§«*-*  wr*4. J
LETTER
TO
DOCTOR A. BRIGHAM,
ON
ANIMAL MAGNETISM:
BEING
AN ACCOUNT OF A REMARKABLE INTERVIEW BETWEEN
   THE AUTHOR AND MISS LORAINA BRACKEXT
     WHILE IN A STATE OF SOMNAMBULISM.



        BY WILLIAM L. STONE.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
                  Shakespeare.
THIRD EDITION, WITH ADDITIONS.






     NEW-YORK:

GEORGE DEARBORN & CO.

          1837. 
[Entered according to the Act of Congress of the United States of America, in
  the year 1837, by George Dearborn, in the Clerk's Office of the  Southern
  District of New-York.]
SCATCHERD AND ADAMS,
          PR1NTIRS,
                  No. 38 Gold Street 
ANIMAL MAGNETISM.
LETTER  FROM DR.  BRIGHAM TO MR.  STONE.

              NEW-YORK, September 1,  1837.
My Dear Sir,
    Understanding that you have recently witnessed
many experiments, and even performed some your-
self, illustrative of the powers of Animal Magnetism,
and have become a believer in this new art, science,
or imposture, I am exceedingly desirous of  knowing
what phenomena,  seen by yourself,  have served to
convince you.
  Animal Magnetism has attracted the attention of
many of the most scientific men in Europe, some of
whom believe in the extraordinary power  ascribed
to it.  That very remarkable effects may result from
extreme sensibility, or  disease of the nervous system,
I can readily believe—we  see  such in  Catalepsy,
Somnambulism,  &c.   We read of such in every age.
In every age great moral commotions, by  affecting
the organization of some very sensitive persons, have
produced  very  singular  physical and intellectual
phenomena.  The  Trembleurs des Cevennes, and the
Convulsionnaires de Saint Mtdard, are memorable in-
stances.  Many of  the results attributed to Animal
Magnetism may  be accounted for, by supposing an 
4
unusual augmentation of sensibility,—but other phe-
nomena ascribed to it cannot be thus explained, and
an immensity of proof appears to me to be necessary,
in order to establish things so extraordinary, and so
contrary to the common sense and  to the testimony
of all times.
   The facts which have  served to make you  a be-
liever in Animal  Magnetism, must  be  curious and
interesting, and when your leisure permits, I beg you
will furnish them in detail, that others may know on
what evidence one who  has been  charged with  a
lamentable want of credulity on some subjects, and
who must be disinterested, has become  convinced of
the truth of these most incredible phenomena.
                   Very respectfully your friend,
                                 A.  BRIGHAM.
  William L. Stone, Esq.

  LETTER  OF MR. STONE TO DR. BRIGHAM.

