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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/10088-0.txt b/10088-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7b5f919 --- /dev/null +++ b/10088-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9405 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10088 *** + +[Transcriber's note: The spelling peculiarities of the original have been +retained in this etext.] + + + +THAUMATURGIA, + +OR + +ELUCIDATIONS OF THE MARVELLOUS. + +BY + +AN OXONIAN. + +1835 + + + + + + + + "Bombastes kept the devil's bird, + Shut in the pommel of his sword, + And taught him all the cunning pranks, + Of past and future mountebanks." + _Hudibras_. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER I. + +Demonology--The Devil, a most unaccountable personage--Who is he?--His +predilection for old women--Traditions concerning evil spirits &c. + + +CHAPTER II. + +Magic and Magical rites. + +Jewish magi. + + +CHAPTER III. + +On the several kinds of magic. + +Augury, or divinations drawn from the flight and feeding of birds. + +Aruspices, or divinations drawn from brute or human sacrifices. + +Divisions of divination by the ancients--prodigies, etc. + + +CHAPTER IV. + +History of Oracles--The principal oracles of antiquity. + +The oracle of Jupiter Hammon. The oracle of Delphos, or Pythian Apollo. + +Ceremonies practised on consulting oracles. + +Oracles often equivocal and obscure. + +Urim and Thummim. + +Reputation of oracles, how lost. + +Cessation of oracles. + +Had demons any share in the oracles? + +Of oracles, the artifices of priests of false divinities. + + +CHAPTER V. + +The British Druids, or magi--Origin of fairies--Ancient +superstitions--Their skill in medicine, etc. + +The British magi. + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Aesculapian mysteries, etc. + + +CHAPTER VII. + +Inferior deities attending mankind from their birth to their decease. + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +Judicial astrology--Its chemical application to the prolongation of life +and health--Alchymical delusions. + + +CHAPTER IX + +Alchymical and astrological chimera. + +The Horoscope, a tale of the stars. + +The Fated Parricide; an oriental tale of the stars. + +Application of astrology to the prolongation of life, etc. + +Advertisement. + +Spring. \ +Summer. |_ influences of, +Autumn. | +the winter quarter. / + + +CHAPTER X. + +Oneirocritical presentiment, illustrating the cause, effects, principal +phenomena, and definition of dreams, etc. + +Cause of Dreams. + +Poetical illustrations of the effects of the imagination in dreams. + +Principal phenomena in dreaming. + +Definition of dreams. + + +CHAPTER XI. + +On Incubation, or the art of healing by visionary divination. + + +CHAPTER XII. + +On amulets, charms, talismans--Philters, their origin and imaginary +efficacy, etc. + +Amulets used by the common people. + +Eccentricities, caprices, and effects, of the imagination. + +Doctrine of Effluvia--Miraculous cures by means of charms, amulets, etc. + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +On talismans--some curious natural ones, etc. + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +On the medicinal powers attributed to music by the ancients. + + +CHAPTER XV. + +Presages, prodigies, presentiments, etc. + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +Phenomena of meteors, optic delusions, spectra, etc. + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +Elucidation of some ancient prodigies. + +Magical pretensions of certain herbs, etc. + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +The practice of Obeah, or negro witchcraft--charms--their knowledge of +vegetable poison--secret poisoning. + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +On the origin and superstitious influence of rings. + + +CHAPTER XX. + +Celestial influences--omens--climacterics--predominations.--Lucky and +unlucky days.--Empirics, etc. + +Absurdities of Paracelsus, and Van Helmont. + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +Modern empiricism. + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +The Rosicrucians or Theosophists. + +THAUMATURGIA, + +OR + +ELUCIDATIONS OF THE MARVELLOUS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +DEMONOLOGY--THE DEVIL, A MOST UNACCOUNTABLE PERSONAGE--WHO IS HE?--HIS +PREDILECTION FOR OLD WOMEN--TRADITIONS CONCERNING EVIL SPIRITS, &C. + +Children and old women have been accustomed to hear so many frightful +things of the cloven-footed potentate, and have formed such diabolical +ideas of his satanic majesty, exhibiting him in so many horrible and +monstrous shapes, that really it were enough to frighten Beelzebub +himself, were he by any accident to meet his prototype in the dark, +dressed up in the several figures in which imagination has embodied him. +And as regards men themselves, it might be presumed that the devil could +not by any means terrify them half so much, were they actually to meet +and converse with him face to face: so true it is that his satanic +majesty is not near so black as he is painted. + +However useful the undertaking might prove, to give a true history of +this "tyrant of the air," this "God of the world," this "terror and +overseer of mankind," it is not our intention to become the devil's +biographer, notwithstanding the facility with which the materials might +be collected. Of the devil's origin, and the first rise of his family, +we have sufficient authority on record; and, as regards his dealings, he +has certainly always acted in the dark; though many of his doings both +moral, political, ecclesiastical, and empirical, have left such strong +impressions behind them, as to mark their importance in some +transactions, even at the present period of the christian world. These +discussions, however, we shall leave in the hands of their respective +champions, in order to take, as we proceed, a cursory view of some of +the _diableries_ with which mankind, in imitation of this great master, +has been infected, from the first ages of the world. + +The Greeks, and after them the Romans, conferred the appellation of +Demon upon certain _genii_, or spirits, who made themselves visible to +men with the intention of either serving them as friends, or doing them +an injury as enemies. The followers of Plato distinguished between their +gods--or _Dei Majorum Gentium_; their demons, or those beings which were +not dissimilar in their general character to the good and bad angels of +Christian belief,--and their heroes. The Jews and the early christians +restricted the name of Demon to beings of a malignant nature, or to +devils properly so called; and it is to the early notions entertained by +this people, that the outlines of later systems of demonology are to be +traced. + +It is a question, we believe, not yet set at rest by the learned in +these sort of matters, whether the word _devil_ be singular or plural, +that is to say, whether it be the name of a personage so called, +standing by himself, or a noun of multitude. If it be singular, and used +only personal as a proper name, it consequently implies one imperial +devil, monarch or king of the whole clan of hell, justly distinguished +by the term DEVIL, or as our northern neighbours call him "the muckle +horned deil," and poetically, after Burns "auld Clootie, Nick, or +Hornie," or, according to others, in a broader set form of speech, "the +devil in hell," that is, the "devil of a devil," or in scriptural +phraseology, the "great red dragon," the "Devil or Satan." But we shall +not cavil on this mighty potentate's name; much less dispute his +identity, notwithstanding the doubt that has been broached, whether the +said devil be a real or an imaginary personage, in the shape, form, and +with the faculties that have been so miraculously ascribed to him; for + + If it should so fall out, as who can tell, + But there may be a God, a heav'n and hell? + Mankind had best consider well,--for fear + It be too late when their mistakes appear. + +The devil has always, it would seem, been particularly partial to old +women; the most ugly and hideous of whom he has invariably selected to +do his bidding. Mother Shipton, for instance, our famous old English +witch, of whom so many funny stories are still told, is evidently very +much wronged in her picture, if she was not of the most terrible aspect +imaginable; and, if it be true, Merlin, the famous Welch fortune-teller, +was a most frightful figure. If we credit another story, he was begotten +by "_old nick_" himself. To return, however, to the devil's agents being +so infernally ugly, it need merely be remarked, that from time +immemorial, he has invariably preferred such _rational_ creatures as +most belied the "human form divine." + +The sybils, of whom so many strange prophetic things are recorded, are +all, if the Italian poets are to be credited, represented as very old +women; and as if ugliness were the _ne plus ultra_ of beauty in old age, +they have given them all the hideousness of the devil himself. It will +be seen, despite of all that has been said to the disadvantage of the +devil, that he has very much improved in his management of worldly +affairs; so much so, that, instead of an administration of witches, +wizzards, magicians, diviners, astrologers, quack doctors, pettifogging +lawyers, and boroughmongers, he has selected some of the wisest men as +well as greatest fools of the day to carry his plans into effect. His +satanic majesty seems also to have considerably improved in his taste; +owing, no doubt, to the present improving state of society, and the +universal diffusion of useful knowledge. Indeed, we no longer hear of +cloven-footed devils, only in a metaphorical sense--fire and brimstone +are extinct or nearly so; the embers of hell and eternal damnation are +chiefly kept alive and blown up by ultras among the sectaries who are +invariably the promoters of religious fanaticism. Beauty, wit, address, +with the less shackled in mind, have superseded all that was frightful, +and terrible, odious, ugly, and deformed. This subject is poetically and +more beautifully illustrated in the following demonological stanzas, +which are so appropriate to the occasion, that we cannot resist quoting +them as a further prelude to our subjects: + + When the devil for weighty despatches + Wanted messengers cunning and bold, + He pass'd by the beautiful faces + And picked out the ugly and old. + + Of these he made warlocks and witches + To run of his errands by night, + Till the over-wrought hag-ridden wretches + Were as fit as the devil to fright. + + But whoever has been his adviser, + As his kingdom increases in growth, + He now takes his measures much wiser, + And trafics with beauty and youth. + + Disguis'd in the wanton and witty, + He haunts both the church and the court; + And sometimes he visits the city, + Where all the best christians resort. + + Thus dress'd up in full masquerade, + He the bolder can range up and down + For he better can drive on his trade, + In any one's name than his own. + +To be brief, the devil, it appears, is by far too cunning still for +mankind, and continues to manage things in his own way, in spite of +bishops, priests, laymen, and new churches. He governs the vices and +propensities of men by methods peculiarly his own; though every crime or +extortion, subterfuge or design, whether it be upon the purse or the +person, will not make a man a devil; it must nevertheless be confessed, +that every crime, be its magnitude or complexion what it may, puts the +criminal, in some measure, into the devil's power, and gives him an +ascendancy and even a title to the delinquent, whom he ever afterwards +treats in a very magisterial manner. + +We are told that every man has his attendant evil genius, or tutelary +spirit, to execute the orders of the master demon--that the attending +evil angel sees every move we make upon the board; witnesses all our +actions, and permits us to do mischief, and every thing that is +pernicious to ourselves;--that, on the contrary, our good spirit, +actuated by more benevolent motives, is always accessary to our good +actions, and reluctant to those that are bad. If this be the case, it +may be fairly asked, how does it happen that those two contending +spirits do not quarrel and give each other black eyes and broken heads +during their rivalship for pre-eminence? And why does the evil tempting +spirit so often prevail? + +Instead of literally answering these difficult questions, it may be +resolved into a good argument, as an excellent allegory to represent the +struggle in the mind of man between good and evil inclinations. But to +take them as they actually are, and merely to talk by way of natural +consequence--for to argue from nature is certainly the best way to get +to the bottom of the devil's story,--if there are good and evil spirits +attending us, that is to say, a good angel and a devil, then it is no +unjust reproach to say, when people follow the dictates of the latter, +that _the devil's in them_, or that _they are devils_! or, to carry the +simile a point farther, that as the generality, and by far the greatest +number of people follow and obey the evil spirit and not the good one, +and that the power predominating is allowed to be the nominating power, +it must then of course be allowed that the greater part of mankind have +the devil in them, which brings us to the conclusion of our argument; +and in support of which the following stanzas come happily to our +recollection. + + To persons and places he sends his disguises, + And dresses up all his banditti, + Who, as pickpockets flock to country assizes, + Crowd up to the court and the city. + + They're at every elbow, and every ear, + And ready at every call, Sir; + The vigilant scout, plants his agents about, + And has something to do with us all, Sir. + + In some he has part, and some he has whole, + And of some, (like the Vicar of _Baddow_) + It can neither be said they have body or soul; + And only are devils in shadow. + + The pretty and witty are devils in masque; + The beauties are mere apparitions; + The homely alone by their faces are known, + And the good by their ugly conditions. + + The beaux walk about like the shadows of men, + And wherever he leads them they follow; + But tak'em, and shak'em, there's not one in ten + But's as light as a feather, and hollow. + + Thus all his affairs he drives on in disguise, + And he tickles mankind with a feather, + Creeps in at one's ear, and looks out at our eyes, + And jumbles our senses together. + + He raises the vapours and prompts the desires, + And to ev'ry dark deed holds the candle; + The passions inflames and the appetite fires, + And takes every thing by the handle. + + Thus he walks up and down in complete masquerade + And with every company mixes; + Sells in every shop, works at every trade, + And ev'ry thing doubtful perplexes. + +The Jewish traditions concerning evil spirits are various, some of which +are founded on Scripture, some borrowed from the opinions of the Pagans, +some are fables of their own invention, and some are allegorical. + +The demons of the Jews were considered either as the distant progeny of +Adam or Eve, resulting from an improper intercourse with supernatural +beings, or of Cain. As the doctrine, however, was extremely revolting +to some few of the early Christians, they maintained that demons were +the souls of departed human beings, who were still permitted to +interfere in the affairs of the Earth, either to assist their friends or +to persecute their enemies. But this doctrine did not obtain. + +About two centuries and a half ago an attempt, in a condensed form, was +made, to give the various opinions entertained of demons at an early +date of the christian era; and it was not until a much later period of +Christianity, that a more decided doctrine relative to their origin and +nature was established. These tenets involved certain very knotty points +respecting the fall of those angels, who, for disobedience, had +forfeited their high abode in Heaven. The gnostics of early christian +times, in imitation of a classification of the different orders of +spirits by Plato, had attempted a similar arrangement with respect to an +hierarchy of angels, the gradation of which stood as follows. + +The first, and highest order, was named SERAPHINS; the second, +CHERUBINS; the third was the order of THRONES; the fourth, of DOMINIONS; +the fifth, of VIRTUES; the sixth, of POWERS; the seventh, of +PRINCIPALITIES; the eighth, of ARCHANGELS; the ninth, and lowest, of +ANGELS. This fable was, in a pointed manner, censured by the Apostles: +yet strange to say, it almost outlived the pneumatologists of the middle +ages. These schoolmen, in reference to the account that Lucifer rebelled +against heaven, and that Michael the archangel warred against him, long +agitated the momentous question, what order of angels fell on the +occasion. At length it became the prevailing opinion that Lucifer was of +the order of Seraphins. It was also proved after infinite research, that +Agares, Belial, and Barbatos, each of them deposed angels of great rank, +had been of the order of Virtues; that Beleth, Focalor, and Phoenix, had +been of the order of Thrones; that Gaap had been of the order of Powers, +and Virtues; and Murmur of Thrones and Angels. The pretensions of many +noble devils were, likewise, canvassed, and, in an equally satisfactory +manner, determined; a multiplicity of incidents connected therewith were +arranged, which previously had been matter of considerable doubt and +debate. These sovereign devils, to each of whom was assigned a certain +district, had many noble spirits subordinate to them whose various ranks +and precedence were settled with all the preciseness of heraldic +distinction:--there were, for instance, devil-dukes; devil-marquises; +devil-earls; devil-knights; devil-presidents, devil-archbishops, and +bishops; prelates; and, without question, devil-physicians, and +apothecaries. + +In the middle ages, when conjuration had attained a certain pitch of +perfection, and was regularly practised in Europe, devils of distinction +were supposed to make their appearance under decided forms, by which +they were as well recognised, as the head of any ancient family would be +by his crest and armorial bearings. The shapes they were accustomed to +adopt were registered among their names and characters. + +Although the leading tenets of Demonology may be traced to the Jews and +early Christians, yet they were matured by our early communications with +the Moors of Spain, who were the chief philosophers of the dark ages, +and between whom and the natives of France and Italy, a great +communication existed. Toledo, Seville and Salamanca, became the +greatest schools of magic. At the latter city predilections on the black +art from a consistent regard to the solemnity of the subject were +delivered within the walls of a vast and gloomy cavern. The schoolmen +taught that all knowledge might be obtained from the assistance of the +fallen angels. They were skilled in the abstract sciences, in the +knowledge of precious stones, in alchymy, in the various languages of +mankind and of the lower animals; in the Belles-Lettres, Moral +Philosophy, Pneumatology, Divinity, Magic, History, and Prophecy. They +could controul the winds and waters, and the stellar influences. They +could cause earthquakes, induce diseases or cure them, accomplish all +vast mechanical undertakings, and release souls out of Purgatory. They +could influence the passions of the mind, procure the reconciliation of +friends or of foes, engender mutual discord, induce mania, melancholy, +or direct the force and objects of human affection. Such was the +Demonology taught by its orthodox professors. Yet other systems of it +were devised, which had their origin in the causes attending the +propagation of christianity; for it must have been a work of much time +to eradicate the almost universal belief in the pagan deities, which had +become so numerous as to fill every creek and corner of the universe +with fabulous beings. Many learned men, indeed, were induced to side +with the popular opinion on the subject, and did nothing more than +endeavour to unite it with their acknowledged systems of Demonology. +They taught that the objects of heathen reverence were fallen angels in +league with the Prince of Darkness, who, until the appearance of our +Saviour, had been allowed to range on the earth uncontrolled, and to +involve the world in spiritual darkness and delusion. + +According to the various ranks which these spirits held in the vast +kingdom of Lucifer, they were suffered, in their degraded state, to take +up their abode in the air, in mountains, in springs, or in seas. But +although the various attributes ascribed to the Greek and Roman deities, +were, by the early teachers of christianity, considered in the humble +light of demoniacal delusions, yet, for many centuries they possessed +great influence over the minds of the vulgar. The notion of every man +being attended by an evil genius was abandoned much earlier than the far +more agreeable part of the same doctrine which taught that, as an +antidote to their influence, each individual was also accompanied by a +benignant spirit. "The ministration of angels," says a writer in the +Athenian Oracle, "is certain; but the manner _how_, is the knot to be +untied." It was an opinion of the early philosophers that not only +kingdoms[1] had their tutelary guardians, but that every person had his +particular genius or good spirit, to protect and admonish him through +the medium of dreams and visions. Such were the objects of superstitious +reverence derived from the Pantheons of Greece and Rome, the whole synod +of which was supposed to consist of demons, who were still actively +bestirring themselves to delude mankind. But in the west of Europe, a +host of other demons, far more formidable, were brought into play, who +had their origin in Celtic, Teutonic, and even in Eastern fables; and as +their existence, as well as influence, was boldly asserted, not only by +the early christians, but even by the reformers, it was long before the +rites to which they were accustomed were totally eradicated. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Thus the Penates, or household gods presided over new-born infants. +Every thing had its guardian or peculiar genius: cities, groves, +fountains, hills, were all provided with keepers of this kind, and to +each man was allotted no less than two--one good, the other bad (Hor. +Lib. II. Epist. 2.) who attended him from the cradle to the grave. The +Greeks called them _demons_. They were named _Praenestites_, from their +superintending human affairs. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +MAGIC AND MAGICAL RITES, &C. + +Few subjects present to a philosophic eye more matter of curious, +important and instructive research than the natural history of religion. +Some sort of religious service has been found to prevail in all ages and +nations, from the most rude and barbarous periods of human society, to +those of cultivation and refinement. In these periods are to be traced +specimens strongly marked with exertions of the feelings, and faculties +of men in every situation almost that can be supposed. It is from the +contemplation of these exertions that we learn what sort of creature man +is; that we discover the extent of his powers, and the tendency of his +desires: and that we become acquainted with the force of culture and +civilization upon him, by comparing the degrees of improvement he has +attained in the various stages of society through which he has passed. + +It seems to be a principle established by experience, that mankind in +general have at no time been able, by the operation of their own mutual +powers, to ascend in their inquiries to the great comprehensive +foundation of true religion,--the knowledge of a first cause. This idea +is too grand, too distinct, or too refined for the generality of the +human race. They are surrounded by sensible objects, and strongly +attached to them; they are in a great measure unaccustomed to the most +simple and obvious degrees of abstraction, and they can scarcely +conceive anything to have a real existence that may not become an object +of their senses. Possessed of such sentiments and views, they are fully +prepared in embracing all the follies and absurdities of superstition. +They worship every thing they either love or fear, in order to procure +the continuance of favours enjoyed, or to avert that resentment they may +have reason to dread. As their knowledge of nature is altogether +imperfect, and as many events every moment present themselves, upon +which they can form no theoretical conclusion, they fly for satisfaction +to the most simple, but most ineffectual of all solutions--the agency of +invisible beings, with which, in their opinion, all nature is filled. +Hence the rise of Polytheism and local deities, which have overspread +the face of the earth, under the different titles of guardian gods or +tutelary saints. Hence magnificent temples and splendid statues have +been erected to aid the imagination of votaries, and to realize objects +of worship, which, though supposed to be always hovering around, seldom +condescend to become visible. + +After obtaining some information concerning present objects, the next +cause of solicitude and inquiry to the mind of man, is to penetrate a +little into the secrets of futurity. The same tutelary gods who bestowed +their care, and exerted their powers to procure present pleasure and +happiness for mankind, were supposed not averse to grant them, in this +respect also, a little indulgence. Hence the famous oracular responses +of antiquity; hence the long train of conjurers, fortune-tellers, +astrologers, necromancers, magicians, wizards, and witches, that have +been found in all places and at all times; nor have superior knowledge +and civilization been sufficient to extirpate such characters, by +demonstrating the futility and absurdity of their views. + +Among the ancients, this superstition was a great engine of state. The +respect paid to omens, auguries and oracles, was profound and universal; +and the persons in power monopolized the privilege of consulting and +interpreting them. They joined the people in expressing their +veneration; but there is little reason to doubt that they conducted the +responses in such a manner as best suited the purposes of government. On +this account, it would not be difficult for the oracle to emit +predictions, which, to all those unacquainted with the secret, would +appear altogether astonishing and unaccountable. It would seem that this +principle alone is sufficient to explain all the phenomena of ancient +oracles. + +Though devination has long ceased to be an instrument of government, +abundance of designing persons have not been wanting in latter ages, who +found much interest in taking advantage of the weakness or credulity of +their fellow creatures. Against this pestilent and abandoned race of +men, most civilized countries have enacted penal laws. But what rendered +such persons peculiarly detestable in modern times, was the +communication which they were supposed to hold with the devil, to whom +they sold themselves, and from whom, in return, they derived their +information. And by this principle the penal statutes, instead of +extirpating, inflamed the evil. They alarmed the imaginations of the +people; they tempted them to impute the cause of their misfortunes and +disappointment to the malice or resentment of their neighbours; they +induced them to trust to their suspicions, much more than to their +reason; and they multiplied witches and wizards, by putting into +possession of every foolish informer the means of punishment. In several +countries of Europe, these statutes still subsist; they were not +abolished in Britain till a period still at no great distance. Since the +abolition of persecution, the faith of witchcraft has disappeared even +among the vulgar. It was long found inconsistent with any considerable +progress in philosophy. + +For these reasons we read, with some degree of astonishment, a treatise +on this exploded subject, by a philosopher, an eminent physician, a +privy counseller of the then Empress Queen, and a professor in the +university of Vienna. It was long doubted whether the professor was in +earnest, but the world was at length forced to admit, that the great +Antonius de Haen certainly believed in witchcraft, and reckoned the +knowledge of it, in treating a disease, of great importance to a +physician--to the acquisition of which useful knowledge, he dedicated a +great part of his time. In the year 1758, three old women, condemned to +death for witchcraft, were brought by order of the Empress from Croatia +to Vienna, to undergo an examination, with regard to the equity of the +sentence pronounced against them. The question was not whether the crime +existed; the only object of inquiry respected the justice of its +application. The author, and the illustrious van Swieten, were appointed +to make the investigation. After reading over the depositions, produced +on the trials with the greatest care, and interrogating the culprits +themselves _most vigorously_ by means of a Croatian interpreter, these +great physicians discovered that the _three old_ women were not witches, +and prevailed with the Empress to send them home in safety. It was this +circumstance that induced de Haen to write on magic. + +That some judgment may be formed of de Haen's very extraordinary and +curious production written in the latter part of the eighteenth century, +we shall here furnish our readers with an abstract of its principles and +reasoning, to which we shall subjoin some remarks. + +By the crime of magic, the author informs us, he means any improper +communication between men and evil spirits, whether it be called +theurgy, soothsaying, necromancy, chiromancy, incantation or witchcraft. +He proposes to prove, in the first place, that such a communication +does actually exist. He quotes the Egyptian magicians, the witch of +Endor, the possessions mentioned in the New Testament, and many more +exceptionable authorities from the fathers, and canons of the church. He +is positive the incantations of the Egyptian magicians were real +operations of infernal agents, and that the accounts of them, delivered +by Moses, can admit no other construction. + +May not the sincere believer in the divine authority of the scriptures +reasonably hesitate concerning this conclusion? Or rather, does not such +an interpretation justly expose revelation to reproach? The plain +dictates of the best philosophy are, that nothing is more simple, +regular, and uniform than the ordinary course of nature; and that this +course can neither be suspended nor altered, but by its author, nor can +by him be permitted to be interrupted by any inferior being, unless for +the most important reasons. It does not appear what good end could be +gained, on the part of Providence, by the permission of these magical +enchantments, supposing them supernatural; and if we imagine the Devil +to have acted spontaneously, with a view to support his power and +influence, he most manifestly erred in his design. Nothing could be more +impolitic than his appearance in a field of combat, where he well knew +he must sustain an ignominious defeat. Or if he worked effectually to +support the power and influence of his servants the magicians, he should +have counteracted, not repeated, the miraculous exhibitions of Moses. +That the magicians possessed no power sufficient for this purpose is +obvious, from their not exerting it. That Pharoah expected no such +exertion from them is evident from his never requesting it, and from his +application to Moses and Aaron. The truth seems to be, that Pharoah +conceived Moses and Aaron to be magicians like his own. He wished to +support the character of the latter; and he concluded this would be +effectually done, if they could only furnish a pretence for affirming +that they had performed every wonder accomplished by the former. Without +some such supposition of collusion, two of the miracles attempted by the +magicians are perfectly absurd and contradictory. They pretended to turn +water into blood, when there was not one drop of water in all the land +of Egypt, which Aaron had not previously converted into that substance. +They pretended to send frogs over the land of Egypt, when every corner +of it was swarming with that loathsome reptile. It is further remarkable +that, with the three first only of Moses's miracles they proposed to +vie; on the appearance of the fourth, they fairly resigned the contest, +and acknowledged very honestly that the hand of God was visible in the +miracles of Moses;--a plain confession that no supernatural power +operated in their own. + +De Haen considers the case of the witch of Endor as an authority still +more direct. He maintains that Samuel was actually called up, either +under corporeal or fantastic form, and foretold Saul the fate of his +engagements with the Philistines. Let us attend to the circumstances of +the story, and examine whether it is absolutely necessary to have +recourse to this supernatural hypothesis. The mind of Saul was +distracted and agitated beyond measure by the most critical and alarming +situation of his affairs; his distress was so great that, forgetting his +dignity and safety, he dismissed his attendants, laid aside his royal +robes, was unable to eat bread, and, dressed like the meanest of his +people, he took his journey to the abode of the conjurer. In this state +of mind, prepared for imposition, he arrives during the night at her +residence. He prevails with her, by much solicitation, and probably by +ample rewards, to call up Samuel. To discompose still further the +disordered mind of Saul, she announces the pretended approach of the +apparition by a loud acclamation, tells the king she knew him, which +till now she affected not to do, and describes the resurrection of the +prophet, under the awful semblance of God's rising out of the earth. + +During all this time the king had seen nothing extraordinary, either +because he was not allowed light sufficient for that purpose, or was not +admitted within the sphere of vision. He entreats an account of the +personage who approached, and the conjurer describes the well-known +appearance of Samuel. The prophet sternly challenges the king for +disturbing his repose, tells him that David was intended to be King of +Israel, that himself would be defeated by the Philistines, and that he +and his sons would fall in battle. The king enters into no conversation +with the apparition; but unable any longer to support his agitation, +drops lifeless on the ground. The conjurer returns to Saul, presses him +to take some food which she had prepared. He at last complies; and +having finished his repast, departs with his servants before the +morning. The whole of this scene, it is evident, passed in darkness. It +does not appear that Saul ever saw the prophet; and it surely required +no supernatural intelligence to communicate all the information he +obtained. This would readily be suggested by the despondency of the +king, the strength of his enemies, and the disposition of the whole +people of the Jews alienated from him, and inclined towards his +successor. The witch of Endor, therefore, might be a common +fortune-teller, and her case exhibits no direct proof of supernatural +possession. + +We do not pretend to account so easily for many of the possessions +recorded in the New Testament, though few of these only are applicable +to the case of sorcery. We are well aware, that several writers of +eminence, who cannot be supposed to entertain the least unfavourable +sentiments of revelation, have undertaken to explain these possessions, +without having recourse to any thing supernatural, by representing them +as figurative descriptions of particular and local diseases. + +We mean not to adopt, or defend the views of such authors, though we may +perhaps be allowed to observe that, were their opinions supported in a +satisfactory manner, christianity would lose nothing by the attempt. It +would be exempted, by this means, from a little cavilling and ridicule, +to which some of its enemies reckon it at present exposed, and the +design could not in the least derogate from its divinity, as the +instantaneous cure of a distemper cannot be considered less miraculous +than the expulsion of the devil. At any rate, these possessions are all +extraordinary; appeared on some most extraordinary occasion; and from +them, therefore, no general conclusion can be drawn to the ordinary +cases of common life. + +We shall now translate a specimen of de Haen's[2] authorities, extracted +from the fathers. The following from Jerome will need no comment. This +father, in his life of St. Hilario the hermit, relates that a young man +of the town of Gaza in Syria, fell deeply in love with a pious virgin in +the neighbourhood. He attacked her with looks, whispers, professions, +caresses, and all those arguments which usually conquer yielding +virginity; but finding them all ineffectual, he resolved to repair to +Memphis, the residence of many eminent conjurers, and implore their +magic aid. He remained there for a year, till he was fully instructed in +the art. He then returned home, exulting in his acquisitions, and +feasting his imagination with the luscious scenes he was now confident +of realizing. All he had to do was to lodge secretly some hard words and +uncouth figures, engraved on a plate of brass, below the threshold of +the door of the house in which the lady lived. She became perfectly +furious, she tore her hair, gnashed her teeth, and repeated incessantly +the name of the youth, who had been drawn from her presence by the +violence of her despairing passion. In this situation she was conducted +by her relations to the cell of old Hilario. The devil that possessed +her, in consequence of the charm, began immediately to howl, and to +confess the truth. "I have suffered violence," said he; "I have been +forced hither against my inclination. How happy was I at Memphis, +amusing my friends with visions! O the pains, the tortures which I +suffer! You command me to dislodge, and I am detained fast by the charm +below the threshold. I cannot depart, unless the young man dismiss me." +So cautious, however, was the saint, that he would not permit the magic +figures to be searched for, till he had released the virgin, for fear he +should seem to have intercourse with incantations in performing the cure +or to believe that a devil could even speak truth. He observed only that +demons are always liars, and cunning to deceive. + +De Haen imputes to the power of magic the miracles,[3] as they are +called, of the famous Apollonius Thyanaeus. He seems to entertain no +scruple about their authority. As several of the enemies of revelation +have held forth Thyanaeus as a rival of Jesus Christ, a specimen of his +performances may amuse our readers. During an assembly of the people at +Ephesus, a great flight of birds approached from a neighbouring wood; +one bird led all the rest. "There is nothing wonderful," says Thyanaeus, +to the astonished people, "in this appearance. A boy passing along a +particular street has carelessly scattered in it some corn which he +carried; one bird has tasted the food, and generously calls the rest to +partake the repast." The hearers repaired to the spot, and found the +information true. + +Being called to allay a pestilence which raged at Ephesus, he ordered an +old beggar to be burned under the stones near the temple of Hercules, as +an enemy to the gods. He commanded the people again to remove the +stones, that they might see what sort of animal had been put to death. +They found not a man, but a dog. The plague, however, ceased. + +A married woman of rank being dead, was carried out to be burned in an +open litter, followed by her husband dissolved in tears. Apollonius +approaching, requests him to stop the procession, and he would put an +end to his grief. He asked the name of the woman, touched her, and +muttered over her some words. She immediately revived, began to speak, +and returned again to her own house. Fleury, who relates the miracle, +remarks that some people doubted whether the woman had been really dead, +as they had observed something like breath issue from her mouth. Others +imagined she had been seized only with a tedious faint, and that the +operation of the cold dews and damps upon her body might naturally +recover her. On Fleury's remark de Haen most sagely observes, that the +persons who observed the woman breathing could not surely have +suppressed the joyful news, and would certainly have stopped the +procession before the philosopher arrived. + +De Haen's second attempt is to recite all the objections that have been +made against sorcery, and to subjoin to each a distinct refutation. +There is nothing in this part of the work that merits any attention. He +concludes in these words: "I may then with confidence affirm, that the +art of magic most certainly exists. History, sacred and prophane; +authority human and divine; experiments the most unquestionable and +unexceptionable, all concur to demonstrate its reality." + +The last part of de Haen's work relates to the discovering and treating +of magical diseases, to explain which seems to have been the chief +purpose of the author in composing his book. Much caution, he observes, +and attention are necessary on this head; and the physician should not +readily admit the imputation of witchcraft. No absence of the ordinary +symptoms, no uncommon alteration of the course of the distemper, are +sufficient to infer this conclusion, because these may arise from +unknown natural causes. What then are the marks of certain incantations? +De Haen holds the following to be indisputable: "if, in any uncommon +disease, there shall be found, in the stuffing of the cushions, or +cielings of the room in which the patient lies, in the feather or the +chaff of his bed, about the door, or under the threshold of his house, +any strange characters, images, bones, hair, seeds, or roots of plants; +and if upon the removal of these, or upon conveying the patient into +another apartment, he shall suddenly recover; or if the patient himself, +or his friends, shall be so wicked as to call a wizzard to their aid, by +whom the malady shall be removed; or if insects and animals which do +not lodge in the human body; if stones, metals, glass, knives, plaited +hair, pieces of pitch, be ejected from particular parts of the body, of +greater size, and weight and figure, than could be supposed to make +their way through these parts, without much greater demolition and +delaceration of the passages; in all these cases, the disease is +unquestionably magical." + +The author proceeds to enquire whether the physician may presume to +remove the instruments of incantation in order to relieve the patient +without incurring the accusation of impiety by interfering with the +implements and furniture of the devil; and concludes very formally that, +after approaching them with all due ceremony and respect, after +imploring with suitable devotion and ardour, the protection and +direction of heaven in such a perilous undertaking, he may attempt to +intermeddle, and may occasionally expect a successful issue. + +Such are the views, reasonings, and conclusions of, at the time, one of +the first physicians and philosophers of Germany;--views and reasonings +which would have been received with eagerness and applause two hundred +years ago, but which the philosophy and improvements of later times seem +to have banished to the abodes of ignorance and barbarity. + +The origin of almost all our knowledge may be traced to the earlier +periods of antiquity. This is peculiarly the case with respect to the +arts denominated magical. There were few ancient nations, however +barbarous, which could not furnish many individuals to whose spells and +enchantments the power of nature and the material world were supposed to +be subjected. The Chaldeans, the Egyptians, and indeed all the oriental +nations were accustomed to refer all natural effects, for which they +could not account to the agency of demons, who were believed to preside +over herbs, trees, rivers, mountains, and animals. Every member of the +human body was under their power, and all corporeal diseases were +produced by their malignity. For instance, if any happened to be +affected with a fever, little anxiety was manifested to discover its +cause, or to adopt rational measures for its cure; it must no doubt have +been occasioned by some evil spirit residing in the body, or +influencing, in some mysterious way, the fortunes of the sufferer. That +influence could be counteracted only by certain magical rites; hence the +observance of those rites soon obtained a permanent establishment in the +East. Even at the present day, many uncivilized people hold that all +nature is filled with genii, of which some exercise a beneficent, and +others a destructive power. All evils with which man is afflicted, are +considered the work of these imaginary beings, whose favour must he +propitiated by sacrifices, incantations, and songs. If the Greenlander +be unsuccessful in fishing, the Huron in hunting, or in war; if even the +scarcely half reasoning Hottentot finds every thing is not right in his +mind, body, or fortune, no time must be lost before the spirit be +invoked. After the removal of some present evil, the next strongest +desire in the human mind is the attainment of some future good. This +good is often beyond the power, and still oftener beyond the inclination +of man to bestow; it must therefore be sought from beings which are +supposed to possess considerable influence over human affairs, and which +being elevated above the baser passions of our nature, were thought to +regard with peculiar favour all who acknowledged their power, or invoked +their aid: hence the numerous rites which have, in all ages and +countries, been observed in consulting superior intelligences, and the +equally numerous modes in which their pleasure has been communicated to +mortals. + +The Chaldean magi were chiefly founded on astrology, and were much +conversant with certain animals, metals and plants, which they employed +in all their incantations; the virtue of which was derived from stellar +influence. Great attention was always paid to the positions and the +configurations presented by the celestial sphere; and it was only at +favourable seasons that the solemn rites were celebrated. Those rites +were accompanied with many peculiar and fantastic gestures, by leaping, +clapping of hands, prostrations, loud cries, and not unfrequently with +unintelligible exclamations. Sacrifices, and burnt offerings were used +to propitiate superior powers; but our knowledge of the magical rites +exercised by certain oriental nations, the Jews only excepted, is +extremely limited. All the books professedly written on the subject, +have been, swept away by the torrent of time. We learn, however, that +the professors among the Chaldeans were generally divided into three +classes; the _Ascaphim_, or charmers, whose office it was to remove +present, and to avert future contingent evils; to construct talismans, +etc. The _Mecaschephim_, or magicians, properly so called, who were +conversant with the occult powers of nature, and the supernatural world; +and the _chasdim_, or astrologers, who constituted by far the most +numerous and respectable class. And from the assembly of the wise men on +the occasion of the extraordinary dream of Nebuchadnezzar, it would +appear that Babylon had also her oneirocritici, or interpreters of +dreams--a species of diviners indeed, to which almost every nation of +antiquity gave birth. + +Like the Chaldean astrologers, the Persian magi, from whom our word +magic is derived, belong to the priesthood. But the worship of the gods +was not their chief occupation; they were also great proficients in the +arts. They joined to the worship of the gods, and to the profession of +medicine and natural magic, a pretended familiarity with superior +powers, from which they boasted of deriving all their knowledge. Like +Plato, who probably imbibed many of their notions, they taught that +demons hold a middle rank between gods and men; that they (the demons) +presided not only over divinations, auguries, conjurations, oracles, and +every species of magic, but also over sacrifices, and prayer, which in +behalf of men is thus presented, and rendered acceptable to the gods. +Indeed, the austerity of their lives[4] was well calculated to +strengthen the impression which their cunning had already made on the +multitude, and to prepare the way for whatever impostures they might +afterwards practise. + +We are less acquainted with Indian magic than with that practised by +any other Eastern nations. It may, however, be reasonably enough +inferred that it was very similar to that for which the magi in general +were held in such high estimation: although they were excluded, as +beings of too sacred a nature, from the ordinary occurrences of life. +Their Brahmins, or Gymnosophists, were regarded with as much reverence +as the magi, and probably were more worthy of it. Some of them dwelt in +woods, and others in the immediate vicinity of cities. Their skill in +medicine was great; the care which they took in educating youth, in +familiarizing it with generous and virtuous sentiments, did them +peculiar honour; and their maxims and discourses, as recorded by +historians, prove that they were much accustomed to profound reflection +on the principles of civil polity, morality, religion and philosophy. + + +JEWISH MAGI. + +Of the magi of the Jews, it is proved by Lightfoot,[5] that after their +return from Babylon, having entirely forsaken idolatry, and being no +longer favoured with the gift of prophecy, they gradually abandoned +themselves, before the coming of our Saviour, to sorcery and divination. +The Talmud, still regarded with a reverence bordering on idolatry, +abounds with instructions for the due observance of superstitious rites. +After their city and temple were destroyed, many Jewish impostors were +highly esteemed for their pretended skill in magic; and under pretence +of interpreting dreams, they met with daily opportunities of practising +the most shameful frauds. Many Rabbins were quite as well versed in the +school of Zoroaster, as in that of Moses. They prescribed all kinds of +conjuration, some for the cure of wounds, some against the dreaded bite +of serpents, and others against thefts and enchantments. Their +divinations were founded on the influence of the stars, and on the +operations of spirits, they did not, indeed, like the Chaldean magi, +regard the heavenly bodies as gods and genii, but they ascribed to them +a great power over the actions and opinions of men. + +The magical rites of the Jews were, and indeed are still, chiefly +performed on various important occasions, as on the birth of a child, +marriages, etc. On such occasions the evil spirits are supposed to be +more than usually active in their malignity, which can only be +counteracted by certain enchantments.[6] They believe that Lilis will +cause all their male children to die on the eighth day after their +birth; girls on the twenty-first.[7] The following are the means adopted +by the German Jews to avert this calamity. They draw arrows in circular +lines with chalk or charcoal on the four walls of the room in which the +accouchement takes place, and write upon each arrow: _Adam, Eve! make +Lilis go away!_ They write also on certain parts of the room the name of +the three angels who preside over medicine, _Senai, Sansenai and +Sanmangelof_, after the manner taught them by Lilis herself when she +entertained the hope of causing all the Jews to be drowned in the Red +Sea. + +Josephus, the historian of the Jews, does not allow to magic so ancient +an origin among them, as many Jewish writers do. He makes Solomon the +first who practised an art which is so powerful against demons; and the +knowledge of which, he asserts, was communicated to that prince by +immediate inspiration. The latter, continues this historian, invented +and transmitted to posterity in his writings, certain incantations for +the cure of diseases, and for the expulsion and perpetual banishment of +wicked spirits from the bodies of the possessed. It consisted, according +to his description, in the use of a certain root, which was sealed up, +and held under the nose of the person possessed; the name of Solomon, +with the words prescribed by him, was then pronounced, and the demon +forced immediately to retire. He does not even hesitate to assert, that +he himself has been an eye witness of such an effect produced on a +person named Eleazer, in the presence of the Emperor Vespasian and his +sons. Nor will this relation surprise us, when we consider the rooted +malignity entertained by the Jews to the christian religion, and this +writer's attempt to appreciate the miracles of our Saviour, by ascribing +them to magical influence, and by representing them as easy of +accomplishment to all acquainted with the occult sciences. + +Innumerable are the devices contained in the Cabala for averting +possible evils, as the plague, disease, and sudden death. It directs how +to select and combine some passages of scripture, which are believed +both to render supernatural beings visible, and to produce many +wonderful and surprising effects. The most famous wonders have been +accomplished by means of the name of God. The sacred word Jehovah is, +when read with points, multiplied by the Jewish doctors into twelve, +forty-two, and seventy-two letters, of which words are composed that are +thought to possess miraculous energy. By these, say they, Moses slew the +Egyptians; by these Israel was preserved from the destroying angel of +the wilderness; by these Elijah separated the waters of the river, to +open a passage for himself and Elisha, and by these it has been as +daringly and impudently asserted, that our blessed Saviour, the eternal +Son of God, cast out evil spirits. The name of the devil is likewise +used in their magical devices. The five Hebrew letters of which that +name[8] is composed, exactly constitute the number 364, one less than +the days of the whole year. They pretended that, owing to the wonderful +virtue of the number comprised in the name of Satan, he is prevented +from accusing them for an equal number of days: hence the stratagem +before alluded to, for depriving the devil of the power of doing them +any harm on the only day on which that power is granted to him. + +In allusion to the cabalists, Pliny says, "There is another sect of +magicians of which Moses and Latopea, Jews, were the first authors." It +was the prevailing opinion among the Hebrews, that the Cabala was +delivered by God to Moses, and thence through a succession of ages, even +to the times of Ezra, preserved by tradition only, without the help of +writing, in the same manner as the doctrine of Pythagoras was delivered +by Archippus and Lysiades, who kept schools at Thebes in Greece, where +the scholars learned all their master's precepts by heart, and employed +their memories instead of books. So certain Jews, despising letters, +placed all their learning in memory, observation, and verbal tradition; +whence it was called by them Cabala, that is, a receiving from one to +another by the ear an art said to be very ancient and only known to the +christians in later times. + +The Jews divided the Cabala into three parts; the first containing the +knowledge of _Bresith_, which they call also cosmology, the object of +which is to teach and explain the force and efficacy of things created, +natural or celestial; expounding also the laws and mysteries of the +Bible according to philosophical reasons, which on that account differs +little from natural magic, a science in which King Solomon is said to +have excelled. We find, therefore, in the sacred histories of the Jews, +that he was wont to discourse from the cedar of the forests of Lebanon +to the low hyssop of the valley; as also of cattle, birds, reptiles, and +fish, all which contain within themselves a kind of magical virtue. +Moses also, in his expositions upon the Pentateuch, and most of the +Talmudists, have followed the rules of the same art. + +The other division of the Cabala contains the knowledge of things more +sublime, as of divine and angelical powers, the contemplation of sacred +names and characters; being a certain kind of symbolical theology, in +which the letters, figures, numbers, names, points, lines, accents, etc. +are esteemed to contain the significations of most profound things and +wonderful mysteries. This part again is twofold--_Authmantick_, handling +the nature of angels, the powers, names, characters of spirits and souls +departed--and _Theomantick_, which searches into the mysteries of the +Divine Majesty, his emanations, his names, and _Pentacula_, which he who +attains to is supposed to be endowed with most wonderful power. It was, +they say, by virtue of this art, that Moses wrought so many miracles; +that Joshua commanded the sun to stand still; that Elias called down +fire from heaven; that Daniel the prophet muzzled the lions' mouths; and +that the three children sang in the fiery furnace. And, what is more, +the perfidious and unbelieving Jews, did not stick to aver, that our +Saviour himself wrought all his miracles by virtue of this art, and that +he discovered several of its secrets, containing a variety of charms +against devils, and also, as Josephus writes, against diseases. "As for +my part," says Cornelius Agrippa, in allusion to this subject, "I do not +doubt but that God revealed many things to Moses and the prophets, which +were contained under the covert of the words of the law, which were not +to be communicated to the profane vulgar: so for this art, which the +Jews so much boast of, which I have with great labour and diligence +searched into, I must acknowledge it to be a mere rhapsody of +superstition, and nothing but a kind of theurgic magic before spoken of. +For if, as the Jews contend, coming from God, it did any way conduce to +perfection of life, salvation of men, truth of understanding, certainly +that spirit of truth, which having forsaken the synagogue, is now come +to teach us all truth, had never concealed it all this while from the +church, which certainly knows all those things that are of God; whose +grace, baptism, and other sacraments of salvation, are perfectly +revealed in all languages;--for every language is alike, so that there +be the same piety; neither is there any other name in heaven or on +earth, by which we can be saved, but only the name of Jesus. Therefore +the Jews, most skilful in divine names, after the coming of Christ, were +able to do nothing, in comparison of their forefathers:--the Cabala of +the Jews, therefore, is nothing else, but a most pernicious +superstition, the which by collecting, dividing, and changing several +names, words, and letters, dispersed up and down in the bible, at their +own good will and pleasure, and making one thing out of another, they +dissolve the members of truth, raising up sentences, inductions, and +parables of their own, apply thereto the oracles of divine scripture to +them, defaming the scriptures, and affirming their fragments to consist +of them, blaspheme the word of God by their wrested suppositions of +words, syllables, letters and numbers; endeavouring to prop up their +villainous inventions, by arguments drawn from their own delusions." + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[2] Antonio de Haen, S.C.R.A. Majestate a consiliis anticis, et +Archiatri, medicinae in alma et antiquissimo universitate professoris +primarij, plurium eruditorium societatem socii, de magia liber. 8vo. +Vienna. + +[3] Many significations have been attached to the word miracle, both by +the ancients and moderns. With us a miracle is the suspension or +violation of the laws of nature; and a miracle, which can be explained +upon physical principles, ceases to be such. Whatever surpassed their +comprehension was regarded by the ancients as a miracle, and every +extraordinary degree of information attained by an individual, as well +as any unlooked-for occurrence, was referred to some peculiar +interposition of the deity. Hence among the ancients, the followers of +different divinities, far from denying the miracles performed by their +opponents, admitted their reality, but endeavoured to surpass them; and +thus in the "life of Zoroaster," we find that able innovator frequently +entering the lists with hostile enchanters, admitting but exceeding the +wonderful works they performed; and thus also when the thirst of power, +or of distinction, divided the sacerdotal colleges, similar trials of +skill would ensue, the successful combatant being considered to derive +his knowledge from the more powerful god. That the science on which each +party depended was derived from experimental physics, may be proved. 1. +by the conduct of the Thaumaturgists, or wonder-workers: 2. from what +they themselves had said concerning magic; the genii invoked by the +magicians, sometimes denoting physical or chemical agents employed, +sometimes men who cultivated the science. + +[4] All the three orders of Magi enumerated by Porphyry, abstained from +wine and women, and the first of these orders from animal food. + +[5] Vol. ii. p. 287. + +[6] See Tobit. chap. viii. v. 2 and 2. + +[7] Elias, as quoted by Becker. + +[8] There is no mention made of the word _Devil_ in the Old Testament, +but only of _Satan_: nor do we meet with it in any of the heathen +authors who say anything about the devil in the signification attached +to it among christians; that is, as a creature revolted from God. Their +theology went no farther than to evil genii, or demons, who harassed and +persecuted mankind, though we are still aware that many curious +_nick_-names are given to the prince of darkness both by ancient and +modern writers. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +ON THE SEVERAL KINDS OF MAGIC. + +The pretended art of producing, by the assistance of words and +ceremonies, such events as are above the natural power of men, was of +several kinds, and chiefly consisted in invoking the good and +benevolent, or the wicked and malignant spirits. The first, which was +called Theurgia, was adopted by the wisest of the Pagan world, who +esteemed this as much as they despised the latter, which they called +Goetia. + +Theurgia was by the philosophers accounted a divine art, which only +served to raise the mind to higher perfection, and to exalt the soul to +a greater degree of purity; and they who by means of this kind of magic, +were imagined to arrive at what is called intuition, wherein they +enjoyed an intimate intercourse with the deity, were believed to be +invested with divine power; so that it was imagined nothing was +impossible for them to perform; all who made profession of this kind of +magic aspired to this state of perfection. The priest, who was of this +order, was to be a man of unblemished morals, and all who joined with +him were bound to a strict purity of life. They were to abstain from +women, and from animal food; and were forbid to defile themselves by the +touch of a dead body. Nothing was to be forgotten in their rites and +ceremonies; the least omission or mistake, rendered all their art +ineffectual: so that this was a constant excuse for their not performing +all that was required of them, though as their sole employment (after +having arrived to a certain degree of perfection, by fasting, prayer, +and other methods of purification) was the study of universal nature, +they might gain such an insight into physical causes, as would enable +them to perform actions, that should fill the vulgar with astonishment; +and it is hardly to be doubted, but this was all the knowledge that many +of them aspired to. In this sort of magic, Hermes Tresmegistus and +Zoroaster excelled, and indeed it gained great reputation among the +Egyptians, Chaldeans, Persians, Indians and Jews. In times of ignorance, +a piece of clock-work, or some other curious machine, was sufficient to +entitle the inventor to the works of magic; and some have even asserted, +that the Egyptian magic, rendered so famous by the writings of the +ancients, consisted only in discoveries drawn from the mathematics, and +natural philosophy, since those Greek philosophers who travelled into +Egypt, in order to obtain a knowledge of the Egyptian sciences, returned +with only a knowledge of nature and religion, and some rational ideas +of their ancient symbols. + +But it can hardly be doubted, that magic in its grossest and most +ridiculous sense was practised in Egypt, at least among some of the +vulgar, long before Pythagoras or Empedocles travelled into that +country. The Egyptians had been very early accustomed to vary the +signification of their symbols, by adding to them several plants, ears +of corn, or blades of grass, to express the different employments of +husbandry; but understanding no longer their meaning nor the words that +had been made use of on these occasions, which were equally +unintelligible, the vulgar might mistake these for so many mysterious +practices observed by their fathers; and hence they might conceive the +notion, that a conjunction of plants, even without being made use of as +a remedy, might be of efficacy to preserve or procure health. "Of +these," adds the Abbé Pluche, "they made a collection, and an art by +which they pretended to procure the blessings, and provide against the +evils of life." By the assistance of these, men even attempted to hurt +their enemies; and indeed the knowledge of poisonous or useful simples, +might on particular occasions give sufficient weight to their empty +curses and innovations. But these magic incantations, so contrary to +humanity, were detested, and punished by almost all nations; nor could +they be tolerated in any. + +Pliny, after mentioning an herb, the throwing of which into an army, it +was said, was sufficient to put it to the route, asks, where was this +herb when Rome was so distressed by the Cambri and Teutones? Why did not +the Persians make use of it when Lucullus cut their troops to pieces? + +But amongst all the incantations of magic, the most solemn, as well as +the most frequent, was that of calling up the spirits of the dead; this +indeed was the very acmé of their art; and the reader cannot be +displeased with having this mystery here elucidated. An affection for +the body of a person, who in his life time was beloved, induced the +first natives to inter the dead in a decent manner, and to add to this +melancholy instance of esteem, those wishes which had a particular +regard to their new state of existence. The place of burial, conformable +to the custom of characterising all beloved places, or those +distinguished by a memorable event, was pointed out by a large stone or +pillar raised upon it. To this place families, and when the concern was +general, multitudes repaired every year, when, upon this stone, were +made libations of wine, oil, honey, and flour; and here they sacrificed +and ate in common, having first made a trench in which they burnt the +entrails of the victim into which the libation and the blood were made +to flow. They began with thanking God with having given them life, and +providing them necessary food; and then praised him for the good +examples they had been favoured with. From these melancholy rites were +banished all licentiousness and levity, and while other customs changed, +these continued the same. They roasted the flesh of the victim they had +offered, and eat it in common, discoursing on the virtues of him they +came to lament. + +All other feasts were distinguished by names suitable to the ceremonies +that attended them. These funeral meetings were simply called the manes, +that is, the assembly. Thus the manes and the dead were words that +became synonimous. In these meetings, they imagined that they renewed +their alliance with the deceased, who, they supposed, had still a regard +for the concerns of their country and family, and who, as affectionate +spirits, could do no less than inform them of whatever was necessary for +them to know. Thus, the funerals of the dead were at last converted into +methods of divination, and an innocent institution of one of the +grossest pieces of folly and superstition. But they did not stop here; +they became so extravagantly credulous, as to believe that the phantom +drank the libations that had been poured forth, while the relations were +feasting on the rest of the sacrifice round the pit: and from hence they +became apprehensive lest the rest of the dead should promiscuously +throng about this spot to get a share of the repast they were supposed +to be so fond of, and leave nothing for the dear spirit for whom the +feast was intended. They then made two pits or ditches, into one of +which they put wine, honey, water, and flour, to employ the generality +of the dead; and in the other they poured the blood of the victim; when +sitting down on the brink, they kept off, by the sight of their swords, +the crowd of dead who had no concern in their affairs, while they called +him by name, whom they had a mind to cheer and consult, and desired him +to draw near.[9] + +The questions made by the living were very intelligible; but the answers +of the dead were not so easily understood; the priests, therefore, and +the magicians made it their business to explain them. They retired into +deep caves, where the darkness and silence resembled the state of death, +and there fasted, and lay upon the skins of the beasts they had +sacrificed, and then gave for answer the dreams which most affected +them; or opened a certain book appointed for that purpose, and gave the +first sentence that offered.[10] At other times the priest, or any person +who came to consult, took care at his going out of the cave, to listen +to the first words he should hear, and these were to be his answer. And +though they had not the most remote relation to the mutter in question, +they were twisted so many ways, and their sense so violently wrested, +that they made them signify almost anything they pleased. At other times +they had recourse to a number of tickets, on which were some words or +verses, and these being thrown into an urn, the first that was taken out +was delivered to the family.[11] Health, prosperity in worldly affairs, +and all that was intermixed in the good or evil of this world were +regulated by the responses or signs which these equivocal, not to say +less than absurd, means afforded, of prying into the womb of future +events. + + +AUGURY, OR DIVINATIONS DRAWN FROM THE FLIGHT AND FEEDING OP BIRDS. + +The superstitious fondness of mankind for searching into futurity has +given rise to an infinite variety of extravagant follies. The Romans, +who were remarkably fertile in these sorts of demonological inventions, +suggested numerous ways of divination. With them all Nature had a voice, +and the most senseless beings, and most trivial things, the most +trifling incidents, became presages of future events; which introduced +ceremonies founded on a mistaken knowledge of antiquity, the most +childish and ridiculous, and which were performed with all the air of +solemnity and sanctity of devotion. Augury, or divinations founded on +the flight of birds, were not only considered by the Egyptians as the +symbols of the winds, but good and bad omens of every kind were founded +or rather derived from the flying of the feathered tribe. The birds at +this time had become wonderfully wise; and an owl, to whom, for reasons +not precisely known, light is not so agreeable as darkness, could not +pass by the windows of a sick person in the night, where the creature +was not offended by the glimmerings of a light or candle, but his +hooting must be considered as prophesying, that the life of the poor man +was nearly wound up. + +Amongst the Romans, these auguries were taken usually upon an eminence: +after the month of March they were prohibited in consequence of the +moulting season having commenced; nor were they permitted at the waning +of the moon, nor at any time in the afternoon, or when the air was the +least ruffled by winds or clouds. The feeding of the sacred chickens, +and the manner of their taking the corn that was offered to them, was +the most common method of taking the augury. Observations were also made +on the chattering or singing of birds, the hooting of crows, pies, +owls, etc., and from the running of beasts, as heifers, asses, rams, +hares, wolves, foxes, weasels and mice, when these appeared in uncommon +places, crossed the way, or ran to the right or left. They also +pretended to draw a good or bad omen from the most trifling actions or +occurrences of life, as sneezing, stumbling, starting, numbness of the +little finger, the tingling of the ear, the spilling of salt upon the +table, or the wine upon one's clothes, the accidental meeting of a bitch +with whelp, etc. It was also the business of the augur to interpret +dreams, oracles, and prodigies. + +Nothing can be so surprising than to find so wise and valorous a people +as the Romans addicted to such childish fooleries. Scipio, Augustus, and +many others, without any fatal consequences, despised the _sacred_ +chickens, and other arts of divination: but when the generals had +miscarried in any enterprise, the people laid the whole blame on the +negligence with which these oracles had been consulted: and if an +unfortunate general had neglected to consult them, the blame of +miscarriage was thrown upon him who had preferred his own forecast to +that of the fowls; while those who made these kinds of predictions a +subject of raillery, were accounted impious and profane. Thus they +construed, as a punishment of the gods, the defeat of Claudius Pulcher; +who, when the sacred chickens refused to eat what was set before them, +ordered them to be thrown into the sea; "If they won't eat," said he, +"they shall drink." + + +ARUSPICES, OR DIVINATIONS DRAWN FROM BRUTE, OR HUMAN SACRIFICES. + +In the earliest ages of the world, a sense of piety and a regard to +decency had introduced the custom of never sacrificing to Him, whence +all blessings emanated, any but the soundest, the most healthy, fat and +beautiful animals; which were always examined with the closest and most +exact attention. This ceremonial, which doubtless had its origin in +gratitude, or in some ideas of fitness and propriety, at length, +degenerated into trifling niceties and superstitious ceremonies. And it +having been once imagined that no favour was to be looked for from the +gods, when the victim was imperfect, the idea of perfection was united +with abundance of trivial circumstances. The entrails were examined with +peculiar care, and if the whole was without blemish, their duties were +fulfilled; under an assurance that they had engaged the gods to be on +their side, they engaged in war, and in the most hazardous undertakings, +with such a confidence of success, as had the greatest tendency to +procure it. All the motions of the victims that were led to the altar, +were considered as so many prophecies. If the victim advanced with an +easy and natural air, in a straight line, and without offering any +resistance,--if he made no extraordinary bellowing when he received the +blow,--if he did not get loose from the person who led him to the +sacrifice, it was deemed a certain prognostic of an easy and flowing +success. + +The victim was knocked down, but before its belly was ripped open, one +of the lobes of the liver was allotted to those who offered the +sacrifice, and the other to the enemies of the state. That which was +neither blemished nor withered, of a bright red, and neither smaller nor +larger than it ought to be, prognosticated great prosperity to those for +whom it was set apart; that which was livid, small or corrupted, +presaged the most fatal mischiefs. The next thing to be considered was +the heart, which was also examined with the utmost care, as was the +spleen, the gall, and the lungs; and if any of these were let fall, if +they smelt rank or were bloated, livid or withered, it presaged nothing +but misfortunes. + +After the examination of the entrails was over, the fire was kindled, +and from this also they drew several presages. If the flame was clear, +if it mounted up without dividing, and went not out till the victim was +entirely consumed, this was a proof that the sacrifice was accepted; but +if they found it difficult to kindle the fire, if the flame divided, if +it played around instead of taking bold of the victim, if it burnt ill, +or went out, it was a bad omen. The business, however, of the Aruspices +was not confined to the altars and sacrifices, they had an equal right +to explain all other portents. The Senate frequently consulted them on +the most extraordinary prodigies. The college of the Aruspices, as well +as those of the other religious orders, had their registers and +records, such as memorials of thunder and lightning,[12] the Tuscan +histories,[13] etc. + + +DIVISIONS OP DIVINATION BY THE ANCIENTS--PRODIGIES, ETC. + +Divination was divided by the ancients into artificial and natural. The +first is conducted by reasoning upon certain external signs, considered +as indications of futurity; the other consists in that which presages +things from a mere internal sense, and persuasion of the mind, without +any assistance of signs; and is of two kinds, the one from nature, and +the other by influx. The first supposes that the soul, collected within +itself, and not diffused or divided among the organs of the body, has +from its own nature and essence, some fore-knowledge of future things; +witness, for instance, what is seen in dreams, ecstasies, and on the +confines of death. The second supposes the soul after the manner of a +mirror to receive some secondary illumination from the presence of God +and other spirits. Artificial divination is also of two kinds: the one +argues from natural causes, as in the predictions of physicians relative +to the event of diseases, from the tongue, pulse, etc. The second the +consequence of experiments and observations arbitrarily instituted, and +is mostly superstitious. The systems of divination reduceable under +these heads are almost incalculable. Among these were the Augurs or +those who drew their knowledge of futurity from the flight, and various +other actions of birds; the Aruspices, from the entrails of beasts; +palmestry or the lines of the hands; points marked at random; numbers, +names, the motions of a scene, the air, fire, the Praenestine, Homerian, +and Virgilian lots, dreams, etc. + +Whoever reads the Roman historians[14] must be surprised at the number of +prodigies which are constantly recorded, and which frequently filled the +people with the most dreadful apprehensions. It must be confessed, that +some of these seem altogether supernatural; while much the greater part +only consist of some of the uncommon productions of nature, which +superstition always attributed to a superior cause, and represented as +the prognostication of some impending misfortunes. Of this class may be +reckoned the appearance of two suns, the nights illuminated by rays of +light, the views of fighting armies, swords, and spears, darting through +the air; showers of milk, of blood, of stones, of ashes, of frogs, +beasts with two heads, or infants who had some feature resembling those +of the brute creation. These were all dreadful prodigies, which filled +the people with inexpressible astonishment, and the Roman Empire with an +extreme perplexity; and whatever unhappy circumstance followed upon +these, was sure to be either caused or predicted by them.[15] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[9] Homer gives the same account of those ceremonies, when Ulysses +raised the soul of Tiresias; and the same usages are found in the poem +of Silius Italicus. And to these ceremonies the scriptures frequently +allude, when the Israelites are forbid to assemble upon high places. + +[10] The magical slumbers produced in the cave of Trophonius are justly +ascribed to medicated beverages. Here, the votary if he escaped with +life, had his health irreparably injured, and the whole class of +artificial dreams and visions, the effect of some powerful narcotic +acting upon the body after the mind had been predisposed for a certain +train of ideas. + +[11] The _sortes praenestinae_ were famous among the Greeks. The method +by which these lots were conducted was to put so many letters or even +whole words, into an urn; to shake them together, and throw them out; +and whatever should chance to be made out in the arrangement of these +letters or words, composed the answer of the oracle. The ancients also +made use of dice, drawing tickets, etc., in casting or deciding results. +In the Old Testament we meet with many standing and perpetual laws, and +a number of particular commands, prescribing and regulating the use of +them. We are informed by the Scripture that when a successor to Judas in +the apostolate was to be chosen, the lot fell on St. Mathias. And the +garment or coat without a seam of our Saviour was lotted for by the +Jews. In Cicero's time this mode of divination was at a very low ebb. +The _sortes Homericae_ and _sortes Virgilianae_ which succeeded the +_sortes Praenestinae_, gave rise to the same means used among christians +of casually opening the sacred books for directions in important +circumstances; to learn the consequence of events and what they had to +fear among their rulers. + +[12] Kennet's Roman Antiquities, Lib. XI, C. 4. + +[13] Romulus, who founded the institution of the Aruspices, borrowed it +from the Tuscans, to whom the Senate afterwards sent twelve of the sons +of the principal nobility to be instructed in these mysteries, and the +other ceremonies of their religion. The origin of this act among the +people of Tuscany, is related by Cicero in the following manner: "A +peasant," says he, "ploughing in the field, his ploughshare running +pretty deep in the earth, turned up a clod, from whence sprung a child, +who taught him and the other Tuscans the art of divination." (Cicero, De +Divinat. l. 2.) This fable, undoubtedly means no more, than that this +child, said to spring from the clod of earth, was a youth of a very mean +and obscure birth, but it is not known whether he was the author of it, +or whether he learnt it of the Greeks or any other nations. + +[14] Particularly Livy, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Pliny, and Valerius +Maximus. + +[15] Nothing is more easy than to account for these productions, which +have no relation to any events that may happen to follow them. The +appearance of two suns has frequently happened in England, as well as in +other places, and is only caused by the clouds being placed in such a +situation, as to reflect the image of that luminary; nocturnal fires, +enflamed spears, fighting armies, were no more than what we call the +Aurora Borealis or northern lights, or ignited vapours floating in the +air; showers of stones, of ashes, or of fire, were no other than the +effects of the eruptions of some volcano at a considerable distance; +showers of milk were caused by some quality in the air, condensing, and +giving a whitish colour to the water; and those of blood are now well +known to be only the red spots left upon the earth, on stones and leaves +of trees, by the butterflies which hatch in hot and stormy weather. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +HISTORY OF ORACLES--THE PRINCIPAL ORACLES OF ANTIQUITY. + +Few superstitions have been so famous, and so seductive to the minds of +men during a number of ages, as oracles. In treaties of peace or truces, +the Greeks never forgot to stipulate for the liberty of resorting to +oracles. No colony undertook new settlements, no war was declared, no +important affair begun, without first consulting the oracles. + +The most renowned oracles were those of Delphos, Dodona, Trophonius, +Jupiter Hammon, and the Clarian Apollo. Some have attributed the oracles +of Dodona to oaks, others to pigeons. The opinion of those +pigeon-prophetesses was introduced by the equivocation of a Thessalian +word, which signified both a pigeon and a woman; and gave room to the +fable, that two pigeons having taken wing from Thebes, one of them fled +into Lybia, where it occasioned the establishing of the oracle of +Jupiter Hammon; and the other, having stopped in the oaks of the forest +of Dodona, informed the inhabitants of the neighbouring parts, that it +was Jupiter's intention there should be an oracle in that place. +Herodotus has thus explained the fable: there were formerly two +Priestesses of Thebes, who were carried off by Phenecian merchants. She +that was sold into Greece, settled in the forest of Dodona, where great +numbers of the ancient inhabitants of Greece went to gather acorns. She +there erected a little chapel at the foot of an oak, in honour of the +same Jupiter, whose priestess she had been; and here it was this ancient +oracle was established, which in after times became so famous. The +manner of delivering the oracles of Dodona was very singular. There were +a great number of kettles suspended from trees near a copper statue, +which was also suspended with a hunch of rods in its hand. When the wind +happened to put it in motion, it struck the first kettle, which +communicating its motion to the next, all of them tingled, and produced +a certain sound which continued for a long time; after which the oracle +spoke. + + +THE ORACLE OP JUPITER HAMMON. + +This oracle, which was in the desert, in the midst of the burning sands +of Africa, declared to Alexander that Jupiter was his father. After +several questions, having asked if the death of his father was suddenly +revenged, the oracle answered, that the death of Philip was revenged, +but that the father of Alexander was immortal. This oracle gave occasion +to Lucan to put great sentiments in the mouth of Cato. After the battle +of Pharsalia, when Cesar began to be master of the world. Labrenus said +to Cato: "As we have now so good an opportunity of consulting so +celebrated an oracle, let us know from it how to regulate our conduct +during this war. The gods will not declare themselves more willingly for +any one than Cato. You have always been befriended by the gods, and may +therefore have the confidence to converse with Jupiter. Inform +yourselves of the destiny of the tyrant and the fate of our country; +whether we are to preserve our liberty, or to lose the fruit of the war; +and you may learn too what that virtue is to which you have been +elevated, and what its reward." + +Cato, full of the divinity that was within him, returned to Labrenus an +answer worthy of an oracle: "On what account, Labrenus, would you have +me consult Jupiter? Shall I ask him whether it be better to lose life +than liberty? Whether life be a real good? We have within us, Labrenus, +an oracle that can answer all these questions. Nothing happens but by +the order of God. Let us not require of him to repeat to us what he has +sufficiently engraved in our hearts. Truth has not withdrawn into those +deserts; it is not graved on those sands. The abode of God is in heaven, +in the earth, in the sea, and in virtuous hearts. God speaks to us by +all that we see, by all that surrounds us. Let the inconstant and those +that are subject to waver, according to events, have recourse to +oracles. For my part, I find in nature every thing that can inspire the +most constant resolution. The dastard, as well as the brave, cannot +avoid death. Jupiter cannot tell us more." Cato thus spoke, and quitted +the country without consulting the oracle. + + +THE ORACLE OF DELPHOS, OR PYTHIAN APOLLO. + +Diodorus Siculus, Plutarch, and several other authors relate, that a +herd of goats discovered the oracle of Delphos, or of the Pythian +Apollo. When a goat happened to come near enough the cavern to breathe +air that passed out of it, she returned skipping and bounding about, and +her voice articulated some extraordinary sounds; which having been +observed by the keepers, they went to look in, and were seized with a +fury which made them jump about, and foretel future events. Coretas, as +Plutarch tells, was the name of the goat-herd who discovered the oracle. +One of the guardians of Demetrius, coming too near the mouth of the +cavern, was suffocated by the force of the exhalations, and died +suddenly. The orifice or vent-hole of the cave was covered with a tripod +consecrated to Apollo, on which the priestesses, called Pythonesses,[16] +sat, to fill themselves with the prophetic vapour, and to conceive the +spirit of divination, with the fervor that made them know futurity, and +foretel it in Greek hexameters. Plutarch says, that, on the cessation of +oracles, a Pythoness was so excessively tormented by the vapour, and +suffered such violent convulsions, that all the priests ran away, and +she died soon after. + + +CEREMONIES PRACTISED ON CONSULTING ORACLES. + +Pausanias describes the ceremonies that were practiced for consulting +the oracle of Trophonius. Every man that went down into his cave, never +laughed his whole life after. This gave occasion to the proverbial +saying concerning those of a melancholy air: "He has consulted +Trophonius." Plato relates, that the two brothers, Agamedes and +Trophonius, having built the temple of Apollo, and asked the god for a +reward what he thought of most advantage to men, both died in the night +that succeeded their prayer. Pausanias gives us a quite different +account. In the palace there built for the King Hyrieus, they so laid a +stone, that it might be taken away, and in the night they crept in +through the hole they had thus contrived, to steal the king's treasures. +The king observing the quantity of his gold diminished, though no locks +nor seals had been broken open, fixed traps about his coffers, and +Agamedes being caught in one of them, Trophonius cut off his head to +prevent his discovering him. Trophonius having disappeared that moment, +it was given out that the earth had swallowed him on the same spot; and +impious superstition went so far as to place this wicked wretch in the +rank of the gods, and to consult his oracle with ceremonies equally +painful and mysterious. + +Tacitus thus speaks of the oracle of the Clarian Apollo: Germanicus +went to consult the oracle of Claros. It is not a woman that delivers +the oracle there, as at Delphos, but a man chosen out of certain +families, and always of Miletum. It is sufficient to tell him the number +and names of those who come to consult him; whereupon he retires into a +grot, and having taken some water out of a well that lies hid in it, he +answers you in verses to whatever you have thought of, though this man +is often very ignorant. + +Dion Cassius explains the manner in which the oracle of Nymphoea, in +Epirus, delivered its responses. The party that consulted took incense, +and having prayed, threw the incense into the fire, the flame pursued +and consumed it. But if the affair was not to succeed, the incense did +not come near the fire, or if it fell into the flame, it started out and +fled. It so happened for prognosticating futurity, in regard to every +thing that was asked, except death and marriage, about which it was not +allowed to ask any questions. + +Those who consulted the oracle of Amphiarus, lay on the skins of +victims, and received the answer of the oracle in a dream. Virgil +attests the same thing of the oracle of Faunus in Italy. + +A governor of Cilicia, who gave little credit to oracles, and who was +always surrounded by unbelieving Epicureans sent a letter sealed with +his signet to the oracle of Mopsus, requiring one of those answers that +were received in a dream. The messenger charged with the letter brought +it back in the same condition, not having been opened; and informed +him, that he had seen in a dream a very well made man, who said to him +'Black' without the addition of even another word. Then the governor +opening the letter, assured the company, that he wanted to know of the +divinity, whether he should sacrifice a white or black bull. + +In the temple of the goddess of Syria, when the statue of Apollo was +inclined to deliver oracles, it deviated, moved, and was full of +agitations on its pedestals. Then the priests carrying it on their +shoulders, it pushed and turned them on all sides, and the high-priest, +interrogating it on all sorts of affairs, if it refused its consent, it +drove the priests back; if otherwise, it made them advance. + +Suetonius says, that, some months before the birth of Augustus, an +oracle was current, importing, that nature was labouring at the +production of a king, who would be master of the Roman Empire; that the +Senate in great consternation, had forbid the rearing of any male +children who should be born that year, but that the senators whose wives +were pregnant, found means to hinder the inscribing of the decree in the +public registers. It seems that the prediction, of which Augustus was +only the type, regarded the birth of Jesus Christ, the spiritual king of +the whole world; or that the wicked spirit was willing, by suggesting +this rigorous decree to the Senate, to depose Herod; and by this +example, to involve the Messiah in the massacre that was made by his +orders of all the children of two years and under. The whole world was +then full of the coming of the Messiah. We see by Virgil's fourth +eclogue, that he applies to the son of the Consul Asinius Pollio the +prophecies which, from the Jews, had then passed into foreign nations. +This child the object of Virgil's flattery, died the ninth day after he +was born. Tacitus, Suetonius, and Josephus, applied to Vespasian the +prophecies that regarded the Messiah. + + +ORACLES OFTEN EQUIVOCAL AND OBSCURE. + +The oracles, were often very equivocal, or so obscure that their +signification was not understood but after the event. A few examples, +out of a great many, will be sufficient. + +Croesus, having received from the Pythoness, this answer, that by +passing the river Halys, he would destroy a great empire, he understood +it to be the empire of his enemy, whereas he destroyed his own. The +oracle consulted by Pyrrhus, gave him an answer, which might be equally +understood of the victory of Pyrrhus, and the victory of the Romans his +enemies. + + Aio te Aeacida, Romanos vincere posse. + +The equivocation lies in the construction of the Latin tongue, which +cannot be rendered in English. The Pythoness advises Croesus to guard +against the mule.[17] The king of Lydia understood nothing of the +oracle, which denoted Cyrus descended from two different nations, from +the Medes by Mandana his mother, the daughter of Astyages; and by the +Persians by his father Cambyses, whose race was by far less grand and +illustrious. Nero had for answer from the oracle of Delphos, that +seventy-three might prove fatal to him, he believed he was safe from all +danger till age, but, finding himself deserted by every one, and hearing +Galba proclaimed emperor, who was seventy-three years of age, he was +sensible of the deceit of the oracle. + +St. Jerome observes, that, if the devils speak any truth, by whatever +accident they always join lies to it and use such ambiguous expressions, +that they may be equally applied to contrary events. + + +URIM AND THUMMIM. + +Whilst the false oracles of demons deceived the idolatrous nations, +truth had retired from among the chosen people of God. The septuagint +have interpreted _Urim_ and _Thummim_, manifestation and truth, [Greek: +daelosin is alaetheian]; which expresses how different those divine +oracles were from the false and equivocal demons. It is said, in the +Book of Numbers, that Eleazar, the successor of Aaron, shall interrogate +Urim in form, and that a resolution shall be taken according to the +answer given. + +The Ephod applied to the chest of the sacerdotal vestments of the +high-priest, was a piece of stuff covered with twelve precious stones, +on which the names of the twelve tribes were engraved. It was not +allowed to consult the Lord by Urim and Thummim, but for the king, the +president of the sanhedrim, the general of the army, and other public +persons, and on affairs that regarded the general interest of the +nation. If the affair was to succeed, the stones of the ephod emitted a +sparkling light, or the high-priest inspired predicted the success. +Josephus, who was born thirty-nine years after Christ, says that it was +then two hundred years since the stones of the ephod had given an answer +to consultations by their extraordinary lustre. + +The Scriptures only inform us, that Urim and Thummim were something that +Moses had put in the high-priest's breast-plate. Some Rabbins by rash +conjectures, have believed that they were two small statues hidden +within the breast-plate; others, the ineffable name of God, graved in a +mysterious-manner. Without designing to discern what has not been +explained to us, we should understand by _Urim_ and _Thummim_, the +divine inspiration annexed to the consecrated breast-plate. + +Several passages of Scripture leave room to believe, that an articulate +voice came forth from the propitiatory, or holy of holies, beyond the +veil of the tabernacle, and that this voice was heard by the +high-priest. If the Urim and Thummim did not make answer, it was a sign +of God's anger. Saul abandoned by the spirit of the Lord, consulted it +in vain, and obtained no sort of answer. It appears by some passages of +St. John's Gospel, that in the time of Christ, the exercise of the +chief-priesthood, was still attended with the gift of prophecy. + + +REPUTATION OF ORACLES, HOW LOST. + +When men began to be better instructed by the lights philosophy had +introduced into the world, the false oracles insensibly lost their +credit. Chrysippus filled an entire volume with false or doubtful +oracles. Oenomanus,[18] to be revenged of some oracle that had deceived +him, made a compilation of oracles, to shew their absurdity and vanity. +But Oenomanus is still more out of humour with the oracle for the answer +which Apollo gave the Athenians, when Xerxes was about to attack Greece +with all the strength of Asia. The Pythian declared, that Minerva, the +protectress of Athens, had endeavoured in vain to appease the wrath of +Jupiter; yet that Jupiter, in complaisance with his daughter, was +willing the Athenians should secure themselves within wooden walls; and +that Salamis should behold the loss of a great many children, dead to +their mothers, either when Ceres was spread abroad, or gathered +together. At this Oenomanus loses all patience with the Delphian God: +"This contest," exclaims he, "between father and daughter, is very +becoming the deities! It is excellent that there should be contrary +inclinations and interests in heaven! Poor wizzard, thou art ignorant +who the children are that shall see Salamis perish; whether Greeks or +Persians. It is certain they must either be one or the other; but thou +needest not have told so openly that thou knowest not what. Thou +concealest the time of the battle under these fine poetical expressions +'_either when Ceres is spread abroad, or gathered together_:' and thou +wouldst cajole us with such pompous language! who knows not that if +there be a sea-fight, it must either be in seed-time or harvest? It is +certain it cannot be in winter. Let things go how they will, thou wilt +secure thyself by this Jupiter whom Minerva is endeavouring to appease. +If the Greeks lose the battle, Jupiter proved inexorable to the last; if +they gain it, why then Minerva at length prevailed."[19] + +Eusebius has preserved some fragments of this criticism on oracles by +Oenomanus. "I might," says Origen, "have recourse to the authority of +Aristotle, and the Peripatetics, to make the Pythoness much suspected. I +might extract from the writings of Epicurus and his sectators an +abundance of things to discredit oracles; and I might shew that the +Greeks themselves made no great account of them." + +The reputation of oracles was greatly lessened when they became an +artifice of politics. Themistocles, with a design of engaging the +Athenians to quit Athens, in order to be in a better condition to resist +Xerxes, made the Pythoness deliver an oracle, commanding them to take +refuge in wooden walls. Demosthenes said, that the Pythoness +philippised, to signify that she was gained over by Philip's presents. + + +CESSATION OF ORACLES. + +The cessation of oracles is attested by several prophane authors, as +Strabo, Juvenal, Lucien. + +Lucan, and others, Plutarch accounts for the cause of it, either that +the benefits of the gods are not eternal, as themselves are; or that the +genii who presided over oracles, are subject to death; or that the +exhalations of the earth had been exhausted. It appears that the last +reason had been alleged in the time of Cicero, who ridicules it in his +second book of Divination, as if the spirit of prophecy, supposed to be +excited by subterranean effluvia, had evaporated by length of time, as +wine or pickle by being kept is lost. + +Suidas, Nicephorus, and Cedrenus relate, that Augustus having consulted +the oracle of Delphos, could obtain no other answer but this: 'the +Hebrew child whom all the gods obey, drives me hence, and sends me back +to hell: get out of this temple without speaking one word.' Suidas adds, +that Augustus dedicated an altar in the Capitol, with the following +inscription: + + "_To the eldest Son of God_." + +Notwithstanding these testimonies, the answer of the oracle of Delphos +to Augustus seems very suspicious. Cedrenus cites Eusebius for this +oracle, which is not now found in his works; and Augustus' peregrination +into Greece was eighteen years before the birth of Christ. + +Suidas and Cedrenus give an account also of an ancient oracle delivered +to Thules, a king of Egypt, which they say is well authenticated. This +king having consulted the oracle of Seraphis, to know if there ever was, +or would be, one so great as himself, received this answer:--"First, +God, next the word, and the spirit with them. They are equally eternal, +and make but one whose power will never end. But thou, mortal, go hence, +and think that the end of man's life is uncertain." + +Van Dale, in his Treatise of oracles, does not believe that they ceased +at the coming of Christ. He relates several examples of oracles +consulted till the death of Theodosius the Great. He quotes the laws of +the Emperors Theodosius, Gratian, and Valentinian, against those who +consulted oracles, as a certain proof that the superstition of oracles +still existed in the time of those emperors. + + +HAD DEMONS ANY SHARE IN THE ORACLES? + +The opinion of those who believe that the demons had no share in the +oracles, and that the coming of the Messiah made no change in them: and +the contrary opinion of those who pretend that the incarnation of the +word imposed a general silence on oracles, should be equally rejected. +The reasons appear from what has been said, and therefore two sorts of +oracles ought to be distinguished, the one dictated by the spirits of +darkness, who deceived men by their obscure and doubtful answers, the +other the pure artifice and deceit of the priests of false +divinities.[20] As to the oracles given out by demons, the reign of +Satan was destroyed by the coming of the Saviour; truth shut the mouth +of falsehood; but Satan continued his old craft among idolaters. All the +devils were not forced to silence at the same time by the coming of the +Messiah; it was on particular occasions that the truth of christianity, +and the virtue of Christians imposed silence on the devils. St. +Athanasius tells the pagans, they have been witnesses themselves that +the sign of the cross puts the devils to flight, silences oracles, and +dissipates enchantments. + +This power of silencing oracles, and putting the devils to flight, is +also attested by Arnobius, Lactantius, Prudentius, Minutius, Felix, and +several others. Their testimony is a certain proof that the coming of +the Messiah had not imposed a general silence on oracles. + +The Emperor Julian, called the Apostate, consulting the oracle of +Apollo, in the suburbs of Antioch, the devil could make him no other +answer, than that the body of St. Babylas, buried in the neighbourhood, +imposed silence on him. The Emperor, transported with rage and vexation, +resolved to revenge his gods, by eluding a solemn prediction of Christ. +He ordered the Jews to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem; but in beginning +to dig the foundations, balls of fire burst out, and consumed the +artificers, their tools and materials. These facts are attested by +Ammianus Marcellinus, a pagan, and the emperor's historian; and by St. +Chrysostom, St. Gregory Nazianzen, and Theodoret, Sozomen and Socrates, +in their ecclesiastical histories. The sophist Libanius, who was an +enemy of the Christians, confessed also that St. Babylas had silenced +the oracle of Apollo, in the suburbs of Antioch. + +Plutarch relates that the pilot Thamus heard a voice in the air, crying +out:--"The great Pan is dead:" whereupon Eusebius observes, that the +deaths of the demons were frequent in the reign of Tiberius, when Christ +drove out the wicked spirits. The same judgments may be passed on +oracles as on possessions. It was on particular occasions, by the divine +permission, that the Christians cast out devils, or silenced oracles, in +the presence and even by the confession of the pagans themselves. And +thus it is we should, it seems, understand the passages of St. Jerom, +Eusebius, Cyril, Theodoret, Prudentius, and other authors, who said, +that the coming of Christ had imposed silence on the oracles. + + +OF ORACLES, THE ARTIFICES OP PRIESTS OP FALSE DIVINITIES. + +As regards the second sort of oracles, which were pure artifices and +cheats of the priests of false divinities, and which probably exceeded +the numbers of those that immediately proceed from demons, they did not +cease till idolatry was abolished, though they had lost their credit for +a considerable time before the coming of Christ. It was concerning this +more common and general sort of oracles that Minutius Felix said, they +began to discontinue their responses, according as men began to be more +polite. But, howsoever decried oracles were, impostors always found +dupes; the grossest cheats having never failed. + +Daniel discovered the imposture of the priests of Bel, who had a private +way of getting into the temple, to take away the offered meats, and made +the king believe that the idol consumed them. Mundus, being in love with +Paulina, the eldest of the priestesses of Isis, went and told her that +the god Anubis, being passionately fond of her, commanded her to give +him a meeting. She was afterwards shut up in a dark room, where her +lover Mundus (whom she believed to be the god Anubis,) was concealed. +This imposture having been discovered, Tiberius ordered those detestable +priests and priestesses to be crucified, and with them Iolea Mundus's +free woman, who had conducted the whole intrigue. He also commanded the +temple of Isis to be levelled with the ground, her statue to be thrown +into the Tiber, and, as to Mundus, he contented himself with sending him +into banishment. + +Theophilus, Bishop of Alexandria, not only destroyed the temples of the +gods, but discovered the cheats of the priests, by shewing that the +statues, some of which were of brass, and others of wood, were hollow +within, and led into dark passages made in the wall. + +Lucius in discovering the impostures of the false prophet Alexander, +says, that the oracles were chiefly afraid of the subtilties of the +Epicureans and Christians. The false prophet Alexander sometimes feigned +himself seized with a divine fury, and by means of the herb sopewort, +which he chewed, frothed at the mouth in so extraordinary a manner, that +the ignorant people attributed it to the power of the god he was +possessed by. He had long before prepared the head of a dragon made of +linen, which opened and shut its mouth by means of a horses hair. He +went by night to a place where the foundations of a temple were digging, +and having found water, either of a spring or rain that had settled +there, he hid in it a goose egg, in which he had inclosed a little +serpent that had just been hatched. The next day, very early in the +morning, he came quite naked into the street, having only a scarf about +his middle, holding in his hand a scythe, and tossing about his hair as +the priests of Cybele; then getting on the top of a high altar, he said +that the place was happy to be honoured by the birth of a god. +Afterwards running down to the place where he had hid the goose egg, and +going into the water, he began to sing the praises of Apollo and +Aesculapius, and to invite the latter to come and shew himself to men; +with these words he dips a bowl into the water and takes out a +mysterious egg, which had a god enclosed in it, and when he held it in +his hand, he began to say that he held Aesculapius, whilst all were +eager to have a sight of this fine mystery, he broke the egg, and the +little serpent starting out, twisted itself about his fingers. + +These examples shew clearly, that both Christians and pagans were so +far agreed as to treat the greater number of oracles as purely human +impostures. + +From the very nature of things, much that now serves for amusement must +formerly have been appropriated to a higher destination. Ventriloquism +may be quoted as a case in point, affording a ready and plausible +solution of the oracular stones and oaks, of the reply which the seer +Nessus addressed to Pythagoras, (Jamblichus, Vit. Pyth. xxxiii.) and of +the tree which at the command of the Gymnosophists, of upper Egypt, +spoke to Apollonius, "The voice," says Philostratus (Vit. Ap. xi. 5) +"was distinct but weak, and similar to the voice of a woman." But the +oracles, at least if we ascend to their origin, were not altogether +impostures. The pretended interpreters of the decrees of destiny were +frequently plunged into a sort of delirium, and when inhaling the fumes +of some intoxicating drug or powerful gas or vapour, or drinking some +beverage which produced a temporary suspension of the reason, the mind +of the enquirer was predisposed to feverish dreams:[21] if priestcraft +were concerned in the interpretation of such dreams, or eliciting senses +from the wild effusions of the disordered brain of the Pythoness, +Science presided over the investigation of the causes of this phrenzy, +and the advantages which the Thaumaturgists might derive from it. +Jamblicus states (de Mysterius C. xxix) that for obtaining a revelation +from the Deity in a dream, the youngest and most simple creatures were +the most proper for succeeding: they were prepared for it by magical +invocations and fumigations of particular perfumes. Porphyry declares +that these proceedings had an influence on the imagination; Jamblicus +that they rendered them more worthy of the inspiration of the Deity. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[16] The responses here were delivered by a young priestess called +Pythia or Phoebas, placed on a tripos, or stool with three feet, called +also cortina, from the skin of the serpent Python with which it was +covered, it is uncertain after what manner these oracles were delivered, +though Cicero supposes the Pythoness was inspired, or rather intoxicated +by certain vapours which ascended from the cave. Some say that the +Pythoness being once debauched, the oracles were afterwards delivered by +an old woman in the dress of a young maid. + +[17] This answer of the oracle brings to our recollection the equally +remarkable injunction of a modern seer to Sir William Windham, which is +related in the memoirs of Bishop Newton. "In his younger years, when Sir +William was abroad upon his travels, and was at Venice, there was a +noted fortune-teller, to whom great numbers resorted, and he among the +rest; and the fortune-teller told him, that he must beware of a white +horse. After his return to England, as he was walking by Charing-Cross, +he saw a crowd of people coming out and going in to a house, and +inquired what was the meaning of it, was informed that Duncan Campbell, +the dumb fortune-teller lived there. His curiosity also led him in, and +Duncan Campbell likewise told him that he must beware of a white horse. +It was somewhat extraordinary that two fortune-tellers, one at Venice +and the other in London, without any communication, and at some distance +of time, should both happen to hit upon the same thing, and to give the +very same warning. Some years afterwards, when he was taken up in 1715, +and committed to the Tower upon suspicion of treasonable practices, +which never appeared, his friends said to him that his fortune wan now +fulfilled, the Hanover House was the white horse whereof he was +admonished to beware. But some time after this, he had a fall from a +white horse, and received a blow by which he lost the sight of one of +his eyes." + +[18] "When we come to consult thee," says he to Apollo, "if thou seest +what is in the womb of futurity, why dost thou use expressions which +will not be understood? If thou dost, thou takest pleasure in abusing +us: if thou dost not, be informed of us, and learn to speak more +clearly. I tell thee, that if thou intendest an equivoque, the Greek +word whereby thou affirmest that Croesus should overthrow a great +empire, was ill-chosen; and that it could signify nothing but Croesus +conquering Cyrus. If things must necessarily come to pass, why dost thou +amuse us with thy ambiguities? What dost thou, wretch as thou art, at +Delphi, employed in muttering idle prophecies!"--See "_Demonologia, or +Natural Knowledge revealed_" p. 162. + +[19] See _Demonologia_, p, 163. + +[20] "Among the more learned, it is a pretty general opinion that all +the oracles were mere cheats and impostures; calculated either to serve +the avaricious ends of the heathenish priests, or the political views of +the princes. Bayle positively asserts, that they were mere human +artifices, in which the devil had no hand. In this opinion he is +strongly supported by Van Dale, a Dutch physician, and M. Fontenelle, +who have expressly written on the subject."--_Vide Demonologia_, op. +citat. p. 159. + +[21] We learn from Herodotus (iv. 75) that the Scythians and Tartars +intoxicated themselves by inhaling the vapour of a species of hemp +thrown upon red hot stones. And the odour of the seeds of henbane alone, +when its power is augmented by heat, produces a choleric and quarrelsome +disposition, in those who inhale the vapour arising from them in this +state. And in the "Dictionnaire de Médecine," (de l'Encyclopédie +Méthodique, vii, art. Jusquiaume) instances are quoted, the most +remarkable of which is, that if a married pair who, though living in +perfect harmony every where else, could never remain for a few hours in +the room where they worked without quarrelling. The apartment of course +was thought to be bewitched, until it was discovered that a considerable +quantity of seeds of henbane were deposited near the stove, which was +the cause of their daily dissensions, the removal of which put an end to +their bickerings. The same effects that were produced by draughts and +fumigations would follow from the application of liniments, of "Magical +Unctions," acting through the absorbent system, as if they had been +introduced into the stomach: allusions to these ointments are constantly +recurring in ancient authors. Philostratus, in his life of Apollonius +(iii. 5) states that the bodies of his companions, before being admitted +to the mysteries of the Indian sages, were rubbed over with so active an +oil, that it appeared as if they were bathed with fire. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +THE BRITISH DRUIDS, OR MAGI--ORIGIN OF FAIRIES--ANCIENT +SUPERSTITIONS----THEIR SKILL IN MEDECINE, &C. + +The British Druids, like the Indian Gymnosophists, or the Persian Magi, +had two sets of doctrines; the first for the initiated; the second for +the people. That there is one God the creator of heaven and earth, was a +secret doctrine of the Brachmans. And the nature and perfection of the +deity were among the druidical arcana. + +Among the sublimer tenets of the druidical priesthood, we have every +where apparent proofs of their polytheism: and the grossness of their +religious ideas, as represented by some writers, is very inconsistent +with that divine philosophy which has been considered as a part of their +character. These, however, were popular divinities which the Druids +ostensibly worshipped, and popular notions which they ostensibly +adopted, in conformity with the prejudices of the vulgar. The Druids +well knew that the common people were no philosophers. There is reason +also, to think that a great part of the idolatries were not sanctioned +by the Druids, but afterwards introduced by the Phoenician colony. But +it would be impossible to say how far the primitive Druids accommodated +themselves to vulgar superstition, or to separate their exterior +doctrines and ceremonies from the fables and absurd rites of subsequent +times. It would be vain to attempt to enumerate their gods: in the eye +of the vulgar they defied everything around them. They worshipped the +spirits of the mountains, the vallies, and the rivers. Every rock and +every spring were either the instruments or the objects of admiration. +The moonlight vallies of Danmonium were filled with the fairy people, +and its numerous rivers were the resort of genii. + +The fiction of fairies is supposed to have been brought, with other +extravagancies of a like nature from the Eastern nations, whilst the +Europeans and Christians were engaged in the holy war: such at least is +the notion of an ingenious writer, who thus expresses himself: "Nor were +the monstrous embellishments of enchantments the invention of romancers, +but formed upon Eastern tales, brought thence by travellers from their +crusades and pilgrimages, which indeed, have a cast peculiar to the wild +imagination of the Eastern people."[22] + +That fairies, in particular, came from the East, we are assured by that +learned orientalist, M. Herbelot, who tells us that the Persians called +the fairies _Peri_, and the Arabs _Genies_, that according: to the +Eastern fiction, there is a certain country inhabited by fairies, called +Gennistan, which answers to our _fairy-land_.[23] Mr. Martin, in his +observations on Spencer's Fairy Queen, is decided in his opinion, that +the fairies came from the East; but he justly remarks, that they were +introduced into the country long before the period of the crusades. The +race of fairies, he informs us, was established in Europe in very early +times, but, "_not universally_." The fairies were confined to the north +of Europe--to the _ultima Thule_--to the _British isles_--to the +_divisis orbe Britannis_. They were unknown at this remote era to the +Gauls or the Germans: and they were probably familiar to the vallies of +Scotland and Danmonium, when Gaul and Germany were yet unpeopled either +by real or imaginary beings. The belief indeed, of such invisible agents +assigned to different parts of nature, prevails at this very day in +Scotland, Devonshire and Cornwall, regularly transmitted from the +remotest antiquity to the present times, and totally unconnected with +the spurious romance of the crusader or the pilgrim. Hence those +superstitious notions now existing in our western villages, where the +spriggian[24] are still believed to delude benighted travellers, to +discover hidden treasures, to influence the weather, and to raise the +winds. "This," says Warton, "strengthens the hypotheses of the northern, +parts of Europe being peopled by colonies from the east!" + +The inhabitants of Shetland and the Isles pour libations of milk or +beer through a holed-stone, in honour of the spirit Brownie; and it is +probable the Danmonii were accustomed to sacrifice to the same spirit, +since the Cornish and the Devonians on the border of Cornwall, invoke to +this day the spirit Brownie, on the swarming of their bees. + +With respect to rivers, it is a certain fact that the primitive Britons +paid them divine honours; even now, in many parts of Devonshire and +Cornwall, the vulgar may be said to worship brooks and wells, to which +they resort at stated periods, performing various ceremonies in honour +of those consecrated waters: and the Highlanders, to this day, talk with +great respect of the genius of the sea; never bathe in a fountain, lest +the elegant spirit that resides in it should be offended and remove; and +mention not the water of rivers without prefixing to it the name of +_excellent_; and in one of the western islands the inhabitants retained +the custom, to the close of the last century, of making an annual +sacrifice to the genius of the ocean. That at this day the inhabitants +of India deify their principal rivers is a well known fact; the waters +of the Ganges possess an uncommon sanctity; and the modern Arabians, +like the Ishmaelites of old, concur with the Danmonii in their reverence +of springs and fountains. Even the names of the Arabian and Danmonian +wells have a striking correspondence. We have the _singing-well_; or the +_white-fountain_, and there are springs with similar names in the +deserts of Arabia. Perhaps the veneration of the Danmonii for fountains +and rivers may be accepted as no trivial proof, to be thrown into the +mass of circumstantial evidence, in favour of their Eastern original. +That the Arabs in their thirsty deserts, should even adore their wells +of "springing water," need not excite our surprise, but we may justly +wonder at the inhabitants of Devonshire and Cornwall thus worshipping +the gods of numerous rivers, and never failing brooks, familiar to every +part of Danmonium. + +The principal times of devotion among the Druids +were either mid-day or midnight. The officiating Druid was cloathed in a +white garment that swept the ground; on his head, he wore the tiara; he +had the _anguinum_ or serpent's egg, as the ensign of his order; his +temples were encircled with a wreath of oak-leaves, and he waved in his +hand the magic rod. As regards the Druid sacrifice there are vague and +contradictory representations. It is certain, however, that they offered +human victims to their gods. They taught that the punishment of the +wicked might be obliterated by sacrifices to Baal.[25] The sacrifice of +the black sheep, therefore, was offered up for the souls of the +departed, and various species of charms exhibited. Traces of the holy +fires, and fire worship of the Druids[26] may be observed in several +customs, both of the Devonians and the Cornish; but in Ireland may still +be seen the holy fires in all their solemnity. The Irish call the month +of May _Bel-tine_, or fire of Belus; and the first of May Lubel-tine, or +the day of Belus's fire. In an old Irish glossary, it is mentioned that +the Druids of Ireland used to light two solemn fires every year, through +which all four-footed beasts were driven, as a preservative against +contagious distempers. The Irish have this custom at the present moment, +they kindle the fire in the milking yards; men, women, and children pass +through or leap over it, and their cattle are driven through the flames +of the burning straw, on the _first of May_; and in the month of +November, they have also their fire feasts when, according to the custom +of the Danmonians, as well as the Irish Druids, the hills were enveloped +in flame. Previously to this solemnity (on the eve of November) the fire +in every private house was extinguished; hither, then, the people were +obliged to resort, in order to rekindle it. The ancient Persians named +the month of November, _Adur or fire_ Adur, according to Richardson was +the angel presiding over that element, in consequence of which, on the +ninth, his name-day, the country blazed all around with flaming piles, +whilst the magi, by the injunction of Zoroaster, visited with great +solemnity all the temples of fire throughout the empire; which, on this +occasion, were adorned and illuminated in a most splendid manner. Hence +our British illuminations in November had probably their origin. It was +at this season that _Baal Samham_ called the souls to judgment, which, +according to their deserts, were assigned to re-enter the bodies of men +or brutes, and to be happy or miserable during their next abode on the +earth. + +The primitive Christians, attached to their pagan ceremonies, placed +the feast of All-Souls on the la Samon, or the second of November. Even +now the peasants in Ireland assemble on the vigil of la Samon with +sticks and clubs, going from house to house, collecting money, +bread-cake, butter, cheese, eggs, etc., for the feast; repeating verses +in honour of the solemnity, and calling for the black sheep. Candles are +sent from house to house and lighted up on the Samon. (The next day.) +Every house abounds in the best viands the master can afford; apples and +nuts are eaten in great plenty; the nutshells are burnt, and from the +ashes many things are foretold. Hempseed is sown by the maidens, who +believe that, if they look back, they shall see the apparition of their +intended husbands. The girls make various efforts to read their destiny; +they hang a smock before the fire at the close of the feast, and sit up +all night concealed in one corner of the room, expecting the apparition +of the lover to come down the chimney and turn the _shimee_: they throw +a ball of yarn out of the window, and wind it on the reel within, +convinced that if they repeat the Paternoster backwards, and look at the +ball of yarn without, they shall then also see his apparition. Those who +celebrate this feast have numerous other rites derived from the Pagans. +They dip for apples in a tub of water, and endeavour to bring up one +with their mouths; they catch at an apple when stuck on at one of the +end of a kind of hanging beam, at the other extremity of which is fixed +a lighted candle, and that with their mouths only, whilst it is in a +circular motion, having their hands tied behind their backs.[27] + + +THE BRITISH MAGI. + +The Druids, who were the magi of the Britons, had an infinite number of +rites in common with the Persians. One of the chief functions of the +Eastern magi, was divination; and Pomponius Mela tells us, that our +Druids possessed the same art. There was a solemn rite of divination +among the Druids from the fall of the victim and convulsions of his +limbs, or the nature and position of his entrails. But the British +priests had various kinds of divination. By the number of criminal +causes, and by the increase or diminution of their own order, they +predicted fertility or scarcity. From the neighing or prancing of white +horses, harnessed to a consecrated chariot--from the turnings and +windings of a hare let loose from the bosom of the diviner (with a +variety of other ominous appearances or exhibitions) they pretended to +determine the events of futurity.[28] + +Of all creatures the serpent exercised, in the most curious manner, the +invention of the Druids. To the famous _anguinum_ they attributed high +virtues. The _anguinum_ or serpent's egg, was a congeries of small +snakes rolled together, and incrusted with a shell, formed by the saliva +or viscous gum, or froth of the mother serpent. This egg, it seems was +tossed into the air, by the hissings of its dam, and before it fell +again to the earth (where it would be defiled) it was to be received in +the sagus or sacred vestment. The person who caught the egg was to make +his escape on horseback, since the serpent pursues the ravisher of its +young, even to the brink of the next river. Pliny, from whom this +account is taken (lib. 29. C. 3.) proceeds with an enumeration of other +absurdities relating to the anguinum. This _anguinum_ is in British +called _Glain-neider_, or the serpent of glass; and the same +superstitious reverence which the Danmonii universally paid to the +anguinum, is still discoverable in some parts of Cornwall. Mr. Llhuyd +informs us that "the Cornish retain a variety of charms, and have still +towards the Land's-End, the amulets of Maen-Magal and Glain-neider, +which latter they call _Melprer_, and have a charm for the snake to make +it, when they find one asleep, and stick a hazel wand in the centre of +her spirae," or coils. + +We are informed by Cambden that, "in most parts of Wales, and +throughout all Scotland and Cornwall, it is an opinion of the vulgar, +that about midsummer-eve (though in the time they do not all agree) the +snakes meet in companies, and that by joining heads together and +hissing, a kind of bubble is formed, which the rest, by continual +hissing, blow on till it passes quite through the body, when it +immediately hardens, and resembles a glass-ring, which whoever finds +shall prosper in all his undertakings. The rings thus generated are +called _Gleiner-nadroeth_, or snake-stones. They are small glass +amulets, commonly about half as wide as our finger rings, but much +thicker, of a green colour usually, though sometimes blue, and waved +with red and white." + +Carew says, that "the country people, in Cornwall, have a persuasion +that the snake's breathing upon a hazel wand produces a stone ring of +blue colour, in which there appears the yellow figure of a snake, and +that beasts bit and envenomed, being given some water to drink wherein +this stone has been infused, will perfectly recover the poison."