Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

Among the many subjects which were classed with the supernatural phenomena arising from the agency of unseen and spiritual powers, clairvoyance, or second sight, ranks conspicuous. It has been asserted, and by no mean authority, that second sight, or the belief in a secondary and unnatural sight, took its origin in the Scottish Highlands and Isles, where it was known by the name of taisch--a spectral or shadowy appearance; but from the time when the Oracle at Delphi was sought by the populace, and when thousands were deluded by the mere mechanical tricks of a clever and crafty priesthood, even to this day, second sight has been looked upon as a spiritual visitation bestowed for some design upon persons who are made the instruments of Providence. That at times men have had a prescience of what was to come cannot be denied, since murders and murderers have been undoubtedly discovered by means of visions which have been seen of the murderer, and the spot where the murder was committed. Even Dr. Johnson, in his Journal in the Hebrides, where the belief in second sight prevailed to a great extent, hesitates whether to believe or deny; and he asserts that he “came away at last only willing to believe.” It is not my intention, nor have I the time or space, to enter fully into the subject of second sight of the past, but it is my intention to fully explain second sight, as it is understood now, and the reader will at once see how the old fabric of the superstitious ages melts into the most commonplace, and he will be perhaps vexed and annoyed to think that when witnessing a performance of second sight his mind misgave him, and he really was willing to believe.