             NEW-YORK, September 10, 1837.
Dear Sir,
  Your favour of the first instant reached me several
days since, and in so far as " a round  unvarnished
tale" will serve the purposes of your inquiry, I can
have not the slightest objection to a compliance with
your request.  I can the  more  readily do this from
the circumstance, that the greatest portion of the la-
bor is already performed; that is, if you refer,  as  I
presume you do, to certain circumstances connected
with Animal  Magnetism, which transpired durin°- a 
5
brief visit recently made by me to the city of Provi-
dence.  A full narration of that visit, so far as it was
connected with  the  science of Animal Magnetism
"falsely  so  called"—for I hold  that  nothing can
rightly be regarded as a science which has not been
reduced to fixed principles—was written immediate-
ly after my return, while all the circumstances were
fresh in my recollection; and, in order to still greater
accuracy, I have  since made another flying visit to
Rhode Island, and submitted, the manuscript to seve-
ral persons who were present at the time when the
events related occurred.
   Before I proceed to the main design of the present
communication however, allow me to correct a mis-
apprehension  into which, like many others of my
friends, you have been betrayed by the loose reports
of common fame.  The inference from your  letter is,
that I have suddenly become a convert to Animal
Magnetism, to the  whole extent claimed and practis-
ed by Frederick Anthony Mesmer, the founder of the
art, and contended  for by Wolfart and Kluge, and
the other German and French enthusiasts, who have
written in explanation and  support of the system.
This is an error.  I am not a  positive believer in the
system, because I know not what to believe; and
yet, I am  free  to confess, that I have recently be-
held phenomena, under circumstances where collu-
sion, deception, fraud, and imposture, were alike out
of the question, if not impossible, which have brought
me from  the position of a positive sceptic to a dead
pause. From the evidence of my own senses, I have 
6
been compelled, if not to relinquish, at least very es-
sentially to modify, my disbelief;  and I can no longer
deny, although I  cannot explain, the extraordinary
phenomena produced  by the exertion of the mental
energy of one person upon the mind of another, while
in a state of what is termed magnetic slumber. Still,
I pray you not to write me down as a believer in the
charlatanerie of Mesmer and Deslon,  or as a disciple
of M. Poyen, or as an encourager of the other strol-
ling dealers in somnambulism, who traverse the coun-
try, exhibiting their  " sleeping beauties," as lovers,
not of science, but of gain.
  For many months past, in common with most read-
ers, if not all, of the public journals, I had seen much
upon the subject of Animal  Magnetism, particularly
in connexion with the names of Monsieur Poyen, and
his pupil, Miss Gleason.  The illustrations of  M,
Poyen, and the exploits of Miss Gleason while  un-
der the magnetic influence  imparted by him, had
been standing themes of comment in the New Eng-
land papers.  I had seen that M. Poyen was favored
by many believers, some of them, even, among  the
disciples of iEsculapius.  There were others, laymen
and members of the faculty, who doubted.  Others,
again, and probably far the largest class, were posi-
tive sceptics.  These were doing all  in their power
to discredit the professor, his science, and his patient,
as well by argument as by the withering process of
ridicule.  Still, M.  Poyen persisted in the illustrations
of his favorite science, and I had noted that acces-
sions to the number of believers in his system were 
7
occasionally gained, even from the ranks both of the
learned and the wise. Educated, however, in the be-
lief that Mesmer was an impostor, that his followers
were enthusiasts, and his patients affected, if at all,
only through the workings of their own imaginations,
—and  disliking, exceedingly, the public exhibitions
he was making for money,—I was not only an un-
believer, but a satirist of the whole affair.
  Not long afterward  it was reported that the sys-
tem of M. Poyen had not only been introduced into
Providence, but that the illustrations exhibited  there
had made a deep impression upon some of the sound-
est and best balanced  minds in that city and its vi-
cinity.  The publications upon the subject assumed
a grave character, and the names quoted as among
those who, if not full believers in the science, had at
least been brought to  admit that there was some-
thing mysterious in the developements daily making
of the  extent and  power of the magnetic influence,
both upon the bodies and minds of those who had
been made subjects of it, caused me to  pause, and
question of myself " whereunto these things would
grow."  Still I was a pretty sturdy unbeliever.  The
early history of Animal Magnetism  was familiar to
me.  I had read also of  the Convulsionnaires de St.
Medard, of which you have reminded me; of the
strange epidemic  which set half the nuns in Chris-
tendom simultaneously to mewing like cats and kit-
tens in concert; of the still stranger doings among
various religionists in Kentucky, some thirty or forty
years  ago;  and of course I had not forgotten the 
8
 melancholy delusion which  once overspread New
 England  in regard  to  witchcraft.   My inclination,
 therefore, was to write  down Animal Magnetism in
 the same  catalogue  of  the eccentricities, if not  the
 absurdities, of the human mind;  and to look upon its
 extension in Rhode Island as the work, if not of cre-
 dulity and imposture, at least of mental excitement,
 sympathy, and delusion.
   Such, in brief, were my views and feelings in re-
 gard to Animal Magnetism, until on or about the 22d
 day of August ultimo, when  a letter was  placed in
 my hands by a Providence gentleman, from a distin-
 guished prelate in the Episcopal Church, then on a
 visit to that city, inviting my attention to the subject,
 and intimating the writer's belief that were I to in-
 vestigate the phenomena of the  magnetic  influence
 myself, I might perhaps be more sparing of  my sar-
 casms in relation to it.  The letter  was one of  in-
 troduction, and I entered immediately into conversa-
 tion with  the bearer  upon the subject, of which he
 was full.   He  confirmed various reports which had
 previously reached me, and also the fact, that the new
 science (I use the word for its convenience, not  for
 its correctness,) was  seriously engaging the attention
of men of science and learning in Providence—phy-
sicians, philosophers,  and theologians ; and  that the
results of many experiments were causing  it to  be
regarded with grave and increasing interest.  He
likewise related  to me a number of facts of a sur-
prising character, of the truth of which I could not
entertain a doubt without impeaching the character 
9
of my informant for veracity.   His manner, moreover,
was such as to convince me that he was  sincere in
what he said.  He spoke of a number of patients in
Providence, under the charge of several physicians,
who had been subjected to the  magnetic treatment,
with wonderful results.   Among these, he told me of
a blind young lady, upon whom some surprising expe-
rimentshad been made.  I was informed, that, although
blind, yet, when in a state of magnetic slumber, she
had been sent to a fancy dry  goods store to select
various articles of merchandize, and that she per-
formed the service as well as a lady of perfect sight
would have done it.  He also stated to me,  that by
the will of the magnetiser, she would gp into a flow-
er-garden,  when asleep, and cull various flowers of
various hues.  It was likewise  stated that she  had
read a note sent to her from a distance, under three
envelopes,  and  that the contents were sent  back to
the writer, who was at the time  unknown, while
the  seals  of the  envelopes  remained   unbroken.
These, and several other extraordinary experiments
mentioned to me in the course of the interview, could
not but create a strong desire on my part to investi-
gate the subject for myself.  It happened that I was
then making preparations to visit some valued friends
in Providence,  and I left New-York with a determi-
nation, if possible, to see the  blind lady,  and have
the evidence of my own senses in regard to the exer-
 cise of this recently revived, and, if true, most won-
 derful influence.
   I arrived in Providence on  Saturday, the 26th of
                        2 
10
August;  and my inquiries, which were immediate,
touching the above-mentioned reports, resulted in the
confirmation, substantially, of their truth.   Of course
my curiosity was greatly excited, and my anxiety to
see the young lady increased in a corresponding ra-
tio.  I was informed, moreover, that the subject was
a young lady of most respectable character,  and of
decided and unaffected piety,—the patient of Doctor
George Capron, a physician of established reputation,
and above all the devices  and designs  of quackery,
charlatanism, or imposture.  The name of the young
lady is Loraina Brackett, from the town of Dudley,
Mass.  Four years since, as I have learned from her
friends, particularly from  Dr.  Capron,  she had the
misfortune to have an iron weight of several pounds
fall from  a considerable elevation on the  crown  of
her head.  The injury was so severe as to deprive
her almost of life, and entirely of her reason  for se-
veral months, " during which  time she was  subject
to the  most violent nervous,  and other serious de-
rangements of the nervous system.   From the imme-
diate effects of this injury she  gradually recovered,
and at the end  of the year her general health was
partially restored."  But, notwithstanding this im-
provement  of her bodily  health, her eyes were  so
badly affected by this injury as to produce amaurosis,
a disease of the optic nerves, which threatened total
blindness.  As usual in cases  of this disease, the loss
of sight  was very gradual,  until, about eighteen
months since, it was entirely extinguished.   " Simul-
taneously with the loss of sight, she sustained a loss 
11
of voice, so complete, that for fifteen months she was
unable  to utter a single guttural sound, and could
only whisper almost inaudible tones."  Her case was
considered hopeless by her friends;  and in May last
arrangements were made for sending her to the Blind
School  at  Boston, under the charge  of my valued
friend, Dr. S. G.  Howe, where it  was hoped she
might be qualified for a teacher  of the blind.   When
on her  way to Boston, in May  last, she took Provi-
dence in her road, for the purpose of visiting  some
friends  in that city.  It happened that Dr.  Capron
was the physician of one of the families Miss Brack-
ett was  visiting; and having accidentally become ac-
quainted with her history, and  learning that all the
usual remedies for  the  deplorable malady under
which she was laboring had been employed for her
relief in vain, Dr.  C, having some brief experience
as a  magnetiser, and being then  engaged  in the
work of investigating its remedial effects, after ex-
amining her case as a matter of curiosity, proposed
the magnetic treatment.   As  you are yourself  a
physician, I need not  remind you that amaurosis of-
ten assumes  the paralytic character, and that Ani-
mal Magnetism has from the first been prescribed by
the practisers of the art in cases of neurology, and
especially those of a paralytic character.
  The consent of Miss Brackett and her friends for
that purpose having been obtained, the practice was
commenced in the month of May, and has been con-
tinued daily, wTith few intermissions, until the present
time.  The results, thus  far, in a medical point of 
12
view, have been the most salutary.  Her voice has
been  entirely restored,  so that it is clear, and her
enunciation  distinct and agreeable.   Her  natural
sight, moreover, to say nothing at present of that mys-
terious faculty called mental vision, or clairvoyance
by  the French, has been so far recovered from total
blindness, that she  can now distinguish  light from
darkness.  She can, when  awake, discern objects,
like shadows; though she cannot distinguish a man
from a woman by the dress.
  Such, in brief, was the history of the young  lady,
and the  cause and  extent of her malady, communi-
cated to me  shortly after my arrival in Providence,
and more fully by Dr. Capron and others since.  I
was farther informed that the young lady was diffi-
dent and retiring in  her manners, and of delicate and
sensitive feelings;  and that neither herself, her friends,
nor her physician, were ambitious of any thing ap-
proaching to a public exhibition.   On the contrary,
they preferred remaining without public observation.
I ought here to add, that Miss B. had received a good
education, previous  to the accident which had sub-
jected her to such painful deprivations, and that her
friends in Providence sustain characters not  only re-
spectable, but irreproachable.
  Having thus satisfied  myself,  by information de-
rived from the most unquestionable authorities, that
in regard to the case of this young lady the half that
the facts would warrant had not been told me; and
that,  however extraordinary might be the appear-
ances, or however surprising the  developements  of 
13
the mysterious principle or influence asserted to ex-
ist by the magnetisers, yet neither Miss Brackett her-
self, nor her friends, nor her physician, would be guilty
of deception, or  accessary,  directly or  indirectly, to
an imposture, the next step was, if possible, to obtain
an interview.  This object was accomplished at my
own urgent solicitation, and through the interposition
of  a distinguished literary friend, acquainted with
the young lady and her protectors.  I was entirely
unacquainted with them all, and was only introduced
to  Doctor Capron on Saturday afternoon, August
26th.  I found him all that he had been described to
me—an intelligent gentleman, alike above imposture,
deception, collusion,  and quackery.   He remarked
that the friends of Miss Brackett had objected to any
public  exhibition, or any  thing like display before
strangers.  However, by his influence, and the exer-
tions of my friend, an interview for experiment was
 arranged for the then ensuing Monday morning at 10
o'clock, at which a  few of my friends were  to be
present.   Meantime I heard other and farther rela-
 tions of the wonderful effects of Magnetic influence
 upon the system, the senses, and the mental faculties,
 not onl) of Miss Brackett, but of other somnambulists
 in Providence and its vicinity,  the  patients of physi-
 cians of undoubted  character.  In regard to Miss
 Brackett, I  was assured,  upon authority  not to be
 questioned,  that the power  of seeing  objects  not
 present, or rather of transporting herself in imagi-
 nation from one  place to another, no matter  how
 distant, and of viewing objects and scenes which she 
14
had never seen or heard described, and giving cor-
rect  accounts of them herself, had been strikingly
displayed in many instances.  One gentleman had
taken her to Washington, where  she  accurately de-
scribed the localities,  the Capitol,  and the leading
objects within and around it.  Another, some time
since, had taken her  to New-York, and placed her
in the Park,  and conducted her to  sundry other
places.  On one occasion, while making her supposed
voyage, in a steam-boat, she became  sea-sick, and
gave the actual unfeigned symptoms of that nauseat-
ing disease.  In addition  to which,  Mr.  Hopkins,
the gentleman at whose house she was to meet us,
took her on the evening of the Sabbath, the day be-
fore I was to see her, to Saratoga Springs, whence
he and Mrs. Hopkins had just returned.  Mr. H. told
me on Monday morning that her description of the
buildings and localities at the Springs  was  correct;
and that  when in fancy he took her to the Congress
fountain,  to drink of the water,  she dashed it from
her on tasting, and said she  disliked it—suiting the
muscular action of her features to the "expression of
that dislike.
  With such information in my possession, I  deter-
mined in  my own mind upon a course of examination
which would test the case most thoroughly, and in a
manner rendering deception, delusion, and imposition
of every kind, entirely out of the question—even did
not the excellent character of all the parties  afford
an ample guarantee against any and every attempt
of the kind.  But I  kept  several of the particular 
15
tests which I meant to employ entirely within my
own bosom, not imparting a hint or suggestion of my
design even to my most intimate friends.
  Agreeably to appointment, we met at the house of
Mr. Hopkins a few minutes before  ten, on Monday
morning the 28th of August.   There were  present
