The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1865-08-18
CASE OF POLITICAL
MESMERIaM.

tudJ OuS Huuau ulllu mas power w SohOAoAs
per force, the thoughts and purposes Of an
other; that one human viii, sab siteatio, may
control other wills, and that thousand and
one queer antics may be produced by the ST.
Leaf poEse Of AS volition in the actions Of all
the other members of the alphabet.
OF the general merits of this theory it is
not our present purpose to speak. We only
propose now to call attention to a remarkable
political phenomenon, Witnessed in this city
few days since-that of an assembly of men
beiny 50 far controlle by sheer will-power that
tasJ widowed AMI apparently relished series
of political enunciahons which, for severn
hours they had been denouncing, and the de-
nl1eiation of which thsy had been applauling
up to the utmost capacity OF feet, hands and
lungs. Hs ssss Assss4&s
Perhaps the reader has seen some of the
Me5meric, or BiolOgetic, phenomena which
dozen years since were more common than at
present. The manipulation, after certain mys-a
tsrious passes and manipulations, would ac-
quire, seemingly, perfect control over the sub
iect, and make him apparently only an APP
pendage to or instrument Of his own will.
Brought to the requisite condition of passive
ness and impressibility, the subject is seated in
a chair, on the stage, in view of the audience,
and then the manipulator's power is displayed.
His thought and will seem to pass into the
subject, SO that yohtion in the former finds its
appropriate manifestation only in the latter.
For example the operator puts In the hand
Of the subjecta stone and wills it to be feath-
er, and at once it becomes Invested of weight
and theta Of gravity seem tolose their pow
er; or, he lays upon his LAP a feather and wills
it to be blacksmith's anvil, and forthwith
those well developed knees smite against each
other and give way, and down he come, upon
the floor with a crash and a groan as though
crashed beneath the massive lump of iron.
Tne manipulation touches the lips of the sub
ject with drop of honey and wills it worm
wood and gall, and at once the face comforts,
and all the usual signs of nausea are manifest
ed. The experiment is changed; drop of
beef's gall is substituted for the honey, with a
corresponding change Of win on the part Of
the operator, and the subject smacks his lips,
his countenance lights up, and zest and gusto
are exhibited in every act and manifestation.
These illustrations are sufficient to show
what we mean by Mesmerism. Now for the
case Of political Mesmerism to which the cap
ton Of this article refers.
On Tuesday last, as our readers have already
been apprised, State Convention was held at
the City Hail. During the day great amount
of speech making was INDUCED in, and aside
from the speech by Judge Rice, the whole
tone, aim, purpose and Gnimus of the
speaking were against the war in which the
Government has been engaged for the last
four years, and its design, plainly revealed, was
to make al odous who had had anything to
do with the great movement which has involv-
ed the nation in debt and defuged our soil with
blood. The war was represented in the speeches
of Pillsbury, Dunn, Littlefield and all others
except JaIge Rice, a. uncaled for and UNI
necessary. 1t was publicly proclaimed in them
ALL that had the Democrats retained political
power, no war would have ensued; that the
whole struggle had been, not to uphold consti-
tutional authority, but in opposition to the
Constitution, and simply and only to benefit
the 'nigger'-to make the Niger the equal of
the white mani And it was a convention in
the mood to cheer uproariously precisely such
speeches and inculcations as these, that was
made quietly and passiyely to take down the
second resolution, which read as follows: go
O. ResoEoed, That we win sacredIy cherisl the MEM
DRY of the Countless dead who have fallen in the great
struggle fJS Constitutional Government, and, with
grateful hearts, will do honor to the living who have
pefiliei Life and fortune in the same great cause.
Who can doubt Mesmeric influence in the
face Of a phenomenon like this? ~
If there was any one thing, next to sweep
ing Condemnation of the war, that was promi-
merit in the Convention speeches, it was square
edged denial of the constitutional right and
authority of the General Government to in
terfere, in any way whatever, with the late re-
VOTED States. Their full, perfect and complete
right to resume their former position in the
national Congress, and all their former rela-
tions to the Union, was asserted and re-assert-
ed, over and over again, and yet under won
dsrfll Mssmsric spell, produced by manipu-
lator of magic power-a spell that passed off
in minute after the resolutions were silently
voted on--the convention resolved as follows:
f. RssoI,ed, That it Ia the duty of the Federal Gov
eramen6, acting within the scope of sound constitu
toaa principles, TO re-estabish at the earliest prae-
ica peri d, with little Executive ami Legislative
Interference as possible the rue constitutional rela
hons between itself and the late revoled States
to exert all its le Ultimate power and influence to pro
mote an perpetdae that universal harmony frater-
nsy anq ga wnlcn arr essential 70 the peace hap
destined to De the zone and indivisble" forever. ~
But a more wonderful phenomenon than
a.I1,o. 20 +I,o ohnr,o7 iron,o;,,e - -
In every speech of the day, with the single ex-
ception already referred to, ridicule and oblo-
guy were poured upon those who believe in
"equal and exact justice" to the men whom the
fortunes of war have made free, and whose
blood has mingled with that of the white SOL
der on almost every battlefield for the last
two years. The men were there, and on the
COMMITTEES of resolutions, who, four years since
IN convention at Augusta, denied the right of
'he General Government to use so much force
as was necessary to preserve its own author
NY anu 10 put down an armed rebellion
against ens national unity and life. The same
niei :. hiAue up the Convention who justified
the border rufians" Of Missopr; n ,,o;,s, o,-
eF the kansas border and braai,,,e, -, 49,,
peaceful and legal elections Of ,he -.
The leading men of this Convsn.,.F' -
years ago. said the South would be lus,,f esS
in refusing to submit should Abrahs' as' r'N
coin be elected President by eonstltn,, ...',
majority, and when the South did refine J,
submit, these same politicians gave them ~
benefit of their sympathy and withheld
support irom the government IN its efforts 10
subiue The rebellion, denounoins those efforts
a. acts Of tyranny and usurpation Another
thing emphatically prominent IN the Conven-
lion was the more than distinct kfa.s that
= ,sarnmant should repudiate lts own pledged
pa Lh AMI disregard is own credit. and even
the lpeeea a. Juase nzce was not free arom
taii t-int notMishssandlma his Ingenious az