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SONGS OF THE COLOURS.-No. 2, BLUE.

Sisters, my home is the turquoise dome,

In whose halls dwells the viewless air,

Whose floor nature paves with blue foam-fringed waves, And emerald plains as fair,

Where winged clouds lie, or go wandering by

At the south wind's soft, low, call,

Or flee the fierce north, that with storms bursts forth, That hide my form from all.

In its azure walls, when the tempest calls,

Wild fetterless winds assemble,

The storm of their mirth fills the caverns of earth,

Its thousand forests tremble.

Leaning I rest in the arms of the west,

Till the veil, that the sunbeams weave

Of white lustrous light for each star of the night,
Is lifted by pensive eve.

And I love to bend o'er the east, and send

My glances down, down far

Into orbstrewn space, and curious, trace

The track of each wandering star.

I am forced to flight when hated night
To my mansion by eve is led,

As westward slow I sorrowing go,

Dewy tears the wing'd clouds shed;

And in silence they mourn till I come with the dawn,

And grim darkness flees away

From the quivering, bright, white, shafts of light,
Flung swift from the arm of day.

In the eye whose hue is the heaven's own blue,
When not a cloud floats on high,

All mutely revealing the heart's checquered feeling
Its sunshine and shadow lie I.

The trembling sphere of the glistening tear
Peeps into my caverned home

When with sudden start from the o'ercharged heart

Uproused at grief's call it come.

And laughter sits telling my mirth in my dwelling
While, watching winged smiles flit by,
Strewing in play with dimples their way,

In its dark blue depths I lie.

The ocean that rolls round the icy poles,
And girdles earth with waves,

And each land-clasped sea, all welcome me
With morn to their azure caves.

And calmly I sleep on the waveless deep

Beneath the tropic sky,

When through its fierce heat the lightning feet

Of winds scarce dare pass by,

Where hurricanes, that have burst their chains,

Swift as light, or the storm-winged blast,

Shrieking in pain, o'er the panting main
To cooler climes howl past,

Transfixed in their flight by the darts of light
The burning sun-god flings

At each savage foe, who swift below
Cleaves air with his sounding wings,
And rends, in his wrath, all things in his path
Lashing the sleeping sea,

And tossing its waves till it roars and raves
And in white foam buries me.

Stern frost builds for me in each polar sea,
From the haunts of mortals far,
A palace as white as the trembling light,
Whose columns the clear waves are.
It pleases me well in its halls to dwell
And gaze from its golden floor,
On the frettings fair and tracery rare
That are carved its high roof o'er,
Or watch as I lie the sparkling eye
Of some young beam peep down,
Too timid to come through its diamond dome
And smile if I chance to frown,

Like some bold ray, child of bright day,
That laughing struggles through,

And leads a band o'er the yellow sand
My beauteous home to view.

Or joyous o'er my golden floor

To weave the graceful dance,

Till with dew-gemmed eve for the west I leave
As the shadows of night advance.

W. C. B.

MESMERISM.-No. III.

BY HENRY GOODE, B.A., CAMBRIDGE.

CENTURIES ago it was usual in discussing the phenomena of nature to adopt a deductive line of argument: but philosophers of later days have, for the most part, abandoned this method, and the strides of modern scientific discovery have proclaimed the superiority of the inductive system. But yet, though something be effected, much remains to be done, in most of the very commonest occurrences we are unable to connect cause and effect; we are unable to explain satisfactorily the process of moving a limb, or of other mechanical or chemical operations; when we attempt to explain them, we omit some principles and confound others. There are many substances in nature which are too fine and subtle to be appreciated by our senses, and we only discover their existence by certain effects which they produce; after having observed their effects indeed we cannot only ascertain their existence, but also to a certain degree reason on their nature; but a course of observation is first necessary. An appeal to experiment then being in such things indispensable, it seems strange, that men, who admit the truth of this principle, should not make such appeal, when they have the means of so doing. The most subtle reasoner and most practised physician must still appeal to experiment in the consideration of any new class of phenomena, how extensive soever be his acquirements. This course of investigation is eminently necessary in Mesmerism; and, as we have in a former paper pointed out, it is not sufficient for an in

quirer only to see the experiments of other people, but he must, if possible, operate for himself.

In the complex operations of the animal frame there are a multitude of subtle operations, the existence of which we know only by their effects; and many causes appear to our limited reason inadequate to the effect produced; among such phenomena we may rank those of Mesmerism, in which operations that appear very simple, produce effects far beyond the range of our usual experience. Now these results being in some degree ascertained, and set forth, will of course often fall under the observation of persons, who do not conceive of the nature of the operations that produce them; and some being wrapt with wonder at their magnitude, and allowing this feeling to prédominate principally in their minds more than reason, have been so bold as to assert, that the phenomena of Mesmerism are the result of satanic agency. This notion we should not have adverted to, were it not that some persons highly distinguished in the stations they fill (but not scientific stations) have undertaken to advocate it. Our own experince, as far as it has gone, has shown us that in no case has such an opinion been held by any individual who has seen cases of Mesmerism or studied the science; and we have known of persons who have previously held such an opinion but have dropped it upon an examination of the subject. We have never heard of any persons, who have had experience in the processes, ascribing the phenomena to other sources, than such as the Creator in his beneficence has caused to reside within the human frame.

If a method of alleviating human suffering has been discovered, how can we suppose that the discovery came by the suggestions of the evil one? Certain obscure facts in anatomy have been lately brought to light by surgical dissection; but this operation can only be performed on bodies after death; now, if more facts are disclosed by means of Mesmerism, while vitality still animates the structure, so that the functions of each part are still manifested with all exactitude,-What then? Is a man more prone to error-more liable to Satanic influence because he understands better the mechanism of his limbs or his brain?