the literary friend already referred  to,  another cler-
gyman with his daughter and  another young lady ;
Mr.  and Mrs. Hopkins, Mr. Isaac Thurber,  another
gentleman whose name I do not recollect, Doctor
Capron and myself.  The  patient was presently
ushered into the room, and we were all introduced
to her—passing a  few moments in agreeable con-
versation.  I found the young lady of  delicate mind
and  manners,  modest  and diffident.  None  could
see  without being favorably impressed in her behalf.
 She was,  of course, aware of the object of our visit;
 and Dr. Capron soon took a seat near  her, and com-
menced the process of what is called magnetizing.
   I ought before to have remarked, that Dr. Capron
 had previously cautioned me not to expect too great
 things, since it was a matter of uncertainty  whether
 the slumber would be profound, and the mind clear ;
 and whether, moreover, she might  not become way-
 ward and obstinate,  after being thrown into sleep.
 Much depended on the calmness  of his  own  mind
 and the intensity  of its fixedness upon the  business
 in hand;  much also depended upon the state of mind
 of the patient.
   The process was chiefly by the action of the eyes,
 with some slight manipulations.  In these, however, 
16
there was nothing disagreeable or objectionable, in
the remotest degree,  even to the most refined and
sensitive mind.  In five  minutes  the  patient gave
signs of drowsiness, and  in  four minutes more  she
was in a deep and profound slumber—insensible,  as
we ascertained by experiment, alike to the touch and
the voices of all present, excepting her  physician.
He then told her that he wished her to be in commu-
nication with all of us, and to converse with all  the
company present who wished to speak with her.   On
the instant she seemed aware that she was in  the
company of several people, and gave indications of
displeasure.
   " I don't like to be looked  at in this way by stran-
gers," she said.
   The Doctor attempted  to soothe her, but she ma-
nifested displeasure, and said she would  not stay to
be thus gazed at by strangers.
   Doctor. " But they  are not strangers; they  are
your friends.   You have  been introduced to them,
and after being introduced,  people are  no longer
strangers."
   Miss Brackett. " I'll not be looked at in this way ;
I will leave the room."
   Saying which she rose  with offended dignity,  and
walked toward the door.   I began now to fear that
the experiment was  ended, and that her obstinacy
could not be removed.  The Doctor, however, took
her hand, and  succeeded in changing her purpose,
when she walked into  the other part of the drawing-
room. 
17
  It was arranged that the first experiments should
be made for the purpose of eliciting some of the phe-
nomena of clairvoyance, or mental vision.  For this
purpose  an  exhibition was made of various prints,
large and small, likenesses of distinguished persons,
&c, with which my friend had provided himself from
his own house.  With some of these the front parlor
was hung, before we entered it from the back room,
while the smaller  prints were thrown upon the cen-
tre-table.  It must here be borne in mind, in the first
place, what has already been several times remarked,
that the patient is blind.   Her  eyelids, moreover,
were  entirely closed; in  addition to which, cotton
batts were placed over her eyes, and confined by a
pair of green spectacles.  It  would, therefore, have
been impossible for her to see—or rather, any other
person  would have been  involved in the  deepest
darkness, with eyes thus closed, and then cotton batts
over them.
   Soon after going into the room she appeared to
see the pictures and admire  them.  This fact was
tested  in every way.  From her repugnance to so
much  company, however, the little circle drew as
much as possible away from her, and her chief con-
versation on1, the  subject of pictures was held with
my friend, with whom, both sleeping  and waking,
she had previously been acquainted.   Invariably,
when she studied a picture, she turned her back up-
on the wall against which it hung.  When she took
up a print to examine it, she held it at the back of her
head, or rather just over the parietal bone.  With
                         3 
18
my friend she conversed freely, and selected from
the small prints a likeness of Mrs. Judson, whose life
she said she had read several times.  She took up a
portrait, while standing on the side of the room op-
posite to my friend and myself, and putting it to the
side of her head, almost behind, as  she  remained
alone, inquired—" Is not this a likeness of John Fos-
ter 1—John—Yes, it is John Foster." I immediately
passed around the table to her, and held a brief con-
versation with her respecting the character and writ-
ings of Foster—of whom  there had not been a word
said, before she selected his picture and pronounced
his name.   Her reading of the names  on  the prints
was very slow, as she read by lettering, as  the free-
masons call it; that is, by studying each letter,  and
first repeating it in a whisper, as though to herself.
But she made no mistakes that  were discovered.
She had an objection to read, arising  from an idea,
if we w^ere looking at the picture with  her, that we
knew as well as she, and  that it was idle in us to
ask her what we  could not be ignorant of.  If, how-
ever, she was  holding a picture  by herself, in a dif-
ferent part of the room, on asking the question, whose
likeness she was looking at ? she would answer cor-
rectly, as  in the case  of John Foster.  Sometimes
she would exhibit the simplicity of childhood, as in
the case of an allegorical print suspended  by the
wall.  The Inscription was—"  America guided by
 Wisdom."   My friend asked her to read it.  She re-
plied, that she would read half of it if he would read
the other half.  She then, after a  moment of study, 
19
read " America guided "—and would read no more;
insisting, playfully,  that  the  gentleman referred to
must read the other two words.
  In the early part of this exhibition she suddenly
exclaimed—" why,  who  could have put that there 1
It is no ornament to such a room as this."  Saying
which, she stepped across the carpet, and took down
a  coarsely printed handbill, which had  been  sus-
pended among the  prints over the mantel-piece, by
design, but which had not attracted my notice until
she thus directed the attention of the circle to the
object.
  Having satisfied ourselves of the wonderful powers
of " vision without  the use of visual organs," as ex-
hibited upon  these objects, and of which I have given
but a brief outline, Dr. Capron, by an exercise of the
will, withdrew her  attention from the whole circle
to himself, and then gave her a particular introduc-
tion to me.  Leading her to a seat, I sat down by
her side, and the Doctor transferred her  hand into
mine, and clothed me with the power of enjoying her
exclusive company.
  I then commenced a conversation with Miss Brack-
ett, upon ordinary subjects, just as I would have
done with any strange lady to whom I might be in-
troduced—talking upon various matters, and she con-
versing in a sprightly and intelligent manner—inva-
riably using  very correct English.  I inquired, both
of  herself and friends, before she was magnetised,
whether she had ever been in  New-York, and  was
assured  that she had not.  In the course  of my re- 
20
marks, I now  asked her whether she would like to
visit New-York 7  She replied that she would—" she
should like to go there very well."  I then observed
that it would afford me  pleasure to accompany her,
and asked—
  " How shall we go 1  Shall we not take the steam-
boat Narragansett?  It is a very fine boat, and now
lies at the dock."
  She replied  she did not like to go in a steamboat.
It made her sick.  This remark was noted as afford-
ing an illustration of her former ideal voyage, in
which she actually became sea-sick, as was reported
to me.
  "How then will you go?"
  " I should like to go through the air."
  " Very well," I replied,—" we will step into a bal-
loon.  That will be a pleasant mode of travelling."
  She did not, however, seem to  comprehend  what
was meant by a balloon, and repeated her desire to
go through the air.   I assured her that I would as
gladly accompany her that way as any other.
  " But you must not let me fall," said she.
  " Oh no," I replied.   " I am used to that way of
travelling, and will bear you up in perfect safety.*
  Sa)ing which, she grasped my right hand more
firmly—took my left hand—and pressed upon both,
tremulously, as if buoying herself up.  I raised my
hands some ten or twelve inches, very slowly, favor-
ing the idea that she was ascending.
  "You must  keep me  up," she said, with a slight 
21
convulsive, or rather shuddering grasp, as though ap-
prehensive of a fall.
  " Certainly," I replied,  " you need have no fear.
I am used to these excursions."  And away, in ima-
gination, we sailed.
    #      *       *       *      *       *
  " There is Bristol!"  she exclaimed;  " stop—we
must  look at Bristol.   I have been here before.  I
always admired it.  What beautiful streets!"
   " Very beautiful, indeed,"  I replied—and we re-
 sumed our aerial voyage.
   " Oh," said she, " how I like to travel in this way
 —it is so easy, and we  go so quick."
   " Yes," I answered,  " and here we are  at New-
 York.   Come, we will  descend at the north  end of
 the Battery."
   She then grasped my hands more closely, and bore
 down exactly as though descending from a height.
   " Safely down," said I.  " There is the dock where
 the Providence steam-boat comes in."
   " Indeed!" she replied; " but it is not so good a
 place as where they came in before."  I have alrea-
 dy stated that she had some time previously made a
 short imaginary visit to New-York, in a steam-boat.
 The places of landing  have during  the present sea-
 son  been  changed from  Market  and  Chamber's
 streets  to the north end of the Battery.  I  am un-
 certain, however, whether the change was made be-
 fore or  since that voyage, as I forgot to inquire into
 the  particulars of that point, although I mentioned
 the fact of the change of the landing-place to the cir- 
22
cle, and it is possible that her voyage took place be-
fore the change.
  I now asked her  whether she would like to step
into  Castle  Garden a few minutes'?  She replied
" yes;" but immediately asked how we should get
through the gate ? I answered that there would be no
difficulty, as I had a  season ticket.   " But,"  said she,
" I don't like the  looks of that man  by the gate."  I
told her she need have no fear.   He was a constable
or police officer—they always had somebody of that
character  by the gate—but he knew me very well,
and would open the gate as soon as we should come
up.
  " There," said  she, " I told you we could not get
the gate open."
  " But," said I,  " we can  go through the side  gate
here.   Come, here we are."
  " It does not seem much like a garden," she said.
  " Very true," I replied.  " It was an old fort, which
has been fitted up as a place of amusement.  It  is
here that they get up grand displays of fire-works."
  " I am not fond of fire-works.   I never cared about
seeing them."
  " But they don't get them up in the day-time, and
only on festival  occasions.  At other  times people
come here to get  fresh air,  drink lemonade and
punch, and smoke segars."
  " Do they allow them to smoke in the garden V1
  " It is unfortunately so,"  I rejoined.
  At this moment she appeared to act cautiously, as
though experiencing the sensations  of stepping upon 
23
a bridge.  I spoke too quickly, and  said the bridge
was perfectly safe, and we would walk along.
  I then observed a smile playing upon her features.
" What pleases you V I inquired.   " Why," said she,
" what a queer hat that man has got on."
  " What man V
  " Why, that man, there, with the large round hat,
like a Quaker's 1"
  " What sort of a coat has he on, or is it a jacket ?"
  "It  is  a round jacket—and  look, his hat  has a
round, low crown."
  It instantly occurred to me that she had described
the dress of  the Castle-Garden  Boat Club, whose
boat-house stands at the  farther end of the bridge,
where, also, their boat is moored.  There is general-
 ly some one or more of the club at their room ; and
I doubt not that  one of the members was then  at the
 club-house,  and was seen by  Miss Brackett.   A
member of the club, whom I  met the same evening,
asured me that such was their dress, and he believ-
 ed that one of their members must  have been there
 at the time.
   On  approaching the massive portal of the garden-
 wall, Miss B. drew back, and said she had rather not
 go in.   It was no garden, and she did not like to go
 through that gate.
   It will here be remarked that she seemed to have
 seen both the gates, and the bridge—as  also the cas-
 tle walls—since it was one of her first observations,
 that she saw nothing like a garden.  The misnomer 
24
of calling such a place a garden, would at once strike
the attention of any stranger.
  " I choose not to go in," she repeated.
  " Just as you say," I replied; " we will turn about,
and walk  up  town;  now we are on the  Battery.
How do you like the trees 7"
  She  here gave indications  of not  understanding
why the  esplanade should  be called a Battery.  I
told her the name was derived from  an ancient for-
tress which stood there.  " Oh," she replied, " then
this is the place of the old fort."
  Having lingered a few moments, and the compa-
nion of my imaginary journey having expressed her
admiration of the beauty of the place, I proposed con-
tinuing our walk up Broadway;  to  which she as-
sented.
     ******
  " And here we are by the Bowling-Green,"  I re-
marked.  " How do you like it V
  " It is very pretty."
  "Well;  here is Mr. Ray's house—how do you like
that V
   " It is a splendid house."
   " On the left hand," said  I.
   " No; on the right hand—but stop,"—she said—
 u why—there—(smiling,) I  was turned round, and
 was walking back down the street.  You are right.
 It  is on the left hand."
   At this moment  her attention appeared to be di-
 vided between two or more  objects—one on either
 hand.  I inquired what she saw  on  her right.  She 
25
declined a direct answer, and evaded a reply two or
three times.   She then extended her hands to the
left, as if curiously examining something by the touch.
" I saw something like this at Washington," she re-
marked.  [This was during her ideal visit, of which
I have spoken above, for she has never been there.
The gentleman making that dreamy visit, however,
said that her description of some statuary was cor-
rect.]   " It is carved," she continued.  And then she
turned to the object on her right, and I again asked
what it was.   She replied that she did not wish to
tell  me, and I  inferred, as did others of the circle,
that she had  descried something that offended her
delicacy.   Then  turning  to the  left,  she said—
« why—they are "—" They are what ?" I demanded.
" Why, I  am trying to see."  " What do they look
like?   Do they resemble  lions'?"  "Yes," she re-
plied—" they are lions—bronzed lions."  I had spo-
ken the word lions too hastily ; but her own unaided
discovery that the noble pair of lions dormant guard-
ing the portals of Mr. Ray's house were of bronze,
rendered  this incident the most striking develope-
ment in the case, thus far.  I then asked her of what
materials the house was built.  She replied, " I will
feel of  it and see,"—suiting the action to the word.
" Why," she continued, " I have  seen a house  built
of the same materials in Boston."   She  was asked
whether it resembled any building in Providence—
whether the color resembled the Arcade.   " It looks
like the columns of the Arcade," she replied. Those
                        4 
26
columns are of Eastern granite, and so is the house of
Mr. Ray.
  We then resumed our walk along Broadway, and
as we approached  Trinity Church, she complained
of the crowds of people.  Presently she was embar-
rassed  in  getting along, as  if shrinking  from  the
crowd, and edging sideways as though jostled by
the throng.  " I never saw people crowd  so,"  she
remarked.  " Why,  they run over a body without
the least care."   She was indeed much perplexed to
go onward, while I was liberal in assurances of pro-
tection ; telling her that New-York was the grand
receptacle of people of all nations—and that the im-
migrants, Irish, Dutch, Swiss, French, Spanish—
every body—were wont to throng Broadway; but
they would not  injure her, and we should soon  get
through the multitude.
  Thus we proceeded as far as the Astor House.   I
asked her if she had ever heard of the Astor House %
she replied she  had not.   " Nor of Mr.  Astor ?"
" No."  I then gave her an outline of the  history of
