of that part of the country, and spoke to Mr. Von Brenkenhof in an encouraging manner, promised to assist him with his advice and co-operation, and thu9 induced him to com- mence the benevolent undertaking. " Some time afterward, Brenkenhof learned that his friend was dangerously ill ; he hastened to him, and Avitnessed his disso- lution. That very day, or the following one, he saw a great number of men, women, and children, and whole families, arrive. They were colonists from Poland, who intended to settle in the devastated province, and were thus instruments by which Bren- kenhof could carry his benevolent plans into execution. " Now, what was the real object of this presentiment ? It was not a warning from danger, nor did it give any hint either to do any thing or to leave something undone. At first sight, this dream, although it was a true presentiment, appears devoid of any definite object; but if the matter be more closely examined, a very remarkable predetermination of Providence is observable. If Brenkenhof had not seen, in a dream, the image of his sub- sequent benevolent friend, and if it had not made such an im- pression upon him, the sight of the man himself at his coach- door would not have struck him so forcibly, nor have given his whole soul such a lively impulse to act for the prosperity of that country. The whole dream was, therefore, an efficacious prepara- tion for a most benevolent undertaking." ROBERT OWEN, THE REFORMER. 79 31. ROBERT OWEN", THE REFORMER. New York, November 9, 1847. i An impression came through the air this morning from a high-minded philanthropist, long a resident of the Second Sphere, to the effect that Robert Owen is destined to hold " open intercourse" with the benevo- lent of the higher world. I hope this prophecy will be fulfilled. Last spring I chanced to see Mr. Owen, and was strongly attracted to his spirit. He was in ex- cellent health and spirits, rode all night on the way from Washington to Albany without minding it, and though over seventy years of age, was perfectly san- guine in his expectation of witnessing a complete social transformation before his lamp of life burns out. Though I can not see through his spectacles, yet I deeply respect and honor him, and every one who de- votes his life to the unselfish promotion of what he deems the highest good of mankind. There was a pure radiance on his face, and a singular glory in the atmo- sphere over his head when he said : — It is now my intention — an intention created for me by the great Creating Power of the Universe — to leave this new true religion as a legacy for the human race, through all succeeding generations. 80 MEMORANDA. Its principles are the unchanging laws of God ; easy — when the mind shall be freed from local igno- rances — for all to understand. Its practices will be highly beneficial for all of the family of man. The few and simple, yet beautiful laws of God, on which this new religion is based, are : 1st. That the moving power of nature, the spirit of the universe, God — or by whatever other name this incomprehensible creative essence may be called, has created the general qualities of humanity, and made one man to differ from another by giving to each his own peculiar compound of these human qualities. 2d. That this ever-acting spirit of the universe so forms all men that they are compelled to believe or disbelieve, not by their own will, but according to the strongest evidence at the time made upon their minds ; and to feel, not as they may desire, but in accordance with the instincts also thus forced upon them by this universal creating power. 3d. That man is thus made to be what he is without his knowledge, or possibility of merit or demerit on his part, and that, as the created, he must have power only to think and act as it has been given to him. 4th. Therefore, whatever may be man's individual qualities ; whatever may be his thoughts or his actions ; they all, directly or indirectly, emanate from God ; from the unknown creative power of the universe. 5th. That this power, and not that man, the created, is alone the author of whatever is done upon the earth and throughout the universe. It is, therefore, the es- sence of ignorant presumption for any man to pretend THE CLAIRVOYANT FACULTY. 81 that he knows any thing of the will or intentions of this power, or to speak and write of it, as do the parrot- tanght-un thinking in all countries. The will or inten- tions of this unknown power may be conjectured by man, from feeling, seeing, and considering the effects of creation as they exist within himself, and the cir- cumstances around him ; but, until more facts shall be discovered, these imaginations will be vague and most uncertain. 6th. That these principles, fully comprehended, are abundantly sufficient to direct all men to wisdom, good- ness, and happiness. The practices of this new religion will be the reverse of that which has so far prevailed over the world, and made it a chaotic pandemonium. Last summer I saw in a vision, and wrote out a chart of " The History and Destiny of the Kace."* The lead- ing idea makes me think that Robert Owen will not realize his beautiful and desirable hopes in this world. 32. TESTS OF THE CLAIRVOYANT FACULTY IN EUROPE. New York, November 15, 1847. It is truly refreshing and encouraging to hear that foreigners, men of science and authority, have investi- gated and indorsed the facts of clairvoyance. A friend of psychological progression kindly translates and sends me the following account, which was contained * See full description in the " Magic Staff." 4* 82 MEMORANDA. in a Strasburg paper, called the Courier of the Lower Rhine, Kb. 31, 12th of March, 1807:— " The history of the somnambulist of Lyons," says the Jour- nal de Paris, "presents an assemblage of such striking facts, that we should be inclined to regard the whole as charlatanry and deceit, if credible eye-witnesses had not vouched for the truth of it. People may smile on hearing it asserted, that an hysterical woman possesses the rare gift of revealing future things to those with whom she stands in rapport, but such is the case ; the wise man believes without precipitation, and doubts with caution. H". Petetain, an esteemed physician in Lyons, who has long watched the progress of the disorder with which the lady is afflicted, is occupied in arranging the facts he has col- lected, and in preparing them for publication. Previous to the appearance of M". Petetain's announced work, we will adduce the following facts, which are related by a respectable eye-wit- ness, M. Ballanche. " The catalepsy of a lady in Lyons, had been for some time the subject of conversation in that city; and M. Petetain had already published several very surprising facts relative to it, when M. Ballanche became desirous of being an eye-witness of the aston- ishing effects of this condition. He chose the moment for visit- ing this lady when she was approaching the crisis (the time of the magnetic sleep). At the door he learned that not every one, without distinction, was permitted to approach the patient's couch, but that she must herself grant the permission. She was therefore asked if she would receive M. Ballanche; to which she replied in the affirmative: upon this he approached the bed, in which he saw a female lying motionless, and who was to all appearance, sunk into a profound sleep. He laid his hand, as he had been instructed, on the stomach of the somnambulist, and then began his interrogatories. The patient answered them all most correctly. This surprising result only excited the curiosity of the inquirer, lie had with him several letters from one of his friends, one of which he took, with whose contents ho imagined himself best acquainted, and laid it, folded up, on the THE CLAIRVOYANT FACULTY. 