weak and sensitive, a useless exhibition. There is a little want of calmness in this; it is not easy to imagine that there can be much reasoning side by side with it.

My sole purport in addressing you is, to caution the New Church to seek information* before they assent to your correspondent's Remarks. It is not a self-evident truth that Mesmerism is either disorderly, or deserves any of the other predicates above assigned to it; we must therefore have demonstration, which J. S. has not supplied. Until this be given, let us regard Swedenborg as neutral on the point.

Let us remember that the truths and revelations of the New Church are above all things those subjects upon which the world says that "there is no opportunity afforded for the exercise of sober and legitimate reasoning." Let us not in this matter borrow a leaf from the world's book, or a tone from its reasoning, nor ever to obliquely admit its standard of soberness and legitimacy. Let us warily see whether what it calls a quackery, be not a new truth.

I venture to think that if J. S. were about to suffer the horrors of an amputation, he would be glad to resort to the Mesmerists, and indulge his imaginative faculty with a painless operation.

But not to prolong this letter, I venture to hope that the members of the New Church will be the calmest and the best-informed of reasoners, and that they will always be on the look out, but with cautious and discriminating eyes, for new facts in physical and metaphysical science; that if they must indulge any prejudice, it will be enlisted on the side of newness; and if they must have any unreasonable feeling against quackery, it will be a feeling which shall cause them to suspect, that old chartered bodies, and corporations, and colleges, and universities, and professions, are at present the most prolific sources of it.

Yours, &c.,

X.

Remarks of the Editor on the same subject.

WE have received another communication, similar to the above, containing remarks and strictures on the paper by J. S., in our last; but as the object of our two correspondents is the same, not to condemn Mesmerism altogether, but only the introduction of it into the pulpit, we have deemed it sufficient to insert one communication only. We are entirely agreed with all our correspondents, that Mesmerism in a New Church pulpit is quite out of place, and instead of edifying, it must have grievously offended the majority of the audience; and we trust * See the Zoist, a Mesmeric quarterly periodical conducted with great talent. N.S. NO. 59.-VOL. V.

3 H

that no case of this kind will again occur: judging, indeed, from the general sensation respecting it, which has come to our knowledge, we may, with some degree of certainty, affirm, that it will not occur again.

As to "Mesmerism" itself, so far as our periodical is concerned, we shall not interfere with its course in the world, but shall watch its progress. The well-founded statements concerning it, and the remarkable phenomena attending it, cannot fail to arrest the attention of every observer and hearer; and the thoughtful mind will ponder well over these phenomena, and endeavour to arrive at some rational solution. We are, therefore, not agreed with "J. S.," in rejecting Mesmerism altogether. The main argument on which J. S. founds his rejection of Mesmerism, is that of its interfering with, and even suspending, for the time being, the liberty of the will, and consequently the rationality of the understanding. The mental powers appear in most cases to be surrendered for the time to the possession and control of the mesmerizer: and this is, no donbt, a very serious condition, to which no human being should be reduced but in cases of the greatest emergency, in which something eminently useful is to be accomplished. We know that it is a law of the Divine Providence that the liberty of the will, and the consequent free uses of the understanding should be kept inviolate, since without these primary and essential conditions of our being, there can be no progress in regeneration, or in the attainment of wisdom and happi(See D. P. 71.)

ness.

But in cases of severe surgical operations, if through the suspension of these faculties in their ultimate, or bodily sensations, pain can be avoided, we certainly think that there is an end, which justifies the employment of Mesmerism in all such cases; and we are certain, that the unhappy individuals who have to submit to these operations, would bless Providence for permitting such a means of alleviating and removing pain to be discovered. There are also other cases in which pain is said to be removed.* What then is that power called Animal Magnetism, or Mesmerism? This question has often been put, accompanied with

* We refer the reader to the periodical called the Zoist, and especially to the work entitled Facts on Mesmerism, by the Rev. Chauncy Hare Townshend, M.A., of Trinity Hall, Cambridge. In the Supplement to this work may be found a collection of testimonies as to the facts in Mesmerism, written by philosophers and physicians, in several countries, of well-known celebrity, as eye-witnesses and participators; among whom is the eminent philosopher, Professor Agassis of Neufchatel, Switzerland. These facts, so well authenticated, cannot be denied, nor can they be set aside by any outcry of delusion, collusion, illusion, &c.; the way which wisdom appears to point out, is calmly to contemplate these facts, and to endeavour to arrive at some understanding of their cause and nature.

the enquiry whether the philosophy, both natural and spiritual, recognized by the New Church, has anything to offer on the question. It is known that man is a microcosm, or little world, in which all the powers and forces, and all the principles and laws of all the sciences in the macrocosm, or great world, exist and operate by correspondence. In the microcosm, or in man, these powers, principles, &c. exist and operate in quite a different manner to that in which they exist and operate in the macrocosm; so that to conclude from the latter respecting the former, would lead us into error. The human microcosm is governed by laws peculiar to itself, and quite distinct from those which govern the macrocosm. "Whatever," says E.S., "the microcosm receives from the visible and circumambient world, it withdraws from the powers of that world; and subjugates and appropriates to itself." (Animal Kingdom, 133.) Thus there is a chemistry performed by the vital functions of the body, and there is also a chemistry in outward nature; but these two kinds of chemistry are quite distinct, and governed by different laws. The same may be said of the principles of every other science, as existing and operating in the microcosm and in the macrocosm. Now we learn from Swedenborg's natural philosophy, that the first visible element of nature is Magnetism, which pervades the world, and which belongs not so much to the material as to the elementary world, that is, to those powers and forces which, being more immediately connected with the solar influence, govern both the atmospheric and the terraqueous world. Electricity, which is intimately connected with magnetism, and which is probably the effort which the latter makes to restore its equilibrium, is one of those wonderful powers which belong to nature in its elementary principles. Now if man be a little world, there must be something in him corresponding to magnetism in the great world around him. And it appears to us that the animatory power which the brain exercises in its cortical substances, which are its principles, and the elementary nature of the body, is that which is analogous to magnetism in the elementary nature of the external world. This power is exerted by the brain through its fibrous system, universally over the body, with an instantaneous quickness far surpassing that of magnetism and electricity.

