substances, producing the auras which are antagonistic to its nature.*

REASON, is the result of the organic power of each leading animal instinct, in combination; and of the existence of additional perceptive powers. These perceptive powers are for purposes of an intellectual character, but are often misapplied by their intrenching on the duties of instinct; and so, frequently commit such mistakes, as to disorder and even annihilate the functions of the body.

NERVES, are the reins of the spirit, girding the body and holding it in check. By them are the bones and muscles kept under control; by them man wills them to move, and they move; they cause the body to obey the volition or will of the spirit, as the horse does its rider; whoever holds complete control over the nerves, holds complete control over the physical and mental movements of the body, and according to his knowledge and skill, so will he produce results.

BIOLOGY, is the Will of one man in the act of controlling the perceptive powers of another, by the entrance of his mesmerine into the body; and by exercising superior energy, he lays hold of the voluntary nerves, and creates thoughts, and inclinations, and actions which are not the man's, but those of the operator. The nearest resemblance to this that strikes the mind is, the action and controlling power exercised by any one man over another man's nerves by the use of the galvanic battery; there being animal as well as mineral electricity.

CLAIRVOYANCE AND SOMNAMBULISM, prove that by various means, man may be so charged by chemical agents, as to perceive the play of principles better than when in a normal state; and while in that state, the brain being illuminated, the nerves which run in thousands in and over the pulp of the brain-matter; and the skull being so clarified as to become

* Nature displays this power in full force, when in vegetable substances she refuses oxygen, while in all animals, she absorbs it with avidity; this play of affinities produces all the phenomena we observe in animate and inanimate matter.

transparent, enable the person while in that condition, to see more effectively than with his eyes, when in his normal state. That the spirit can act upon the body when in that abnormal condition, and cause the body to act, to move, and speak, and walk, as when in its normal state; illustrations of this are found in the frequent incidents we read of as acts of somnambulism or sleep-walking.

MEMORY, is produced by a brain-organ, wherewith past events are recalled to the perceptions by the man or spirit; and in proportion to its excited, healthy, or diseased state, so are the reminiscences of the past vividly and ordinarily before him, or totally lost; this is illustrated by the results on those on whose heads weights have fallen, or who have fallen on the head; and also by those who through study, or business, have overtasked the organ, to avoid the trouble of taking memoranda.

SLEEP, is the narcotic of the body, to soothe and rest the physical structure. Sleep lowers the pulse, 'calms excitation of the brain, and allows the involuntary processes to lubricate the system with the oils, &c., which the friction in the body from the day's labours have destroyed. This latter fact is beautifully illustrated by man being taller in the morning after rest, than in the evening before, from the deposit of oil in the sockets of each bone in the vertebræ during sleep. A sharp practice advantage of this law was once taken in the following manner :-The person wished to be a policeman, but he was a little under the standard required. Being informed of this law in nature, he lay in bed for two days, then presented himself for measurement. Sleep appears to be the thinking time of the man, when in the inner chambers of the body, disengaged from the ordinary activities of the professional duties necessary for providing for physical wants; he can "mark, learn, and inwardly digest" his knowledge, and arrange for future action as a man, and also prepare for his future life as a spirit.

A business-like view of these several powers

in man, lead

us to comprehend clearly the mystery of our natural powers. We cannot, as finites, comprehend the mode of creation by the Infinite in the multitudinous species of life matter, each perfect for the discharge of certain duties allotted to it, according to the latitude and longitude of its locality; nor can we comprehend the sympathetic creation of vegetable life and the existence of atmospheres specially adapted for the special mode of life of that species. Yet we can with our lower range of capabilities, examine and trace the action of substance upon substance, and so with considerable clearnessdefine the lower range of laws by which life and death are produced, and perceive the phenomena arising therefrom. None of the results are by chance; they are as certain as light, morning and evening from the sun, by the swift passage of our earth round that luminary.

The phenomena of spirit, mesmerine, clairvoyance, mental perception, and biology, are no doubt wonderful; but not more so than those we perceive in and around us daily. We are ever perceiving them; they are therefore as common, and as little understood by the masses as are our locomotive steamengines and electric telegraphs, so recently the "impossible," then the "possible," now the "ordinary," or natural laws of certain arrangements of metals. The want of information and of observation, have led each man, according to his train of educational thought, to give judgment in error. The materialist, perceiving the facts, would destroy his creed, at once "Impostors" the whole; and (as I have known personally) refuses to "waste time" in verifying the evidence ready to be placed before him. The religionist, believing in the veracity of the narrator, declares it to arise from "Satanic agency;" and so excuses himself and tries to deter others from the examination of facts; thereby passively by his mode of action and declaration, elevating the devil into the throne of Deity.

God is the creator of all the elements of which this and other worlds are made; and every fresh perception by man of the harmonies of nature, enables him better to understand the

various kinds of chemicals by which like clings to like, and produces species, and modifications of species, but which never blend with another species; as illustrated by the non-productive mule, and other hybrids.

The ass can never become a horse, nor the horse an ass. Acid and alkali may mix and neutralize each other, but never blend. The dream of the man who would rather give his creation to a monkey than to Deity, by making man a progressive animal, through the baboon down to the lizard and a cabbage, and down again to granite, has not the slightest piece of rock to stand on. Man is the same in size, and make, as he was when mummies were first made thousands of years ago. We can any day see at the British Museum the evidence of this, as well as the shape and size of many other then living substances. The microscope unveils the distinct stratification of fleshy filaments, each in its species. On this truth stands all science, all classification in the mineral, vegetable, and animal world. It is the mixing of some, the blending of others, and the repugnance of others; which, under various phases, create the phenomena we observe around us, as developed by the essences or auras those bodies exude; and the more thorough our knowledge of these powers, the more scientifically shall we be able to apply our intellects to the consideration of that vital question, MAN'S IMMORTALITY; and if from facts and reasons it be proved a truth, then the ills and wills of this elementary state of being will only be those apprentice troubles the youngster has to battle with, before he is master of his business.

198

THIRD DIVISION.

SECTION I.

TESTIMONY.

TESTIMONY, is the asseveration of a credible human being, as to any fact or facts which have taken place in his presence; whether by sight, by voice, or by feeling.

In the judicial proceedings of this country, whether it be the passing of thousands of pounds, of acres of land, of large or small possessions of any other kind, or even in criminal business, involving the life of one or more persons; the statements of two or three individuals as to the facts seen by them, if those statements agree, are sufficient to be accepted and acted upon by the judge and jury; and possessions change hands, and life is taken away, the public voice concurring in the verdict; except a straggler here and there, who delights in taking an opposition view on every subject. This principle of opposition reigns so strongly in some men, that their relatives and others pay no attention to their opinion. One man of this kind I once knew connected with a public body; and the only method of managing him was, to propose a plan the opposite to the one it was desirable to carry out; he then would take up and defend the desired plan-all chimed in, and agreed to the very plan, which, but for this feint, would