the Review of Reviews, 



march 20, ijO&. 



CAN THE HYPNOTISED FORESEE? 



A Weird Tale of Hypnotic Prophecy. 



In a rt;cent number of this " Review" I quoted at 

 some length the account given by Colonel de Rochas 

 in the Annals of Psychical Science of the extraor- 

 dinary results of his experiments with a hypnotic 

 subject. This girl whtn hypnotised was made to 

 relive a series of her lives in previous incarnations, 

 assuming in succession one ix^rsonality after the 

 other, until she got back nearly 200 years. In the 

 January number of the Annals of L'sycJiical Science 

 the same Colonel de Rochas descril>es his experi- 

 ments with another subject, who not only went back- 

 wards in trance to her previous incarnation as a 

 man, but went forward, died, and was reincarnated 

 as a' priest ! The whole story is one of weird and 

 absorbing interest. Colonel de Rochas says:-- 



The phenomenon of prevision, inexplicable as it still is 

 for us, has been observed so clearly that we must not 

 reject it as a 'priori as impossible. Since the subjects I 

 have studied certainly see their own present life in its past 

 stages, why should they not also see into the future up to 

 a certain point? 



Juliette, the subject of the present experiments, is 

 a girl of eighteen, who, being hypnotised, is pro- 

 jected into the future by the aid of suggestion that 

 she is two years older than she actually is: — 



Slie is now twenty years of age; she has left Grenoble 

 three or four years since; she is at Geneva, where she 

 poses to a. sculptor, M. Drouet, to whom M. Basset has re- 

 commended her. * ^, 



A continuation of the transverse passes brings her to the 

 ase of twenty-two. She is at Nice. She has taken cold 

 while posing; she coughs much, and does not want to 

 pose any more. 



Under the influence ot the same passes she becomes still 

 older; her face expresses suffering: she is shaken by 

 violent bouts of coughing; her attitude is so unhappy and 

 so resigned that all present are moved by it. 



Finally, she dies; her head reclines on her shoulder, and 

 her limbs fall inert. 



A few more passes and she is able to answer me. bhe 

 died at the age of twenty-five. Her astral body detached 

 itself from her physical body rapidly and without suffer- 

 ing. She remembers having been Jul'ette, who always re- 

 mained virtuous. Previously she had been a man who died 

 youn?; a good man also, who suffered much during his life 

 because, before that, he had been a bad woman. 



After a continuation of the same passes I resume the in- 

 terrogatiou. She is glad that she is dead: she does not 

 suffer, and is not in obscurity. She remembers those who 

 were good to her, notably Colonel de Rochas. who died two 

 years after she did, from a disease from which he had 

 long sufl'ered. 



According to this, Colonel de Rochas has now 

 nine years to live. It must have been rather a shock 

 to the hypnotist to have his own death thus foreseen 

 by his subject. But the Colonel pursued his in- 

 vestigations. Juliette, being projected still further 

 into the future, " reincarnates in a family in easy 

 circumstances, and is called Emile Chaumette. His 

 mother died in giving birth to him. His father is 

 proprietor of a tile-factory, and lives in the country' 

 in a prettv house. He had the desire in childhood 

 to become a priest. He entered a large seminary, 

 and soon after leaving it in IQ40 he was appointed 

 vicaire at Havre." While livino in advance as a 

 priest she thinks as a priest, acts as a priest, and 

 writes her mme like a man. 



Colonel de Rochas has not been able to verify any 

 of her staterhents in trance, the most important of 

 which lie in the future. He is puzzled, and can only 

 conclude that " we find ourselves again confronted 

 by a series of dreams which succeed each other with 

 an appearance of truth and a logical character." 

 But that settles nothing. For what are dreams? 

 Are not our lives the stuff of which dreams are 

 made of? 



CAMPAIGN FUNDS AND HOW THEY ARE RAISED. 



la Britain the campagn fund for a General Elec- 

 tion is believed to be raised largely by the sale of 

 peerages, baronetcies, and the like, by the Govern- 

 ment in power. Rumour, which probably lies, esti- 

 mates the price paid for a recent peerage at any- 

 thing between ;^i 00,000 and ^^240, 000. In America 

 they do things more systematically. Both parties 

 levy toll upon the great trusts. Mr. H. L. West, 

 writing in the Forum for" January, says: — 



When the fact was disclosed that the New York liife 

 Insurance CoiniKiny had given 150,000 dols. in aid of thei 

 election of Republican candidates in three Presidential 

 campai'jiis. Judge Parker, erstwhile Democratic candidal-© 

 for President, asserted that i)ractically all the large cor- 

 Ijorations had contributed to the treasury of the Repub- 

 lican party. " The officers responsible for these raids upon 

 the treasuries of corporations." said Judge Parker, " have 

 received their reward in unfettered management of dif- 

 ferent insurance corporations; in unembar'-assed raids upon 

 the public through trusts, condemneil by both common and 

 statute law; in refusal to punish criminally the officers of 

 railroad and other corporations violating the laws; and 

 in statutory permission to manufacturing corporations to 

 levy tribute on the people." And, according to Judge 

 Parker, not only was this immunity thus purchased, hut 

 worse results were attained " in the gradual demoralisation 

 of voters and the dulling of the public conscience caused 

 by the efforts lo make these vast sums of money procure 

 the ballots they were intended to procure, corruptly or 

 otherwise." 



But while this is true, it is not less true that — 



except in the Bryan campaigns, the large corporations- 

 have been impartial in their contributions. Mr. John G. 

 Havemeyer. it will be remembered, openly testified without 

 liesitation that the sugar trust had contributed to hoth 

 sides: — 



Fund of the Republican National Committee Dols 



in 1904 1.90O.0OO 



Fund of the Repuulican National Committee 



in 1900 2,800,000 



Fund of the Republican National Committee 



in 1896 3,800,000 



Fund of the Democratic National Committee 



in- 1896 4,100,000 



The Republican fund last year is said to have- 

 been disbursed as follow^s : — 



Dols. 



Remittances to State committees 700,000 



For literature 550,000 



Maintaining Speakers' bureau 175,000 



For lithographs, advertisinsr, etc 150. COO 



Salaries and exnenses at headquarters 150,000 



Miscellaneous expenses 75,000 



Balance at close of campaign 100,000 



These sums are much smaller than are popularly 

 accredited to the total of campaign contributions. 

 It has always been supposed, for instance, that the 

 fund at the command of Senator Hanna during the 

 campiaign of 1896 was between 5,000,000 dols. and 

 6,000,000 dols. 



