Lectures on clairmativeness, or, Human magnetism : with an appendix / by Gibson Smith.

  • Smith, Gibson.
Date:
1845
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Lectures on clairmativeness, or, Human magnetism : with an appendix / by Gibson Smith. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

    5/44
    TO THE READER. The Author of this little Work would say, to those into whose hands soever it may fall, that he has consented to the task of presenting it to the public, partly from his own conviction of its truth and importance, and part- ly from the repeated and urgent solicitations which he has received from almost every part of the Union. Mr. J. Davis, the Clairvoyant from whom these facts have been receiv- ed, is a young man eighteen years of age; his moral character is irre- proachable ; he is unlearned, five months having been the extent of his schooling. He has worked at his trade in this village, Poughkeepsie, for the last six years, with the exception of about eighteen months, during which time he has been engaged in the subject of Mesmerism and Clair- voyance. As a Clairvoyant subject, he has probably never been surpassed or equalled. His vision and knowledge, when in the transic state, seem perfect and unlimited ; and in reference to these matters, I can only ask a candid public to read and judge for themselves. For a further representa- tion of the astonishing powers of the Clairvoyant, the reader is referred to the Appendix to this work. When so much has been said—and, as I suppose, well said—on the sub- ject of Animal Magnetism and Clairvoyance, it is a. matter quite foreign to me, and, perhaps, to my calling, to attempt, on my part, and from my own investigations, to add any thing that might essentially and substantially aid the general cause. But as it has fallen to my lot to witness some of the most astonishing experiments of young Davis, the Clairvoyant, and listen to the clear and forcible expositions which he has given of the subject, I feel it my duty to communicate these facts to the world. It is not the volu- minous character of this work that is designed or expected to commend it to the attention of the public; but, it is its original and interesting charac- ter, added to the clearness and perspicuity of its expositions—its condensed form, and the manifest truthfulness of its every feature. And I would here state, what will doubtless be evident to every competent judge, that the texts furnished in this small work, are subject-matter sufficient for a large volume,—in fact, for a series of volumes ; but I have studied to present the eimple naked texts to the scholar, the man of genius and science, not only that he may make his own comments and draw his own inferences, but also that the work may be available to all; and that every mind interested in the investigation and cultivation of the human powers may be furnished