that gentleman—how he came to New-York a poor
immigrant, and seeing  a wealthy man building  a
large house in Broadway, mentally resolved one day
to build a still greater;  how he embarked in the fur
trade, and in connexion with this point,  I introduced
incidentally the name of Jacob Weber, formerly of
German Flatts, with whom Mr. Astor was connected,
in early life, in the Indian fur trade, and whom I had
once known very well.  I repeated to her the well-
known anecdote which  has been related of Weber 
27
and perhaps of a  dozen others, that in purchasing
furs of the Indians, he was wont to use his fist for a
one pound weight, and his foot for two pounds.
  " But that was not just," interrupted Miss Brackett
—repeating, " It was not just, and I should not think
they would have prospered."
  " Mr. Astor had nothing to do with that," I conti-
nued—adding that his life had afforded a fine illus-
tration of one of the essays  of John Foster, whose
picture she had been examining—that on  Decision
of Character. She was quite interested in the story,
and we proceeded on our walk.
  " What do you think of this house?" I inquired.
  " It is a noble building,"  she replied.  " I should
like to get  a good view of it, but there are  so many
people  crowding  me, that  I cannot  stand  here."
u We will then step across the street into the Park,"
said I, " and you can there obtain a fine view.  Here
—we  will  cross  over—now—through the  gate—
there."   " Ah," said she, as in imagination  I  caused
her to walk into the middle of the Park—" I have
been here before."  She then stopped, and gazed up
and around, as if taking a deliberate survey of the
building.  "How  large!" she  exclaimed.  I asked
her  how many stories high it was.  She  counted, in
a  low whisper, yet so distinct that I heard it, " one
—two—three—four—five."   I inquired again, that
she might speak out.   But she did not.
   "It is a  splendid  building," she  continued.  "I
should like to go through it.  Can we do so?"
   " Oh yes, certainly," I replied.  " I will go through
with you, with pleasure." 
28
  " But there are so many people there.''
  " I know them all very well, and there will be no
difficulty."
  I then walked with her to the broad portal, where
she rather shrunk back.
  " I don't like  to go up those stairs, there are so
many  men  standing   there!  Can we not  come
again ?"
  " To be sure we can," was my reply.   " It will af-
ford me much pleasure."
  Now, let any one, at any time of the day, step up
to the portal of the Astor House, and look up  stairs
to the  first floor of the hotel, and say what form of
expression could convey a more accurate description
of the  entrance to that establishment, and of  the
large groups of men standing there at all hours.
  We then resumed our walk, and I proposed to her
to call at my own house, near by, to which she ac-
ceded.
  " We will pass the American Hotel,"  I continued,
"and turn to the left,  down  Park Place.  It is a
pleasant street, and my house is just at the foot of it
—adjoining the College Green.     *    *     *
This is the corner, and here we will turn."  *  *   *
  " How do  you like that building on  the opposite
corner ?" I asked. " That is the old Mechanics' Hall."
She  stopped, and looking up, her attention was sud-
denly arrested by some object of interest.
  " What are you looking at, Miss Brackett ?" I  in-
quired.
  " I was looking at that carved work," she replied. 
29
  "Whatis it?"
  " That is what I am  trying to study.  They are
like figures—but you are in such a hurry."
  " Oh  no; you may look as long as you please.
What do you think it is ?"
  " I am trying to find out its meaning," she answer-
ed ; " but you hurry me so from one thing to another."
*     *    *     *    " Come," said I, after a short
pause, " shall we walk down the street ?"
  " You are so impatient," said she. " When a gentle-
man walks with me," she continued, archly, " I don't
like to have him so impatient."
  The rebuke, my friends assured me, would doubt-
less have  been well  deserved, had  I  actually been
walking with a lady on  the business of sight-seeing
—for it is but too true that in such matters I am al-
ways impatient, and in  a hurry.   But to the point—
those who are acquainted with the premises we were
examining, will  doubtless recollect the  sculptured
group above  the cornice of the Mechanics' Hall, on
the Park Place front—the figure of Charity dispens-
ing her favors  to,  several orphan children.  It was
this group that attracted the attention of my somno-
loquial companion.
   " Can I not come and look at  it again ?"  said she,
 and we resumed our walk.    *    *    *    *
   " That," said I, " is the College Green."
   " How beautiful!" she exclaimed.  " I must go and
 walk there."
   " But will you not step into my house first?   It is
close by." 
30
   " No ; I must take a walk there first. But there is
 nobody there."
   " It is private ground,"  I replied ;  " but the Presi-
 dent of the College is my next door neighbor, and I
 have permission to walk there whenever I please.
 The gate is always open, and we will  step in for a
 few minutes."  On reaching the foot of the street—
   " There," she  exclaimed,  with a playful  smile,
 " you said the gate was always open, but you see it
 is shut."
  " It is  not locked, however," I rejoined, as  you
 will see.    *     *    *     There, you see I have
 opened it.  Now, step in, and we will  walk around
 the grounds."   *    *     *
  " How do you like the  College ?"  " Very well,"
 she replied—" but there is nobody in it"  " Because
 it is the vacation," said I; which was the fact.
  I then  proceeded, during our walk, to give her a
brief  history of the College—its breaking up at the
beginning of the war of the Revolution—the harangue
of Hamilton to the people in front, while  his Tory
preceptor, by that means, was enabled to escape out
of the back window, &c, &c.; in all which she was
much interested.   It is proper here  to remark, by
way of explanation, that these conversations and
episodes were necessary, to entertain her during her
imaginary walks, for she did not like being hurried;
and although it was all  ideal, yet Miss  Brackett
wanted as much time as though she were in reality
performing the exercise.  She wished to stop at dif-
ferent objects as frequently to admire, and to linger 
31
as long, as though she were actually awake,  not
blind, but clear-sighted—and in New-York.
  " How do you like the trees?" I inquired.
  " Very well • but  there is one  of  them which is
decaying, and should be cut down and taken away."
  I was not aware of this fact, and from my know-
ledge of  the trees, thought she must be in  error.
On examination since my return, however, I find
that one of the trees, in front  of the  wing occupied
by Professor McVickar, has been sadly injured, by be-
ing barked in several very large places;  and the
trunk is otherwise diseased.   A canvas bandage,
tarred, has been applied to the trunk, and the trunk
itself has been smeared with that staple of North
Carolina merchandize.
  I told her the President of the College lived in the
first wing.   She replied that there was nobody living
there now—the house being empty.   On inquiry, I
find  that she was correct—the house being shut  up,
and the President's family in the country.
  I now proposed to end our walk, and step  into my
house, to which I  endeavored to lead her.  The
house is  No. 36 Church street—is very peculiar in
its construction—having no  door  upon the street—
the entrance  being  by an  iron gate into  a  little
court.  There is, on the opposite side of the street, a
somewhat  similar entrance, by a door, into the yard
of Mr. Douglass, corner of Park Place and  Church
street.   As  we entered the  court,  Miss Brackett
shuddered, and clung to my side.  I asked her what
was the matter. She replied she was afraid of that 
32
black man in the yard.  I reasoned with her against
any apprehensions of fear, but to no purpose.  Mrs.
Hopkins  here remarked that Loraina had always
been afraid of negroes, and could not bear to be near
them when well and awake.  However, I soon per-
suaded her to proceed,  descend  into  the basement
story, in  advance of myself, and  see  what the ser-
vants were about in the kitchen.  She did so, and
reported  on her return, that  there were two  white
women, together with a negress, who was engaged
in cooking something sweet.   I  asked her whether
she was  certain both the white women were full
grown, and  she  answered they were.  I inquired
what they were about, and she said she did not like
to tell me.  I then descended  into the kitchen with
her, and  asked  her  what the black woman had in
her hand.  She said she did not know, but it looked
like something sweet.  I asked her to taste it.  She
said, " No : she could not taste any thing cooked by
a black woman, because it was not clean."   On as-
suring  her that a colored woman, if well washed,
would be just as clean  as a washed white woman,
she asked for a taste—tried it in her mouth—said it
was too sweet—and raised her hand to my lips, say-
ing that I must taste it also.
  It was evident that this  was all incorrect as to
our domestic establishment, and it struck me that she
had by mistake entered the wrong house.   I accord-
ingly addressed her thus :—
  " Why, Miss Brackett, we have made a mistake, 
33
and gone into a wrong house.   Let us get  out as
quick as possible."
  Taking her thence into the street, I said, " Let us
cross over—that is my house—how do you like it ?"
  She replied that it was a very pretty  house—she
liked it much;  but it was a good deal smaller than
the other.
  " How many stories has it?"
  " Two," was the correct reply.
  " How do you like those windows ?"
  " Oh,  they  are  very beautiful.  It would be so
sweet to sit and look out of those windows on the
green."
  " Now," said I, " let us walk along to the gate, and
go in.  We have been absent  in  Providence some
time—I have left Mrs. Stone there—and I want now
to come  suddenly upon them, and see if perhaps they
are not playing high-life below stairs."
  As we passed along, my companion looked up and
said: " Why, I should think you might as well cut
a door through into the street."   This would  have
been  a more important point, had  I  not some  time
previously remarked, by accident, that our house had
no door on the street; Miss B. might have heard that
observation, and she might not.
  Arriving at  the  gate, I  again sent her into the
kitchen in advance, to take the servants by surprise,
a conceit which seemed to please her.  The passage
into the  kitchen from the court, is  winding, and she
entered  with the caution of a  stranger.   he then
said, as if to the servants, in a loud whisper—" Hist
                        5 
34
the Gentleman has come home—I say, the Gentle-
man has come."
  Calling her out, I inquired how many servants
were there.   She replied, correctly, two.  I inquired
their ages, and she  answered, again correctly, that
the cook was a woman who seemed to be just past
middle age, and the other a young girl.  In a word,
she gave very accurate descriptions of the persons of
two servants who had been left in charge of the house.
I inquired the age of the smaller; she said she could
not tell, but would ask her.   She then spoke—" How
old are you ?  Is that your mother ?"  Then turning
to me, she observed—" She  will not answer  me."
She then inquired  of the  other—" Is  that  your
daughter ?  How old is she ?"  Turning to me again,
she remarked—" Why, she will  not  answer me ei-
ther."  I inquired what they were doing ?  She an-
swered—" not much of any thing"—which I thought
not unlikely   It being washing day, I asked—" are
they not washing ?"   She said,  and repeated, they
were not.  I asked what kind of  a frock the girl had
on ? She replied that she could not see clearly—
the room was rather dark—but she believed it was
a dark purple sprig.  On both of these points  she
was mistaken.   The  cook was  washing that day,
and the frock of the  girl was  blue, with a small light
flower.  It is proper to add, moreover, that there was
no colored woman,  engaged in culinary  operations
or otherwise, at the time in question, in  the house
opposite, where I supposed my companion had en-
tered by mistake. 
35
  Addressing my fair  companion again, I observed
that we had been long enough in the kitchen, and
that I had a number of pictures in the drawing-rooms
above, which I was desirous she should see.  We
therefore ascended through the  always  dark stair-
case passage, and entered the drawing-room.   I at-
tempted to direct  her attention to several pictures,
but in her imagination she ran across the room to the
centre-table, standing in  one corner, expressing her
admiration of the books with which it was covered.
She glanced  at several, speaking of the  beautiful
pictures with which they were filled.  With  one of
them she seemed to be most of all pleased.  I asked
her what it was.  She replied " 111—illustrations of
the Bible."   I had not thought of the table or books
until she  thus called my  attention to them.  " I saw
just such a one the other day," she said, " at Mr. Far-
ley's in Providence, only the cover of that was brown,
and this is green." Mrs. Hopkins here informed me that
it was so—she had seen, at  the house of the Rev.
Mr. Farley, while in the state of magnetic slumber,
 a copy of the work she was now examining, which that
 gentleman, it was ascertained, did actually possess.
 I knew that  the Bible Illustrations, with a heap of
 other literary and pictorial volumes, were lying upon
 the table in  question, and I knew  that we had pos-
 sessed one with  a  green cover.  One of the two,
 however, had been  presented to a  friend—but of
 which color I knew not.   On returning home, I found
 that she  was in error with regard to the cover—it
 being brown instead  of green.   But by the  side of 
36
it, lay the " Gems of Beauty," in green morocco, and
another Keepsake bound in the same color.
  Having satisfied herself with the books, she next
turned to  the pictures, though not without urging.
Reaching up her hands, she took down a small paint-
ing, and  asked  me to look at it—placing it in my
hands.   I asked her what it was.  " Ask me what it
is !" said she, " when you have it in your own hands,
and know as well as I!"   She would do no such
thing!
  I then asked her to examine the painting over the
side-board.  She looked at it for some time, and in
answer to questions, expressed great pleasure at its
beauty.  But I could not induce her to tell me what
it was, or describe it, for the avowed reason that  I
Was looking at it with her, and it  was trifling with
her to ask such a question.
  Dr. Capron here remarked to the circle, that such
Was her usual  course.  Whenever she was  looking
at an object with, as she supposed, another person,
she would not answer questions of this description—-
believing either that they were not seriously put, or
that the  questioner was quizzing or sporting with
her. All, therefore,  that I could obtain from her,
with the exception of general expressions of appro-
bation, was the remark—that she  did not  like the
man's coat in the foreground.   Here, also, it should
be noted, that when in the magnetic state  she  can
talk only with the person or persons with whom the
magnetiser has willed that she shall be in communi-
cation.  She can hear nothing addressed to her by 
37
any one else, nor can she hear tbe conversation  be-
tween any two individuals, nor even the person with
whom she is in communication if he directs his speech
to any but herself.  He must speak to her, or  she
hears him not, and only wonders why his lips move,
and yet that he does not speak.*
   My next experiment was with another picture of
a very peculiar character.  " Miss Brackett," said I,
" there is a picture in  the other room, hanging over
the couch, which I value highly.  I wish you would
look  at it."   [I ought before to have remarked, that
in no instance did I indicate to her what were the sub-
jects of the pictures ; and of the existence of three of
them, of which I shall  soon speak,  and which I  de-
signed to make the principal tests, not a soul in  the
room, as I believe, had  any previous knowledge  ex-
cepting myself]  Miss  B. thereupon walked  into  the
other room—the folding-doors standing open, and look-
ed with great interest upon the picture I had  indicat-
ed. But al though she appeared to inspect it minutely,
I could elicit no description from her.  I told her that
both  the pictures were painted by a young and pro-
mising artist, a Mr. Hoxie, and I valued them highly.
He was  a  young man of great merit, and I  would
take  some opportunity  of  introducing  him  to her.
u Where is he ?" she asked; " I do not see him."  I

