Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Mental Illness, Religion, Supernaturalism, Mesmerism, Politics, Medical Treatment

    Claims that Emperor Nicholas I appears to be suffering from 'mental derangement' and shows the 'supernatural' faculty of interlacing his homilies with passages from scripture (125). Suggests that the best cure would be for George H Gordon (4th Earl of Aberdeen) to mesmerise him at a distance and points out that the use of metals (swords) in the treatment of the patient failed because it was done indirectly.