UNPHILOSOPHIC PHILOSOPHY.
Mesmanre miracles are incredible, but they may be true. We may laugh at the trivialities of the mesmeric oracle ; we may see prefer his conviction to his professional interest, or a Harriet Mar- through the imposture that tries to feed on credulity ; but we ought not to laugh at the earnest faith which makes an Elliotson tineau prefer absolute sincerity to immunity from ridicule. Mes- merism has its phienomena, which are unquestionably " curious " ; —miraculously recovered from a fever—is excellent ; and were is not to be suspected of partisan feeling. But a defect in the ex- periment is, that Miss Martineau does not seem to have witneiied it throughout. without presumptions, guesses, or inferences, we might collect a and amongst them not the least is the earnestness of minds cer- it certified throughout by herself, would be very cogent. A in the same spirit of candour : if some of these philosophers would. " religion." In science this is the last resort of cowardice. No tainly not inactive or uninformed in. the pursuit of its investiga- of the mode In which a dying cow was cured by mesmeric power cow, as Miss Martineau says, is not an imaginative animal, and tion. observe, and limit themselves simply to recording what they see, sufficient body of evidence to grnish some solid ground. As it is, the new doctrine even 'foist into the controversy the authority of furnished' by themselves, and is therefore onesided ; that of their o onents is vitiated by dogmatic presumption and suspiciousness. advocacy is met by onesided presumption • and the opponents of dence. The evidence on the side of the mesmerists is necessarily In temper, Miss Martineau's account, published by the Zoist,
There is wanted, a series of observations conducted by sceptic; , at we need is a copious and dispassionate record of facts. Another is the diffioulty of coming at any satisfactory evi- two truths can be incompatible : when they seem so, it is only the imperfection of human knowledge that does not perceive the re- oonatiement : those who oppose religion to science would bind reli- gion to ignorance and falsehood.
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