causes. Lucius might describe the actual state of an untenanted body, and throw a little light on the feelings its owner may have had just before he left the flesh; but he could not tell the whole story. His descriptions raised as many problems as they appeared to solve. His clairvoyance was remarkable. But it was the perception of an inferior mind in a passive condition. What was needed was intuition, showing the real state of the individual behind all these symptoms.
Fortunately, for our present interests, there still exists a personal journal in which, beginning December 26, 1843, Lucius noted down matters of interest during his travels with Mr. Quimby. Most of these details are with reference to the towns visited, the interest or credulity aroused by the experiments, or the people met along the way. Plainly Lucius has no theory concerning his own powers. He accepts and uses the term “magnetism” or “magnetised,” as matter of convenience, without manifesting any interest to inquire what is behind. He is aware that Mr. Quimby possesses power over him, but that fact neither troubles nor interests him. Apparently, he was glad when the public exhibitions were successful, and he notes that scepticism is overcome. But there he always leaves the matter. One concludes that Lucius had exceptional receptive powers, so that under other auspices he might have been a spiritistic medium; but that he was almost entirely lacking in analytical power. Consequently, Lucius merely states facts and then leaves them. What he says concerning things discerned by him in the mesmeric state is probably what he could recall when he heard Mr. Quimby and others talking about his descriptions, when awakened into his normal condition.
For example, we find him referring to some of Mr. Quimby's cures in the early period when Quimby himself still believed that “magnetism” had something to do with them. “Quimby,” he writes, “has been doing miracles. He has cured a man that couldn't walk nor speak. It has produced a great excitement here among the people. He [the patient] has been confined to his house about a year, and never has spoken or walked. In one hour [Mr. Quimby] made him walk about the room and speak so as to be heard in another room.”
Referring to the prevalent scepticism, he writes on another
