Chapter 1

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BUCHANAN'S JOURNAL OF MAN.

VOL. I. JUNE, 1887. NO. 5.

CONTENTS OF JOURNAL OF MAN.

The Most Marvellous Triumph of Educational Science The Grand Symposium of the Wise Men The Burning Question in Education MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE--Bigotry and Liberality; Religious News; Abolishing Slavery; Old Fogy Biography; Legal Responsibility in Hypnotism; Pasteur's Cure for Hydrophobia; Lulu Hurst; Land Monopoly; Marriage in Mexico; The Grand Symposium; A New Mussulman Empire; Psychometric Imposture; Our Tobacco Bill; Extinct Animals; Education Genesis of the Brain (concluded)

THE MOST MARVELLOUS TRIUMPH OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCE.

In the dull atmosphere which stagnates between the high walls of colleges and churches wherein play the little eddies of fashionable literature, which considers the authorship of an old play[1] more interesting and important than the questions that involve the welfare of all humanity or the destiny of a nation,--an atmosphere seldom stirred by the strong, pure breezes of the mountain and the ocean,--the best thought and impulse of which humanity is capable is stifled in its birth, or if it comes forth feels the overshadowing influence that chills its life.

[1] Mr. Lowell, having been minister to England, is profoundly reverenced in Boston for his social position. His position gives great weight to his suggestions. It is a moral power for the use of which he is responsible, but with which he has trifled. When a few earnest reformers thought that Mr. Gladstone's grand statesmanship in preserving the peace of the world deserved to be recognized and honored by Americans, conservative, rank-worshipping Bostonians thought it would be _indispensable_ to have Mr. Lowell's co-operation, and waited his return from Europe. When Mr. Lowell was appealed to be had nothing to say,--he _wanted rest_! And Boston had nothing to say on that grand occasion, though Boston has a perfunctory Peace Society!

But now Mr. Lowell comes out to call forth Bostonians for his chosen themes, and what are they? The discussion of old English dramatists! If there is anything more dead and worthless than antiquated plays which are forgotten, what is it? If there is anything more worthy of the name of _rubbish_, pray let us know what it is. But Boston crowds to hear disquisitions which from men in a different social position would be voted a bore, and sits reverently and patiently to catch his feeble and to many, scarce audible utterances. Is not this the worship of triviality and trash! How different would have been the action of John Hancock, of Samuel Adams, of Fisher Ames, or of Wendell Phillips. The atmosphere of European courts is debilitating to American Republicanism, unless it be a profound sentiment of the heart. When my brother-in-law returned from his position as minister to Naples, I could see that he had learned to look upon the common people as a rabble, and to sympathize only with the aristocracy. Cassius M. Clay at St. Petersburg learned to sympathize with the Russians, but he returned with no impairment of his democratic principles.

Not there, amid the pedantries of "culture," do we find the atmosphere for free and benevolent thought, but rather far away from such influences, in the forests, the mountain and prairie, where man comes more nearly into communion with nature, and forgets the inheritance of ancient error which every corporate institution preserves and perpetuates. It is to this widespread audience that the JOURNAL OF MAN appeals and offers a new suggestion.

In sending forth the "New Education," hoping for some appreciative response from educational circles in which collegiate influences prevail, I did not deem it prudent to introduce some of the noblest thoughts that belong to the great theme. The book was sent forth limited and incomplete, hoping that, heretical as it was, and quite irreverent toward the ignorance descended from antiquity, it might still receive sufficient approbation and appreciation to justify later introduction of matter that would have hindered its first reception.

It has reached the third edition, but it has been very apparent that its reception was cordial and enthusiastic only among the most progressive minds, the number of which increases as we travel westward, and San Francisco called for more copies than the leading cities of the East.

The time has now arrived (when this JOURNAL is hailed cordially throughout the country) that I may venture to announce the most remarkable feature of the art and science of education. There is an additional reason, too, for speaking out at this time, which should mortify the pride of an American citizen. The philanthropic science which I thought it imprudent to mention then in this free country, is beginning to be studied in France, where such themes are not suppressed by the sturdy dogmatism which is so prevalent and so powerful in the Anglo-Saxon race.

THE NEW METHOD IN FRANCE.

As the French National Scientific Association, in their meeting at Grenoble, two years ago, recognized in their most startling form the phenomena of human impressibility which are illustrated in the "Manual of Psychometry," and reported the most marvellous experiments in medicines,--an act of liberality which has no parallel in English-speaking nations,--so at the late meeting of their Scientific Congress, as I learn from the German magazine, the _Sphinx_, the new principle of education was broached which I feared to present in the "New Education," and was received with general approbation by that learned body.