83 stomach of the patient. He then asked the sleeper if she could read the letter, to which she answered yes. He then inquired if it did not mention the name of a certain person whom he named. She denied that it did. M. Ballanche, being certain that the patient was mistaken, repeated the question, and received a similar answer in the negative; the somnambulist even ap- peared angry at his doubting it, and pushed away the hand of the inquirer and the letter from her. M. Ballanche, struck with this obstinacy, went to one side with the letter, read it, and found to his great astonishment that he had not laid the letter he intended to have selected on the stomach of the sleeper ; and that, therefore,. the error was on his side. He approached the bed a second time, laid that particular letter on the place; and the patient then said, with a certain degree of satisfaction, that she read the name which he had previously mentioned. " This experiment would, doubtless, have satisfied most men ; but M. Ballanche went still further. He had been told that the patient could see through the darkest substances, and read writing and letters through walls. He asked if this were really the case, to which she replied in the affirmative. He therefore took a book, went into an adjoining room, held with one hand a leaf of this book against the wall, and with the other took hold of one of those that were present, who, joining hands, formed a chain which reached to the patient, on whose stomach the last person laid his hand. The patient read the leaves that were held to the wall, which were often turned over, and read them without making the smallest error. " Thi3 is a faithful and simple relation of what M. Ballanche saw. An infinite number of objections may be brought against it, but a hundred thousand substantial arguments can not overthrow one single fact. The lady still lives, is seen by many impartial per- sons, and was long attended by an expert and respectable physi- cian who attests the same. The individuals give their names.. "Who is bold enough still to deny it?" So far the translation from the Strasburg paper. This narrative contains nothing that is not confirmed by 84 MEMORANDA. numberless experiments : one circumstance is, however, remarkable, that the lady in question can read at a dis- tance, without coming into immediatecontact, when a line of persons take hold of each other's hands, the first of whom lays his hand upon the pit of the heart — not of the stomach, which has nothing to do with the mat- ter—and the last holds the letter : however, she reads through neither the partition nor the wall, but through the soul of him who holds the book or letter. By a similar connection or chain, electricity, or the electric shock is communicated. All this is still obscure, but in the sequel it will become clearer. Equally remarkable, and perhaps still more important, is the observation, to which all confidence may be at- tached, that somnambulists, when they have attained to a certain high degree of clearness of vision, manifestly and distinctly perceive the thoughts and ideas of him with whom they are placed in rapport. He, there- fore, who intends to magnetize another, should himself be a person of pure heart, of piety and integrity. Among so many experiments of this kind, I will only adduce one, which Gmelin relates in a work on the subject. He states that, in the year 1780, he went to Carlsruhe to collect facts relative to magnetism, and found what he was in search of. He was told there was at that time a somnambulist living there, whose inward vision was so clear that she could distinctly read what passed in the souls of those with whom she was placed in connection : If he would, therefore, bring the patients, whom he had then under cure, distinctly in succession before her, she would tell him what his ideas w T ere. He followed this advice, and found the fact was really THE CLAIRVOYANT FACULTY. 85 so : she told him, distinctly, every thing that he im- agined. He adds: — Another individual, of great integrity, and to whom I am much attached, told me that his wife had once a housekeeper, who had also been magnetized on account of illness, and had at length, during her magnetic sleep, attained an extraordinary degree of clearness of vision. In this state she had communicated remarkable and important discoveries concerning the invisible world, which were in exact accordance with a work of mine, entitled " Scenes from the World of Spirits," although ihe had never seen my book, nor knew, nor could have known, of its existence. She brought intelligence from the invisible world respecting certain important personages, enough to make the hearers ears tingle. She once said to her master, in the crisis, "Your brother has just expired at Magdeburg." No one knew any thing of his illness, and, besides this, Magdeburg was many miles distant. A few days after, the news arrived of his death, which ex- actly agreed with the prediction. According to our common conceptions of human na- ture, the fact is astonishing, incomprehensible, and most remarkable, that most somnambulists, even the most vulgar and uneducated people, begin clearly to recog- nize their bodily illness, and even prescribe the most appropriate medicines for themselves, which the physi- cian must also make use of if he wishes to gain his end. Even if they do not know the names of the reme- dies, yet they describe their qualities so minutely that the physician can soon ascertain them. In this state, 86 MEMORANDA. also, they speak high German, where this is the lan- guage of the pulpit and the written tongue.* It is also very remarkable that somnambulists, who have often been in this state and at length attain this clearness of vision, arise, perform all kinds of work, play on an instrument if they have been taught music, go out to walk, &c, without their bodily senses having even the smallest perception of the visible world : they are then in the state of common sleep-walkers. Thus it happened, that while I was at Bremen, in the autumn of the year 1798, a young woman came to me to ask my advice respecting hereyes. She was a somnambu- list, and had herself decided upon consulting me in the crisis ; her mother accompanied her, but she awoke in my presence, and I was therefore obliged to prescribe the appropriate remedies alone and without her assist- ance. All these incidents, and others still more wonderful, may be found in the writings of the above mentioned authors. The most eminent physicians, and, generally speaking, every learned and rational thinking person, who has had the opportunity and the will to examine, with precision, the effects of animal magnetism, will at- test that all that has been now advanced is pure truth, and confirm it by their testimony. But how is it that no one has hitherto attempted to draw hence those fer- tile inferences by which the knowledge of human na- ture might be so much increased ? To the best of my knowledge, no one has yet done so. Truly, so long as materialism is considered as the only true system, it is * In most, parts of Germany, the middle and lower classes speak low German, which varies considerably from the written language. THE CLAIRVOYANT FACULTY. 