The Sun. — 1854-04-11 (London, England)

XLV.  A curious and singularly attractive series of papers relating to the living and dead brain of the late Benjamin Robert Haydon, the historical painter, constitute the chief matter of interest in the quarterly journal of " Mesmerism and Cerebral Physiology." There are some other contributions of vario us ability, but this group of papers relating to likaydon constitutes, we repeat, the principal charm of the new number of the Zoist for the quarter just commenced. The article on " Table Moving and Spiritual Manifestations" is admirable as an intellectual onslaught upon one of the most recent, as it is also one of the most extravagant, of all popular displays, of superstition. The review. of Mr. Townshend's last publication on "Mesmerism" is worthy of particular attention as a direct reply to a late, and, to our thinking in many respects, a very masterly analysis of that subject in the Quarterly. Subject for reflection will be fo,and in the record, penned by Mr. B. B. Morrison, of mesmeric cures, among other diseases, of Paley, deafness, convulsions, and apparent consul nption. Several other mesmeric cases are menticaied further on by Dr. Esdaile in another contri. bution. Mr. Rutter's treatise on " Human Electricity" is examined by Phila.lethes. There are accounts of two mesmeric cures of ganglion by Mr. Capern, of St. John's Wood, and by Mr. Lloyd, of Fulford, in Yorkshire. Beside which there is a brief announcement, at the close of this number of the Zoist, of the progress made by the cause of " Mesmerism in Edinburgh." Readable as all these papers undoubtedly are, some of them, indeed possessing a singular attraction, the group of papers relating to Mr. Haydon, the historical painter, will be found, we believe, with the generality of readers, the most curious and most interesting of all the contributions. They form a strange pendant to " Autobiography" edited by Mr. Tom Taylor. They tend appreciably towards the elucidation of the complex character of the unfortunate artist. The engraving accompanying them represents three views from a cast of the head of Mr. Haydon—the comprehension of which is aided by a phrenological account of the proper_ tions" discernible in the " development." Observe what Dr. Elliotson himself has written (pp. 62, 63) in reference to the poor suicide " I knew Mr. Haydon, from having been requested by him to visit some of his family in sickness, and I always cheerfully gave them my professional assistance. At the time of his suicide, Mr. Walter Bryant, of the Edgware-road, invited me, with great good feeling, to assist in the inspection of the body. It was a frightful sight to behold him on the floor, with a gun-shot wound in his head, a deep gash in each side of his throat, and a halfopened bloody razor at his side. The melancholy of the scene was increased by the strong marks of vanity in the arrangement of the death show—the body lying in his painting room, before an imperfect picture on his easel, a portrait of his wife placed opposite, and his diary open and just completed. When it is considered that a prayer-book also lay open at the gospel for the sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, and there were affectionate letters addressed to his wife and children, and a paper of directions, confessing distraction and wildly expressed insane vanity—' I have done nothing all my life that will render me fearful of appearing before the awful consciousness of my invisible God, or hesitate to explain my actions !'—and a hope that his worthy and unworthy creditors would forgive him—the whole was harrowing, and an epitome of his previous life. Imperfection in his art —inordinate vanity—selfishness—strong domestic affection—bitterness, moral unscrupulousness, which is surely unprincipledness—violence—only moderate intelligence, pharisaical airs, and superstition, characterised him.. Kis religion was, very different from genuine piety. It was the feeling and conduct which might be shown towards a very powerful person who could inflict miseiy, and grant him what he wished—grant that his son should get through the examination at Cambridge, that he might sell two of his pictures, and that people should flock to the exhibition of his pictures—to effect which purpose he wrote also strong and vulgar puffs." From a postscript to the second article in the Zoist for the new quarter, we extract the following as another illustration of the folly of belief in this monstrous humbug of table-rapping and spiritual manifestations. The writer has been protesting against thiS humbug, and designating every believer in it " a blockhead." Whereupon he adds—  "We have also given examples, alas too numerous, in our last number, of insanity produced by these ignorant fancies ; and now we have to record another, in the person of a well-known authoress, who always had indulged in such superstitions, and has of course adopted all the recent spirit fancies. She has gone stark mad and stark naked on the spirit-rapping. She was found the other day in the open street, as her mother bore her, except that she had a pocket handkerchief in one hand and a card in the other. She said the spirits had informed her that, if she walked out so prepared, she would be invisible. She is now in a madhouse."  So much for the blessings produced by this new importation from Yankeeland.