If certain physical endowments have been previously but little known and employed, because, though they would sometimes appear spontaneously, men had not as yet the experience to enable them to apply them; shall they, when they possess this experience, still neglect to apply them, because they have not done so before? It seems rather, that the refusal to use such endowments, when occasion for their employment presents itself, is an abuse of them.

We will suppose the case of a man blind from his birth, who has grown up to years of maturity in that condition, sight is to him a phenomenon surpassing his comprehension, although he is told of its existence. What if other men can see! Providence has not accorded this boon to him. But let a mode of rectifying his optic organ be presented to him; will he quarrel with the dispensations of Providence, if he uses the means presented? Nobody can assert that he does. Suppose a whole nation in like condition. They have not even heard of sight; they do not believe in its existence, it is beyond the pale of their experience, that a part of the body should be fitted

to see.

Will they lie under any weight at all of moral turpitude, if they by any method discover that sight exists and adopt means to obtain it. If any still disbelieve, or refuse to see from conscientious motives, and condemn those who prefer to use their endowments, on whose side does the error rest? Surely with those who allow their talents to lie idle. There is an exact parallel in the case of Mesmerism; clairvoyance and other faculties have been discovered, and they may be employed with the same propriety as the faculties of secing, hearing, and the other senses.

If it be alleged that Mesmerism gives a power to one person over another, which may be abused, we think that this accusation is not borne out by experience, to any extent, and will be found, in most instances, to be untrue: on the contrary, we assert, that one with a druggist's shop at his command is far more dangerous than a mesmerizer, and that the evils opened by Mesmerism are outbalanced by its manifold advantages. Indeed it would appear, that if the evil-one works the phenomena of Mesmerism, he, in such instances, is in the habit of "going about doing good."

The facts which have caused the greatest embarrassment to those who hear of Mesmerism for the first time, are such as are included under the 5th and 6th divisions of our classification of phenomena, viz.-The transposition of the senses, and the faculty of lucidity. To these two may be subjoined a third, viz. :—a perception of future events, somewhat beyond the extent usually allotted to such a faculty.

We have verified the transposition of but one of the senses, viz., that of sight. We cannot attempt to pronounce any opinion on the means whereby this is effected, or on the modification which takes place in the nerves of sensation, at the part in which the faculty is developed. But, however that may be, this at least is certain, that if any one shall have the moral courage to make experiment, he need not despair of ultimate success.

The method we adopted to excite transposition of the sight was education; and that is urging our patient to exertion, by placing an object near some part, and requiring a description of it: we thus succeeded in several instances in producing, sooner or later, the desired effect. One patient required much cultivation, and then only succeeded at times; others we have known to manifest the faculty in the first sitting among occasions of the successful manifestation of this phenomenon that we met with in the first patient, we found her one evening able to tell the time by watches placed close to her. There were four watches, all indicating different times, which she named correctly of these, two were held behind the ear, one was in her pocket, and the fourth was lying on a shelf close by; the perception of all but the last she appeared to gather by an exertion at the spot adjoining to which they were placed.

Mrs. B. manifested this phenomenon in great perfection without much cultivation. Some Mesmerists appear to have considered this faculty and lucidity as identical, but she described them as being somewhat different in their nature. Once, on being questioned as to the part of the brain in which the function of lucidity is performed, she held her hand near different spots at the back and top of the head,

observing that she could see her fingers from these spots, but that such were not the parts of the brain in which the function of lucidity was performed.

It is worthy of remark that there have been recorded instances of transposition of others of the senses, as of hearing at the epigastrium, which has happened when the body has fallen into a peculiar condition, as in the state called catalepsy.

The faculty of lucidity also existed in great perfection in Mrs. B. Once a person who mesmerized her was anxious about some events taking place at the distance of nearly a hundred miles, and was prevented by circumstances from gaining intelligence. He accordingly resolved to employ the natural powers within his reach, and threw Mrs. B. into the mesmeric trance; he then directed her attention to the house he wished, and she described the inmates of several of the rooms, and perceived at the house an individual who had just come from several miles' distance to pay a visit at the time in question. But presently she appeared to grow weary, and said she could not perceive distinctly any longer; however, she made strenuous exertions, and appeared not a little vexed with herself because she was unable to " think," as she termed it. Finding this, the mesmerizer induced her to cease from her exertions, and the rather as he found on placing his hand on one spot of her head that it appeared to have become heated. He endeavoured to tranquillize her by passes, and when a little time had elapsed he awoke her. On being perfectly restored to consciousness she placed her hand on the heated portion of the head, and said there was a sensation there as if the brain were whirling; this feeling shortly disappeared. Her faculty had been but little cultivated, and her powers, though acute, appeared not to have been sufficiently exercised to endure much exertion.

Another patient was at first totally ignorant of the existence of any such faculty as lucidity, and was wholly unable to use it when requested to do so. We accordingly adopted the following method of calling it into operation :-We would place ourselves before her, and desire her to tell us in what position we were, whether standing or sitting; or whether we held anything in our hand, questioning her as to the state of objects near her. The patient's eyes were of course closed, and when she was desired to look, she tried to use them for that purpose, and declared herself utterly unable to see; but when she was told not to look, but to think, her countenance would assume a thoughtful expression, and if sufficient time were allowed her, she could be induced to attempt a description of the objects required. At first her perceptions were very dim, and she appeared to be able only to discern that there was an object before her. Thus, for instance, she once mistook a china vase, first for a book, and then for a bolster.

After some perseverance in such experiments she was able at length to follow the mesmerizer mentally out of the room, and at last the power of perception had become so much increased that she could discern objects at some little distance from the house. One day we left her in the care of some persons in communication with her, and proceeded to take a walk for recreation; she described where we had gone, and when it was suggested that a gentleman present should