Of course there was not a complete presentation of the subject, for that would require a complete knowledge of the brain, which no scientific association claims at present, and which will have its first presentation to the readers of the JOURNAL OF MAN, but the process of educational development was studied by the French _savants_ from the standpoint of mesmeric science and its leading methods, which are now (freed from the name of an individual) styled _hypnotism_; or, the sleep-producing process.

In that passive and impressionable condition which is called hypnotic, mesmeric, somnambulic, or somniloquent, it has long been known that the subject may be absolutely controlled by the operator, or by a simple command or suggestion, or by his own imagination. This has been so often demonstrated before many hundred thousands of spectators, that it is a matter of general knowledge everywhere among intelligent people,--everywhere except, perhaps, in the thick darkness of medical colleges, where ignorance upon such subjects has long been made the criterion of respectability, and perhaps among a few very orthodox congregations, where such things have been associated with the idea of witchcraft, and considered very offensive to the Lord. Such was the doctrine of my old contemporary at Cincinnati, Dr. Wilson, at the head of the leading orthodox congregation; and it was equally offensive to the champion debater of Presbyterian orthodoxy, the Rev. N. L. Rice, whom I arraigned before a vast audience for his antiquated falsehoods. If the church and the college are getting a _little_ more enlightened now, I cannot forget the condition in which I found them, of stubborn hostility to scientific progress, and these things _should not be forgotten_ until they have repented, reformed, and ceased to be a stationary obstruction.

We are not accustomed to look to a Catholic country like France for advanced thought, yet, in these instances just mentioned, we find French scientists entertaining advanced ideas which the leaders of American science treat with either indifference or hostility. The _Popular Science Monthly_ and medical journals generally treat all such matters with stubborn aversion and injustice. The learned collaborators of Johnson's Cyclopedia were unwilling even to have the science of psychometry mentioned in it, and it was introduced by the publisher against their protest. These things I mention now, that the great public to which I appeal may better understand the real value of the opinions of those who stand in positions of authority and influence.

I would not wish to diminish by harsh criticism the sentiment of reverence which is already too feeble in the American mind. We cannot be too reverent to real intellectual and moral greatness, but to reverence beyond their worth the teachers of old inherited falsehoods, is to be a traitor to truth. The literature of to-day is controlled by ancient or mediaeval errors, and the fresh science seeking expression in the JOURNAL OF MAN could not have found expression in periodical literature. Our leading periodicals would not have opened their pages to the exposition of educational methods which is to be given in this essay. _Intolerance_ is the inheritance which the generation of to-day has received from ancestors who two or three centuries ago delighted in hanging or even burning the exponents of opinions contrary to their own; and where intolerance is not in the way, the energy of literary cliques is exerted to hold exclusive possession of the field.

With this exordium, which the occasion seemed to require, let us proceed to consider the most powerful and radical measure, which belongs to the science of education, and which has been developed by the science of anthropology.

DEFINITION OF EDUCATION.

Education, rightly understood, signifies the development of all the faculties or capacities of the soul, and, as a necessary consequence, of the brain, in which that soul is lodged, and of the body, which is as essential to the brain as the brain is to the soul. For without the brain there is no soul expression, and in proportion to the condition and development of the brain is the expression of all the soul faculties. A soft and watery brain is always accompanied by feebleness of character and mind. In like manner the manifestations of the brain depend for their strength upon the body, when the lungs and heart fail to send a vigorous current of arterial blood to the brain, its power declines proportionally; and when the current ceases entirely, the action of the brain itself ceases, and with its cessation all manifestations of the soul cease also. Or when the disordered viscera fail to supply a healthy blood, as in fevers of a low type, the brain, like all other organs, is brought down to the level of the depraved blood, and shows by its utter feebleness and by the incoherent expressions of the patient that brain and soul depend upon the body for their power and all their action in this life.[2]

[2] The insane folly which assumes, without a particle of evidence, that everything depends upon mind, and that the brain, the body, and their environment, which is continually acting upon the _entire_ man, are of no importance whatever, would not be worthy even of mere mention if it were not for the fact that this form of delusion has of late become so common, under the deceptive names of metaphysics, Christian science, and mind-cure, when the theory is simply an attempt to get rid of science and common sense.

FOUR EDUCATIONAL METHODS.

The process of education by a teacher consists chiefly in establishing the control of his stronger mind over that of the pupil, by placing the latter in the most passive and receptive condition, in which the pupil not only receives the intelligence he gives, but also feels the influence of his will and principles.

