670 Notes of the. Month on QDec. 



estimation of mankind, a profession capable of being conducted 

 with the highest honour to its professors, and the highest utility to 

 mankind. 



As to the hideous life of the body-stealers, (whom by a very offensive 

 and profane use of the woi'd, it is the habit to call resurrectionists,) no 

 description can deepen its vileness, — every sense of decency, every com- 

 mon feeling of the common proprieties of human nature, seems to be 

 banished by their desperate ti'ade. 



" The Wife of Father and Son. — If any proof were wanting to shew what an 

 execrable crew of miscreants are nourished by the present mode of supplying 

 Dissccthig Establishments, it would be furnished by the disclosures recently 

 made. Among other things it transpired that the wife of one of those wretches 

 had previously been his father's wife, and his own mother-in-law. Had she 

 been his own mother it would probably have been all the same to him." 



England has long enjoyed the fame of being among the most dupe- 

 able lands under the moon ; Scotland is famed for second sight, and 

 Ireland for fairies, — yet we defy any one of the three to produce a rival 

 to the extraordinary personage who is now astonishing our philosophers. 

 A Master M'Kean has started a new set of faculties, which throw 

 the entire old system into the shade. First, he has the faculty in which 

 Tilburina — heroic and high-born as she was — was deficient, and can 

 see things that are not to be seen. Thus he can, with his eyes blind- 

 folded, and his back turned to the experimenter, tell the colour and all 

 external properties of any designated object whatever. A piece or 

 pieces of money, keys, or trinkets of any description, may be produced 

 by any of the company, and he will instantly tell how many there are 

 • — whether composed of gold, silver, bi'ass, or copper ! the date and 

 value of the coins, and describe every other article very minutely, even 

 should there appear a spot upon them. He will also describe the dress 

 of any person, and in what position they sit or stand. 



His next feat is, hearing things which are not to be heard ! Master 

 SI'Kean will ask the favour of any lady or gentleman in the company to 

 speak softljf within themselves, so that they may not be heard by those 

 who sit on the right or left, and he will instantly repeat them, although 

 at one hundred yards' distance. Should there be one hundred watches 

 produced, and each differently set, he will tell the hours and minutes in- 

 dicated by each. 



His third feat is the not less surprising gift of understanding what is 

 not known to him, answering what is not spoken, and hearing through 

 the ears of another. On those points, the reporter is perfectly con- 

 fident : — " What really takes place is to the following effect, and is sur- 

 prising enough to be independent of fiction or exaggeration. The boy, 

 dressed in Highland garb, is effectually blindfolded. To the father, 

 then, is shewn whatever object is to be described by the boy — to the 

 father are the whispers addressed, and before his eyes is any writing 

 displayed. In fact, nothing is proposed to the boy to which the father 

 is not made privy. However, the moment the question regarding each 

 subject is put to the boy, it is answered by him with the utmost correct- 

 ness. He describes, without a second's hesitation, the object held up 

 behind his back. He tells what is whispered to his father's ear, though 



