But GASSNER himself was suppressed ere long, because the Emperor, Joseph II, cloistered--that is to say, imprisoned him for life in the Monastery of Pondorf, near Ratisbon.

One must not be too good or Apostle-like or curative--even in the Church, which discourages _trop de zele_.
But the general accounts of GASSNER give the impression, which has not been justly conveyed, that he owed his remarkable success in curing himself and others not to any kind of theory nor faith in magnetism, or in religion, so much as unconscious suggestion, aided by a powerful Will which increased with successes.

To simply _pray_ to be cured of an illness, or even to be cured by prayer, was certainly no novelty to any Catholic or Protestant in those days.

The very nature of his experiments in making many people perform the same feats which are now repeated by hypnotizers, and which formed no part of a religious cure, indicate clearly that he was an observer of strange phenomena or a natural philosopher.

I have seen myself an Egyptian juggler in Boulak perform many of these as professed _tricks_, and I do not think it was from any imitation of French clairvoyance.