od, read the following expressive though
sometimes commonplace retort. I do not profess to know, and do not much
care, whether it was the utterance of an artful fiend, a misguided
saint, or one of those 'sympathetic spirits' of whom Swedenborg makes
frequent mention. According to his statement, these beings are in such a
condition, that whenever they come in contact with a mortal, they chime
in with and encourage the views and tendencies of their terrestrial
acquaintance; and often, without meaning it, lead him into great
errors--being themselves used as cats' paws by decidedly evil spirits.
But here is the tender missive, which I transcribe from between two
heavy pages of notes on the Aristotelian and Baconian philosophies:

'I thought that I had experienced the joys of reciprocal affection; but
never until now have begun to realize what an unbounded sea of bliss two
kindred souls can bathe in. Ah! who could have convinced me that so
much rapture could be crowded into a few moments, as was mine while you
were pouring forth the inexhaustible treasures of your mind upon my
entranced ear? Spare me the sudden transition from mere esteem to such
huge, melodious irresistible outpouring of affection. It takes away my
strength; while the expression of my warm feelings can never so affect
your sturdy, much tried, trouble-scathed manhood.'

You see that the flattery is never forgotten. But adulation is an
instrument of the weak as well as of the deceitful. The utterer of this
may have been innocent of fraud, and, like myself, mesmerized into
following the will of a more powerful being. Again, the purpose of
_this_ being may have been a good one. Such, and so many, and so great,
and varied, and strange, seem to be the possibilities and dangers of the
inner life.

A systematic series of attempts seems to have been made--by some person
or persons to the deponent most emphatically unknown--to get my cool,
phlegmatic nervous system and brain excited. The two principal means
made use of to complete the obsession were, that just mentioned, and the
announcement of a succession of 'big things,' as about to occur--the
biggest kind of things--those the expectation of which was best
calculated to set my brain in a whirl. It will be seen, in the sequel,
that, failing to thoroughly accomplish their purpose by such means, my
spirit friends or fiends, as the case may be, undertook the bug-a-boo,
frightening process; which was apparently worki