  * Statement of Mr. Jesse Metcalf, one of Miss Brackett's friends, contained,
among other interesting papers, in the Appendix to No. I of Deleuze's Practical
Illustration of Animal Magnetism, Providence, by R. Cranston & Co.  De-
leuze's work has been translated by Mr. Hartshorrre, of Providence, and the col-
lection of papers in the Appendix embodies a large amount of important  facts
upon the subject, recently developed in that city. 
38
replied that he was  not here now, but I would see
him  soon ;  and then attempted again to elicit some-
thing of a description from her.  But she evaded me
artfully as before.
  Dr. Capron again  spoke to me, of which circum-
stance, however, she  was evidently unconscious;  and
remarked, that when I had proceeded as  far as I
wished, he would come suddenly upon  her,  as if on
a visit to New-York, and  after taking her from me,
she would without doubt freely relate to him all that
had taken place between her and myself.  In  this
way I would be abundantly able to form an opinion
as to the power of the Magnetic influence upon the
mind, when the body is wrapped in insensible slum-
ber so profound that the discharge of a park of artil-
lery would not disturb her.
  There were various other paintings in the drawing-
rooms, too many for  a particular examination within
the time at our command.  Among these were se-
veral portraits.  To  one of these, an admirable head
by Inman, Miss Brackett objected that the coat was
too old-fashioned, and she wondered they should have
painted a man in such a coat.  The remark as to
the rather countrified cut of the coat,  was  correct •
but she spoke of  a quaker coat, as  appearing upon
one of the  portraits, which  is not there.  She  was
asked,  if among the portraits  there was  any  one
which she recognized ?   She replied that there  was
one gentleman whom she  thought she had once seen
in Providence.  It was the portrait of one of  my in-
timate friends who was of the party, and to  whom 
39
she had been introduced in the  morning; by Fro-
thingham.
  I now asked Miss Brackett to walk with me into
the library—a small apartment built purposely for
that object, and  in a degree separate from the main
body of the house.  I told her that I had some pic-
tures in that room, to which I wished particularly to
invite her attention—giving her, however, not the
slightest intimation as to the  character of the pic-
tures.  On entering the library, " this," said I, " is
my den—my literary work-shop—where I can shut
myself up, and be as secluded as I  please.  I built it
on purpose."   " Oh," said she," it is a nice little place
—I  should like to shut myself up here too ;  come,
you go out, and leave me alone—I want to read these
books.   But," she  continued, " if you built this on
purpose, why did you not make it wider while you
 were about  it ?  It is so  long and  narrow, and  so
 close—it wants some air."  Now, these are exactly
 the  criticisms upon my private " den," made  by all
 my waking friends; for it so happens, that, in its con-
 struction, having but a small  lot, I made a sad mis-
 calculation as to the width of the room.
   I explained the matter to her, and told her I would
 leave her with  the books as long as she pleased af-
 ter we had looked at the pictures.  I then asked her
 to look at the  upper  painting above the fire-place.
 Now, I must remark  in this place, that that was a
 picture which I had recently purchased, and which
 had  only been sent home on the preceding Tuesday
 or Wednesday.   No person in the  room, excepting 
40
myself, knew of its existence.  She looked at the
picture, and  became  instantly pensive.  Presently
her bosom heaved with sighs.  I asked her what she
thought of it.   She said she did not like to look at it
any more.  I then  requested her to look at the pic-
ture below.   She did so, and in a moment was ab-
sorbed with  curious  interest.   But, as before, she
would not describe it to me,  farther than to say  it
was the portrait of a dark colored man;  but she
brought her hand round her head, as much as to say
there  was  something peculiar about the head.   I
then again directed her attention to the upper pic-
ture.  She immediately became pensive, and affected
as  before.  The experiment was repeated several
times, until, in contemplating the upper picture, she
sobbed and wept.  " Well," said I,  " if that picture
affects you so much, Miss Brackett, you need look at
it no more.   I have here a picture,  in this  drawer,
which I prize highly, and will show it you."  Saying
which, I opened the drawer, and handed her the pic-
ture.  She (in imagination, of  course,) took the pic-
ture, and observed  in a whisper, as if talking to her-
self, " oh, it's  a miniature."  I  asked her what she
thought of it ?  She replied it was very beautiful—
but would not describe it, for the reasons I have  al-
ready several times mentioned.
  I now requested Dr. Capron to take her from me,
and resume his  sway over her for the purpose of the
suggested cross-examination through him as to what
she had seen.  He  took her by the hand, and the fol-
lowing scene ensued:— 
41
  " Ah, Loraina, are you here ?"
  " Why, Doctor, how do you do ?  When  did you
come from Providence ?"
  " I have just arrived."
  " I am glad to see you."
  " And I am very glad to see you.   When did you
come to New-York ?"
  I forget the reply to this question.   The conversa-
tion, however,  was upon the common topics which
would be naturally suggested by an actual meeting
of friends, under the circumstances imagined.  The
Doctor continued:
  " How have  you been engaged since you came to
New-York ?  Have you seen any thing ?"
  " Oh yes.  Mr. Stone has been taking a walk with
me, and shown me a great many things."  She then
informed him,  in answer to questions, of her walk
through Broadway—mentioned the lions—the Astor
House—and other matters, not necessary to be  re-
peated for the purpose of this narrative. Doctor Ca-
pron continued:
  " Well,  Loraina, when Mr. Stone  was in Provi-
dence, a few days since, he spoke to me of some pic-
tures  which he prizes highly.  Did you see any of
them?"
  " Oh  yes.  I went to his house and saw a great
many.   I took down one, and handed it to him ; and,
what do you think ?—he wanted me to tell him what
it was, when he had it in his  own hands !—but I
wouldn't,—he pestered me with so many questions!"
  I here suggested to the Doctor, that he should ask
                       6 
42
her whether she saw a fruit piece.   He did so. " Oh
yes," was the reply.  " That was  the very picture I
took down and wouldn't tell him what it was."
  This  was correct.  From what I could  gather,
when she began examining the paintings, I supposed
she referred to a  beautiful fruit piece by Ward, of
London.
  The Doctor continued—" Mr. Stone told me there
was a painting over the side-board—what kind of a
picture was that ?"
  "It was a  lake, with  mountains around it.  I
thought it very beautiful."
  Such is the fact. The picture is a charming moun-
tain landscape, the  scene being a  beautiful  lake
among the Catskill mountains, by Hoxie.
  " Well, what other pictures did  you see ?  What
is that picture which Mr. Stone told me was hanging
over the  settee ?"
  " Oh, it was a curious picture.  It represents three
Indians  sitting in a hollow tree, which  looks  as
though it had  been dug out on purpose.   And  the
tree is filled with  marks."   [Hieroglyphics.]
  This was the most wonderful reply we had had
yet.  The picture is a composition  landscape, by
Hoxie, containing the portrait of the decaying trunk
of an enormous sycamore tree, standing in the neigh-
borhood of Montezuma, N. Y.   The artist has intro-
duced a  group of three  Indians,  and has likewise
traced a  number of hieroglyphics within  the open
trunk.  These hieroglyphics are seldom noticed by
visitors, unless specially pointed out.  And yet this 
43
 blind lady, with bandaged eyes, who had never been
 in New-York, nor heard a whisper of the  existence
 of the picture, had discovered them!   The fact seems
 not only incredible,  but absolutely impossible.  But,
 as I believe, it is nevertheless true.
   " Did you notice particularly any other  pictures ?
 Mr. Stone told me he had several in his library, upon
 which he set a high value.   Did you see them ?"
   " Yes."
   " What were they ?"
   Here  she again became affected, as she  replied—
 " One of  them was Christ in his  agony, with a
 Crown of Thorns!"
   This reply was astounding.  The picture is an ad-
 mirable  copy of the Ecce Homo by Guido.  It had
 only been sent home a  week before, and I had cau-
 tiously avoided mentioning  it  to my most intimate
 friends present at  this extraordinary interview, until
 she thus proclaimed  it.
   " What other picture did you see in the library ?"
   " There was a portrait of an  Indian Chief."
   This was another wonderful reply.  The picture
 is an admirable copy, by Catlin, of a capital portrait
 of Brant, the  great Mohawk  Warrior,  which has
 recently  been procured, to be engraved for the forth-
 coming life of that celebrated chieftain.
   " How was he dressed ?"
   " Why, I can hardly  describe it.   His head was
shaved, and I don't know exactly whether there was
any  hair left  on or  not.  There was something on
the top, but I could scarcely tell whether it was hair." 
44
   This description was very accurate.  The knot on
 the crown is the scalp-lock; and the war-paint around
 it,  and something like a ribbon tying it, would ren-
 der it doubtful to a superficial observer, unacquainted
 with Indian customs and costumes, whether  there
 was any hair there or not.
   " Was there no other picture in the library ?"
   " Oh yes:  he took out of a drawer, a miniature."
   " Did it resemble the large picture ?"
   " I thought it did, somewhat."
   [I believe  I had put this question to her when she
 was under my  control."]
   " How was it dressed?"
   " It was a very handsome picture, and had a cap
 and plumes."
   This was  another wonderful reply.  The picture
 in  question is a very beautiful miniature  likeness of
 Brant, composed by N. Rogers, from two pictures  of
 the chief, taken when  he was a young man, and first
 in  London—in his court dress.  The picture is de-
 signed  to embellish the forthcoming work referred
 to, and lies yet  in the drawer, where it was seen and
^described by Miss Brackett—blind—previously un-
 conscious of its existence—and two hundred  miles
 off when she saw it.
   The  Doctor  now  transferred the somnoloquist
 back to me.  Taking her hand again, quick as a flash
 we were restored to the place and position occupied
 at  the  moment of the Doctor's intervention.   I re-
 sumed the conversation, by asking her if she had ever
 heard of Wall-street ?"  She replied that she had not. 
45
  " You have heard of the great fire in New-York ?"
  " Yes."
  " Would you like to take a walk down there, and
see how it has been rebuilt, and where they are build-
ing the new Exchange ?"
  " I should like to go there very much."
  The imaginary walk was immediately commenc-
ed.   " Here," said I, " is Trinity Church—the oldest
in the city.  Perhaps you would  like to take a look
into it ?"
  She replied that it would afford her pleasure to do
so—adding, " but I guess you will be obliged to get
the doors open before we get in."   I told her the sex-
ton would open  them at once.   " Come,"  I added,
" I will open the gate,—and there,—you see the doors
are opened."
  The moment she had crossed  the threshold, and
arrived at the inner door, she paused, and looking
half round, smiled, and, as it were, bit her lip.
  " What attracts your particular attention now, Miss
Brackett?"
  " I was looking at these awkward pews.  I never
saw such inconvenient pews."
  " What is the difficulty with them ?"
  " Why, how they look !"
  " But the  richest people  in New-York attend
Church here."
  " Then I  should advise them to tear away these
old pews, and build new and better ones."
  Now, it happens to be a fact, that the pews in this 
46
 church are just the worst looking, and  most incon-
 venient, in the city.
   " How do you like the pulpit ?"
   " I think it wants new drapery; only see how old
 it looks.   The  cushion where they lay the Bible is
 quite threadbare."
   I have examined these draperies since my return,
 and should advise the vestry of that church to take
 the hint of the somnoloquist. The cushion is not ex-
 actly " thread-bare," but the drapery of both the pul-
pit and the desk needs renewal.
   I asked her to look beyond  the pulpit, and exa-
 mine  the sculpture.   She did so, and was deeply in-
 terested.   But she did not describe it.   I asked her
 which figure  she liked  best?   She answered the
 standing figure.  I inquired whether she understood
the design of the figure ?  She said she did.  I am
not certain whether I told her that it  was a monu-
mental structure, but I think I did say that the stand-
ing figure  was a personification of Religion.   How-
ever, she gave no  evidence that she  fully compre-
hended the work.  I  asked her how she liked the
lights behind ?   She  replied  very well, and added
that she had never seen the light let in in that way
before.
   On leaving the church, I suddenly remarked—
" why, Miss Brackett, after all, I omitted one thing
at my house, which I very much  desire you should
see.   In our little basement room—the little snugge-
ry where we  breakfast—I have two pictures—one
very curious, which you must  see.   Will you walk 
47
back with me, and look at it?"  She replied in the
affirmative, and I immediately added—" well,  here
we are."   "That's  likely,"  said  she, playfully—
" you have got there before I have started!" " Very
true," said I, " but I will come back and walk  with
y0U>»      *    *      *      «Now, Miss Brackett,
we are here at all events."
   " And is this your family breakfast-room ?"
   " It is."
   " It is a nice little place."
   " Now, Miss Brackett,  look  at  that picture, and
tell me  what you think of it."
   She looked and began to smile, and was evidently
much amused.  But,  as  before,  she would give me
no description  of either.   Doctor  Capron here ob-
served to me, that if I charged her particularly to
remember what she saw, she would do so, and tell
me about  it when awake.  I then remarked—" If
you will not tell me  now, will you be careful to re-
member what  you see—what pleases you so—and
tell me afterward ?"   She promised faithfully that
she would.
   We had now been occupied nearly four hours, and
my engagements were such as to render it necessary
to bring my travels with this most interesting  com-
panion to a close.  I therefore proposed returning to
Providence, to which she assented.
   " How will you go ?" I asked.
   " We will fly."
   " Very well—I am used to that mode of travel-
ling."   Clasping  both my hands in hers,  she  went 
48
 through the same process of ascending into the air
 by my assistance, as before.
   " Oh, how beautiful it is," she exclaimed, " to look
 down upon the city.  How vast—how grand!"  Lin-
 gering a moment, as if  hovering over the town, I di-
 rected her attention to several objects—the land and
 the water.  " That  dark mass of buildings  is the
 Bellevue Alms House.  That high  column  is the
 Shot-Tower—it is  the  highest structure  on the isl-
 and."
   " And we are so much above  that!"  she  inter-
 rupted.
   "Ah, here we have New-Haven."
   " How beautiful!" she exclaimed.  " Stop, I must
 look at that.  It is very beautiful."
   " And this is New London—How are you pleased
 with it?"
   " I don't like its appearance very well."
   " Nor does any body  else," I replied.
   " And here we are in Providence," I continued.  I
then assisted her in descending, as from the first flight,
 and asked her  how she had been pleased with her
visit to New-York ?   She replied that she had  been
exceedingly gratified—that she liked the route  home
very much, as  it was one she had never travelled
before.
   Dr. Capron now again willed  her away from me,
resumed his control, and by the peculiar mental pro-
cess of Animal  Magnetism, together with a few
brushes of his  hand over her forehead, awoke her.
 She at first complained of being somewhat confused; 
49
but in the course of one or two minutes resumed her
self-possession, and was as cheerful, and intelligent,
and diffident, withal, as before she had been magnet-
ised.  The Doctor had charged her to remember the
circumstances of  her  visit,  and he now questioned
her respecting several incidents heretofore detailed
at large.  Among others, he inquired again what was
the particular object  that had attracted her atten-
tion, and seemed to annoy her, at the Bowling-Green
opposite the lions ? She blushed to the eyes, and said
she must be excused from answering.
   He then  asked her what was the picture in the
basement-room of my house, which seemed to please
her so much ?
   She laughed outright, as she replied—" It was a
funny looking fellow pulling a cat's ear."
   This  was another remarkable  answer, affording a
still farther and most striking illustration of the mys-
terious  power of  this  potent though  unknown  prin-
ciple.   The picture in question is an old and  admi-
rable painting, recently  purchased by my friend, the
Rev. J. C. Brigham, and loaned to me. It had but just
been returned from the hands of the  picture-framer,
and had  not yet been hung in  the  drawing-room.
Its existence, I am perfectly confident, was unknown
to any of the party  present except myself; and the
subject, that of a sly, mischievous fellow, full of wick-
ed laughter, as he is teazing some antiquated lady by
pulling  or pinching  the ears, of her favorite tabby !
   Such were the results of this extraordinary inter-
view, and such the  actual phenomena attending a
                       7 
50
single nap of magnetic slumber, under circumstances
where every thing like ostentation, or a desire of dis-
play, or even of a private exhibition, was  avoided;
and where,  I repeat  without hesitation, deception,
fraud, collusion, misunderstanding, and mistake, were
alike utterly impossible.  I have written  fully and
faithfully, omitting, as I believe, nothing essential to
a full illustration of the interview—preserving  so
much of the very language used, as a practised and
pretty retentive memory has enabled me to recall—
giving the substance,  where the identical language
is lost—and presenting a simple and unadorned nar-
rative of the truth throughout.
  In the early part of this communication I have ad-
verted to the extraordinary power of this young la-
dy—blind though she be—of reading,  while in the
magnetic slumber, letters within several envelopes,
without breaking  the seals.   This was a point  to
which I likewise directed my attention, and circum-
stances occurred  most opportunely to favor my de-
sign.  On Sunday, Aug. 27th, while I  was  in Provi-
dence, and  the day before my interview  with Miss
Brackett, a small package was received by Mr. Isaac
Thurber from Mr.  Stephen Covell, of Troy, contain-
ing, as he wrote to his friend,  a note, which he wish-
ed  Miss B. to read while under the magnetic influ-
ence, without breaking the  seal, if she could.  Mr.
Covell had beeri  induced to  try this experiment, in
consequence  of having heard of extraordinary per-
formances of the kind, which, of course, he doubted.
The package, or letter, was evidently composed of 
51
several  envelopes.   The  outer  one consisted of
thick blue paper.  On Sunday evening Miss B. was
put into a magnetic slumber, and the letter given her
with instructions to read it.   She said she would take
it to bed with her and read it before morning.*  On
Monday morning, she gave the reading as follows :—
" NO OTHER THAN THE EYE OF OMNIPOTENCE CAN READ
THIS IN THIS ENVELOPEMENT,  1837."
  I made a memorandum of this  reading, and exa-
mined the package  containing, as  she said, the sen-
tence.   She said then, viz. on Monday morning, that
there were one or two words between the word " en-
velopement" and the date, as I understood her, which
she could not make  out.  I examined the  seal with
the closest scrutiny.  It was unbroken, and to open
the letter or to read it without opening, with human
eyes, was impossible.  After my  return to the city,
viz. on Wednesday, Aug. 30th.  I  addressed a letter
to Mr. Covell, to ascertain whether the reading of the
blind somnambulist  was correct.   The  following is
his reply:

