IN 1781 Mesmer left Paris and retired to Spa. His enemies lost no time in asserting that he had quitted the French capital because he was a beaten man. The evidence, however, points in exactly the opposite direction. Had he wished to escape observation it is hardly likely that he would have chosen such a fashionable resort as Spa. Neither would he ever have returned to Paris; and this he did after a short sojourn in Spa. He established a free clinic in the Rue Coq- Héron, where from time to time he was in residence, treating the poor gratuitously and busied in propaganda of his system.
The accusation brought against him by his enemies that he was extravagant and avaricious is not borne out by the facts. It is true that he made a considerable fortune, but this he spent with a lavish hand, employing it mainly in the spread of his ideas. His enemies hated
him for his single-minded pursuit of truth; his friends were attracted to him by his personal qualities of heart and head. In the words of Deleuze: "Those who knew Mesmer testified to his goodness of heart; he gave the same care to the poor as to the rich; and being of service was his greatest pleasure."
Many of Mesmer's patients followed him to Spa. Among these was an attorney named Bergasse. Bergasse and Kornmann, a banker, assisted Mesmer in his scheme to establish centers of magnetic healing throughout France. Bergasse issued an appeal for funds in which he stated that he was impelled to take such action "in order to protect a shamefully persecuted man from the fate prepared for him by the blind hatred of his enemies."
The result of this appeal was that Mesmer's project of "Societies of Harmony" came into being. The Societies of Harmony were hospitals in which students of magnetic healing might study. Into these hospitals poor patients were received gratis. Some twenty of these societies were soon established in the most important towns of France. The medical schools were furious; but they were powerless to prevent the movement. All they could do was to expel any of their members who dared to
express the least shadow of belief in Animal Magnetism.
During the later years of his life Mesmer lived in retirement at Frauenfeld. From thence he moved to Constance. In 1814 he made his home at a farm-house in the village of Reidetswiller. His friends frequently urged him to return to Paris, but he steadily refused. The
Revolution had deprived him of a great part of his fortune; he was an old man, and there was nothing to be gained by beginning the fight all over again. From the farm-house at Reidetswiller he removed to Meersburg, where he continued until his death.
The King of Prussia frequently urged him to settle in Berlin. Mesmer declined, pleading age and infirmity. Frederick thereupon sent Herr Wolfart, one of the Court physicians, to him, and on his return Wolfart was appointed Professor of Mesmerism in the Academy of Berlin. A hospital of 300 beds was also founded, where only mesmerism was employed.
Mesmer's life in his declining years was singularly happy and peaceful. The days of contention were over; he had a long life of strenuous and useful work to look back upon.
He was rarely seen on foot, but he kept a horse and light carriage and drove out daily.
For his horse he had a great affection. He appears to have possessed the faculty of taming and attracting animals to himself. The story of his canary sheds a charming light on this side of his character.
This canary lived in an open cage in his room. Every morning the bird would fly out, perch upon Mesmer's head while he slept, and waken him with its song—nor would the concert end until Mesmer arose and dressed himself. Always he had the power of putting the canary to sleep with a light stroke of the hand and of awakening it by stroking the feathers in the reverse direction.
Living thus in quiet seclusion, he was able to satisfy his love of music. When supper was over and twilight gathering he would sit and improvise on his loved harmonica. Sometimes he would accompany the music with his voice, which even now, in advanced age, was an agreeable tenor. While in Paris he had become intimately acquainted with Gluck, who made him promise that he would never play otherwise on the harmonica than thus improvising without notes or art. He also employed himself in modelling and drawing, and he still found time for attending the sick people of the neighbourhood.
On February 20th, 1815, Mesmer, feeling unwell, did not visit the Casino as he was accustomed to do on Sundays. His illness gradually increased, and upon March 5th he begged that his friend, a young priest, Fessler by name, might be sent for. Before he arrived, however, Mesmer passed peacefully away. The body was left untouched until morning, but the canary did not, as usual, fly out of its cage to perch upon his head and awake him. The bird neither sang nor ate any more, and very shortly afterwards was found dead in its cage.
Mesmer had expressed a wish in his will that he should be interred very simply, but the people of Meersburg disregarded his wishes in this respect. Clergy and citizens united in giving him a ceremonious funeral, whilst numbers who were indebted to him for health and life followed the procession. His mortal remains were laid to rest in the churchyard of Meersburg, where subsequently a monument was erected to his memory by his Berlin admirers and disciples.
Throughout his life Mesmer had one single aim : to demonstrate the natural force he had discovered and to use it for the benefit of humanity.
His reward was mainly a plentiful harvest of anger, hatred^ malice, and all uncharitableness. And the intrinsic greatness of his character is vindicated chiefly in this: that he never allowed himself to become embittered by the treatment he received. His nature continued sweet and amiable to the end.