INTRODUCTION.

acquaintance. What his earliest opportunities may have been, I cannot testify from personal knowledge. But at the time of our intimacy, no one could resist the conviction that his advantages had not been sufficient to give him common proficiency in the simplest elements of the English language. Decided disadvantages were all around him, and so they continued, as far as obtaining an education was concerned; for during my acquaintance with him, which was most intimate from A.D. 1842 to 1845 (and continued by correspondence until recently), he had not an hour’s schooling, nor could he have afforded it consistently with his circumstances. Yet he possessed an inquiring mind—he loved books, especially controversial religious works, which he always preferred whenever he could borrow them and obtain leisure for their perusal. Hence, he was indebted to his individual exertions for some creditable advances which he made in knowledge. He became a good thinker. Still, his natural method of communication at times tended to obscure his thoughts through a misuse of words. His orthography original: "orthography"; modern: spelling and syntax were often faulty.

The singular powers claimed for Mr. Davis were first brought into public notice by the experimental assistance of Mr. William Levingston, by whom he continued to be mesmerized A historical term for being placed in a hypnotic trance, named after Franz Mesmer. for many months. This was around October 1843. In his natural appearance, behavior, or opportunities, no change was observable at this or any other period of my acquaintance with him. There was nothing in his general behavior or character that would attract the attention of those who were not his intimates, except perhaps the fact that he had few associates of his own age and preferred the society of more experienced men; though a few companions suited him better than many. He was always fond of asking questions, but had no power to conceal his object in proposing them; he was very communicative to those whom he regarded as friends—and moderately so to others. His veracity original: "veracity"; modern: truthfulness, so far as I have been able to observe—and I have criticized him closely—could be depended upon. I know that he would suffer much inconvenience rather than descend to untruthfulness. He was always cheerful and pleasant, and at times rather inclined to levity original: "levity"; modern: lightheartedness or humor through the natural exuberance of his spirits. Over the latter, however, he held a strong control. He was rather devotional in his feelings, with very strong sympathies in behalf of the struggling and suffering; an ardent temperance man; and his moral character was worthy of general approval. Indeed, I fully believe that he aimed to be governed by high and holy principles. That I am qualified to make the above statements you can easily judge when I tell you that, as long as opportunity allowed, we were intimate almost without reserve, and were each other's mutual confidants.

Many more testimonies of a similar nature to the one above might be collected, but these are deemed sufficient, at least for the present.

We will now present a brief history of Mr. Davis’s career in clairvoyance The alleged power of perceiving things or events in the future or beyond normal sensory contact., including an account of the origin and production of this book.

In the autumn of 1843, a Mr. Grimes delivered a number of lectures in Poughkeepsie on Animal Magnetism An early term for hypnotism or mesmerism, based on the theory of a magnetic fluid in the body., performing a number of illustrative experiments during his course. Among the persons on whom Mr. Grimes attempted to operate was young Davis; but in this instance, his most powerful efforts failed to produce any apparent effect. However, by his lectures and the successful experiments accompanying them, considerable excitement was created in the village concerning this important branch of psychological science; and among others who were induced to test their own powers in producing the magnetic phenomenon was Mr. WILLIAM LEVINGSTON. Young Davis happened into the tailor shop of Mr. Levingston during the general excitement, and the latter gentleman proposed a trial to magnetize him. The experiment which followed succeeded; and the boy exhibited powers of clairvoyance which were truly surprising. A great variety of tests were submitted, such as requiring him to visit and describe places which he had never seen, to read from a closed volume with his eyes bandaged, etc.; and the result was to establish his power of interior sight beyond dispute. This experiment took place about the first of December, 1843.