TOPICS OF THE DAY.
" PENSgES DOMINANTES " ON THE SUBJECT OF BEING " SENT FOR."
A MOST interesting exhibition of Mesmerism took place yesterday, at Dr. ELLIOTSON s in Conduit Street. A numerous company of the Doctor's friends assembled to witness this surprising display of .clairvoyance. The French youth ALEXIS was easily thrown into the mesmeric state ; when the worthy Doctor addressed him thus- " Now, ALEXIS, the company wish to know the pence dominante of several persons on the subject of being sent for. You know what 'sent for' means ?" [ALEXIS nodded.] " I shall mention sepa- rately the name of each of those whose thoughts the company wishes to know ; and I beg, that when any name is mentioned, you will tell us the person's thought, not in words of your own, but in the words used by the thinker when speaking, or rather thinking, to himself. Do you understand me ?" ALEXIS nodded again, and smiled intelligence : whereupon the exhibition proceeded ; the names being given by Dr. ELLIOTSON in a tone of interrogation, and the thoughts delivered by the mesmerized youth in the form of answers to questions.
Sir ROBERT PEEL?—Well, if GLADSTONE and I had resigned fother Sunday—if ALBERT had not persuaded me to stay where I am for the present, on account of her Majesty's interesting situa- tion—I must have been sent for again before long. Yes ; for STANLEY was to have been Premier of what they call a " really 'Conservative" Government ; STANLEY, whose powers of speech, like the powers of touch in the girl at Boston described by DICKENS, have absorbed all the other faculties. As she can neither smell, bear, see, nor speak, but is a wonderful feeler, so in STANLEY, knowledge, sense, temper, and judgment, are swallowed up by the gift of the gab. My successor—the leader, in these times of difficulty for any Conservative party, of the party which I alone formed, or could have formed—was to have been one who talks so fast, that he has never said what anybody thinks it worth while to remem- ber; who, though he talks so big, has never done any thing but get into scrapes; who, though he talks so bravely, never faces a difficulty, but invariably slinks or shuffles out of the troubles into which his rashness leads him ; whose incapacity for ac- tion and business is such that I could not put him into any office but that of the Colonies, where responsibility is nomi- nal ; who is not master of his own tongue, but its slave ; whose only delight is in contention, though he never stands up to a resolute opponent ; who tramples on the feeble and timid, but avoids the strong and brave ; and who, (this for Young England,) whatever may be thought of our respective manners, is less of a gentleman at heart than the cotton-spinner's son. "What a capital Prime Minister for such a party as ours in such times as these ! I should like to see him try. Perhaps, (who can tell ?) if the DISRAELI rebellion should be renewed—if there should be any more Morning Post work in the House of Commons—I may take the pleasure of seeing hint try. Shall I let him be sent for ? lie and the party would get on famously for a while : what unanimity, what brave talki , what cheering there would be! And I, the squeezed and casta way orange-peel, as they would call me, should have to sup- port " my noble friend "—to help him on his way to the time for de- cision, judgment, action—and an exhibition of hopeless incapacity. I've more than half a mind to let him be sent for.
Lord STANLEY P—What do I think about being sent for ? I hate thinking. Some say I can't think. But can't I speak ? Or rather, I coal speak if PEEL would let me. But at present I am gagged ; and my position is so intolerable, that I do—yes—upon the whole, though a Prime Minister has something more to do, I fear, than lash his opponents, still, speaking does tell so in this country and that House of Commons, that, notwithstanding I know what about myself, I do wish to be sent for.
Lord MELBOURNE P—JOHNNY is a puppy for thinking that he will be sent for, and still more for saying that I can't be sent for. I'll go, if I am sent for, let me tell you, master JOHNNY ; and then perhaps I shan't send for you, my boy, d clever as you think yourself. Why the D— shouldn't I be sent for? By G—, write to VICKEY, and tell her to be sure and send for me. PALMER.. STON shall be my leader of the House of Commons—not that puppy JOHNNY; and though I dislike war with France or the Yankees, we'll have either or both rather than let PEEL be sent for again.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL P—If I should be sent for, I wonder how on earth I shall manage to avoid offering the Foreign seals to PAL- MERSTON. But would that this were my only difficulty ! There's that Howicx, with his opinions about the necessity of legislating for the working-classes as they would legislate if they had sense and power to take care of themselves. There's the League, which, though it has now made all its converts, may, for that very reason, be driven to sympathize with the common people instead of going for nought but higher profits ; in which case, it would carry total repeal in no time. There's Chartism, which, I fear me, will never, never shake hands with the Whigs. There's O'Cosisima., whose people won't now give up Repeal, whatever he might be ready to do for a good share of the loaves and fishes. There's the fifty- pound tenant-at-will clause of our glorious Reform Bill. There's the recollection of my Finality, and all the years during which the Examiner used to say that we should "ripen the pear" by "bom- barding the Lords with good measures" for rejection. There's— oh, dear! I shall never have done—I mustn't think of being sent for. Lord ASHLEY ?—Sent for ! No, not yet ; perhaps never. No, no; I deliberately sacrificed office to the Factory children : that's one sacrifice. I could command office by sympathizing with the peasantry as well as the operatives ; but I don't sympathize with the peasantry : there's another sacrifice. Then, besides, think of the Corn-laws : how can a man who goes on principles of humanity, and sees the cause of national ills to be universal competition, de- fend the Corn-laws without humbling inconsistency ? To be sure, I don't warmly defend the Corn-laws : but then I don't oppose them ; which comes to nearly the same thing. No ; I shan't be sent for.
Mr. ConnEsi ?—Sent for? me sent for ! as some of our paid lecturers pretend to think likely : no, no ; I know myself and my position better than to swallow that bought flattery. In the first place, I am conscious that my own dear middle-class, for whose sole benefit I instituted the League, consider one of ourselves— that is, any one who has himself been in business—as wholly unfit for office. To obtain their suffrages, one's father may have been in trade, but not oneself; and then they do so love a Lord! No, no ; I must fulfil my destiny—which is to raise profits by means of free trade, and make a great fortune, like PEEL'S father, out of cheap labour. Perhaps my son may be sent for.
[Here Dr. ELmorsoN announced that ALEXIS was fatigued, but would go on with his clairvoyance another day. We shall not fail to report the future proceedings.]
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