87 impossible to comprehend such wonderful things ; but, according to my system of theocratic liberty, not only is the whole comprehensible, but we are also led by magnetism to the most important discoveries, which before were only mysterious enigmas. I entreat a can- did and impartial investigation of the following con- clusions. Every naturalist knows, and it is generally acknowl- edged truth, that there is a certain extremely rarefied and active fluid, which fills the whole creation, so far as we are acquainted with it. We call this fluid rarefied celestial air ; or, in one word, ether. Newton was acquainted with it, and called it Sensorium Dei — the organ of Divine sensation. Euler believed that the bodies of light gave a tremulous motion to this fluid, which extended itself till it reached the sight, and thus formed the light : which opinion I also regarded for a long time as the most probable ; but, on close exam- ination, I find it impossible. The million different in- tersections of this tremulous motion must, necessarily, confuse their direction. Even the definition of sound, by the progressive motion of the atmosphere, is unten- able ; for if we attentively observe how many thousand tones — sometimes all at once, and at another following each other in rapid succession — are distinguished by the ear in a variously-composed concerto, each of which tones must, therefore, occasion its appropriate motion in the atmosphere : I say, how can such a material motion be possible, without confusing itself a hundred, nay, a thousand times? It is also acknowledged, further, that this ethereal fluid penetrates through the most compact bodies, so 88 MEMORANDA. that it fills all things, and is itself perfectly penetrable ; for if it were not so, it could not penetrate through the densest bodies. Light, electricity, galvanism, and per- haps also the magnetic power of iron, are, very probably, nothing else than different exhibitions of this one and the same fluid. 33. CAZOTTE'S PROPHECY FULFILLED DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. "Willi amsburgh, November 20, 1847. A gentleman, who writes me that he has been " ab- sorbed " in reading the large book of Lectures, thinks I might like to read some demonstrations of the power of prophecy. He writes that a most remarkable in- stance of the development of the faculty of presentiment is incontestably the prediction of M. Cazotte, at a din- ner in Paris. A favorite German periodical work has taken the liberty to ascribe the whole narrative to the invention of some ingenious idler ; but this assertion is destitute of proof. Jung Stilling says : — " I can prove, on the contrary, that it is literally and minutely true. I have spoken upon the subject with a person of rank, who sincerely loves the truth, and who was well ac- quainted with Cazotte : and this individual assured me that Cazotte was a man of great piety, and endowed with a high degree of knowledge ; that he frequently predicted the most remarkable things, which were always fulfilled ; and that he testified, at the same time, cazotte's prophecy fulfilled. 89 that they were communicated to him by means of in- tercourse with spirits." The narrative was found among the papers of the late M. La Harpe, in his own handwriting. This La Harpe was a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris. I will first relate the narrative in La Harpe's own words, and then add a few remarks respecting its au- thenticity. He writes as follows : — "It seems to me as if it were but yesterday, although it hap- pened at the beginning of the year 1788. "We were dining with one of our colleagues of the academy, a man of genius and re- spectability. The company, which was numerous, was selected from all ranks — courtiers, judges, learned men, academicians, &c, and had done justice to the ample, and, as usual, well-furnished repast. At the dessert, Malvasier and Constantia heightened the festivity, and augmented, in good society, that kind of freedom which does not always keep itself within defined bounds. "The world had at that time arrived at such a pitch, that it was permitted to say any thing with the intention of exciting mer- riment. Chamfort had read to us some of his blasphemous and lascivious tales, and noble ladies had listened to them even with- out having recourse to their fans. After this, followed a whole host of sarcasms on religion. One person quoted a tirade from Pucelle ; another reminded the company of that philosophical verse of Diderot's, in which he says, 'Strangle the last king with the entrails of the last priest ! ' — and all clapped applause. Another stood up, elevating a bumper, and exclaimed, ' Yes, gentlemen, I am jast as certain that there is no God, as I am certain that Homer is a fool ;' and, in reality, he was as certain of one as the other, for the company had just spoken of Homer and of God, and there were among the guests those who had spoken well of both the one and the other. " The conversation now became more serious. The revolution that Voltaire had effected was spoken of with admiration ; and 90 MEMOEAKDA. it was agreed that it was this which formed the principal basis of his fame. He had given the tone to his age ; he had written in such a manner, that he was read in both the ante-chamber and the drawing-room. One of the company related to us, with a loud laugh, that his hairdresser, while powdering him, said, ' Look, sir, although I am only a poor journeyman, yet I have no more religion than another!' It was concluded that the revolu- tion would be completed without delay, and that superstition and fanaticism must make way for philosophy. The probable period was calculated, and which of the company would have the happiness of living during the reign of Reason. The more aged lamented that they dared not flatter themselves with the idea; the younger ones rejoiced at the probability that they would live to see it; and the academy, in particular, was con- gratulated on having prepared the great work, and for being the focus, the center, and the prime mover, of liberty of thought. " A single individual had taken no part in all this pleasant con- versation, and had even very gently scattered some jokes upon their noble enthusiasm. It was M. Cazotte, an amiable and original man, but who, unfortunately, was completely taken up with the reveries of those wbo believe in a superior enlighten- ing. He now took up the discourse, and said in the most serious tone: 'Gentlemen, rejoice; you will all become witnesses of that great and sublime revolution which you so much desire. You know that I apply myself a little to prophesying : I repeat it, you will all see it.' " ' There requires no prophetic gift for that purpose,' was the reply. " ' True,' rejoined he, 'but perhaps something more for what I am now going to tell you. Do you know what will result from this revolution ' (that is, when reason triumphs in opposition to revealed religion) ? ' what it will be to you all, as many as are now here? what will be its immediate consequences, its unde- niable and acknowledged eifects?' " ' Let us see !' said Condorcet, putting on an air of simplicity ; 'it is not disagreeable to a philosopher to meet with a prophet.' '"You, M. Condorcet,' continued M. Cazotte, 'you will give cazotte's prophecy fulfilled. 91 up the ghost, stretched out on the floor of a subterraneous prison. You will die of poison, that you will have swallowed, in order to escape the executioner — of poison, which the happiness of those times shall compel you always to carry about with you !' "This, at first, excited great astonishment; but it was soon remembered that the worthy Cazotte sometimes dreamed wak- ing, and the company burst out into a loud laugh. 