The Sun.
London, England, 1856-01-17 00:00:00

The Zoist. Arthur Hall, Virtue and Co.

The fifty-second and final number of this practical
as well as speculatiiie serial, or " Journal of Cere-
bral Philosophy and Mesmerism, and their Appli-
cation to Human Welfare," originated, as we' have
every reason to believe, in the most philanthropic
and liberal spirit, supported by zealous and talented
contributors, and conducted with singular ability
and fearlessness amid much ridicule and bitter
opposition, " the object for which the Zoist was un-
dertaken is," we are told, "attained"—that object
being " the establishment of truths, splendid, ex-
quisite, extensive in their bearings, and of the
highest importance to the moral and corporeal
well-being of mankind." This being the case, the
editor, who has been a host in himself, has judi-
ciously, doubtless, brought it to a conclusion, so
that nothing now remains for the subscribers but
to regard the numbers which have appeared as
parts of a complete production—bind them toge-
ther and treasure them " as a solid work of refe-
rence for years to come." What the achievements
are on which the editor looks back with justifiable
pride—at all events, unconcealed satisfaction—may
be gathered from the following quotations, loosely
strune. together :
" During thirteen years we have amassed fresh fact
in Cerebral Physiology and Mesmerism, and presentee
them in such numbers and with such proofs, that to
question them would be absurd ; and they ara no longer
questioned, except by the most ignorant, who will gra-
dually form a smaller minority. We have spare l no labour
in collecting facts or examining their solidity : we have
never quailed under the attacks made upon ns in the
College of Physicians, in other lectures and addresses,
in publications, or in conversation behind our
beats, but have stood our ground and fought as
became conscientious and fearless men. While thus
supporting truth, we have as earnestly applied ourselves
to liberate it from the carelessly made observations of
some, the weak and fanciful speculations and dreamings
of others, and from that curse of all true knowledge and
moral progress—superstition—supernatural imaginings
—which are excluded from astronomy, chemistry, geo-
logy, and other sciences, and ought to be excluded from
the physiology of the brain, or, in other words, the in-
tellectual and moral functions of man and other animals,
and from mesmerism, both of which are but branches of
natural knowledge."
" We have been anxious that the world should discern
the fact that all the mental—the moral and intellectual
phenomena of man and other animals—are but so many
phenomena of the living organ called brain, or other
nervous substances, and are subject to all the laws of
the functions of all other organs; are inevitable and
calculable effects of so many causes acting upon certain
combinations of matter in certain circumstances."
" We have furnished ample examples of facts in the
physiology of the brain of which metaphysicians and
physiologists; are not aware—facts proving that the
term cerebral physiology comprehends snore than phre-
nology, and is not synonymous with it. We have
shown that one brain can act silently upon another, one
silently sympathise with another in emotion and in im-
pressions communicated by the organs of sensation ;
that the brain can experience impressions from concealed
or d-staet objects of sight ; receive impressions to which
we are habitually strangers ; and can be impressed with
what has passed or is to come. Imagination in the
mesmeric or sub-mesmeric state can effect prodigies.
Mesmerism has thus thrown a flood of light upon men-
tal pbilosphy, and we have furnished an abundance of
such illustrations. The Zoist will for ever banish doubts
of the reality of many facts in physiology and in disease.
Only twelve years ago the whole medical profession
scoffed at the possibility of surgical operations being
possible without any sensation. The evenings of
the 22d of November astd the 13th of December,
1842, will ever be memorable in the annals of medi-
eine ; and afterwards, when surgeons were overwhelmed
with mesmeric proofs, they eagerly adopted a new, but
frequently injurious, method of accomplishing what they
had held in derision 9,nd had spurned. We have re-
corded all the glorious doings of Dr. .Esdaile in India,
and all the painless operations performed elsewhere up
to this hour, so far as we know of them. We have de-
tailed almost endless instances of the great curative
powers of mesmerism over diseases apparently very dif-
ferent from each other, and shown that it is a mighty
adjunct to the restorative power of the living frame,—to
the vis medicatrix naturce which always battles against
disease—that it soothes and strengthens, and, though
not a remedy for every ailment, is likely to be more or
less useful, and often strikingly useful, in every case,
medical and surgical, general and local, in the young and
the old, in the human subject and in the brute creation.
We have shown what cause mankind would have to con-
gratulate themselves if the medical profession would re-
ceive it into the mass of means which they hourly, and
too often unsatisfactorily and injuriously employ.
"We have forced attention to singular nervous dis-
eases disregarded by medical men, though occasionally
recorded. Examples of clairvoyance abound in all the
volumes. But, though this phenomenon appears un-
questionable, we well knowthitatbygrobsosthiropproosfietsisoionanisl
hourly practised in regard to
clairvoyants and private individuals considered to be
trustworthy, but influenced by vanity and wickedness."
" We have presented satisfactory proofs that mss
merit phenomena, though they may be produced artifici-
ally, may all occur without artificial means, and are due
Ito a peculiar condition, of which we are as ignorant as of
the true nature) of gravitation, electricity, heat, light, So.
We have proved that mesmeric phenomena are inde-
pendent of imagination, suggestion, fixed ideas, &c.,
though every mesmerist should be aware that imagina-
tion often plays a powerful part in mesmeric phenomena,
and has thus proved a stumbling-block to investigators
from the time of the first commission of inquiry in Paris
in the last century to the present hour."
Glancing over the contents of the present num-
ber with more than usual interest, though the
mere fact that the appearance of the journal from
the first involved a sacrifice of time and feeling for
a good and humane purpose, gave it a special attrac-
tion to all who admire manliness and self-devotion—
and who, like ourselves, are by no means of opinion
that the profession of medicine can afford to reject
any useful aid, we find, among other things, a
number of striking cures, by means of mesmerism
—another and a final instalment of a remarkable
series of papers on " The Extatics of Genius," the
subjects being Socrates, George Fox, Swedenborg,
Schamyl, Joseph Smith, and Hung-Lew-tsewen, the
theological leader of the Chinese rebellion, toge-
ther with " I visit to the Great Prison at
Munich, -by the Rev. Chauncy Hare Townshend,"
communicated in a letter to Dr. Elliotson, the

