Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-01-31
A LADS DECEPTION,
Mark Twain ms Hypnotic Subject
How He Deluded the PEOPLE.

From Mark Tw5'in's Autobiography in
The North American Review,
An exciting event in our village Diam
nibaD was the arrival of the mesme,izer
| think the year was 1850 He advertised
his show and promised marvels. Admis-
sion as usual, twenty-five cents children
and negroes half price. The village had
heard Of mesmerism In q general way
but 1t had not encountered 1t vet. Not
many people attended the first night
but next day they had so many wonders
to tell that everybody's curiosity was
fired, and after that for a fortnight the
magician had prosperous times was
fourteen or fifteen years old-the ago nj
which a boy is willing to endure all
things suffer all things, short Of death
by fire. If thereby he may be conspicuous
and show off tvfore the public, and 80.
when saw the subjects" perform their
foolish antics on the platform and make
the people laugh and shout and admire
] had "a burning desire to be a subject
myself. Every night, for three niChts. I
sat In the row of candidates on the plat
form and held the magic disk I'm the
palm of my hand. and Razed at il and
tried to get sleepy, but it was n failure;
/ remained wide awake, and had to re-
tire defeated, like the majority. Also, /
had to sit there and be gnawed with
envy of Hicks, our tourneyman: I had
to sit there and see him scamper and
jump when Simmons tho enchanter ok
claimed. See the snake! See the snakel"
and hear him say. My how beautiful
in response to the suggestion that he
was observing a splendid sunset, and so
on--the whole insane business
on the fourth night temptation came.
and was not strong enough TO resist.
When ! had Eazed at the disk awhile I
pretended to be sleepy and began to
nod. Straightway came the professor
and made passes over my had and down
my body and legs and arms, finishing
each pass with a snap of his fingers in
the air, to discharge the surplus cleo
tricity; and he began to draw me
with the disk. holding it in his fingers
and telling me could not take my eyes
off 1t, try as I might so I rose slowly.
bent and gazing. and followed the disk
all over the place lust as had seen the
others do. Then I was put through the
other places. upon suggestion fed from
snakes; passed buckets at fire: became
excited over hot steamboat races; made
love to imaginary girls and kissed them;
fshed from the platform and landed mud
cats that outweighod me-and So on. all
the CUSTOMARY rnarvels But not in the
customary way. I was cautious at first
and watchful being afraid the professor
would discover that | was an impostor
and drive me from the platform dis
grace but as soon as realized that |
was not IN danger / set myself the task
or terminating HICKS usefulness as
SUBJECT ana or uSnrp>he MS place.
II was suih'ieh'ly easy task HICKS
was born honest; l. without that incum-
prahce-as some people S'ld. HICKS saw
what he saw ana reported accordingly,
! Sa" more 'hah was N'Siolo' ana ADDED
TO II such d'ta's as could help' HICKS
hao no lmhs'haH'h hau dounle sup
ply He was born CAIN was born ex-
cl'ed' NO VISION ""u'o start a rapture IN
hl'n' ana ne was cohstlpa'ou as TO IAN
Suase' anyway nut II "a" VISION
empued tne dict'oharE on To II ana iost
'ne remnant Oh my '"'nu INTO 'he oar-
gam
AT me ena or my tlrs' na.i,hoW HICKS
was thinS OF the past talien nero
broken iuol' ana khe" IL ana was e'au.
ana said IN my hehrt' success to CRIME
iiierl~eu 10 inc point WH're ne coul" KISS
"h H'laeiharS sIrI IL 'upic' or real
one eilht'' OUT wa" competent what
ever HICKS h"u ldA'A m fh'de IL
point TO succeed H. l'' the cost be "hat
II might PhESicaHY OF fnorail''
POWERS AS a MEDIUM.
In 1s47 we were living in a large white
house on the corner OF Hill and Main
streets-a house that still stands. but
isn't large now. although 1t hasn't lost
a plank; saw it A yea. ago and noticed
that shrinkege NV father died in
II in March of the wear mentioned. hut
our family did not move out of If until
some months afterward. Ours was not
the only family in the house. there was
another-Dr. Grants. one dav DR.
Grant and DIR. Rayburn argued a matter
on the street with sword canes and
Grant was brought home simultaneously
punctured. Old Or. Peake calked the
leaks and came every dav for n while
to look arter him The Grants we're
Vlrrinjans Ike Poahe. and one dav
when Grant was getting well enough to
ba n, b,s feet and sit around in tho
narIor and talk the conversation fell
mon Virginia and old Times was
nresont INF tho groun were nroha blv
oiito unconscious Of me being only a.
lad and negligible quantity. Two of
the proup-Dr. Peake and Mrs Craw-
ford. Mrs. Grants mcther-had been of