                     " TROY, September 1, 1837.
" Dear  Sir,
     " Your's of yesterday I received by this  morning's
mail, and as to your inquiry relative to the package
submitted to Miss B. while under the magnetic influ-

  * So I understood the matter at the time of the interview.  By a statement of
Mr. Thurber himself, however, contained in the publication of Mr. Hartshorne,
it appears that the clairvoyante did not take it to bed with her, but retired into a
dark room to make it out, from choice, and read it to Mr. Hopkins and a num-
ber of others, on her return. 
52
ence, I have to say the package came to hand yes-
terday.   The sentence had been written by a friend,
and sealed by him at my request, and in such a man-
ner as was supposed could not have been read  by
any human device without breaking the seal.  We
think the seals have not been broken until returned.
The sentence as read by Miss B. is :—" No other than
the eye of Omnipotence can read this in this envelope-
ment—1837."  And as written in the original, on a
card, and another card placed on  the  face of the
writing, and enclosed in a thick blue paper, was:—
" No other than the eye of Omnipotence can read this
sentence  in this envelope.—Troy, New-York, Aug.
1837."
                  ■" Respectfully yours, &c.
                       "STEPHEN COVELL."
   " William L. Stone, Esq."

   I also  left  a note, hastily prepared, for the blind
lady to read, the contents of which were known only
to myself.  It was carefully folded, so as to preclude
the  possibility of reading it, by the natural sight,
without opening, and sealed with seven wafers and
two seals of wax, with my own private signet.   By
the  mail of the following Saturday I received the
letter ; the seals were unbroken, and exactly in the
condition I had left them, with the answer written on
the outside, in the hand-writing of the friend who had
assisted me in obtaining the interview, which answer
is correct, as far as it goes.  I have already remarked,
that I was in great haste at the time of preparing the 
53
note,  yet  I  was  determined to leave  something so
much out of the ordinary track as to puzzle the lady
if possible.  Accordingly, having the odd title of a
queer old book in my pocket, printed in a small Italic
letter, I wrote a part of the note with a pencil, and
stuck on two and a half lines of the small Italic print-
ing, with a wafer.  The note, written and printed, as
I left it, was in these words :—
   " The following is the title, equally quaint and
" amusing, of a book which was published in Eng-
land in the time of Oliver Cromwell:—' Eggs  of
" Charity, layed by the Chickens of the  Covenant, and
" boiled by the waters of Divine love.   Take ye and
" eat: "
   I subjoin  the answer sent by Miss  B. through an
intimate friend:—
   "The following is a title, equally amazing (or
" amusing) and quaint, of a book published in Eng-
" land in the time of Oliver Cromwell:—
   " Eggs of Charity"—
   " Miss  B.  does not know whether the word is
" amazing or amusing.   Something is written after
" the ' eggs of charity,' which she cannot make out."
   Why the clairvoyante did not read the whole note
 as readily as she did the part which she did read, I
 am at a loss to give an opinion.   On a minute exami-
nation of the paper, I find that, accidentally, in fold-
 ing it, there was one thickness of paper over the lines
 which she did  not read, more than  over a portion of
 what she did read.  But the same additional  thick-
 ness  of paper was over the first line which she did 
54
read, and the two thick wax seals, and a number of
wafer seals  also, intervened over nearly the whole.
Those seals were strong and deep impressions of my
family crest,  with the motto  distinctly shown; and
the whole returned to me so perfect, and in every re-
spect entire, as at once to put at rest every suspicion
of foul play, had such suspicion been entertained.
  I am perfectly aware, my dear Sir, that in allow-
ing the preceding statement, which is no more than
a simple and unadorned narrative of facts, to go forth
to the world, I am setting myself up as a target at
which scores of witlings and brisk fools will be sure
to let  fly successive  showers of  arrows.   Indeed, I
have already been assailed, from various quarters,
through the public journals, and in the conversations
of individuals, in consequence of a recent and very
partial and imperfect publication, announcing my vi-
sit to Providence and the experiments of the sealed
letters.  The " Chronicle of the Church," published
at New-Haven, has arraigned me with grave severi-
ty as a convert to " humbuggery and mystification,"
and as an easy dupe in respect to transactions " bear-
ing upon their face the impress of gross imposition."
Other journalists have  freely applied the phrase,
more expressive by far than elegant, that I have been
" outrageously humbugged."   Others, again,  have
plied me alternately with raillery and grave rebuke.
Well—be it so.  However well stored may be their
quivers, and  however thick and fast their missiles
may hurtle through the air, I should feel myself but
a sorry knight of the quill, to complain at receiving 
55
back a small portion of the change of which I have
dispensed so much, though I should be pierced like
another St. Sebastian.  If I am correctly informed,
the editor of the Church Chronicle will soon find a
far abler  exponent of the mysterious principle the
existence of which he decries, than I can ever hope
to be, in the Bishop of his own diocese.   Still, whe-
ther that distinguished prelate should take the field
or not, the facts recorded in this communication will
remain the same.  Meantime your own reading must
have taught you, that  neither theories nor principles
are the less philosophical  or the less true, because of
unbelief or ridicule.   The original projector of the
employment of steam for the movement of machine-
ry, was denounced as a lunatic for the suggestion,
and confined as a madman for persistence in his folly.
Galileo was twice imprisoned in the dungeons of the
Inquisition, by the learned doctors of Rome, for op-
posing the astronomical theories of Aristotle, and as-
serting, with Copernicus,  that the  sun  remains sta-
tionary in the centre of the universe, while the earth
revolves around it in annual and diurnal motions.
And in your own profession, you cannot be ignorant
of the persecution of Harvey, the great medical revo-
lutionist, who discovered the circulation  of the blood;
or of the fact that Jenner was at first denounced  as
a quack, for a discovery which has constituted him
one of the greatest benefactors of modern times.
   Mistake me not as citing these illustrious names
with a view of inscribing my own in the same cate-
gory.  My object is merely to show, that scepticism, in 
56
 regard even to the most valuable discoveries, is no new
 thing under the sun;  and that satire, however biting,
 and ridicule,  however pungent, although they may
 deter the  timid from the avowal of  an honest opi-
 nion  until the world  shall have decided for them, or
 raise a laugh at the expense of those  who march in
 advance of the  public  voice, are nevertheless no
 test of the soundness  of a theory, the  value of a dis-
 covery, or  the correctness of a principle.  " What  I
 know to be true, that will I declare; and what I feel
 it to  be my duty to represent, that will I have the
 boldness to publish;"  was a memorable manifesto of
 the late Timothy Pickering when about  to make cer-
 tain political revelations; and  I know nothing to de-
 ter the exercise of a like degree of moral courage, in
 giving utterance to  facts  connected with the philoso-
 phy of the human mind, involving  the phenomena of
 ordinary sleep, dreaming, and somnambulism,—the
 independence  of our spiritual nature of the bodily or-
 gans which subserve the purposes of the present life,
 —and, in one word, eliciting new and enlarged views
 of the perceptive faculties of the mind  and the na-
 ture of the  soul.
  Were it  my desire to enlarge upon this subject, or
rather, were it not my design to  confine the present
 communication strictly to a narrative of facts trans-
piring under my own eyes, I might easily fill  a  hun-
dred pages more with incidents and illustrations of
the most surprising character,  which have occurred
at Providence and in  its vicinity within  the last few
months, in  the course of the experiments that have 
57
been made—as  well  attested, too, as the battle of
Bunker Hill or  the Declaration of Independence.
These facts might be gathered by hundreds, from the
most authentic  sources—arising, not from two or
three cases of  nervous, debilitated, and practised fe-
males, nor under the auspices  of one, or even two,
magnetisers,—but in the course of hundreds of ex-
periments, upon  as many subjects, of different ages
and sexes, under the  care of gentlemen of the first
character—lay and professional.  One example only,
of the many to which I refer, will be added  at the
close of this communication.  The case was very re-
markable, and the circumstances created a deep sen-
sation when they transpired in Providence—support-
ed, as they were, by the testimony of so able and ex-
emplary a physician as Dr. Brownell.
   In regard to the imputation, that a gross imposture
has been played off upon me, I will not  detain you
by its refutation.  I have  already said, repeatedly,
that the character of all the parties to the interview
forbids the idea of fraud, collusion, or imposture.  It
surely will not be contended that I shall prove what
I saw and assisted in performing.  The strongest evi-
dence possible, and the most  convincing to an indi-
vidual, is that of his  own  senses.   " When awake,
and in our perfect mind," says Dr. Beattie, " we ne-
ver mistake a reality for a dream.  Realities are per-
ceived  intuitively.   We cannot prove by argument,
that we are now awake, for  we know of nothing
more evident  to prove it by; and it is essential to
every proof  to be clearer than  that  which is  to be
                       8 
58
proved."*  I will not, therefore, distrust the evidence
of my own senses, where all the circumstances were
such as to render deception impossible.  The weight
of other testimony depends upon the character of the
witnesses for truth and veracity, and their means of
knowledge of the facts related, and their exemption
from such interests and motives as might sway them
from the truth.   These are the important attributes
of evidence ; and witnesses sustaining such a charac-
ter, are entitled to full credit.   Such was the charac-
ter of the parties with whom I was in communica-
tion during my visit to Miss Brackett.   What I saw,
I know to be true ;  and what was told to me as truth
by Dr.  Capron,  Miss  Brackett,  and those of her
friends with whom I conversed, I as fully believe.
   There are those who disbelieve in the principle of
Animal Magnetism altogether, and who  would not
believe though one rose from the dead.   They con-
tend that the whole thing is morally and physically
impossible.  There are others who are incredulous
because the experiments are not attended by uniform
success.  Such is, doubtless, the fact, as the magneti-
sers admit, for causes assigned which are abundantly
sufficient.  There is yet another class, who  are not
only disbelievers themselves, but are determined that
the science shall not prevail.   These, instead of act-
ing like ingenuous searchers after  truth, attend  the
exhibitions for the express purpose of defeating  the
operations, by  interposing obstacles, embarrassing
* Elements of Moral Science, Sec. viii. §. 156. 
59
alike to the magnetiser and the  subject.   In order
to a successful experiment, perfect  composure and
tranquility of mind,  in both magnetiser  and sub-
ject, are understood to be necessary, if not absolutely
indispensable.  If, then, objectors and sceptics visit
an exhibition for the express purpose of passing off
deceptions upon the  illustrators  of the principle,—
intentionally distracting their attention and inter-
rupting their mental operations—the want of success
under such circumstances is no argument against the
science; and only proves that the  objectors are no
gentlemen.  Again, there are those  who fear to be-
lieve, lest an argument shall be derived from the ad-
mitted  existence of the magnetic influence, against
the miracles sustaining the divine origin of the Chris-
tian  religion;  whereas, in my  apprehension, the
very reverse is the fact;  since, if  testimony like that
to which I have referred, is  to be  rejected, where are
we to look for the proof of those very miracles? Would
not the sceptic, by the adoption of such a rule, bring
himself upon the identical ground assumed by Hume,
who disbelieves all the evidence of miracles, upon
the  principle that we cannot believe any thing con-
trary to our own experience ?   I am aware, however,
that others think differently.  Indeed, an  intimate
friend of my own, on reading the preceding narrative,
observed  to me, " Were I to believe in the reality of
what you have written, I should become an infidel."
Now, the scruples of such are doubtless to be respect-
ed.  But I must repeat, I can perceive no good foun-
dation for them.  " How common," says Knight, in his 
60
 W ayward Criticisms," when we have just spoken and
thought of a person, to see him immediately afterward.
If it be even more than casualty, is it unphilosophical
to suppose that there may be a certain attractive,
although invisible emanation,  not unlike that of the
magnetic, electric, gravid, or cohesive influence; each
emanation  being peculiar to,  and characteristic of,
each individual, coming from  the body into the air,
which prompts the forethought?" And is it any more
unphilosophical  to believe in the activity of the hu-
man soul during the suspension of the external senses
by that species of slumber, equally peculiar and pro-
found, produced by the magnetical influence, the ex-
istence of which, to a greater or less degree, I take
it for granted can no  longer be denied by any one ?
We know that somnambulism, or the faculty of loco-
motion, of  speaking, of holding  conversations with
others, and even of sustaining an argument, does ex-
ist.   Of this fact, the Rev. Mr. Finney, whom you
probably know,  affords  a striking  example.   Why,
then, should we deny the  possibility of the unusual
physiological phenomena attributed to the influences
of Animal  Magnetism, acting upon persons of pe-
culiar nervous susceptibilities ? Why deny to the soul
the faculty of recognizing  external objects through
unusual ways, without the help of the senses, and of
annihilating time and space in its movements ?   Or
why deny to the etherial spirit, when in such a state,
the power of visiting, in its imagination, other climes
and other spheres, for its amusement, its wonder, or
its instruction ?   Is it more wonderful than the trance 
61
of Tennant, whose spirit, without controversy, did
thus leave its tenement of clay, and behold things
more glorious than that holy man dared to describe ?
But I am transcending the purpose of this communi-
cation, and will forbear.
  After all, my dear Sir, I am not without apprehen-
sion that you may yet inquire of me, what is my own
belief upon  the subject?  The question would be a
poser.   I cannot deny the evidence of my own sen-
ses, and therefore I must believe in something.  But
how much to believe, or what, I am  puzzled to tell.
Fraud, deception, imposture, I once more repeat, in
the matters I have related, were entirely out of the
question.  On the whole, therefore, I must end as I
began, by quoting the sage conclusion of Hamlet, al-
beit his brains were zig-zag, that there are more
things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in
our philosophy.
       I am, with respect, &c. &c.
                      WILLIAM  L. STONE.

  To Doct. Amariah Brigham, M. D. 
POSTSCRIPT.
  It  was the purpose of the author, in presenting a second edition
of the preceding letter  to the public, to record a few additional
facts, connected with this interesting  subject, equally wonderful,
and  in some  respects  even  more  so, than those already  de-
tailed.   A  brief  reply  to some of  the  criticisms  that  have
been  made upon  this  pamphlet  by  a   portion  of the  daily
press,  had  also been meditated.  But the  first  edition, of two
thousand, has gone off so rapidly, and  the demand for the second
is so pressing, that the design has in both respects been relinquish-
ed.   One only of the criticisms referred to will the author stop to
correct.   The editor of the American,  in his. liberal notice of the
first edition, seems to suppose that the only subjects of the  mag-
netic  influence are females.   This, in the full extent of the posi-
tion, is an error.   It is doubtless true, that, as a general rule, the
female system  is  more susceptible of this mysterious  influence
than the male.   But such is not uniformly the case.   Several in-
stances have occurred in Rhode Island, particularly in Pawtucket,
in which robust  men  have been effectually magnetized.   The
operator at Pawtucket is Mr. Daniel  Green, a man of respectabil-
ity, who, from what I can learn, is capable of exercising a greater
magnetic power  than any other gentleman who has yet attempted
an experiment.   I can also state, that, on the evening of Tuesday,
the 3d day of October instant, Mr. Grant, of Providence, then and
now giving experiments in the city of Albany, put a healthy young
man into a profound slumber, in the midst of  a  crowded auditory,
and contrary to his own  counteracting efforts.   1 was in Albany at
the time.  The Governor, and several Senators and other distinguish-
ed gentlemen, were present. The young man was a sceptic upon the 
63
subject, and challenged the operator to a trial of his power, which,
in ten minutes, was not only irresistible, but so powerful, that the
subject was, in the end, thrown into convulsions.  The experiment
was not only  convincing to himself, but, as I happen to know, to
several  gentlemen of education  and character, who  were unbe-
lievers when they went to the exhibition.
   Several very striking illustrations of somnambulism and clairvoy-
ance, or clear-sightedness, when in a state of magnetic slumber, were
also given at Albany on the same, and also the preceding evening.
Among them was an imaginary journey, performed by the niece of
Mr. Grant, in company with one of the Senators, to visit his own
family at the place of their temporary  residence, (Norwich, Con.)
The house in which his  family were lodged is very peculiar in its
construction,  having, among other eccentricities of architecture,
three front doors, all of which  were exactly described, with various
other features and circumstances, and in the absence of leading
questions.
   Another very striking case occurred at Saratoga Springs, at
which  place Messrs. Grant and Potter were experimenting last
week.   A gentleman, an entire stranger, came into the room, and
asked the magnetized lady to visit his  house in Plattsburgh.  She
did So—described the place—the house—its apartments and furni-
ture, not only with general, but very  minute  accuracy.   Among
other inmates of the  family, she astounded the gentleman  by
describing his aged father-in-law, who has but one arm !  Collusion
or imposture,  in this case, was  entirely out  of the question, and
the fact cannot be contradicted.
   I am in possession of a variety of other surprising facts, but
have not yet permission  to publish  them with that particularity
which  I could desire.  Meantime I beg leave to introduce the fol-
lowing  article from the Boston Morning Herald, of September
29th ;  premising that I was in Providence at the time of the visit
of the  two  medical gentlemen referred to from Boston, and have
no doubt, from what I learned  on the spot, of the  essential accu-
racy of the statement here given.  The statement of  Miss Brack-
ett's ideal visit to  the  hall of the Franklin Society was also re- 
64
 lated to me  in Providence, in a such  a  manner as  to leave no

 doubt of its substantial truth :—

   " Animal  Magnetism.—Strong  and  Incontrovertible  Testimony !—Many
 may think that enough has been said upon this disputed subject, and turn away
 in disgust from any further discussion;  especially will those be apt so to think,
 who, on account  of the apparent absurdity of the matter, pronounce it to be a
 complete humbug, and  consider themselves insulted, to  have conversation or
 written  argument upon it thrust into their faces.   So was our decision once—
 but while we cannot believe so strange a theory until we have had  the demon-
 stration  of our own  senses to its truth, we are forced, by the weight  of incon-
 trovertible testimony, to be silent and refrain from scoffing, until the ' perfect
 day ' of the revelation of its existence or falsehood shall dawn upon us.
  We present the following new facts to the public, and our readers may be-
 lieve  or not.  We will  only  say, that  when it comes to bold denial  of a sup-
 posed honest man's assertion, argument is useless—but  to those who are not
 willing to think that a man who has ever proved himself true, will at  once
 falsify, the following relation will at least surprise, for what we have to say is
 reduced to this—Will you believe our witness or not 1
  We hope  we are not taking  an  unwarrantable liberty in mentioning the
 name  of the individual, from whom the particulars below given are derived.
 Since the subject  is an all-important one, a solemn one if it be true, an exciting
 one at any rate, we feel confident that he will be willing to have his testimony
 held up,  a light set on a hill, as a guide to the searchers of the truth.   We refer
 to Rev. Mr. Hall of Providence.
  A short time  since, two physicians of this city, Drs. J. & W., went to
 Providence,  in order, by their own senses, to be convinced.  They have re-
 turned, not fully satisfied.  They are confident of  some strange effect produced
 —of the existence of the magnetic sleep—but were not  able to content them-
 selves  in respect to the wonderful magnetic vision of distant or concealed ob-
jects.   We will state the assigned cause.
  The patient is  Miss Brackett of Providence, who is,  and has been long, to-
 tally blind—of course, unless there is actual communication with her, to inform
 her of the existence or position of the objects or places she describes,  her testi-
 mony  is of the very strongest nature—it is adamant proof.  The examination
 took place in the house of Rev. Mr. Hall.
  Previous to questioning the patient, Mr. Hall took the physicians into a back
 parlor, in which were no chairs,  and disarranged  some articles, one  of which
 was, to take a picture down from the wall, and lay it with its face on the table.
 The three gentlemen then returned to the room in which  Miss  Brackett, who
 had been magnetised, was sleeping.  One of the physicians first questioned
 her, but almost at the  outset, he said, after going  with her  in spirit into the
 room,—' Take care, or you will stumble over  the chairs  and beds.'  The other
 physician then went with her to some house or other  in  a distant town, and
 said—' Be careful, or you will hit your head against the gate;' and he could
 not make her speak after.  Now the case is, taking the premises for granted that
 ' such things are/those who are sleeping are, in their  perceptions,  in reality
 standing with you beside an object which you wish them to describe—and it ia
 often an answer to inquiries, ' What do you ask for—you can see as well as I
 can.'   It is evident, then, that much caution and tact must be exercised to pro-
 cure the  necessary information.  No trifling will  be submitted to—and there-
 fore it was, when the physicians referred to articles which they knew were not
 there, that the patient became offended.
  The physicians having retired, Mr. Hall, Miss B. being still in her sleep, led
 her inspirit, into the back room  again, and after asking her what she saw, she
 mentioned, among the first things, ' a picture lying on the table on its face'—
 and added,  ' I will speak with you, Mr. Hall, for you treat me properly, but I 
65
would not have any thing to say to that other gentleman, for he laughed at me.
He knew as well as I, that there were no chairs or beds in the room /'
  From another occasion, Mr. Hall furnishes still stronger testimony.  There
is, in Providence, a room, occupied by the Franklin Society.  This  Society is
a private one, with few  members, and but few know of the  occupancy of the
room.  In it are sundry matters, such as a case  of stuffed  birds, a stuffed cat,
gray squirrel, &c, a  preserved turtle, and other curiosities of the  like kind.
Mr. Hall went to the room, unlocked it, took some lamps from the stove, which
was in the centre of the room, and placed on  it the turtle—and then returned,
locking the  door,  and putting the key in his pocket.  He then, without com-
munication with  mortal being, went directly to Miss Brackett, whom he had
requested previously to have magnetised, turned the magnetiser from the room,
and went with the patient, of course in spirit, to the room of the Society.  As
soon as they were in the room, the patient started.  ' Why do you start V asked
Mr. Hall.   ' Why, don't you see, look on the  stove there  in the centre of the
room.  It will bite me!'  ' Bite 1—go closer—it won't bite.'   She then seemed to
smile at discovering the foolishness of her fears.   ' What  is it V  asked Mr.
Hall.  ' You can see as well as I,' was her answer.   'Yes—but I wish to know
what you call it.  Is  it ever eaten1?  ' Yes—a part of it—in soup.'  'Well,
what do you call it V   'A turtle, to be sure!'
   Mr. Hall then led her to the bird case, and asked her what she saw.  She re-
turned much the same answer as before—but said, evidently taking down the
birds and looking at them—' How pretty this is.  What a bright ring round its
 neck !  Oh, here is a dear little bird !'
   She soon started  again.  ' What  is the matter now V  asked  Mr.  Hall.
 1 Why,' said she, ' only see that cat—that's a pretty place to put a cat, in the
 midst of birds !'                                                    .  .
   ' Oh,' said she, ' here is something in the corner like a rabbit.  What is it 1
   Mr. Hall had not observed it when in the room, and could not answer. He
 left her, convinced that if there was any thing there, he should feel satisfied—
 if not, all was uncertainty again.  He hurried to the room,  unlocked it, and
 went in, and found in one corner, a stuffed grey squirrel!
   We present the above to the consideration of the public.  Of Mr. Hall s ve-
 racity there can be no doubt.  What disposal then is to be made of it ?  Time
 alone can reveal the end."

