Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1842-09-09

MEsMBRISM.

been, and that they will be applied 10 The Improvement
of the healing art, well 10 The incidental iilustu.
lion OF the mysteries OF matter and minds we
thought il our duty lay them before The public the
risk of mourning iu!e -ldcule But feeling we
did, convinced were by observations,
We should have considered ourselves somewhat des
ue of moral courage, Il did not go forth to bear
witness TO hat believe to be the truth But now hay
ing culed the attention of the Medical Faculty, in our
own bawick, TO the subject, and honestly believing
hat is much better in their hands than in own,
cheerully suhm; the whole matter TO their sricter
investigation and 10 their better Judgments We are
not ambitious Of The distinction of the Mesmcrizer,
of the honor OF discovery in the great Medical world
FOR TIE ENQUIRER.
The town has been much amused by very ingeni-
Gus Humbug, which was pracsed upon some ~ or "a
gentlemen, Monday night, by Two young gentle.
men OF this city, who, believing that Hlesmerism was
all trick determined TO initiate the Phenomens, by
series Of well concerted signs The whole was indeed
good piece Of acting. The performers were well
acquainted with their parts-and they played them TO
admiration. All were humhnggrd, except one or two
gentlemen who being sceptIca from the trst and srs-
pcious OF the whole series OF Phenomena, watched
with the utmost attention all the movements OF the ope-
raor more than Of the operaee detected one or two
Of the signs, and distrusied the whole exhibition
Not SO, however, the other spectators. Among
these, the Editor of this paper lie had conctnced
hmSeif by experiments made by him on Saturday week,
under the most advantageous circumstances tie had
heard OF the extraordinary phenomena exhibited at Mr.
and scCptica Physician no thru confessed that he did
not know what 10 bel The Editor had also received
from a very intelligent observer minute account OF
the first rehearsal of the two young actors at the Mar
sha |! House, on some night last week-and Mr.. --
was himself deeply impressed with what he had seen on
that occasion So that the Editor repaired 10 the mimic
scene nc, only with lis mind made up as 10 The general
phenomena which he himself lad winesscd-tu w'!h
the evidence he had received OF The curious al
| the MARSHALL House. Zone or two physicians, who
witnessed this Rehearsal laughed at il US Mesmerisi,
bnt called II Cataepsy. This distinction is now anus
ing enough, considering what humbug The whole
scene was) II. went, therefore, withou. any sus
picion-wtout any doubt Of the Law of Mesmerisni--
10 see what was passing-but with his attention no,
awakened To watch the actors and to analyse the game
they exhibited He proposed indeed during lis progress
lew experiments to be made, particularly the feeling
of an egg, which entirely failed, because not having
entered into the conceptions of the ploers, no sign
Lad been concerted for It's executon-but he coniesses
that he was as much surprised by the explosion OF the
humbug, as any If the by-standers. VII! this de-
claration satisfy the Richmond Wing Does this
place MIR r. sufficiently on the "ConfessionaE He was
as much amused as any other gentleman al the whole
aiTair-conmends he ingenuity Of "thc boys, as they
| .avc been caled-is willing to share the general
augh-but denies in the most positive manner, that II
furnishes the :! ghes argument against the existence
of the natural phenomenal 1t idle therefore, Tor the
Richmond Wing, who has read no books, seen no ex
per nens, seems entirely ignran of the whole sub
iect ''of the mSrest cheatery If he humnuss
| "f CharlataUs, OF 'imposture, or Of "mesnerizrd
dupes. The whole argument, If argume nj It mny be
called the nerest soph'sm II satisfies no one mnd,
thai has the capacity think all upnn the most ordna
ry subject, la less than minue after the exp osion
il was overhlown ty d -, who exca med in
words like these, g nave never seen mere finished
piece o.. actlug-but il is 10 arsGm"Dt, gentlemen tha'
because these phenomenal have lcen we'll imat'd,
they do not exls: in Nature" The Editor made The
sa,nr declarations and observed d, that il had been in
deed very ingenious performance but that his con
vcons were as strong as evrrEat lie rad c' nv
himself by the oxperinen MS he had contribute 10 make
and that trick, however ingenious, no lumbuI, how
ever we'll concerted, could change the laws OF Nature
And IN fact Whist is there III this argument OF the
/ Humbug' How Art destroy Nature: Let Nature
b. well initiated she may be, she IS Nature st'll
Tie most NOUS Art canno, supersede her own pe.
