If it be true, as we are inclined to believe, that there is no one
subject in the whole wide range of speculative studies, to which the
well-worn saying of Hamlet, that there are more things true than are
dreamt of in our philosophy, may be applied with so much propriety as
Animal Magnetism,--so we are also inclined to believe that a perusal of
the two volumes recently published by Mr. Colquhoun under the title of
_An History of Magic, Witchcraft, and Animal Magnetism_, will tend to
convince our readers that to the same subject may be applied the yet
older saying, that there is nothing new under the sun. Mr. Colquhoun,
who many years since published his _Isis Revelata_, has long been a
diligent inquirer into the nature and origin of the different phenomena
of animal magnetism; and it would appear from the work before us, he has
also been a persevering reader of all the various accounts of magic,
witchcraft, and other so-called popular delusions, recorded by the
writers of antiquity, and the chroniclers of the middle ages; as well as
of those more modern mysteries (such as the Gustavus Adolphus Story,
the Death of Ganganelli, &c.) which seem to increase in interest just in
proportion as they approach to our own _more enlightened_ days. As in
all the extraordinary tales which he brings forward, our author sees
only manifestations of well-known mesmeric phenomena, it may well be
imagined that, in recording the result of these examinations and
studies, he has probed two volumes which, if they do not satisfy all our
requirements upon the subject, will be found of most considerable
interest, not only to all who believe in Animal Magnetism, but to all
who care to investigate the nature of the human mind, its organization,
and the laws which govern its action.
The success which has attended the publication of Mr. Buckley's
translation of _The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent_, and the
approbation bestowed upon that work by several of the highest
dignitaries of the English Church, have led him to publish _The
Catechism of the Council of Trent translated into English with Notes_;
and there can be little doubt, from the anxiety which now exists to
learn, from sources which cannot be disputed, both the points on which
we differ from Rome, and those on which we agree with Rome, that the
success which followed Mr. Buckley's translation of the Decrees will be
extended to his English version of the _Catechism of the Council of
Trent_.
BOOKS RECEIVED.--_The Pathway of the Fawn, a Tale of the New Year_, by
Mrs. T.K. Hervey. A charming and appropriate tale for a New Year's Gift,
written as it is with exquisite taste and a most benevolent intent, and
set off with a number of capital illustrations by G.H. Thomas. _Jubilee
Edition of the Complete Works of King Alfred the Great_, Part I. This
first part of what is intended to be a complete translation of the works
of our great Alfred, comprises a prefatory notice of what the whole work
is to contain, and a harmony of the chroniclers during the life of King
Alfred, that is to say, from A.D. 849 to A.D. 901.