'M. Oa- zotte,' said one of the guests, 'the tale you relate to us is not near so amusing as your " Devil in Love." ' ('Z believe themselves secure from detection. They ha 1 not, however, been able to silence the voice of conscience ; they fled from the sight of their fellow-men ; they thought they beheld wherever they turned, mute ac- cusers; they trembled at the slightest noise, and silence 108 MEMOKA^DA. thrilled theni with terror. They had often formed a determination to leave the scene of their crime, to fly to some distant land, bnt still some un definable fascina- tion kept them near the remains of their victim. Terrified by the deposition of his wife, and unable to resist the overwhelming proofs against him, the man at length made a similar confession, and, six weeks after, the unhappy criminals died on the scaffold, in accord- ance with the sentence of the Parliament of Toulouse. They died penitent. The well was once more shut up, and the cottage lev- eled to the ground ; it was not, however, until fifty years had in some measure deadened the memory of the terrible transaction, that the ground was cultivated. It is now a fine field of corn. Such was the dream and its result. I never had the courage to revisit the town where I had been an actor in such a tragedy. The story was told again by me last winter in a company where it gave rise to a long and animated discussion upon the credibility to be attached to dreams. Ancient and modern history was ransacked to find arguments on both sides. Plutarch was quoted in what he says of a cer- tain Lysimachus, grandson to Aristides, who embraced the profession of interpreter of dreams, and realized wealth by the trade — Cicero states that a dream of Ce- cilia, daughter of Barbaricus, appeared to be of suffi- cient importance to be a subject of a decree of the Senate. One of the most indefatigable commentators of the sixteenth century, Coelius Ehodizinus, when laboring to correct the text of Pliny which he has singularly obscured, was stopped by the word ectrapelis. RETURNING- TO THE PULPIT. 109 In vain did he work at the meaning for a whole week — he ended by falling asleep — and in a dream the solution of the difficulty came into his head. It was during sleep that Henricus Yan Heeres, a Dutch writer, very celebrated in his day, but very obscure in ours, composed all his works ; once awake, he had but to transcribe from memory. 38. KETURNINQ TO THE PULPIT. Poughkeepsie, May 9, 1848. Yesterday's mail brought me a ■ kindly note from a New York artist. lie informs me that Brother Harris, the brilliant preacher and poet, is already returning to the pulpit. He says that the exercises on Sunday after- noon, in the Coliseum, were attended by a large and highly intellectual audience. Among those present, he noticed Rev. "W. H. Channing, of Boston, Horace Greeley, and Freeman Hunt, and many other eminent citizens. The discourse was on the " Religious Tenden- cies of the Age." Arrangements will be made during the week for obtaining a hall in Broadway, and the poet will preach at least once on every Sunday. It is be- lieved that one of the largest and most intellectual congregations in the city will speedily be gathered around the inspiring minister. ..... This news does not surprise me, neither would it astonish me to hear that Brother H. had renounced the spiritual idea of infinite progression, and returned to the bosom of the endless punishment church. 110 MEMORANDA. 39. AGREEMENT BETWEEN" SWEDENBORG- AND DAVIS. Poughkeepsie, May 15, 1848. My impression this beautiful morning is to call the world's attention to fundamental agreements between the teachings of clairvoyance and those of Swedenborg. Let his "friends" read the following : — That the end of Creation is a Heaven out of the Human Race. — That heaven consists only of such as were born men, .... and as heaven does not consist of any others, it follows that the end of creation is a heaven out of the human race. But the same will be still more manifestly seen from an explanation of the following points : 1. That every man is created to live to eternity. 2. That every man is created to live to eternity in a state of happiness. 3. That every man is created to go to heaven. 4. That the divine Love can not do other- wise than desire it, and that the divine Wisdom can not do otherwise than provide for it. Since, from these considerations it may also be seen that the Divine Providence is no other predestination than to heaven, and that it can not be changed into any other, it is here to be demonstrated, in the order proposed, that the end of creation is a heaven out of the human race. — D. P. 323, 324. FUNDAMENTAL AGREEMENTS. Ill That to suppose that those only are sated who are born within the church, is an insane heresy. Those who are born without the Church are men, as well as those who are born within it ; they are of the same heavenly origin, and are equally living and im- mortal souls ; they have a religion by which they acknowledge that there is a God, and that they ought to live well ; and he that acknowledges that there is a God, and lives well, becomes spiritual in his degree and is saved. That to suppose any of the Human Race are Predestined to be Damned, is a cruel Heresy. — For it is cruel to think that the Lord, who is Love itself, and Mercy itself, would suffer so vast a multitude of men to be born for hell, or that so many myriads of myriads should be born condemned and devoted, that is, born devils and Satans ; and that he would not out of his divine wisdom provide, that those who live well and acknowledge a God, should not be cast into ever- lasting fire and torment He alone leads all, and wills not the death of any one. Therefore it is cruel to think and believe that so great a multitude of nations and people under his auspices and inspection, should be predestined to be delivered as a prey to the devil.— D. P. 330. That these are the Common Essence of all Reli- gions by which every one is saved. — To acknowl- edge a God, and not to do evil because it is against God, are the two things by virtue of which religion is religion. If one of them is wanting, it can not be called religion ; for to acknowledge a God, and to do evil is contradictory, as well as to do good and not acknowl- 112 MEMORANDA. edge a God : one does not take place without the other. It is provided by the Lord that there is some religion almost everywhere, and that in every religion there are these two essentials. — D. P. 326. 40. DUG'S STORY OF THE LIVES OF TWO BOYS. Pougiikeepsie, June 4, 1848. A curious circumstance occurred about two hours ago. Passing a newspaper and periodical store on Main street, idly musing as I went, all at once I heard a tongue distinctly speak near my left ear : — " Read Dug's Yarn! Remember you?* promise ! Read Dug's Story of the Two Boys /" Instantly, the incidents of the visit from the old sailor, last year, came back into my mind. I entered the store. On looking and hand- ling over the papers, a hot sensation from one attracted my attention. I examined the paper, and found a part of a story, by Douglas Jerrold, giving the history of the lives of two boys, of whom one was born to wealth, rank, education, respectability, and luxury ; the other to famine, ignorance, shame, vice, and crime. " St. Giles," has been tried for stealing the pony of " St. James," and found guilty. It will be keeping my promise to read " Dug's Story," of which the following is the fragment : — " Guilty— Death !" What familiar syllables were these in the good old times — the time of our history ! In those happier LIVES OF TWO BOYS. 113 days, how man y goods and chattels, live stock and dead, were protected, watched by Death ! Death was made by law the guardian of all things. Prime agent, great Conservator of social security — grim keeper of the world's movables. Death, a shepherd, avenged the wrongs of stolen mutton : Death stood behind every counter, protector of chapman's stock ; Death was the day and the night guard of the highway traveler against the highway thief; Death watched ox and ass ; the goose on the common, the hen on the roost. Even at