latter a narration so extraordinary that many w
be disposed to regard it at first as a Utopian dream.
The writer, however, appeals to the testimony of
all who know anything of the prison in question in
corroboration of his statements, which there can
be no doubt are strictly true, and on which he
bases much shrewd remark and able reasoning.
The prison in question is under the superinten-
dence of a philanthropic and decidedly philosophi-
cal governor, a colonel in the army, whose system,
though of a nature calculated to appal our prison
Solons, is, we are told, hardly more novel than it is
successful. The institution, let it be premised, is
self-supporting, and now the Colonel loquitur—
" When a criminal enters the prison, the first thing
we do is to ascertain his former trade, if he had any,
and to set him to work at that. In the case of his
non-instruction in any useful occupation, we immediately
take measures to have him instructed in some business
that seems best adapted to his nature and faculties. Our
lowest class of manual occupation is the winding of flax
on reels, and to this work the least clever and intelli-
gent are set. A large proportion of the prisoners are
employed in this business, which is so essential to our
grand object, the manufacture of cloth. Corporal chas-
tisement is here unknown. Indeed had there been any-
thing of the sort employed in this prison you would not
have seen me here. Neither have we any useless labour
(a cut at our treadmills thought I), anything, in short,
which might degrade a man from his position as a human
being. Our great moral object is to raise and to re-
claim. Our basis of principle is the belief that even the
worst criminal still remains man and nay be beneficially
a:ted on by kindness, reason, and the skilful touching
of certain human motives which' we have found common
to all. Convinced that all restraint is inefficient which
is not accepted by the will of the criminal himself, we
try to lead every one of our prisoners to a conviction of
the excellence of our measures, and of the benefits which
will accrue to himself from cordially embracing them.
In fine, to produce self-government, not a government
ab extra (continued the colonel with something of the
German metaphysician in his manner) : a subjective,
not an objective, obedience and acquiescence is our end
and aim."

To the remark that this must be difficult, he
replies :

" I have not found it so," replied the Governor.
" Occupation in the present, an object of interest set
before a man in the future, the idea of something still to
be lost, or still to be gained. These springs of action
judiciously set in motion are adequate, we find, in every
case, to restore or develops the principle of self-govern•
ment. Of course, the chief difficulty is at first. Many
a new comer is necessarily idle, brutish, ferocious even.
But this I have ever found with the worst of criminals :
once convince him of your interest in him, and he is
pervious to your influence. The great source of crime
(continued the governor, who seemed to be somewhat of
a philosopher) undoubtedly is the belief in the lower
classes that they are cared for by neither God nor man.
How much of this belief is the fault of the higker and
governing classes, God only knows. At any rate we,
in this place, try to remove the unfortunate impression.
There, at least, the criminal sees that much is done, and
disinterestedly done, for his benefit and reclaiming."

Occupation is the first great means relied on for
governing the prisoners, each of wham has his
daily task allotted to him, and is left without su-
pervision to complete it, the punishment for neglect
being pecuniary fines and deprivation of indul-
gences, no corporal chastisement being permitted.
These punishments are found to be efficient in
such cases, " most of the men," according to the
Colonel, having natures sufficiently human really to
feel the infliction of a fine or penalty, as if their ill
conduct had been an act of ingratitude towards those
who are interested about them. Once convinced
that they are yet men—yet cared for by somebody
—they seem to dread anything like a fall back into
that utter self-contempt which was once their usual
state. The money, however, which they are al-
lowed to make acts, we are told, " like a forcible
taskmaster over them," even operating on those
imprisoned for life, who have liberty to be-
queath it. In the prison are criminals of every
grade, murderers included, yet all are con-
trolled by moral coercion. Chains may be
employed at first to the more desperate, but in
the long run these are found unnecessary. The
prison contains six hundred offenders—the doors
of their rooms are open—there is no secret espion-
age—the punishment of death is rarely resorted to
in Bavaria—they communicate and combine, and
there is no strength in the prison to resist
them, yet they do not combine nor rise in revolt.
Diet is an important element. " Nothing over
strong is allowed—the cooling regular diet of the
prison has from the first an immense effect on their
moral being." Crime by the way is regarded by
the Governor as a disease. Every prisoner can
read, and the means of self-instruction, including a
library, are at their disposal ; fenced, how-
ever, round with restrictions. punishment
is allowed that can injure health—everything that
is done in this way is such as commands the gene-
ral approval of the prisoners. Our space will not
allow us to notice in detail the observations -made
by Mr. Townshend during his inspection ; suffice
it to say, they amply justified the statements of
the Governor, and included a marked and easily
recognisable 'amelioration in the countenances " of
the criminals who had been longest in prison."
" We have nothing," says Mr. Townshend, " like it
in England. I wish we had, at least for trial sake.
The Munich plan involves three important points,
which are not yet embraced in any of our prison
systems. I mean first, the treating of the worst
criminal as a recoverable human being ; second,
the substitution of self-restraint for alien ; third,
the absence of all useless labour or nugatory punish-
ment of any kind ! But we must conclude, and
in doing so recommend a perusal of the narrative,
and of Mr. Townshend's remarks, including those
on Capital Punishment, to the notice of our
readers.