Progress of animal magnetism in New England : being a collection of experiments, reports and certificates, from the most respectable sources : preceded by a dissertation on the proofs of animal magnetism / by Charles Poyen, St. Sauveur.

  • Poyen, Charles.
Date:
1837
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Progress of animal magnetism in New England : being a collection of experiments, reports and certificates, from the most respectable sources : preceded by a dissertation on the proofs of animal magnetism / by Charles Poyen, St. Sauveur. 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.)

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    DEDICATION. TO ALEXANDER WRIGHT, ESQ.. OF LOWELL. Dear Sir,—You are neither a King nor a Pope, neither a Right Honorable nor an Excellency, neither a far-farned General, nor a shrewd and influential Statesman, neither a wealthy merchant nor a learned and dignified President of some of our Universities. It is, therefore, neither in consideration of your titles and dignities, nor of your wealth and political influence, that I inscribe to you this small volume. It is true that you had the honor of first introducing the manufacturing of carpets into New-England; it is true that you are now at the head of an extensive establishment, and that the products of the works you superintend are the object of universal admiration throughout the United States. But still, usefulness in the mechanic- al arts does aol yet afford much glory in this age of refinement and aarrow gentility; and your influence abroad is not so great, that I should be induced by it lo solicit your patronage, in dedicating to you a book on the unpopular subject of Animal Magnetism. My motives in doing it, are not, then, worldly ones; they do not proceed from outward considerations; they are inward; they lay at the bottom of my heart. I wish, Sir, to give you a public token of the profound esteem which I entertain for your virtues and high mental qualities- I must confess, at the risk of offending your modesty, that I have met with very tew who unite, in so great a measure as you do, an earnest love for science, firmness of character, independence and liberality of mind, the philosophic spirit and soundness of judgment, to so much benevolence, tenderness of feeling, and ease of manners. 1 have ob- served in you, that just degree of enthusiasm that stirs up a man's intellect and sympathies towards the correct apprehension of the beautiful and the accomplishment of noble deeds, without leading him into serious errors. What is called prejudice, seems never to have entered into your mind, and pride of any sort is a thing wholly foreign to your nature. Whoever is acquainted with human- ity, will acknowledge that so many fine gifts are seldom met with in the same individual, and surely those who possess them must be of a privileged mental organization. It is my delight, my happiness