"Strict consistency to past methods never led any life to the goal of higher understanding. I am not a man to be satisfied with what others say or have said, though they may have acquired a reputation of infallible authority, beyond whose assertions no man ought to seek confirmation. I want to know personally; I want to know the exact truth, though I renounce every idea men have in the past asserted.
"I am convinced after my experience of to-day, that there are scientific as well as spiritual martyrs, but I shall, nevertheless, express my opinions if it means social and professional ostracism.
"Lacking much wisdom and many graces my colleagues possess, I have one quality which they lack, that is, absolute fearlessness of any person's opinion. I am acknowledged by so-called experts (I use the term advisedly) to be in advance of their most wisely proficient selves in power, and for that reason I am growing extremely doubtful of their expertness: possibly that is the very reason I doubt their wisdom, for I realize how ignorant I am.
"All I know are facts gained by experience, and the longer I experiment, the more non-plussed and doubtful I become, regarding even the efficacy of that science I once declared infallible. If these so-called experts acknowledge my supremacy over them, always calling upon and consulting me when they know not how to proceed, surely they must have less knowledge than I and they have no right to be called experts, for such a term implies proficiency, and here are several experts completely defeated by these mesmerized subjects whom they consider negative and weak. It does not speak very forcibly for their expertness—this rebuff they have received.
"My whole life since I entered manhood, has been one long study and experiment; I never allowed any condition to elude me without finding some logical reason for its existence, and this problem shall not escape me without my having determined the principles which underlie the phenomenon. How long it will take, I have no idea, but that is an immaterial point. What am I living for, but to learn?
"Dr. H——, next to myself, the most powerful mesmerist, suggests that we impress the minds of the 'subjects' with the theories so far generally accepted, concerning the questions we ask, but I do not approve of such an idea. There must be some way to determine the truth. This experiment was planned and entered into for the express purpose of trying to discover facts confirmative of old opinions, coming through the organisms of persons totally ignorant of the subject, whose minds must, therefore, be uncolored by past opinions.
"So far, we have met with blank failure, but that fact, instead of discouraging me, as it has some of the others, only adds zest to the work, and though they should all relinquish the task we have begun, I shall go on, alone if need be, until I reach some conclusion that satisfies me.
"The 'subject' whom I chose for this experiment is the best I have ever used, and I felt positive he would answer the question better than any other, but I am not cast down nor discouraged by this most unlooked for result. Unlike the rest, I look not so much to present satisfaction (especially to the confirmation of my preconceived ideas), as to the acquirement of truth and knowledge.
"My 'subject' really gave less than some of the others, while I expected him to give more, but I am convinced that the cause of this is the fact I left his mind entirely unbiased. Knowing nothing, he could give nothing, in the negative (by his unusual dumbness) he answered the question which I so strenuously advocated, that the soul of man, in whatever stage of unfoldment, contains all knowledge, and all that is necessary to bring this knowledge into material manifestation, is to mesmerize the body allowing the soul to speak forth, untrammeled by the physical influence.