the altar, Death took his cautious stand, that Hymen might not be scoffed, defrauded by wicked bigamist. Turn where he would, the rogue's path was dug with graves. Nevertheless, the world grew no better ; made no visible return to that happy state, ere hemp was made a sovereign remedy for wrong. And so by de- grees, Death lost somewhat of his reputation with the members of the world ; and by degrees many things were taken out of his charge. It was found that — sheep were stolen — tradesmen's goods lifted — pockets picked — hen-roosts forced — and maids wickedly married by men already bound — it was seen that these abomina- tions continued and increased, ay, in the very face of the great ghastly bugbear, Death, and so his watch and ward were made a lighter task ; he was gradually re- lieved of many of his social duties ; the world, to the astonishment of some folks, still spinning on its axis, though the life of immortal man was not, as in the good old times, offered to stolen colt, to the king's gracious face unlawfully stamped in counterfeit metal, to a hundred other sins all made mortal by the wisdom of untaught humanity. Truly, Justice, i turning back 114 MEM0EAOT5A. the leaves of the jail calendar, might sit awhile in sack- cloth and ashes, penitent for past transgressions — past wrongs committed in her moral blindness ! The sword of justice ! An awful weapon, truly : a weapon work- ing out the will of highest Providence : a solemn inter- est which man solemnly acknowledges. This has been, and may be. Yet, thinking of the world's mistakes; of the cruel blunders worked by law on man, the sword of justice — of so-called Christian justice robed and ermined — may sometimes seem to the eye of grieved humanity as terrible as the blood-dripping tomlahawk of the wild, revengeful savage. The sword of justice ! May not the time come — it will come, as surely as the sun of far-off years — when Justice shall lay down her sword — when, with better wisdom, she shall vindicate her awful mission to mankind, yet shed no drop of blood ! Let us return to St. Giles ; to the boy in his fifteenth year, spawned upon the world and reared by daily wrong and ignorance, a morsel for the hangman. Now, a condemned thief, palsied and aghast with terror, upon the very threshold of the world ; to be flung therefrom, an offering to the majesty of offended law. Grim ma- jesty — ghastly Moloch ! Stately wickedness, with robes dyed in the blood of sinning ignorance! A majesty that the principle of all evil may too often smile upon as its working genius here on earth. A majesty as cold and pulseless as the idol whose wooden nostrils know not the sacrifices its darkened worshipers prepare it. But St. Giles will now know there is a government — a knot of the wise and good, whose harmonious souls combined make up the music of the State; the moral LIVES OF TWO BOYS. 115 melody that softens and refines the rugged, dull-eared mass. He will now know this ; the hangman will teach it him. A sharp, short lesson ; the first and last prepared him by a paternal State. " Guilty — death !" Such was the verdict. Tom Blast breathed heavily, and a faint smile flickered at his lips as he felt assured of his escape. Still, he durst not turn his eye toward his boy-victim in the dock. Conscience was at the felon's heart ; and seared, with- ered as it was, it felt the sudden horror of remorse. His features grew pale, then dark ; were for a moment con- vulsed ; then instantly — daring no look at St. Giles- he disappeared from the dock. The boy stared about him with a foolish gaze, and then began to sob. There was no terror — no anguish in his face. It was the grief of a boy doomed to a whipping, not the gibbet; and it was such sorrow — such seeming childish ignor- ance of the impending horror — that to those who looked upon him made his condition more terrible. And then again it seemed impossible that the sentence, £0 sonor- ously uttered, should be carried out. Could it be that such an array of judges — such wisdom, such learning, such grave and reverend experience — should be op- posed to a miserable child, of no more self-accountabil- ity than a dog ? Appalling odds ! Could it be thought that the scene was a frightful reality of daily, breathing life ? Was it not a grim farce — a hideous foolish mock- ery ? Could the wise hearts of men — fathers of well- taught, well-tended, happy children — doom that child to death? That miserable item of human ignorance — that awful reproach to those who made laws to protect property, but left the outcast poor a heedless prey to their 116 MEMOEAKDA. own unbridled instincts ? Nevertheless, the law would hang St. Giles ; and grave, respectable, church-going men, in the very cosiness of their ignorance, would clasp their hands, and raise their eyes, and pity and wonder at the wickedness of the new generation And young St. Giles lay in Newgate, sinking, with- ering, under sentence of death. After a time, he never cried, or clamored ; he shed no tear, breathed no sylla- ble of despair ; but, stunned, stupefied, seemed as if idiocy was growing on him. The ordinary — a good, zealous man — endeavored, by soothing, hopeful words, to lead the prisoner, as the jail phrase has it, to a sense of his condition. Never had St. Giles received such teaching ! Condemned to die, he for the first time heard of the abounding love of Christianity — of the goodness and affection due from man to man. The story seemed odd to him ; strange, very strange ; yet he supposed it was all true. Nevertheless — he could not dismiss the thought, it puzzled him. Why had he never been taught all this before ? And why should he be punished, hanged, for doing wrong ; when the good, rich, fine people, who all of them love their neighbors like themselves, had never taught him what was right ? Was it possible that Chris tianity was such a beautiful thing — and being so, was it possible that good, earnest, kind-hearted Christians would kill him? St. Giles had scarcely eight-and-forty hours to live. It was almost Monday noon, when the ordinary — having attended the other prisoners — entered the cell of the boy thief, lie had been separated, by the de- sire of the minister, from his miserable companions, that their evil example of hardihood — their reckless • LIVES OF TWO BOYS. 117 bravado — might not wholly destroy the hope of grow- ing truth within him. A turnkey attended St. Giles, reading to him. And now the boy would raise his sul- len eyes upon the man, as he read of promises of grace and happiness eternal ; and now his heart would heave as though he was struggling with an inward agony that seemed to suffocate him — and now a scornful, unbe- lieving smile would play about his mouth — and he would laugh with defying bitterness. And then he would leer in the face of the reader, as though he read to him some fairy tale, some pretty story, to amuse and gull him. Poor wretch ! Let the men who guide the world — the large-brained politicians who tinker the social scheme, making themselves the masters and guardians of their fellow-men — let them look into this Newgate dungeon ; let them contemplate this blighted human bud ; this child-felon, never taught the path of right, and now to be hanged for his most sinful igno- rance. What a wretched, sullen outcast ! What a dark- ened, loathsome thing ! And now comes the clergyman — the State divine, be it remembered — to tell him that he is treasured with an immortal soul ; that— with mercy shed upon him— he will in a few hours be a creature of glory before the throne of God ! Oh, politicians ! Oh, rulers of the world ! , Oh, law-making masters and taskers of the common million, may not this cast-off wretch, this human nuisance, be your accuser at