[29] + +From the animal, the Druids passed to the vegetable world; and these +also displayed their powers, whilst by the charms of the misletoe, the +selago, and the samopis, they prevented or repelled diseases. From the +undulation or bubbling of water stirred by an oak branch, or magic wand, +they foretold events that were to come. The superstition of the Druids +is even now retained in the western counties. To this day, the Cornish +have been accustomed to consult their famous well at Madem, or rather +the _spirit_ of the well, respecting their future destiny. + +"Hither," says Borlase, "come the uneasy, impatient, and superstitious, +and by dropping pins[30] or pebbles into the water, and by shaking the +ground round the spring, so as to raise bubbles from the bottom, at a +certain time of the year, moon and day, endeavour to remove their +uneasiness; yet the supposed responses serve equally to encrease the +gloom of the melancholy, the suspicions of the jealous, and the passion +of the enamoured. The Castalian fountain, and many others among the +Grecians were supposed to be of a prophetic nature. By dipping a fair +mirror into a well, the Patraeans of Greece received, as they supposed, +some notice of ensuing sickness or health from the various figures +pourtrayed upon the surface. The people of Laconia cast into a pool, +sacred to Juno, cakes of bread corn: if the cakes sunk, good was +portended; if they swam, something dreadful was to ensue. Sometimes the +superstitious threw three stones into the water, and formed their +conclusions from the several turns they made in sinking." The Druids +were likewise able to communicate, by consecration, the most portentous +virtues to rocks and stones, which could determine the succession of +princes or the fate of empires. To the Rocking or Logan stone, several +of which remain still in Devonshire and Cornwall, in particular, they +had recourse to confirm their authority, either as prophets or judges, +pretending that its motion was miraculous. These religious rites were +celebrated in consecrated places and temples, in the midst of groves. +The mysterious silence of an ancient wood diffuses even a shade of +horror over minds that are yet superior to superstitious credulity. +Their temple was seldom any other than a wide circle of rocks +perpendicularly raised. An artificial pile of large flat stone usually +composed the altar; and the whole religious mountain was usually +enclosed by a low mound, to prevent the intrusion of the profane. "There +was something in the Druidical species of heathenism," exclaims Mr. +Whitaker, in a style truly oriental, "that was well calculated to arrest +the attention and impress the mind. The rudely majestic circle of stones +in their temples, the enormous Cromlech, the massy Logan, the huge +Carnedde, and the magnificent amphitheatre of woods, would all very +strongly lay hold upon that religious thoughtfulness of soul, which has +ever been so natural to man, amid all the wrecks of humanity--the +monument of his former perfection!" That Druidism, as existing +originally in Devonshire and Cornwall, was immediately transported, in +all its purity and perfection, from the East, seems extremely probable. + +Among the sacred rites of the Druids there were none more celebrated +than that they used of the misletoe of the oak. They believed this tree +was chosen by God himself. The misletoe was what they found but seldom: +whenever, therefore, they met with it, they fetched it with great +ceremony, and did it on the sixth day of the moon, with which day they +began both their months and their years. They gave a name to this shrub, +denoting that it had the virtue of curing all diseases. They sacrificed +victims to it, believing that, by its virtue, the barren were made +fruitful. They looked upon it likewise as a preservative against all +poisons. Thus do several nations of the world place their religion in +the observation of trifles. + +The Druids were also extremely superstitious in relation to the herb +_selago_, which they reckoned a preservative against sore eyes, and +almost all misfortunes. Another herb called samotis, which they imagined +had a virtue to prevent diseases among cattle, they were very +ceremonious about gathering. The person was obliged to be clad in white, +and was not suffered to handle it; and the ceremony was preceded by a +sacrifice of bread and wine. + +The Druids had another superstition amongst them, in regard to their +serpents' eggs, which they supposed were formed of the saliva of many of +those creatures, at a certain time of the moon: these they looked upon +as a sure prognostic of getting the better of their enemies. These, with +many other ridiculous fooleries, were imposed upon the credulous people, +as they were very much attached to divination. The Druids regarded the +misletoe as an antidote against all poisons, and they preserved their +selago against all misfortunes. The Persians had the same confidence in +the efficacy of several herbs, and used them in a similar manner. The +Druids cut their misletoe with a golden hook, and the Persians cut the +twigs of _Ghez_, or _haulm_, called _bursam_, with a peculiar sort of +concentrated knife. The candidates for the British throne had recourse +to the fatal stone to determine their pretensions; and on similar +occasions the Persians had recourse to the _Artizoe_. + +From every view of the Druid religion, Mr. Polwhele concludes that it +derived its origin from the Persian magi. Dr. Borlasse has drawn a long +and elaborate parallel between the Druids and Persians, where he has +plainly proved that they resembled each other, as strictly as possible, +in every particular of religion.[31] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[22] Supplement to the translated preface to Jarvis's Don Quixote. + +[23] That the Druids worshipped rocks, stones, and fountains, and +imagined them inhabited, and actuated by _divine intelligences of a +lower rank_, may plainly be inferred from their stone monuments. These +inferior deities the Cornish call _spriggian, or spirits_, which answer +to genii or fairies; and the vulgar in Cornwall still discourse of them, +as of real beings. + +[24] See Macpherson's Introduction to the history of great Britain and +Ireland. + +[25] This idol, which is called by the Septuagint, Baal, is mentioned in +other parts of scripture by other names. To understand what this god +was, we may observe, that the deities of the Greeks and Romans come from +the East; and it is a tradition among the ancient and modern heathens +that this idol was an obscure deity, which may plead excuse for not +translating some passages concerning it; and this is agreeable to Hosea +(ix. 10). They _went out_ into _Baal Pheor_, and _separated themselves +to their shame_. And it is the opinion of Jerome, who quotes it from an +ancient tradition of the Jews, that _Baal Pheor_ is the _Priapus_ of the +Greeks and Romans; and if you look into the vulgar latin (1 Kings xv. +13.) we shall find it thus rendered, _and Asa, the King removed_ Maacha, +_his mother from being queen, that she might no longer be high Priestess +in the sacrifices of Priapus_. And he destroyed the grove she had +consecrated, and broke the most filthy idol, and burnt it at the brook +_Kedron_. Dr. Cumberland inserts, that the import of the word _Peor_, or +_Baal Pheor_, is he that shews boastingly or publicly, his nakedness. +Women to avoid barrenness, were to sit on this filthy image, as the +source of fruitfulness; for which Lactantius and Augustine justly deride +the heathens. + +[26] There was an awful mysteriousness in the original Druid sacrifice. +Descanting upon the human sacrifices of various countries, Mr. Bryant +informs us, that among the nations of Canaan, _the_ victims _were chosen +in a peculiar manner_; their own children, and whatsoever was nearest +and dearest to them, were thought the most worthy offerings to their +gods! The Carthagenians, who were a colony from Tyre, carried with them +the religion of their mother country and instituted the same worship in +the parts where they were seated. Parents offered up their own children +as dearest to themselves, and therefore the more acceptable to the +deity: they sacrificed "the fruit of their body for the sin of their +soul," The Druids, no doubt, were actuated with the same views. + +[27] There is no sort of doubt that _Baal_ and _Fire_ were principal +objects of the ceremonies and adoration of the Druids. The principal +season of these, and of their feasts in honour of Baal, was new year's +day, when the sun began visibly to return towards us; the custom is not +yet at an end, the country people still burning out the old year and +welcoming in the new by fires lighted on the top of hills, and other +high places. The next season was the month of May, when the fruits of +the earth began, in the Eastern countries, to be gathered, and the first +fruits of them consecrated to Baal, or to the _Sun_, whose benign +influence had ripened them; and one is almost persuaded that the dance +round the May pole, in that month, is a faint image of the rites +observed on such occasions. The next great festival was on the 21st of +June, when the sun, being in Cancer, first appears to go backwards and +leave us. On this occasion the Baalim used to call the people together, +and to light fires on high places, and to cause their sons, and their +daughters, and their cattle to pass through the fire, calling upon Baal +to bless them, and not forsake them. + +[28] In Devonshire and Cornwall it is still considered ominous if a hare +crosses a person on the road. + +[29] See _Carew's Survey of Cornwall_, p. 22. Mr. Carew had a stone-ring +of this kind in his possession, and the person who gave it to him +avowed, that "he himself saw a part of the stick sticking in it,"--but +"_Penes authorem sit fides_," says Mr. Carew. + +[30] The same superstition still exists in Devonshire. + +[31] See account of Druidism in Polewhele's Historical Views of +Devonshire, vol. 1. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +AESCULAPIAN MYSTERIES, &C. + +Apollo is said to have been one of the most gentle, and at the same +time, as may be inferred from his numerous issue, one of the most +gallant of the heathen deities. The first and most noted of his sons was +Aesculapius, whom he had by the nymph Coronis. Some say that Apollo, on +account of her infidelity, shot his mother when big with child with him; +but repenting the fact, saved the infant, and gave him to Chiron to be +instructed in physic.[32] Others report, that as King Phlegyas, her +father was carrying her with him into Peloponnesus, her pains surprised +her on the confines of Epidauria where, to conceal her shame, she +exposed the infant on a mountain. The _truth_, however is, that this +Aesculapius was a poor infant cast away, a dropt child, laid in a wood +near Epidaurus, by his unnatural parents, who were afterwards ashamed to +own him; he was shortly afterwards found by some huntsmen, who, seeing a +lighted flame or glory surrounding his head, looked upon it as a +prognostic of the child's future glory. The infant was delivered by them +to a nurse named Trigo, but the poets say he was suckled by a goat. He +studied physic under Chiron the centaur, by whose care he made such +progress in the medical art, as gained him so high a reputation that he +was even reported to have raised the dead. His first cures were wrought +upon Ascles, King of Epidaurus, and Aunes, King of Daunia, which last +was troubled with sore eyes. In short, his success was so great, that +Pluto, seeing the number of his ghosts daily decrease, complained to +Jupiter, who killed him with his thunderbolts. Such was his proficiency +in medical skill, that he was generally esteemed the god of physic. + +In the city of Tetrapolis, which belonged to the Ionians, Aesculapius +had a temple full of rare cures, dedicated to him by those who ascribed +their recovery to him; and its walls were covered and hung with +memorials of the miracles he had performed. + +Cicero reckons up three of the names of Aesculapius. The first the son +of Apollo, worshipped in Arcadia, who invented the probe and bandages +for wounds; the second the brother of Mercury, killed by lightning; and +the third the son of Arsippus Arsione, who first taught the art of +tooth-drawing and purging. Others make Aesculapius an Egyptian, King of +Memphis, antecedent by a thousand years to the Aesculapius of the +Greeks. The Romans numbered him among the Dii Adcititii, of such as were +raised to heaven by their merit, as Hercules, Castor and Pollux. The +Greeks received their knowledge of Aesculapius from the Phoenicians and +Egyptians. His chief temples were at Pergamus, Smyrna, and Trica, a city +of Ionia, and the isle of Coos, or Cos; in which all votive tablets were +hung up,[33] shewing the diseases cured by his assistance: but his most +famous shrine was at Epidaurus, where every five years in the spring, +solemn games were instituted to him nine days after the Isthmian games +at Corinth. + +It was by accident that the Romans became acquainted with Aesculapius. A +plague happened in Italy, the oracle was consulted, and the reply was +that they should fetch the god Esculapius from Epidaurus. An embassy was +appointed of ten senators, at the head of whom was Q. Ogulnius. These +deputies, on their arrival, visiting the temple of the god, a huge +serpent came from under the altar, and crossing the city, went directly +to their ship, and lay down in the cabin of Ogulnius;[34] upon which they +set sail immediately, and arriving in the Tiber, the serpent quitted the +ship, and retired to a little island opposite to the city, where a +temple was erected to the god, and the pestilence ceased. + +The animals sacrificed to Aesculapius were the goat; some say on +account of his having been nursed by this animal; others because this +creature is unhealthy, as labouring under a perpetual fever. The dog and +the cock were sacrificed to him, on account of their fidelity and +vigilance; the raven was also devoted to him for its forecast, and being +skilled in divination. Authors are not agreed as to his being the +inventor of physic, some affirming he perfected that part only which +relates to the regimen of the sick. + +The origin of this fable is as follows:--the public sign or symbol +exposed by the Egyptians in their assemblies, to warn the people to mark +the depth of the inundation of the Nile, in order to regulate their +ploughing accordingly, was the figure of a man with a dog's head, +carrying a pole with serpents twisted round it, to which they gave the +name of Anubis,[35] Thaaut,[36] and Aesculapius.[37] In process of time, +they made use of this representation for a real king, who by the study +of physic, sought the preservation of his subjects. Thus the dog and the +serpents became the characteristics of Aesculapius amongst the Romans +and Greeks, who were entirely strangers to the original meaning of these +hieroglyphics. + +Aesculapius was represented as an old man, with a long beard, crowned +with a branch of bay tree; in his hands was a staff full of knots, about +which a serpent had twisted itself: at his feet stood an owl or a +dog--characteristics of the qualities of a good physician, who must be +as cunning as a serpent, as vigilant as a dog, as cunning and +experienced as an old bashaw, to handle a thing so difficult as physic. +At Epidaurus his statue was of gold and ivory,[38] seated on a throne of +the same materials, with a long beard, having a knotty stick in one +hand, the other entwined with a serpent, and a dog lying at his feet. +The Phliasians depicted him as beardless, and the Romans crowned him +with a laurel, to denote his descent from Apollo. The knots in his staff +signify the difficulties that occur in the study of medicine. He had by +his wife Epione two sons, Machaon and Podalirius, both skilled in +surgery, and who are mentioned by Homer as having been present at the +siege of Troy, and who were very serviceable to the Greeks. He had also +two daughters, called Hygiaea and Jaso. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[32] Ovid, who relates the story of Coronis in his fanciful way, tells +us that Corvus, or the raven, who discovered her armour, had by Apollo, +his feathers changed from _black_ to _white_. + +[33] From these tablets, or votive inscriptions, Hippocrates is said to +have collected his aphorisms. + +[34] The Romans who sent for Aesculapius from Epidaurus, when their city +was troubled with the plague, say, that the serpent that was worshipped +there for him followed the ambassadors of its own accord to the ship +that transported it to Rome, where it was placed in a temple built in +the isle called Tiberina. In this temple the sick people were wont to +lie, and when they found themselves no better, they reviled Aesculapius: +so impatiently ungrateful and peevish were often the afflicted, that +they made no scruple to reproach the very god who administered to their +maladies. + +[35] From Hannobeach, which, in the Phoenician language, signifies the +_barker_, or _warner_, Anubis. + +[36] This word signifies the dog. + +[37] From _Aeish_, man, and _caleph_, dog, comes _Aescaleph_, the +man-dog, or Aesculapius. + +[38] This image was the work of Thrasymedes, the son of Arignotus, a +native of Paros. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +INFERIOR DEITIES ATTENDING MANKIND PROM THEIR BIRTH TO THEIR DECEASE. + +It would be almost an endless task to enter into a detail of all the +inferior deities of the Greeks and Romans; our object being to refer to +such only as preside over the health of the human race, every part and +parcel of whom had their presiding genius.--During pregnancy, the +tutelar powers were the god Pelumnus,[39] and the goddesses +Intercedonia,[40] and Deverra.[41] The import of these words seems to +point out the necessity of warmth and cleanliness to ladies in this +condition. + +Besides the superior goddesses Jemo-Lucien, Diana Hythia, and Latona, +who all presided at the birth, there were the goddesses Egeria,[42] +Prosa,[43] and Manageneta,[44] who with the Dii Nixii,[45] had all the care +of women in labour. + +To children, Janus performed the office of door-keeper or midwife; and +in this quality was assisted by the goddess Opis or Ops;[46] Cuma rocked +the cradle, while Carmenta sung their destiny; Levana lifted them up +from the ground;[47] and Vegetanus took care of them when they cried; +Rumina[48] watched them while they suckled; Polina furnished them with +drink; and Edura with food or nourishment; Osslago knit their bones; and +Carna[49] strengthened their constitutions. Nudina[50] was the goddess of +children's purification; Stilinus or Statanus instructed them to walk, +and kept them from falling; Fabulina learnt them to prattle; the goddess +Paventia preserved them from frights;[51] and Camaena taught them to +sing. + +Nor was the infant, when grown to riper years, left without his +protectors; Juventas was the god of youth; Agenoria excited men to +action; and the goddesses Stimula and Strenua inspired courage and +vivacity; Horta[52] inspired the fame or love of glory; and Sentra gave +them the sentiments of probity and justice; Quies was the goddesses of +repose or ease,[53] and Indolena, or laziness, was deified by the name of +Murcia;[54] Vacua protected the idle; Adeona and Abeona, secured people +in going abroad and returning;[55] and Vibilia, if they wandered, was so +kind as to put them in the right way; Fessonia refreshed the weary and +fatigued; and Meditrina healed the sickly;[56] Vitula was the goddess of +mirth and frolic;[57] Volupia the goddess who bestowed pleasure;[58] +Orbona was addressed, that parents might not love their offspring; +Pellonia averted mischief and danger; and Numeria taught people to cast +and keep accounts; Angerona cured the anguish or sorrow of the mind;[59] +Haeres Martia secured heirs the estates they expected; and Stata or +Statua Mater, secured the forum or market place from fire; even the +thieves had a protectress in Laverna;[60] Averruncus prevented sudden +misfortunes; and Conius was always disposed to give good advice to such +as wanted it; Volumnus inspired men with a disposition to do well; and +Honorus raised them to preferment and honours. + +Nor was the marriage state without its peculiar defenders. Five deities +were esteemed so necessary, that no marriages were solemnized without +asking their favours; these were Jupiter-Perfectus, or the Adult, Juno, +Venus, Suadela,[61] and Diana. Jugatinus tied the nuptial knot; Domiducus +ushered the bride home; Domitius took care to keep her there, and +prevent her gadding abroad; Maturna preserved the conjugal union entire; +Virginensis[62] loosed the bridle zone or girdle; Viriplaca was a +propitious goddess, ready to reconcile the married couple in case of any +accidental difference. Matuta was the patroness of matrons, no maid +being suffered to enter her temple. The married was always held to be +the only honourable state for woman, during the times of pagan +antiquity. The goddess Vacuna,[63] is mentioned by Horace (Lib. 1. Epist. +X. 49.) as having her temple at Rome; the rustics celebrated her +festival in December, after the harvest was got in (Ovid. Fast. Lib. +XI). + +The ancients assigned the particular parts of the body to particular +deities; the head was sacred to Jupiter; the breast to Neptune; the +waist to Mars; the forehead to Genius; the eye-brows to Juno, the eyes +to Cupid; the ears to Memory; the right hand to Fides or Veritas; the +back to Pluto; the knees to Misericordia or mercy; the legs to Mercury; +the feet to Thetis; and the fingers to Minerva.[64] + +The goddess who presided over funerals was Libitina,[65] whose temple at +Rome, the undertakers furnished with all the necessaries for the +interment of the poor or rich; all dead bodies were carried through the +Porto Libitina; and the Rationes Libitinae mentioned by Suetonius, very +nearly answer to our bills of mortality. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[39] Either from _pilum_, a pestle; or from _pello_, to drive away; +because he procured a safe delivery. + +[40] She taught the art of cutting wood with a hatchet to make fires. + +[41] The inventress of brooms. + +[42] From casting out the birth. + +[43] Aulus Gellius. + +[44] Aelian. + +[45] From _erritor_, to struggle. See Ausonius, Idyll 12. + +[46] Some make her the same with Rhea or Vesta. + +[47] Among the Romans the midwife always laid the child on the ground, +and the father or somebody appointed, lifted it up; hence the expression +of _tollere liberos_, to educate children. + +[48] This goddess had a temple at Rome, and her offerings were milk. + +[49] On the Kalends of June, sacrifices were offered to Carna, of bacon +and bean flour cakes; whence they were called Fabariae. + +[50] Boys were named always on the ninth day after the birth, and girls +on the eighth. + +[51] From Pavorema vertendo. + +[52] She had a temple at Home which always stood open. + +[53] She had a temple without the walls. + +[54] Murcia had her temple on Mount Aventine. + +[55] From _abeo_, to go away; and _adeo_, to come. + +[56] The festival of this goddess was in September, when the Romans +drank new wine mixed with old, by way of physic. + +[57] From _vitulo_, to leap or advance. + +[58] From _voluptas_, pleasure. + +[59] In a great murrain which destroyed their cattle, the Romans invoked +this goddess, and she removed the plague. + +[60] The image was a head without a body. Horace mentions her (Lib. 1. +Epist. XVI. 60). She had a temple without the walls, which gave the name +to the Porta Lavernalis. + +[61] The goddess of eloquence, or persuasion, who had always a great +hand in the success of courtship. + +[62] She was also called Cinxia Juno. + +[63] She was an old Sabine deity. Some make her the same with Ceres; but +Varro imagines her to be the goddess of victory. + +[64] From this distribution arose, perhaps, the scheme of our modern +astrologers, who assign the different parts of the body to the different +constellations, or signs of Zodiac: as the head to Aries, the neck to +Taurus, the shoulders to Gemini, the heart to Cancer, the breast to Leo, +and so on. The pretended issues of astrology have been always +inseparable from stellar influence, and the zodiac has ever been the +fruitful source of its solemn delusions. + +[65] Some confound this goddess with Proserpine, others with Venus. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +JUDICIAL ASTROLOGY--ITS CHEMICAL APPLICATION TO THE PROLONGATION OF LIFE +AND HEALTH--ALCHYMICAL DELUSIONS. + +The study of astrology, so flattering to human curiosity got into favour +with mankind at a very early period,--especially with the weak and +ignorant. The first account, of it we meet with is in Chaldea; and at +Rome it was known by the name of the "Babylonish calculation," against +which Horace very wisely cautioned his readers.[66] It was doubtless the +first method of divination, and probably prepared the mind of man for +all the various methods since employed of searching into futurity; a +brief view therefore of the rise of this pretended science cannot he +improper in this place, especially as the history of these absurdities +is the best method of confuting them. Others have ascribed the invention +of this deception to the Arabs;--be this as it may, Judicial +Astrology[67] has been too much used by the priests and physicians of all +nations to encrease their own power and emolument. They maintain that +the heavens are one great book, in which God has written the history of +the world; and in which every man may read his own fortune and the +transactions of his time. In this department of astrology (judicial) we +meet with all the idle conceits about the horary reign of planets, the +_doctrine of horoscopes, the distribution of the houses, the calculation +of nativities, fortunes, lucky and unlucky_ hours, and other ominous +fatalities. They assert that it had its rise from the same hands as +astronomy itself;--that while the ancient Assyrians, whose serene +unclouded sky favoured their celestial, observations, were intent on +tracing the paths and periods of the heavenly bodies, they discovered a +constant settled relation or analogy between them and things below; +hence they were led to conclude these to be the fates or destinies +(Parcae) so much talked of, which preside at our birth, and dispose of +our future state. + +The Egyptians, who derived their astrological superstitions from the +Chaldeans, becoming ignorant of the astronomical hieroglyphics, by +degrees looked upon the names of the signs as expressing certain powers +with which they were invested, and as indications of their several +offices. The sun, on account of its splendour and enlivening influence, +was imagined to be the great mover of nature; the moon held the second +rank of powers, and each sign and constellation a certain share in the +government of the world. The ram, (Aries [symbol: Aries]) had a strong +influence over the young of the flocks and herds; the balance, (Libra +[symbol: Libra]) could inspire nothing but inclinations to good order +and justice; and the scorpion, (Scorpio [symbol: Scorpio]) to excite +only evil dispositions. In short, each sign produced the good or evil +intimated by its name. + +Thus, if a child happened to be born at the instant when the first star +of the ram rose above the horizon, (when, in order to give this nonsense +the air of a science, the star was supposed to have its greatest +influence,) he would be rich in cattle; and he who should enter the +world under the crab, would meet with nothing but disappointments, and +all his affairs go backwards and downwards. The people were to be happy +whose king entered the world under the sign Libra; but completely +wretched if he should light under the horrid sign scorpion. Persons born +under capricorn ([symbol: Capricorn]) especially if the sun at the same +time ascended the horizon, were sure to meet with success, and rise +upwards like the wild goat and the sun which then ascends for six months +together. The lion, (Leo [symbol: Leo]) was to produce heroes; and the +virgin (Virgo [symbol: Virgo]) with her ear of corn to inspire chastity, +and to unite virtue with abundance. Could anything he more extravagant +and ridiculous! + +The case was exactly the same with respect to the planets, whose +influence is only founded on the wild supposition of their being the +habitations of the pretended deities, whose names they bear, and the +fabulous characters the poets have given them. Thus, to Saturn, [symbol: +Saturn], they gave languid and even destructive influences, for no other +reason but because they had been pleased to make this planet the +residence of Saturn, who was painted with grey hairs and a scythe. To +Jupiter [symbol: Jupiter] they gave the power of bestowing crowns and +distributing long life, wealth, and grandeur, merely because it bears +the name of the father of life. Mars [symbol: Mars] was supposed to +inspire a strong inclination for war, because it was believed to be the +residence of the god of war. Venus [symbol: Venus] had the power of +rendering men voluptuous and fond of pleasure, because they had been +pleased to give it the name of one who by some was thought to be the +mother of pleasure. Mercury [symbol: Mercury], though almost always +invisible, would never have been thought to superintend the property of +states, and the affairs of wit and commerce, had not men, without the +least reason, given it the name of one who was supposed to be the +inventor of civil polity. + +According to Astrologers, the power of the ascending planet is greatly +increased by that of an ascending sign; then the benign influences are +all united, and fall together on the head of all the happy infants who +at that moment enter the world; yet can anything be more contrary to +experience, which shews us, that the characters and events produced by +persons born under the same aspect of the stars, are so far from being +alike, that they are directly opposite. + +"What completes the ridicule," says the Abbé La Pluche, to whom we are +obliged for these judicious observations, "is, that what astronomers +call the first degree of the ram, the balance, or of sagitarius, is no +longer the first sign, which gives fruitfulness to the flocks, inspires +men with a love of justice, or forms the hero. It has been found that +all the celestial signs have, by degrees, receded from the vernal +equinox, and drawn back to the East: notwithstanding this, the point of +the zodiac that cuts the equator is still called the first degree of the +ram, though the first star of the ram be thirty degrees beyond it, and +all the other signs in the same proportion. When, therefore, any one is +said to be born under the first degree of the ram, it was in reality one +of the degrees of pisces that then came above the horizon: and when +another is said to be born with a royal soul and heroic disposition, +because at his birth the planet Jupiter ascended the horizon, in +conjunction with the first star of sagitary, Jupiter was indeed at that +time in conjunction with a star thirty degrees eastward of sagitary, and +in good truth it was the pernicious scorpion that presided at the birth +of this happy, this incomparable child." And so it would, as Shakspeare +says, "if my mother's cat had kittened. This," says our sagacious bard, +"is the excellent foppery of the world, that when we are sick in +fortune, (after the surfeit of our own behaviour) we make guilt of our +disasters, the sun, the moon, and the stars; as if we were villains by +necessity; fools, by heavenly compulsion; knaves, thieves, and +treachers, (traitors) by spherical predominance; drunkards, liars, and +adulterers, by an enforced obedience of planetary influence; and all +that we are evil in by a divine thrusting on; an admirable evasion of a +whoremaster to lay his goatish tricks to the charge of a star! My father +compounded with my mother under the dragon's tail; and my nativity was +under _Ursa major_; so that it follows I am rough and treacherous.--Tut! +I should have been that I am, had the maidenliest star in the firmament +twinkled at my bastardizing." Thus it is evident, that astrology is +built upon no principles, that it is founded on fables, and on +influences void of reality. Yet absurd as it is, and even was, it +obtained credit; and the more it spread, the greater injury was done to +the cause of virtue. Instead of the exercise of prudence and wise +precautions, it substituted superstitious forms and childish practices; +it enervated the courage of the brave by apprehensions grounded on puns, +and encouraged the wicked, by making them lay to the charge of a planet +those evils which only proceeded from their own depravity. + +But not content with such absurdities, which destroyed the very idea of +liberty, they asserted that these stars, which had not the least +connection with mankind, governed all the parts of the human body, and +ridiculously affirmed that the ram presided over the head, the bull over +the gullet, the twins over the breast, the scorpion over the entrails, +the fishes over the feet, etc. The juggles of astrology have been +admirably ridiculed by Butler in the following lines: + + Some by the nose with fumes trepan 'em, + As Dunstan did the devil's grannam; + Others, with characters and words, + Catch 'em, as men in nets do birds; + And some with symbols, signs, and tricks, + Engrav'd in planetary nicks, + With their own influence will fetch 'em + Down from their orbs, arrest and catch 'em; + Make 'em depose and answer to + All questions, ere they let them go. + Bombastus kept a devil's bird + Shut in the pummel of his sword, + And taught him all the cunning pranks + Of past and future mountebanks. + _Hudibras_, part ii. canto 3. + +By means of the zodiac, astrologers pretended to account for the various +disorders of the body, which were supposed to be in a good or had +disposition, according to the different aspects[68] of these signs. To +mention only one instance, they pretended that great caution ought to be +used in taking medicine under Taurus, or the bull; because, as this +animal chews his cud, the person would not be able to keep it in his +stomach. + +Each hour of the day had also its presiding star. The number seven, as +being that of the planets, became of mighty consequence. The seven days +in the week,--a period of time handed down by tradition, happened to +correspond with the number of the planets: and therefore they gave the +name of a planet to each day; and from thence some days in the week were +considered more fortunate or unlucky than the rest; and hence seven +times seven, called the climacterical period of hours, days, or years, +were thought extremely dangerous, and to have a surprising effect on +private persons, the fortunes of princes, and the government of states. +Thus the mind of man became distressed by imaginary evils, and the +approach of these moments, in themselves as harmless as the rest of +their lives, has by the strength of the imagination, brought on the most +fatal effects. + +Nay, the influence of the planets were extended to the bowels of the +earth, where they were supposed to produce metals. From hence it appears +that when superstition and folly are once on foot, there is no setting +hounds to their progress. Gold, as a matter of course, must be the +production of the sun, and the conformity in point of colour, +brightness, and value, was a sensible proof of it. By the same mode of +reasoning, the moon produced all the silver, to which it was related by +colour; Mars, all the iron, which ought to be the favourite metal of the +god of war. Venus presided over copper, which she might be well supposed +to produce, since it was found in abundance in the isle of Cyprus, the +supposed favourite residence of this goddess. In the same strain, the +other planets presided over the other metals. The languid Saturn +domineered over the lead mines, and Mercury, on account of his activity, +had the superintendency of quicksilver; while it was the province of +Jupiter to preside over tin, as this was the only metal left him, it +would appear, a kind of "Hobson's choice." + +This will explain the manner in which the metals obtained the names of +the planets; and from this opinion, that each planet engendered its own +peculiar metal, they at length formed an idea that, as one planet was +more powerful than another, the metal produced by the weakest was +converted into another by the predominating influence of a stronger orb. + +Lead, though really a metal, and as perfect in its kind as any of the +rest, was considered only half a metal, which, in consequence of the +languid influences of old Saturn, was left imperfect; and, therefore, +under the auspices of Jupiter, it was converted into tin; under that of +Venus, into copper: and at last into gold, under some particular aspects +of the sun. From hence, at length, arose the extravagant opinion of the +alchymists, who, with amazing sagacity, endeavoured to find out means +for hastening these changes or transmutations, which, as they conceived, +the planets performed too slowly. The world, however, became at length +convinced that the art of the alchymist was as ineffectual as the +influences of the planets, which, in a long succession of ages, had +never been known to change a mine of lead to that of tin or any other +metal.[69] + +The first author we are acquainted with who talks of making gold by the +transmutation of one metal, by means of an alcahest[70] into another, is +Zozimus the Pomopolite, who lived about the commencement of the fifth +century, and who has a treatise express upon it, called, "The divine art +of making gold and silver," in manuscript, and is, as formerly, in the +library of the King of France. + +As regards the universal medicine, said to depend on alchemical +research, we discover no earlier or plainer traces than in this author, +and in Aeneas Gazeus, another Greek writer, towards the close of the +same century;[71] nor among the physicians and materialists, from Moses +to Geber the Arab,[72] who is supposed to have lived in the seventh +century. In that author's work, entitled the "Philosopher's stone," +mention is made of medicine that cures all leprous diseases. This +passage, some authors suppose, to have given the first hint of the +matter, though Geber himself, perhaps, meant no such thing; for, by +attending to the Arabic style and diction of this author, which abounds +in allegory, it is highly probable that by man he means gold, and by +leprous, or other diseases, the other metals, which, with relation to +gold, are all impure. + +The origin and antiquity of alchymy have been much controverted. If any +credit may be placed on legend and tradition, it must be as old as the +flood--nay, Adam himself is represented to have been an alchymist. A +great part, not only of the heathen mythology, but of the Jewish +Scriptures, are supposed to refer to it. Thus, Suidas[73] will have the +fable of the philosopher's stone to be alluded to in the fable of the +Argonauts; and others find it in the book of Moses, as well as in other +remote places. But, if the era of the art be examined by the test of +history, it will lose much of its fancied antiquity. The manner in which +Suidas accounts for the total silence of alchymy among the old writers +is, that Dioclesian procured all the books of the ancient Egyptians to +be burnt; and that it was in these the great mysteries of chemistry were +contained.[74] Kercher asserts, that the theory of the philosopher's +stone is delivered at large in the table of Hermes, and the ancient +Egyptians were not ignorant of the art, but declined to prosecute it. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[66] + +------ nec Babylonios Tentaris numeros.--Lib, 1. ad XI. + +That is, consult not the tables of planetary calculations used by +astrologers of Babylonish origin. + +[67] This conjectural science is divided into natural and judicial. The +first is confined to the study of exploring natural effects, as change +of weather, winds and storms--hurricanes, thunder, floods, earthquakes, +and the like. In this sense it is admitted to be a part of natural +philosophy. It was under this view that Mr. Good, Mr. Boyle, and Dr. +Mead pleaded for its use. The first endeavours to account for the +diversity of seasons from the situations, habitudes, and motions of the +planets; and to explain an infinity of phenomena by the contemplation of +the stars. The honourable Mr. Boyle admitted, that all physical bodies +are influenced by the heavenly bodies; and the doctor's opinion, in his +treatise concerning the power of the sun and moon, etc. is in favour of +the doctrine. But these predictions and influence are ridiculed, and +entirely exploded by the most esteemed modern philosophers, of which the +reader may have a learned specimen in Rohault's Tract. Physic. pt. II. c +27. + +[68] By aspect is to be understood an angle formed by the rays of two +planets meeting on the earth, able to execute some natural power or +influence. + +[69] Those who wish to read a curious monument of the follies of the +alchymists, may consult the diary of Elias Ashmole, who is rather the +historian of this vain science, than an adept. It may amuse literary +leisure to turn over his quarto volume, in which he has collected the +works of several English alchymists, to which he has subjoined his +commentary. It affords curious specimens of Rosicrucian mysteries; and +he relates stories, which vie for the miraculous, with the wildest +fancies of Arabian invention. + +[70] Alcahest, in chemistry, (an obsolete term,) means a most pure and +universal menstruum or dissolvent, with which some chemists have +pretended to resolve all bodies into their first elements, and perform +other extraordinary and unaccountable operations. + +[71] In this writer we find the following passage: "Such as are skilled +in the ways of nature, can take; silver and tin, and changing their +nature, can turn them into gold." He also tells us that he was "wont to +call himself a _gold-melter_ and a _chemist_." + +[72] The principal Authors on alchymy are Geber, the Arab, Friar Bacon, +Sully, John and Isaac Hallendus, Basil Valentine, Paracelsus, Van +Zuchter, and Sendirogius. + +[73] Corringius calls this statement in question, and asks how Suidas, +who lived but five hundred yours between them, should know what happened +eight hundred years before him? To which Borrichius the Dane, answers, +that he had learnt it of Eudemus, Helladius, Zozimus, Pamphilius, and +others, as Suidas himself relates. + +[74] It does not appear that the Egyptians transmuted gold; they had +ways of separating it from all kinds of bodies, from the very mud of the +Nile, and stones of all kinds: but, adds Kercher, these secrets were +never written down, or made public, but confined to the royal family, +and handed down traditionally from father to son. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +ALCHYMICAL AND ASTROLOGICAL CHIMERA. + +Having so far explained the fragile basis on which human knowledge may +be said to have depended, during the obscurity and barbarity of the +middle ages, when the progress of true knowledge was obstructed by the +most absurd fancies, and puerile conceits: when conjectures, caprices, +and dreams supplied the place of the most useful sciences, and of the +most important truths, the subsequent illustrative reflections may serve +as a guide to direct the attention of the reader to other delusions, +which arose out of the general chaos. + +Chemistry, a science so essentially requisite to explain the phenomena +of known and unknown substances, was studied chiefly by jugglers and +fanatics;--their systems, replete with metaphysical nonsense, and +composed of the most crude and heterogeneous materials, served rather to +nourish superstition than to establish facts, and illustrate useful +truths. Universal remedies, in various forms, met with strenuous +advocates and deluded consumers. The path of accurate observation and +experiment was forsaken: instead of penetrating into the mysterious +recesses of nature, they bewildered themselves in the labyrinth of +fanciful speculation; they overstepped the bounds of good sense, +modesty, and truth; and the blind led the blind. The prolongation of +life too was no longer sought for in a manner agreeable to the dictates +of nature; even this interesting branch of human pursuits was rendered +subservient to chemistry, or rather to the confused system of alchymy. +Original matter was considered as the elementary cause of all beings, by +which they expected literally to work miracles, to transmute the base +into noble metals, to metamorphose man in his animal state by chemical +processes, to render him more durable, and to secure him against early +decline and dissolution. Millions of vessels, retorts, and phials, were +either exposed to the action of the most violent artificial heat, or to +the natural warmth of the sun; or else they were buried in some dunghill +or other fetid mass, for the purpose of attracting this _original +matter_, or obtaining it from putrescible substances. + +As the metal called gold always bore the highest value, these crude +philosophers concluded, from a ridiculous analogy, that its value with +respect to the preservation of health and the cure of diseases, must +likewise surpass that of all other remedies. The nugatory art of +dissolving it, so as to render it potable, and to prevent it from again +being converted into metal, employed a multitude of busy idiots, not +only in concealed corners, but in the splendid laboratories of the +great. Sovereigns, magistrates, counsellors, and impostors, struck with +the common frenzy, entered into friendship and alliance, formed private +fraternities, and sometimes proceeded to such a pitch of extravagance, +as to involve themselves and their posterity in ruinous debts. The real +object of many was, doubtless, to gratify their avarice and desire of +aggrandisement: although this sinister motive was concealed under the +specious pretext of searching for a remedy that should serve as a +tincture of life, both for the healthy and diseased, yet some among +these whimsical mortals were actuated by more honourable motives, +zealous only for the interest of truth, and the well-being of their +fellow creatures. + +The common people, in some countries, particularly Italy, Germany, and +France often denied themselves the common necessaries of life, to save +as much as would purchase a few drops of the tincture of gold, which was +offered for sale by some superstitious or fraudulent chemist: and so +thoroughly persuaded were they of the efficacy of this remedy, that it +afforded them in every instance the most confident and only hope of +recovery. These beneficial effects were positively promised, but were +looked for in vain. All subduing death would not submit to be bribed +with gold, and disease refused to hold any intercourse with that +powerful deity, who presides over the industry and commerce of all +nations. + +As, however, these diversified and almost numberless experiments were +frequently productive of useful inventions in arts and manufactures; +and, as many chemical remedies of real value were thereby accidentally +discovered, great and almost general attention to those bold projectors +was constantly kept alive and excited. Indeed, we are indebted to their +curious observations, or rather perhaps to chance, for several valuable +medicines, the excellence of which cannot be disputed, but which, +nevertheless, require more precaution in their use and application, and +more perspicuity and diligence in investigating their nature and +properties than the original preparers of such articles were able or +willing to afford. All their endeavours to prolong life, by artificial +means, could not be attended with beneficial effects; and the +application of the remedies thus contrived, must necessarily, in many +cases, have proved detrimental to the health of the patient. + +In proof of this assertion, it will be sufficient to give a slight +sketch of the different views and opinions of the gold-makers, +Rosicrucians, manufacturers of astralian salts, drops of life, and +tinctures of gold, hunters after the philosopher's stone, and other +equally absurd chimera. + +Some of these extravagant enthusiasts fancied that life resembled a +flame, from which the body derived warmth, spirit, and animation. They +endeavoured to cherish and increase the flame, and supplied the body +with materials to feed it, as we pour oil into a burning lamp. Others +imagined they had discovered something invisible and incorporeal in the +air, that important medium which supports the life of man. They +pretended to catch, refine, reduce, and materialize this indefinable +something, so that it might be swallowed in the form of powders, and +drops; that, by its penetrating powers, it might insinuate itself into +the whole animal frame, invigorate, and consequently qualify it for a +longer duration. + +Others again were foolish enough to indulge a notion that they could +divest themselves of the properties of matter during this life; that in +this manner they might be defended against the gradual approaches of +dissolution, to which every animal body is subject: and that thus +fortified, without quitting their terrestrial tabernacle, they could +associate at pleasure with the inhabitants of the spiritual world. The +sacred volume itself was interpreted and commented upon by alchymists, +with a view to render it subservient to their intended designs. +Indisputable historical facts, recorded in this invaluable book, were +treated by them as hieroglyphical symbols of chemical processes: and the +fundamental truths of the christian religion were applied, in a wanton +and blasphemous manner, to the purposes of making gold, and distilling +the elixir of life. + +The world of spirits was also invaded, and summoned, as it were, to +contribute to the prolongation of human life. Spirits were supposed to +have the dominion of air, fire, earth, and water; they were divided into +distinct classes, and particular services ascribed to each. The +malevolent spirits were opposed and counteracted by various means of +prevention: the good and tutelary were obliged to submit to n sort of +gentle, involuntary servitude. From invisible beings were expected and +demanded visible means of assistance--riches, health, friends, and long +life. Thus the poor spirits were profanely maltreated, nay, sometimes +severely punished, and even miserably flogged in effigy, when they +betrayed symptoms of disaffection, or want of implicit fealty. + +As men had thus, in their weakness and folly, forsaken the bounds of +this terrestrial sphere, it will easily be believed, that, with the help +of an exuberant imagination, they would make a transition to the higher +regions--to the celestial bodies and the stars to which, indeed, they +ascribed no less a power than that of deciding the destinies of men, and +which, consequently, must have had a considerable share in shortening or +prolonging the duration of human life--every nation or kingdom was +subjected to the dominion of its particular planet the time of whose +government was determined; and a number of ascendant powers were +fictitiously contrived, with a view to reduce, under its influence, +every thing which was produced and born under its administration. The +professors of astrology appeared as the confidents of these invisible +rulers, and the interpreters of their will; they were well versed in the +art of giving a respectable appearance to this usurped dignity. Provided +they could but ascertain the hour and minute of a person's birth, they +confidently took upon themselves to predict his mental capacities, +future vicissitudes of life, and the diseases he would be visited with, +together with the circumstances, the day and hour of his death.[75] + +Not only the common people, but persons of the highest rank and +stations, nay, even men the most distinguished for their rank and +abilities, did homage to those "gods of their idolatry," and lived in +continual dread of their occult powers. With anxious countenance and +attentive ears, they listened to the cantrip effusions of these +pretended oracles, which prognosticated the bright or gloomy days of +futurity. Even physicians were solicitous to qualify themselves for +appointments no less lucrative than respectable:--they forgot, over the +dazzling hoards of Mammon, that they are peculiarly and professedly the +pupils of nature.--The curious student in the universities found +everywhere public lecturers, who undertook to instruct him in the +profound arts of divination, chiromancy, and the _cabala_. + +Among other instances, the following anecdote is related of the noted +Thurneisen, who, in the seventeenth century, was invested, at Berlin, +with the respectable offices of printer to the court, bookseller, +almanack-maker, astrologer, chemist, and first physician. Messengers +daily arrived from the most respectable houses in Germany, Poland, +Hungary, Denmark, and even from England, for the purpose of consulting +him respecting the future fortunes[76] of their new-born infants, +acquainting him with the hour of the nativity, and soliciting his advice +and directions as to their management. Many volumes of this singular +correspondence are still preserved in the royal library at Berlin. The +business of this fortunate adept increased so rapidly, that he found it +necessary to employ a number of subaltern assistants, who, together with +their master, realized considerable fortunes. He died in high reputation +and favour with his superstitious contemporaries. + +The famous Melancthon was a believer in judicial astrology, and an +interpreter of dreams. Richelieu and Mazarin were so superstitious as to +employ and pension Morin, another pretender to astrology, who cast the +nativities of these two able politicians. Nor was Tacitus himself, who +generally appears superior to superstition, untainted with this folly, +as may be seen from his twenty-second chapter of the sixth book of his +Annals. + +In the time of the civil wars, astrology was in high repute. The +royalists and the rebels had their astrologers as well as their +soldiers; and the predictions of the former had a great influence over +the latter. When Charles the first was imprisoned, Lilly, the famous +astrologer, was consulted for the hour that should favour his escape; +and in Burnet's History of his own Times, there is a story which +strongly proves how much Charles II was bigotted to judicial astrology, +a man, though a king, whose mind was by no means unenlightened. The most +respectable characters of the age, Sir William Dugdale, Elias +Ashmole,[77] Dr. Grew, and others, were members of the astrological club. +Congreve's character of Foresight, in Love for Love, was then no +uncommon person, though the humour, now, is scarcely intelligible. +Dryden cast the nativities of his sons; and what is remarkable, his +prediction relating to his son Charles, was accomplished. The incident +being of so late a date, one might hope that it would have been cleared +up; but, if it be a fact, it must be allowed that it forms a rational +exultation for its irrational adepts. Astrologers were frequently, as +may easily be understood, put to their wit's end when their predictions +did not come to pass. Great winds were foretold, by one of the craft, +about the year 1586. No unusual storms, however, happened. Bodin, to +save the reputation of the art, applied it as a figure to some +revolutions in the state, of which there were instances enough at that +time. + +At the commencement of the 18th century, the _Illuminati_, a sect of +astrologers, had excited considerable sensation on the continent. +Blending philosophy with enthusiasm, and uniting to a knowledge of every +chemical process a profound acquaintance with astronomy, their influence +over the superstitious feelings of the people was prodigious; and in +many instances the infatuation was attended with fatal consequences. We +shall relate the following, as nearer home than many now before us. + + +THE HOROSCOPE, A TALE OF THE STARS. + +On the summit of St. Vincent's rocks, in the neighbourhood of Clifton, +looking on the Avon, as it rolls its lazy courses towards the Bristol +Channel, stands an edifice, known by the name of "Cooke's Folly." It +consists of a single round tower, and appears at a distance rather as +the remnant of some extensive building, than a complete and perfect +edifice, as it now exists. It was built more than two centuries ago, by +a man named Maurice Cooke; not, indeed, as a strong hold from the arms +of a mortal enemy, but as a refuge from the evils of destiny. He was the +proprietor of extensive estates in the neighbourhood; and while his lady +was pregnant with her first child, as she was one evening walking in +their domains, she encountered a strange looking gipsey, who, pestering +her for alms, received but a small sum. The man turned over the coin in +his hand, and implored a larger gift. "That," said the lady, "will buy +you food for the present." + +"Lady," said the gipsey, "it is not food for the wretched body that I +require; the herbs of the field, and the waters of the ditch, are good +enough for that. I asked your alms for higher purposes. Do not distrust +me, if my bearing be prouder than my garments; do not doubt the strength +of my sunken eye, when I tell you that I can read the skies as they +relate to the fate of men. Not more familiar is his hornbook to the +scholar, than are the heavens to my knowledge." + +"What, thou art an astrologer?"--"Aye, lady! my fathers were so before +me, even in the times when our people had a home amidst the pyramids of +the mighty--in the times when you are told the mightier prophets of the +Israelites put the soothsayers of Egypt to confusion; idle tales! but if +true, all reckless now. Judah's scattered sons are now desolate as +ourselves; but they bend and bow to the laws and ways of other land--we +remain in the stern stedfastness of our own." + +"If then," returned the lady, "I give thee more money, how will it be +applied?" + +"That is not a courteous question, but I will answer it. The most +cunning craftsman cannot work without his tools, and some of mine are +broken, which I seek to repair: another crown will be enough." + +The lady put the required sum into his hand, and at the same time +intimated a desire to have a specimen of his art. + +"Oh! to what purpose should that be? why, why seek to know the course +of futurity? destiny runs on in a sweeping and resistless tide. Enquire +not what rocks await your bark: the knowledge cannot avail you, for +caution is useless against stern necessity."--"Truly, you are not likely +to get rich by your trade, if you thus deter customers."--"It is not for +wealth I labour: I am alone on the earth, and have none to love. I will +not mix with the world lest I should learn to hate. This present is +nothing to me. It is in communion with the spirits who have lived in the +times that are past, and with the stars--those historians of the times +to come--that I feel aught of joy. Fools sometimes demand the exertions +of my powers, and sometimes I gratify their childish curiosity." +--"Notwithstanding I lie under the imputation of folly, I +will beg that you predict unto me the fate of the child which I shall +bear."--"Well, you have obliged me, and I will comply. Note the precious +moment at which it enters the world, and soon after you shall see me +again." + +Within a week the birth of an heir awoke the clamorous joy of the +vassals, and summoned the strange gipsey to ascertain the necessary +points. These learned, he returned home; and the next day presented Sir +Maurice with a scroll, containing the following lines: + + "Twenty times shall Avon's tide + In chains of glistening ice be tied-- + Twenty times the woods of Leigh + Shall wave their brunches merril + In spring burst forth in mantle gay, + And dance in summer's scorching ray: + Twenty times shall autumn's frown, + Wither all their green to brown-- + And still the child of yesterday + Shall laugh the happy hour away. + That period past, another sun + Shall not his annual journey run, + Before a secret silent foe, + Shall strike that boy a deadly blow. + Such, and sure his fate shall be: + Seek not to change his destiny." + +The knight read it; and in that age, when astrology was considered a +science as unerring as holy prophecies, it would have been little less +than infidelity to have doubted the truth of the prediction. Sir +Maurice, however, was wise enough to withhold the paper from his lady; +and in answer to her inquiries, continually asserted that the gipsey was +an impostor, and that the object of his assuming the character was +merely to increase her alms. + +The fated child grew in health and beauty; and as we are the most +usually the more strongly attached to pleasures in proportion to the +brevity of continuance, so did the melancholy fate of his son more +firmly fix him in the heart of Sir Maurice. Often did the wondering lady +observe the countenance of her husband with surprise, as watching the +endearing sportiveness of the boy, his countenance, at first brightened +by the smile of paternal love, gradually darkened to deepest grief, till +unable to suppress his tears, he would cover the child with caresses, +and rush from the room. To all inquiries, Sir Maurice was silent, or +returned evasive answers. + +We shall pass over the infancy of young Walter, and resume the narrative +at the period in which he entered into his twentieth year. His mother +was now dead, and had left two other children, both girls, who, however, +shared little of their father's love, which was almost exclusively fixed +on Walter, and appeared to encrease in strength as the fatal time grew +near. + +It is not to be supposed that he took no precaution against the +predicted event. Sometimes hope suggested that a mistake might have been +made in the horoscope, or that the astrologer might have overlooked some +sign which made the circumstance conditional; and in unison with the +latter idea he determined to erect a strong building, where, during the +year in which his doom was to be consumated, Walter might remain in +solitude. He accordingly gave directions for raising a single tower, +peculiarly formed to prevent ingress, except by permission of its +inhabitants. The purpose of this strange building, however, he kept +secret; and his neighbours, after numerous vain conjectures, gave it the +name of "Cooke's Folly." + +Walter, himself, was kept entirely ignorant of the subject, and all his +inquiries were answered with tears. At length the tower was completed, +and furnished with all things necessary for comfort and convenience; and +on the eve of Walter's completing his twentieth year, Sir Maurice shewed +him the gipsey's scroll, and begged him to make use of the retreat +prepared for him till the year expired. Walter at first treated the +matter lightly, laughed at the prophecy, and declared he would not lose +a year's liberty if all the astrologers in the world were to croak their +ridiculous prophecies against him. Seeing, however, his father so +earnestly bent on the matter, his resolution began to give way, and at +length he consented to the arrangement. At six the following morning, +therefore, Walter entered the tower, which he fastened within as +strongly as iron burs would admit, and which was secured outside in a +manner equally firm. He took possession of his voluntary prison with +melancholy feelings, rather occasioned by the loss of present pleasure, +than the fear of future pain. He sighed as he looked upon the wide +domain before him, and thought how sad would it be to hear the joyous +horn summoning his companions to the chase, and find himself prevented +from attending it--to hear the winter wind howling round his tower, and +rushing between the rocks beneath him, and miss the cheerful song and +merry jest, which were wont to make even the blast a pleasant sound. +Certainly his time passed as pleasantly as circumstances permitted. He +drew up in a basket, at his meal hours, every luxury which the season +produced. His father and sisters daily conversed with him from below, +for a considerable time; and the morris-dancers often raised his +laughter by their grotesque movements. + +Weeks and months thus passed, and Walter still was well and cheerful. +His own and his sisters' hopes grew more lively, but the anxiety of Sir +Maurice increased. The day drew near which was to restore his son to his +arms in confident security, or to fulfil the prediction which left him +without an heir to his name and honours. + +On the preceding afternoon Walter continually endeavoured to cheer his +parent, by speaking of what he would do on the morrow; desired his +sisters to send round to all their friends, that he might stretch his +limbs once more in the merry dance; and continued to talk of the future +with much confidence, that even Sir Maurice caught a spark of hope from +the fiery spirits of the youth. + +As the night drew on, and his sisters were about to leave him, promising +to wake him at six by a song, in answer to their usual inquiry if he +wanted anything more that night, "Nothing," said he, "and yet the night +feels chilly, and I have little fuel left--send me one more faggot." +This was sent him, and as he drew it up, "This," said he, "is the last +time I shall have to dip for my wants, like an old woman for water: +thank God! for it is wearisome work to the arm." + +Sir Maurice still lingered under the window in conversation with his +son, who at length complained of being cold and drowsy. "Mark," said he, +as he closed the window, "mark father, Mars, the star of my fate, looks +smilingly to-night, all will be well." Sir Maurice looked up--a dark +cloud spot suddenly crossed the planet, and he shuddered at the omen. +The anxious father could not leave the spot. Sleep he knew it was vain +to court, and he therefore determined to remain where he was. The +reflexions that occupied his mind continually varied: at one time he +painted to himself the proud career of his high spirited boy, known and +admired among the mighty of his time; a moment after he saw the +prediction verified, and the child of his love lying in the tomb. Who +can conceive his feelings as hour dragged after hour, while he walked to +and fro, watching the blaze of the fire in the tower, as it brightened +and sunk again--now pacing the court with hasty steps, and now praying +fervently for the preservation of his son? The hour came. The cathedral +bell struck heavy on the father's heart, which was not to be lightened +by the cheerful voices of his daughters, who came running full of hope +to the foot of the tower. They looked up, but Walter was not +there;--they called his name, he answered not. "Nay," said the youngest, +"this is only a jest; he thinks to frighten us, but I know he is safe." +A servant had brought a ladder, which he ascended, and he looked in at +the window. Sir Maurice stood immoveable and silent.