ut she made an act of resignation, and they then left her, and never
returned with any acuteness."[203]

What we may designate "Metaphysical Healing" originated with Phineas
Parkhurst Quimby (1802-1866). The movement was important, not so much
on account of what Quimby himself was able to accomplish by it, as
because of the work that has been carried on since by at least three
of his pupils. He was born in Lebanon, New Hampshire, and in early
life was a watch and clock maker. In 1840 he began experimenting with
mesmerism, and accounts of these experiments were published in the
Maine papers of that time. After this he developed a system of mental
healing of his own, practising it in different towns in Maine for some
years. About 1858 he settled as a practitioner in Portland and
remained there until his death. I shall quote brief extracts in his
own words, which portray his system.

"My practice is unlike all medical practice. I give no
medicine, and make no outward applications. I tell the
patient his troubles, and what he thinks is his disease;
and my explanation is the cure. If I succeed in
correcting his errors, I change the fluids of the system
and establish the truth, or health. The truth is the
cure. This mode of practice applies to all cases."

"The greatest evil that follows taking an opinion for a
truth is disease."

"Man is made up of truth and belief; and, if he is
deceived into a belief that he has, or is liable to
have, a disease, the belief is catching, and the effect
follows it."

"Disease being made by our belief, or by our parents'
belief, or by public opinion, there is no formula to be
adopted, but every one must be reached in his
particular case. Therefore it requires great shrewdness
or wisdom to get the better of the error. Disease is our
error and the work of the devil."[204]

Quimby made many wonderful and mostly speedy cures, and although he
wrote out his system, it has never been published. Among his patients
was Mrs. Patterson from Hill, New Hampshire, who went to Portland in
1862. She had been a confirmed invalid for six years. To quote her own
words, published in the _Portland Evening Courier_ in 1862, she made a
rapid recovery. "Three weeks since I quitted my nurse and sick room en
route for Portland. The belief of my recovery had died out of the
hearts of those who were most anxious for it. With this mental and
physical depression I first visit