The Birkenhead News and Wirral General Advertiser. — 1903-02-28 (Birkenhead, Merseyside, England)

LITERATURE.  LITERARY CHIT-CHAT.  There are several good articles in the "Pill Mall Magazine" for March. Perhaps the most suggestive is that on "Master Workers," by Mr. Harold Begbie, the fourth of a series. The master worker, who is dealt with in this article, is Dr. Milne Bramwell. 'rhe work of which he is said to be the master is liynnotism. Dr. Milne Bramwell has studied this subject closely and perseveringly, and if as yet the result of his labours leaves much yet to be determined, he has at any rate opened the way for some not unfruitful speculation. Concerning hypnotism there are numerous popular misapprehensions. On the one side the sceptic doubts whether there is anything in it at all, and on the other side the most marvellous tale.; of the effects of "influence" have been circulated. More than once in courts of law pc-sons accosed of crime have pleaded that they acted under hypnotic influence, and not as free agents. Dr. Bramwell at any rate accepts neither of these views. He regards hypnotism as something much more potent than mere suggestion. As to the "sensational nonsense" about the utter subjection of persons hypnotised to the will of the operator, the writer of the article in the "Pall Mall Magazize" says: "No one will perform a suggestion received in hypnosis that is repugnant to his normal consciousness. A murderer told to murder somebody might probably do so, but a man from whom the homicidal influence was absent would reject the idea instantly. He would, become aware of the idea when he met the, person be had been told to kill, but he'l would easily thrust it aside, and laugh at it as though it were a nightmare."  As to the mystical aspect of the subject, and the theory of secondary consciousness, Mr. Harold Begbie has something to say. Re dismisses summarily the notion that  hypnotism is due to any mysterious force or fluid emanating from the operator. He would doubtless reject Laurence Oliphant's ingenious "scientific" theories. But the belief in a second consciousness is no new thing. It is an essential part of Oliphant's mysticism which in its turn was a modification or adaptation of far more ancient ideas. For Dr. Bramwell, says Mr. Begbie, the secret of occult phenomena "lies in the subliminal consciousness." He adds: "When the impediment of the normal consciousness is removed, the larger consciousness of the hidden life comes into view, so that during hypnosis Dr. Bramwell can talk to, question, and examine the subliminal consciousness of his subjects." To put the idea in popular form: The mind of man does not consist merely of the ordinary thinking and willing apparatus known to everyone; but beyond, or within, or behind all this there is a more potent activity, which hypnotic influence can reach and develop. The science of hypnotism, says Mr. Begbie, has introduced the only means of observing the secondary consciousness. "While you peer ' through the keyhole into the box of the mind, the hypnotist places his key in the lock, turns it, and opens the lid." How much light all this may shed on the mystery of existence no one can say. Possibly the intuitions and guesses of the past may under this new—or rather newly organised I—science be classified and reduced to comparative certainties. The problem of continued conscious existence after death is involved in the inquiry, and it is evident that both Mr. Begbie and the "Master IVorker" whom he interprets so sympathetically look for important results.  In the same number of the "Pall Mall Magazine" there is an article on "President Roosevelt: The Man of Duty," in which this much-talked-of and much-talking hero of the hour is praised without stint. No one questions that President Roosevelt is an excellent man in his way—possessed of a high sense of his responsibilities. But do we not hear rather more than enough of him? Is it absolutely necessary to ascertain his opinions on every subject, from trusts to the nurturing of babies? Truly reticence is not a weakness of his, but is it necessary that the world should value all his utterances as highly as he values them himself? Is his ambition to shine as a combination of Benjamin Franklin and Martin Tupper? If it is, there are many indications that it will be gratified.