the bar of Heaven ? Egregious folly ! Impossible ! What — stars and garters impeached by rags and tatters ! St. James denounced by St. Giles ! Impudent and ridic- ulous ! Yet here, we say, comes the reverend priest — the Christian preacher, with healing, honeyed words, 118 MEMORANDA. whose Book — your Book — with angelic utterance, says no less. Let us hear the clergyman and his for- lorn pupil. " Well, my poor boy," said the ordinary, with an af- fectionate voice and moistening eyes : " well my child, and how is it with you ? Come, you are better ; you look better ; you have been listening to what your good friend Robert here has been reading to you. And we are all your friends, here. At least we all want to be. Don't you think so ?" St. Giles slowly lifted his eyes toward the speaker. He then slowly, sullenly, answered, — " No, I don't." " But you ought to try to think so, my boy ; it's wicked not to try," said the ordinary, very tenderly. " If you're all my friends, why do you keep me here?" said St. Giles. "Friends! I never had no friends." " You must not say that ; indeed, you must not. All our careds to make you quiet and happy in this world, that you may be happier in the world you're going to. You understand me, St. Giles ? My poor, dear boy, you understand me? The world you're going to?" The speaker, inured as he was to scenes of blasphemy, of brute indifference, and remorseful agony, was deeply touched by the forlorn condition of the boy ; who could not, would not, understand a tenderness, the end of which was to surrender him softened to the hangman. " You have thought, my dear — I say, you have thought of the world " — and the minister paused — " the world you are going to ?" " What's the use of thinking about it?" asked St. Giles. u I knows nothing of it." LIVES OF TWO BOYS. 119 " That, my boy, is because you are obstinate, and I am sorry to say it, wicked, — and so won't try to know about it. Otherwise, if you would give all your heart and soul to prayer " " I tell you, sir, I never was learnt to pray," cried St. Giles, moodily ; "and what's the use of praying ?" u You would find it open your heart, St. Giles ; and though you see nothing now, if you were only to pray long and truly, you would find the darkness go away from your eyes, and you'd see such bright and beauti- ful things about you, and you'd feel as light and happy as if you had wings at your back — you would, indeed. Then you'd feel that all we are doing for you is for the best ; then, my poor boy," said the ordinary with growing fervor, " then you'd feel what Christian love is." " Robert's been reading to me about that," said St. Giles, "but I can't make it out nohow. He says that Christian love means that we shouldn't do to nobody what we wouldn't like nobody to do to ourselves." " A good boy," said the ordinary, " that is the mean- ing, though not the words. I'm glad you've so im- proved." ''^And for all that, you tell me that I must think o' dying — think of another world and all that — think of going to Tyburn, and, and " — here the boy fell hoarse, his face turned ash-color, and reeling, he was about to fall, when the ordinary caught him in his arms, and again placed him on a seat. " It's nothin' — nothin' — nothin' at all," cried St. Giles, struggling with himself - L - ii I'm all right ; I'm game." " Don't say that, child ; I can't hear you say that : 120 MEMORANDA, I would rather see you in tears and pain than trying to be game, as you call it. That, my boy, is only adding crime to wickedness. Come, we were talking of Chris- tian love," said the ordinary. "I knows nothin' about it," said St. Giles; "all I know is this — it isn't true ; it can't be true." " Tell me, why not ! Come, let me hear all you'd say," urged the clergyman, tenderly. " 'Cause if it means that nobody should do to nobody what nobody would like to have done to themselves, why does any body keep me locked up here ? Why did the judge say I was to be — you know, Mister ?" " That was for doing wrong, my boy: that was for your first want of Christian love. You were no Chris- tian when you stole the horse," said the ordinary. "Had the horse been yours, you would have felt wronged and injured had it been stolen from you ? You see that, eh, my boy ? " " Didn't think o' that," said St. Giles, gloomily. "But I didn't steal it : 'twas all along 'o Tom Blast ; and now he's got off ; and I'm here in the Jug. You don't call that justice, no how, do you ? But I don't care ; they can do what they like with me ; I'll be game." "No, my dear boy, you must know better: you must, indeed — you must give all your thoughts to pray- er, and " " It's 'o no use, Mister ; I tell you I never was learnt to pray, and I don't know how to go about it. More than that, I feel somehow ashamed to it. And besides, for all your talk, Mister, and you talk very kind to me, I must say, I can't feel like a Christian, as you call it,- — LIVES OF TWO BOYS. 121 for I can't see why Christians should want to kill me if Christians are such good people as you talk about." " But then, my poor boy," said the ordinary, " though young, you must remember, you're an old sinner. You've done much wickedness." " I never done nothing but what I was taught ; and if you say — and Bob there 's been reading it to me — that the true Christian forgives everybody — well, then, in course, the judge and all the nobs are no Christians, else wouldn't they forgive me ? Wouldn't they like it so, to teach me better, and not to kill me % But I don't mind ; I'll be game ; see if I don't be game — precious !" The ordinary, with a perplexed look sighed, deeply. The sad condition of the boy, the horrid death await- ing him, the natural shrewdness with which he com- bated the arguments employed for his conversion, affect- ed the worthy clergyman beyond all past experience. "Miserable little wretch!" he thought, " it will be worst of murders, if he dies thus." And then, again, he es- sayed to soften the child felon, who seemed determined to stand at issue with his spiritual counselor ; to recede no step, but to the gallows foot to defy him. It would be his ambition, his glory — if he must die — to die game. He had heard the praises bestowed upon such a death — had known the contemptuous jeering flung upon the re- pentant craven — and he would be the theme of eulogy in Hog Lane — lie would not be laughed, sneered at, for " dying dunghill." And this temper so grew and strengthened in St. Giles, that, at length, the ordi- nary, wearied and hopeless, left his forlorn charge, promising soon to return, and hoping, in his own words, 122 MEMORANDA. to find the prisoner " a kinder, better, and more Chris- tian boy." " It's no use your reading that stuff to me," said St. Giles, as the turnkey was about to resume his book. " I don't understand nothin' of it ; and it's too late to learn. But I say, can't you tell us somethin' of Tur- pin and Jack Sheppard, eh ? Something prime, to give us pluck !" w Come, come," answered the man, " it's no use going on in this way. You must be quiet and listen to me ; it's all for your good, I tell you ; all for your good." " My good ! "Well that's pretty gammon, that is. I should like to know what can be for my good if I'm to be hanged ? Ha ! ha ! See if I don't kick my shoes off, that's all." And St. Giles would not listen ; but sat on the stool, swinging his legs backward and forward, and singing one of the melodies known in Hog Lane — poor wretch ! it had been a cradle melody to him — whilst the turnkey vainly endeavored to soothe and in- terest him. At length the man discontinued his hope- less task; and, in sheer listlessness, leaning his back against the wall, fell asleep. And now St. Giles was left alone. And now, relieved