The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-11 00:00:00

,z_

11,
MR. SPENCER T. HALVSM
TURES ON MESMERIS.

editor 4
On Tuesday evening, Mr. Spencer T. Ilaathlll,
the Phreno-Illagnet, commenced a series of leeterweiky
this interesting and mysterious science, in the le, ooze
eosibtos,:::
sembly Rooms, Harrison-road. We had
eluded that mesmerism had become.a threadbare rirted
and little regarded by the public; but the well-raertlig
reputation of Mr. Hall as a lecturer, and the ststvre,
nature of the phenomena he educes, brought toge, no' 5,
large and respeotatile audience, who manifested' i.'„i'ents
Bible, a greater interest in the" wonderful exPerh--fr
submitted to them than we have witnessed upon acrtro.
vious occasion. The lecturer commenced by a fen from
fool
ductory observations, and quoted somewhat large .Y
_iir
old authors of acknowledged merit in proof titan or his
rism is no new science. Upon the conclusia. of
most interesting lecture, he announced bis inter/b. 0;
submitting a series of experiments, but requestead re'
the audience would elect a chairman to watch allcoir°
port the proceedings. The assembly with one ell!
elected Major Pollard, who in obedience to the gee
request•took the chair.. a eo'The experiments then proceeded, and were of asio
tirely different class to those submitted to 11,400
audiences upon. previous occasions. The patients an of
operated upon here in a vigilant state. A young woer;
the name of Holbrook was operatedupon in this ma 0,8
his arms were extended, rendered rigid, and then 1'
waive waive of Mr. Hall's bands both arms were contraccir4
Two powerful gentlemen , were then requested t°,,i,„Al
the arms, and prevent thelr contraction. The ',a'os
being given that they were ready, the experimeare' 0.
made, and despite their endeavours, both arms Ives
stantly contracted. A youlman of the name aochged,
a composifoi in -the Guar tan offic'e; was latr_ri upon
and several most curious experiments perforrinwo or
him. His hand was fastened upon a chair blos of
threemotions of the hand of the operator ; Leesict„triel
fered any sum of money if he would remove it I lea
but in vain ; a few moments after the hand was: dhe
off from the chair, as if by some serious impulse, "'Z tho
was offered 201. if he would place his hand uPoI!A 0
chair ; he tried, but found himself absolutely rive
the spot and unable to move even as much as 5!I trtr•
breadth. A little boy from Bradford was then floc/
dueed,„ and several similar experiments were Per4o
upon him, Mr, J. H. Mitchell offered the little l' min
sovereign ifthe would only take his hand from theicooi,e(l
and held the coveted coin before him ; the boY ' st to
wistfully at the temptiN gift, and exerted his utnif'oeb•
win the prize, but in vain: The audience expressed loch
astonishment at the almost; incredible experiment :dee
they themselves witnessed. The three patients wierf,,rtnea
thrown into the most grotesque- shapes ; with ae -0, io'
limbs, the St. Vitus's dance, palsied ,arms, and ill„%i•thB
stance one of them was struck dumb at the ivi"c, our
operator! All this may sound strange, but we p 1.0% L 4
selves we are only recording facts which were wit ei;t4
by hundreds. One of the patients was unalterahlid de
with his finger pointing towards a given object,, :10
dared his utter, inability to stir. Money, briw, -,,,066,
every, inducement were offered him, but to no 'Tot ,
Holbrook and Leeis were then placed back to bac !iiietl 1
by a few passes of the hand inseparably fa.stened--glae 1
tegether. Their endeavours to get, from each other ;or
laughable, and was only effected by Mr. Hall cleilel,t4'
rising them. The influence of music (by Taylies
1161141
rifle band) was then tried, and several most hesitoioa ,
and astonishing effects were produced. At the 011%60
of the lecture, a vote Of thariks was given by acelsr,,,ioo
to the Chairman, who in repVpassed a glowing en "el si
upon Mr. Hall ; the Gallant Mijor said that me 1,01
he had, been surprised at the " expeliments Which. he ;
witnessed as performed by Mr. Craig, he was sal' Tbe
astounded at what he had witnessed- that evening•tbingi
audience then separated, wondering "how these
could be ?" , • •
dad
„
A,
On Wednesday evening the room was crowd--s the rt:
the request of many 'parties present, several Of -,,,sie
vious evening's experiments were repeated, duringorea'
a singular and somewhat painful circumstance Aree
Mr. Hall is not, apparently, afraid -of having "0 say, •
four patients under the mesmeric influence at °7o3lo°' .
the same time, and moves among them with the rieso"
ease ; but there is evident danger in allowing geed lee
promiscuously to meddle with the parties operate.ooll
while in a state of coma. During the course ofsollatfro '