    The following statement, also related  to me as  a fact  in  Provi-

 dence, has since  been  published by Dr.  Hartshorn, of  that  city,

 on the  authority  of  Mr.  Benjamin Cozzens  and  Mr.  Joseph

 Balch, Jun,:—

    " A child, about nine years of age, attendingthe school of Miss S***, in this
 city, was, about a month -ago, during an intermission, found to be sleep in the
 school-room.  One of the young scholars  came and gave information.  Miss
 S*** and others tried to rouse  her, but not succeeding, they became alarmed.
 A young medical student,  a son of Commodore John Orde Creighton, being
 called in, soon perceived that she was in a magnetic sleep.  A little girl about
 ten years old immediately burst into tears.  It was evident that she  had done
 it • but she was so much terrified at the result  of the mischief, that Miss S***
 called her into another room, soothed her distress, and told  her she need not be
 frightened ; she  had only to go to Anne,  and  ask her to  wake up.  This was
 done.  She merely spoke to her, and she came  out of her magnetic state, with
 that smile  upon her visage which is peculiar to those who are gently roused

    The child had been, once'before, and only once, put into the somnambulic
 state.  It was effected in about five minutes, by a lady who had never before
 tried her hand at this business."
                                     9 
66
  In a preceding page of this Postcript, I have referred to some
still more recent illustrations of these phenomena, the particulars of
which I am not at liberty to record, although of a very striking
character.  The truth is, there is a lamentable want of moral cou-
rage in the community, which prevents gentlemen from admitting
facts, which  from their own positive knowledge they know to be
such, lest  they should  encounter the ridicule, and the small wit
of the little  minds which control but too large a  portion of the
public press.   I am not to be thus deterred, however, from speak-
ing out upon this, or any other subject, by the taunts, or the sneers,
of any one.  All I ask is fair play—and this I expect to receive
from all controversialists who are gentlemen.  When editors and
critics are so stupid as to misunderstand what  is said, or so mali-
cious and  unprincipled  as  to misquote  and misrepresent  an an-
tagonist, there  is no dealing with such.   Nothing is easier than to
assume a position for an author whom it is wished to assail, which
he  has never  assumed, and  then to overthrow it.   Nothing is
easier than to assert for an  antagonist what he has  never asserted,
and then refute the assertion.   And of course it is equally easy to
hold a man up  to ridicule, for language or opinions he  has never
uttered.  All this treatment I have received from the stupid malice
of the Journal  of Commerce, the  vapid  loquacity of the Express
and the ill-natured perversions of a writer in the Courier and En-
quirer.  While these  sheets are  passing through  the press, how-
ever, a more sensible  and  respectful writer has appeared in the
Journal of Commerce, whom it may be well to set  right upon his
main objection to my original narrative.  He says:—

   " The cat's  ears and other things which  after  a  great deal of
effort Miss B.  was induced to  mention  in Col. Stone's picture,
were probably  only the reflection of the description he had given
of them in her presence ; but in  the full conviction that she could
hear no conversation except that addressed to herself, and that so
the circumstance was of no consequence in the story."

   Some other  critics have  assumed  the  same position—which
shows either that they have not read my letter with  attention, or
that they purposely misrepresent me.   I have said, expressly, that
in regard  to the examination of three of those pictures, which I 
67
had  reserved as  the  principal tests, I had  held  no  conversa-
tion with either or any of the  party present at  the  examination.
In regard to the Ecce Homo of Guido, and the  portrait of Brant,
and also of the cat, I was particularly careful that not a soul should
know of their existence,  but myself, until the  somnambulist de-
scribed them.
   A few words more :  Since this second edition  was put to press, I
have been present at two  private exhibitions of  somnambulism by
Mrs. Andros, from Providence.  One of them was on Friday night
last.  It was at about nine o'clock in  the evening, that a clerical
friend called  at my residence,  in behalf of another friend, who  is
a physician, and who  has been in great  distress for  many months
past, by a  grievous nervous affection.  His object  was, to ascer-
tain whether there be any  virtue in animal magnetism, as assert.
ed by its professors, for a disease like his.   I  called immediately
 with the gentleman who  came with the message, upon  Mr. and
 Mrs. Andros. The latter was thrown into apparent sleep, where-
 upon  I requested her to visit my sick  friend, and describe his
 case—telling her that neither of us knew the number of the house.
 Mr. Andros  here  remarked that that would  make  no difference.
 And it was even so.  She  went in imagination to the house—de-
 scribed its exterior correctly—but did not describe correctly the
 next  house  adjoining.   I  asked  her  to  enter. She  did so, and
 described the stair-way exactly, although  I  attempted to mislead
 her upon that subject.  I then asked her to walk into the drawing.
 room.  This I supposed to be entirely unfurnished, as it was naked
 when I had  last seen it.  I asked her  to say what was  in the
 room.  She replied—a pier-table, centre-table, chairs, a portrait, and
 a very beautiful carpet.   I then told Mr. Andros that his wife was
 entirely wrong.   My friend, however, said he believed they were
 putting in  thelfurniture the day before.   Mrs. Andros was positive,
 particularly in regard to the carpet.   She was  right as to that
 article, and wrong  as  to the others.   She  then ascended the
 stairs, entered the sickroom, and described the  situation, the pecu-
  liar disease, and the extraordinary sufferings of my sick friend
  with  great minuteness,  much emotion,  and  surprising accuracy.
  She was wrong,  however,  in  saying that he was sitting up in a 
68
 cushioned chair, he being at the time on the bed, as I have since
 ascertained.
   One case more:  On Monday morning, the 9th of October in-
 stant, Mr. Andros called,  and requested me to meet my'friend Dr.
 £***** aj. njg roomS} af 12 o'clock.   A few minutes after he had
 gone, Dr. C*****  himself called, and renewed the request.   He
 told me, with  great emphasis, that I was the victim of imposition
 —that it was  all nonsense—that there was no reality in this  new
 system of Animal Magnetism—and assured me, that if I would go
 with him, in ten minutes he would prove to me that it was quackery
 and moonshine.  His object, he said, was to take her upon an
 ideal visit to a patient of his,  a few  miles in  the country.   The
 case, he  added, was so marked  and extraordinary, that there could
 be no mistake upon  the  subject.  Under these circumstances I
 made the visit.   The Doctor was particularly careful  not  to in-
 dicate to any one the nature of the case or the location.  There
 were present  at the trial,  four  gentlemen  besides  the Doctor,
 Mrs. Andros,  and  myself. Mrs. A. having been magnetised, Dr.
 C. took  her hand, and for the  first time  mentioned the village in
 which the patient resided  whom he wished to visit.  But he gave
 no intimation as to the location of the  house, the  sex of the pa-
 tient, or  the character of the disease.   In less than five minutes
 the somnambulist said she was there.  Her description of the ex-
terior of the house,  however, was at first incorrect; but substan-
tially correct as to  the interior;  and afterward, on a re-examina-
 tion  of the premises, she described the house with general accuracy.
 But  this was  not the main feature of the  experiment, which was
 the  description of  the case itself.  And  in this, which  involved a
complication of the disease  of scrofula, embracing a large tumor upon
one side, severe lameness, the  contraction  of a limb, Spc. fyc, the
Doctor frankly declared that she astounded him by describing it as
well  as he could  have done it himself.  In the  afternoon I visited
the patient with Dr. C*****,  and had ocular  demonstration of the
truth of the description of  Mrs. Andros.  Here, again, was a case
where collusion, fraud, and imposition were  out  of the question.
And here, too, it is to be particularly noted, that there was an
entire absence of leading questions.  On the  contrary, in order to 
69
avoid the  possibility of collusion, Dr. C***** had  given  Mr. An-
dros in the morning to understand that his patient was in a differ-
ent village, lying in a different direction; and while Mrs. Andros
was describing the case, he endeavored to mislead her as to the
seats of the several strong and unequivocal developements of the
disease.   I leave it with the public.
                                   WILLIAM  L. STONE.

   New-York, Oct. 10, 1837.
POSTSCRIPT TO  THE THIRD EDITION.
  In answer to the objection raised by many others, as well as the
editor of the American, that females alone are used as subjects of
the magnetic  influence, I  have two very recent, and very strong
cases, in addition to those referred to in the preceding postscript.
One of these cases occurred in Albany, after my departure from
that city last  week.   It was at a select meeting of a few gentle-
men and ladies, for the purpose of seeing a few private experiments
by Messrs. Grant and Potter.  Several senators were present, one
of whom, Mr. Spraker, of Montgomery, was magnetised soundly to
sleep, and the experiment was repeated, on a subsequent day, with
the same success.
   Another case has occurred in this city, as can be proved by tes-
timony of the first character, in which a gentleman was magnetised
into a profound slumber by another gentleman, who is an amateur
only-not a  professed magnetiser.  The subject in this case was
also a somnambulist-visiting various places and private rooms in
the city, and describing fixtures and furniture with great accuracy.
 He  then made an imaginary voyage  to France, spoke a ship at
 sea, described the passengers, &c.-visited Paris, and described
 many places  and things  with entire and  wonderful correctness,
 according to  the testimony of a Paris gentleman who was present.
 The subject in this  case shrinks  sensitively from notoriety in the
 matter, or I would go more into particulars. 
70
   I am also in the possession of some very remarkable facts elicited
 at  another experiment—transpiring at Providence  the day after
 my adventure with Miss Brackett, at an interview  between a dis-
 tinguished clergyman of the Episcopal Church and the somnolo-
 quial patient of Dr. Brownell—a lady whom  I  have never seen.
 The lady having been  thrown into  a state of magnetic slumber,
 was transported, in the imagination,  to a distant city, the residence
 of  the clergyman.   He took her to the church of which he  is the
 rector.   After a surprisingly correct description  of  the interior of
 the church, on opening a closet in the vestry-room, she exclaimed—
 " Here are three dresses—one black and two white."  These were
 a clerical gown and two surplices, which always hung there when
 not in use.  Upon being asked whether nothing else  was in the clo-
 set, she answered, " Yes—there is a basket."   This  the clergyman
 was confident was a mistake, as he had no recollection of such an
 article ;  on his return home, however, he had an  examination, and
 found that on the spot which she had named as the location of a
 basket, stood a  demijohn of communion wine.  Its neck  was so
 covered  by the  skirt of one of the surplices,  that  it resembled a
 basket much more than  it did a demijohn.
  Again ; there are several vaults adjacent to the  church.   Into
 a particular one of these the patient was requested to descend and
 examine   its   contents.   She   did  so,  and   immediately  began
 weeping.  Upon being  asked  the cause, she  stated that she was
 looking on the coffins of five  children.   The  clergyman, and he
 alone, was aware that five children had been buried there, and were
 its sole occupants.  In her description of the church, and the fur-
 niture of his own house, although there were some errors, the gene-
ral accuracy of the statements were such as to  convince him, that,
 at least, there was  something  extraordinary  in the  principle of
 Animal Magnetism.
  So I believe.  But I  also believe that experiments and illustra-
 tions are, and ever  will  be, very fallible and uncertain.  I am also
 convinced, that  all  public exhibitions are not only improper, but
 more liable to prove entire failures, than experiments made  in a
 private social circle.  In order to a fair and successful experiment
there should  be an absence of all  excitement, on the part  both of 
71
the magnetiser and the subject.  Perfect calmness and tranquillity
should reign  in  the apartment;  and even then, the chances are
more than even, that an experiment will be  comparatively unsuc-
cessful.  But the results are sometimes wonderful, beyond the ken
of man to fathom or comprehend.
                                                 W. L. S.
   New-York, Oct. 16, 1837. 
APPENDIX.
                                 No. I.

