I got into Oxford Street and got on a ’bus.  Mechanically I bought a paper, one of the leading dailies.  Listlessly I opened it, and the first words that caught my eyes were “Reviews of Books.”  I glanced down the column, and saw the words, “David Elginbrod,” by George Macdonald.  “This book is one of remarkable power,” the paper went on to say, “and will appeal to the highest class of minds.  Its interest is more than ordinary, because it deals with the fascinating subjects of Animal Magnetism, Mesmerism, and Spiritualism.  Moreover, Dr. Macdonald shows what enormous power, for evil or for good, may be exerted by it; indeed, the principal characters in the story are so influenced by it, that the author is led to make quite a study of these occult sciences.”

I did not read the review further; what I had read was sufficient to determine me to buy the book.  Accordingly, on my arrival in the City, I obtained a copy; and then, with all possible haste, I made my way home, and, throwing myself in a chair, sat down to read it.

I did not cease reading until I had finished what I regarded then, and still regard, as one of the finest religious novels of the age.  This may seem to many extravagant praise; but when I remember the influence it had on my life, I feel inclined to hold to my opinion.

Putting aside the other parts of the book, that in which I was so fearfully interested might be briefly stated thus:—­

Mesmerism and animal magnetism may be regarded as human forces.  Those possessing them, and thereby having the power to mesmerize, may subjugate the will of those who are susceptible to mesmeric influences, and hold them in a complete and terrible slavery.  The oftener the victim yields to the will of the mesmerist, the stronger will his power become.  There is only one means by which the person under this influence can be free.  This is by obtaining a strength superior to that of the mesmerist, which is only to be realized by being in communion with a Higher Life, and participating in that Life.  Only the Divine power in the life of the victim can make him possess a power superior to the mesmerist’s.  Possessing that, he becomes free, because he possesses a life superior to mere physical or human power.

The victim in the book is led to seek that Divine Life in her, and although she loses her physical life, she dies freed from the terrible thraldom which has been cursing her existence.

That is all I need write concerning the book I have mentioned, i.e. descriptive of its teaching.

It turned my mind into a new channel.  The teaching seemed scientific and reasonable.  If there were a God, who was the Source of all life, He could, by entering into the life of any individual, give him such forces as would be superior to any other force.  This was true, further, because all evil was in opposition to the laws of the universe, and thus the good must overcome the evil.