experiment upon what phrenologists terns Wig plat'
tune, several phrenologists were invited upon i,--„„ther,
form, and, while Mr. Hall was attending te.„ bis 10,4
patient, Mr. M'Taggart incautiously placed -bo
upon different parts of the heacl_of Holbrook, wd it&
soon after thrown into convulsions, with lecke boar'
The audience were detained three quarters of /04'
with the joint endeavours of Mr. Hall and Mr• Orr
gart to demesmerise the patient. The lecturereri,lol
bitted the cause to what he termed cross-Mese:ly, ielj
certainly the young man appeared to suffer gre' POe
was not able to hare any other eperiment per
volt;
upon him the whole of the remaining part of the env iiitere
Mr. Crossley, of Dean 'Cleugh Mills, wished t°,,,,,ti
jiff
1
duce to Mr.-Mall a young map, whom fiewas cerr Ow i!
lecturer had never seen before, and upon whom 'if, Pre_
Crossley) was anxiousto see if any-effects would ;Jo it;
duced. Mr. Hall allowed the young man (Bale!' a nod
come upon the platform, and, in a moron: 0 stle
the young man found his arms eitended; and 001'4,
as .two pokers I. Tho terror depicted in his c°n°,4 rA
as he eyed each limb,- and felt iris awkwar"ce. 1.
tion, produced shouts of laughter from the audif'3tp beA
decent working-man came forward, who was said ,„etlic''
-confirmed stammerer • his friends and several h'spolts
g'e'ntlemen attested the fact; in a short -time llgieier
correctly, fluently, and -pronounced the word , pro'
bury with great rapidity of utterance ! Mr. i'-'s boo
wised to give one of his friends some instructienol 1/9,4
to act, and expressed his belief that 'the man vi°4jerli,'";
effectually cured ! Several most wonderful exPet,: othe"
were performed by uniting the patients with eaci`nr pled
'fastening them to the platform ; removing them 00:
sure ; and then by a few 'twirls of the hall until 0;4
them spin round, contrary to their own will, 4,0 t
audience were dizzy with beholding them.
c'f. I?,e
startling musical experiments were balso edlie,eggestipla
the most astounding phenomenon was the sine
Pennine
dreaming, or something else, of one of the Y° -„etire
at-the close of the lecture, and which seemed tO 7,0•01',j
the audience. The young man was about to v_.„,' eatx.,t
when he suddenly laid himself down. and coo.- or
• signs efi making a series (apparently) of astrological daP
the carpet ; a sheet of paper was given him °coil
,:ii
Gil ; the latter he refused, and taking out a ,l'he Tell;
knife from his pocket, he pointed and cut ',-,preui l
(without injury to his fingers) and then wcate,,,,,ro'ce
tion that--- but it would be unwise in uslA' rasai4b.
The lecture shortly after terminated, and we - .
00 separated tenfold more amazed than ever. gas i:
On Thursday evening, the splendid room I;e
e%peo,
crowded. Previous to the commencement of Wailed to
ments Captain Stansfield, of Vield House, Was it jaw. ,
the chair, and read a paper which had been r , of i 0
hand, and which stated that in consequeneoniistv
Hall's interesting experiments, a Medicit ,lagaN tea
had been determined upon in Halifax, to iac 1re;1•9 st,a 41
truth, or otherwise, of mesmerism. 1)r• Ii inew"eA,l
that this resolution had been come to by . the
niesetco,
gentlemen irrespective of their belief in,.,eritileh'iao
ism. Mr. Hall then proceeded with the ele„„ sa'l,,
and succeeded in bringing out several veibibreq,e
phrenological manifestations in the Patieu ants illaotf
He then educed several wonderful exper"7,oolbr-0
vigilant state. In one of them he place" 'li,4
Ora' ge '''
Lees, and a little boy back to back in a chls,,,,e. A 001 s'
the same time a slight motion with his OWII u..Ta 51$1/16
sum of money was offered if the trio vrowber ,et '
but in spite of all exertion they clove too., the,,,,A
operator attracted them to himself or repelleop lo,birtic;
pleasure, fastened them to the ground, and t
obits °,,,f t;
them round. In another experiment the P.O coo,"08
Tore fingers of two young men were placed jd by. 1 o
a sudden jerk was given by the operator, an rie" 0
aste
means or other the two young men wer-, f
oleo-t 0 r 0
each other by their finger-ends. Every itidecose ; I°o'
offered them to separate, but all to 50 PlirY be wa°„-bro
moment one of them disengaged himself, but irresis'',.er
stantly attracted back again, as if by soi bio filip,
impulse, and until the operator simply liftert oat eve'
they were inseperable ! Our limits prevealnysterlitr
merating many other equally startling andhas beeljetif
experiments. We perceive that Mr. Hall assurereag'
duced to give three more lectures, and We attellego
readers they will miss a treat if they neglect eyerii.,,ao
Mr. Hall is incomparably the best lecturer we kw 110"
on mesmerism, and his experiments are perfe,r:',
and unequalled.—Halifax Guardian, March ;4.