of importunity, did he forego the bravado that had supported him, and sol- emnly think of his approaching end? Did he, with none other but the eye of God, in that stone cell, upon him — did he shrink and wither beneath the look ; and, on bended knees, with opened heart, and flowing, repent- ant tears, did he pray for heaven's compassion — God's sweet mercy ? No. Yet thoughts, deep, anxious thoughts were brooding in his heart. His face grew older with the meditation that shadowed it. All his being seemed LIVES OF TWO BOYS. 123 compressed, intensified in one idea. Gloomily, yet with whetted eyes, he looked around his cell ; and still darker and darker grew his face. Could he break prison? Such was the question — the foolish, idle, yet flattering question— that his soul put to itself. All his recollections of the glory of Turpin and Sheppard crowded upon him — and what greater glory would it be for him if he could escape ! Pie, a boy, to do this ? He to be sung in ballads — to be talked of, huzzaed, and held up for high example, long after he should be dead — passed forever from the world ? The proud thought glowed within him — made his heart lieave — and his eyes sparkle. And then he looked about his cell, and the utter hopeless- ness of the thought fell upon him, withering his heart. Yet again and again — although to be crushed with new despair — he gazed about him, dreaming of liberty with- out that wall of flint. And thus his waking hours passed ; and thus, in the visions of the night, his spirit busied itself in hopeful vanity. The Tuesday morning came, and again the clergy- man visited the prisoner. The boy looked paler, thin- ner — no more. There was no softness in his eyes, no appealing glance of hope; but a fixed and stubborn look of inquiry. " He didn't know nothing of what the parson had to say, and he didn't want to be bothered. It was all gammon !" These were the words of the boy felon, then — such was the humanity of the law ; poor law! what a long nonage of discretion has it passed! — then within a day's span of the grave. As the hour of death approached, the clergyman be- came more assiduous, fervent, nay, passionate in his appeals to the prisoner ; who still strengthened himself 124: MEMORANDA. in opposition to his pastor. " My dear boy — my poor child — miserable, helpless creature ! — the grave is open be- fore you — the sky is opening above you ! Die without repentance, and you will pass into the grave, and never — never know immortal blessings ! Your soul will per- ish — perish, as I have told you — in iire, in fire eternal!" St. Giles swayed his head to and fro, and with a sneer, asked, "What's the good o' all this ? Haven't you told me so, Mister, agin and agin I" The ordinary groaned almost in despair, yet still renewed his task. " The heavens, I tell you, are open- ing for you : repent, my child ; repent, poor boy, and you will be an immortal spirit, welcomed by millions of angels." St. Giles looked with bitter incredulity at his spiritual teacher. " Well, if all that's true," he said, " it isn't so hard to be hanged, arter all. But I don't think the nobs like me so well as to send me to sich a place as that." " Nay, my poor boy," said the ordinary, " you will not, can not understand me, until you pray. Now, kneel — my dear child, kneel, and let us pray together." Saying this, the ordinary fell upon his knees ; but St. Giles, folding his arms, so placed himself as to take firmer root of the ground ; and so he stood, with moody, determined looks, whilst the clergyman — touched more than was his wont — poured forth a passionate prayer that the heart of the young sinner might be softened ; that it might be turned from stone into flesh, and be- come a grateful sacrifice to the throne of God. And whilst this prayer, in deep and solemn tones, rose from the prison-cell, he for whom the prayer was formed seemed to grow harder, more obdurate, with every syl- LIVES OF TWO BOYS. 125 Table. Still lie refused to bend his knee at the suppli- cation of the clergyman, but stood eying him with a mingled look of incredulity, defiance, and contempt. " God help you — poor lost lamb !" cried the ordinary, as he rose. " Now, I hope we shall have no more of that," was the only answer of St. Giles. The ordinary was about to quit the cell, when the door was opened, and the governor of the jail, attended by the head turnkey, entered. "My dear sir, I am glad to find you here," said the governor to the ordi- nary. " I have a pleasing duty to perform ; a duty that I know it will delight you to witness." The ordinary glanced at a paper held by the governor; his eyes brightened; and clasping his hands, he fervently ut- tered^-" Thank God !" The governor then turned to St. Giles, who suddenly looked anxious and restless. " Prisoner," he said, " it is my happiness to inform you that his gracious majesty has been mercifully pleased to spare your life. You will not suffer with the unfortunate men to-morrow. You understand me, boy" — for St. Giles looked sud- denly stupefied — "you understand me, that the good king, whom you should ever pray for, has, in the hope that you will turn from the wickedness of your ways, determined to spare your life ? You will be sent out of the country ; and time given you that, if you properly use, will make you a good and honest man." St. Giles made no answer, but trembled violently from head to foot. Then his face flushed red as flame, and covering it with his hands, he fell upon his knees, and the tears ran streaming through his fingers. " Pray 126 HEMOKAKDA. with me ; pray for me !" he cried, in a broken voice, to the ordinary. 43L CLAIRVOYANT PERCEPTION OE JESUS. Williamsbuegh, August 10, 1848. Some instances of a miraculous knowledge in the life of Jesus may remind us of the " clear-and-long- sightedness" of persons in a magnetic state, or of those in a similar condition. As Jesus saw Nathaniel uuder the fig-tree, so magnetic persons see their physician, their relatives, and sometimes even indifferent individu- als, in distant houses and remote parts of the country ; as he spoke to the woman of Samaria of her six hus- bands, so magnetic somnambulists (adds Strauss) have frequently read the most secret concerns in the hearts of those with whom they were conversing ; and as he knew in what part of the lake a quantity of fish had crowded together, unnoticed by his disciples, though they were experienced fishermen, so there are persons who are able to tell where metals or bones are buried, where water is concealed under thick layers of earth, and some even, to whom the body of others is trans- parent as it were, so that they can see its innermost parts, and describe their condition or ailment, as the case may be. IMPRESSIONS OF HORACE GREELEY. 