ON HEARING MESMERISM CALLED IMPIOUS.

The Rev. G. Sandby, in his valuable and interesting wok on mesmerism, has fully answered the religious objections; perhaps the following lines written by an accomplished lady, and published in a volume called “Angels’ Visits,” may be acceptable to my readers: - 1

. . .

In conclusion, would it be deemed impertinent for an old soldier to remind parents, husbands, and wives – who, perchance, have hitherto treated with contempt the idea that a few passes made by a mesmeriser can possibly have any healing effect – that the will find in their Bible the sensible and practical appeal of Naaman’s servants :-

“My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst thou not have done it? How much rather then, when he saith to thee, ‘Wash, and be clean.’”

Captain John James ~ Mesmerism - with hints for beginners (1886)

1All, however, that I have been saying in the above pages, has been so much more happily expressed in the following charming lines by that gifted poetess. Miss Anna Savage, that my readers cannot but thank me for introducing them to their notice.

ON HEARING MESMERISM CALLED IMPIOUS.

Call not the gift unholy; 'tis a fair—a precious thing,

That God hath granted to our hands for gentlest minist'ring.

Did Mercy ever stoop to bless with dark unearthly spell?

Could impious power whisper peace the soul's deep throes to quell?

Would Evil seek to work but good, — to lull the burning brain,

And linger in some scene of woe, beside the bed of pain, —

To throw upon the o'erfraught heart the blessing of repose, —

Untiring watch the eye of care in healing slumber close, —

And as the agony of grief fell 'neath the Spirit's will,

O'er the wild billows of despair breathe tenderly — Be still?

Speak gently of the new-born gift, restrain the scoff and sneer,

And think how much we may not learn is yet around us here;

What paths there are where Faith must lead, that Knowledge cannot share,

Though still we tread the devious way, and feel that Truth is there.

Say, is the world so full of joy, - hath each so fair a lot,

That we should scorn one bounteous gift, and scorning, use it not,

Because the finite thought of man grasps not its hidden source?

Do we reject the stream, because we cannot track its course?

Hath Nature, then, no mystic law we seek in vain to scan?

Can man, the master-piece of God, trace the unerring plan

That places o'er the restless sea the bounds it cannot pass;

That gives the fragrance to the flower, the "glory to the grass?"

Oh! Life with all its fitful gleams hath sorrow for its dower,

And with the wrung heart dwell the pang and many a weary hour:

Hail, then, with gladness what may sooth the aching brain to rest;

And call not impious that which brings a blessing and is blest.

The gladden'd soul re-echoes praise where'er this power hath been;

And what in mercy God doth give, O "call not thou unclean!"*

* “God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.” Acts x. 28. George Sandby(1799-1880)~ Mesmerism and its opponents - with a narrative of cases (1844)

The Author cannot conclude without acknowledging the vast obligations that he owes to the " Isis Revelata" of Mr. Colquhoun [2], and to " Facts in Mesmerism" by the Rev. Chauncy H. Townshend. George Sandby(1799-1880)~ Mesmerism and its opponents - with a narrative of cases (1844)

2
JC Colquhoun ~ Isis revelata - an inquiry into the origin, progress, and present state of animal magnetism (1844)
JC Colquhoun ~ An history of magic - witchcraft and animal magnetism (1851)