There are four methods by which the influence of the teacher is made effective: 1st, the power of conviction or reason; 2d, the spirit of obedience; 3d, the spirit of imitation; and 4th, the spirit of passive sympathy.

In the first method he addresses the understanding, enabling the pupil to understand what is best for him. If Socrates had been right in maintaining that knowledge was the one thing needful to overcome practical errors, and that men sinned only through ignorance (which was a very grave mistake), this would be the most effective method of teaching. But it is effective only with those who are conscientious and thoughtful, who are seeking to do right, and need only to be instructed. It is entirely ineffective with the great majority of wrong doers, whose moral nature and self-control are insufficient to curb their animalism.

The second method, the spirit of obedience, is the method of religion, which is far more effective. Jesus and other religious teachers impress their followers that there is a great and benevolent power, the power to which we are indebted for our present lives and our hope of unlimited future happiness,--to which we owe a profound gratitude, with an unhesitating love and obedience. Our love should not be withheld from our grand benefactor; and if his wisdom transcends our own, the wisest thing that we can do is to ascertain what that wisdom dictates, and obey it implicitly. That which we supremely love and reverence we delight in obeying.

OBEDIENCE AND IMITATION.

The teacher or parent, therefore, should endeavor to hold something like the Divine relation to the child,--should show a superiority of knowledge, an inflexible firmness, an unvarying love, and irresistible attraction, ever endeavoring to win love, while enforcing the supremacy of his will, so that obedience may be a pleasure. Thus may a woman with a masculine strength of will, or a man with feminine strength of love, develop that willing obedience which insures the moral elevation of the pupil. But whenever the teacher fails to elicit both respect and love, his power for good is lost. In this evolution of good the power of the teacher is vastly enhanced by that of music, especially in the form of song, when the pupil is made to sing songs of exalted sentiment; and there are very few natures so depraved as to resist long the combined power of exalted music and a superior teacher, to which should be added the social influence of numbers already elevated by such influences.

In such schools, the power of the third element, _imitation_, is very great, for the pupil is generally more influenced by the example of his numerous associates in the school and family, with whom he is continually in contact, than by that of his teacher.

To get the full benefit of imitation requires not only the influence of well-trained schoolmates, but systematic exercises in reading, singing, declamation, and deportment, the teaching being given by example.

When a boy or girl is taught by example to express a noble sentiment in a natural manner, he is thereby compelled to feel the sentiment in some degree with sincerity. When he is required to imitate and practice certain forms of politeness which express the best sentiments, those sentiments must gradually become a part of his nature. The acts of respect, of kindness and courtesy to which he may be naturally averse, cannot be daily practised without rousing in his nature the sentiments to which they correspond.

VALUE OF DANCING.

Among the many disciplinary methods which have been neglected in our educational systems, I would give a high rank to _dancing_. Rightly conducted, it embodies so much of grace, dignity, cheerfulness, playfulness, health, and the desire of pleasing, as to entitle it to a high rank in the promotion of health and virtue. Dancing is one of the imitative arts, and involves the amiable influence of imitation, as well as the more lively sentiments. The hostility of the orthodox churches to this refining exercise is probably the effect of the infernalism of their theology, which places mankind upon the brink of hell, in full view of the infinite agony of their friends, relatives, and ancestors, so as to render every sentiment but that of gloom and terror inappropriate. How bitter their hostility to all gaiety! "Yes, dance, young woman," said a famous Methodist preacher about twenty years ago, "dance down to hell!" At the same time, his own private record did not indicate any deep sincerity in his fear of hell. The same hostility is still kept up, and overflows in the popular harangues of Rev. Sam Jones, and many others.

Popular Christianity, in the majority of the churches, is therefore one of the greatest hindrances to a normal educational system, and to social refinement, notwithstanding its support of some of the essential virtues.

THE REVOLUTIONARY METHOD.

The fourth method, of _passive sympathy_, is the most scientific, the most novel and the most powerful of all,--the most competent to grasp the helpless, hopeless, half idiotic, and half criminal classes and restore them to normal intelligence and virtue. It was not mentioned in the "New Education," for fear of alarming the orthodox stolidity of the medical college and the church, but it will appear in future editions. It is the method of bringing the subject into absolute sympathy and absolute subordination under the operator.

It has been known throughout this century that certain persons can be brought under the control of those of stronger wills, so as to realize the thoughts, and even sensations of the operator, feeling what he feels, tasting what he tastes, apparently more familiar with his body than their own, and passively subject to his will. They are said to be _en rapport_ with him, and with no one else. In this condition his will is substituted for their own, which is entirely passive, and he is able to fix impressions on their minds and produce changes in their feelings and sentiments which may remain after his control is removed.