We will here quote a passage from Swedenborg's Spiritual Diary, which appears to bear closely upon the subject before us :

"There are three solar atmospheres, which operate upon the natural mind, not, however, upon the interior, but God Messiah is the sun in the interior and inmost [mind]. 222. There are four natural spheres which arise from the sun; the atmosphere which causes hearing is known. A purer atmosphere, separate from the aërial, is + See Swedenborg's Principia, &c. p. 125. This work is translated into English, and will shortly be published.

that which produces sight, or causes things to be seen, by the reflexions of light [nimbi]* from all objects; how far this atmosphere penetrates into the natural mind, and whether it presents material ideas, as they are called, or phantasies and imaginations, cannot yet be clearly stated, but it appears probable from various considerations. This then will be the first atmosphere, which reigns in the natural mind. Another atmosphere, which is a still purer ether, is that which produces the magnetic forces (vires magnetum), which reign not only about the magnet in particular, but also around the whole globe, but to what extent, it is not necessary to describe; it produces there the situation of the entire terraqueous globe according to the poles of the world, and also many things which are known respecting the elevations and inclinations of the magnet. This sphere, in the natural mind, appears to produce reasonings (ratiocinia), in which, however, a spiritual principle must needs be present that they may live, as in the sight, and in every other sense, [there must be a spiritual principle] that they may perceive. The purest ethereal sphere, is that universal sphere in the entire world which is presented [or is active] about the ratiocinations of the same mind; hence that mind is called the natural mind, and its interior operations, when perverse, are called ratiocinations, but when according to order, they are called simply reason, and is a species of thoughts on account of [or arising from] spiritual influx. These spheres arise from the sun, and may be called solar, and are consequently natural. In the interior mind, however, there is nothing natural, but all is spiritual, and in the inmost mind is the celestial principle. These [spheres] are produced by God Messiah alone, and are alive, and may be called spiritual and celestial spheres."

*

When it is said in this extract that these natural spheres operate upon the natural mind so as to produce reasonings, &c., the reader must be well aware that this mode of expression is according to appearance; since there is no such thing as physical or natural influx; and indeed against such a supposition the author sufficiently guards us when he says, "that a spiritual principle must be present in these spheres, that they may live," &c. These natural spheres, therefore, correspond to spiritual spheres, and are the passive forces by which the active forces, or the spiritual spheres, produce their effects in ultimates.

Now if these natural spheres in outward nature are so penetrating and operative, what must be the case with their corresponding living principles in the human economy, which are more immediately the organs of mental influence! This power may be called a living or animomagnetism, and the mode of its operation in the animal economy is, we apprehend, analogous to that in which it operates in the physical economy of nature. Its eminent uses in nature appear to be those of keeping the earth itself in its proper position to its poles, both equatorial and ecliptical; of preserving all things upon its surface in their relative and proper position to each other, and thus of maintaining a universal equilibrium and order both in the atmospheric and terraqueous

*The term nimbus must be used here in the sense of brightness, as in Virgil: "Pallas nimbo effulgens."

worlds; without which equilibrium and order it must be evident that the kingdoms of nature could not possibly perform their destined uses. It is our opinion that earthquakes are chiefly produced by the operations of this tremendous power to regain its own equilibrium, and to establish universal order on the terraqueous globe; precisely as electricity operates in the form of lightning to restore equilibrium and order in the lower atmospheres. So great is this magnetic power, that it would shatter islands and continents to pieces, rather than suffer its equilibrium to be permanently disturbed; and this, as we have seen, for the most exalted of purposes, that of keeping all things in those states of order in which they can perform their destined uses. And the uses performed by the corresponding power in the microcosm, or animal kingdom, are analogous to those in nature, namely, not only to animate all the organs and viscera to the vigorous performance of their respective functions, but to maintain a universal equilibrium and order amongst them; without which it would be impossible for them to perform their respective functions. This equilibrium is, as we well know, occasionally disturbed by the action of disease, when this vital power, which is the true vis medicatrix, becomes more eminently active, in order to restore its kingdom to health, harmony and peace; in the meantime pains, paroxysms, and convulsions are experienced analogous to the electric shocks in the atmosphere, and to the violent shakings and convulsions of the globe in earthquakes. Spiritual earthquakes, or great changes in the states of the Church, which are experienced as earthquakes in the world of spirits, are also produced by the Divine power of the GOOD and the TRUE in restoring that equilibrium, and in establishing that order in which divine influences from the Lord can flow for the salvation of the human race. The causes of these dreadful phenomena, both in the natural and the spiritual worlds, must not be ascribed to the benign influences which endeavour to establish order, but to the perverse operations of the lower degrees in man's life, the sensual and corporeal, which, when not subject to the higher degrees,-the rational and spiritual, act in confederacy with hell, and cause all kinds of disorders, sins, and miseries to arise.

We learn from Swedenborg's Animal Kingdom, that the brain, by virtue of its fibres terminating in every point of the skin, is sensible of every thing coming in contact with its kingdom in the circumambient world, and that it thus feeds itself with ethereal food, as the tongue feeds the stomach and abdomen with terraqueous food. From this it appears, as indeed is well known, that there is an instantaneous communication between the brain and all points in the extremities of the body. We have seen from the testimony of E.S., that the magnetic sphere in nature