68 EXCURSION TO THE REALMS BELOW. 



of the monkifh legends, of the arabian nights, and the 

 fairy tales, which have hitherto been held, by fhort- 

 fighted, faint-hearted 5 or evil-minded perfons, for mere 

 childifli and empty dreams. 



It may however be neceiYary, for the general wel- 

 fare, not to effect too fuddenly, or all at once, this 

 great contraverlion and transformation of all things. 

 All fudden alterations are dangerous ; . as we are taught 

 by daily example. And here I would particularly re* 

 commend it to t the proprietors of the philofopher's 

 Hone, and the water that reflores to youth, to proceed 

 with fomewhat more caution and referve in the com- 

 munication of their arcana, than the adepts in animal 

 magnetifm, and fomnambulifm do with theirs : for it 

 is more than probable, that a whole iliad of confufion 

 and mifchief would enfue, if gold fhould once become 

 as common as the dirt of the ftreets, or if the water of 

 immortality at Hamburg, Frankfort, and Leiplig were 

 as ealily to be had, and at as cheap a rate as the patent 

 panaceas, the folar tinctures, fpecific drops, miracu- 

 lous effences, &c. which, with all their certified, at- 

 tended and renowned magical powers, have not hitherto 

 prevented people from dying of their difeafes, any 

 more than if there had been no univerfal remedies in 

 the world. 



But I perceive that I have been led farther out of my 

 way than I intended. To return then to my own in- 

 iignificancy, and the above mentioned, talent : I find it 

 neceffary to mention, that this natural gift, or what- 

 ever we may chufe to call it, is by no means a peculiar 

 privilege which I have exclusively to boaft of; but is a 

 matter which feveral mortals have polTeffed from the 



ear- 