The following statements are copied from the Appendix to Hartshorne's recent
  edition  of Deleuze.  The  extraordinary medical case occurred  under the
  eye and care of Dr. Brownell of Providence, the Somnambulist being another
  lady—not Miss Brackett.  Its strict truth cannot be questioned :—


  In order to prove whether a somnambulist can really visit a place where he has
never before been, and describe the present appearance of things there, the Rev.
E. B. Hall went, without the knowledge of any  one, into the room in which the
Franklin Society deposit their  curious collection, and disarranged several con-
spicuous articles.  He then went to confer with a young woman who resides at
the distance of half a mile from the house occupied by the Franklin Society, and
she being in the magnetic state, he sent her into it in spirit without informing
her of the disarrangement he had made. She had previously been sent there in
the same state, so that she  knew  immediately what alterations had been made,
and stated them so satisfactorily as  to  establish  the fact investigated.  This is
only one out of many proofs which might be adduced to the same effect.
  Still the suspicion very naturally remained, that the  somnambulist derives all
his notions from the mind of the  person in communication, which, though  it be
an astounding circumstance, would induce us to view  the subject in an entirely
different light.  To try this, I one day  put  an old spike into a gun-barrel, and
placed it about four or five feet from my writing desk against the wall.  I then
sent a note to Dr. Brownell, who was then with one of his patients in the som-
nambulic state, requesting him to ask  her  what was in a gun-barrel  lying on
my desk.  The lad who carried the note did not know its contents, and did
not go into  the house, but came back immediately:  in about  thirty  minutes,
a line  came from Dr. Brownell, stating that there  was no gun-barrel on my
desk ;  but that there was one  leaning  against the wall a short distance from it.
Other facts affording similar proofs are abundant.  It is proper to state that the
gun-barrel had probably never  been in the room before.
  A still more interesting proof is exhibited  in the following relation ; which,  I
am authorized to say, is true in all its  important  facts, and is known to have
created a great sensation  at  the time.  Fortunately the witnesses are gentle-
men of high standing and of scientific attainments, whose words are the cur-
rency of truth.  The relation is extracted from a long and interesting article in
the Salem Gazette.
  " Dr. Brownell,  of Providence, operated  upon a young lady, who, during
the period of magnetic sleep, frequently left  the body, and could see and hear
without the  aid of eyes or ears.  She  could tell correctly the time by a watch,
though enveloped in a cloth, and at the same time  having a bandage over  her
eyes.  The doctor  had a patient, sick, as was  believed, of the liver complaint,
and bade the girl, who was sitting  near him, go (in  spirit) to  the man's  house.
Arrived, she, at the doctor's request, described the house that there might be no
mistake, and  then  entered.  What do you see? asked Dr. B.   ' A man sick.'
Now I want  you to tell  me what ails him.  First look  at his head: is that 
73
 well?  'Yes.'  How  do you know?  Do you  mean to say that you see
 the internal organization ?  ' Yes.'  Is the liver, heart, &c. well ?   ' Yes ;  it
 looks just the same as yours, or anybody's else.'   Well, do you see any thing
 wrong?   'Yes, there is an enlargement of  the  spleen.'   Several  questions
 were then put to confuse her, and also to ascertain  if she knew what the spleen
 was, and where situated ;  to all which  she gave satisfactory replies.  Still the
 doctor was incredulous.  But now comes the proof.   In four days the man died,
 and Dr. B. having obtained  permission to institute a post-mortem  examination,
 called on every physician in the city, and narrated the  story of the girl.  In
 presence of several of them the  body was subsequently opened, when, to their
 surprise, the girl was right—all that ailed the man  was an  enlargement of the
 spleen.
   What shall we say to this fact ?  It is substantiated  beyond the  possibility of
 a doubt, as may be learned by any one  passing through Providence.  Shall we
 set it down among the list of curious coincidences, or admit that the girl ac-
 tually possessed a supernatural sense of vision, and that for the time being, her
 immortal  spirit, released  from the  body,  roved freely and at the will of the
 operator ?
   As in the state of vision, the fact is no more strange, than in the well-attested
 case of the famed Springfield somnambulist.   Now, if  we admit that the soul in
 this case saw without the  aid of eyes, why not admit that, in certain states of
 the nervous system, other senses or faculties of the mind may also act independent-
 ly of their material organs  ?  We know the soul thus exists after death, and why
 not in the state of temporary death caused by animal magnetism ?   What know
 we of the nature of that deathless spark within us?  And  if we allow that  it
 may, without the body, enter the next room, we cannot deny the possibility that
 it may in the same manner annihilate time and space, and travel hundreds of
 miles as easily and as quickly as it can so many feet.
  But some say, we cannot believe that God has  given such a dangerous power
 to the human will.  It  is out of the  common order  of nature ; it  is a miracle j
 we cannot believe it.   But who can  set  bounds to the  dominion of the human
 will.  Man—before the steady gaze of whose eye the forest king trembles and
 flees;  whose power extends to  the huge dwellers  in  ocean's unfathomed infi-
 nite; man—at whose  nod the giant oak, which  for centuries has braved hea-
 ven's thunderbolts, falls prostrate, and rises again in beauty to adorn his mansion ;
 who lays  his will upon the everlasting rock and it becomes as wax; whose high-
 way is earth, and air, and ocean ; whose servant is the lightning ; whose intel-
 lect spans earth and  encircles  heaven—thinking, reasoning, godlike man—who
 can set bounds to the untried power of his mysterious will ?  Who say to it, ' thus
 far shalt thou come and no farther ?'
  Now, though in the above-mentioned cases, our will  operates through  more
 tangible means, the facts, were they  not so common, are as wonderful as the al-
 leged fact that this same mighty agent operating through the nervous system, pro-
 duces all the wonders of animal magnetism.   If actual experiment demonstrates
 the fact, fools may laugh but wise  men believe ;  and believing, bow down and
 adore with deeper reverence  that Great Being from whose almighty will these
 millions of human wills emanated."
  On reading this communication," say Mr. Hartshorne, " which nearly accord-
 ed with what? I had heard stated, I conversed with  Dr. B.,  who is one  of our
 oldest physicians,  and asked him whether the  statement there  made  was cor-
 rect.  He replied  that it was, in substance; but  some of the particulars  were
 imperfectly stated.  He gave me the following account.
  The patient lived more than a quarter of  a mile from my house.  1 requested
 a somnambulist, then at my house, to see if she  could find such a man, at the
 same time pointing out to her the situation of the house, which was not in  sight
from the room where  we continued all the time.  She saw him.  On being asked
in what room, she replied, in  the third room back from the street.  She was then
requested to describe the situation  of the furniture in  it,  in order to discover
                                  10 
74
whether she had got into the right place, and whether her clairvoyance might be
trusted to at that time;  she described it very exactly.
  I then told her my patient had been sick  a long time, and desired her to exa-
mine him, and tell what the disease was.
  She said, " He looks so bad, I do not like to do it."  I replied,  " Never mind
that;  it looks bad to you, because you have not  been accustomed to looking at
the interior of a body."
  As I supposed him to be affected with a  diseased liver, and with indigestion
arising from a diseased  state of the stomach, 1  asked her to look at the stomach
to see if that was diseased ; she answered, " No."
  Is the liver diseased ?  " No."
  Well, examine the whole intestinal canal, and see if there is any disease there.
" I  do not see any," said she.
  Examine the kidneys.  " Nothing is the matter with them."
  Not knowing what other part  to call her attention to,  I requested her to look
at every part of him.
  After some little time, she says, " His spleen is swelled ; it is enlarged."
  His spleen ! said I;  when we  speak of a person who is spleeny, we suppose
he has an imaginary complaint.   What do you mean ?
  She said, " The part  called the spleen, is enlarged."
  How do you know it is enlarged ?
  " It is a great deal larger than yours."
  Do you see mine ?  " Yes."
  How large is his spleen ?
  " It is a great deal longer and thicker than your hand."
  I  then asked her to put her  hand where the  spleen is  situated.  She imme-
diately placed her hand over the region of the spleen.
  I then asked her what shape the stomach was : she replied that it was like a
flower in the garden. I was not  acquainted with that flower, and do not recol-
lect the name she gave  to it.
  I then requested her to recollect all  about this,  saying I wished to  talk with
her about  it when she awoke.
  After she came out of the somnambulic state, she was asked whether she re-
membered having examined the sick person.  She remembered it.
  What part did you  tell me was diseased ?  After a little consideration, she
replied, " I believe I told you the spleen is enlarged."
  How came you to call it the spleen ?
  "I do not know."
  Did you ever hear any description of the internal organs, or see any plates of
them?  "No."
  Should vou know the plate representing the stomach, if you were to see it?
  "I think I should if it looked like it."
  I will go into the library and bring out some plates, to see whether you know
the  internal organs.
  While I was gone into the library,  she said to a lady present, " Every once in
a while I saw fluids pass from his stomach into his bowels."
  On returning with the volume of  plates, in order to ascertain whether she
really distinguished the different organs, I showed her a plate somewhat resem-
bling the stomach, and  asked her if that was what she  saw for the  stomach ?
She said,  " No."   Turning to several plates  in  succession, she declared  that
neither of them resembled the stomach.
  Then turning to the  true plate, as if accidentally, while throwing open the
leaves, intending to pass it by unless she noticed it, she immediately cried out.
" That's it;  that's what I saw for the stomach."
  I then conversed with her in relation to the other viscera; and she gave a very
correct description of them, as she had done  in her sleep.  1 asked her if she had
eonversed upon the subject, or seen any plates of the internal organs.  She de-
clared she never had. 
75
  Seven days after this, the patient was taken more seriously ill,  and died on
Saturday, the third day following".
  On Monday, a. post-mortem examination took place ; previous to which I invit-
ed all the physicians whom I could find in the city.
  Eighteen persons were present, of whom sixteen were physicians.
  I then stated all the particulars of the examination by the somnambulic patient;
and requested the physicians to examine  the body to see if they could discover
the diseased spleen from external examination.   They,  with one voice, declared
they could not.
  I then opened the body, and, to the utter astonishment of the physicians pre-
sent, found  the spleen  so enlarged  as  to weigh fifty-seven ounces.   Its usual
weight is from four to six ounces.
  No other disease was  perceptible except a general  inflammation,  which, no
doubt, came on about three days before his death.
                               No.  II.

   In regard to the power of Mr. Green, of Pawtucket, mentioned

in the Postscript a few  pages back, the following correspondence

between Doctors  Hartshorn and Webb, of Providence, is  taken

from the Appendix of Hartshorn's edition of Deleuze :—

                                       " Providence, August 25th, 1837.
  Sir,—In the Practical Instruction in Animal Magnetism, which I am now
publishing in English, the author mentions the power that some magnetizers
have of paralyzing the limbs of a patient in the magnetic state.  But  the in-
stance which you recently related to me  is so much more extraordinary, that I
wish to obtain from you in writing,  a statement of the facts in relation to it,
with permission to make use of it in a note.   I shall esteem it a valuable addi-
tion to the authentic matter  to be embraced in the Appendix of each number of
that work.                Yours,  respectfully,
tnatwom.                     ,    r           T  Q  HARTSH0RN.

   Dr. Thomas H. Webb."
                                       " Providence, September 1, 1837.
  Dear Sm,—My time has been so much occupied of late, as to have rendered
it impossible for me, until the present moment, to reply to your note of the 25th
ult., and even now I am so  circumstanced as to be unable to do more than
write a very brief  reply.
  In conversation with Mr. Daniel Greene, of Pawtucket, who, as you proba-
bly well know, is the most powerful,  as  he has been the most extensive mag-
netizer in this country, I inquired if he  were able to magnetize  and thereby
obtain control over a single limb, whilst the rest of the body remained m a natu-
ral state.  He said that he had done it, in  the case of Miss J., with whom you
are acquainted, and would attempt it on  another patient that we were going to
see that afternoon, if reminded of it.                                     ,
  The individual alluded to had never been magnetized but three times, and did
not present a very striking exemplification of the usual magnetic phenomena.
After trying various experiments that consumed several hours, we left the house,
having forgotten the subject matter of my interrogatory.  But upon recollecting 
76
 it, We returned, and the patient reseated herself upon being requested so to do,
 without any reason being given her for making the request.
   Mr. Greene then went through the usual manipulations some dozen or twenty
 times, confining them to the space reaching from the top of the left shoulder, to
 the extremities of the fingers on the same side.   He afterwards requested her to
 raise the left hand to the head.  She said she could not.  There was evidently
 a powerful effort made to do this, as was shown by the working of the muscles
 inserted into the upper portion of the shoulder; but the limb remained power-
 less and motionless, not obeying the dictates of the owner's will.  She was ask-
 ed to raise her right arm to the head, which was done promptly, and with perfect
 ease and freedom.  Again she was directed to stretch out the left hand, but un-
 availingly.  It was completely paralyzed; devoid of motion and of sensation.
 I gave it a severe pinch, nipping with the thumb and finger,  as hard as I deem-
 ed it prudent to, leaving deep impressions with my nails.  Upon inquiring if it
 did not  hurt her, she, with an incredulous smile, observed, that I had not done
 any thing to her.  I then, without saying any thing, pinched, in the same man-
 ner, though  less severely, the other hand, when she drew back from me with a
 sudden start, and complained that I  hurt her.  The arm, to one lifting it,  was a
 perfect dead  weight.  I poised it on my fingers, and Mr. G. restored it; and there
 was a very marked difference in it and about it, as it passed  from the magnetic
 to the natural state.
  To a  person not acquainted with the magnetizer, magnetizee, and the gentle-
 men present, there will of course appear nothing conclusive upon the subject of
magnetism in what is  here detailed; but to those of us who had previously ex-
 amined  other patients, and satisfied  ourselves of the existence of a power by
means of which, to a certain extent, one individual may obtain mental mastery
over another, the experiment was satisfactory.
  Should a suitable opportunity hereafter present, I may furnish  you with a
 statement of some singular cases which I have witnessed.   In the meantime I
 remain,
                             Yours, &c.
                                               THOMAS H. WEBB.
  Mr. Thomas C. Hartshorn."
  Erratum.—First line, page 29, dele  the words—"they are like figures."   My
impression is strong that Miss B. said something equivalent, if not those words;
but on reflection 1 cannot recall the exact phrase she used.