KIDD’S OWN JOURNAL. 
thus brought home to the table-turner, that 
it is by his own muscular action, apparently 
of an involuntary kind, that the table, &e., is 
set in motion; and not that electricity, mag- 
netism, attraction, a new force, supernatural 
or diabolical agency, is communicated 
through him—notions, it would seem, enter- 
tained by many, “ termed by courtesy ’’ edu- 
cated men, but who, as a class, are ignorant 
of the first principles even of natural science 
—regarding its pursuit with an indifference 
approaching to contempt, and hearing of and 
witnessing its most striking and obvious 
applications with the stupid wonder of the 
savage at the appliances of civilised man. 
We have seen that when the turners looked 
at the index it remained motionless ; when it 
was hidden from them, or they looked away, 
it wavered about, in spite of their belief 
that they were only pressing directly down- 
wards. Thus, a corrective mental influence 
is exerted by the apparatus; and when the 
most earnest and successful turners attempt 
to operate with this index before them, tell- 
ing truly whether they are pressing down- 
wards only, or obliquely to right or left, thecr 
power is gone; so that, when they become 
conscious of what they are really doing me- 
chanically, they remain no longer the victims 
of a self-delusion. 
It is unnecessary to pursue this subject 
further, or to describe other modifications 
of this apparatus instanced by Dr. Faraday. 
For the curious and the candid, sufficient 
has been said to enable them to construct 
the requisite apparatus, and to convince 
themselves if still desirous of personal proof; 
for others, it is simply useless to multiply 
either experimental or deductive proofs. 
We cannot, however, quit this subject with- 
out quoting, word for word, the stern and 
well-merited reproof addressed to the nation 
by this eminent man. ‘ Permit me to say, 
before concluding,” writes Dr.Faraday, ‘that 
I have been greatly startled by the revela.. 
tion which this purely physical subject has 
made of the condition of the public mind. 
No doubt there are many persons who have 
formed a right judgment, or used a cautious 
reserve, for I know several such, and public 
communications have shown it to be so; but 
their number zs almost as nothing to the great 
body who have believed and borne testi- 
mony, as I think, in the cause of error. I 
do not here refer to the distinction of those 
who agree, with me and those who differ. 
By the great body, I mean such as reject all 
consideration of the equality of cause and 
effect, who refer the results to electricity and 
magnetism—yet know nothing of the laws of 
these forces; or to attraction—yet show no 
phenomena of pure attractive power; or to 
the rotation of the earth, as if the earth 
revolved round the leg of a table; or to 



47 
some unrecognised physical force, without 
inquiring whether the known forces are not 
sufficient ; or who even refer them to diabo- 
lical or supernatural agency, rather than 
suspend their judgment, or acknowledge to 
themselves that they are not learned enough 
in these matters to decide on the nature of 
the action. JI think the system of education 
that could leave the mental condition of the 
public body in the state in which this subject has 
Sound it, must have been greatly deficient in 
some very important principle.” 
WE have ever said and proved it, that the 
world is mad; and Faraday has said and 
proved it, that the world is also made up of 
Jools. We have then, as a nation, not much 
to boast of! 

OH! SING AGAIN THAT TOUCHING SONG. 
Oh! sing again that touching song, 
That song of other times! 
The music bears my soul along, 
To other, dearer climes. 
T love its low and broken tone ; 
The music seems to me 
Like the wild wind, when singing lone 
Over a twilight sea. 
It may not sound so sweet to you; 
To you it cannot bring 
The valleys where your childhood grew, 
The memories of your Spring. 
My father’s house, my infancy, 
Rise present to my mind, 
As if I had not crossed the sea 
Or left my youth behind. 
I heard it at the evening’s close, 
Upon my native shore ; 
It was a favorite song with those 
Whom I shall see no more. 
How many worldly thoughts and cares 
Have melted at the strain ! 
"Tis fraught with early hopes and prayers— 
Oh! sing that song again. 
L. E. L. 
COMPANIONS. 
A companton that is cheerful, and free from 
swearing and scurrilous discourse, is worth gold. 
I love such mirth as does not make friends 
ashamed to look upon one another next morning ; 
nor men, that cannot well bear it, to repeat the 
money they spend when they be warmed with 
drink. And take this for arule: you may pick 
out such times and such companions, that you 
may make yourselves merrier for a little than a 
great deal of money; for, “’tis the company 
and not the charge that makes the feast.” —Izaax 
WaALrton. 
SSS a SS ET 