nomcna Horace Truly says, .NGturdm dIpefidS jurca,
famen usquc rtcurret may attempt to turn her out
Of doors with pitch fork but she will still return
No violence, nor Art can Danish her powers. BecSuse
the Painter represents landscapes and hnuscs on Hat
canvass does follow that there no fields and RI
ve!s and houses standing out in the map oil Nature
Because the sculptor the human form out OF
block OF marble, IT does not follow, that every statue
is endowed with life, that there are no breathing and
animated beings IN existence The fable OF Pygmaon
itself is s,ll fable. No power, not even the God
dess Of Beauty ever interpused 10 breathe the breath
of life into his ivory statue hut, though every sta
tue remains nanimate, yet LIVING men and women
are still continually forth from the plastice hand
OF Nature. Or, does it follow, that because the
various passions are well represented on the
stage affect with the imitation OF them,
there passions in the real drama Of life; Be
cause Mrs Siddons affects TO weep, there tens
Because Muliere represents IN his Iartuhe
the character Of the pous hypocrlte to concede,
that there is no truth and religion The world? Or 10
10 the phenomena III hand because The TO
ct of Nature represents through The finished Actress
the phe nomena Of Sleep walking, the character OF
the distracted Lady Macbeth dues it follow, that there
/ ,I,et,, tha raol
The whole sophism il ridiculous. Those, who pro-
tend that there mesneric phenomena in the or
der of Nature that all "humbug, all Juggling and
cheaery, pay little respect To the laws o Logic as
they do to their own Understandings they are 'he
true humbuggees, which they charge upon others
They suffer themselves 10 be cheated out OF their On.
dcstandings, because their senses have already been
cheated They suffer themselves 10 be misled By the
dece ptious sophisms of newspaper, which USES an
in genious trick 10 deceive them out Of the use OF their
mnds 1t is good as TO say, you have been cheated
once, by n ingenious imita,or-and now you must be
cheated out of all belief Of the actual phenomena,
which had been so well initiated. We leave it to the
reni and arrogant "fools' Of Richmond, TO SANDER
others under n'cknames.
But il is curious and amusing circumstance, that
whilst the Editor was, as it were, humhugged on the
Main street. by specous imitation, the actual pheno-
mena Of Nature at that very moment exhibited
at his own house. on the hull, without his knowledge
or suspicion. AT that very moment, Mr.. French, who
had returned from Tue VI WY
evening was al MIR. r. house-and IN the presence
of few sccp,ca gentlemen, displayed with singular
distincness and nImtabe perfection the phenomena Of
Mesmersm-the existence Of the great law OF The Com
muny Of Sensation-n the person Of an artless white
female, is years of age, whom Mr. French had never
seen beforehand with whom Quitting aside her own in
genuous and unsuspecting cbaracer it was impossible
concert any signs or torn plot because witness
was present during the whole prolracted period OF
me smerization. The Phenomena striking, and
so startling yet The carnations of Nature ITSELF they
would have completely unhumbugged the "Boys
| then selves.
| We have subjnned statement made by one who
was witness of the whole proceedings Of MIR F., on
that night We take this occasion TO say that, though
we were deceived by the excellent hoax Main street,
have been assured by the gentlemen in the secret
that no dsrespect intended towards US, as i; has
been ndnstrously circulated through the sireets-and
that we took pains to have invitations left for the