--He looked up, and +the man answered the anxious expression of his eyes. "He is asleep," +said he. "He is dead!" murmured the father. + +The servant broke a pane of glass in the window, and opening the +casement, entered the room. The father, changing his gloomy stedfastness +for frenzied anxiety, rushed up the ladder. The servant had thrown aside +the curtains and the clothes, and displayed to the eyes of Sir Maurice, +his son lying dead, a serpent twined round his arm, and his throat +covered with blood. The reptile had crept up the faggot last sent him, +and fulfilled the _prophecy_. + +To this happy effort of the imagination in favour of prying into +futurity, may be added, with the same intention. + + +THE FATED PARRICIDE; AN ORIENTAL TALE OF THE STARS. + +Ibrahim was universally celebrated for his riches and magnificence. His +armies were formidable, his victories splendid, and his treasury +inexhaustible. He enjoyed, moreover, what was ten thousand times more +solid and more valuable than riches--the love and veneration of his +subjects; and he had a beautiful young wife, in whose endearing +tenderness alone he could find happiness--if happiness could be found on +earth. All these advantages entitled Ibrahim to the appellation of the +Solomon of his age; and yet Ibrahim was not happy. A son was wanting to +crown his felicity. In vain did a heart formed for all the charities of +the wedded state, endeavour to supply the refusal of nature, by the +adoption of a son; in vain did gratitude endeavour to deceive his heart, +by caresses which any other would have thought to be the natural +effusions of filial sensibility, of filial piety and affection; that +heart incessantly perceived a solitude within itself. Even the +consolatory visions of hope began to grow less frequent, when heaven at +last heard his prayers, Alas! in the very instant that Fortune gratifies +our fondest wishes, she often betrays us; and her smiles are a thousand +times more fatal than her frowns. The birth of the prince was +celebrated throughout the empire by the customary public demonstrations +of joy. The felicity of Ibrahim was complete. He was perpetually +revolving in his mind the sentiments and hopes which the nation would +form of the royal infant. Scarce was he born, when paternal solicitude +embraced, as it were, his whole life. Impatient to know his destiny, +that solicitude plunged into futurity, determined, if possible, to wrest +from time, the secrets of which he was the hoary-headed guardian. + +In Ibrahim's dominions were some sages particularly honoured with the +confidence of heaven. He commanded them to consult the stars, and to +report their answer. "Tremble," said the sages; "thou unfortunate +father, tremble! Never before have the skies presented such inauspicious +omens. Let him fly; let this son, too dear to you, fly; let him avoid, +if possible, the meeting with any savage beasts. His seventh year is the +fatal one; and if he should happen then, to escape the misfortune that +hangs over him, ah! do not wish him to live. His father, his very +father, will not be able to escape from the hand of a parricide." + +This answer threw the sultan into the deepest consternation. He did not +sink, however, into absolute despondency; his courage soon revived. He +determined to take all the precautions which paternal tenderness could +suggest, to defeat the prediction of the astrologers. He, therefore, +caused a kind of subterranean palace to be made on the summit of a lofty +mountain. The labour and expense of the excavation was prodigious. +Extensive walks were formed, with a variety of apartments, in which +every thing was provided that could contribute to the conveniences, and +even the luxuries of life. In this magnificent cavern, Ibrahim, as it +were, inhumed his son, together with his governess, of whose care, and +fidelity he had no doubt. Provisions were constantly carried thither at +stated periods. The king forgot not a single day to visit the mountain +that contained his beloved treasure, and to be satisfied of his safety +with his own eyes. With what delight did he behold the growing beauties +of his son! With what pleasure and rapture did he listen to his +sprightly saillies of wit, his smart repartees, and those pretty +_nothings_ which a father, in particular, is fond to recollect and to +repeat; at which the most rigid gravity may smile, and which are worth +all the understanding of riper years. He was perpetually counting the +hours and minutes that he had to spend with his son; and he incessantly +reproached himself, for not seeing him more frequently. + +Shah Abbas, for such was his name, at length reached his seventh year, +that fatal year, which Ibrahim would fain have delayed, even at the +expense of his crown. He would never leave his son a minute. But, alas! +is it possible to escape our destiny? Summoned one day to his palace by +affairs of the most pressing exigency, he left the mountain with extreme +reluctance. Never had Shah Abbas appeared wore amiable in his father's +eyes, never had Ibrahim appeared more affectionate to his son! Each was +tormented by an uneasy sensation, an unaccountable presentiment that +they were to meet there no more! + +Some robbers were hunting wild beasts: the ardour of the pursuit brought +them to this mountain. A lion that fled from them, perceived the +subterraneous passage, and took refuge in it. The robbers, who durst not +follow him, waited, however, for the sequel of this adventure. On a +sudden, they heard a violent scream, and presently all was silent. This +silence suggested to them, that the cavern now contained, not a living +creature, but the lion. They threw down a quantity of stones, which soon +put an end to the existence of the formidable animal. They then +descended into the cavern, securing themselves from all further danger +from the lion by cutting off his head. Wandering through every part of +this subterraneous palace, they were astonished at the prodigious riches +which they beheld. They perceived a slaughtered woman: this was the +prince's governess. By her side lay a child covered with blood, who +shewed, however, some signs of life. They examined his wounds: they +found not one of them dangerous. The captain of these banditti, after +stripping the cavern of its valuable contents, dressed the young +prince's wounds himself, and effected a cure. The growing qualities of +Shah Abbas endeared him to the chief, who adopted him as his son, and +distinguished him as such by all the tenderness of a paternal heart. + +Some years had elapsed since Ibrahim had first deplored the loss of a +son, who, having been constantly ignorant of the name and titles of his +father, had been unable to explain his origin to the robbers, was soon +to become their chief. Such were the unaccountable caprices of fortune, +which led to the completion of the prophecy, that had destined him to +become one day a parricide. Ibrahim was wont to divert his grief by the +pleasures of the chase; and this exercise soon became almost his only +occupation. One evening that he had strayed, with a very slender escort, +into the defiles of a very solitary mountain, a troop of robbers rushed +upon him. The combat for sometime was furious. An arrow pierced the +king; it excited the spirit of vengeance in his attendants, and they +fought, determined to conquer or die. They were soon victorious. The +murderer was taken, and conducted to the metropolis, that he might +undergo the punishment due to his crime. + +Ibrahim, on the bed of death, summoned the astrologers to attend him, +and thus addressed them: "I was to have perished, you told me, by the +hand of a son; but it is the hand of a robber that has inflicted the +blow."--"Sire," answered the sages, "forbear to seek an explanation. The +robber"... They proceed no further. The young robber appears, and +relates his history. Ibrahim, while he bowed in submission to God, and +adored His inscrutable decrees, blessed Him also for having restored his +son; and the tears which he saw flow from the eyes of Shah Abbas, were a +consolation in his dying moments. + + +APPLICATION OF ASTROLOGY TO THE PROLONGATION OF LIFE, &C. + +Astrology was also made subservient to the means of prolonging human +life; but how an art which determines the fate of mortals, and +ascertains the impassable limits of the grave, could consistently be +made subservient to such a purpose, we are rather at a loss to conceive, +unless accounted for as follows. The teachers of divination maintained, +that not only men, but all natural bodies, plants, animals, nay even +whole countries, including every place and family, were under the +government of some particular planet. As soon as the masters of the +occult science had discovered by their tables, under what constellation +the misfortune or distemper of any person originated, nothing farther +was required, than that he should remove to a dwelling ruled by an +opposite planet, and confine himself exclusively to such articles of +food and drink as were under the influence of a different star. In this +artificial manner they contrived to form a system, or peculiar +classification of planets, namely, Lunar, Solar, Mercurial and the +like--and hence arose a confused map of dictated rules, which, when +considered with reference to the purposes of health, cleanliness, +exercise etc. form remarkable contrasts to those of the Greeks. But this +preventive and repulsive method was not merely confined to persons who +suffered under some bodily disorder: even individuals, who enjoyed a +good state of health, if an unlucky constellation happened to forebode +a severe disease, or any other misfortune, were directed to choose a +place of residence influenced by a more friendly star--or to adopt such +aliment only, as being under the auspices of a propitious star, might +counteract the malignant influence of its antagonist. + +It was also pretty generally believed and maintained, that a sort of +intimate relation or sympathy subsisted between metals and plants: hence +the names of the latter were given to the former, in order to denote +this supposed connexion and affinity. The corresponding metals were +melted into a common mass, under a certain planet, and were formed into +small medals, or coins, with the firm persuasion, that he who carried +such a piece about his person, might confidently expect the whole favour +and protection of the planet, thus represented.[78] Thus we perceive how +easy the transition is from one degree of folly to another; and this may +help to account for the shocking delusions practised in the +manufacturing and wearing of metallic amulets of a peculiar mould, to +which were attributed, by a sort of magic influence, the power and +protection of the respective planet: these charms were thought to +possess virtue sufficient to overrule the bad effects presaged by an +unlucky hour of birth, to promote to places of honour and profit, and to +be of potent efficacy in matters of commerce and matrimony. The German +soldiers, in the dark and superstitious ages, believed that if the +figure of Mars, cast and engraved under the sign of the Scorpion, were +worn about the neck, it would render them invulnerable, and insure +success to their military enterprises--hence the reason why amulets were +then found upon every soldier, either killed in battle or taken +prisoner. + +We shall so far conclude these observations on the chimera of astrology +and medicine with the following remarks in the words of Chamber against +Knight's work,[79] which defends this fanciful science, if science it may +be called. "It demonstrates nothing while it defends every thing. It +confutes, according to Knight's own ideas: it alleges a few scattered +facts in favour of astrological productions, which may be picked up in +that immensity of fabling which disgraces history. He strenuously +denies, or ridicules, what the greatest writers have said of this +fanciful art, while he lays great stress on some passages from obscure +authors, or what is worse, from authors of no authority."--The most +pleasant part, however, is at the close where he defends the art from +the objections of Mr. Chamber by recrimination. Chamber had enriched +himself by medical practice, and when he charges the astrologers by +merely aiming to gain a few beggarly pence, Sir Christopher catches +fire, and shews by his quotations, that if we are to despise an art by +its professors attempting to subsist, or for the objections which may be +raised against its vital principles, we ought by this argument most +heartily to despise the medical science, and medical men; he gives all +here he can collect against physic and physicians, and from the +confessions of Galen and Hippocrates, Avicenna and Agrippa, medicine is +made to appear a vainer science than even astrology itself. + +Lilly's opinions, and his pretended science, were such favourites of +the age, that the learned Gataker[80] wrote professedly against this +popular delusion. At the head of his star-expounding friends, Lilly not +only formally replied to, but persecuted Gataker annually in his +predictions, and even struck at his ghost, when beyond the grave. +Gataker died in July 1654, and Lilly, having written in his almanack for +that year, for the month of August, the following barbarous latin line-- + + Hoc in tumbo, jacet presbyter et nebulo! + Here in this tomb lies a presbyter and a knave, + +had the impudence to assert, that he had predicted Gataker's death! But +the truth is, it was an empty epitaph to the "Lodgings to let:" it stood +empty, reader, for the first passenger that the immortal ferryman should +carry over the Styx. + +But hear that arch imposter Old Patridge of more modern date whose +_gulleries_ appear to have no end. "The practice of astrology is divided +into speculative and theoretical." (Astronomy and judicial astrology). +The first teaches us how to know the stars and planets, and to find +their places and motions. The second directs us to the knowledge of the +influence and operations of the stars and planets upon sublunary bodies, +and without this last the former is of little use. Astronomy cannot +direct and inform us of the secret influences and operations of the +stars and planets, without the assistance of' the _most sublime_ art of +astrology. For astronomy is conversant about the subject of this art, +and doth furnish the astrologer with matter whereon to exercise his +judgment, but astrology disposes this matter into predictions, or +rational conjectures, as time and occasion require. + +"The practice again is subdivided into two parts, or quadripartite, as +Ptolomy (lib. 2) declares: the first considers the general state of the +world, and from eclipses and comets, great conjunctions, annual +revolutions, quarterly ingressions and lunations, also the rising, +culminating, and setting of the fixed stars, together with the +configurations of the planets both to the sun and among themselves, +judgment is deduced, and the astrologer doth frame his annual +predictions of all sensitive and vegetative things lying in the air, +earth, or water; of plague, plenty, dearth, mutations of the air, wars, +peace, and other general accidents of countries, provinces, cities, etc. + +"The second of these subdivided parts, in particular, respects only the +private state of every single man and woman, which must be performed +from the scheme of the nativity, the knowledge of which is of most +excellent use to all persons. Therefore let the nativities of children +be diligently observed for the future, that is to say, the day, hour, +and minute of birth as near as can be, which will be of use to the +astrological physician, for the most principal conjecture of the +malignity of the disease, whether it be curable, or shall end with +death, depends upon the knowledge of the nativity; and very rarely any +disease invades a person, but some unfortunate direction of the +luminaries or ascendant to the body, or beams of malignant planets +preceded the same, or did then operate, or at least some evil +revolution, profection or transit, which cannot be discovered by any +other way but by astrology. Moreover, it would be convenient that the +true time of the first falling sick be observed precisely, and by that, +together with the nativity, be judiciously compared, the physician shall +gain more credit than by all his other skill; and herein, the +astrologer's foresight shall often contradict the judgment of the +physician; for when the astrologer foretells a phlegmatic man, that at +such a time he shall be afflicted with a choleric disease, the doctor +will perceive by his physical symptoms, the astrologer, from his +knowledge in more secret causes of nature, hath excelled him in his art. + +"Now if God Almighty do not countermand or check the ordinary course of +nature, or the matter of elementary bodies here below be not +unproportionable, and thereby unapt to receive their impressions, there +is no reason why, in a natural and physical necessity, astrological +predictions should not succeed and take effect, and by how much the +knowledge which we have by the known causes is more demonstrative and +infallible than that which we have either by signs or effects, so much +by this companion doth Astrology appear worthy to be preferred before +Physic." Cardan, who was an excellent physician saith: "If by the art of +Astrology he had not better attained to the knowledge of his diseases, +than the physician that would have administered to him by his skill, he +had been assuredly cured by death, rather than preserved alive by +physic. (Vide his Comment. upon Ptol. Quidrepart.) From hence it appears +it is necessary that the physician should be skilful in astrology, but +on the contrary, _ex quovis legno non fit Mercurius_, every astrologer +cannot be a physician; if the nativity be but precisely known, or if, +but _tempus ablatum_ or _suppositum_, and withal some notable accidents +of sickness, danger of drowning, peril by fire, marriage, or other, the +like accidents may be foreseen." + +The astrologers were a set of cunning, equivocal rogues; the more +cautious of whom only uttered their prognostications in obscure and +ambiguous language, which might be applied to all things, times, +princes, and nations whatever. An almanack maker, a Spanish friar, +predicted, in clear and precise words, the death of Henry the Fourth of +France; and Pierese, though he had no faith in star-gazing, yet, alarmed +at whatever menaced the life of a beloved sovereign, consulted with some +of the king's friends, and had the Spanish almanack laid before his +Majesty, who courteously thanked them for their solicitude, but utterly +slighted the prediction: the event occurred, and in the following year, +the Spanish _Lilly_ spread his own fame in an new almanack. This +prediction of the friar, was the result either of his being acquainted +with the plot, or from his being made an instrument for the purposes of +those who were. + +Cornelius Agrippa rightly designates astrologers "a perverse and +preposterous generation of men, who profess to know future things, but +in the meantime are altogether ignorant of past and present; and +undertaking to tell all people most obscure and hidden secrets abroad, +at the same time, know not what happens in their own houses." + + But this Agrippa, for profound + And solid lying, was renown'd: + The Anthroposophus, and Floud, + And Jacob Behmen, understood; + Knew many an amulet and charm + That would do neither good nor harm. + He understood the speech of birds + As well as they themselves do words; + Could tell what subtlest parrots mean + That speak and think contrary, clean; + What member 'tis of whom they talk, + Why they cry, rope and--walk, knave, walk. + He could foretell whatever was + By consequence to come to pass; + As death of great men, alterations, + Diseases, battles, inundations: + All this without th' eclipse o' th' sun, + Or dreadful comet, he hath done + By inward light, a way as good, + And easy to be understood: + But with more lucky hit than those + That use to make the stars depose + As if they were consenting to + All mischief in the world men do: + Or like the devil, did tempt and sway 'em + To rogueries, and then betray 'em. + +We shall conclude our astrological strictures with the following +advertisement, which affords as fine a satirical specimen of quackery as +is to be met with. It is extracted from "poor Robin's" almanack for +1773; and may not be without its use, to many at the present day. We +will vouch for it being harmless, but as we are not in the secret of all +that it contains, our readers must endeavour to get the information that +may be wanted, on certain important points, from other quarters. It will +shew, however, that the almanack astrologers did not live upon the best +terms, but like their predecessors, were constantly abusing and +attacking each other. + + +ADVERTISEMENT. + +"The best time to cut hair. How moles and dreams are to be interpreted. +When most proper season to bleed. Under what aspect of the moon best to +draw teeth, and cut corns. Pairing of nails, on what day unlucky. What +the kindest sign to graft or inoculate in; to open bee-hives, and kill +swine. How many hours boiling my Lady Kent's pudding requires. With +other notable questions, fully and faithfully resolved, by me Sylvester +Patridge, student in physic and astrology, near the Gun in Moorfields." + +"Of whom likewise may be had, at reasonable rates, trusses, antidotes, +elixirs, love-powders. Washes for freckles, plumpers, glass-eyes, false +calves and noses, ivory-jaws, and a new receipt to turn red hair into +black." + +Old Robin's almanack was evidently the best of the time, and free from +all the astrological cant with which Patridge's Merlinus Liberatus was +filled; against which Poor Robin did not a little declaim. The motto to +his title runs thus:-- + + "We use no weather-wise predictions + Nor any such-like airy fictions; + But (which we think is much the best) + Write the plain truth, or crack a jest: + And (without any further pretence) + Confess we write, and think of the pence: + For that's the aim of all who write, + Profit to gain, mixed with delight." + +Poor old Robin attacked the astrologers of his day with no little +vehemence: "How different a task is it," says he, "for man to behave so +in this world as to please all the people that inhabit it! A man who +makes use of his best endeavours to please every body is sure to please +but very few, and by that means displease a great many; which may very +possibly be the case with poor Robin this year. But (be that as it will) +_old Bob_ is sometimes well pleased, when rogues, prick-eared coxcombs, +fools, and such like, are the most displeased at him: be it therefore +known, that it is only men of sense and integrity, (whether they have +much money or no money) that he has any, (the least) regard for: I see +very plainly, that an humble man is (generally) accounted _base_; if +otherwise, he is esteemed _proud_; a bold look is looked upon as +_impudence_; if modest, (then to be sure) he must be _hypocritical_; if +his behaviour is grave, it is owing to a _sullenness_ of temper; if +affable, he is but _little_ regarded; if strictly just, then _cruel_ +must be his character; but, if merciful and forbearing, then (of +consequence) a silly, sheepish-headed fool! Now, I challenge all the +ASS-TROLOGERS and CONJURERS, throughout the whole kingdom, to +demonstrate that all the whimsey-headed opinions which different men +retain of different actions, together with their being so vastly +different at different times, one from another; I say, I call upon them +ALL to prove, that they are (wholly) owing to the STARRY influences! +There being, (I believe) in general as many different ideas and +conceptions in the mind of mankind, as there are variety of complexions +and countenances." + +His observations on the four _unequal_ quarters of the year, as he terms +them, are no less satirical, humorous, and full of truth, and so much in +"opposition" with others of the trade, that poor old Robin, in good +sense and trite remarks, carries away the palm from all his predecessors +and contemporaries; indeed, he is so little of an astrologer, that, +instead of consulting the angles, aspects, conjunctions and trines, of +the planets, he is vulgar enough to attach more importance to the +substantials and doings of this nether world. We present our readers +with the following as a specimen, which, though in his usual way, a +little rough-mouthed, occasionally is free from that almanack-cant which +characterises the vocations of his fellow-labourers in the same field. + + +SPRING, + +which, being the most delightful season in the whole year, as it comes +the next after a long and cold winter makes it as welcome as it is +delightful; for now the lengthening days afford full time for every body +but drunkards and watchmen to finish their respective day's works by +day-light, besides some time to spare to walk abroad, to see the fine +new livery with which Dame Flora has now decked out Mother Earth. In the +opening of the Spring, when all nature begins to recover herself, the +same animal pleasure which makes the bird sing, and the whole brute +creation rejoice, rises very sensibly in the hearts of mankind. This +quarter will bring whole shoals of mackerel, and plenty of green pease; +likewise gooseberries, cherries, cheese-cakes, and custards. + +But, let us now moralize,--and improve these vernal delights into real +virtue; and, when we find within ourselves a secret satisfaction arising +from the beauties of the creation, may we consider to whom we stand +indebted for all these various gratifications and entertainments of +sense; who it is that opens thus his hand, and fills the world with +good! But so soon as this quarter is ended; i.e. there, or then, or +thereabout, for in this case a day or two can break no great squares--I +say this quarter (as usual) will be followed by the + + +SUMMER, + +when, and at which time the days will have attained their greatest, and +consequently the nights the shortest lengths. June, in which month this +quarter is said to begin, will retain some likeness, if not exhibit the +perfections of the Spring; but the two next succeeding months will +perhaps have less vigour, but a greater degree of heat; for, as they +pass on, they will be ripening the fruits of the earth; whilst the Dog +star is shooting his rays amongst, the industrious farmer will have +business enough upon his hands: for now he expects to be reaping and +gathering together the returns of his labour; but then he must expect, +nevertheless, to bear the heat and burthen of the day. + +This quarter very justly represents a man in the full vigour of health +and strength; the beauty of the Spring is gone! The strength of Summer +is of short continuance! It will very soon be succeeded by Autumn: thus, +and thus (O reader) do then consider, hast thou seen the seasons, two, +three, or four times return in regular succession: remember that the +time is coming, when all opportunities of this sort will be for ever hid +from thine eyes: remember if forty years have passed thee, I say, I +would have thee remember, that thy spring is gone, thy summer almost +spent! Have then, therefore, a very serious retrospective view of thy +past, and, (if it please God) a fixed resolution to amend thy prolonged +life: then being now arrived almost on the eve of + + +AUTUMN + +which begins this year (as usual) when, or then, or thereabouts, the +time the Summer quarter ends--namely, when the nights begin to grow +longer and the days shorter: this is the time when the barns are filled +with wheat, which soon must be thrashed out, in order to be sowed again. +This also is the time when the orchards abound with fruits of the kind, +and consequently the properest time to make cider. + +Lamentable now must be the case of those poor women who, in this +quarter, happen to long for green pease or strawberries; for I dare +assure them, upon the _honest word_ of an astrologer, that they can get +none on this side of next Easter. Some now-abouts under the notion of +soldiers, shall sally out at night upon _Pullen_, or perhaps lie in +embuscade for a rope of onions, as if they were Welsh freebooters. Loss +of time and money may be recovered by industry: but to be a fool-born, +or a rogue in nature, are diseases incurable. + +Remember that in any quarter of the year, this is almost always a +certain presage of a wedding, when all parties are agreed, and the +parson in readiness; and then you must be sure to have money in +readiness too, or your intended marriage may happen to prove a +miscarriage. But those who are able to pay for tying the knot, when it +is fairly tied, may go home to dinner and be merry; go to the tavern and +be merry; go to supper and be merry; rise next morning and be merry: and +let the world know, that a married life is a plentiful life, when people +have good estates; a fruitful life when they have many children; and an +happy life, when man and wife love each other as they ought to do, and +never quarrel nor disagree. + + +OF THE WINTER QUARTER. + +But now comes on the cold, dirty, dithering, pouting, rainy, shivering, +freezing, blowing, stormy, blustering, cruel quarter called winter; the +very thoughts of it are enough to fright one; but that it very luckily +happens to be introduced (this year) by a good, fat merry Christmas: yet +it is the last and worse, and very much resembles extreme old age +accompanied by poverty; this quarter is also pretty much like Pharoah's +lean kine; for it generally (we find) eats up and devours most of the +produce of the preceding seasons: now the sun entering the southern +tropic, affords us the least share of his light, and consequently the +longest long nights: yet, nevertheless, in this uncomfortable quarter, +you may possibly pick up some crumbs of comfort, provided you have good +health, good store of the ready Rhino, a good wife, and other good +things about you: and especially a good conscience: for then the starry +influences must necessarily appear very benign, notwithstanding the +inclemency of the weather; for in such cases there will be frequent +_conjunctions_ of sirloins and ribs of beef; _aspects_ of legs and +shoulders of mutton, with _refrenations_ of loins of veal, shining near +the watery triplicity of plumb-porridge--together with trine and sextile +of minced pies; collared brawn from the Ursus major, and sturgeon from +Pisces--all for the honour of Christmas: and I think it is a much +pleasanter sight than a Covent-Garden comedy, to see a dozen or two of +husbandmen, farmers, and honest tenants, at a nobleman's table (who +never raised their rents) worry a sirloin, and hew down, (I mean cut up) +a goose like a log: while a good Cheshire cheese, and plenty of nappy +ale, and strong March beer, washes down the merry goblets, sets all +their wit afloat, and sends them to their respective homes, as happy as +kings. + + And now, kind loving readers, every one, + God send y'a good new-year, when the old one 's gone. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[75] The following prediction, and the verification of it are of so +recent a date, that we cannot resist giving it a place in our pages. In +the account of the late Captain Flinder's voyage of discovery, is the +melancholy relation of the loss of the master, Mr. Thistle, with seven +others, in a boat, on the inhospitable shores of Terra Australia. To +this narrative, the following note is subjoined, which we shall here +quote in Captain Flinder's own words: "This evening, Mr. Fowler, the +lieutenant, told me a circumstance which I thought very extraordinary, +and it afterwards proved to be more so. While we were lying at Spithead, +Mr. Thistle was one day waiting on shore, and having nothing else to do, +went to a certain old man, named Pine, to have his fortune told. The +cunning man informed him that he was going on a long voyage, and that +the ship, on arriving at her destination, would be joined by another +vessel. That such was intended, he might have learnt privately; but he +added that Mr. Thistle would be lost before the other vessel joined. As +to the manner of his loss the magician refused to give any information. +My boat's crew, hearing what Mr. Thistle said, went to consult the wise +man, and after the prefatory information of a long voyage, they were +told that they would be shipwrecked, but not in the ship they were going +out in; whether they would escape and return to England, he was not +permitted to reveal. This tale Mr. Thistle often told at the mess-table; +and I remarked, with some pain, in a future part of the voyage, that +every time my boat's crew went to embark in the Lady Nelson, there was +some degree of apprehension amongst them, that the time of the predicted +shipwreck was arrived. I make no comment, (says Capt. Flinders,) upon +this story, but to recommend a commander, if possible, to prevent any of +his crew from consulting fortune-tellers."--It should be observed that, +strange as it may appear, every particular of these predictions came +exactly to pass, for the master and his boat's crew were lost before the +Investigator was joined by the Lady Nelson, from Port-Jackson; and when +the former ship was condemned, the people embarked with their commander +on board the Porpoise, which was wrecked on a coral reef, and nine of +the crew were lost. + +[76] In 1670, the passion for horoscopes and expounding the stars, +prevailed in France among the first rank. The new-born child was usually +presented naked to the astrologer, who read the first lineaments in its +forehead, and the transverse lines in its hands, and thence wrote down +its future destiny. Catherine de Médicis carried Henry IV, when a child, +to old Nostradamus, who antiquaries esteem more for his Chronicle of +Provence than for his vaticinating powers. The sight of the revered +seer, with a heard which "streamed like a meteor in the air," terrified +the future hero, who dreaded a whipping from so grave a personage. + +[77] The Chaldean Sages were nearly put to the route by a quarto pack of +artillery, fired on them by Mr. John Chamber, in 1691. Apollo did not +use Marsyas more inhumanly than his scourging pen this mystical race; +and his personalities made them sorely feel it. However, a Norwich +knight, the very Quixote of Astrology, arrayed in the enchanted armour +of his occult authors, encountered this pagan in a most stately +carousal. He came forth with "A Defence of Judicial Astrologye, in +answer to a treatise lately published by Mr. John Chamber. By +Christopher Knight. Printed at Cambridge, 1693." + +[78] Vide Amulets passim. + +[79] Lilly's work, a voluminous quarto monument of the folly of the age, +was sold originally for four guineas; it is entitled "Christian +Astrology," modestly treated, in three books, by William Lilly, student +in Astrology, 2nd. edition 1659. Every page is embellished with a +horoscope which, sitting on the pretending tripod, he explains with the +utmost facility. There is also a portrait of this arch rogue and +star-gazer, an admirable illustration for Lavater. As to Lilly's great +skill in prophecy, there goes a pleasant story related by a kinsman of +Dr. Case, his successor--namely--that a person wanting to consult him on +a certain point coming to his house one morning, Lilly himself going to +the door, saw a piece of filthy carrion which some one, who had more wit +than manners, had left there: and being much offended at its unsightly +appearance wished heartily he did but know who had treated him in that +manner by leaving such an unwelcome legacy, as it were, in his very +teeth, that he might punish them accordingly; which his customer +observing when the conjurer demanded his business, "Nothing at all," +said he, "for I'm sure if you can't find out who has defiled your own +door, it is impossible you should discover anything relating to me," and +with this caustic remark he left him. + +[80] The Reverend and learned Thomas Gataker, with whom Lilly was +engaged in a dispute, in his Annotations on the tenth chapter of +Jeremiah and 10th verse, called him a "blind buzzard," and Lilly +reflected again on his antagonist in his _Annus Tenebrosus_. Mr. +Gataker's reply was entitled Thomas Gataker, B.D. his Vindication of the +annotation by him published upon these words, "thus saith the Lord," +(Jer. x. 2) against the scurrilous aspersions of that grand impostor +William Lilly; as also against the various expositions of two of his +advocates Mr. John Swan, and another by him cited but not named. Together +with the Annotations themselves, wherein the pretended grounds of +judiciary astrology, and the scripture proofs produced to it, are +discussed and refuted. London, 1653, in 4th part 192. Our author making +animadversions on this piece in his English Merlin, 1654 produced a +third piece from Mr. Gataker, called a Discourse apologetical, wherein +Lilly's lewd, and loud lies in his Merlin or Pasquil for 1654, are +clearly laid open; his shameless desertion of his own cause further +discovered, his abominable slanders fully refuted, and his malicious and +_murtherous_ mind, inciting to a general massacre of God's ministers, +from his own pen, evidently known, etc. London 1654. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +ONEIROCRITICAL PRESENTIMENT, ILLUSTRATING THE CAUSE, EFFECTS, PRINCIPAL +PHENOMENA, AND DEFINITION OF DREAMS, ETC. + +As we shall have to speak of the art practised through the medium, +termed incubation, of curing diseases, it may be proper to say something +previously on the interpretation of dreams through whose agency these +events were said to be realized. + +Oneirocritics, or interpreters of dreams, were called conjecturers, a +very fit and proper name for these worldly wise men, according to the +following lines, translated from Euripides-- + + He that conjectures least amiss + Of all, the best of prophets is. + +To the delusion of dreams not a few of the ancient philosophers lent +themselves. Among these were Democritus, Aristotle, and his follower +Themistius, Siresius the Platonic; who so far relied on dreams which +some accident or other brought about, that they thence endeavoured to +persuade men there are no dreams but what are founded on realities. For, +say they, as the celestial influences produce various forms and changes +in corporeal matter, so out of certain influences, predominating over +the power of the fancy, the impression of visions is made, being +consentaneous, through the disposition of the heavens, to the effect +produced; more especially in dreams, because the mind, being then at +liberty from all corporeal cares and exercises, more freely receives the +divine influences: it happens, therefore that many things are revealed +to them that are asleep, which are concealed from them that are awake. +With these and such reasons it is pretended that much is communicated +through the medium of dreams: + + When soft sleep the body lays at ease, + And from the heavy mass the fancy frees, + Whate'er it is in which we take delight, + And think of most by day we dream at night. + +The transition from sleep is very natural to that of dreams, the +wonderful and mysterious phenomena of that state, the ideal transactions +and vain illusions of the mind. According to Wolfius, an eminent +philosopher of Silesia, every dream originates in some sensation, and is +continued by the succession of phantoms; but no phantasm can arise in +the mind without some previous sensation. And yet it is not easy to +confirm this by experience, it being often difficult to distinguish +those slight sensations, which give rise to dreams, from phantasms, or +objects of imagination.[81] The series of phantasms which thus constitute +a dream, seems to be accounted for by the law of the imagination, or +association of ideas; though it may be very difficult to assign the +cause of every minute difference, not only in different subjects, but in +the same, at different times, and in different circumstances. And hence +M. Formey, who adopts the opinion of Wolfius, concludes, that those +dreams are supernatural, which either do not begin by sensation, or are +not continued by the law of imagination.[82] + +The opinion is as old as Aristotle, who asserted, that a dream is only +the [Greek: Phantasma] or _appearance_ of things, excited in the mind, +and remaining after the objects are removed.[83] The opinion of +Lucretius, translated in our motto, was likewise that of Tully.[84] Locke +also traces the origin of dreams to previous sensations. "The dreams of +sleeping men," says this profound philosopher, "are all made up of the +waking man's ideas, though for the most part oddly put together."[85] And +Dr. Hartley, who explains all the phenomena of the imagination by his +theory of vibrations and associations, says, that dreams are nothing but +the imaginations or reveries of sleeping men, and that they are +deducible from three causes--viz, the impressions and ideas lately +received, and particularly those of the preceding day, the state of the +body, more especially of the stomach and brain, and association.[86] + +Macrobius mentions five sorts of dreams. 1st. vision--2nd. a discovery +of something between sleeping and waking--3rd. a suggestion cast into +our fancy, called by Cicero, _visum_,--4th. an ordinary dream--and +fifth, a divine apparition or revelation in our sleep; such as were the +dreams of the prophets, and of Joseph, as also of the Eastern Magi. + + +CAUSE OF DREAMS. + +Avicen makes the cause of dreams to be an ultimate intelligence moving +the moon in the midst of that light with which the fancies of men are +illuminated while they sleep. Aristotle refers the cause of them to +common sense, but placed in the fancy. Averroes, an Arabian physician, +places it in the imagination; Democritus ascribes it to little images, +or representations, separated from the things themselves; Plato among +the specific and concrete notions of the soul; Albertus to the superior +influences, which continually flow from the sky, through many specific +channels. + +Some physicians attribute the cause of dreams to vapours and humours, +and the affections and cares of persons predominant when awake; for, say +they, by reason of the abundance of vapours, which are exhaled in +consequence of immoderate feeding, the brain is so stuffed by it, that +monsters and strange chimera are formed, of which the most inordinate +eaters and drinkers furnish us with sufficient instances. Some dreams, +they assert, are governed partly by the temperature of the body, and +partly by the humour which mostly abounds in it; to which may be added +the apprehensions which have preceded the day before; and which are +often remarked in dogs, and other animals, which bark and make a noise +in their sleep. Dreams, they observe, proceed from the humours and +temperature of the body; we see the choleric dreams of fire, combats, +yellow colours, etc. the phlegmatic of water baths, of sailing on the +sea; the melancholies of thick fumes, deserts, fantasies, hideous faces, +etc. they that have the hinder part of their brain clogged, with viscous +humours, called by physicians Ephialtes incubus, dream that they are +suffocated. And those who have the orifice of their stomach loaded with +malignant humours, are affrighted with strange visions, by reason of +those venemous vapours that mount to the brain and distemper it. + + +POETICAL ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE EFFECTS OF THE IMAGINATION IN DREAMS. + +Were we to enter more profoundly into the mysterious phenomena of +dreams, our present lucubrations might become too abstruse; and, after +all, no philosophical nor satisfactory account can be given of them. +Such of our readers therefore, as may wish for a more minute inquiry +into the opinions above stated, we beg leave to refer to the respective +authors whom we have already quoted. The reader, who is fond to find +amusement even in a serious subject, from the scenes of nocturnal +imagination, will be glad, perhaps for a moment, to be transported into +the regions of poetic fancy. And here we find that the fancy is not more +sportive in dreams, than are the poets in their descriptions of her +nocturnal vagaries. On the effects of the imagination in dreams, the +following effusion, put into the mouth of the volatile Mercurio, is an +admirable illustration:-- + + O, then I see, Queen Mab has been with you. + She is the fancy's midwife, and she comes + In shape no bigger than an agate stone + On the fore-finger of an Alderman, + Drawn with a team of little atomies, + Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep: + Her waggon spokes made of long spinners' legs; + The cover of the wings of grasshoppers; + The traces of the smallest spider's web; + The collars of the moonshine's watery beams; + Her whip of cricket's bone; the lash of film; + Her waggoner, a small grey coated gnat, + Not half so big as a round little worm, + Prickt from the lazy finger of a maid. + Her chariot is an empty hazel nut, + Made by the joiner squirril, old grub, + Time out of mind the fairies' coachmakers: + And in this state she gallops night by night, + Thro' lovers' brains, and then they dream of love; + On courtiers' knees, that dream on curtsies strait; + O'er lawyers' fingers, who strait dream on fees; + O'er ladies lips, who strait on kisses dream, + Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plague, + Because their breath with sweetmeats tainted are. + Sometimes she gallops o'er a lawyer's nose, + And then dreams he of smelling out a suit, + And sometimes comes she with a tithe-pig tail, + Tickling the parson as he lies asleep; + Then dreams he of another benefice; + Sometimes she driveth o'er a soldier's neck + And then he dreams of cutting foreign throats, + Of breaches, ambuscades, Spanish blades, + Of healths fire fathom deep; and then anon + Drums in his ears, at which he starts and wakes, + And being thus frighted, swears a pray'r or two, + And sleeps again. + +Lucretius, and Petronius in his poem on the vanity of dreams, had +preceded our immortal bard in a description of the effects of dreams on +different kinds of persons. Both the passages here alluded to, only +serve to shew the vast superiority of Shakspeare's boundless genius: +their sense is thus admirably expressed by Stepney: + + At dead of night imperial reason sleeps, + And fancy with her train, her revels keeps; + Then airy phantoms a mix'd scene display, + Of what we heard, or saw, or wish'd by day; + For memory those images retains + Which passion form'd, and still the strongest reigns. + Huntsmen renew the chase they lately run, + And generals fight again their battles won. + Spectres and fairies haunt the murderer's dreams; + Grants and disgraces are the courtier's themes. + The miser spies a thief, or a new hoard; + The cit's a knight; the sycophant a lord, + Thus fancy's in the wild distraction lost, + With what we most abhor, or covet most. + Honours and state before this phantom fall; + For sleep, like death, its image, equals all. + +Chaucer in his tale of the Cock and Fox, has a fine description, thus +versified by Dryden:-- + + Dreams are but interludes which fancy makes: + When monarch reason sleeps, this mimic wakes; + Compounds a medley of disjointed things, + A court of coblers and a mob of kings: + Light fumes are merry, grosser fumes are sad: + Both are the reasonable soul run mad; + And many monstrous forms in sleep we see, + That neither were, or are, or e'er can be. + Sometimes forgotten things, long cast behind, + Rush forward in the brain, and come to mind. + The nurse's legends are for truth received, + And the man dreams but what the boy believed, + Sometimes we but rehearse a former play, + The night restores our actions done by day; + As hounds in sleep will open for their prey. + In short, the farce of dreams is of a piece + In chimeras all; and more absurd or less. + +Shakspeare again:-- + + I talk of dreams, + Which are the children of an idle brain, + Begot of nothing but vain phantasy, + Which is as thin of substance as the air, + And more inconsistant than the wind. + +Nor must Milton be omitted-- + + In the soul + Are many lesser faculties, that serve + Reason as chief; among these Fancy next + Her office holds; of all external things, + Which the five watchful senses represent, + She forms imaginations, airy shapes, + Which reason joining, or disjoining, frames, + And all that we affirm, or what deny, or call + Our knowledge or opinion; then retires + Into her private cell, when nature rests. + Oft in her absence mimic fancy wakes, + To imitate her; but misjoining shapes, + Wild works produces oft, but most in dreams + Ill matching words or deeds, long past or tale. + + +PRINCIPAL PHENOMENA IN DREAMING. + +From these practical descriptions let us proceed to take a view of the +principal phenomena in dreaming. And first, Mr. Locke's beautiful _modes +of_ which will greatly illustrate the preceding observations. + +"When the mind," says Locke, "turns its view inward upon itself, and +contemplates its own actions, _thinking_ is the first that occurs. In it +the mind observes a great variety of modifications, and from thence +receives distinct _ideas_. Thus the perception, which actually +accompanies, and is annexed to any impression on the body, made by an +external object, being distinct from all other modifications of +thinking, furnishes the mind with a distinct idea which we call +_sensation_; which is, as it were, the actual entrance of an idea into +the understanding by the senses. + +"The same idea, when it occurs again without the operation of the like +object on the external sensory, is _remembrance_: if it be sought after +by the mind, and with pain and endeavour found, and brought again in +view, it is _recollection_: if it be held there long under +consideration, it is _contemplation_; when ideas float in our mind +without any reflexion or regard of the understanding, it is that which +the French call _réverie_;[87] our language has scarce a name for it. +When the ideas that offer themselves (for as I have observed in another +place, while we are awake, there will always be a train of ideas +succeeding one another in our minds) are taken notice of, and, as it +were, registered in the memory, it is _attention_; when the mind, with +great earnestness, and of choice, fixes its view on any idea, considers +it on all sides, and will not be called off by the ordinary +solicitations of other ideas, it is what we call _intention_ or _study_. +Sleep without dreaming is rest from all these: and _dreaming_ itself, is +the having of ideas (while the outward senses are stopped, so that they +receive not outward objects with their usual quickness) in the mind, not +suggested by any external objects, or known occasion, nor under any +choice or conduct of the understanding at all, and whether that which we +call _ecstasy_, be not dreaming with the eyes open, I leave to be +examined." + +Dr. Beattie, in his "Dissertations moral and critical," has an +ingenious essay on this subject, in which he attempts to ascertain, not +so much the _efficient_ as the _final_ causes of the phenomenon, and to +obviate those superstitions in regard to it, which have sometimes +troubled weak minds. He labours, with great earnestness, to shew, that +dreams may be of use in the way of physical admonition: that persons, +who attend to them with this view, may make important discoveries with +regard to their health; that they may be serviceable as the means of +moral improvement; that, by attending to them, we may discern our +predominant passions, and receive good hints for the regulation of them; +that they may have been intended by Providence to serve as an amusement +to the mental powers; and that dreaming is not universal, because, +probably, all constitutions do not require such intellectual amusement. +In observations of this kind, we may discover the ingenuity of fancy and +the sagacity of conjecture. We may find amusement in the arguments, but +we look in vain for satisfaction. Nature, certainly, does nothing in +vain, yet we are far from thinking, that man is able, in every case, to +discover her intentions. Final causes, perhaps, ought never to be the +subject of human speculation, but when they are plain and obvious. To +substitute vain conjectures, instead of the designs of Providence, on +subjects where those designs are beyond our reach, serves only to +furnish matter for the cavils of the sceptical, and the sneers of the +licentious. + +Among the many striking phenomena in our dreams, it may be observed, +that, while they last, the memory seems to lie wholly torpid, and the +understanding to be employed only about such objects as are then +presented, without comparing the present with the past. When we sleep, +we often converse with a friend who is either absent or dead, without +remembering that the grave or the ocean is between us. We float, like a +feather, upon the wind; for we find ourselves this moment in England, +and the next in India, without reflecting that the laws of nature are +suspended, or inquiring how the scene could have been so suddenly +shifted before us. We are familiar with prodigies; we accommodate +ourselves to every event, however romantic; and we not only reason, but +act upon principles, which are in the highest degree absurd and +extravagant. Our dreams, moreover, are so far from being the effect of a +voluntary effort, that we neither know of what we shall dream, or +whether we shall dream at all. + +But sleep is not the only time in which strange and unconnected objects +involve our ideas in confusion. Besides the _réveries_ of the day, +already spoken of, we have, in a moral view, our _waking-dreams_, which +are not less chimerical, and impossible to be realized, than the +imaginations of the night. + + Night visions may befriend---- + Our waking dreams are fatal. How I dreamt + Of things impossible (could sleep do more?) + Of joys perpetual in perpetual change! + Of stable pleasures on the tossing wave! + Eternal sunshine in the storms of life! + How richly were my noon-tide trances hung, + With gorgeous tapestries of pictur'd joys! + Till at deaths' toll,---- + Starting I woke, and found myself undone. + +Many of the fabulous stories of ghosts or apparitions have originated +unquestionably in dreams. There are times of slumber when we are +sensible of being asleep. "When the thoughts are much troubled," says +Hobbes, "and when a person sleeps without the circumstance of going to +bed, or pulling off his clothes, as when he nods in his chair, it is +very difficult to distinguish a dream from a reality. On the contrary, +he that composes himself to sleep, in case of any uncouth or absurd +fancy, easily suspects it to have been a dream."[88] On this principle, +Hobbes has ingeniously accounted for the spectre which is said to have +appeared to Brutus; and the well-known story told by Clarendon, of the +apparition of the duke of Buckingham's father will admit of a similar +solution. There was no man at that time in the kingdom so much the topic +of conversation as the duke; and, from the corruptness of his character, +he was very likely to fall a sacrifice to the corruptness of the times. +Sir George Villiers is said to have appeared to the man at +midnight--there is therefore the greatest probability that the man was +asleep; and the dream affrighting him, made a strong impression, and was +likely to be repeated. + +History furnishes us with numerous instances of a forecast having been +communicated through the medium of dreams, some of which are so +extraordinary as almost to shake our belief that the hand of Providence +is not sometimes evident through their instrumentality. Cicero, in his +first book on Divination, tells us, that Heraclides, a clever man, and +who had been a disciple of Plato, writes that the mother of Phalaris saw +in a dream the statues of the gods which she had consecrated in the +house of her son; and among other things, it appeared to her, that from +a cup which Mercury held in his hand, he had spilled some blood from it, +and that the blood had scarcely touched the ground, than rising up in +large bubbles it filled the whole house. This dream of the mother was +afterwards but too truly verified in the cruelty of the son. Cyrus +dreamt that seeing the sun at his feet, he made three different +unsuccessful attempts to lay his hand upon it, at each of which it +evaded him. The Persian Magi who interpreted this dream told him that +these three attempts to seize the sun signified that he would reign +thirty years. This prediction was verified: he died at the age of +seventy, having begun to reign when he was forty years old. + +"There is doubtless," says Cicero, "something even among barbarians +which marks that they possess the gift of presentiment and divination." +The Indian Calanus mounting the flaming faggot on which he was about to +be burnt, exclaimed "O what a fine exit from life, when my body, like +that of Hercules, shall be consumed by the fire, my spirit will freely +enjoy the light." And Alexander having asked if he had anything to say, +he replied, "Yes, I shall soon see you," which happened as he foretold, +Alexander having died a few days afterwards at Babylon. Xenophon, an +ardent disciple of Socrates, relates that in the war which he made in +favour of young Cyrus, he had some dreams which were followed by the +most miraculous events. Shall we say that Xenophon does not speak truth, +or is too extravagant? What! so great a personage, and so divine a +spirit as Aristotle, can he be deceived? Or does he wish to deceive +others, when he tells us of Eudemus of Cyprus, one of his friends, +wishing to go into Macedonia, passed by Pheres, a celebrated town in +Thessaly, which at that time was under the dominion of the tyrant +Alexander; and that having fallen very sick, he saw in a dream a very +handsome young man, who told him that he would cure him, and that the +tyrant Alexander would shortly die, but as to himself, he would return +home at the end of five years. Aristotle remarks that the two first +predictions were, indeed, soon accomplished; that Eudemus recovered, and +that the tyrant was killed by his wife's brothers; but that at the +expiration of five years, the time at which it was hoped Eudemus, +according to the dream, was to return to Sicily, his native country, +news were received that he had been killed in a combat near Syracuse; +which gave rise to another interpretation of the dream, namely, that, +when the spirit or soul of Eudemus left his body, it went thence +straight to his own house.--A cup of massy gold having been stolen from +the temple of Hercules, this god appeared in a dream to Sophocles three +consecutive times, and pointed out the thief to him; who was put to the +torture, confessed the delinquency, and gave up the cup. The temple +afterwards received the name of Hercules Indicator. + +An endless variety of similar instances, both from ancient and modern +history, might be adduced of the singularity of dreams, as well as their +instrumentality in revealing secrets which, without such agency, had +lain for ever in oblivion; these, however, are sufficient for our +purpose here; and the occurrence of one of a very recent date, connected +with the discovery of the body of the murdered Maria Martin, in the red +barn, is still fresh in the recollection of our readers. That there is a +ridiculous infatuation attached by some people to dreams, which have no +meaning, and which are the offsprings of the day's thoughts, even among +persons whose education should inform them better, particularly among +the fair sex, cannot be denied; indeed, a conversation seldom passes +among them, but some inconsistent dream or other, form a leading feature +of their gossip; and doubtless is with them an hysterical symptom. + +Sometimes in our sleeping dreams, we imagine ourselves involved in +inextricable woe, and enjoy at waking, the ecstasy of a deliverance from +it. "And such a deliverance," says Dr. Beattie, "will every good man +meet with at last, when he is taken away from the evils of life, and +awakes in the regions of everlasting light and peace; looking back upon +the world and its troubles, with a surprise and satisfaction similar in +kind (though far higher in degree) to that which we now feel, when we +escape from a terrifying dream, and open our eyes to the sweet serenity +of a summer morning." Sometimes, in our dreams, we imagine scenes of +pure and unutterable joy; and how much do we regret at waking, that the +heavenly vision is no more! But what must the raptures of the good man +be, when he enters the regions of immortality, and beholds the radiant +fields of permanent delight! The idea of such a happy death, such a +sweet transition, from the dreams of earth to the realities of heaven, +is thus beautifully described by Dryden, in his poem entitled Eleonora: + + "She passed serenely, with a single breath; + This moment perfect health, the next was death; + One sigh did her eternal bliss assure; + So little penance needs when souls are pure. + As gentle dreams our waking thoughts pursue; + Or, one dream past, we slide into a new; + So close they follow and such wild order keep, + We think ourselves awake and are asleep; + So softly death succeeded life in her: + She did but dream of heaven and she was there." + + +DEFINITION OF DREAMS. + +Dreams are vagaries of the imagination, and in most instances proceed +from external sensations. They take place only when our sleep is +unsound, in which case the brain and nervous system are capable of +performing certain motions. We seldom dream during the first hours of +sleep; perhaps because the nervous fluid is then too much exhausted; but +dreams mostly occur towards the morning, when this fluid has been, in +some measure, restored. + +Every thing capable of interrupting the tranquillity of mind and body, +may produce dreams; such are the various kinds of grief and sorrow, +exertions of the mind, affections and passions, crude and undigested +food, a hard and inconvenient posture of the body. Those ideas which +have lately occupied our minds or made a lively impression upon us, +generally constitute the principal subject of a dream, and more or less +employ our imagination, when we are asleep. + +Animals are likewise apt to dream, though seldom; and even men living +temperately, and enjoying a perfect state of health, are seldom +disturbed with this play of the fancy. And, indeed, there are examples +of lively and spirited persons who never dream at all. The great +physiologist Haller considers dreaming as a symptom of disease, or as a +stimulating cause, by which the perfect tranquillity of the sensorium is +interrupted. Hence, that sleep is the most refreshing, which is +undisturbed by dreams, or, at least, when we have the distinct +recollection of them. Most of our dreams are then nothing more than +sports of the fancy, and derive their origin chiefly from external +impressions; almost every thing we see and hear, when awake, leads our +imagination to collateral notions or representations, which, in a +manner, spontaneously, and without the least effort, associate with +external sensations. The place where a person whom we love formerly +resided, a dress similar to that which we have seen her wear, or the +objects that employed her attention, no sooner catch our eye, than she +immediately occupies our mind. And, though these images associating with +external sensations, do not arrive at complete consciousness within the +power of imagination, yet even in their latent state they may become +very strong and permanent. + +Cicero furnishes us with a story of two Arcadians, who, travelling +together, arrived at Megara, a city of Greece, between Athens and +Corinth, where one of them lodged in a friend's house, and the other at +an inn. After supper, the person who lodged at the private house went to +bed, and falling asleep, dreamed that his friend at the inn appeared to +him and begged his assistance, because the innkeeper was going to kill +him. The man immediately got out of bed much frightened at the dream; +but recovering himself, and falling asleep again, his friend appeared to +him a second time, and desired that, as he would not assist him in time, +he would take care at least not to let his death go unpunished; that the +innkeeper having murdered him had thrown his body into a cart and +covered it with dung; he therefore begged that he would be at the city +gate in the morning, before the cart was out; struck with this new +dream, he went early to the gate, saw the cart, and asked the driver +what was in it; the driver immediately fled, the dead body was taken +out of the cart, and the innkeeper apprehended and executed. + +It is very frequently observed, that in a dream a series of +representations is suddenly interrupted, and another series of a very +different kind occupies its place. This happens as soon as an idea +associates itself; which, from whatever cause, is more interesting than +that immediately preceding. The last then becomes the prevailing one, +and determines the association. Yet, by this too, the imagination is +frequently reconducted to the former series. The interruption in the +course of the preceding occurrences is remarked, and the power of +abstracting similarities is in search of the cause of this irregularity. +Hence, in such cases, there usually happens some unfortunate event or +other, which occasions the interruption of the story. The representing +power may again suddenly conduct us to another series of ideas, and thus +the imagination may be led by the subreasoning power before defined, +from one scene to another. Of this kind, for instance, is the following +remarkable dream, as related and explained in the works of professor +Maas of Halle: "I dreamed once," says he "that the Pope visited me. He +commanded me to open my desk, and carefully examined all the papers it +contained. While he was thus employed, a very sparkling diamond fell out +of his triple crown into my desk, of which, however, neither of us took +any notice. As soon as the Pope had withdrawn, I retired to bed, but was +soon obliged to rise, on account of a thick smoke, the cause of which I +had yet to learn. Upon examination I discovered, that the diamond had +set fire to the papers in my desk, and burnt them to ashes." + +On account of the peculiar circumstances by which this dream was +occasioned, it deserves the following short analysis. "On the preceding +evening," says professor Maas, "I was visited by a friend with whom I +had a lively conversation, upon Joseph IInd's suppression of monasteries +and convents. With this idea, though I did not become conscious of it in +my dream, was associated the visit which the Pope publicly paid the +Emperor Joseph at Vienna, in consequence of the measures taken against +the clergy; and with this again was combined, however faintly, the +representation of the visit, which had been paid me by my friend. These +two events were, by the subreasoning faculty, compounded into one, +according to the established rule--that things which agree in their +parts, also correspond as to the whole;--hence the Pope's visit, was +changed into a visit made to me. The subreasoning faculty then, in order +to account for this extraordinary visit, fixed upon that which was the +most important object in my room, namely, the desk, or rather the papers +contained in it. That a diamond fell out of the triple crown was a +collateral association, which was owing merely to the representation of +the desk. Some days before when opening the desk, I had broken the glass +of my watch, which I held in my hand, and the fragments fell among the +papers. Hence no farther attention was paid to the diamond, being a +representation of a collateral series of things. But afterwards the +representation of the sparkling stones was again excited, and became the +prevailing idea; hence it determined the succeeding association. On +account of its similarity, it excited, the representation of fire, with +which it was confounded; hence arose fire and smoke.--But, in the event, +the writings only were burnt, not the desk itself; to which, being of +comparatively less value, the attention was not at all directed." It is +farther observable, that there are in the human mind certain obscure +representations, and that it is necessary to be convinced of the reality +of these images, if we are desirous of perceiving the connexion, which +subsists among the operations of the imagination. Of the numerous +phenomena, founded on obscure ideas, and which consequently prove their +existence, we shall only remark the following. It is a well known fact, +that many dreams originate in the impressions made in the body during +sleep; and they consist of analogous images or such as are associated +with sensations that would arise from these impressions, during a waking +state. Hence, for instance, if our legs are placed in a perpendicular +posture, we are often terrified by a dream that implies the imminent +danger of falling from a steep rock or precipice. The mind must +represent to itself these external impressions in a lively manner, +otherwise no ideal picture could be thus excited; but, as we do not +become at all conscious of them, they are but faintly and obscurely +represented. + +If we make a resolution to rise earlier in the morning than usual; and +if we impress the determination on our mind, immediately before going to +rest, we are almost certain to succeed. Now it is self-evident that this +success cannot be ascribed to the efforts of the body, but altogether to +the mind, which probably, during sleep perceives and computes the +duration of time, so that it makes an impression on the body, which +enables us to awake at an appointed hour. Yet all this takes place, +without our consciousness, and the representations remain obscure. Many +productions of art are so complicated, that a variety of simple +conceptions are requisite to lay the foundation of them; yet the artist +is almost entirely unconscious of these individual notions. Thus a +person performs a piece of music, without being obliged to reflect, in a +conscious manner, on the signification of the notes, their value, and +the order of the fingers he must observe; nay even without clearly +distinguishing the strings of the harp, or the keys of the harpsichord. +We cannot attribute this to the mechanism of the body, which might +gradually accustom itself to the accurate placing of the fingers. This +could be applied only where we place a piece of music, frequently +practised; but it is totally inapplicable to a new piece, which is +played by the professor with equal facility, though he has never seen it +before. In the latter case there must arise, necessarily, an ideal +representation, or an act of judgment, previous to every motion of the +finger. + +These arguments, we trust, are sufficient, to evince the occurrence of +these obscure notions and representations, from which all our dreams +originate. Before, however, we close this subject, we shall relate the +following extraordinary dream of the celebrated Galileo, who at a very +advanced age had lost his sight. In one of his walks over a beautiful +plain, conducted by his pupil Troicelli, the venerable sage related the +following dream to him. "Once," said he, "my eyes permitted me to enjoy +the charms of these fields. But now, since their light is extinguished, +these pleasures are lost to me for ever. Heaven justly inflicts the +punishment which was predicted to me many years ago. When in prison, and +impatiently languishing for liberty, I began to be discontented with the +ways of Providence; Copernicus appeared to me in a dream; his celestial +spirit conducted me over luminous stars, and, in a threatening voice, +reprehended me for having murmured against him, at whose _fiat_ all +these worlds had proceeded from nothing. 'A time shall come (said he) +when thine eyes shall refuse to assist thee in contemplating these +wonders.'" + +We shall now proceed to notice the subject of dreams in another point of +view--that is, as being employed as a medium of divination in the cure +of diseases, in which the fancies of the brain appear, in reality, to as +little advantage as they do with reference to any other considerations +in which such pretended omens exist. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[81] Wolfius, Psychol. Empir. Sect. 123. + +[82] Mém. de l'acad. de Berlin, tom. ii. p. 316. + +[83] Arist. de insomn. cap 3. + +[84] Quae in vita usurpant homines, cogitant, curant, vident quaeque +agunt vigilantes, agitantque, ea cuique in somno accidunt. _De Div._ + +[85] Essay on Human Understanding, book, chap. i. sect 17. + +[86] Obs, on Man, vol. 1, sect. 5. + +[87] There is a phenomenon in the mind, which, though it happen to us +while we are perfectly awake, yet approaches the nearest to sleep of any +I know. It is called the _Reverie_, or, as some term it, the _brown +study_, a sort of middle state between waking and sleeping; in which, +though our eyes are open, our senses seem to be entirely shut up, and we +are quite insensible of every thing about us, yet we are all the while +engaged in a musing indolence of thought, or a supine and lolling kind +of roving from one fairy scene to another, without any self-command; +from which, if any noise or accident rouse us, we wake as from a real +dream, and are often as much at a loss to tell how our thoughts were +employed, as if we had waked from the soundest sleep. This is frequently +called _dreaming_, sometimes _absence_, a thing often observed in lovers +and people of a melancholy or indeed speculative turn.--_Fordyce's +Dialogues concerning education, vol. II. p. 255._ + +[88] Leviathan, part. 1. c. 1. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +ON INCUBATION; OR THE ART OF HEALING BY VISIONARY DIVINATION. + +Medicine unquestionably ranks among the most ancient of all human +sciences. In the infant state of society, when simplicity of manners +characterised the pursuits of mankind, medical assistance was little +wanted; but when the nature of man degenerated, and vice and luxury +corrupted his habits of innocence and temperance, diseases sprung up +which those aids alone could check or eradicate. The knowledge of them +at first could not fail to be empirical and precarious. The sick were +placed in the high ways, that travellers and passers by might assist +them with their counsel; and at length the priesthood appropriated this +privilege exclusively to themselves. + +It was not merely the sacerdotal dignity which rendered them objects of +awe and reverence to the illiterate multitude; the priests were regarded +as the depositaries of science and learning; and proved themselves as +skilful as they were successful, in cementing their influence by those +arts which were best calculated to inflame the prejudices of the vulgar +in their favour. + +It is the work of ages to wean men and nations from popular illusions, +and the deep-rooted opinions transmitted from sire to son: it cannot +therefore surprise us, that even when the intellectual energy of Greece +was signalizing itself by efforts which have commanded the admiration of +after ages, it should still remain a popular dogma in medicine "that +persons labouring under bodily infirmity, might be thrown into a state +of charmed torpor, in which, though destitute of any previous medical +knowledge, they would be enabled to ascertain the nature of their +malady, as well as of the diseases of others, and devise the means of +their cure." Upon this dogma was founded the mystery of incubations, or +the art of healing by visionary divination. + +It is not our object here to discuss whether a man can be capable of +divination: such a power, however, was assigned to him, not only by the +vulgar, but by the greater number of the philosophical sects of +antiquity; and it does appear to savour a little of temerity, that +Epicurus and the cynics should have ventured to reject a belief so +universally and strenuously maintained, and resting on an infinity of +traditions and accounts of prophets, in whom Greece had abounded from +her earliest times, and of whose divine gift of prophecy the firmest +conviction was currently entertained. Aeschylus, Plutarch, Apuleius, and +other Greek authors, bear ample testimony of this persuasion, and tell +us that by uncommon and irregular motions of the body intoxicating +vapours, or certain holy ejaculations, men might be thrown into an +enchanted trance; in which, being in a state between sleeping and +waking, they were unsusceptible of external impressions and obtaining a +glimpse of futurity, were gifted with the power of prophecy. Here their +allusion, however, only concerns the celebrated divinations of the +Pythia.[89] We must therefore, probe somewhat deeper, in order to +illustrate that species of divination which was the result of dreams, +and a source of divination on the nature of diseases and their remedies. + +This kind of superstition was in no less acceptation than the former +among the ancients, whose temples were constantly crowded with the sick, +and reverberated with their supplications for divinatory dreams, which +were regarded as an immediate gift from the gods. Indeed, the celestial +origin of dreams was universally admitted by the nations of antiquity, +and thence also their efficacy as oracles. Nothing could be more natural +than such an idea. From the crude and imperfect notions which long +prevailed with respect to the soul, it was scarcely possible for them to +ascribe the impressions, which their memory retained of the creation of +their fancy during their slumbers, to the instrumentality of their own +conceits; they could not fail therefore to impute them to the +interposition of some foreign agent, and to whom more naturally could +they refer them than to a divinity? When awake, they imagined themselves +always attended by the gods in person, and ascribed every thought, and +resolved every appearance or accident, which deviated from the common +course of nature, to the immediate influence of a superintending deity. +It was under such impressions that so many nations originally rested +their belief in divinatory dreams. The records of antiquity therefore +abound in instances (for the greater part of an early date) where the +actions of men have been the result of a dream, whose conceit was +entirely at variance with the real state of their affairs. It was not +long before the diversity of dreams awakened their attention: some were +connected and simple, others were obscure, and made up of curious +fancies, though not incapable of being resolved by the windings and +turnings of allegory. + +It was no unnatural transition from the received belief in dreams, to +the idea that they might become the medium of seeking instruction from +the gods: hence the institution of oracles, whose responses were given +in dreams; and the addition of sleeping chambers to many temples, such +as those in Epidaurus and at Oropos. Here it was, that after pious +ceremonies and prayers, men laid themselves down in expectation of +dreams; when the expectation was realized, though the dream proved ever +so confused or intricate, the dreamer always succeeded in reconciling +it to his circumstances: his own belief and priestly wiles, readily +effected the solution. The conceit of dreams, according to the votary's +wishes, was so powerfully promoted by the preparatory initiation he had +undergone, that it would have been somewhat extraordinary had he been +altogether disappointed. He was generally anxious to increase the fame +of his divinity by his dream, and possessed a high veneration and deep +impression of the miracles which that divinity had wrought. With these +predispositions he resorted to the temple, where he had a whole day +before him to ponder on his malady, and on every sort of remedy that +might have been suggested to him; how natural was it, therefore, for his +busy imagination to fix, in his sleep, upon one particular remedy more +forcibly than upon another? Add to this, the solemn lonely hour of night +was the appointed hour for his sleep, which was preceded by prayer and +other inspiring ceremonies, that would naturally elevate his devotion to +the highest pitch. He had also previously perambulated the temple, and +with a full heart surveyed the offerings of those whose sickness had +departed from them. + +If all these preparations were unavailing, the officiants of the temple +had still means in reserve, by which the credulous should be thrown into +that bodily state which was indispensable to the divinatory sleep: of +these, succeeding instances will be hereafter produced. In those days, +there were however, some men from whom the somniferous faculty was +withheld: they were, therefore, admonished to repeat their prayers and +oblations, in order to win the divinity's favour: and the ultimate and +customary resort was, if success did not crown his perseverance, to +pronounce it a token, that such patients were an eyesore to the +divinity. + +From this divinatory sleep, arose the vulgar expressions in Greece +[Greek: enkoimasdai], and [Greek: enkoimaesis][90] The latin terms are +_incubare_ and _incubatio_ an exact translation of the Greek words. It +appears, therefore, that the Romans and Greeks were equally acquainted +with the institution; though we find but very little mention made of it +by the Latin writers, yet this is no argument against its prevalence +among the Romans, as we are left with as scanty accounts of many other +superstitions which were in vogue amongst them. It is highly probable +that it was not by any means so popular in Rome as in Greece; and the +cause of this may, perhaps, be found in the reflecting disposition and +sober character of the haughty Roman, to which the light and volatile +temperament of the Grecian, formed so striking a contrast. + +That incubation was a ready means of diving into the future, needs no +demonstration. Although its practice was chiefly resorted to in cases +where medical aid was desired, it was still made use of in every other +case, in which the ancient oracles were consulted. Whether it arose in +Greece, or migrated thither from the East, is a point with which the +ancients have left us unacquainted, though they advert to its prevalence +amongst those who were called barbarians. Strabo has several instances +of it, and particularly mentions a place in the Caspian sea, where such +an oracle existed;[91] he also relates, in his celebrated account of +Moses, that this law-giver laid it down, in common with the priests of +Esculapius, that to those who led a chaste and virtuous life the deity +would vouchsafe prophetical visions in his sanctuary; but to those who +were of idle and impure habits, they would be denied.[92] + +Pomponius Mela even mentions a savage nation, in the interior of +Africa, who laid themselves down to sleep on the grave-stones of their +ancestors, and looked upon the dreams they had on those spots as oracles +from the dead.[93] We shall see, hereafter, that this superstition was +equally indigenous among the Egyptians. Although it be doubtful whether +the Greeks owed this species of divination to their own invention or +not, its existence may at least be traced as far as the earliest ages of +their history; notwithstanding no positive mention of it has been made +either by Homer or the authors following him. + +The oracular power of dreams, and the sanctuaries where they are +supposed to be dispersed, have been diffusely treated of in the +compilations of Van Dale and other learned writers. These species of +oracles were in high estimation, even in the most enlightened and +flourishing periods of Greece; it is somewhat singular, however, that no +people cherished them more devoutly than the Spartans, who depended +altogether upon oracles in their weightiest affairs of state. Of all the +civilized nations of Greece, Sparta always approved herself the most +superstitious; her advancement was rather the effect of her policy, than +of any stimulus given to her civilization by science. This consideration +will enable us to account for the powerful influence which, even in the +latest stages of Lacedemonian story, attached to the responses of +Passiphae, a local goddess of Thalame, but little known beyond the +confines of Laconia. The extent of their influence is particularly +evident in the history of Agis and Cleomenes.[94] + +The greater part of these somnambulistic oracles were ascribed to +persons who had distinguished themselves as great dreamers when on +earth. In old times there was a description of prophets who pretended to +prepare themselves for the foreboding of future events through the +medium of sacred dreams. They were classed under the appellation of +[Greek: Oneiroploi], to which rank the most celebrated Vates of the +heroic age belonged. In this way it was that a sacred spot was dedicated +to Calchus, whence he gave his responses in dreams after his decease: +this spot lay in Daunia, on the coast of the Adriatic. The supplicant's +offices began with the offering up of a ram, on whose skin he laid +himself down, and in this situation, received the instruction he sought +for.[95] Amphilocus, a contemporary soothsayer, who accompanied the +Epigoni in the first Theban war, had a similar oracle at Mallos, in +Cilicia, which Pausanias asserts, even at the close of the second +century, to have been the most credible of his age; it is also mentioned +by Dion Cassius, in his history of Commodus.[96] + +The most famous, however, of this class of oracles, was that of +Amphiaraus, the father of Amphilocus, which was one of the five +principal oracles of Greece; he had signalized himself as a sapient +soothsayer in the first Theban war; and his oracle was situated at +Oropos, on the borders of Boetia and Attica. Of all others this deserves +our most particular attention, as it was resorted to more frequently in +cases of infirmity and disease, than in any other circumstances. His +responses were always delivered in dreams, in whose interpretation, as +he was the first to possess that faculty. Pausanias says he received +divine honours. Those who repaired to Amphiaraus's oracle to supplicate +his aid, laid themselves down in the manner we have just related, after +several preparatory lustrations and sacrifices, on the skin of a ram +slain in honour of the god, and awaited the dreams, which were to +unfold the means of their different cures. + +Lustrations and sacrifices were not, however, the only preparatives for +inducing the visionary disposition. The priests subjected the patients +to various others, which Philostratus affirms[97] to have been very +instrumental towards rendering the sleeper's mind clear and unclouded. +Part of these preparatives consisted in one day's abstinence from +eating, and three, nay, even in some cases, fifteen days' abstinence +from wine, the common beverage of the Greeks. This was the practice also +with other oracles; nor were the priests in the meantime insensible to +their own interests on these occasions; for those who were cured by +Amphiaraus's revelations were permitted to bathe in the sacred waters of +a fountain, into which they were enjoined to cast pieces of gold and +silver, which were destined, most probably, to sweeten the labours of +his officiants. + +The oracles, whose intervention was principally or altogether sought for +the healing of the sick by means of divination founded on dreams, were +scattered over Greece, Italy, Egypt, and other countries. As regards +those of Egypt, it may be remarked, that although many of the Egyptians +believed there were thirty-six demons, or aerial deities, each of whom +had the care of a certain portion of the human frame, and when that +portion was diseased, would heal it on the patient's earnest prayer, yet +a variety of their oracles, such as those of Serapis, Isis, and Phthas, +the Hephaestos of the Greeks, appertained to the class, which is the +present object of our inquiry. + +The oracle Serapis was situated near Canopus; it was visited with the +highest veneration by the wealthiest and most illustrious Egyptians, and +contained ample records of miraculous cures which that god had performed +on sleepers.[98] Isis, it is said, effected similar cures in her +lifetime, whence it became her office, in her after state of +deification, to reveal in dreams the most efficacious remedies to the +sick. Indeed the healing powers of this goddess were such, that, as we +are told by Diodorus,[99] the remedies she prescribed never failed of +their effect, and that convalescents were daily seen returning from her +temple, many of whom had been abandoned as incurable by the physicians. + +The third oracle of the sick was consecrated to Phthas, and lay near +Memphis, but it is seldom mentioned by the ancients.[100] + +In Italy there existed two oracles, whose responses were imparted in +dreams, before the worship of Esculapius was introduced from Greece. One +of them only belongs to this place, that of the physician Podalirus, in +Daunia,[101] which is mentioned by Lycophron.[102] Subsequently it is well +known incubation was practised after the Grecian form in the Roman +temple of Aesculapius on the Insula Tiberina.[103] + +This description of oracles abounded throughout Greece; the most +memorable of which was that on the Asiatic coast, between Trattis and +Nyssa, which is more particularly described by Strabo than any other. +Not far from the town of Nyssa, says he, there is a place called +Charaka, where we find a grove and temple sacred to Pluto and +Proserpine, and close to the grove a subterraneous cave, of a most +extraordinary nature. It is related of it, that diseased persons, who +have faith in the remedies predicted by those deities, are accustomed to +resort to it and pass some time with experienced priests, who reside +near the cave. These priests lay themselves down to sleep in the cave, +and afterwards order such medicine as have been revealed to them there, +to be furnished to their patients in the temple. They frequently conduct +the sick themselves into the cave, where they remain for several days +together, without touching a morsel of food; nor are the profane +withheld from a participation in the _divinatory_ sleep, though this is +not permitted otherwise than under the controul, and with the sacred +sanction, of the priests. There is, however, nothing more surprising +about this place than that it is esteemed _noxious and fatal to the +healthy_.[104] This last remark of our geographer, proves how jealous the +priestly physicians were of their medical monopoly, and how fearful lest +the _saner_ part of mankind should detect and expose the pretended +virtues of their medical sanctuary. + +We have hitherto mentioned the name of Aesculapius but casually, though +there was no god of antiquity more celebrated for curing every species +of malady by the incubatory process. He was particularly designated by +the Greeks as "the sender of dreams," [Greek: Oneiropompon]; nor could +any other deity boast of so great a number of those oracles. The most +distinguished of these was the oracle of Epidaurus, in the Argivian +territory; from which spot his worship extended over a great proportion +of the old world;--hither, as being the place of his birth and the site +of his richest temple, crowds of sick persons constantly repaired in +quest of dreams. The success attending them was diligently set forth on +every wall of the temple; where the _tabulae votivae_ recorded the names +of those who had been healed, the nature of their maladies, and the cure +which the god prescribed. Similar circumstances are related of his +Temple at Triccae, in Thessaly, where Esculapius was held in great +veneration at a very early period; there appears also to have been +another such temple either at or near Athens,[105] where we must look for +the scene of the ridiculous cure which Aristophanes makes Aesculapius to +perform on the blind god of riches. Though there is undoubtedly a rich +vein of the burlesque in the Plutus of the Grecian dramatist, yet we may +gather much concerning our present subject from the scene in which the +slave, who had attended Plutus in the Temple, relates the whole process +of his master's wife. Here also the night was the chosen period of +incubation. Before the signal for sleep was given, the officiants of the +temple extinguished all the lights in the sick men's chamber; thus +involving them in a solemn stillness and obscurity highly favourable to +the work in hand, but in a particular manner to the subterfuge of the +priests, who enacted the nocturnal apparition of Aesculapius to his sick +client. + +This passage in Plutus is certainly the earliest circumstantial +relation we possess of the practice of this species of incubation.[106] +The license permitted to Grecian comedy was such as to authorise the +ridicule and contempt of the most popular deities; we are not, therefore +to conclude from the scenes that there were many unbelievers, or that +this ancient system of cure had sunk into disrepute: for the history of +our comedian's great contemporary, Hippocrates, informs us, that at this +very time the temple of Aesculapius at Cos abounded in tablets, on which +the sick attested the remedies that had been revealed to them during +incubation, and that he himself was highly indebted to them for much of +his medical knowledge. + +Were it not authenticated by the most undeniable testimonies, it would +appear incredible that the impostures of the disciples of Aesculapius, +and the common faith in his regenerative powers, should have survived +with equal potency and acceptation during the ages immediately +succeeding the Christian era. It must not however, be forgotten, that +these were the times also, when an infinity of superstitious of every +description disgraced the Roman world; although it would have appeared a +necessary consequence, that their prevalency should have been checked by +the increasing determination of learning and science. + +If at this period the number of dreaming patients had fallen off at Cos +and Epidaurus, the deficiency was amply compensated by the growing +popularity of Aesculapius's shrines at Rome, Pergamus, Alaea, Mallos, +and other places, where the ancient rituals were faithfully preserved. +The highest magistrates in the Roman states not only countenanced, but +patronised the superstition; Marcus Aurelius, by the friendship with +which he honoured the Paphlagonian imposter Alexander, and Caracalla, by +the journey he undertook to Pergamus, to obtain the cure of a disease +which inflicted him. This Alexander, the Cagliostro of his age, whose +memoirs have been handed down to us by Lucian, made shift to father a +new species of juggling upon the ancient process of incubation: for he +pretends that it was necessary for him to sleep for a night in the +sealed scrips which contain the queries he was to have resolved for +those who visited his oracle.[107] During this interval he dexterously +opened the scrips, and sealed them up again; pretending that the +responses which he delivered to the querists in the morning, had been +revealed to him by the deity in a dream. + +The priests of Aesculapius possessed a never failing source of +information on the recipes or votive tablets with which these temples +abounded. These were sometimes engraven on pillars, as at Epidaurus; of +which Pausanias says there were six remaining in his time, and besides +these, one in particular removed from the rest, on which it was recorded +that Hippolytus had sacrificed twenty horses, in return for his having +been restored to life by him. Five memorials only of this kind have +reached the present age. One of them is to be found in the beginning of +Galen's fifth book de Compos, medic.: it is taken from the temple of +Phthas, near Memphis, and is the least interesting of the whole. Its +subject is the use of the Diktamnus, borrowed from Heras of Cappadocia, +a medical writer, frequently quoted by Galen. The remaining four are +much more important: they were engraven on a marble slab,[108] of later +date at Rome, and are thought, with much probability, to have belonged +to the Aesculapian temple in the Insula Tiberina. The present +translation, in which some errors either of the artist or copyist are +rectified, is extracted from the first volume of Gruter's Corp. +Inscriptionum. The narrations are perspicuous and laconic. + +1. "In these latter days, a certain blind man, by name Caius, had this +oracle vouchsafed to him--'that he should draw near to the altar after +the manner of one who could see; then walk from right to left, lay the +five fingers of his right hand on the altar, then raise up his hand and +place it on his eyes.' And behold! the multitude saw the blind man open +his eyes, and they rejoiced, such splendid miracles should signalize the +reign of our Emperor Antoninus." + +2. "To Lucius, who was so wasted away by pains in his side, that all +doubted of his recovery, the god gave this response: 'Approach thou the +altar; take ashes from it, mix them up with wine and then lay thyself on +thy sore side.' And the man recovered, and openly returned thanks to the +god amidst the congratulations of the people." + +3. "To Julian who spitted blood, and was given over by every one, the +god granted this response: 'Draw near, take pine apples from off the +altar, and eat them with wine for three days. And the man got well, and +came and gave thanks in the presence of the people." + +4. "A blind soldier, Valerius Asper by name, received this answer from +the god: that he should mix the blood of a white cock with milk, make an +eye ointment therewith, and rub his eyes with it for three days. And lo! +the blind recovered his sight, and came, and publicly gave thanks to the +god." + +The success with which the Priests of Aesculapius carried on their +impostures, and the popularity which their dexterous management, no less +than the vulgar credulity obtained for them, will cease to surprise us +on maturer consideration. It could not be a difficult task for them to +give the minds of their patients whatever bias was best adapted to their +purposes. These credulous beings passed several days and nights in the +temple, and their imagination could not fail to be powerfully impressed +with what was diligently told them of the prescriptions and cures of +Aesculapius; nor to retain during their slumbers many lively impressions +of their meditations by day; their priestly nurses too were neither so +blind to their own interests, nor so careless of their reputations as to +omit the prescribing of such modes of diet and medical remedies as were +calculated to appease their patients' sufferings. Besides which, however +delusive and empirical their outward ceremonials and bold pretensions +might have been, we should remember, that priests, having some +acquaintance with the science of medicine, were generally selected to +officiate on those spots where the incubitary process[109] was the order +of the day. To this acquaintance were added the results of daily +experience, and the frequent opportunities which the incessant demands +of the infirm upon their skill afforded them of correcting previous +errors and improving their practical knowledge: of gradually +ascertaining the various kinds and appearances of human disorders; and +of digesting such data as would enable them, with the least possible +chance of failure, to prescribe the modes of cure and treatment suitable +to the various stages and species of the applicant's maladies. With such +means, it would have been not a little singular if the priests of +Aesculapius had failed in converting the popular veneration to his +credit and their own emolument. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[89] The Priestess of Apollo, by whom he delivered oracles. She was +called Pythia from the god himself, who was styled Apollo Pythius, from +his slaying the serpent Python. The Priestess was to be a pure virgin. +She sat on the covercle or lid of a brazen vessel, mounted on a tripod, +and thence, after a violent enthusiasm, she delivered his oracles; i.e. +she rehearsed a few ambiguous and obscure verses, which were taken for +oracles. + +[90] These words are but ill explained by the best Greek Lexicographers. +Servius ad Virg., Aen. vii. 88, says: _Incubare dicuntur proprie hic, +qui dormiunt accipienda responsa_. Tertullian de Anima, C. 49, thence +calls them _Incubatores fanorum_. + +[91] Lib. XI. p. 108. Paris, fol. 1620. + +[92] Ibid. lib. XVI. p. 761. + +[93] De situ orbis, lib. I. cap. 1. + +[94] Plutarch apud Agis et Cleomen. Cicero (de Div. 1. c. 48) probably +alludes to this oracle, when he says, that the Ephori of Sparta were +accustomed to sleep in the temple of Pasiphae on state emergencies. +There was a similar oracle in the neighbourhood of Thalame, not fur from +Aetylum, sacred to Ino. + +[95] Strabo, lib. VI. p, 284. + +[96] Pausanias, 1, 35. + +[97] De vita Apoll. Thyan, 11. 37. + +[98] Strabo, lib. xvii. p. 801. Anian. Exped. Alex, vii. 6. + +[99] In Egypt lib. I, 25. + +[100] Galen de comp. Med. p. Gen v. 2. + +[101] Podalirius and Machaon, the two sons of Esculapius. The state of +medicine at the time of the Trojan war was very imperfect, as we find +exemplified by these two acting as surgeons general to the Grecian army. +Their simple practice consisted chiefly in extracting darts or arrows, +in staunching blood by some infusion of bitter herbs, and sometimes they +added charms or incantations; which seemed to be a poetical way of +hinting, that frequently wounds were healed or diseases cured in a +manner unaccountable by any known properties they could discover either +in the effects of their rude remedies, or in the then known powers of +the human body to relieve itself. In Homer's description of the wound +which Ulysses, when young, received in his thigh from the tusk of an +enraged wild boar, the infusion of blood was stopped by divine +incantations and divine songs, and some sort of bandage which must have +acted by pressure. If any virtue could have acted as a charm, the very +verse that describes the wound might have as good a right to such a +claim as any other; but, in what manner the surgeons of ancient Greece, +before the discovery of the circulation of the blood, might apply +bandages for the purposes here mentioned, is not easily explained; +though doubtless these bandages must have acted like a tourniquet, which +is now the most effectual remedy for compressing a wounded artery, and +thereby stopping an hemorrhage. + +[102] Alexand. 1050. + +[103] Suet. Claid. c. 28. + +[104] Strabo. lib. xiii. Pausan. lib. ii. + +[105] Scholia ad Plut. v. 621 + +[106] Aristoph, Plut act. ii, sc. 6, and iii. sc 2. + +[107] Luciani, oper. t. ii. ed Reitzii. + +[108] It is often called by antiquaries _Tabella Marmorea apud +Maffaeos_, as it was first preserved in the collection. + +[109] It is somewhat singular, that Cicero's treatise on divination, as +well as the works of Hippocrates and Galen, should be so destitute of +information on the subject of a mode of cure which was of such long +standing, and so universally esteemed. From the two last, one should at +least have expected something more satisfactory: Cos being the +birthplace of the one, and Pergamus of the other. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +ON AMULETS, CHARMS, TALISMANS--PHILTERS, THEIR ORIGIN AND IMAGINARY +EFFICACY, ETC. + +Amulets are certain substances worn about the neck or other parts of the +body, under the superstitious impression of preventing diseases, of +curing, or removing them. + +The origin of amulets may be traced to the most remote ages of mankind. +In our researches to discover and fix the period when remedies were +first employed for the alleviation of bodily suffering, we are soon lost +in conjecture or involved in fable. We are unable, indeed, to reach the +period in any country, when the inhabitants were destitute of medical +resources, and even among the most uncultivated tribes we find medicine +cherished as a blessing and practised as an art. The feelings of the +sufferer, and the anxiety of those about him, must, in the rudest state +of society, have incited a spirit of industry and research to procure +ease, the modification of heat and cold, of moisture and dryness; and +the regulation and change of diet and habit, must intuitively have +suggested themselves for the relief of pain; and when these resources +failed, charms, amulets, and incantations, were the natural expedients +of the barbarians, ever more inclined to indulge the delusive hope of +superstition than to listen to the voice of sober reason. + +Traces of amulets may be discovered in very early history, though Dr. +Warburton is evidently in error when he fixes the origin of these +magical instruments to the age of the Ptolomies, which was not more than +three hundred years before Christ. This assertion is refuted by Galen, +who informs us the Egyptian King Nechepsus, who lived 630 years before +Christ, had written, that a green jasper cut into the form of a dragon +surrounded with rays, if applied externally, would strengthen the +stomach and organs of digestion. This opinion, moreover, is supported by +scripture: for what were the earrings which Jacob buried under the oak +of Sechem, as related in Genesis, but amulets. And Josephus in his +antiquities of the Jews,[110] informs us that Solomon discovered a plant +efficacious in the cure of epilepsy, and that he employed the aid of a +charm, for the purposes of assisting its virtues. The root of the herb +was concealed in a ring, which was applied to the nostrils of the +demoniac; and Josephus remarks that he saw himself a Jewish priest +practise the art of Solomon with complete success in the presence of the +Emperor Vespasian, his sons and the tribunes of the Roman army. From +this art of Solomon, exhibited through the medium of a ring or seal, we +have the Eastern stories which celebrate the seal of Solomon, and record +the potency of his sway over the various orders of demons or of genii, +who were supposed to be the invincible tormentors or benefactors of the +human race. + +Nor were such means confined to dark and barbarous ages. Theophrastus +pronounced Pericles to be insane in consequence of seeing him with an +amulet suspended from his neck. And in the declining era of the Roman +Empire, we find this superstitious custom so general that the Emperor +Caracalla was induced to make a public edict, ordering, that no man +should wear any superstitious amulets about his person. + +All remedies working as it were sympathetically, and plainly unequal to +the effect, may be termed amulets; whether used at a distance by another +person, or carried immediately about the patient. By the Jews, amulets +were called _kamea_, and by the Greeks _phylacteries_. The latins called +them _amuleta_ or _ligatura_; the catholics _agnus dei_, or consecrated +relics; and the natives of Guinea _fetishes_. Various kinds of +substances are employed by different people, and which they venerate and +suppose capable of preserving them from danger and infection, as well as +to remove disease when present. Plutarch says of Pericles, an Athenian +general, that when a friend come to see him, and inquired after his +health he reached out his hand and shewed him his amulet; by which he +meant to intimate the truth of his illness, and, at the same time, the +confidence he placed in these popular remedies. + +Amulets are still prevalent in catholic countries at the present day; +the Spaniards and Portuguese maintain their popularity. Among the Jews +they are equally venerated. Indeed, there are few instances of ancient +superstition some portion of which has not been preserved, and not +unfrequently have they been adopted by men of otherwise good +understanding, who plead in excuse, that they are innoxious, cost +little, and if they can do no good, they can do no harm. + +Lord Bacon, whom no one can suspect of ignorance, says, that if a man +wear a bone ring or a planet seal, strongly believing, by that means, +that he might obtain his mistress, and that it would preserve him unhurt +at sea, or in a battle, it would probably make him more active and less +timid; as the audacity they might inspire would conquer and bind weaker +minds in the execution of a peculiar duty. + + +AMULETS USED BY THE COMMON PEOPLE. + +A variety of things are worn about the person by the common people for +the cure of ague; and, upon whatever principle it may be accounted for, +whether by the imagination or a natural termination of the disease, many +have apparently been cured by them, where the Peruvian bark, the boasted +specific, had previously failed. Dr. Willis says that charms resisting +agues have often been applied to the wrist with success. ABRACADABRA, +written in a peculiar manner, that is, in the form of a cone, it is +said, has cured the ague; the herb lunaria, gathered by moon-light, has, +on some high authorities, performed surprising cures. Perhaps it was +gathered during the invocating influence of the following charm, which +may be found in the 12th book, chap. XIV. p. 177 of "Scot's discovery of +witchcraft," which is headed thus:-- + + "_Another charme that witches use at the gathering of + their medicinal herbs._" + + Haile be thou holy herbe, + Growing in the ground. + And in the mount Calvaire + First wert thou found. + Thou art good for many a sore, + And healest many a wound, + In the name of sweet Jesus + I take thee from the ground. + +We are told that Naaman was cured by dipping seven times in the river +Jordan. Certain formalities were also performed at the pool of Bethesda. +Dr. Chamberlayne's anodyne necklaces, were, for a length of time, +objects of the most anxious maternal solicitude, until their occult +virtues became lost by the reverence for them being destroyed; and those +which succeeded them have long since run their race or nearly so. + +The grey limewort was at one time supposed to have been a specific in +hydrophobia--that it not only cured those labouring under this disorder, +but by carrying it about the person, it was reputed to possess the +extraordinary power of preventing mad dogs from biting them. Calvert +paid devotions to St. Hubert for the recovery of his son, who was cured +by this means. The son also performed the necessary rites at the shrine, +and was cured not only of the hydrophobia "but of the worser phrensy +with which his father had instilled him." Cramp-rings were also used; +and eelskins to this day are tied round the legs as a preventive of this +spasmodic affection; and by laying sticks across the floor, on going to +bed, cramp has also been prevented. + +Numerous are the charms and incantations used at the present day for the +removal of warts, many cases of which are not a little surprising. And +we are told by Lord Verulam, who is allowed to have been as great a +genius as this country ever produced, that, when he was at Paris, he had +above a hundred warts on his hands; and that the English ambassador's +lady, then at court, and a woman far above superstition, removed them +all by only rubbing them with the fat side of the rind of a piece of +bacon, which they afterwards nailed to a post, with the fat side towards +the south. In five weeks, says my Lord, they were all removed. The +following are his Lordship's observations, in his own words, relative to +the power of amulets. After deep metaphysical observations on nature, +and arguing in mitigation of sorcery, witchcraft, and divination, +effects that far outstrip the belief in amulets, he observes "We should +not reject all of this kind, because it is not known how far those +contributing to superstition, depend on natural causes. Charms have not +the power from contract with evil spirits, but proceed wholly from +strengthening the imagination: in the same manner that images and their +influence, have prevailed on religion, being called from a different way +of use and application, sigils, incantations, and spells." + + +ECCENTRICITIES, CAPRICES, AND EFFECTS, OF THE IMAGINATION. + +A certain writer, apologizing for the irregularities of great genii, +delivers himself as follows: "The gifts of imagination bring the +heaviest task upon, the vigilance of reason; and to bear those faculties +with unerring rectitude or invariable propriety, requires a degree of +firmness and of cool attention, which does not always attend the higher +gifts of the mind. Yet, difficult as nature herself seems to have +reduced the task of regularity to genius, it is the supreme consolation +of dullness, to seize upon those excesses, which are the overflowings of +faculties they never enjoyed."[111] Are not the _gifts of imagination_ +mistaken here for the strength of passions? Doubtless, where strong +passions accompany great parts, as perhaps they often do, the +imagination may encrease their force and activity: but, where passions +are calm and gentle, imagination of itself should seem to have no +conflict but speculatively with reason. There, indeed, it wages an +eternal war; and, if not contracted and strictly regulated, it will +carry the patient into endless extravagancies. The term patient is here +properly used, because men, under the influence of imagination, are most +truly distempered. The degree of this distemper will be in proportion to +the prevalence of imagination over reason, and, according to this +proportion, amount to more or less of the whimsical; but when reason +shall become, as it were, extinct, and imagination govern alone, then +the distemper will be madness under the wildest and most fantastic +modes. Thus, one of those invalids, perhaps, shall be all sorrow for +having been most unjustly deprived of the crown; though his vocation, +poor man! be that of a school-master. Another, like Horace's madman, is +all joy; and it may seem even cruelty to cure him. + +The operations and caprices of the imagination are various and endless; +and, as they cannot be reduced to regularity or system, so it is highly +improbable that any certain method of cure should ever be found out for +them. It has generally been thought, that matter of fact might most +successfully be opposed to the delusions of imagination, as being proof +to the senses, and carrying conviction unavoidably to the understanding; +but we rather suspect, that the understanding or reasoning faculty, has +little to do in all these cases: at least so it should seem from the two +following facts, which are by no means badly attested. + +Fienus, in his curious little book, _de Viribus Imaginationis_, records +from Donatus the case of a man, who fancied his body encreased to such a +size, that he durst not attempt to pass through the door of his chamber. +The physician believing that nothing could more effectually cure this +error of imagination, than to shew that the thing could actually be +done, caused the patient to be thrust forcibly through it: who, struck +with horror, and falling suddenly into agonies, complained of being +crushed to pieces, and expired soon after.[112] + +The other case, as related by Van Swieten, in his commentaries upon +Boerhaave, is that of a learned man, who had studied, till be fancied +his legs to be of glass: in consequence of which he durst not attempt to +stir, but was constantly under anxiety about them. His maid bringing one +day some wood to the fire, threw it carelessly down; and was severely +reprimanded by her master, who was terrified not a little for his legs +of glass. The surly wench, out of all patience with his megrims, as she +called them, gave him a blow with a log upon the parts affected; which +so enraged him, that he instantly rose up, and from that moment +recovered the use of his legs.--Was reason concerned any more here; or +was it not rather one blind impulse acting against another? + +Imagination has, unquestionably, a most powerful effect upon the mind, +and in all these miraculous cures, is by far the strongest ingredient. +Dr. Strother says, "The influence of the mind and passions works upon +the mind and body in sensible operations like a medicine, and is of far +the greater force than exercise. The countenance betrays a good or +wicked intention; and that good or wicked intention will produce in +different persons a strength to encounter, or a weakness to yield to the +preponderating side." Dr. Brown says, "Our looks discover our passions, +there being mystically in our faces certain characters, which carry in +them the motto of our souls, and, therefore, probably work secret +effects in other parts." This idea is beautifully illustrated by Garth +in his Dispensatory, in the following lines:-- + + "Thus paler looks impetuous rage proclaim, + And chilly virgins redden into flame. + See envy oft transformed in wan disguise, + And mirth sits gay and smiling in the eyes, + Oft our complexions do the soul declare, + And tell what passions in the features are. + Hence 'tis we look the wond'rous cause to find, + How body acts upon impassive mind." + +On the power and pleasure of the imagination, from the pleasures and +pains it administers here below, Addison concludes that God, who knows +all the ways of afflicting us, may so transport us hereafter with such +beautiful and glorious visions, or torment us with such hideous and +ghastly spectres, as might even of themselves suffice to make up the +entire heaven or hell of any future being. + + +DOCTRINE OF EFFLUVIA--MIRACULOUS CURES BY MEANS OF CHARMS, AMULETS, +ETC. + +Dr. Willis, in his Treatise on nervous disorders, does not hesitate to +recommend amulets in epileptic disorders. "Take," says he, "some fresh +peony roots, cut them into square bits, and hang them round the neck, +changing them as often as they dry." It is not improbable that the hint +was taken from this circumstance for the anodyne necklaces, which, some +time ago, were in such repute, as the Doctor, some little way further +on, prescribes the same root for the looseness, fevers, and convulsions +of children, during the time of teething, mixed, to make it appear more +miraculous, with some elk's hoof. + +St. Vitus's dance is said to have been cured by the afflicted person +paying a visit to the tomb of the saint, near Ulm, every May. Indeed, +there is no little reason in this assertion; for exercise and change of +air will change many obstinate diseases. The bite of the tarantula is +cured by music; and this only by certain tunes. Turner, whose ideas are +so extravagantly absurd, where he asserts, that the symptoms of +hydrophobia may not appear for forty years after the bite of the dog, +and who maintains that "the slaver or breath of such a dog is +infectious;" and that men bitten by mad dogs, will bite like dogs again, +and die mad; although he laughs at the anodyne necklaces, argues much in +the same manner. It is not, indeed, so very strange that the effluvia +from external medicines entering our bodies, should effect such +considerable changes, when we see the efficient cause of apoplexy, +epilepsy, hysterics, plague, and a number of other disorders, consists, +as it were, in imperceptible vapours.--Blood-stone (Lapis Aetites) +fastened to the arm by some secret means, is said to prevent abortion. +Sydenham, in the iliac passion, orders a live kitten to be constantly +applied to the abdomen; others have used pigeons split alive, applied to +the soles of the feet, with success, in pestilential fevers and +convulsions. It was doubtless the impression that relief might be +obtained by external agents, that the court of king David advised him to +seek a young virgin, in order that a portion of the natural heat might +be communicated to his body, and give strength to the decay of nature. +"Take the heart and liver of the fish and make a smoke, and the devil +shall smell it and flee away." During the plague at Marseilles, which +Belort attributed to the larvae of worms infecting the saliva, food, and +chyle; and which, he says, "were hatched by the stomach, took their +passage into the blood, at a certain size, hindering the circulation, +affecting the juices and solid parts." He advised amulets of mercury to +be worn in bags suspended at the chest and nostrils, either as a +safeguard, or as means of cure; by which method, through the +_admissiveness_ of the pores, effluvia specially destructive of all +venomous insects, were received into the blood. "An illustrious prince," +Belort says, "by wearing such an amulet, escaped the small-pox." + +Clognini, an Italian physician, ordered two or three drachms of crude +mercury to be worn as a defensive against the jaundice; and also as a +preservative against the noxious vapours of inclement seasons: "It +breaks," he observes, "and conquers the different figured seeds of +pestilential distempers floating in the air; or else, mixing with the +air, kills them where hatched." By others, the power of mercury, in +these cases, has been ascribed to an elective faculty given out by the +warmth of the body, which draws out the contagious particles. For, +according to this entertained notion, all bodies are continually +emitting effluvia, more or less, around them, and some whether they are +internal or external. The Bath waters, for instance, change the colour +of silver in the pocket of those who use them. Mercury produces the same +effect; Tartar emetic, rubbed on the pit of the stomach, produces +vomiting. Yawning and laughing are infectious; so are fear and shame. +The sight of sour things, or even the idea of them, will set the teeth +on edge. Small-pox, itch, and other diseases, are contagious; if so, say +they, mercurial amulets bid fair to destroy the germ of some complaints +when used only as an external application, either by manual attrition, +or worn as an amulet. But medicated or not, all amulets are precarious +and uncertain, and in the cure of diseases are, by no means, to be +trusted to. + +The Barbary Moors, and generally throughout the Mahommedan dominions, +the people are strikingly attached to charms, to which, and nature, they +leave the cure of almost every disorder; and this is the most strongly +impressed upon them from their belief in predestination, which, +according to their creed, stipulates the evil a man is to suffer, as +well as the length of time it is ordained he should live upon the land +of his forefathers; consequently they imagine that any interference from +secondary means would avail them nothing, an opinion said to have been +entertained by William III, but one by no means calculated for nations, +liberty, and commerce; upon the principle that when the one was +entrenched upon, men would probably be more sudden in their revenge, and +dislike physic and occupation; and when actuated with religious +enthusiasm, nothing could stand them in any service. + +The opinion of an old navy surgeon,[113] on the subject, is worth +recording here. "A long and intense passion on one object, whether of +pride, love, fear, anger, or envy, we see have brought on some universal +tremors; on others, convulsions, madness, melancholy, consumption, +hectics, or such a chronical disorder as has wasted their flesh, or +their strength, as certainly as the taking in of any poisonous drugs +would have done. Anything frightful, sudden, or surprising, upon soft, +timorous natures, not only shews itself in the continuance, but produces +sometimes very troublesome consequences--for instance, a parliamentary +fright will make even grown men _bewray_ themselves, scare them out of +their wits, turn the hair grey. Surprise removes the hooping cough; +looking from precipices or seeing wheels turn swiftly will give +giddiness. Shall then these little accidents, or the passions, (from +caprice or humour, perhaps,) produce those effects, and not be able to +do anything by amulets? No; as the spirits, in many cases, resort in +plenty, we find where the fancy determines, giving joy and gladness to +the heart, strength and fleetness to the limbs, and violent +palpitations. To amulets, under strong imagination, is carried with more +force to a distempered part, and, under these circumstances, its natural +powers exert better to a discussion. + +"The cures compassed in this manner," says our author, "are not more +admirable than many of the distempers themselves. Who can apprehend by +what impenetrable method the bite of a mad dog, or tarantula, can +produce these symptoms? The touch of a torpedo numbness? If they are +allowed to do these, doubtless they may the other; and not by miracles, +which Spinoza denies the possibility of, but by natural and regular +causes, though inscrutable to us. The best way, therefore, in using +amulets, must be in squaring them to the imagination of patients: let +the newness and surprise exceed the invention, and keep up the humour by +a long scroll of cures and vouchers; by these and such means, many +distempers have been cured. Quacks again, according to their boldness +and way of addressing (velvet and infallibility particularly) command +success by striking the fancies of an audience. If a few, more sensible +than the rest, see the doctor's miscarriages, and are not easily gulled +at first sight, yet, when they see a man is never ashamed, in time, jump +in to his assistance." + +There is much truth and pertinence in some of the above remarks, and +they apply nearly to the general practice of the present day. The farces +and whims of people require often as much discrimination on the part of +the physician as the disease itself. Those who know best how to flatter +such caprices, are frequently the best paid for their trouble. Nervous +diseases are always in season, and it is here that some professional +dexterity is pardonable. Nature, when uninterrupted, will often do more +than art; but our inability upon all occasions to appreciate the efforts +of nature in the cure of diseases, must always render our notion, with +respect to the powers faith, liable to numerous errors and deceptions. +There is, in fact, nothing more natural, and at the same time more +erroneous, than to lay the cure of a disease to the door of the last +medicine that had been prescribed. By these means the advocates of +amulets and charms, have ever been enabled to appeal to the testimony of +what they are pleased to call experience in justification of their +pretensions, and egregious superstitions; and cases which, in truth, +ought to have been classed, or rather designated, as lucky escapes, have +been triumphantly pulled off as skilful cures; and thus, medicines and +medical practitioners, have alike received the meed of unmerited praise, +or the stigma of unjust censure. Of all branches of human science, +medicine is one of the most interesting to mankind: and, accordingly as +it is erroneously or judiciously cultivated, is evidently conducive to +the prejudice or welfare of the public. Of how great consequence is it, +then, that our endeavours should be exerted in stemming the propagation +of errors, whether arising from ignorance, or prompted by motives of +base cupidity, in giving assistance to the disseminations of useful +truths, and to the perfection of ingenious discoveries. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[110] Lib. viii. chap. 2. 5. + +[111] Langhorne's Life of Mr. Collins + +[112] Reverii Praxis Medica, p. 188. + +[113] John Ailkin, author of the Navy Surgeon, 1742. Sec Demonologia, p. +64 et seg. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +ON TALISMANS--SOME CURIOUS, NATURAL ONES, ETC. + +The Egyptian amulets are not so ancient as the Babylonian talismans, but +in their uses they were exactly similar. Some little figures, supposed +to have been intended as charms, have been found on several mummies, +which, at various times, have been brought to Europe. Plutarch informs +us that the soldiers wore rings, on which the representation of an +insect resembling our beetle, was inscribed; and we learn from Aelian, +that the judges had always suspended round their necks a small figure of +Truth formed of emeralds. The superstitious belief in the virtues of +talismans is yet far from being extinct, the Copths, the Arabians, the +Syrians, and, indeed, almost all the inhabitants of Asia, west of the +Ganges, whether Christians or mahometans, still use them against +possible evils. + +There is little distinction between talismans, amulets and the +gree-grees of the Africans as regards their pretended efficacy; though +there is some in their external configuration. Magical figures, engraven +or cut under superstitious observances of the characterisms and +configurations of the heavens, are called talismans; to which +astrologers, hermetical philosophers, and other adepts, attribute +wonderful virtues, particularly that of calling down celestial +influences.[114] + +The talismans of the Samothracians, so famous of old, were pieces of +iron formed into certain images, and set in rings. They were reputed as +preservatives against all kinds of evils. There were other talismans +taken from vegetables, and others from minerals. Three kinds of +talismans were usually distinguished 1st. the _astronomical_ known by +the signs or constellations of the heavens engraven upon them, with +other figures, and some unintelligible characters; 2nd. the _magical_, +bearing very extraordinary figures, with superstitious words and names +of angels unheard of; 3rd. the _mixt_ talismans, which consist of signs +and barbarous words; but without any superstitious ones, or names of +angels. + +It has been asserted and maintained by some Rabins, that the brazen +serpent raised by Moses in the wilderness, for the destruction of the +serpents that annoyed the Israelites, was properly a talisman. All the +miraculous things wrought by Apollonius Tyanaeus are attributed to the +virtue and influence of _talismans_; and that wizard, as he is called, +is even said to be the inventor of them. Some authors take several +Runic medals,--medals, at least, whose inscriptions are in the Runic +characters,--for talismans, it being notorious that the northern +nations, in their heathen state, were much devoted to them, M. Keder, +however has shown, that the medals here spoken of are quite other things +than talismans. + +It appears from the Evangelists[115] that, when St. Paul, after he had +been shipwrecked, and escaped to the island of Malta, a viper fastened +on his hand as he was laying a bundle of sticks, he had gathered, on the +fire; and that, by a miracle, and to the great astonishment of the +spectators, inhabitants of the island, he not only suffered no harm, but +also cured, by the divine power, the chief of the island, and a great +number of others, of very dangerous maladies. There remain still in that +island, as so many trophies gained by the Apostle over that venemous +beast, a great many small stones representing the eyes and tongues of +serpents, and considered for several centuries past, as powerful amulets +against different sorts of distempers and poisons. As the virtue of +these stones is still much boasted of by the Maltese, and as some, on +the contrary, maintain that they are the petrified teeth of a fish +called lamia, it will not be irrelevant here to relate some observations +from the best authors on this interesting subject, so much to our +purpose. + +It is said that those eyes and tongues of serpents are only found by the +Maltese when they dig into the earth, which is whitish throughout the +island, or draw up stone, especially about the cave of St. Paul. This +stone is so soft, that, like clay, it may be cut through with any sharp +instrument, and made to receive easily different figures, for building +the walls of their houses and ramparts; but, when it has been imbibed +with a sufficient quantity of rain or well water, it changes into a +flint that resists the cutting of the sharpest instrument: whence the +houses that are built of it in the two cities, appear as hewn out of one +solid rock, and become harder, the more they are exposed to the +inclemencies of the weather. This hardness may, with good reason, be +ascribed to the salt of nitre, which contracts a certain viscidity from +the rain wherewith it is mixed, and which easily penetrates into these +stones, because their substance is spongy and cretaceous, and adheres to +the tongue as hartshorn. + +It is in these stones that not only the eyes and tongues of serpents are +found, but also their viscera and other parts: as lungs, liver, heart, +spleen, ribs, and so resembling life, and with such natural colours, +that one may well doubt whether they are the work of nature or art; the +figure of the eyes and tongues is very different. Some are elliptic, +but, for the greater part round: some represent an hemisphere, others a +segment, others an hyperbola. The glossopetrae are naturally of a conic +figure, representing acute, obtuse, regular, and irregular cones. They +are also of different colours, especially the eyes; for some of them are +of an ash-colour, others liver colour, some brown, others blackish; but +these, as most rare, are most esteemed. Bracelets are frequently made +of them and set in gold: some representing an entire eye with a white +pupil, and these are the most beautiful. Several are likewise found of +an orange colour. + +The virtues attributed by the Maltese to those eyes and tongues, and to +the white earth which is found in the island, particularly in St. Paul's +cave, and which is kept for use by the apothecaries, as the American +bole, are very singular; for they reckon them not only a preservative +against all sorts of poison, and an efficacious remedy for those who +have taken poison, but also good in a number of diseases. They are taken +internally, infused in water, wine, or in any other convenient liquor; +or let to lie for some hours in vessels made of the white earth; or the +white earth is taken itself dissolved in those liquors. The eyes set as +precious stones in rings, and so as to touch immediately the flesh, are +worn by the inhabitants on the fingers; but the tongues are fastened +about the arm, or suspended from the neck. + +Paul Bucconi, a Sicilian nobleman, treated this notion of the eyes and +tongues of serpents as a mere vulgar error; and maintains that they +either constitute a particular species of stone produced in the earth, +or in the stones of the island of Malta, as in their matrix; or that +they are nothing more than the petrified teeth of some marine fish; +which is also the opinion of Fabius Columna, Nicholas Steno and other +physicians and anatomists. + +It seems to this noble author that the glossopetrae should be classed in +the animal kingdom, because, being burnt, they are changed into cinders +as bones, before they are reduced into a calx or ashes, whilst calcined +stones are immediately reduced into a calx. He further says, that the +roots of the glossopetrae are often found broken in different ways, +which is an evident argument that they have not been produced by nature, +in the place they are digged out of, because nature forms other fossils, +figured entirely in their matrix, without any hurt or mutilation. Add to +this, that the substance is different in different parts of the +glossopetrae; solid at the point, less solid at the root, compact at the +surface, porous and fibrous in the interior: besides, the polished +surface, contrary to the custom of nature, which forms no stone, whether +common or precious, is polished; and, lastly, the figure that varies +different ways, as well as the size, being found great, broad, +triangular, narrow, small, very small, pyramidal, straight, curved +before, behind, to the right and to the left, in form of a saw with +small teeth, furnished with great jags or notches, and frequently +absolutely pyramidal without notches; all these particulars favour his +opinion. But, as he thence believes he has proved that the glossopetrae +should not be classed amongst stones, so also what he has said may prove +that they are the natural teeth of those fishes, which are called, by +lithographers, lamia, aquila, requiem, (shark) etc. and therefore there +scarce remains any reason for a further doubt on this head. + +There are representations of curiosities, which we shall give an account +of from the Ephemerides of the Curious. It is customary to see at +Batavia, in the island of Java, the figure of serpents impressed on the +shells of eggs, Andrew Cleyerus, a naturalist of considerable note, +says, that when he was at Batavia in 1679, he had seen himself, on the +14th of September, an egg newly laid by a hen, of the ordinary size, but +representing very exactly, towards the summit of the other part of the +shell, the figure of a serpent and all its parts, not only the +lineaments of the serpent were marked on the surface, but the three +dimensions of the body were as sensible as if they had been engraved by +an able sculptor, or impressed on wax, plaister or some other like +matter. One could see very plainly the head, ears, and a cloven tongue +starting out of the throat; the eyes were sparkling and resplendent, and +represented so perfectly the interior and exterior of the parts of the +eye, with their natural colours, that they seemed to behold with +astonishment the eyes even of the spectators. To account for this +phenomenon, it may be supposed that, the hen being near laying, a +serpent presented itself to her sight, and that her imagination, struck +thereby, impressed the figure of the serpent on the egg that was ready +to press out of the ovarium. + +An egg equally wonderful, was laid by a hen at Rome on the 14th. of +December, 1680. The famous comet that appeared then on the head of +Andromeda, with other stars, were seen represented on its shell. +Sebastian Scheffer says, that he had seen an egg with the representation +of an eclipse on it. Signor Magliabecchi, in his letter to the academy +of the Curious, on the 20th. of October 1682, has these words; "Last +month I had sent me from Rome, a drawing of an egg found at Tivoli, with +the impression of the sun and the transparent comet with a twisted +tail." + +There are also representations of Indian nuts, or small cocos, with the +head of an ape. The nut has been exactly engraved in the Ephemerides of +the Curious, both as to size and form, and covered with its shell, as +expressed there by cyphers and other figures which represent the same +nut stripped of its covering, and exhibiting the head of an ape. This +nut seems pretty much like the foreign fruit described by Clusius, +Exoticorum lib. a, which John Bauhin (Hist. Plant. Universal Lib. 3) +retaining the description of Clusius, calls, "a nut resembling the +areca," and which C. Bauhin (Pinac. lib. II, sect. 6) calls, the fruit +of the fourteenth of Palm-tree, that bears nuts, or a foreign fruit of +the same sort as the areca. + +This fruit with its shell, is, as Clusius says, an inch and a half in +length, but is somewhat more than an inch thick. Its shell or +membraneous covering, is about the thickness of the blade of a knife, +and outwardly of an ash colour mixed with brown. Clusius was in the +right to say, that the shell of this nut was formed of several fibrous +parts, but those fibres resemble rather those of the shell of a coco, +than the fibrous parts of the back of the areca nut. He, moreover, has +very properly observed, that this shell is armed, at its lower part, +with a double calyx and that the opposite part terminates in a point; +but it is necessary to observe, that this point is not formed by the +prolongation of the shell, as the figure he has given of it seems to +specify; but that from the middle of the upper part of the fruit, there +juts out a sort of small needle. + +The shell being taken off, the nut is found to be hard, ligneous, +oblong, of unequal surface, furrowed, and of a chesnut yellow. One of +its extremities is roundish, and the other, by the reunion and +prolongation of three sorts of tubercles, terminates in a point; those +protuberances being so formed, that the middlemost placed between the +two others, has the appearance of a nose, and the two lateral +protuberances resemble flat lips. On each side of that which forms what +we call the nose, a small hole or nook is perceived, capable of +containing a pea; but does not penetrate deep, and is surrounded with +black filaments, sometimes like eye-brows and eyelashes, so that the nut +on that side resembles an ape or a hare. + +This _lusus naturae_, or sport of nature, has a very pretty effect, but +is oftener found in stones than other substances. A great variety of +such rare and singular productions of nature may be seen at the British +Museum: but nothing can be more extraordinary in this respect than what +is related concerning the agate of Pyrrhus, which represented, +naturally, Apollo holding a lyre, with the nine muses distinguished each +by their attributes. In all probability, there is great exaggeration in +this fact, for we see nothing of the kind that comes near this +perfection. However, it is said, that, at Pisa, in the church of St. +John, there is seen, on a stone, an old hermit perfectly painted by +nature, sitting near a rivulet, and holding a bell in his hand; and +that, in the temple of St. Sophia, at Constantinople, there is to be +seen, on a white sacred marble, an image of St. John the Baptist, +cloaked with a camel's skin, but so far defective that nature has given +him but one foot. + +There is an instance in the Mercury of France, for July 1730, of some +curious sports of nature on insects. The rector of St. James at Land, +within a league of Rennes, found in the month of March, 1730, in the +church-yard, a species of butterfly, about two inches long, and +half-an-inch broad, having on its head the figure of a death's-head, of +the length of one nail, and perfectly imitating those that are +represented on the church ornaments which are used for the office of the +dead. Two large wings were spotted like a pall, and the whole body +covered with a down, or black hair, diversified with black and yellow, +bearing some resemblance to yellow. + +These freaks of nature are equally extended to animate as to inanimate +bodies; and the human species, as well as the brute creation, affords +numerous specimens, not only of redundance and deficiency in her work, +but a variety of other phenomena not well understood. The march of +intellect, however, it is to be hoped, will be as successful in this +instance, as in obliterating the hobgoblins of astrologers and quacks +who so long have ruled the destiny and health of their less sagacious +fellow-creatures;--and when the public shall become persuaded of the +advantages which science may derive from occurrences similar to those we +shall enumerate in the next chapter, it will be more disposed to offer +them to the consideration of scientific men. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[114] The author of a book, entitled "_Talismans justifiés_" pronounces +a talisman to be the seal, figure, character, or image of a heavenly +sign, constellation or planet, engraven on a sympathetic stone, or on a +metal corresponding to the star, etc. in order to receive its +influences. + +[115] Acts of the Apostles, chap. xxviii. v. 3. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +ON THE MEDICINAL POWERS ATTRIBUTED TO MUSIC BY THE ANCIENTS. + +The power of music over the human mind, as well as its influence on the +animal creation, has been variously attested; and its curative virtues +have been no less extolled by the ancients.[116] Martianus Capella assures +us, that fevers were removed by songs, and that Asclepiades cured +deafness by the sound of the trumpet. Wonderful indeed! that the same +noise which would occasion deafness in some, should be a specific for it +in others! It is making the viper cure its own bite. But, perhaps +Asclepiades was the inventor of the _acousticon_, or ear-trumpet, which +has been thought a modern discovery; or of the speaking-trumpet, which +is a kind of cure for distant deafness. These would be admirable proofs +of musical power![117] We have the testimony of Plutarch, and several +other ancient writers, that Thaletas the Cretan, delivered the +Lacedemonians from the pestilence by the sweetness of his lyre. + +Xenocrates, as Martianus Capella further informs us, employed the sound +of instruments in the cure of maniacs; and Apollonius Dyscolus, in his +fabulous history (Historia Commentitia) tells us, from Theophrastus's +Treatise upon Enthusiasm, that music is a sovereign remedy for a +dejection of spirits, and disordered mind; and that the sound of the +flute will cure epilepsy and the sciatic gout. Athenaeus quotes the same +passage from Theophrastus, with this additional circumstance, that, as +to the second of these disorders, to render the cure more certain, the +flute should play in the Phrygian mode. But Aulus Gellius, who mentions +this remedy, seems to administer it in a very different manner, by +prescribing to the flute-player a soft and gentle strain, _si modulis +lenibus_ says he, _tibicen incinet_: for the Phrygian mode was +remarkably vehement and furious. + +This is what Coelius Aurelianus calls _loca dolentia decantare_, +enchanting the disordered places. He even tells us how the enchantment +is brought about upon these occasions, in saying that the pain is +relieved by causing a vibration of the fibres of the afflicted part. +Galen speaks seriously of playing the flute on the suffering part, upon +the principle, we suppose, of a medicated vapour bath. + +The sound of the flute was likewise a specific for the bite of a viper, +according to Theophrastus and Democritus, whose authority Aulus Gellius +gives for his belief of the fact. But there is nothing more +extraordinary among the virtues attributed to music by the ancients, +than what Aristotle relates in its supposed power of softening the +rigour of punishment. The Tyrhenians, says he, never scourge their +slaves, but by the sound of flutes, looking upon it as an instance of +humanity to give some counterpoise to pain, and thinking by such a +diversion to lessen the sum total of the punishment. To this account may +be added a passage from Jul. Pallus, by which we learn, that in the +_triremes_, or vessels with three banks of oars, there was always a +_tibicen_, or flute-player, not only to mark the time, or cadence for +each stroke of the oar, but to sooth and cheer the rowers by the +sweetness of the melody. And from this custom Quintilian took occasion +to say, that music is the gift of nature, to enable us the more +patiently to support toil and labour.[118] + +These are the principal passages which antiquity furnishes, relative to +the medicinal effects of music; in considering which, reliance is placed +on the judgment of M. Burette, whose opinions will come with the more +weight, as he had not only long made the music of the ancients his +particular study, but was a physician by profession. This writer, in a +dissertation on the subject, has examined and discussed many of the +stories above related, concerning the effects of music in the cure of +diseases. He allows it to be possible, and even probable, that music, by +reiterated strokes and vibrations given to the nerves, fibres, and +animal spirits, may be of use in the cure of certain diseases; yet he by +no means supposes that the music of the ancients possessed this power in +a greater degree than the modern music, but rather that a very coarse +and vulgar music is as likely to operate effectually on such occasions +as the most refined and perfect. The savages of America pretend to +perform these cures by the music and jargon of their imperfect +instruments; and in Apulia, where the bite of the tarantula is pretended +to be cured by music, which excites a desire to dance, it is by an +ordinary tune, very coarsely performed.[119] + +Baglivi refines on the doctrine of effluvia, by ascribing his cures of +the bite of the tarantula to the peculiar undulation any instrument or +tune makes by its strokes in the air; which, vibrating upon the external +parts of the patient, is communicated to the whole nervous system, and +produces that happy alteration in the solids and fluids which so +effectually contributes to the cure. The contraction of the solids, he +says, impresses new mathematical motions and directions to the fluids; +in one or both of which is seated all distempers, and without any other +help than a continuance of faith, will alter their quality; a philosophy +as wonderful and intricate as the nature of the poison it is intended to +expel; but which, however, supplies this observation, that, if the +particles of sound can do so much, the effluvia of amulets may do more. + +Credulity must be very strong in those who believe it possible for music +to drive away the pestilence. Antiquity, however, as mentioned above, +relates that Thaletas, a famous lyric poet, contemporary with Solon, was +gifted with this power; but it is impossible to render the fact +credible, without qualifying it by several circumstances omitted in the +relation. In the first place, it is certain, that this poet was received +among the Lacedemonians during the plague, by command of an oracle: that +by virtue of this mission, all the poetry of the hymns which he sung, +must have consisted of prayers and supplications, in order to avert the +anger of the gods against the people, whom he exhorted to sacrifices, +expiations, purifications, and many other acts of devotion, which, +however superstitious, could not fail to agitate the minds of the +multitude, and to produce nearly the same effects as public fasts, and, +in catholic countries, processions, as at present, in times of danger, +by exalting the courage, and by animating hope. The disease having, +probably, reached its highest pitch of malignity when the musician +arrived, must afterwards have become less contagious by degrees; till, +at length, ceasing of itself, by the air wafting away the seeds of +infection, and recovering its former purity, the extirpation of the +disease was attributed by the people to the music of Thaletas, who had +been thought the sole mediator, to whom they owed their happy +deliverance. + +This is exactly what Plutarch means, who tells the story; and what Homer +meant, in attributing the curation of the plague among the Greeks, at +the siege of Troy, to music: + + With hymns divine the joyous banquet ends, + The Poeans lengthen'd till the sun descends: + The Greeks restor'd, the grateful notes prolong; + Apollo listens and approves the song.[120] + +For the poet in these lines seems only to say, that Apollo was rendered +favourable, and had delivered the Greeks from the scourge with which +they were attacked, in consequence of Chriseis having been restored to +her father, and of sacrifices and offerings. + +M. Burette thinks it easy to conceive, that music may be really +efficacious in relieving, if not in removing, the pains of sciatica; and +that independent of the greater or less skill of the musician. He +supposes this may be effected in two different ways: first, by +flattering the ear, and diverting the attention; and, secondly, by +occasioning oscillations and vibrations of the nerves, which may, +perhaps, give motions to the humours, and remove the obstructions which +occasion this disorder. In this manner the action of musical sounds +upon the fibres of the brain and animal spirits, may sometimes soften +and alleviate the sufferings of epileptics and lunatics, and calm even +the most violent fits of these two cruel disorders. And if antiquity +affords examples of this power, we can oppose to them some of the same +kind said to have been effected by music, not of the most exquisite +sort. For not only M. Burette, but many modern philosophers, physicians, +and anatomists, as well as ancient poets and historians, have believed, +that music has the power of affecting, not only the mind, but the +nervous system, in such a manner as will give a temporary relief in +certain diseases, and, at length, even operate a radical cure. + +In the Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences for 1707 and 1708, we meet +with many accounts of diseases, which, after having resisted and baffled +all the most efficacious remedies in common use, had, at length, given +way to the soft impressions of harmony. M. de Mairan, in the Memoirs of +the same Academy, 1737, reasons upon the medicinal powers of music in +the following manner:--"It is from the mechanical and involuntary +connexion between the organ of hearing, and the consonances excited in +the outward air, joined to the rapid communication of the vibrations of +this organ to the whole nervous system, that we owe the cure of +spasmodic disorders, and of fevers attended with a delirium and +convulsions, of which our Memoirs furnish many examples." + +The late learned Dr. Branchini, professor of physic at Udine, collected +all the passages preserved in ancient authors, relative to the medicinal +application of music, by Asclepiades; and it appears from this work that +it was used as a remedy by the ancient Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks, and +Romans, not only in acute, but chronical disorders. This writer gives +several cases within his own knowledge, in which music has been +efficacious; but the consideration as well as the honour of these, more +properly belong to _modern_ than to ancient music. + +Music, of all arts, gives the most universal pleasure, and pleases +longest and oftenest. Infants are charmed with the melody of sounds, and +old age is animated by enlivening notes. The Arcadian shepherds drew +pleasure from their reeds; the solitude of Achilles was cheered by his +lyre; the English peasant delights in his pipe and tabor; the +mellifluous notes of the flute solace many an idle hour; and the +charming of snakes and other venomous reptiles, by the power of music, +is well attested among the Indians. "Music and the sounds of +instruments," says Vigneul de Marville, "contribute to the health of the +body and mind; they assist the circulation of the blood, they dissipate +vapours, and open the vessels, so that the action of perspiration is +freer." The same author tells a story of a person of distinction, who +assured him, that once being suddenly seized with a violent illness, +instead of a consultation of physicians, he immediately called a band of +musicians, and their violins acted so well upon his inside, that his +bowels became perfectly in tune, and in a few hours were harmoniously +becalmed. + +Farinelli, the famous singer, was sent for to Madrid to try the effect +of his magical voice on the king of Spain. His Majesty was absorbed in +the deepest melancholy; nothing could excite an emotion in him; he lived +in a state of total oblivion of life; he sat in a darkened chamber, +entirely given up to the most distressing kind of madness. The +physicians at first ordered Farinelli to sing in an outer room; and for +the first day or two this was done, without producing any effect on the +royal patient. At length it was observed, that the king, awakening from +his stupor, seemed to listen; on the next day tears were seen starting +from his eyes: the day after he ordered the door of his chamber to be +left open, and at length the perturbed spirit entirely left our modern +Saul, and the _medicinal_ music of Farinelli effected what medicine +itself had denied. + +"After food," says Sir William Jones,[121] "when the operations of +digestion and absorption gives so much employment to the vessels, that a +temporary state of mental repose, especially in hot climates, must be +found essential to health, it seems reasonable to believe that a few +agreeable airs, either heard or played without effort, must have all the +good effects of sleep, and none of its disadvantages; putting, as Milton +says, '_the soul in tune_' for any subsequent exertion; an experiment +often made by myself. I have been assured by a credible witness, that +two wild antelopes often used to come from their woods to the place +where a more savage beast, Serajuddaulah, entertained himself with +concerts, and that they listened to the strains with the appearance of +pleasure, till the monster, in whose soul there was no music, shot one +of them to display his archery." A learned native told Sir William Jones +that he had frequently seen the most venomous snakes leave their holes +upon hearing tunes on a flute, which, as he supposed, gave them peculiar +delight. + +Of the surprising effects of music, the two following instances, with +which we shall close these remarks, are related in the history of the +Royal Academy of Society of Paris. + +A famous musician, and great composer was taken ill of a fever, which +assumed the continued form, with a gradual increase of the symptoms. On +the second day he fell into a very violent delirium, almost constantly +accompanied by cries, tears, terrors, and a perpetual watchfulness. The +third day of his delirium one of those natural instincts, which make, as +it is said, sick animals seek out for the herbs that are proper to their +case, set him upon desiring earnestly to hear a little concert in his +chamber. His physician could hardly be prevailed upon to consent to it. +On hearing the first modulations, the air of his countenance became +serene, his eyes sparkled with a joyful alacrity, his convulsions +absolutely ceased, he shed tears of pleasure, and was then possessed for +music with a sensibility he never before had, nor after, when he was +recovered. He had no fever during the whole concert, but, when it was +over, he relapsed into his former condition. + +The fever and delirium were always suspended during the concert, and +music was become so necessary to the patient, that at night he obliged a +female relation who sometimes sat up with him, to sing and even to +dance, and who, being much afflicted, was put to great difficulty to +gratify him. One night, among others, he had none but his nurse to +attend him, who could sing nothing better than some wretched country +ballads. He was satisfied to put up with that, and he even found some +benefit from it. At last ten days of music cured him entirely, without +other assistance than of being let blood in the foot, which was the +second bleeding that was prescribed for him, and was followed by a +copious evacuation. + +This account was communicated to the Academy by M. Dodart, who had it +well authenticated. + +The second instance of the extraordinary effect of music is related of a +dancing-master of Alais, in the province of Languedoc. Being once +over-fatigued in Carnival time by the exercise of his profession, he was +seized with a violent fever, and on the fourth or fifth day, fell into a +lethargy, which continued upon him for a considerable time. On +recovering he was attacked with a furious and mute delirium, wherein he +made continual efforts to jump out of bed, threatened, with a shaking +head and angry countenance, those who attended him, and even all that +were present; and he besides obstinately refused, though without +speaking a word, all the remedies that were presented to him. One of the +assistants bethought himself that music perhaps might compose a +disordered imagination. He accordingly proposed it to his physician, who +did not disapprove the thought, but feared with good reason the +ridicule of the execution which might still have been infinitely +greater, if the patient should happen to die under the operation of such +a remedy. + +A friend of the dancing master, who seemed to disregard the caution of +the physician, and who could play on the violin, seeing that of the +patient hanging up in the chamber, laid hold of it, and played directly +for him the air most familiar to him. He was cried out against more than +the patient who lay in bed, confined in a straight jacket; and some were +ready to make him desist; when the patient, immediately sitting up as a +man agreeably surprised, attempted to caper with his arms in unison with +the music; and on his arms being held, he evinced, by the motion of his +head, the pleasure he felt. Sensible, however, of the effects of the +violin, he was suffered by degrees to yield to the movement he was +desirous to perform,--when, strange as it may appear, his furious fits +abated. In short, in the space of a quarter of an hour, the patient fell +into a profound sleep, and a salutary crisis in the interim rescued him +from all danger. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[116] Dr. Burney's History of Music. + +[117] It has been asserted by several moderns, that deaf people can hear +best in a great noise; perhaps to prove that Greek noise could do +nothing which the modern cannot operate as effectually: and Dr. Willis +in particular tells us of a lady who could hear only while a drum was +beating, in so much that her husband, the account says, hired a drummer +as her servant, in order to enjoy the pleasures of her conversation. + +[118] Many of the ancients speak of music as a recipe for every kind of +malady, and it is probable that the Latin was _praecinere_, to charm +away pain, _incantare_ to enchant, and our own word _incantation_, came +from the medical use of song. + +[119] M. Burette, with Dr. Mead, Baglivi, and all the learned of their +time throughout Europe, seem to have entertained no doubt of this fact, +which, however, philosophical and curious enquirers have since found to +be built upon fraud and fallacy. Vide Serrao, _della Tarantula o vero +falangio di Puglia._ + +[120] Pope's translation of the Iliad, Book 1. + +[121] See a curious Dissertation on the musical modes of the Hindoos by +Sir W. Jones. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +PRESAGES, PRODIGES, PRESENTIMENTS, ETC. + +The common opinion of comets being the presages of evil is an old pagan +superstition, introduced and entertained among Christians by their +prejudice for antiquity; and which Mr. Bayle says is a remnant of pagan +superstition, conveyed from father to son, ever since the first +conversion from paganism; as well because it has taken deep root in the +minds of men, as because Christians, generally speaking, are as far gone +in the folly of finding presages in every thing, as infidels themselves. +It may be easily conceived how the pagans might be brought stedfastly to +believe that comets, eclipses, and thunderstorms, were the forerunners +of calamities, when man's strong inclination for the marvellous is +considered, and his insatiable curiosity for prying into future events, +or what is to come to pass. This desire of peeping into futurity, as has +already been shown, has given birth to a thousand different kinds of +divination, all alike whimsical and impertinent, which in the hands of +the more expert and cunning have been made most important and +mysterious tools. When any one has been rogue enough to think of making +a penny of the simplicity of his neighbours, and has had the ingenuity +to invent something to amuse, the pretended faculty of foretelling +things to come, has always been one of the readiest projects. From hence +always the assumption of judiciary astrology. Those who first began to +consult the motions of the heavens, had no other design in view, than +the enriching their minds with so noble a knowledge; and as they had +their genius bent on the pursuit of useful knowledge, they never dreamed +of converting astrology or a knowledge of the stars to the purpose of +picking the pockets of the credulous and ignorant, of whose blind side +advantage was taken by these sideral sages to turn them to account by +making them believe that the doctrine of the stars comprehended the +knowledge of all things that were, or are, or ever shall be; so that +every one, for his money, might come to them and have their fortune +told. + +The better to gull the world, the Star-gazers assert that the heavens +are the book in which God has written the destiny of all things; and +that it is only necessary to learn to read this book, which is simply +the construction of the stars, to be able to know the whole history of +what is to come to pass. Very learned men, Origen and Plotinus among the +rest, were let into the secret, and grew so fond of it, that the +former,[122] willing to support his opinion by something very solid, +catches at the authority of an Apocryphal book, ascribed to the +patriarch Joseph, where Jacob is introduced speaking to his twelve sons: +"I have read in the register of heaven what shall happen to you and your +children."[123] But comets were the staple commodity that turned +principally to account. In compliance, however, with the impressions of +fear which the strangeness and excessive length of these stars made upon +mankind, the Astrologers did not hesitate to pronounce them of a malign +tendency; and the more so when they found they had, by this means, made +themselves in some degree necessary, in consequence of the impatient +applications that were made to them as from the mouth of an oracle, what +particular disaster such and such a comet portended. + +Eclipses furnished more frequent occasions for the exercise of their +talent. From this worthy precedent of Judicial Astrology, others took +the hint and invented new modes of divination, such as Geomancy, +Chiromancy, Onomancy, and the like; till the world by degrees became so +overrun with superstition, that the least trifle was converted into a +presage or presentiment; and the more so when this kind of knowledge +became the business of religion; and when the substance of divine +worship consisted in the ordinances of Augurs who, to make themselves +necessary in the world, were obliged to keep up and quicken men's +apprehensions of the wrath of God, took special care to cultivate +comets, and bring it into a proverb, that "so many comets so many +calamities." They knew, as Livy expresses it, that it was best to fish +in troubled waters, where, speaking of a contagious distemper, which, +from the country villages, spread over the city, occasioned by an +extraordinary drought in the year of Rome 326, he observes how, at last, +it infected the mind,[124] by the management of those who lived in the +superstition of the people; so that nothing was to be seen or heard +except some new fangled ceremony or other in every corner. "The devil," +as Bayle says, "who had a hopeful game on't, and saw superstition the +surest way to get himself worshipped under the name of the false gods, +in a hundred various ways, all criminal and abominable in the sight of +the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth, never failed, on the appearance +of any rare meteor, or uncommon star, to exert his imposing arts, and +make idolaters believe, they were the signs of divine wrath, and that +they were all undone unless they appeased their gods by sacrifices of +men and brute beasts." + +Politicians have also lent a helping hand to give presages a reputation, +as an excellent scheme, either to intimidate the people, or to raise +their drooping spirits. Had the Roman soldiers been free thinkers, +Drusus, the son of Tiberius, had not been so fortunate as to quell a +desperate mutiny among the legions of Pannonia, who utterly refused to +obey his commands; but an eclipse, which critically intervened, broke +their refractory spirits to such a degree, that Drusus, who managed +their panic fear with great dexterity and address, did what he liked +with them. + +An eclipse of the moon put the army of Alexander the Great into such a +consternation, some days before the battle of Arbela, that the soldiers, +under the impression that heaven was against them, were very reluctant +to advance; and their devotion turning to downright disobedience, +Alexander commanded the Egyptian astrologers, who were the deepest +versed in the mystery of the stars, to give their opinions of this +eclipse in the presence of all the officers of his army. Without giving +themselves much trouble to explain the physical cause which it was their +interest to conceal from the people, the wise men declared that the sun +was on the side of the Grecians, and the moon for the Persians; and that +this planet was never in an eclipse, but it threatened them with some +mighty disaster: of this they quoted several ancient examples among the +kings of Persia, who, after an eclipse, had always found their gods +unpropitious in the day of battle. "Nothing," says Quintus Curtius,[125] +"is so effectual as superstition for keeping the vulgar under. Be they +ever so unruly and inconstant, if once their minds are possessed with +the vain visions of religion, they are all obedience to the soothsayer, +whatever becomes of the general." The answer of the Egyptian astrologers +being circulated among the soldiers, restored their confidence and their +courage. + +On another occasion Alexander, just before he passed the river +Granicus, observing the circumstance of time, which was the month +Desius, reckoned unfortunate to the Macedonians from all antiquity, it +made the soldiers melancholy; he immediately ordered this dangerous +month to be called by the name of that which preceded it, well knowing +what power and influence vain religious scruples have over little and +ignorant minds. He sent private orders to Aristander his chief +soothsayer, just offering up a sacrifice for a happy passage, to write +on the liver of the victim with a liquor prepared for that purpose, that +the gods had "granted the victory to Alexander." The notice of this +miracle filled the men with invincible ardour; and now they rent the air +with acclamations, exclaiming that the day was their own, since the gods +had vouchsafed them such plain demonstrations of their favour. The +history, indeed, of this mighty conqueror, affords more such examples of +artifice, though he always affected to conquer by mere dint of bravery. +But what is still more extraordinary, this very hero, who palmed so +often such tricks upon others, was himself caught in his turn, as being +well as exceedingly superstitious by fits. We say nothing of +Themistocles,[126] who, in the war between Xerxes and the Athenians, +despairing to prevail upon his countrymen by force of reasoning to quit +their city, and betake themselves to sea, set all the engines of +religion to work; forged oracles, and procured the priests to circulate +among the people, that Minerva had fled from Athens, and had taken the +way which led to the port. Philip of Macedon, whose talent lay in +conquering his enemies by good intelligence, purchased at any price, had +as many oracles at command as he pleased; and hence Demosthenes justly +suspecting too good an understanding between Philip and the Delphian +priestess, rallied her with so much acrimony upon her partiality to that +prince. It is equally obvious how the same reasons of state, which kept +up the popular superstition for other prodigies, should take care to +encourage it with regard to comets and other celestial appearances. + +Panegyrists have also done their parts to promote the superstition of +presages, as well as the flattering of poets and orators. When a hero is +to be found and extolled, they exclaim, that _all nature adores him; +that she exerts her utmost powers to serve him; that she mourns at his +misfortunes, promises him long before hand to the world; and when the +world, by its sins, is unworthy to possess him longer, heaven, which +calls him home, hangs out new lights, etc._ With this hyperbole M. +Balzac regaled Cardinal Richelieu, adding, that _to form such a +minister, universal nature was on the stretch; God gives him first by +promise, and makes him the expectation of ages_. For this he was +attacked by the critics, but he defended himself; alleging, that other +panegyrics had gone some notes higher: he, for example, among the +ancients, who said of certain great souls that _all the orders of heaven +were called together to fancy a fine destiny for them_, and that +illustrious nation who wrote that _the eternal mind was wrapt in deep +contemplation, and big with the vast design, when it conceived such a +genius as Cardinal Hippolito d'Este_. Why could not this same writer +have thought of one example more, such as that of the priest who told +the Emperor Constantine that _divine Providence, not content with +qualifying him for the empire of the world, had formed virtues in his +soul, which should entitle him to reign in heaven with his only son_. +Thus have flatterers seized the most surprising natural effects to +enhance their hero's glory, and make their court to great men. The poets +of the time of Augustus vied with each other in persuading the world +that the murder of Julius Caesar was the cause of all the prodigies that +followed. Horace, for instance, in one of his odes, attempts to prove +that the overflowings of rivers were reckoned among bad presages; and +pretends that the Tiber had not committed all those ravages, but in +complaisance to his wife Ilia, who was bent on the death of his kinsman +Caesar; and that all the other calamities which subsequently afflicted +or threatened the Roman empire, were the consequences of his +assassination. If Virgil may be credited,[127] the sun was so troubled at +the death of Caesar that it went into deep mourning, and so obscured his +beams, that the world was alarmed lest it never should appear again. In +the mean time, no sooner was the comet observed, which followed this +murder, than another set of flatterers pretended that it was Caesar's +soul received into the order of the Gods; and they dedicated a temple[128] +to the comet, and set up the image of Caesar with a star on his +forehead. + +It appears from the sermons of the ancient fathers, that the Christians +of that time believed they gave great relief to the moon in an eclipse, +by raising hideous shouts to the skies, which they imagined recovered +her out of her fainting fit, and without which she must inevitably have +expired. St. Ambrose, the author of the 215th sermon _de tempore_, bound +up with those of St. Austin, and St. Eloy, Bishop of Noyon, declaim +particularly against this abuse. It appears also from the Homilies of +St. Chrysostom, St. Basil, St. Austin, and others, that the Christians +of their days drew several kinds of presages from persons sneezing at +critical times; from meeting a cat, a dog, or an ill-looking (squinting) +woman, a maiden, one blind of an eye, or a cripple; on being caught by +the cloak on stepping out of a door, or from a sudden catch in one's +joint or limb. + +St. Eloy tells his people plainly, that whoever pays attention to what +he meets at his first going out or coming in, or to any particular +voice, or to the chirping of a bird, is so far a Pagan. Indeed, all +these, and innumerable others of the same description of superstitious +among Christians, are remnants of ancient paganism; as they have been +denounced by the censures of popes, provincial councils, synodical +decrees, and other grave authorities. And, though there were not such a +cloud of witnesses, there would be no difficulty in proving the disease +of pagan origin. For, independent of those who preached the gospel of +our Saviour, having never promulgated such notions, we learn from +several ancient authorities, that the Gentiles had all these +superstitions in the highest regard. It was one general opinion among +them, that the eclipses of the moon were the consequence of certain +magic words by which sorcerers could wrench her from the skies, and drag +her near enough the earth to cast a frothy spittle on their herbs--one +of the principal ingredients in their incantations. To rescue the moon +from the supposed torture she was in, and to frustrate the charm, it was +necessary to prevent her from hearing the magic words, by drowning in +noise and hideous outcries, for which purpose the people used to +assemble during an eclipse of the moon with _rough_ music, such as +frying pans, brazen vessels, old tin kettles, etc. According to Pietro +della Voile, the Persians keep up the same ridiculous ceremony to this +day. It is likewise, according to Tavernier, observed in the kingdom of +Tunquin, where they imagine the moon to be, at that time, struggling +with a dragon. It is to the same source that we owe the imaginary raging +heat of the dog-star--the pretended presages of several evils ascribed +to eclipses, and all the allusions of astrology. + +In a treatise written by Abogard, Bishop of Lyons, in 833, composed to +undeceive a world of people, who were persuaded that there were +enchanters who could command thunder, and hail, and tempest, to destroy +the fruits of the earth; and that they drove a great trade by this +mystery with the people of a certain country called Magonia, who came +once a year, sailing in large fleets through the air, to freight with +the blighted corn, for which they paid down ready money to the +enchanters. So little was this matter doubted, that one day the bishop +had enough to do to save three men and a woman from being stoned to +death, the people insisting they had just fallen overboard from one of +these aërial ships. + +We do not here examine whether, in those days, the people literally were +more superstitious and credulous than in the days of paganism. It is +enough to say, that they were of very easy belief; and hence men began +to write their histories in the style of romance, mixing up a thousand +fables with the deeds of great men, such as Roland, nephew to +Charlemagne; which so suited the taste of the age, that no book would +afterwards go down in any other style--witness, for instance, the Manual +of Devotions by James de Voragine, archbishop of Genoa, composed towards +the latter end of the thirteenth century; and in which Melchior Canus, a +learned Spanish bishop, is so scandalized in his eleventh book of Common +Places. Another doctor of divinity,[129] speaking of the depraved state of +the times, says, "It was the error, or rather folly, of some of the +ancients, to think, that in writing the actions of illustrious men, the +style must sink, unless they mixed up with it the ornaments, for so they +called them, of poetical fiction, or something of this sort; and, +consequently, thus blended truth with fable." This being the prevailing +fashion of the times, we are inclined to believe, that in the histories +of the crusades, many apocryphal subjects are introduced, which ought, +consequently, to be read _cum grano salis_. This is decidedly the +opinion of Pere Maimbourg,[130] who, after the relation of the battle of +Iconium, won by Frederick of Barbarossa, 1190, says, "What was chiefly +wonderful after this battle, was the conqueror's sustaining little or no +loss, which most people ascribed to the particular protection of St. +Victor and St. George, names oftenest invoked in the Christian army, +which many of them said they saw engaging at the head of the squadrons. +Whether in reality there might be something in it extraordinary, which +has often happened, as the Scriptures inform us; or whether, by often +hearing of celestial squadrons appearing at the battle of Antioch in the +first crusade, warm imaginations possessed with the belief, and +penetrated with these ideas, formed new apparitions of their own, but +sure it is, that one Louie Helfenstein, a gentleman of reputation, and +far from a visionary, affirmed to the emperor, on his oath, and on the +vow of a pilgrim devoted to the holy sepulchre and the crusade, that _he +often saw St. George charge at the head of the squadrons, and put the +enemy to flight_; which was afterwards confirmed by the Turks +themselves, owning that they saw some troops in white charge in the +first ranks in the Christian army, though there were really none of that +livery. No one, I know, is bound (continues P. Maimbourg) to believe +visions of this kind, subject for the most part to notorious illusion: +but I know too, that an historian is not of his own authority, to reject +them, especially when supported by such remarkable testimony. + +"And though he be at liberty to believe or not, yet he has no regret, by +suppressing them, to deprive the reader of his liberty, when he meets +with passages of this kind, of judging as he thinks fit." This +reflection (says Bayle) from so celebrated an historian, not suspected +of favouring the Hugonot incredulity, is a strong presumption on my +side. + +The abuse of presentiments has been carried to the very Scriptures. We +are told, that the manner of Tamerlane giving his blessing to his two +sons, by bowing down the head of the elder, and chucking the youngest +under the chin, was a presage of the elevation of the latter in +prejudice to the former, was grounded on the 48th chapter of Genesis, +where Jacob is represented laying his right hand on the head of the +younger, forseeing by inspiration that he would be the greater of the +two. Meanwhile there is a difference between the two benedictions. The +Tartar, wholly destitute of the knowledge of future events, did not +diversify the motion of his hands, on purpose to establish a presage; +and God never vouchsafing this knowledge to infidels, did not guide his +hands in a particular manner to form a presage of what should befal his +children;--whereas Jacob, on the contrary, filled with the spirit of +prophecy, whereby he saw the fortunes of his children, directed his +words and actions according to this knowledge; by which means both +became presages. + +Presages, presentiments, and prodigies, might be multiplied ad +infinitum. Whoever reads the Roman historians will be surprised at their +number, and which frequently filled the people with the most dreadful +apprehensions. It must be confessed, that some of these seem altogether +supernatural; while much the greater part only consist of some of the +uncommon productions of nature, which superstition always attributed to +a superior cause, and represented as the prognostications of some +impending misfortunes. Of this class may be reckoned the appearance of +two suns;[131] the nights illuminated by rays of light; the views of +fighting armies; swords and spears darting through the air; showers of +milk, of blood, of stones, of ashes, or of fire; and the birth of +monsters, of children, or of beasts who had two heads; or of infants who +had some feature resembling those of the brute creation. These were all +dreadful prodigies which filled the people with inexpressible +astonishment, and the whole Roman empire with an extreme perplexity; and +whatever unhappy event followed, repentance was sure to be either caused +or predicted by them. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[122] Euseb. Praep. Evang. l. 6. c. 9. + +[123] Legi in tabulis coeli quaecunque contingent vobis et Feliis +vestris. + +[124] Nec corpora modo affecta tabo, sed animos quoque multiplex +religio, et pleraque externa invasit, novos ritus sacrificando +vaticinandoque, inferentibus in domos, quibus quaestui sunt capti +superstitione animi. L. 4, dec. 1. + +[125] Tacit, Annal. lib. 1, et ib. 4, cap. 10. + +[126] Plutarch in his life. + +[127] Georg. l. 1. + +[128] Suetonius in vita Caesaris. + +[129] Petseus, in Galfredo Monimetensi. + +[130] Hist. Crusade, l. 5. + +[131] Nothing is more easy than to account for these productions, which +have no relation to any events, no more than comets, that may happen to +follow them. The appearance of two suns has frequently happened in +England, as well as in other places, and is only caused by the clouds +being placed in such a situation as to reflect the image of that +luminary; nocturnal fires, inflamed spears, fighting armies, were no +more than what we call aurora borealis, northern lights, or inflamed +vapours floating in the air; showers of stones, of ashes, or of fire, +were no other than the effects of the eruptions of some volcano at a +considerable distance. Showers of milk were only caused by some quality +in the air condensing and giving a whitish colour to the water, etc. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +PHENOMENA OF METEORS, OPTIC DELUSIONS, SPECTRA, ETC. + +The meteors known to the ancients were called [Greek: Lampdes Pithoi] +Bolides, Faces, Globi, etc. from particular differences in their shape +and appearance, and sometimes under the general term of comets. In the +Philosophical Transactions, they are called, indiscriminately, +fire-balls, or fiery meteors; and names of similar import have been +applied to them in the different languages of Europe. The most material +circumstances observed of such meteors may be brought under the +following heads: 1. Their general appearance. 2. Their path. 3. Their +shape or figure. 4. Their light and colour. 5. Their height. 6. The +noise with which they are accompanied. 7. Their fire. 8. Duration, 9. +Their velocity. Under these different heads meteors have been +investigated by the scrutinizing of philosophy, and many superstitious +notions, long entertained concerning them, entirely exploded. Meteoric +phenomena, it has been demonstrated, all proceed from one common +cause--irregularity in the density of the atmosphere. When the +atmospheric fluid is homogenous and of equal density, the rays of light +pass without obstruction or alteration in their shape or direction; but +when they enter from a rarer into a denser medium, they are refracted or +bent out of their course; and this with greater or less effect according +to the different degrees of density in the media, or the deviation of +the ray from the perpendicular. If the second medium be very dense in +proportion, the ray will be both refracted and reflected; and the object +from which it proceeds, will assume a variety of grotesque and +extraordinary shapes, and it will sometimes appear as in a reflection +from a concave mirror, dilated in size, and changed in situation. + +The following striking effects are known to proceed from this simple +cause. + +The first is the mirage, seen in the desert of Africa. M. Monge, a +member of the National Institute, accompanied the French army into +Egypt. In the desert, between Alexandria and Cairo, the mirage of the +blue sky was inverted, and so mingled with the sand below, as to impart +to the desolate and arid wilderness an appearance of the most rich and +beautiful country. They saw, in all directions, green islands, +surrounded with extensive lakes of pure and transparent water. Nothing +could be conceived more lovely and picturesque than this landscape. On +the tranquil surface of the lakes, the trees and houses, with which the +islands were covered, were strongly reflected with vivid hues, and the +party hastened forward to enjoy the cool refreshments of shade and +stream, which these populous villages preferred to them. When they +arrived, the lake, on whose bosom they floated, the trees, among whose +foliage they were embowered, and the people who stood on the shore +inviting their approach, had all vanished, and nothing remained but an +uniform and irksome desert of sand and sky, with a few naked huts and +ragged shrubs. Had they not been undeceived by their nearer approach, +there was not a man in the French army who would not have sworn, that +the visionary trees and lakes had a real existence in the midst of the +desert. + +The same appearance precisely was observed by Dr. Clarke at Raschid, or +Rosetta. The city seemed surrounded by a beautiful sheet of water, and +so certain was his Greek interpreter, who was acquainted with the +country, of this fact, that he was quite indignant at an Arab, who +attempted to explain to him, that it was a mere optical delusion. At +length, they reached Rosetta in about two hours, without meeting any +water; and, on looking back on the sand they had just crossed, it seemed +to them, as if they had just waded through a vast blue lake. + +A similar deception takes place in northern climates. Cities, +battlements, houses, and all the accompaniments of populous places, are +seen in desolate regions, where life goes out, and where human foot has +never trod. When approached they vanish, and nothing remains but a +rugged rock, or a misshapen iceberg. + +Captain Scoresby, in his voyage to the arctic regions, on the coast of +East Greenland, constantly saw those visionary cities, and gives some +highly curious plates of the appearances they presented. They resembled +the real cities seen on the coast of Holland, where towers, and +battlements, and spires, "bosomed high in tufted trees," rise on the +level horizon, and are seen floating on the surface of the sea. Among +the optic deceptions noticed by Captain Scoresby, was one of a very +singular nature. His ship had been separated by the ice, from that of +his father for some time; and he was looking for her every day, with +great anxiety. At length, one evening, to his utter astonishment, he saw +her suspended in the air in an inverted position, traced on the horizon +in the clearest colours, and with the most distinct and perfect +representation. He sailed in the direction in which he saw this +visionary phenomenon, and actually found his father's vessel by its +indication. He was divided from him by immense masses of icebergs, and +at such a distance that it was quite impossible to have seen the ship in +her actual situation, or seen her at all, if her spectrum, or image, had +not been thus raised several degrees above the horizon into the sky, by +this most extraordinary refraction, in the same manner as the sun is +often seen, after he is known to have set, and actually sunk far below +the line of direct vision. + +The _Fata Morgana_ are further illustrations of this optic delusion. +This phenomenon is seen at the Pharo of Messina, in Sicily, under +certain circumstances. The spectator must stand with his back to the +east, on an elevated place behind the city, commanding a view of the +bay, and having the mountains, like a wall, opposite to him, to darken +the back ground of the picture; no wind must be abroad to ruffle the +surface of the sea; and the waters must be pressed up by currents, as +they sometimes are, to a considerable height in the middle of the +strait, and present a slight convex surface. When all these +circumstances occur, as soon as the sun rises over the heights of the +Calabrian shore, and makes an angle of 45º with the horizon, all the +objects on the shore at Reggio are transferred to the middle of the +strait, and seen distinctly on the surface of the water, forming an +immoveable landscape of rocks, trees, and houses, and a moveable one of +men, horses, and cattle; these are formed into a thousand separate +compartments, presenting most beautiful and ever varying pictures of +animate and inanimate nature, on the swelling surface of the water, +broken by the currents, present separate plates of convex mirrors to +reflect them; they then as suddenly disappear, as the broad aquatic +mirror of the current passes on. + +Sometimes the atmosphere is so dense that the objects are seen, like +Captain Scoresby's ship, snatched up into the regions of the air, thirty +or forty feet above the level of the sea; and in cloudy weather, nearer +to the surface, bordered with vivid prismatic colours. Sometimes +colonades of temples and churches, with cross-crowned spires, are all +represented as floating on the sea, and by a sudden change of +representation, the pillars are curved into arcades, and the crosses are +bent into crescents, and all the edifices of the floating city undergo +the most extraordinary and fantastic mutations. All these images are so +distinct, and produce objects seemingly as palpable as they are visible, +as sensible to touch as to sight, that the people of the country are +firmly persuaded of their reality. They consider the edifices as the +enchanted palaces of the fairy Morgana, and the moving objects as living +things which inhabit them. Whenever the optic phenomenon occurs, they +meet together in crowds, with an intense curiosity, mixed with awe and +apprehension, which is not removed by an acquaintance with those natural +causes, by which Mr. Swinburn and other foreign travellers, who have +witnessed the scene, are able to account for it. + +The lakes of Ireland are equally susceptible of producing those vivid +delusions, and the imagination of the people, as lively as that of the +Sicilians, clothes them with an equal reality. There is scarcely a loch +in that country, in which the remains of cities have not been at various +times discovered; and many men have been met with who would solemnly +swear they saw, and who no doubt did see, representations of them in +certain states of the atmosphere. The most celebrated is that which +occurs on the lake of Killarney. This romantic sheet of water is bounded +on one side by a semi-circle of rugged mountains, and on the other by a +flat morass, and the vapour generated in the mass, and broken by the +mountains, continually represent the most fantastic objects; and often +those on shore are transferred to the water, like the Fata Morgana. + +Many of the rocks are distinguished for their marked and lengthened +echoes, and the structure, which in acoustics reflects sounds to the +ear, from a point from whence they did not come, reflects images on the +eye, from a place very different from where the objects stood which +produced them. Frequently men riding along shore, are seen as if they +were moving across the lake, and this has given rise to the story of +O'Donougho. This celebrated chieftain was, according to the tradition of +the country, endued with the gift of magic; and, on one occasion, his +lady requested him to change his shape, that she might see a proof of +it. He complied, on condition that she would not be terrified, as such +an effect on her must prove fatal to him. Her mind failed her, however, +in the experiment, and at the sight of some horrible figure he assumed, +she shrieked, and he disappeared through the window of his castle, which +overhung the lake. From that time he continues an enchanted being, +condemned to ride a horse, shod with silver, over the surface of the +lake, till his horse's shoes are worn out. On every May morning he is +visible, and crowds assemble on the shore to see him. Many affirm they +have seen him; and one person relates many particulars of his +apparition, that the deception must have proceeded from some real +object, a man riding along shore, and transferred to the middle of the +water, by the optic delusion of the Fata Morgana. + +But perhaps the most wonderful, and apparently preternatural effect +arising from this cause, is the _spectre of the Hartz Mountains_ in +Hanover. There is one particular hill, called the Brocken, in which he +appears, terrifying the credulous, and gratifying the curious to a very +high degree. The most distinct and interesting account is given by Mr. +Hawe, who himself was a witness to it. He had climbed to the top of the +mountain thirty times, and had been disappointed, but he persevered, and +was at length highly gratified. The sun rose about four o'clock in a +serene sky, free from clouds, and its rays passed without obstruction, +over another mountain, called the Heinschoe. About a quarter past five +he looked round to see if the sky was clear, and if there was any chance +of his witnessing what he so ardently wished, when suddenly he saw the +Achtermanshoe, a human figure of monstrous size turned towards him, and +glaring at him. While gazing on this gigantic spectre with wonder mixed +with an irrepressible feeling of awe and apprehension, a sudden gust of +wind nearly carried off his own hat, and he clapped his hand to his head +to detain it, when to his great delight the colossal spectre did the +same. He then changed his body into a variety of attitudes, all which +the figure exactly imitated, but at length suddenly vanished without any +apparent cause, and again as suddenly appeared. He called the landlord +of the inn, who had accompanied him, to stand beside him, and in a +little time two correspondent figures, of dilated size, appeared on the +opposite mountain. They saluted them in various ways by different +movements of their bodies, all which the giants returned with perfect +politeness, and then vanished. A traveller now joined Mr. Hawe and the +innkeeper, and they kept steadily looking for their aerial friends, when +they suddenly appeared again three in number, who all performed exactly +the same movements as their correspondent spectators. Having continued +thus for some time, appearing and disappearing alternately, sometimes +faintly, and sometimes more distinct, they at length faded away not +again to return. They proved, however, that the preternatural spectre, +which had so long filled the country with awe and terror, was no unreal +being, still less an existence whose appearance suspended the ordinary +laws of God and Nature; that, on the contrary, it was the simple +production of a common cause, exhibited in an unusual manner, but as +regular an effect, and as easy to be accounted for, as the reflection of +a face in a looking glass. + +This constitution of the atmosphere, and its capability of dilating +objects, and altering their position by reflection and refraction, will +easily account for many phenomena which have been considered miraculous +and preternatural in early ages, by the ignorant; and in our own, by the +weak and superstitious. Such was probably the origin of the crosses seen +by Constantine and Constantius in the first ages of Christianity, and +such was that of the cross which appeared in the sky in France, to which +so many bore attestation. A large cross of wood, painted red, had been +erected beside the church, as a part of the ceremony they were +performing. In the winter, when the air is most frequently condensed by +cold, and its different strata of various degrees of tenacity, on a +clear evening after rain, when particles of humidity, still floating in +the air gives it greater power of reflection and refraction, when the +sun was setting, and his horizontal beams found most favourable to +produce meteoric phenomena, the spectrum of this wooden cross was cast +on the concave surface of some atmospheric mirror, and so reflected +back to the eyes of the spectators from an opposite place, retaining +exactly the same shape and proportions, but dilated in size, and changed +in position; and it was moreover tinged with red, the very colour of the +object of which it was the reflected image. This delusive appearance +continued till the sun was so far sunk below the horizon, as to afford +no more light to illumine the object, and the image ceased when the rays +were no longer distinctly reflected. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +ELUCIDATION OF SOME ANCIENT PRODIGIES. + +Many of the prodigies recorded by the ancients, admit of a natural +explanation; and an attentive examination will show that a small number +of causes, which may be discerned and developed, will serve for the +explanation of nearly the whole of them. There are two reasons for our +believing accounts of prodigies:-- + +1. The number and agreement of these accounts, and the confidence to +which the observers and witnesses are entitled. + +2. The possibility of dissipating what is wonderful, by ascertaining any +one of the principal causes which might have given to a natural fact a +tinge of the marvellous. + +Now, as regards the first reason, the ancients have recorded various +occurrences: for instance, a shower of quicksilver at Rome is mentioned +by Dion Cassius, in the year 197 of our era, and a similar event is +related under the reign of Aurelian. If we attend to phenomena taking +place in our time, such as a shower of blood, tremendous hail stones +weighing a pound each, and containing a stone within them; showers of +frogs, and other almost unaccountable occurrences, we must consign them +to, "the annals in which science has inserted the facts, she has +recognized as such, without as yet pretending to explain them." + +Respecting the second reason, the deceptive appearance which nature +sometimes assumes, the exaggeration, almost unavoidable, by partially +informed observers, of the details of a phenomenon, or its duration; +improper, ill-understood, or badly translated expressions, figurative +language, and a practical style; erroneous explanations of emblematical +representations; apologues and allegories adopted as real facts. Such +are the causes, which, singly or together, have frequently swollen with +prodigious fictions the page of history; and it is by carefully removing +this envelope, that elucidations must be sought of what has hitherto +been improperly and disdainfully rejected. A few examples will +illustrate these several positions. + +The river Adonis being impregnated, during certain seasons, with volumes +of dust raised from the red soil of that part of Mount Libanus near +which it flows, gave rise to the fable of the periodical effusion of the +blood of Adonis. There is a rock near the Island of Corfu, which bears +the resemblance of a ship under sail: the ancients adapted the story to +the phenomenon, and recognised in it the Phenician ship, in which +Ulysses returned to his country, converted into stone by Neptune, for +having carried away the slayer of his son Polyphemus. A more extensive +acquaintance with the ocean, has shown that this appearance is not +unique; a similar one on the coast of Patagonia, has more than once +deceived both French and English navigators; and rock Dunder, in the +West Indies, bears a resemblance, at a distance equally illusive. There +is another recorded by Captain Hardy, in his recent travels in Mexico, +near the shore of California; and the "story of the flying Dutchman," is +founded on a similar appearance at the Cape of Good Hope, connected with +a tradition which has been long current there among the Dutch colonists. +Another instance is afforded by the chimaera, the solution of which +enigma, as given by Ovid, is so fully substantiated by the very +intelligent British officer who surveyed the Caramania a few years +since. Scylla the sea monster, which devoured six of the rowers of +Ulysses, M. Salverte, a recent compiler on the marvellous, is tempted to +regard as an overgrown polypus magnified by the optical power of poetry, +though we are disposed to give the credit to an alligator, or its mate, +a crocodile; and this occurrence is not so fictitiously represented, as +it is supposed to be. + + +MAGICAL PRETENSIONS OF CERTAIN HERBS, ETC. + +In the enumeration of plants possessing magical properties, Pliny +mentions those which, according to Pythagoras, have the property of +concealing water. Elsewhere, without having resource to magic, he +assigns to hemp an analogous quality. According to him, the juice of +this plant poured into water becomes suddenly inspissated and +congealed. It is probable enough, that he indicated a species of mallow, +the hemp-leaved marsh-mallow, of which the mucilaginous juice produces +this effect to a certain point, and an effect which may also be obtained +from every vegetable as rich in mucilage. + +Of vegetable productions, many produce intoxicating effects, such as +berries of the night-shade,[132] scammony, and various species of fungi. +These unquestionably have been made subservient to demonological +purposes, which, with the ignorant, have passed off for supernatural +agency. The priests, to whom the little comparative learning of the dark +ages attached, knew well how to impose upon the credulous: but +imposition was not always their object; an extent of benevolence +prevailed which contemplated the relief of their fellow creatures +afflicted with sickness. + +It was maintained by the Egyptians that, besides the gods, there were +many demons which communicated with mortals, and which were often +rendered visible by certain ceremonies and songs; that genii exercised +an habitual and powerful influence over every particle of matter; that +thirty-six of these beings presided over the various members of the +human body; and thus, by magical incantations, it might be strengthened, +or debilitated, afflicted with, or delivered from disease. Thus, in +every case of sickness, the spirit presiding over the afflicted part, +was first duly invoked. But the magicians did not trust solely to their +vain invocations; they were well acquainted with the virtues of certain +herbs, which they wisely employed in their attempts at healing. These +herbs were greatly esteemed: such, for instance, as the _cynocephalia_, +or, as the Egyptians themselves termed the _asyrites_,[133] which was used +as a preventive against witchcraft; and the nepenthes which Helen +presented in a potion to Menelaus, and which was believed to be powerful +in banishing sadness, and in restoring the mind to its accustomed, or +even to greater, cheerfulness, were of Egyptian growth. But whatever may +be the virtues of such herbs, they were used rather for their magical, +than for their medicinal qualities; every cure was cunningly ascribed to +the presiding demons, with which not a few boasted that they were, by +means of their art, intimately connected. + +There can be no question, as attested by the earliest records, that the +ancients were in possession of many potent remedies. Melampus of Argos, +the most ancient Greek physician with whom we are acquainted, is reputed +to have cured one of the Argonauts of barrenness, by exhibiting the rust +of iron dissolved in wine, for the space of ten days. The same physician +used hellebore as a purgative on the daughters of King Proteus, who were +labouring under hypochondriasis or melancholy. Bleeding was also a +remedy of very early origin, and said to have been first suggested by +the hypopotamus or sea horse, which at a certain time of the year was +observed to cast itself on the sea shore, and to wound itself among the +rocks or stones, to relieve its plethora. Podalerius, on his return from +the Trojan war, cured the daughter of Damaethus, who had fallen from a +height, by bleeding her in both arms. Opium, the concrete juice of the +poppy, was known in the earliest ages; and probably it was opium that +Helen mixed with wine, and gave to the guests of Menelaus, under the +expressive name of _Nepenthe_, to drown their cares, and encrease their +hilarity. This conjecture, in a considerable degree, is supported from +the fact, that Homer's Nepenthe was procured from the Egyptian Thebes, +whence the tincture of opium, according to the nomenclature of the +pharmacopeia about fifty years ago, and still known by this name in the +older writers; and, if Dr. Darwin may be credited, the Cumaean Sybil +never sat on the portending tripod without first swallowing a few drops +of juice of the cherry-laurel. + +There is every reason to believe that the Pagan priesthood were under +the influence of some narcotic preparation during the display of their +oracular power, but the effects produced would seem rather to resemble +those of opium, or perhaps of stramonium, than of prussic acid, which +the cherry-laurel water is known to contain. + +The priests of the American Indians, says Monardur, whenever they were +consulted by the chief gentlemen, or _caciques_, as they are called, +took certain leaves of the tobacco, and cast them into the fire, and +then received the smoke thus produced by them into their mouths, which +caused them to fall upon the ground. After having remained in this +position for some time in a state of stupor, they recovered, and +delivered the answers, which they pretended to have received during the +supposed intercourse with the world of spirits. + +The narcotic, or sedative influence of the garden radish, was known in +the earliest times. In the fables of antiquity we read, that, after the +death of Adonis, Venus, to console herself, and repress her desires, lay +down upon a bed of lettuces. The sea onion, or squill, was administered +by the Egyptians, in cases of dropsy, under the mystic title of the eye +of Typhon. The practices of incision and scarification, were employed in +the Greek camp at the siege of Troy; and the application of spirits to +wounds, was likewise understood; for we find Nestor applying a poultice +compounded of cheese, onion, and meal, mixed up with the wine of +Pramnos, to the wounds of Machaon. + +To bring some inactive substance into repute, as promising some +extraordinary, nay, wonderful medicinal properties, requires only the +sanction of a few great names; and when once established on such a +basis, ingenuity, argument, and even experiment, may open their +otherwise powerful batteries in vain. In this manner all the quack +medicines, ever held in any estimation, got into repute. And the same +vulgar prejudice, which induces people to retain an accustomed remedy +upon bare assertion and presumption, either of ignorance or partiality, +will, in like manner, oppose the introduction of any innovation in +practice with asperity, and not unfrequently with a quantum sufficit of +scrutiny and abuse, unless, indeed, it be supported by authorities of +still greater weight and consideration. + +The history of many articles of diet, as well as medicine, amply prove +how much their reputation and fate have depended upon some authority or +other. Ipecacuanha had been imported into England for many years, before +Helvetius, under the patronage of Louis XIV, succeeded in introducing it +into practice in France; and, to the Queen of Charles II., we are +indebted for the introduction of that popular beverage, tea, into +England. Tobacco has suffered as many variable vicissitudes in its fame +and character. It has been successively opposed and commended by +physicians, condemned and praised by priests and kings, and proscribed +and protected by governments, until, at length, this once insignificant +production of a little island, has succeeded in propagating itself +through every climate and country. Nor is the history of the potatoe +less remarkable or less strikingly illustrative of the imperious +influence of authority. This valuable plant, for upwards of two +centuries, received an unprecedented opposition from vulgar prejudice, +which all the philosophy of the age was unable to dissipate, until Louis +XIV. wore a bunch of the flowers of the potatoe, in the midst of his +court, on a day of mirth and festivity. The people then, for the first +time, obsequiously acknowledged its utility, and began to express their +astonishment at the apathy which had so long prevailed with regard to +its general cultivation. + +Another instance may be furnished of overbearing authority, in giving +celebrity to a medicine, or in depriving it of that reputation to which +its virtues entitle it, is seen in the history of the Peruvian bark. +This famed medicine was imported into Spain by the Jesuits, where it +remained seven years, before a trial was given to it. A Spanish priest +was the first to whom it was administered, in the year 1639, and even +then its use was extremely limited; and it would undoubtedly have sunk +into oblivion, but for the supreme power of the church of Rome, under +whose protecting auspices it gained a temporary triumph over the +passions and prejudices which opposed its introduction. Pope Innocent X. +at the intercession of the Cardinal de Lugo, who was formerly a Spanish +Jesuit, ordered the bark to be duly examined, and on the favourable +report, which was the result of this examination, it immediately rose +into high favour and celebrity. + +The root of the male fern, a nostrum for the cure of the tape worm, was +secretly retailed by Madame Noufleur. This secret was purchased by Louis +XV. for a considerable sum of money. It was not until this event that +the physicans discovered, that the same remedy had been administered in +the same complaint by Galen. The history of popular remedies in the cure +of gout, is equally illustrative of this subject. The Duke of Portland's +celebrated powder was nothing less than the _deacintaureon_ of Caelius +Aurelianus, or the _antidotus et duobus centaurae generibus_ of Aetius, +the receipt for which, a friend of his grace brought with him from +Switzerland, into which country, in all likelihood, it had been +introduced by the early medical writers, who had transcribed it from the +Greek volumes, soon after their arrival into the western part of +Europe.[134] + +The active ingredient of a no less celebrated preparation for the same +complaint, the _Eau médicinale_ de Husson, a medicine brought into +fashion by M. de Husson, a military officer in the service of Louis XVI +has been discovered to be the meadow saffron. Upon searching after and +trying the properties of this herb, it was observed that similar effects +in the cure of the gout were ascribed to a certain plant, called +hermodaclyllus, by Oribasius (an eminent physician of the 4th century) +and Aetius, who flourished at Alexandria towards the end of the 5th +century, but more particularly by Alexander of Tralles, a physician of +Asia Minor, whose prescription consisted of hermodaclyllus, ginger, +pepper, cummin seed, aniseed, and scammony, which he says will enable +those who take it to walk immediately. On an inquiry being immediately +set on foot for the discovery of this unknown plant, a specimen of it +was procured at Constantinople, and it actually did turn out to be a +species of meadow saffron, the colchicum autumnale of Linnaeus. + +The celebrated fever powder of Dr. James was evidently not his original +composition, but an Italian nostrum, invented by a person of the name of +Lisle; a receipt for the preparation of which is to be found at length +in Colborne's complete English Dispensary for the year 1756. The various +secret preparations of opium which have been extolled as the discovery +of modern days, may be recognised in the works of ancient authors. The +use of prussic acid in the cure of consumptions, lately suggested by M. +Magendie, at Paris, is little more than the revival of the Dutch +practice in this disorder; for Linnaeus informs us, that distilled +laurel water was frequently used in the cure of pulmonary +consumption.[135] + +We shall conclude these observations with a few remarks on what are +termed _patent medicines, nostrums_, or _quack medicines_, and their +boasted pretensions in general. There is, in fact, but one state of +perfect health, yet the deviations from this state, and the general +species of diseases are almost infinite. Hence it will easily be +understood, that in the classes of medical remedies, there must likewise +he a great variety, and that some of them are even of opposite +tendencies. Such are both the warm and cold bath considered as medical +remedies. Though opposite to each other in their sensible effects, each +of them manifests its medical virtues, yet only in such a state of the +body as will admit of using it with advantage. From these premises, it +is evident that an universal remedy, or one that possesses healing +powers for the _cure of all diseases_, is, in fact, a non-entity, a mere +delusion, the existence of which is physically impossible, as the mere +idea of such a thing involves a contradiction. How, for instance, can it +he conceived, that the same remedy should be capable of restoring the +tone of the muscular fibres, when they are relaxed, and also have the +power of relaxing them when they are too rigid; that it should coagulate +the fluids when in a state of resolution, and again attenuate them when +they are too viscid; that it should moderate the nerves when in a state +of preturnatural sensibility, and likewise restore them to their proper +degree of irritability when they are in a contrary state. + +The belief in an universal remedy has long been abandoned, even among +the vulgar, and long exploded in those classes of society, which are not +influenced by prejudice, or tinctured with fanaticism. It is, however, +sincerely to be regretted, that the daily press continues to be +inundated with advertisements; and that the lower, and less informed +class of the community, are still imposed upon by a set of privileged +impostors, who frequently puzzle the intelligent to decide, whether the +impudence or the industry with which they endeavour to establish the +reputation of their respective poisons, be the most prominent feature in +their character. In illustration of this last observation, it may +further be observed, that most of the nostrums advertised as cough +drops, etc., are preparations of opium, similar, but inferior, to the +well-known paregoric elixir of the shops, but disguised and rendered +more deleterious by the addition of heating and aromatic gums. The +injury which may be occasioned by the indiscriminate employment of such +medicines might be very serious and irremediable, as is well known to +every person possessing the smallest portion of medical knowledge. The +boasted, though groundless pretensions of certain illiterate empirics to +cure diseases which have eluded the skill and penetration of the +faculty, is another absurdity into which people of good common sense +have been most woefully entrapped. The lessons of experience ought to +prove the most useful, as purchased at the greatest trouble and expense; +but if people choose to run over a precipice with their eyes open, they +leave themselves nothing to regret, and the public less to lament, by +their fall. + +It was justly observed by the sagacious and intelligent Bacon, "that a +reflecting physician is not directed by the opinion which the multitude +entertain of a favourite remedy, but that be must be guided by a sound +judgment; and consequently, he is led to make very important +distinctions between those things which only by their name pass for +medical remedies, and others, which in reality possess healing powers." +We avail ourselves of the quotation, as it indirectly censures the +conduct of certain medical practitioners, who do not scruple to +recommend what are vulgarly called patent and other quack preparations, +the composition of which is carefully concealed from the public. Having +acquired their unmerited reputation by mere chance, and being supported +by the most refined artifices, in order to delude the unwary, we are +unable to come at the evidence of perhaps nine tenths of those who have +experienced their fatal effects, and who are now no longer in a +situation to complain. + +From universal remedies or panaceas, to nostrums and specifics, such, +for instance, as pretend to cure the _same_ disease in every patient, is +easy and natural. With the latter also, impositions of a dangerous +tendency are often practised. It may be asked how far they are +practicably admissible, and in what cases they are wholly unavailing? +The answer is not difficult. In those diseases, which in every instance +depend upon the same cause, as in agues, the small-pox, measles, and +many other contagious distempers, the possibility of specifics, in a +limited sense, may be rationally, though hypothetically admitted. But in +either maladies, the causes of which depend on a variety of other +concurrent circumstances, and the cure of which in different +individuals, frequently requires very opposite remedies, as in dropsy, +various species of colds, the almost infinite variety of consumptions, +etc. a specific remedy is an imposition upon the common sense of +mankind. Those who are but imperfectly acquainted with the various +causes from which the same disorder originates in different individuals, +can never entertain such a vulgar and dangerous notion. They will easily +perceive, how much depends upon ascertaining with precision, the seat +and cause of the complaint, before any medicine can be presented with +safety or advantage:--even life and death are, we are sorry to add, too +often decided by the first steps. Different constitutions, different +symptoms, and stages of disease, all require more or less a separate +consideration. What is more natural than to place confidence in a +remedy, which has been known to afford relief to others in the same kind +of disposition? The patient anxiously enquires after a person who has +been afflicted with the same malady; he is eager to know the remedy that +has been used with success; his friend or neighbour imparts to him the +wished for intelligence; he is determined to give the medicine a fair +trial, and takes it with confidence. From what has been stated, it will +not be difficult to conceive, that if his case does not exactly +correspond with that of his friend, any _chance_ remedy may prove +extremely dangerous, if not fatal. + +Hence it becomes evident, that the results are not to be depended upon, +nor the chance risked. The physician is obliged to employ all his +sagacity, supported by his own experience, as well as by that of his +predecessors; and yet he is often under the necessity of discovering, +from the progress of the disease, what he could not derive from the +minutest research. How then can it be expected, that a novice in the art +of healing should be more successful, when the whole of his method of +cure is either the impulse of the moment, or the effect of his own +credulity? It may be therefore truly said, that life and death are +frequently entrusted to chance! + +The late Dr. Huxham, a physician of some eminence in his day, when +speaking of Asclepiades, the Roman empiric, says: "This man from a +_declaimer_ turned _physician_, and set himself up to oppose all the +physicians of his time; and the novelty of the thing bore him out, as it +frequently doth the quacks of the present time; and ever _will while the +majority of the world are fools_." In another place, he curiously +contrasts the too timid practice of some regular physicians, with the +hazardous treatment, which is the leading feature of quacks: "The timid, +low, insipid practice with some, is almost as dangerous as the bold, +unwarranted empiricism of others; time and opportunity, never to be +regained, are often lost by the former; while with the latter, by a +_bold push_, you are sent off the stage in a moment." + +From what has been said, it may confidently be asserted, that a +universal remedy still remains as great a desideratum as the +philosopher's stone; and either can only obtain credit with the +weak-minded, the credulous, or the fanatic. One of the most unfortunate +circumstances in the history of such medicines, is the insinuating and +dangerous method, by which they are puffed into notice. And as we have +little of the beneficial effects which they daily must produce, by being +promiscuously applied, people attend only to the extraordinary +instances, perhaps not one in fifty, where they have afforded a +temporary or apparent relief. It is well known, that the more powerful +a remedy is, the more permanent and dangerous must be its effects on the +constitution; especially if it be introduced like many patent medicines, +by an almost indefinite encrease of the dose. There is another +consideration, not apt to strike those who are unacquainted with the +laws of the animal economy. When it is intended to bring about any +remarkable change in the system of an organized body, such means are +obliged to be employed as may contribute to produce that change without +affecting too violently the living powers, or without carrying their +action to an improper length. Indeed, the patient may be gradually +habituated to almost any stimulus, but at the expence of a paralytic +stroke on an impaired constitution. Such are among the melancholy +effects of imposture and credulity! "Were it possible," says a learned +authority, "to collect all the cases of sacrifices to the mysterious +infatuation, it is probable that their number would exceed the enormous +havoc made by gunpowder or the sword." Another reputable writer makes +the following terse remark on this subject: "As matters stand at +present," says he, "it is easier to cheat a man out of his life, than of +a shilling: and almost impossible either to detect or punish the +offender. Notwithstanding this, people still shut their eyes, and take +every thing upon trust, that is administered by any pretender to +medicine, without daring to ask him a reason for any part of his +conduct. Implicit faith, every where else the object of ridicule, is +still sacred here." + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[132] The berries of the belladonna or deadly nightshade, produce, when +eaten, a furious madness, followed by sleep, which lasts for twenty-four +hours. Such drugs as produce mental stupefaction, without impairing the +physical powers, may have given rise to the accounts of men being +transformed into brutes, so frequent in what are denominated the +fabulous writers, while the evanescent but exquisite joys of an opposite +description, an anticipation of what implicit obedience would ensure +them for ever, produced blind, furious, devoted adherents to any +philosophical speculator, who would venture to try so desperate an +experiment. + +[133] The Rowan tree or Mountain ash, is used by the Scottish peasantry +with the same view; and a small twig of it is sewed up in the cow's +tail, to preserve the animal and its produce from the influence of +witches and warlocks. + +[134] See Pharmacologia, by Dr. Paris. + +[135] Vide "Amenetates Academicae," vol. 4. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +THE PRACTICE OF OBEAH, OR NEGRO WITCHCRAFT--CHARMS--THEIR KNOWLEDGE OP +VEGETABLE POISONS--SECRET POISONING. + +Obeah, a pretended sort of witchcraft, arising from a superstitious +credulity, prevailing among the negroes, has ever been considered as a +most dangerous practice, to suppress which, in our West India colonies, +the severest laws have been enacted. The Obeah is considered as a potent +and most irresistible spell, withering and paralyzing, by indiscribable +terrors and unusual sensations, the devoted victim. One negro who +desires to be revenged on another, and is afraid to make an open and +manly attack on his adversary, has usually recourse to this practice. +Like the witches' cauldron in Macbeth, it is a combination of many +strange and ominous things. Earth gathered from a grave, human blood, a +piece of wood fastened in the shape of a coffin, the feathers of the +carion crow, a snake or alligator's tooth, pieces of egg-shell, and +other nameless ingredients, compose the fatal mixture. The whole of +these articles may not be considered as absolutely necessary to complete +the charm, but two or three are at least indispensable.[136] + +It will of course be conceived, that the practice of OBEAH can have +little effect, unless a negro is conscious that it is practised upon +him, or thinks so;[137] for, as the whole evil consists in the terrors of +a superstitious imagination, it is of little consequence whether it be +practised or not, if he only imagines that it is. But if the charm fails +to take hold of the mind of the proscribed person, another and more +certain expedient is resorted to--the secretly administering of poison +to him. This saves the reputation of the sorcerer, and effects the +purpose he had in view. + +An OBEAH man or woman (for it is practised by both sexes) is a very +dangerous person on a plantation; and the practice of it is made felony +by law, punishable with death where poison has been administered, and +with transportation where only the charm has been used. But numbers +have, and may be swept off, by its infatuation, before the crime is +detected; for, strange as it may appear, so much do the negroes stand in +awe of those _Obeah_ professors, so much do they dread their malice and +their power, that, though knowing the havoc they have made, and are +still making, they are afraid to discover them to the whites; and, +others perhaps, are in league with them for sinister purposes of +mischief and revenge. + +A negro, under the infatuation of Obeah, can only be cured of his +terrors by being made a Christian: refuse him this boon, and he sinks a +martyr to imagined evils. A negro, in short, considers himself as no +longer under the influence of this sorcery when he becomes a christian. +And instances are known of negroes, who, being reduced by the fatal +influence of Obeah to the lowest state of dejection and debility, from +which there were little hopes of recovery, have been surprisingly and +rapidly restored to health and cheerfulness by being baptized +christians. The negroes believe also in apparitions, and stand in great +dread of them, conceiving that they forbode death, or some other great +evil, to those whom they visit; in short, that the spirits of the dead +come upon the earth to be revenged on those who did them evil when in +life. Thus we see, that not only from the remotest antiquity, but even +among slaves and barbarians, the belief in supernatural agencies has +been a popular creed, not, in fact, confined to any distant race or +tribe of people; and, what is still more surprising, there is a singular +and most remarkable identity in the notion or conception of their +infernal ministry. + +In the British West Indies, the negroes of the windward coast are called +_Mandingoes_, a name which is here taken as descriptive of a peculiar +race or nation. There seems reason, however, to believe, that a +_Mandingo_ or _Mandinga_-man, is properly the same with an Obi-man. A +late traveller in Brazil gives us the following anecdotes of the +_Mandinga_ and _Mandingueiro_ of the negroes in that country. "One day," +says Mr. Koster, "the old man (a negro named Apollinario) came to me +with a face of dismay, to show me a ball of leaves, tied up with a plant +called _cypo_, which he had found under a couple of boards, upon which +he slept, in an out-house. The ball was about the size of an apple. I +could not imagine what had caused his alarm, until he said that it was +_Mandinga_ which had been set for the purpose of killing him; and he +bitterly bewailed his fate, that at his age, any one should wish to +hasten his death, and to carry him from this world, before our lady +thought fit to send him. I knew that two of the black women were at +variance, and suspicion fell upon one of them, who was acquainted with +the old _Mandingueiro_ of Engenho Velho; therefore she was sent for. I +judged that the _Mandinga_ was not set for Apollonario, but for the +negress whose business it was to sweep the out-house. I threatened to +confine the suspected woman at Gara unless she discovered the whole +affair. She said the Mandinga was placed there to make one of the +negresses dislike her fellow-slaves, and prefer her to the other. The +ball of _Mandinga_ was formed of five or six kinds of leaves of trees, +among which was the pomegranate leaf; there were likewise two or three +bits of rag, each of a peculiar kind; ashes, which were the bones of +some animals; and there might be other ingredients besides, but these +were what I could recognize. This woman either could not from ignorance, +or would not give any information respecting the several things of which +the ball was composed. I made this serious matter of the _Mandinga_, +from knowing the faith which not only many of the negroes have in it, +but also some of the mulatto people. There is another name for this kind +of charm; it is called _feitiço_, and the initiated are called +_feitiçeros_; of these there was formerly one at the plantation of St. +Joam, who became so much dreaded, that his master sold him to be sent to +Maranham." + +Speaking of the green-beads (_contas verdas_) which are another object +of superstition in South America, and of the reliance placed upon them +by the Valentoens, a lawless description of persons among the colonists +of Brazil; the same author gives us this further view of the +_Mandingueiros_ and their charms. "These men," says he, "wore on their +necks strings of green beads, which had either come from the coast of +Africa, bearing the wonderful property of conveying in safety their +possessors through all descriptions of perils, or were charmed by the +Mandingueiros, African sorcerers, who had been brought over to the +Brazils as slaves, and in secret continued the prohibited practice of +imparting this virtue to them. Vincente had been acquainted with some of +the men, and was firmly persuaded of the virtues of the green beads. +When I expressed my doubts of the efficacy of the beads, against a +musket ball well directed, his anger rose; but there was pity mingled +with it." + +Labat brings these stones from the Orellana, or river of the Amazons. "I +was informed," says our author, "that _Contas verdas_ came from Africa; +but some have found their way from the Orellana, and been put into +requisition by the _Mandingueiros_." Mr. Southey has also given an +account of the "green stones of the Amazons," in his history of Brazil, +vol. 1. p. 107. + +In another place, some traveller presents us with the _Mandingueiros_ in +the new character of charmer of snakes. "The Mandingueiros are famous, +among other feats, for handling poisonous snakes, and can, by particular +noises or tunes, call those reptiles from their holes, and make them +assemble around them. These sorcerers profess to render innoxious the +bites of snakes, to persons who submit to their charms and ceremonies. +One of the modes which is adopted for this purpose, is that of allowing +a tame snake to crawl over the head, face, and shoulders of the person +who is to be _curado do cobras_, cured of snakes, as they term it. The +owner of the snake repeats a certain number of words during the +operation, of which, the meaning, if they contain any, is only known to +the initiated. The rattle-snake is said to be, above all other species, +the most susceptible of attention to the tunes of the Mandingueiros." +The above accounts I should not have related upon the authority of one +or two authors, I have heard them repeated by several individuals, and +even some men of education have spoken of the reputed efficacy of the +tame snakes of the Mandingueiros, as if they were somewhat staggered in +their belief of it. "These men do certainly play strange tricks and very +dexterously." The same writer also observes, "One of the negroes whom I +had hired with the plantation of Jaguaribi, had one leg much thicker +than the other. This was occasioned, as he told me, by the bite of a +rattlesnake; he said he had been _cured_ from the bites of snakes by a +certain _curador de cobra_, or Mandingueiro, and had therefore not died; +but that as the 'moon was strong,' he had not escaped receiving some +injury from the bite." + +Beaver, in his African Memoranda, says, "There is another sort of people +who travel about in the country, called Mandingo-men, (these are +Mahommedans;) they do not work; they go from place to place, and when +they find any chiefs or people, whom they think they can make anything +of, they take up their abode sometime with them, and make _gree-grees_, +and sometimes cast seed from them for which they make them pay." + +On this, and other occasion, the word _gree-gree_ is applied to a house +whence oracles are delivered: but it is also used for a charm or obi. +"They themselves," (the natives of the coast) says the author, last +quoted, "always wear _gree-grees_, or charms, which they purchase of the +_Mandingoes_, to guard them against the effects of certain arms, or of +poison, and on which they place the utmost reliance. They have one +against poison; another against a musket; another against a sword; and +another against a knife; and, indeed, against almost every thing that +they think can hurt them. Mandingo priest, or _gris gris_ merchant, that +is, a seller of charms, which carried about a person, secure the wearer +from any evils,--such as poison, murder, witchcraft, etc. To this priest +I had made some handsome presents, and he, in return, gave me twelve +gris gris, and assured me that they would inevitably secure me from all +danger, at the same time he gave me directions how to dispose of them. +Some were to be carried about my person; one secretly placed over each +archway; another kept under my pillow, and another under the door of the +house I was then building." The Byugas hold these people in great +reverence, and say that they 'talk with God.' + +Mr. Long, in his history of the West Indies, states that, under the +general name of Obi-men is also included the class of _Myal_ men, or +those who, by means of a narcotic poison, made with the juice of an herb +(said to be the branched Calalue, a species of solanum) which occasions +a trance of a certain duration, endeavour to convince the deluded +spectators of their power to reanimate dead bodies. + +Additional particulars of this superstition preserved by Labat, +Edwards, and others, are to be joined with those now produced;[138] but +after all, the questions to be solved are, whether Obi, Mandinga, and +_gree gree_, are usually words of similar import, and whether those who +are conversant in them are all alike, priests of one system of religious +faith and worship, or whether the one does not belong to the worship of +a good power, and the other to that of an evil one. + +It is remarkable, that while the Etymology of _Obi_ has been sought in +the names of ancient deities of Egypt, and in that of the serpent in the +language of the coast, the actual name of the evil deity or _Devil_, in +the same language, appears to have escaped attention. That name is +written by Mr. Edwards, _Obboney_; and the bearer of it is described as +a malicious deity, the author of all evil, the inflictor of perpetual +diseases, and whose anger is to be appeased only by human sacrifices. +This evil deity is the Satan of our own faith; and it is the worship of +Satan which, in all parts of the world constitutes the essence of +sorcery. + +If this name of _Obboney_ has any relation to the Ob of Egypt, and if +the Ob, both anciently in Egypt, and to this day in the west of Africa, +signifies "a serpent," what does this discover to our view, but that +Satan has the name of _serpent_ among the Negro nations as well as among +those of Europe? As to how it has happened that the serpent, which, in +some systems, is the emblem of the good spirit, is in others the emblem +of the evil one, that is a topic which belongs to a more extensive +enquiry. This is enough for our present satisfaction to remember that +the profession of, and belief in sorcery or witchcraft, supposes the +existence of two deities, the one, the author of good, and the other the +author of evil; the one worshipped by good men for good things, and for +good purposes: and the other by bad men for bad things and purposes; and +that this worship is sorcery and the worshippers sorcerers. + +It will be seen above, that since African charms are to prevent evil, +and others to procure it, the first belong to the worship, and are +derived from the power, of the good spirit; and the second are from the +opposite source. It is to be concluded, then, that the superstition of +_Obi_ is no other than the practice of, and belief in the worship of +_Obboney_ or _Oboni_, the evil deity of the Africans, the serpent of +Africa and of Europe, and the old serpent and Satan of the scriptures; +and that the witchcraft of the negroes is evidently the same with our +own. It might indeed be further shown, that the latter have their +temporary transformations of men into alligators, wolves, and the like, +as the French have their loups-garoux, the Germans their war-wolves, +wolf-men, and the rest.[139] + +The negroes practising obeah are acquainted with some very powerful +vegetable poisons, which they use on these occasions, and by which they +acquire much extensive credit. Their fetiches are their household gods, +or domestic divinities; one of whom is supposed to preside over a whole +province, and one over every family. This idol is a tree, the head of an +ape, a bird, or any such thing, as their fancy may suggest. The negroes +have long been held famous in the act of secret or slow poisoning. + +If doubts and difficulties envelope the discovery of poisons, whose +distinguishing character is the rapidity of these effects, how much +greater must be the uncertainty when we are required to ascertain the +administrations of what are called slow poisons. This subject, indeed, +is so closely entwined with popular superstitions, that it is difficult +to separate truth from falsehood. In Italy, for example, it was formerly +said, that poisons were made to destroy life at any stated period--from +a few hows to a year. This, however, turns out to be a mere fiction; +and, it is well understood, that we know of no substances that will +produce death at a determinate epoch. The following case of the late +Prince Charles of Augustenburgh, nevertheless, shows that the idea of +slow poison is still very prevalent, even among the physicians of +continental Europe. + +Prince Charles of Augustenburgh, Crown Prince of Sweden, and the +predecessor of Bernadotte, in that station, fell dead from his horse on +the 22nd of May, 1810, while reviewing troops in Scania. His death, +during that stormy period of public affairs, excited great attention, +and an opinion soon spread abroad that he had been poisoned. The king +ordered a judicial investigation; and it appeared that Dr. Rossi, the +physician of the late Prince, had, without directions, proceeded to +inspect the body twenty-four hours after death; that he had performed +this operation with great negligence, omitting many things which the law +presented, which the assisting physicians proposed, and which were +essential to render it satisfactory; and finally, that the coats of the +stomach, instead of being preserved and submitted to chemical analysis +were, according to his own acknowledgment, thrown away. The royal +tribunal adjudged him to be deprived of his appointment, and to be +banished from the kingdom. This decision would not of course, diminish +the suspicion already excited; and among other physicians, who were +consulted on the case, M. Lodin, professor of Medicine at Lynkoping, +presented two memoirs, in which he stated it as his opinion, that a +_slow poison_ of a vegetable nature, and probably analogous to the _aqua +tofania_, had been administered to the Prince, and that this had caused +the apopletic fit of which he died. His reasons were: + +1. That the Prince had always enjoyed good health previous to his +arrival in Sweden, and, indeed, had not been ill, until after eating a +cold pie at an inn, in Italy. He was shortly after seized with violent +vomiting, while the rest of the company experienced no ill effects. + +2. The Prince was naturally very temperate. + +3. Ever since he arrived in Sweden he had experienced a loss of +appetite, with cholic and diarrhoea; and + +4. That on dissection, the spleen was found of a black colour and in a +state of decomposition, and the liver indurated and dark coloured. +Whilst during life he had experienced no symptoms corresponding to these +appearances. Dr. Lodin confessed, however, that he was unacquainted with +the effects that indicate the administration of a slow poison, but +thought the previous symptoms were such as might be expected from it. + +For the credit of the profession, this conjectural opinion met with +decided reprobation from other medical men. It appeared that the Prince +had, for several days previously, been subject to giddiness and pain in +the head, and that all the symptoms were readily referable to a simple +case of apoplexy, while the appearances on dissection showed that rapid +tendency to putrefaction, which is frequently observed in similar cases. + +The public are highly indebted to professor Beckman for a very elaborate +article, in which he has concentrated nearly all that is known +concerning _secret poisoning_. Of this we shall here present our readers +with an abstract, as peculiarly adapted to the demonology of medicine, +aided with some facts from other sources. + +Professor Beckman considers it unquestionable, that the ancients were +acquainted with this kind of poison, and thinks that it may be proved +from the testimony of Plutarch, Quintilian, and other respectable +authors. The former states that a slow poison, which occasioned heat, a +cough, spitting of blood, a consumption, and weakness of intellect, was +administered to Aratus of Sicyon. Theophrastus speaks of a poison +prepared from aconite, which could be moderated in such a manner as to +have effect in two or three months, or at the end of a year or two +years; and he also relates, that Thrasyas had discovered a method of +preparing from other plants a poison which, given in small doses, +occasioned a certain but easy death, without any pain, and which could +be kept back for a long time without causing weakness or corruption. The +last poison was much used at Rome, about two hundred years before the +christian era. At a later period, a female named Locusta, was the agent +in preparing these poisons, and she destroyed, in this way, at the +instigation of Nero, Britannicus, son of Agrippina. + +The Carthagenians seem also to have been acquainted with this act of +diabolical poisoning; and they are said, on the authority of Aulus +Gellius, to have administered some to Regulus, the Roman general. +Contemporary writers, however, it must be added, do not mention this. + +The principal poisons known to the ancients were prepared from plants, +and particularly aconite, hemlock, and poppy, or from animal substances; +and among the latter none is more remarkable than that obtained from the +sea-hare (_Lepus marinus_ or _Apylsia depilans_ of the system of +nature). With this, Titus is said to have been dispatched by Domitian. +They do not seem to have been acquainted with the common mineral +poisons. + +In the year 1659, during the pontificate of Alexander VII, it was +observed at Rome, that many young women became widows, and that many +husbands died when they became disagreeable to their wives. The +government used great vigilance to detect the poisoners, and suspicion +at length fell upon a society of young wives, whose president appeared +to be an old woman, who pretended to foretel future events, and who had +often predicted very exactly the death of many persons. By means of a +crafty female their practices were detected; the whole society were +arrested and put to the torture, and the old woman, whose name was +Spara, and four others, were publicly hanged. This Spara was a Sicilian, +and is said to have acquired her knowledge from Tofania at Palermo. + +Tophania, or Tofania, was an infamous woman, who resided first at +Palermo and afterwards at Naples. She sold the poison which from her +acquired the name of Aqua della Toffana (it was also called _Acquetta di +Napoli_, or _Acquetta_ alone), but she distributed her preparation by +way of charity to such wives as wished to have other husbands. From four +to six drops were sufficient to destroy a man; and it was asserted, that +the dose could be so proportioned as to operate in a certain time. Labat +says, that Tofania distributed her poison in small glass phials, with +this inscription--_Manna of St. Nicholas of Bavi_, and ornamented with +the image of the saint. She lived to a great age, but was at last +dragged from a monastery, in which she had taken refuge, and put to the +torture, when she confessed her crimes and was strangled. + +In no country, however, has the art of poisoning excited more attention +than it did in France, about the year 1670. Margaret d'Aubray, wife of +the Marquis de Brinvillier, was the principal agent in this horrible +business. A needy adventurer, named Godin de St. Croix, had formed an +acquaintance with the Marquis during their campaigns in the +Netherlands--became at Paris a constant visitor at his house, where in a +short time he found means to insinuate himself into the good graces of +the Marchioness. It was not long before this Marquis died; not, however, +until their joint fortune was dissipated. Her conduct, in openly +carrying on this amour, induced her father to have St. Croix arrested +and sent to the Bastile. Here he got acquainted with an Italian, of the +name of Exili, from whom he learnt the art of preparing poisons. + +After a year's imprisonment St. Croix was released, when he flew to the +Marchioness and instructed her in the art, in order that she might +employ it in bettering the circumstances of both. She assumed the +appearance of a nun, distributed food to the poor, nursed the sick in +the Hôtel Dieu, and tried the strength of her poisons, undetected, on +these hapless wretches. She bribed one Chaussée, St. Croix's servant, to +poison her own father, after introducing him into his service, and also +her brother, and endeavoured to poison her sister. A suspicion arose +that they had been poisoned, and the bodies were opened, but no +detection followed at this time. Their villainous practices were brought +to light in the following manner:--St. Croix, when preparing poison, was +accustomed to wear a glass mask; but, as this happened once to drop off +by accident, he was suffocated and found dead in his laboratory. +Government caused the effects of this man, who had no family, to be +examined, and a list of them to be made out. On searching them, there +was found a small box, to which St. Croix had affixed a written paper +containing a request, that after his death "it might be delivered to the +Marchioness de Brinvillier, who resides in the street Neuve St. Paul, as +every thing it contains concerns her, and belongs to her alone; and as, +besides, there is nothing in it that can be of use to any person except +her; and in case she shall be dead before me, to burn it, and every +thing it contains; without opening or altering any thing; and in order +that no one may plead ignorance, I swear by God, whom I adore, and all +that is most sacred, that I advance nothing but what is true. And if my +intentions, just and reasonable as they are, be thwarted in this point, +I charge their consciences with it, both in this world and the next, in +order that I may unload mine, protesting that this is my last will. Done +at Paris, this 25th May, in the afternoon, 1672. _De Sainte Croix_" + +Nothing could he a greater inducement to have it opened, than this +singular petition, and that being done, there was found in it a great +abundance of poisons of every kind, with labels, on which their effects +proved, by experiments on animals, were marked. The principal poison, +however, was corrosive sublimate. When the Marchioness heard of the +death of her lover and instructor, she was desirous to have the casket, +and endeavoured to get possession of it by bribing the officers of +justice; but as she failed in this, she quitted the kingdom. La +Chaussée, however, continued at Paris, laid claim to the property of St. +Croix, was seized and imprisoned, confessed more acts of villainy than +was suspected, and was in consequence broke alive upon the wheel, in +1673,--The Marchioness fled to England, and from thence to Liege, where +she took refuge in a convent. Desgrais, an officer of justice, was +dispatched in pursuit of her, and having assumed the dress of an Abbé, +contrived to entice her from this privileged place. Among her effects at +the convent there was found a confession, and a complete catalogue of +all her crimes, in her own hand-writing. She was taken to Paris, +convicted, and on the 16th of July, 1676, publicly beheaded, and +afterwards burnt. + +The practice of poisoning was not, however, suppressed by this +execution, and it was asserted, that confessions of a suspicious nature +were constantly made to the priests. A court for watching, searching +after, and punishing prisoners was at length established in 1697, under +the title of _chambre de poison_, or _chambre ardente_. This was shortly +used as a state engine, against those who were obnoxious to the court, +and the names of individuals of the first rank, both male and female, +were prejudiced. Two females, la Vigreux and la Voison were burnt alive, +by order of this court, in February, 1680. But it was abolished in the +same year. + +Professor Beckman relates the following, as communicated to him by +Linnaeus: "Charles XI, King of Sweden, having ruined several noble +families by seizing on their property, and having, after that, made a +journey to Torneo, he fell into a consumptive disorder, which no +medicine could cure. One day he asked his physician in a very earnest +manner what was the cause of his illness. The physician replied, 'Your +Majesty has been loaded with too many maledictions.'--'Yes,' returned +the king, 'I wish to God that the reduction of the nobilities' estates +had not taken place, and that I had never undertaken a journey to +Torneo.' After his death his intestines were found to be full of small +ulcers." + +There has been a great diversity of opinions as to the nature of these +poisons. That prepared by Tofania appears to have been a clear insipid +water, and the sale of aqua fortis was for a long time forbidden in +Rome, because it was considered the principal ingredient. This, however, +is not probable. + +In Paris, the famous _poudre de succession_ (also a secret poison) was +at one time supposed to consist of diamond dust, powdered exceedingly +fine; and at another time, to contain sugar of lead as the principal +ingredient. Haller was of this last opinion. In the casket of St. Croix +were found sublimate, opium, regulus of antimony, vitriol, and a large +quantity of poison ready prepared, the principal ingredients of which +the physicians were not able to detect. Garelli, physician to Charles +VI, King of the Two Sicilies, at the time when Tofania was arrested, +wrote to the celebrated Hoffman, that the Aqua Tofania was nothing else +than crystallized arsenic, dissolved in a large quantity of water by +decoction, with the addition, (but for what purpose we know not) of the +herb _Cymbalaria_, (probably the _Antirrhinum Cymbalaria_). And this +information he observes, was communicated to him by his imperial majesty +himself, to whom the judicial procedure, confirmed by the confession of +the criminal, was transmitted. But it was objected to this opinion, that +it differed from the ordinary effects of arsenic, in never betraying +itself by any particular action on the human body. + +The Abbé Gagliani, on the other hand, asserts that it is a mixture of +opium and cantharides, and that the liquor obtained from its +composition, is as limpid as rock water, and without taste. Its effects +are slow, and almost imperceptible. Beckman appears to favour this idea, +and suggests that a similar poison is used in the East, under the name +of _powst_, being water that had stood a night over the juice of +poppies. It is given to princes, whom it is wished to despatch +privately; and produces loss of strength and understanding, so that they +die in the end, torpid and insensible.[140] + +The following extract will show that secret poisoning has penetrated +into the forests of America. "The celebrated chief, _Blackbird_ of the +Omawhaws, gained great reputation as a medicine man; his adversaries +fell rapidly before his potent spells. His medicine was arsenic, +furnished him for this purpose by the villainy of the traders."[141] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[136] Various etymologies have been suggested for the word obi. Mr. +Long, in a paper transmitted several years since, by the agents of +Jamaica to the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council, and by the +latter subjoined to the report on the slave trade, expresses himself on +this subject as follows: "From the learned Mr. Bryant's commentary on +the word OPH, we obtain a very probable etymology of the term; 'a +serpent,' in the Egyptian language, was called _Aub_ or _Ob_." +'_Obion_,' is still the Egyptian name of a serpent.' 'Moses, in the name +of God, forbids the Israelites to inquire of the demon _Ob_, which is +translated in our Bible, charmer or wizzard, _Divinator aut +sorcilegus_.' The woman of Endor is called _Oub_ or _Ob_, translated +Pythonissa; and _Oubaois_ (he cites Horus Apollo) was the name of the +Basilisk or royal serpent, emblem of the sun, and an ancient oracular +deity of Africa. Their etymology, if admitted, connects the modern +superstitions of the west of Africa, with the ancient ones of the east +of that continent, from which source they have also been spread in +Europe. They are humble parts of the great system which is adorned with +the fables of Osiris and Isis; and they comprise not only the Obi of +Africa, but the witchcraft of our own country. That superstition is +every where connected with the worship of the serpent, and with the moon +and the cat. Skulls and teeth of cats are among the principal +ingredients of the African charms or _Obies_. + +[137] Mr. Long gives the following account of the furniture of the house +of an Obi-woman, or African witch in Jamaica: "The whole inside of the +roof, (which was of thatch) and every crevice of the walls were stuck +with the implements of her trade, consisting of rags, feathers, bones of +cats, and a thousand other articles. Examining further, a large earthen +pot or jar, close covered, contained a prodigious quantity of round +balls of earth or clay, of various dimensions, large and small, whitened +on the outside, and variously compounded, some with hair and rags, or +feathers of all sorts, and strongly bound with twine: others blended +with the upper section of the skulls of cats, or set round with cats' +teeth and claws, or with human or dogs' teeth, and some glass beads of +different colours. There were also a great many egg-shells filled with a +viscous or gummy substance, the qualities of which were neglected to be +examined; and many little bags filled with a variety of articles, the +particulars of which cannot, at this distance of time, be recollected." +Shakespeare and Dryden, have left us poetical accounts of the +composition of European _Obies_ or charms, with which, and with more +historical descriptions, the above may be compared. The midnight hours +of the professors of Obi, are also to be compared with the witches of +Europe. Obi, therefore, is the serpent-worship. The Pythoness, at +Delphos, was an Obi-woman. With the serpent-worship is joined that of +the sun and moon, as the governors of the visible world, and emblems of +the male and female nature of the godhead; and to the cat, on account of +her nocturnal prowlings, is ascribed a mysterious relationship to the +moon. The dog and the wolf, doubtless for the same reason, are similarly +circumstanced. + +[138] The superstition of Obi was never generally remarked upon in the +British West Indies till the year 1760, when, after an insurrection in +Jamaica, of the Coromantyn or Gold Coast negroes, it was found that it +had been made an instrument for promoting that disturbance. An old +Coromantyn negro, the chief instigator and oracle of the insurgents of +the parish of St. Mary, in which the insurrection broke out, who had +administered the _Fetiche_ or solemn oath to the conspirators, and +furnished them with a magical preparation, which was to make them +invulnerable, was at that time apprehended and punished, and a law was +enacted for the suppression of the practice, under which several +examples were made, but without effecting for many years, any diminution +of the evil sought to be remedied. + +[139] In Kosters's travels in Brazil, we read of a negro who was +reported by one of his fellows to become occasionally _lobas homen_ or +wolf-man. "I asked him," said the author, "to explain; when he said, +that the man was at times transformed into an animal, of the size of a +calf with the figure of a dog;" and in the African memoranda is an +account of a negro who professed and even believed to have the power of +transforming himself into an alligator, in which state he devoured men. +Upon being questioned by Captain Beaver, he answered, "I can change +myself into an alligator, and have often done it." But though these may +be genuine African superstitions, and not such as have been introduced +by the Portuguese, yet it is certain there is no part of Europe to which +they do not equally belong. + +[140] Beckman, vol 1, p. 74 to 103. + +[141] See Major Long's expedition, vol. 1. p. 226. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +ON THE ORIGIN AND SUPERSTITIOUS INFLUENCE OP RINGS. + +The ancient magicians, among other pretended extraordinary powers of +accomplishing wonderful things by their superior knowledge of the secret +powers of nature, of the virtues of plants and minerals, and of the +motions and influence of the stars, attached no small degree of mystic +importance to rings, the origin of which, their matter and uses, +together with the supposed virtues of the stones set in them, afford a +subject squaring so much with our design, and so deserving of notice +from the curious, that no apology need be made for discoursing on them. + +According to the accounts of the heathen mythologists, Prometheus, who, +in the first times, had discovered a great number of secrets, having +been delivered from the charms, by which he was fastened to mount +Caucasus for stealing fire from heaven, in memory or acknowledgment of +the favour he received from Jupiter, made himself of one of those +chains, a ring, in whose collet he represented the figure of part of the +rock where he had been detained--or rather, as Pliny says, set it in a +bit of the same rock, and put it on his finger. This was the first ring +and the first stone. But we otherwise learn, that the use of rings is +very ancient, and the Egyptians were the first inventors of them; which +seems confirmed by the person of Joseph, who, as we read (Genesis, chap, +xi.) for having interpreted Pharoah's dream, received not only his +liberty, but was rewarded with his prince's ring, a collar of gold, and +the superintendancy of Egypt. + +Josephus, in the third book of Jewish antiquities says, the Israelites +had the use of them after passing the Red Sea, because Moses at his +return from Mount Sinai, found that they had forged the golden calf from +their wives' rings, enriched with precious stones. The same Moses, +upwards of 400 years before the wars of Troy, permitted the priests he +had established, the use of gold rings, enriched with precious stones. +The high priest wore upon his ephod, which was a kind of camail, rich +rings, that served as clasps; a large emerald was set and engraved with +mysterious names. The ring he wore on his finger was of inestimable +value and celestial virtue. Had not Aaron, the high priest of the +Hebrews, a ring on his finger, whereof the diamond, by its virtues, +operated prodigious things? For it changed its vivid lustre into a dark +colour, when the Hebrews were to be punished by death for their sins. +When they were to fall by the sword it appeared of a blood colour; if +they were innocent it sparkled as usual. + +It is observable that the ancient Hebrews used rings even in the time of +the wars of Troy. Queen Jezebel, to destroy Nabath, as it is related in +the first Book of Kings, made use of the ring of Ahab, King of the +Israelites, her husband, to seal the counterfeit letters that ordered +the death of that unfortunate man. Did not Judah, as mentioned in the +38th chapter of Genesis, abuse his daughter-in-law, Thamar, who had +disguised herself, by giving her his ring and bracelets, as a pledge of +the faith he had promised her? + +Though Homer is silent in regard to rings, both in his Iliad and +Odyssey, they were, notwithstanding, used in the time of the Greeks and +Trojans; and from them they were received by several other nations. The +Lacedemonians, as related by Alexander, ab. Alexandro, pursuant to the +orders of their king, Lycurgus, had only iron rings, despising those of +gold; either their king was thereby willing to retrench luxury, or to +prohibit the use of them. + +The ring was reputed, by some nations, a symbol of liberality, esteem, +and friendship, particularly among the Persians, none being permitted to +wear any, except they were given by the king himself. This is what may +also be remarked in the person of Apollonius Thyaneus, as a token of +singular esteem and liberality, received one from the great Iarchas, +prince of the Gymnosophists, who were the ancient priests of India and +dwelt in forests, as our ancient bards and druids, where they applied +themselves to the study of wisdom, and to the speculation of the heaven +and stars. This philosopher, by the means of that ring, learned every +day the secrets of nature. + +Though the ring found by Gyges, shepherd to the King of Lydia, has more +of fable than of truth in it, it will not, however, be amiss, to relate +what is said concerning Herodotus, Coelius, after Plato and Cicero, in +the third book of his Offices. This Gyges, after a great flood, passed +into a very deep cavity in the earth, where having found in the belly of +a brazen horse, with a large aperture in it, a human body of enormous +size, he pulled from off one of the fingers a ring of surprising virtue; +for the stone on the collet rendered him who wore it invisible, when the +collet was turned towards the palm of the hand, so that the party could +see, without being seen, all manner of persons and things. Gyges, having +made trial of its efficacy, bethought himself that it would be a means +for ascending the throne of Lydia, and for gaining the Queen by it. He +succeeded in his designs, having killed Candaules, her husband. The dead +body this ring belonged to was that of an ancient Brahman, who, in his +time, was chief of that sect. + +The rings of the ancients often served for seals. Alexander the Great, +after the death and defeat of Darius, used his ring for sealing the +letters he sent into Asia, and his own for those he sent to Europe. It +is customary in Rome for the bridegroom to send the bride, before +marriage, a ring of iron, without either stone or collet, to denote how +lasting their union ought to be, and the frugality they were to observe +together; but luxury herein soon gained ground, and there was a +necessity for moderating it. Caius Marius did not wear one of gold till +his third consulship; and Tiberius, as Suetonius says, made some +regulations in the authority of wearing rings; for, besides the liberty +of birth, he required a considerable revenue, both on the father and +grandfather's side. + +In a Polyglot dictionary, published in the year 1625, by John Minshew, +our attention was attracted by the following observations, under the +article "RINGFINGER.--Vetus versiculus singulis digitis Annulum trebuens +Miles. Mercator. Stultus. Maritus. Amator. Pollici adscribitur Militi, +seu Doctor. Mercatorem á pollice secundum, stultorum, tertium. Nuptorum +vel studiosorum quartum. Amatorum ultimum." + +By which it appears, that the fingers on which annuli were anciently +worn were directed by the calling, or peculiarity of the party. Were it + + A soldier, or doctor, to him was assigned the thumb. + A sailor, the finger next the thumb. + A fool, the middle finger. + A married or diligent person, the fourth or ring finger. + A lover, the last or little finger. + +The medicinal or curative power of rings are numerous and, as a matter +of course, founded on imaginary qualities. Thus the wedding ring rubbing +upon that little abscess called the stye, which is frequently seen on +the tarsi of the eyes, is said to remove it. Certain rings are worn as +talismans, either on the fingers or suspended from the neck; the +efficacy of which may be referred to the effects usually produced by +these charms. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +CELESTIAL INFLUENCES--OMENS--CLIMACTERICS--PREDOMINATIONS--LUCKY AND +UNLUCKY DAYS--EMPIRICS, &C. + +Astrologers, among other artifices, have used their best endeavours, and +employed all the rules of their art, to render those years of our age, +which they call climacterics, dangerous and formidable. + +The word climacteric is derived from the Greek, which means by a scale +or ladder, and implies a critical year, or a period in a man's age, +wherein, according Ficinusological juggling, there is some notable +alteration to arise in the body, and a person stands in great danger of +death. The first climacteric is the seventh year of a man's life; the +others are multiples of the first, as 21, 49, 56, 63, and 84, which two +last are called the grand climacterics and the danger more certain. The +foundation of this opinion is accounted for by Mark Ficimis as +follows:--There is a year, he tells us, assigned for each planet to rule +over the body of a man, each of his turn; now Saturn being the most +_maleficient_ (malignant) planet of all, every seventh year, which +falls to its lot, becomes very dangerous; especially those of +sixty-three and eighty-four, when the person is already advanced in +years. According to this doctrine, some hold every seventh year an +established climacteric; but others only allow the title to those +produced by multiplication of the climacterical space by an odd number, +3, 5, 7, 9, &c. Others observe every ninth year as a climacteric. + +Climacteric years are pretended, by some, to be fatal to political +bodies, which, perhaps, may be granted, when they are proved to be so +more than to natural ones; for it must be obvious that the reason of +such danger can by no means be discovered, nor the relation it can have +with any other of the numbers above mentioned. + +Though this opinion has a great deal of antiquity on its side; Aulus +Gellius says--it was borrowed from the Chaldeans, who possibly might +receive it from Pythagoras, whose philosophy teemed much in numbers, and +who imagined a very extraordinary virtue in the number 7. The principal +authors on climacterics are--Plato, Cicero, Macrobius, Aulus Gellius. +Among the ancients--Argal, Magirus, and Solmatheus. Among the +moderns--St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, Beda and Boethius, all countenance +the opinion. + +There is a work extant, though rather scarce, by Hevelius, under the +title of _Annus Climactericus_, wherein he describes the loss he +sustained by his observatory, &c. being burnt; which it would appear +happened in his grand climacteric, of which he was extremely +apprehensive. + +Astrologers have also brought under their inspection and controul the +days of the year, which they have presumed to divide into _lucky_ and +_unlucky_ days; calling even the sacred scriptures, and the common +belief of christians, in former ages, to their assistance for this +purpose. They pretend that the fourteenth day of the first month was a +blessed day among the Israelites, authorised, as they pretend, by the +several passages out of Exodus, v. 18:-- + +"In the first _month_, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye +shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day at even," v. +40. Now, the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, +was four hundred and thirty years. + +41. "And it came to pass, at the end of the four hundred and thirty +years, even the self same day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the +Lord went out from the land of Egypt." + +42. "It is a night to be much observed unto the Lord for bringing them +out of the land of Egypt; that is that night of the Lord to be observed +of all the children of Israel, in their generations." + +51. "And it came to pass, the self same day, that the Lord did bring the +children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies." Also +_Leviticus, chap. 23, v. 5._ "In the fourteenth day of the first month +at even, is the Lord's passover." _Numbers, chap. 28, v. 10._ "Four +hundred and thirty years being expired of their dwelling in Egypt, even +in the self same day they departed thence." + +With regard to evil days and times, Astrologers refer to _Amos. chap. 5, +v. 13._ "Therefore, the prudent shall keep silence in that time, for it +is an evil time," and _chap. 6, v. 3_, "Ye that put far away the evil +day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;" also _Psalm 37, v. +19_, "They shall not be ashamed in the evil time; and in the days of +famine, they shall be satisfied;" and _Jeremiah, chap. 46, v. 21_, "Also +her hired men are in the midst of her, like fatted bullocks, for they +are also turned back and are fled away together; they did not stand +because the day of their calamity was come upon them, and the time of +their visitation." And to _Job_ cursing the day of his birth, from the +first to the eleventh verse. In confirmation of which may also be quoted +a calendar, extracted out of several ancient Roman Catholic prayer +books, written on vellum, before printing was invented, in which were +inserted the unfortunate days of each month, which it would be +superfluous to cite here.[142] + +Roman History sufficiently proves that the nature of lucky and unlucky +days owes its origin to Paganism; where it is mentioned, that that very +day four years, the civil wars were begun by Pompey, the father; Caesar +made an end of them with his son, Cneius Pompeius being slain; and that +the Romans counted the 13th of February an unlucky day, because, on that +day they were overthrown by the Gauls at Alba; and the Fabii attacking +the city of the Recii, were all slain, with the exception of one man; +also from the calendar of Ovid's "Fastorum," _Aprilis erat mensis +Graecis auspicatissimus_; and from Horace, Book 2nd, Ode 13, cursing the +tree that had nearly fallen upon it; _ille nefasto posuit die_. + +The Pagans believed there were particular months and days which carried +something fatal in them; those, for instance, upon which the state +perhaps had lost a great battle; and under this impression, they never +undertook any enterprise on these days and months. The twenty-fourth of +February in the Bisextile years was considered so unlucky, that +Valentinian (_Ammiam. Marcell. lib. 26. cap. 1._) being elected Emperor +upon it, durst not appear in public under the apprehension of suffering +the fatality of the day. Many other particular days might be quoted upon +which generals of armies have constantly been favoured with fortune. +Timoleon (_Corn. Nepos_) won all his famous battles on his birthday. +Soliman (_Duverdier. Hist. des Turcs_) won the battle of Mohac, and took +the fortress of Belgrade, and, according to some historians, the Isle of +Rhodes, and the town of Buda on the 26th of August. But we find, in like +manner, the same day lucky and unlucky to the same people. Ventidius, at +the head of the Roman army, routed the Parthians, and slew their young +king Pacorus who commanded them, on the same day that Crassus, another +Roman general, had been slain, and his whole army cut in pieces by the +same people. Lucullus having attacked Tigranes, king of Armenia, +notwithstanding the vain scruples of his officers, who desired him to +beware fighting on that day, which was noted in the Roman calendar as an +unlucky one, ever since the fatal overthrow of the Romans by the Cimbri; +but he, (Lucullus) despising the superstition, gained one of the most +memorable battles recorded in Roman history, and changed the destiny of +the day as he promised those who would have dissuaded him from the +enterprise. And Valentinian's unlucky day was that on which Charles V, +another Roman Emperor, promised himself the best good fortune. Friday is +deemed on unlucky day for engaging in any particular business, and there +are few, if any, captains of ships who would sail from any port, on this +day of the week for their destination. + +The fishermen who dwell on the coasts of the Baltic never use their nets +between All-saints and St Martin's; they would then be certain of not +taking any fish through the whole year: they never fish on St Blaise's +day. On Ash Wednesday the women neither sew nor knit, for fear of +bringing misfortune upon their cattle. They contrive so as not to use +fire on St. Laurence's day; by taking this precaution they think +themselves secure against fire for the rest of the year. + +This prejudice of lucky and unlucky days has existed at all times and in +all nations; but if knowledge and civilization have not removed it, they +have at least diminished its influence. In Livonia, however, the people +are more than ever addicted to the most superstitious ideas on this +subject. In a Riga journal (_Rigaische Stadblatter_, No. 3657, anno +1822, edited by M. Sontag) there are several passages relative to a +letter from heaven, and which is no other than a catalogue of lucky and +unlucky days. This letter is in general circulation; every body carries +it about him, and though strictly forbidden by the police, the copies +are multiplied so profusely as to increase the evil all attempts to +destroy which have hitherto failed. Among the country people this idea +is equivalent to the doctrine of fatality; and if they commit faults or +even crimes, on the days which are marked as unlucky, they do not +consider themselves as guilty, because they were predestined. + +The flight of certain birds, or the meeting of certain animals on their +first going out in the morning, are with them good or bad omens. They do +not hunt on St. Mark's, or St. Catherine's day, on penalty of being +unsuccessful all the rest of the year. It is a good sign to sneeze on +Christmas day. Most of them are so prepossessed against Friday, that +they never settle any important business, or conclude a bargain on that +day; in some places they do not even dress their children. They do not +like visits on Thursdays, for it is a sign they shall have troublesome +guests the whole week. + +In some districts of Esthonia, up the Baltic, when the shepherd brings +his flocks back from the pasture, in spring for the first time, he is +sprinkled with water from head to foot under the persuasion that this +makes the cattle thrive. The malignity of beasts of prey is believed to +be prevented by designating them not by their proper names, but by some +of their attributes. For instance, they call the fox _hallkuhl_ (grey +coat) the bear, _layjatyk_ (broad-foot), etc. etc. They also fancy that +they can oblige the wolf to take another direction by strewing salt in +his way. The howling of wolves, especially at day-break, is considered a +very bad omen, predicting famine or disease. In more ancient times, it +was imagined that these animals, thus asked their god to give them +food, which he threw them out of the clouds. When a wolf seizes any of +their cattle, they can oblige him to quit his prey, by dropping a piece +of money, their pipe, hat, or any other article they have about them at +the time. They do not permit the hare to be often mentioned, for fear of +drawing it into their corn-fields. To make hens lay eggs, they beat them +with an old broom. In families where the wife is the eldest child of her +parents, it has been observed that they always sell the first calves, +being convinced, that, if kept, they would not thrive. To speak of +insects or mischievous animals at meal-times, is a sure way to make them +more voracious. + +If a fire breaks out, they think to stop its fury by throwing a black +hen into the flames. This idea, of an expiatory sacrifice, offered to a +malevolent and tutelary power, is a remnant of paganism. Various other +traces of it are found among the Esthonians; for instance, at the +beginning of their meals, they purposely let fall a piece of new bread, +or some drops of liquor from a bottle as an offering to the divinity. + +It is very offensive to the peasants, for any one to look into their +wells; they think it will cause the wells to dry up. + +When manna is carried into the fields, that which falls from the cart is +not gathered up, lest mischievous insects and blights come upon the +corn. + +When an old house is quitted for a new one they are attentive in noting +the first animal that dies. If it be an animal with hairy feet, the sign +is good; but if with naked feet, some fowl, for instance, there will be +mourning in the house; it is a sign of misery and bad success in all +their undertakings. These, with a scrupulous adherence to lucky and +unlucky days, are the prevailing popular superstitions in the three +duchies; a great number of which, especially among the Esthonians, are +connected with their ancient mythology. + +In reading that pleasant volume, by the late Sir Humphrey Davy, entitled +_Salmonia_, it is impossible not to be struck with his remark respecting +omens, which is here briefly noticed, with an account of others, which +it is imagined have not yet found their way far into print, in order to +account for such seeming absurdities. + +"The search after food,[143] as we agreed on a former occasion, is the +principal cause why animals change their places. The different tribes of +wading birds always migrate when rain is about to take place; and I +remember once in Italy, having been long waiting, in the end of March, +for the arrival of double snipe, in the campagna of Rome; a great flight +appeared on the third of April, and the day after, heavy rain set in, +which greatly interfered with my sport. The vulture, upon the same +principle, follows armies; and I have no doubt that the augury of the +ancients was a good deal founded upon the observation of the instinct of +birds. There are many superstitions of the vulgar owing to the same +source. For anglers, in spring, it is always unluckly to see single +magpies; but two may always be regarded as a favourable omen; and the +reason is, that in cold and stormy weather, one magpie alone leaves the +nest in search of food, the other remaining sitting upon the eggs of the +young ones: but, when two go out together, it is only when the weather +is mild and warm, and favourable for fishing. + +"This reasoning will, in general, be found correct, and may be applied +to solve many of the superstitions in the country; but the case of the +magpie is entitled to a little more consideration. The piannet, as we +call her in the North of England, is the most unlucky of all birds, to +see singly at any time; this, however, does not often happen, except a +short time during incubation; they either appear in pairs or in +families; but even this last appearance is as alarming to our +grandmothers. The following distich shows what each forbodes:--'One +sorrow, two mirth, three a wedding, four death.' This bird, indeed, +appears to have taken the same place with us, as an omen of evil, that +the owl had amongst the ancients. The nurse is often heard to declare +that she has lost all hopes of her charge when she has observed a +piannet on the house-top. + +"Another prejudice, indulged even by our good wives, is that of +destroying the feathers of the pigeon instead of saving them to stuff +beds, etc. They say, that if they were to do so, it would only prolong +the sufferings of the death-bed; and when these are more than usually +severe, it is attributed to this cause, and the reason given 'because +the bird has no gall' is to them quite conclusive, but to me, perfectly +irrelevant and unsatisfactory. A belief amongst boys, that to harm or +disturb the nests of the redbreast or swallow is unlucky, appears very +general throughout the kingdom; and the keen bird-nester, who prides +himself on the quantity of eggs blown and strung bead-fashion, here +often gets mortified by finding his trophies destroyed by the housewife +who considers their presence as affecting the safety of her crokery +ware. This belief may have been encouraged, if not invented, for a +humane purpose: but how are we to account for the efficacy of the Irish +stone in curing swellings caused by venomous reptiles, by merely being +rubbed upon the part affected? The fullest faith in the practice appears +to have prevailed in the country at no distant period, and is yet far +from extinct. The swallow and the cuckoo are generally hailed as +harbingers of spring and summer, but, perhaps, many of our readers are +not aware that it is only lucky to hear the cuckoo, for the first time +in the season, upon soft ground in contradistinction to hard roads, and +with money in the pocket, which the youngster is sagely advised to be +sure then to turn over. Perhaps the season of the year may +satisfactorily explain all these observances. Several superstitious +customs are mentioned regarding bees, some of which are not practised in +the north; yet it is fully believed that the death of the stock of hives +too often foretells the flitting of the bee-master. Wet cold years, +unfavourable to the insects, are also equally so to the farmer upon thin +clays, which border the moors, where bees are mostly kept. Has the use +of the mountain ash, 'rowan tree' [Pyrus aucuparia, _Gaertner_,] as a +charm against witchcraft, ever been accounted for? The belief in its +efficacy must be very old if we are to credit some of Shakspeare's +commentators, who give this word as the true reading in Macbeth, instead +of 'Aroint thee, witch!' + +"It often happens that the careless observer has, for the first time, +his attention called forcibly to some appearance of nature by accidental +circumstances: if at all superstitious, he immediately prognosticates +the most disastrous consequences from that which a little observation +would have convinced him was but a phenomenon a little more conspicuous +than usual. The northern lights are said to have caused much +consternation when first observed; and they have lately been viewed with +more than ordinary interest, as it appears from the _Newcastle +Chronicle_, the last autumn (1830), when they were more than usually +brilliant, some of the inhabitants of Weardale were convinced they saw, +on one occasion, very distinctly, the figure of a man on a white horse, +with a red sword in his hand, move across the heavens; and are, no +doubt, now certain that it foretold the present eventful times. Even +this belief may be accounted for on such accidental coincidences, or +even philosophically, by assuming as a fact that this phenomenon is the +result of an electrical change in the atmosphere, and that such a change +usually precedes rain. Now, if such happen in spring or in summer, and +before such a quantity of rain as is found to affect the harvest, it +may too often betoken scarcity, discontent, and turbulence, as such are +the times when all grievances, either real or imaginary, are brought +forward for redress. The origin of the superstition of sailors, of +nailing a horse-shoe to the mast, is to me unaccountable, unless it may +have been, like the following trial of the credulity of the +superstitious by some person for amusement:--Sailors sometimes make a +considerable pecuniary sacrifice for the acquisition of a child's caul, +the retaining of which is to infallibly preserve them from drowning. + +"Some years ago, a pretty wide district was alarmed by an account of the +beans [Fà ba vulgà ris var. equina] being laid the wrong way in the pod +that year, which most certainly foreboded something terrible to happen +in a short time, and this produced much consternation amongst those who +allow their imaginations to run riot. The whole of the terrible omen was +this: the eye of the bean was in the pod towards the apex, instead of +being towards the footstalk, as might appear at first sight to be its +natural position; and some were scarcely convinced that this was the +natural position of the beans in the pod ever since the creation, even +on being shown the pod of the preceding year with the seed in the same +position. + +"As yet, however, I fear we must sum up in the words of Davy:-- + +"_Phys._ But how can you explain such absurdities as Friday being an +unlucky day, and the terror of spilling salt, or meeting an old woman? + +"_Poiet_. These, as well as the omens of death-watches, dreams, etc. +are founded upon some accidental coincidences; but spilling of salt, on +an uncommon occasion, may, as I have known it, arise from a disposition +to apoplexy, shown by an incipient numbness in the hand, and may be a +fatal symptom; and persons dispirited by bad omens sometimes prepare the +way for evil fortune, for confidence of success is a great means of +insuring it. The dream of Brutus before the battle of Philippi probably +produced a species of irresolution and despondency which was the +principal cause of his losing the battle; and I have heard that the +illustrious sportsman, to whom you referred just now, was always +observed to shoot ill, because he shot carelessly, after one of his +dispiriting omens. + +"_Hal._ I have in life met with a few things which I have found it +impossible to explain, either by chance coincidences, or by natural +connections, and I have known minds of a very superior class affected by +them--persons in the habit of reasoning deeply and profoundly." + +The number of remarkable events that happened on some particular days, +have been the principal means of confirming both pagans and Christians +in their opinions on this subject. For instance, Alexander who was born +on the sixth of April, conquered Darius, and died on the same day. The +Emperor Basianus Caracalla was born, and died on the sixth day of April. +Augustus was adopted on the 19th of August, began his consulate, +conquered the Triumviri, and died the same day. The christians have +observed that the 24th of February was four times fortunate to Charles +the fifth. That Wednesday was a fortunate day to Pope Sixtus the fifth; +for on a Wednesday he was born, on that day made a monk, on the same day +made a general of his order, on that day created a Cardinal, on that day +elected Pope, and also on that day inaugurated. That Thursday was a +fatal day to Henry the eighth, King of England, and his posterity, for +he died on a thursday; King Edward the sixth on a Thursday; Queen Mary +on a Thursday; and Queen Elizabeth on a Thursday. + +The French have observed that the feast of Pentecoste had been lucky to +Henry III, King of France for on that day he was born, on that day +elected King of Poland, and on that day he succeeded his brother Charles +IX, on the throne of France. + +There are critical days observed by physicians, in continued fevers, a +doctrine which has been confirmed by the united testimony of De Haen and +Cullen; and these are the 3rd. 5th. 7th. 9th. 11th. 14th. 17th. and +20th. By critical days are meant, any of the above days, on which the +fever abates or terminates favourably, or on which it is exacerbated or +terminates fatally. + +Natural astrology is confined to the study of exploring natural effects, +in which sense it is admitted to be a part of natural philosophy. It was +under this view that Mr. Goad, Mr. Boyle, and Dr. Mead, pleaded for its +use. The first endeavours to account for the diversity of seasons from +the situations, habitudes and motions of the planets: and to explain an +infinity of phenomena by the contemplation of the stars. The Honourable +Mr. Boyle admitted, that all physical bodies are influenced by the +heavenly bodies; and Doctor Mead's opinion, in his treatise concerning +the power of the sun and moon, etc. is in favour of the doctrine. But +these predictions and influences are ridiculed and entirely exploded by +the most esteemed modern philosophers, of which the reader may have a +learned specimen in Rohault's, Tractat. Physic, part II. c. 27. + +The diseases of men, women, and children were supposed at times to be +more immediately caused by the influence of the seven planets. In order +to comprehend this exploded doctrine, we shall here set down the +pretended governing and days, at what time they are supposed to have the +most influence: + +[Symbol: Sol] Sol, or the sun governs on Sunday. +[Symbol: Luna] Luna, or the moon, Monday. +[Symbol: Mars] Mars, Tuesday. +[Symbol: Mercury] Mercury, Wednesday. +[Symbol: Jupiter] Jupiter, Thursday, +[Symbol: Venus] Venus. Friday. +[Symbol: Saturn] Saturn, Saturday. + +Saturn reigning, is said to cause cold diseases, as the gout, leprosy, +palsy, quartan agues, dropsies, catarrhs, colds, rheumatisms, etc. + +Jupiter causes cramps, numbness, inflammations of the liver, head-aches, +pains in the shoulders, flatulency, inflammatory fevers, and all +diseases caused by putrefaction, apoplexy, and quinsies. + +Mars, acute fevers and tartan agues, continual and intermitting fevers, +imposthumes, erisepelas, carbuncles, fistulas, dysentery, and similar +hot and dry diseases. + +Sol causes rheums in the eyes, coldness in the stomach and liver, +syncope, catarrhs, pustular eruptions, hysterics, eruptions on the lower +extremities. + +Venus causes sores, lientery, hysteria, sickness at the stomach, from +cold and moist causes, disorders of the liver and lungs. + +Mercury causes hoarseness and distempers in the senses, impediments in +the speech, falling sickness, coughs, jaundice, vomiting, catarrhs. + +The moon causes palsy, cholic, dropsy, imposthumes, dysenteries, and all +diseases arising from obstructed circulation. + +The means laid down for the prevention of these diseases are rational +enough, at least some of them, such as temperance, moderate bleeding +(whether or not indicated we are not told,) the use of laxatives at +seasonable times, when a friendly planet, opposite to the malignant +planet you were born under, has dominion, by which the effect of its +influence will be much abated, and a power given to nature to oppose its +malevolency, which, "if well heeded, may be a main prevention of +dangerous diseases." Thus every planet in the heavens carries with it a +diseased aspect, without, as it would appear, possessing any repelling +or sanative powers to correct or ward off the sickly influence it is +supposed to entertain over the life and limbs of frail mortals; that, in +the sense of this absurd doctrine, or rather jargon, when Jupiter has +dominion, it will be necessary to bleed and take calomel to guard +against (not to attack it when it has taken place) inflammation of the +liver; and when Mars presides, to send immediately for Van Butchel to +frighten away an imaginary fistula--absurd and ridiculous nonsense, too +prevalent even at the present day; for what can bleeding and physicking +at the spring and fall of the year be called but operations without +reason, under suppositious stellar influence. "Observe also to gather +all your physic herbs in the hour of the friendly planet, that +temporises with what you were born under, and in so doing they will have +more strength, power, and virtue to operate in the medicines; but +neither physic nor bleed on the third of January, the last of April, the +first of July, the first of August, and the last and second day of +October; for those astrologers, with whom physicians join, conclude it +perilous, by reason of the bad influence then reigning; and if it change +not the distemper into another worse, it will augment it, and put the +party in great danger of death, _if he or she in this case be not lucky +to escape_." It would be a waste of words to offer a single comment on +such egregious stuff--"do not bleed on the third of January," nor on +such and such a day, (as if there could be stated times for bleeding +beyond those which are indicated by the presence of disease, and +requiring such evacuation,) is a practice we believe peculiar only to +astrologers, and those who believe in such demonological cant. It is no +less, however, a singular fact that men distinguished in every other +respect for their learning, should most particularly have indulged in +the superstition of judicial astrology. At the present time a belief in +such subjects can only exist with those who may be said to have no +belief at all; for mere traditional sentiments can hardly be said to +amount to a belief. + +It was astronomy that gave rise to judicial astrology, which, offering +an ample field to enthusiasm and imposture, was eagerly pursued by many +who had no scientific purpose in view. It was connected with various +juggling tricks and deceptions, affected an obscure jargon of language, +and insinuated itself into every thing in which the hopes and fears of +mankind were concerned. The professors of this pretended science were at +first generally persons of mean education, in whom low cunning supplied +the place of knowledge. Most of them engaged in the empirical practice +of physic, and some through the credulity of the times, even arrived at +a degree of eminence in it; yet although the whole foundation of their +art was folly and deceit, they nevertheless gained many proselytes and +dupes, both among the well-informed and the ignorant. + +About the middle of the seventeenth century, the passion for horoscopes +and expounding the stars prevailed in France among people of the first +rank. The new-born child was usually presented naked to the +star-expounder, who read the first lineaments on its forehead, and the +transverse lines in its hands, and thence wrote down its future destiny. +It has been reported of several persons famous for their astrological +skill, that they have suffered a voluntary death merely to verify their +own predictions. It is curious to observe the shifts to which these wise +men were frequently put when their predictions were not verified. Great +winds at one time were predicted by a famous adept in the art, but no +unusual storms having happened, to save the reputation of the art, the +prediction was applied figuratively to some revolutions in the state, of +which there were instances enough at that time. + +The life of the famous Lilly the astrologer, and the Sidrophel of +Butler, written by himself, is a curious work, containing much artless +narrative, but at the same time, so much palpable imposture, that it is +difficult to know when he is speaking what he really believes to be the +truth. In a sketch of the state of astrology in his day, the adepts +whose characters he has drawn were the lowest miscreants of the town. +They all, indeed, speak of each other as rogues and impostors; among +whom were Booker, George Wharton, and Gadbury, who gained a livelihood +by practising on the credulity of even men of learning so late as 1650 +to the 18th century. In Ashmole's life an account of these artful +impostors may be read. Most of them had taken the air in the pillory, +and others had conjured themselves up to the gallows. + +To the astrologers of the 17th century, the quacks and impostors of the +beginning of the 19th are only equal. Quackery and astrology, the latter +of which often served as a mask to the former, appear to have been at +one time a kind of Castor and Pollux; quackery, however, it would seem +has outlived astrology, for there are more who would swallow the nostrum +of the quack than the flatulent bolus of the fortune-tellers. Both still +have their votaries. One Grigg, a poulterer in Surrey, was set in the +pillory at Croyden, (Temp. Edw. IV,) and again in the Borough, for +cheating people out of their money by pretending to cure them with +charms, by simply looking at the patients, or by practices still more +absurd and questionable. Of such doctors there is no lack. This kind of +practice offers one of the finest fields for deception of any species of +empirical delusion held out to the public at the present day. Such +indeed is the infatuation and credulity of the ignorant that, we are +confidently assured, a notorious German quack had within one year so +many half-guinea applications that he netted £2000; and that the glass +bottles in which the precious nostrums were conveyed from the sanctum +sanctorum of the mendacious empiric in high Germany, who made his debut +in this country by hawking about Dutch drops, amounted to as many +two-pences. To those of either sex, who are weak-minded enough to trust +their lives to the rash artifices of an ignorant pretender who affects +to discover an occult quality in the constitution of the patient +denoting the existence of some internal complaint beyond that which less +equivocal symptoms sufficiently present to the eye and knowledge of the +regular practitioner--we can only say that we conceive them to be justly +punished in the loss of their money, and the consequent ruin of their +health. + +In Stow's Chronicle we find that one of these said gentlemen was set on +horseback, his face towards the tail, which he held in his hand in the +manner of a bridle, while with a collar significative of his offence, +dangling about his neck, he made a public entrée into the city of +London, conducted by Jack Ketch, who afterwards did himself the honour +of scourging and branding the impostor, previous to banishment, which +completed his sentence. In the reign of James I, a terrible sweep was +made among the quacks and advertising gentry. The council dispatched a +warrant to the magistrates of the city of London, to take up all reputed +quacks, and bring them before the censors of the college, to examine how +properly qualified they were to be trusted, either with the limbs or +lives of his majesty's lieges. This is all that is required at the +present day. Let the legislature controul this department instead of the +college of physicians, who, as a body, can boast of as large an +allowance of licensed ignorance as any corporate set of men in +existence. We say nothing of surgery, for this branch of knowledge +leaves the world generally something to look at, hence so few pretenders +to it; but physic buries all its blemishes with the unfortunate victim. + +The country, even in this age of progressing wisdom, is deluged with +quack medicines, which credulous people say are not directed against the +constitution, but only against the pocket, and that they are too insipid +to do either good or harm; but were this the case, there would have been +no occasion for the exemplary punishments with which it is recorded +quacks of all sorts have at various times been visited. Be it known, +there can be no such thing invented by man as an universal remedy to +prevent or cure all kinds of diseases; because that which would agree +with one constitution would disagree with another differently organised; +and a quack nostrum, such as we see daily advertised, may certainly +agree at one stage of a disease, but might go far in killing the patient +at another. Besides, all these boasted specifics have been found to be +either inert, ineffectual, or dangerous, and every pretender to them, in +times less enlightened by the general march of intellect, has been +convicted either of gross ignorance or dishonesty. No one can vouch with +certainty for any particular kind of medicine,--that it will agree with +this or that individual, until acquainted with his peculiar +constitution; consequently it is the height of absurdity to prescribe +physic for a man without a knowledge of such circumstances to direct +him. Amulets, talismans, charms, and incantations, are innocent and +innoxious, and may impose only on credulity without any other untoward +consequence, leaving the patient in the same state in which he was +found; but so much cannot be said for quacks and quack-medicines which +frequently remove their deluded victims far beyond the reach of either +physic or philosophy. + +Butler is said to be the author of the following character of a quack; +and who can read it without being astonished at the prophetic +intelligence with which it abounds, and which, unfortunately, admits of +a too close analogy with some very recent and untoward events, in the +annals of modern empiricism. "He is a medicine-monger, probationer of +receipts, and Doctor Epidemic; he is perpetually putting his medicines +upon their trial, and very often finds them GUILTY OF MANSLAUGHTER, but +still they have some trick or other to come off, and avoid burning by +the hand of the hangman. He prints his trials of skill, and challenges +death at so many several weapons; that, though he is sure to be foiled +by every one, he cares not: for, _if he can but get money, he is sure to +get off_; for it is but posting up diseases for poltroons in all the +public places of the town, and daring them to meet him again, and his +credit stands as fair with the rabble, as ever it did. He makes nothing +* * * * * * * * * * *;--but will undertake to cure them and tie one hand +behind him, with so much ease and freedom, that his patients may surfeit +and get drunk as often as they please, and follow their business without +any inconvenience to their health or occasions; and recover with so much +secrecy, that they shall never know how it comes about. He professes "no +cure no pay," as well he may, for if nature does the work, he is paid +for it; if not, he neither wins nor loses; and like a cunning rook lays +his bets so artfully, that, let the chance be what it will, he either +wins or saves. He cheats the rich for their money, and the poor for +charity, and, if either succeed, both are pleased, and he passes for a +very just and conscientious man: for as those that pay nothing ought at +least to speak well of their entertainments, their testimony makes way +for those who are able to pay for both. He finds he has no reputation +among those that know him, and fears he is never like to have, and, +therefore, posts up his bills, to see if he can thrive better amongst +those who know nothing of him. He keeps his post continually, and will +undertake to maintain it against all the plagues of Egypt. He sets up +his trade upon a pillar, or the corner of a street--These are his +warehouses, where all he has is to be seen, and a great deal more; for +he that looks further finds nothing at all." + + +ABSURDITIES OF PARACELSUS, AND VAN HELMONT. + +Although some of the first chemists were men of sense and learning, yet +after that chemistry began to be fashionable and much in vogue, there +were some of its professors, who although men of an uncommon turn of +genius, were as great enthusiasts, both in the chemical and medical +arts, as any other men ever were in religion. They not only pretended to +transmute some of the baser metals into gold, contrary to the nature of +things--and if they could have succeeded in that impossible work, it +would have rendered gold as plentiful, cheap, and less valuable than +iron, because it is less fit for instruments and mechanical uses--but +they also pretended infallibly to cure all diseases, by some of their +new invented chemical machines;--a thing equally as impossible as the +other, and shewed their ignorance of the causes and nature of diseases. +As those who are the most ignorant are generally the greatest boasters, +we find that none of them were more so, than that vain, boasting, +paradoxical enthusiast Paracelsus, who had acquired great riches by +curing a certain disease with a mercurial ointment, the knowledge of +which secret he is said to have stolen from Jacobus Berengarius, of +Caipo, in his travels thither. He was withal so illiterate, that he said +philosophy could be taught in no language but high Dutch; but the true +reason was, that he neither understood philosophy nor any other +language. He also boasted that he was in possession of a nostrum which +would prolong man's life to the age of Methusaleh, though he died +himself at the age of forty-seven. He lived in the fifteenth century. +The cures he wrought were deemed so surprising in that age, that he was +supposed to have recourse to supernatural aid. In a picture of him at +Lumley Castle, he is represented in a close black gown, with both hands +on a great sword, on whose hilt is inscribed the word Azot. This was the +name of his _familiar_ spirit, that he kept imprisoned in the pummel, to +consult on emergent occasions. The circumstance is thus alluded to by +Butler:-- + + Bombastes kept the Devil's Bird + Shut in the pummel of his sword; + And taught him all the cunning pranks, + Of past and future mountebanks. + +Paracelsus was succeeded by his scholar van Helmont, who had much more +learning, but was as great an enthusiast, both in the chemical and +medical arts as his master, and embraced most of his paradoxical +opinions; and, having more technical terms, he frequently used them +rather to dazzle and confound the understandings of his readers, than to +inform their judgments. By thus giving his writings a mystical air of +wisdom, he rendered them obscure, and sometimes unintelligible; +consequently, more easily imposed them upon the public and vulgar, as +sublime and useful truths. He also vainly boasted that he could cure any +fever in four days' time, by sweating the patient with one draught of +his famous nostrum, the _Praecipitatus Diaphoreticus Paracelsi_; and +further adds, "that no man can deserve the name of a physician, who +cannot cure any fever in four days' time." He, however, admits, that he +sometimes added a little theriaca (treacle) and wine to it; which last, +he says, "is not only a great cordial, but as a vehicle, is a proper +messenger to be sent on such an errand, as it knows the road, is well +received wherever it goes, and readily admitted into the most private +apartments of the human body." Hence we believe that wine is not only a +good natured, but an intelligent being; though it sometimes deprives men +of their senses for a time, when they take too much of it: and hence we +see also a specimen of our author's method of reasoning and writing. + +Van Helmont, like his great master, also boasted, that he could cure all +inflammatory and other fevers, and even a pleurisy, without either +bleeding, vomiting, purging, clysters, or blisters; and he quarrelled +so much with the two last, that he calls clysters "a beastly remedy," +and says that blisters were invented by a wicked spirit, whom he calls +Moloz, though Beelzebub might have been as good a name, since Dr. +Baynard wittily observed, that he believed he was only a great +cantharid. And both Helmont and the Doctor were so far right, that +blistering was then, as well as now, much abused; and in truth they are +much oftener applied than is either necessary or useful. + +Thus these two eminent chemists, and too many of their followers, +frequently imposed their writings upon the unguarded reader, and +themselves upon the vulgar, for men of profound knowledge in the medical +art, and as great adepts in chemistry: and being puffed up with the high +opinion entertained of their new art, or new medicines, and their own +great wisdom, they rejected the philosophical theory of medicine by +Galen and Avicenna, then so much in vogue. They were right in doing +this, and might have done great service to mankind, if they had not set +up their own imaginary chemical theory in its place, which was neither +founded upon observations, nature, nor reason, and had no existence but +in their own vain imaginations. Thus they supposed a malignity which +caused all diseases, as well inflammatory as other fevers, and which was +to be forced out of the body by sweating, with their hot therapeutics; +they, therefore, attacked all fevers with this chemical ammunition, and +attempted to carry them with fire and storm, prescribing the +praecipitatus diaphoreticus and sweating regimen, which must have been +fatal to many, and no doubt would have been so to many more, if van +Helmont had not allowed his patients to dilute the medicine with a thin +diet, which rendered the calorific method less fatal. But, as the +learned Dr. Friend judiciously remarks, if any did escape after that hot +regimen, it was through a fiery trial. + +Thus the chemists, without any rational theory, or regard to nature, and +what she indicated or did;--without duly considering how the morbid +matter, which caused the disease, was to be concocted and fitted to be +carried off by some critical evacuation; or how to assist nature to +bring that crisis on, according to the Hippocratic method;--without +considering the benefit of the rational, cooling, antiphlogistic +practice of the Arabians--they introduced their sudorific regimen +instead; and this regimen was soon after brought into use in England, +and most other countries, where it continued to be the practice for many +years afterwards, as may be seen by the authors of those times, until +the judicious and honest Dr. Sydenham wisely rejected and exploded it, +introducing the rational method of Hippocrates and the cooling regimen +of the Arabians, which he seems rather to have taken _ex ipsa re et +ratione_ from nature and reason, than from the works of the Arabian +physicians, with which he appears not to have been acquainted, as he +never mentions them. + +Van Helmont had several other famous nostrums, with which he pretended +to perform wonders, as quacks have done in all ages, and as some do now: +for empiricism was never more in fashion than at the present day, and +the chemical art has supplied them with many more arcana and nostrums +than the ancients had in all their antidotes and theriacas, etc. since +chemistry was made subservient to medicine. Van Helmont, nevertheless +was a learned man, and acquired a great name and reputation, at least +for some time; but, as neither his theory nor his practice were founded +on nature and reason, nor conformable to them, the more judicious +physicians soon saw their errors, as well as the fallacy of his new +invented chemical terms and unmeaning phrases, which only contained the +shadow and not the substance of the medical science; therefore both his +chemical theory and hot regimen, together with his writings, sunk soon +after his death, into a state of merited oblivion. + +Notwithstanding that the science of chemistry was greatly improved by +these extraordinary men, who invented or discovered many useful +remedies, which they introduced into the practice of medicine in a no +less extraordinary manner, and thereby pointed out the way for others to +follow them; yet we must allow that the more able and learned chemists +have greatly enriched and improved the materia medica since, by making +many curious experiments, and thereby discovering several new and very +efficacious medicines, not only from the semi-metals, mercury and +antimony, and the various chemical preparations from them, but from the +more perfect metals, and some other mineral bodies, as well as from a +great variety of remedies which are prepared both from vegetable and +animal substances, as salts, oils, essences, spirits, tinctures, +elixirs, extracts and many more needless here to be mentioned, but all +of which are known to physicians. For all these we are indebted to the +chemists who first invented and introduced them into practice; although +the use and application, as well as the methods of administering them to +the sick, to cure various other diseases than those they were first used +for, has been greatly improved by several learned and ingenious +physicians. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[142] See Demonologia, by J.S.F. p. 40. + +[143] See Magazine of Natural History, April, 1830. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +MODERN EMPIRICISM. + +In one respect we have but very little occasion to extol our own +enlightened age at the expence of those ages which are so frequently and +justly termed _dark_. We allude to the bold and artful designs of +imposture, and particularly _medical imposture_. Daily are seen +illiterate and audacious empirics sporting with the lives of a credulous +public, that seem obstinately resolved to shut their ears against all +the suggestions of reason and experience. The host of empirics, +mountebanks, and self-dubbed hygeists, which infest the metropolis, and +the tinctures, cordials, pills, balms, and essences, so much extolled by +their retailers, and swallowed by the public, are indeed so many proofs +of the credulity of the age, that to say the least, the march of +intellect has evidently made a _faux-pas_ in this direction. + +The celestial beds, the enchanting magnetic powers introduced into this +country by Messmer, a German quack, and his numerous disciples, the +prevailing indifference to all dietetic precepts, the singular +imposition practised on many females, in persuading them to wear the +inert acromatic belts, the strange infatuation of the opulent in paying +five guineas for a pair of _metallic tractors_, not worth sixpence, the +tables for blood-letting, and other absurdities still inserted in +popular almanacs, (against all the rules of common sense)--all these +yield in nothing to the absurdities and superstitious notions conveyed +through the medium of astrology, dreams, and other ludicrous though by +far more imposing and interesting channels. The temple of the gulls is +now thronged with votaries as much as that of superstition formerly was; +human reason is still a slave to the most tyrannical prejudices; and +certainly, there is no ready way to excite general attention and +admiration, than to deal in the mysterious and the marvellous. The +visionary system of Jacob Böhman has latterly been revived in some parts +of Germany. The ghosts and apparitions which had disappeared from the +times of Thomasius and Swedenborg, have again left their graves, to the +great terror of fanaticism. New prophets announce their divine mission, +and, what is worse, find implicit believers! The _inventors_ of _secret_ +medicines are rewarded by patents, and obtain no small celebrity; while +some of the more conscientious, but less fortunate adepts, endeavour to +amuse the public with popular systems of medicine. + +One of the most dazzling and successful inventors in modern times, was +Messmer, who commenced his career of medical knight-errantry at Vienna. +His house was the focus of high life, the rendezvous of the gay, where +the young and opulent were enlivened and entertained with continual +concerts, routs, and illuminations. At a great expence, he imported into +Germany the first _Harmonica_ from this country: he established cabinets +of natural curiosities, and laboured constantly and secretly in his +chemical laboratory; so that he acquired the reputation of being a great +alchemist, a philosopher studiously employed in the most useful and +important researches. In 1766, he first publicly announced the object +and nature of his secret labours:--all his discoveries centered in the +_magnet_, which, according to his hypothesis, was the best and safest +remedy hitherto proposed against all diseases incident to the human +body. + +This declaration of Messmer excited very general attention; the more so +as about the same time he established a hospital in his own house, into +which he admitted a number of patients _gratis_. Such disinterestedness +procured, as might be expected, no small addition to his fame. He was, +besides, fortunate in gaining over many celebrated physicians to his +opinions, who lavished the greatest encomiums on his new art, and were +instrumental in communicating to the public a number of successful +experiments. This seems to have surpassed the expectations of Messmer, +and induced him to extend his original plan further than it is likely he +first intended. We find him soon after assuming a more dogmatical and +mysterious air, when, for the purpose of shining exclusively, he +appeared in the character of a _magician_:--his pride and egotism would +brook neither equal nor competitor. + +The common loadstone, or mineral magnet, which is so well known, did +not appear to him sufficiently important and mysterious--he contrived an +unusual one, to the effect of which he gave the name of '_animal +magnetism_'. After this, he proceeded to a still holder assumption, +everywhere giving it out, that the inconceivable powers of this subtile +fluid were centered in his own person. Now, the mona-drama began; and +Messmer, at once the hero and chorus of the piece, performed his part in +a masterly manner. He placed the most nervous, hysteric, and +hypocondriac patients opposite to him; and by the sole act of stretching +forth his finger, he made them feel the most violent shocks. The effects +of this wonderful power excited universal astonishment; its activity and +penetration being confirmed by unquestionable testimonies, from which it +appeared, that blows similar to those given by a blunt iron, could be +imparted by the operator, while he himself was separated by two doors, +nay, even by thick walls. The very looks of this prince of jugglers had +the power to excite painful cramps and twitches in his credulous and +predisposed patients. + +This wonderful tide of success instigated his indefatigable genius to +bolder attempts, especially as he had no severe criticism to apprehend +from the superstitious multitude. He roundly asserted things of which he +offered not the least shadow of proof; and for the truth of which he had +no other pledge to offer but his own high reputation. At one time he +could communicate his magnetic power to paper, wool, silk, bread, +leather, stones, water, etc., at another he asserted that certain +individuals possessed a greater degree of susceptibility for this power +than others. It must be owned, however, that many of his contemporaries +made it their business to encounter his extravagant pretensions, and +refute his dogmatical assertions with the most convincing arguments. +Yet, he long enjoyed the triumph of being supported by blind followers, +and their increasing number completely overpowered the suffrages of +reason. + +Messmer, at length perceived that in his native country, he should never +be able to reach the point which he had fixed upon, as the termination +of his magnetical career. The Germans began to discredit his pompous +claims; but it was only after repeated failures in some promised cures, +that he found himself under the necessity of seeking protection in +Paris. There he met with a most flattering reception, being caressed, +and in a manner adored by a nation which has always been extravagantly +fond of every new thing, whimsical and mysterious. Messmer well knew how +to turn this natural propensity to the best advantage. He addressed +himself particularly to the weak; to such as wished to be considered men +of profound knowledge, but who, when they were compelled to be silent +from real ignorance, took refuge behind the impenetrable shield of +mystery. The fashionable levity, the irresistible curiosity, and the +peculiar turn of the Parisians, ever solicitous to have something +interesting for conversation, to keep their active imagination in play, +were exactly suited to the genius and talents of the inventor of animal +magnetism. We need not wonder, therefore, if he availed himself of their +moral and physical character, to ensure a ready faith in his doctrines, +and success to his pretended experiments: in fact, he found friends and +admirers wherever he made his appearance. His first advertisement was +couched in the following high-sounding terms: + +"Behold a discovery which promises unspeakable advantages to the human +race, and immortal fame to its author! Behold the dawn of an universal +revolution! A new race of men shall arise, shall overspread the earth, +to embellish it by their virtues, and render it fertile by their +industry. Neither vice nor ignorance, shall stop their active career; +they will know our calamities only from the records of history. The +prolonged duration of their life will enable them to plan and accomplish +the most laudable undertakings. The tranquil, the innocent +gratifications of that primeval age will be restored, wherein man +laboured without toil, lived without sorrow, and expired without a +groan! Mothers will no longer be subject to pain and danger during their +pregnancy and child-birth: their progeny will be more robust and brave; +the now rugged and difficult path of education will be rendered smooth +and easy; and hereditary complaints and diseases will be for ever +banished from the future auspicious race. Fathers rejoicing to see their +posterity of the fourth and fifth generations, will only drop like fruit +fully ripe, at the extreme point of age! