ays, by some gesture, or by some movement. Such, undeniably, is
the fact in regard to ventriloquism; for we know enough of the
philosophy of sound, to be certain it can he nothing else. One of the
best ventriloquists of this age, after affecting to resist this
explanation of his mystery, candidly admitted to me, on finding that I
stuck to the principles of reason, that all his art consisted of no more
than a power to control the imagination by imitation supported
occasionally by acting. And yet I once saw this man literally turn a
whole family out of doors, in a storm, by an exercise of his art. On
that occasion, so complete was the delusion, that the good people of the
house actually fancied sounds which came from the ventriloquist, came
from a point considerably beyond the place where they stood, and on the
side _opposite_ to that occupied by the speaker, although they stood at
the top of a flight of steps, and he stood at the bottom. All this time,
the sounds appeared to me to come from the place whence, by the laws of
sound, except in cases of reverberation, and of the influence of the
imagination, they only could appear to come; or, in other words, from
the mouth of the ventriloquist himself. Now, if the imagination can
effect so much, even in crowded assemblies, composed of people of all
degrees of credulity, intelligence, and strength of mind, and when all
are prepared, in part at least, for the delusion, what may it not be
expected to produce on minds peculiarly suited to yield to its
influence, and this, too, when the prodigy takes the captivating form of
mysticism and miracles!

In the case of the patient of M. Cloquet, we are reduced to the
alternatives of denying the testimony, of believing that recourse was
had to drugs, of referring all to the force of the imagination, or of
admitting the truth of the doctrine of animal magnetism. The character
of M. Cloquet, and the motiveless folly of such a course, compel us to
reject the first; the second can hardly be believed, as the patient had
not the appearance of being drugged, and the possession of such a secret
would be almost as valuable as the art in question itself. The doctrine
of animal magnetism we cannot receive, on account of the want of
uniformity and exactitude in the experiments; and I think, we are fairly
driven to take refuge in the force of the imagination. Before doing
this, however, we ought to make considerable allowances for
exaggerations, col