And though I be
reckoned of many a dreamer of dreams, he shall not, I think, go
unprofited, who can rightly 'read my rede.'
To come, then, to the details. I had been for several months, whether
wisely or unwisely doth not appear, a link in one of those human chain
rings supposed to be as peculiarly receptive of extra and super and
ultra mundane facts as a legislative 'ring' is of the loose change of
the lobby; and had sought in vain for personal contact with the world to
come, when one afternoon a streak of the 'od' lightning suddenly ran
down my right arm, as I sat in my private apartment, and behold I was a
'writing mejum.' The usual 'proofs' of relationship were given. Not
being very credulous, however, I did not, at first, acknowledge them as
such. But as my time was at my own disposal just then, I gave myself up
to the influence for several days. The consequence was, that I became so
thoroughly mesmerized, or 'biologized,' that I ceased to be complete
master of my own faculties, and was _forced_ to give a half assent to
all the absurdities that were communicated. Be it understood, then, that
these experiences are given as those of a person whose will, whose very
soul and _proprium_ had been temporarily subjugated by some other will
or wills; and whose natural powers of discrimination were as much
distraught as are those of the subjects of the itinerant biologist; who
are made to believe, most firmly, that cayenne pepper is sugar, that
water is fire, that a cane is a snake.
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