“ ‘I do not absolutely know,’ I replied, ‘that such a magic exists, yet firmly believe it does. The idea came to me I know not how. By striving, perhaps, it may be found. There are steps leading to it, doubtless, and, if we can discover the first (which I think we have already in Mesmerism), we can follow till we reach the great goal. I do not believe that Elfins, Fairies, Genii and Magicians are altogether mythical personages. There must, it seems to me, be a foundation of truth underlying the rich and varied accounts of such beings that have filled, and still do fill the reading world with wonder.’
“ ‘Very good. But, tell me, have you an idea that such things belong to this world or the world of spirits?’
“At that instant it seemed as if I lost my self-hood, and that a power foreign to my soul for a moment seized my organs and answered for me—
“ ‘They belong to neither, but to a different world!’
“Ravalette, at this answer, looked in astonishment; and, after gazing attentively at me for nearly a minute, muttered, in an almost indistinguishable tone, the words, ‘It shall be!’ You spoke of Mesmerism as the first step toward the true magic, which you believe, and I know exists; and you thought it might be made successful use of in the obtainment of knowledge not to be arrived at by or through ordinary means, methods or agencies. Tell me in what manner? Surely not through ordinary clairvoyance, which ever reveals foregone facts, and none other; and, therefore, can be of little use to the true student? You believe, as I do myself, that all ancient history, as it comes to us, is at best a mere fable, or bundle of myths generally, albeit, certain portions are composed of romance, that is to say, are tales of fiction founded on a basis of fact, the superstructure being ten thousand times larger than the foundations would justify, provided things went at their proper value and importance. How, then, through the mesmeric force, do you expect to dive beneath this superincumbent ocean of fancy, and fetch up what few grains of truth yet sparkle at the bottom? Can you answer me that?’
“Ravalette smiled, gazed sorrowfully at me, and then went on—
“ ‘Believe me, my excellent young friend, that Mesmerism is a fine thing for inducing a “superior condition,” enabling one to write books which send their readers to suicides’ graves; to discover the art of marrying other people’s spouses; for procuring “Air-line” dispatches, and filling lunatic asylums with poor reason-bereft creatures; for stultifying a man’s conscience, and for emboldening one to pass for a philosopher when one is but an ass!’ and Ravalette smiled gravely. ‘Distrust all mesmeric railways,’ said he, ‘for many of the passengers, like Andrew Jackson Davis, after riding on that train for many years, have landed either in the swamps and mires of fantasy, or on the sides of moonshine mountains, called “Mornia,” and “Hornia,” “Forlornia,” and “Starnos,” and “Sternas,” and “Cor,” and “Hor,” and “Bore,” “Gupturion,” and “Spewrion,” and forty thousand more!’
“I bit my lip with vexation; for I had devoutly believed in and loved the subject and its advocates. I had always loved Davis, and highly admired his philosophy and writings, especially since a great free convention he once held in Central New York. I was aware that he had foes—people who refused to believe that God had appointed him his mouthpiece; who pointed to the graveyard in Quincey, Massachusetts, where lie the bodies of John and Hannah Grieves, surmounted by a stone that tells that these poor suicides came there, lost, ruined, from reading his books. I was well aware that there were painful rumors concerning a couple of divorces, and that some friends of mine had cut their throats in order to all the quicker reach the ‘Summer-land’ which he so elegantly described; but still I loved—still love him dearly. But now, when Ravalette suggested that he was a humbug, it struck me that Ravalette was right; for I suddenly recollected that once the great clairvoyant lost a little dog named ‘Dick,’ which his seership could not trace. I remembered that nineteen-twentieths of his prophecies from the ‘superior condition’ never came to pass, while the twentieth any school-boy could guess at. I recalled the fact that his philosophy was most decidedly medical—highly emetic, and very cathartic—and that his followers soon lost what little common-sense they formerly had, else it were impossible for them to accept the teachings of one who constantly contradicted himself. Still, I respected and loved him dearly, albeit Ravalette had utterly demolished his pretensions; and I saw clearly that, in believing the stuff he wrote and talked, I was like one who reads ‘Jack the Giant-killer,’ or ‘Gulliver’s Travels,’ or ‘Baron Munchaussen,’ and believes the stories real and true.”
FOOTNOTE:
[7] For the fullest and most extremely interesting proof—nay, demonstration of human antiquity—that Adam was not the first man, but that men built cities over 50,000 years ago, read “Pre-Adamite Man,” S. Tousey, N. Y.