V)Ot
- '
---1, A
_....L., night, ,„ l'it.„r'
FIRE AT BROMPTON.—OR Sattlll.7 ied ~:#l,.
nelosstsaar3ft,erinthteelldigisecnoeveeryte wtahsefirdistffmereadnet
ten o'clock, a fire broke out in the premises oecuktite'' De
Eyres, facing the Swan Tavern, Old Brompton. ~vg time
old
engine'
,iti,
great
andCa r Carter ri
the
um.y andn,
g}a:
and
g stdr e
estoon Brigadespeedily arrived
extendedenwg with the
itselfT
h e Countytofirtill p_ ?alto
10.7110,1110 g,
'rely extinguished till about half-past
building termed Heath Cottage, and from thence
ewro not sod
int the occupancy of Mr. Lyater. The flames .„.clocl‘'arste
very considerable damage has been done. Thte.,„, otSe`tit
buildings belonging to Mr. Jce, consisting of b5-0' 014
eleven - 6 sep ,o,
inendispatc,Atio,
joe,
and a shed, are burned down ; the greater Per"
Cottage is also destroyed.
0---------n tho 4thinst., at WBe
al'
the le" f 4.
. o '
Goodwyn, Esq., Madras Civil Service,i of a son. the Rio
On the 7th inst., at Knole House, Fran,
of tic'
Newington, Esq., M.D., of a son.
sltßon7-;Hu Ser-Mare,
the 11/cll
On the 7th inst., at Upper Woburn-place, lee
Hussey, Esq., barrister, of a daughter. ' „fig, the
On the Bth "inst., in Kent-terrace,
of John Dangerfield, Esq., of a daughter.
too, •
MARRIED. thArar Oh
Sou •oee
On the 7th inst., .at All Saints' Church, Ea ..„,0
Phipps J. Hornby, Esq., Lieutenant in the 111.17,., rolie
to Frederica, third daughter of Peter Breton, -''', rgo
Gee to
House, Southampton. ~,,t inster, lace, „
On the 7th inst., at St. John's, W---m land-r goo
Douglas Aubin, Esq., of Devonshire-street, For!
_Aeric
Ellen Frances, eldest daughter of Mr. Henry Pre"
Regent
of
of the Elorseferry-road, Westminster.
tied '
- DIED. vrouri off
' On the 29th of December last, mortally „(aharsji:4l
iction with the enemy at the battle etro'le'nt e. 1701
Neut. Charles Newton, of the 16th BelPhl bridge
4;aj1.4,
Grenadiers, 'in the 23d year of his age, the ridge ,
John Newton, Esq., of Calverley Park, ra treeti
firmerly of South Lambeth, county of SLIMY' Goor-e
On the 10th inst., at his house in T.IPPer
John Morice, Esq., F.S.A., aged 76. aged 000
On the 9th inst., Sir Henry Halford, Bart,
nwire of
On the 19th of January, at Cannanor, Hele ~ _
Cheape, Esq., Madras Medical SrVice. ...., Aged!, of
On the 28th ult., at Uxbridge,,_ Mrs. J. Tre=ne, rel. le,
On the 3d inst., at Clifton, Guernsey, C. a
the late Anthony Priaulx, Esq., aged 71. Esq.. agedl92J
On the 7th inst., at the Academy,- Le',' ochel'
On.the 6th inst., at Putney, Richard Lee,
_P-___:3oo, St "
Susanna, the second daughter of John hnd.Sara'

London,: Printed and Published by Di
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11, 1R
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