It is self-evident that in this process we have the most powerful lever ever discovered for uplifting the fallen, and doing more in an hour than can be done by the usual methods in many months. Why, then, have we not had the benefit of this potent method throughout the century? The answer is one word, _Stolidity_! These proceedings, which are called magnetic, or named after Mesmer, mesmeric, have had to battle for recognition, for existence even, against the college and the church. The medical and clerical professions have been everywhere educated to deny, despise, and resist this species of science, and would, if they had the power, suppress it by law, their education having made them ignorant of its merits and ignorant of its deeply interesting literature. Prejudice and ignorance are inculcated as easily as science, and they are inculcated in all colleges.

But all who are acquainted with the history of animal magnetism during the present century know that it has nobly fulfilled its mission as a system of therapeutics, by alleviating or curing all forms of disease of both body and mind. That which cures bodily diseases and sometimes overcomes insanity has certainly power enough to modify the action of the brain; and if the large number of magnetic physicians who have been successfully occupied in conquering disease had been employed in modifying the action of the brain in the young, we might have had as satisfactory reports of their success, which neither the medical nor the clerical profession would have been so much moved by jealousy to oppose.

In the light of anthropology, however, it is not necessary to adhere to the old formulae of the followers of Mesmer. The hypnotic or mesmeric state is simply a condition arising from the exercise and predominance of a faculty belonging to all human beings,--a faculty which may be evoked by other methods, or by the voluntary action of the subject, or by the spontaneous action of the brain, as in those who in sleep pass into the state of somnambulism, and go forth in the night, walking in dangerous places with perfect safety, but in an unconscious state.

This condition is also produced by gentle manipulations over the head toward the eyes, or upon the chest down to the epigastrium (pit of the stomach). The reason of these processes was entirely unknown until my discovery of the organ of Somnolence in the temples, and the corresponding region in the body showed that the results were produced by manipulations which concentrated the nervous action to those two locations.

The entranced or mesmeric state, in which the subject is in a dreamy condition with but little power of will and with extreme susceptibility, which is also a state of great mental clearness, may be produced by directly stimulating the proper organs with the fingers, which should be placed upon the organ of Somnolence on each side of the head, in the temples, about an inch horizontally behind the brow. In persons who are impressible this produces a quiet dreamy feeling, and a disposition to close the eyes. If carried further, the eyes become closed so that it is difficult to open them, and the unconscious state soon follows. The same effect may be produced by placing the hand on the body just below the breastbone (sternum). In this condition, the character, or action of the brain, is under the control of the operator, and by gently applying his hand over any portion of the brain, its organs may be brought into predominant activity, while other organs may be quelled or quieted by gentle dispersive manipulations. Thus, placing the hand gently on the top of the head, touching very lightly, all the amiable or moral organs will be brought into play, producing the most admirable and pleasing disposition; or if the operator has the necessary knowledge of the locations he may bring out each faculty separately, such as Love, Hope, Religion, Kindness, Conscientiousness, Firmness, Cheerfulness, Imitation, etc.

At the same time, if there be any evil propensities, such as a quarrelsome, irritable temper, a love of turbulence and cruelty, selfishness, avarice, jealousy, etc., all of which lie at the base of the brain, they may be for the time entirely suppressed by gentle dispersive manipulations from the organs of such propensities either down toward the chest or upward.

What I state thus of the moral and selfish tendencies or faculties is equally applicable to all the faculties and their organs. We may stimulate all forms of intelligence, observation, memory, or reason, or check excessive intellectual activity when it disturbs sleep and exhausts the brain. We may thus cultivate modesty, obedience, prudence, industry, application, imagination, refinement, truthfulness, faith, spirituality, originality, invention, literary capacity, patience, perseverance, fortitude, hardihood, health, temperance, and, in short, every good quality that we desire to see developed, if we understand cerebral science; and if we understand only its general-outlines we can at least improve the character by giving a predominance to the superior regions of the brain.

But while this may be done more effectively in the somnolized condition, it is not absolutely necessary to induce that condition. Speaking of the entire fourteen hundred millions now on the globe, we may say that a large majority are susceptible, in various degrees, of feeling such influences without any previous somnolizing. Nearly all the inhabitants of the torrid zone are subject to such influences in their habitual condition, and actually require no medicine, because their treatment by the hand of an enlightened anthropologist familiar with therapeutic sarcognomy will control all their diseases. The greatest triumphs of sarcognomy are yet to be realized in such climates.

In the United States, the susceptibility increases as we go South. The majority of the southern population are impressible, and there are some who would even maintain that a majority are, in the North; and certainly magnetic healers have been very successful in New England.