In short,
I was not long in perceiving that if man is to be intellectually
convinced of his own immortality, he will never be so convinced by the
mere abstractions which have been so long the fashion of the moralists
of England, of France, and of Germany. Abstractions may amuse and
exercise, but take no hold on the mind. Here upon earth, at least,
philosophy, I am persuaded, will always in vain call upon us to look
upon qualities as things. The will may assent- the soul- the
intellect, never.
"I repeat, then, that I only half felt, and never intellectually
believed. But latterly there has been a certain deepening of the
feeling, until it has come so nearly to resemble the acquiesence of
reason, that I find it difficult to distinguish the two. I am enabled,
too, plainly to trace this effect to the mesmeric influence. I
cannot better explain my meaning than by the hypothesis that the
mesmeric exaltation enables me to perceive a train of ratiocination
which, in my abnormal existence, convinces, but which, in full
accordance with the mesmeric phenomena, does not extend, except
through its effect, into my normal condition. In sleep-waking, the
reasoning and its conclusion- the cause and its effect- are present
together.
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