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70
HYPNOTISM
may again follow the suggestion of the hypnotist and may become weáker and weaker every day. We know that the freedom of thought of liberty of thought is the first conditon of growth. The American people would not have enjoyed the bappidess or rather the benefits which can be derived from a free government, unless they had these free ipstitutions, but if they had to follow the suggestion of a king or emperor, they would not have been in the conditon of freedom in which they are. If the object is the rule not by one person but by the people, certainly human reason will tell us that every one must rule himself. We must all study the law of selfgovernment; but hypnotism is the government of one person by another. So from all these standpoints it is objectionable, just as poisons are objectionable. I do not make this statement as if hypnotism were an absolute evil, for as poisons are valuable sometimes, so also hypnotism is valuable sometimes. While it may be true, that a person will not obey a suggestion to commit a crime, because of a stronger suggestion in his own mind, due to his own character, still we know that in the case of a person not of a strong nature, as many subjects are not, the very fact of consenting to obey the will of the hypnotist shows that he wishes to follow out the suggestion, and when it is very powerful that will be followed out even to the Sacrificing of self. As to magnetism in general I will say a few words. The nature of human magnetism is different from that of the magnetism emanating from physical objects,
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