127 43. IMPRESSIONS OF HORACE GREELEY. Williamsburgh, October 18, 1848. To-day I ventured into the presence of Mr. Horace Greeley. My only object was to call his personal at- tention to my just published Chart of the " History and Destiny of the Race," and to ask him if he would have the goodness to give it a little editorial notice. He was writing, when I entered, on a slanting board pro- jecting from the wall, sitting uncomfortably in a very old chair ; his right arm and hand on a level with his shoulder ; his face almost touching the " copy" and his hand as he wrote. I coughed a little, and stepped about the floor quite emphatically for a few moments, and so got his attention. He leaned carelessly back in his chair, turned his pure and honest face toward me, squinted his eyes as if trying to see, and extended his left hand with an air of supreme indifference, sig- nifying as plainly as if spoken : " Shake my hand if you want to, but don't bother me long." Advancing timidly, I shook his lazy-feeling left hand. At once I showed him the Chart, and hoped he would have time to look it over, and to give it a little notice in his Tribune. He put his eyes close up to the sheet as I held it unrolled before his face, and, seeing the caption : 128 MEMORANDA. "Progressive History," said, bluntly and decisively, " Don't believe that ! Society in New York is no bet- ter than it was in the days of Charlemagne." After one or two more similar expressions, he said : " You can leave it. I'll look at it when I get time." Accord- ingly, I left the Chart in his editorial corner, and gladly wi tli drew. I came straight to this room, and these are my im- pressions of Horace Greeley, to wit : Under pressure and excitement, he is firm as a rock. Will not give up a cherished idea ; will do what seems right for him to do, though the heavens fall ; unless he is peculiarly ap- proached by the magnetism, rather than by the reason- ing, of gentle and trustworthy friends. His mind, on one side, is hard as flint ; on the other, his mental nature is tender and sympathetic as a child. He is, therefore,, an inconsistency. His efforts and his prayers are bene- volently for the millions. If aware, or if he imagines, that a person or party is trying to control him, he is immovable. His creed is, " Give to all their natural rights !" Clear in what he sees, and faithful to the suggestions of his own flinty intelligence, he yet has not the philosophical capacity to grasp the spiritual springs within the growth of individuals and nations. He distinctly sees that the earth -toiler was not meant for a throne, or for despotic power, nor that it was God's intent that man should ever become a victim or a criminal; but how to organize industry and exalt labor, and especially how to overcome fraud in high places, is too frequently beyond Mr. Greeley's compre- hension. Yet, his ruling principle is, to try every avail- able and logical remedy that looks like a genuine refor- A DEAD BODY FOUND. 129 mation for the people ; and through his life, as a stain of ink seen in the beauty of a white garment, will ever stream this palpable misapplication of remedies. . . . A feeling possesses me this moment, amounting to a kind of sadness, with respect to Mr. Greeley, namely : His long devotion to journalism will be a loss to liter- ature ; and what he has done, or may do, in politics, can never be to mankind a sufficient compensation. When I stood by his side, only two hours ago, I was conscious of an access of intellectual strength. His mind is capable of large industry not only, but of gaining and imparting the greatest fund of practical knowledge. A hint, a single word, a suggestion, teaches Mr. Greeley many great lessons. There is, too, an undefmable ten- derness of expression in the atmosphere of his face, so to speak, which says to me : " Behind the editor — within the intellectual faculties, and beneath the moral energies of this every-day man — there lives a genius, a rare and beautiful mind, which could multiply itself many times in poetry and literature." But, alas! the god of Utility, the practical Benjamin Franklinism of turning every thing into account in this day, and in this hour, has found in him a perpetual worshiper. 43. A DEAD BODY FOUND BY CLAIRVOYANCE. New York, December 6, 1848. My attention has just been called to the following account published in the Boston Chronotype:— 6* 130 MEMORANDA. About the 20th of February, 1846, a young man named John S. Bruce, aged about 18 years, son of Mr. Lewis Bruce, a respectable farmer in Westford, Mid- dlesex County, Mass., started from his father'3 residence with a span of horses and a sled-load of straw, for the purpose of selling the latter in this city. The distance being only twenty-five miles, he was expected to return the following day. Days, weeks, and months passed, however, and no tidings were heard of him by his anx- ious family, though diligent search and inquiry were made — and his Mends accordingly remained in a dis- tressing quandary, whether it was possible he had left for parts unknown or some fatal evil had befallen him. We will here mention an apparently trifling incident, but one which resulted in furnishing the first clue to information concerning young Bruce. It appears that Mr. Otis Hildreth, a neighbor — who subsequently removed from Westford to Salem, N. H., — arranged with Bruce to take to Boston a small keg to be filled with molasses for him — which, of course, was never returned. Mr. Hildreth came to the city on business in the succeeding month of July, and happen- ing to call in at the office connected with the stable of Edward Eastman, in Deacon Street, saw his hey there, and identified it by several marks. On inquiry, he was told that it had been left there during the winter previous, together with a span of horses, which, after being kept seventeen days without being called for, were advertised by Eastman and sold at auction, and that there was a balance of between five and six dollars after deducting expenses, due the owner of the horses A DEAD BODY FOUND. 131 when he should make his appearance. From the ac- counts given, Mr. Hildreth was satisfied that the horses were those driven by .young Bruce, but of the latter he could gain no intelligence except a faint remembrance that a person of singular description had been seen around the stable sometime the previous winter. Upon his return to Salem, Mr. Hildreth wrote to Mr. Bruce at Westford, stating the above circumstances— which very naturally excited in the mind of the father a revival of hope that he might trace from them some knowledge of his absent son. He accordingly promised soon to come to Boston for the purpose of making inquiries, but could learn nothing further than that his son was last seen on the sidewalk near the stable referred to. His name was also found recorded on the hayweigher's book, but another name was regis- tered at the stable as the person by whom the horses w r ere left. Some time after this, Mr. Bruce was induced by the solicitation of friends — though himself an unbeliever in Mesmerism — to come to the city and employ the clair- voyant power of Mrs. Freeman, in Lyman Place — a practitioner somewhat celebrated for her success in similar cases — in further inquiry respecting his son. The clairvoyant made some startling developments, which were repeated at subsequent examinations at- tended both by Mr. Bruce and a daughter who resided in Lowell ; and from the investigations which they were able to make, it was conclusive to them that there was much truth in the statements, although, from the nature of the case, it was difficult to ascer- tain certain things thus revealed, or even to connect 132 MEMORANDA. the several links of evidence so as to form a tolerably- complete chain. The principal features of the clairvoyant's revelations — drawn out in fragments at different times — compris- ed the known facts detailed above concerning young Brace's journey to Boston, with the declarations that shortly after his arrival he was induced by certain per- sons to take something to drink, which threw him into convulsions, of which he died — that his body was concealed for some time under a manure heap, but afterward taken by a colored man in the night time, carried out upon the water and sunk in the harbor — that it was subsequently discovered, and was to be found in a certain tomb in the City burial- ground on the Neck! The clairvoyant also stated that the drug was administered to Bruce for the pur- pose of obtaining money, &c, which he was supposed to possess, and that a certain individual cognizant of these transactions had since been dangerously ill, and came near divulging them,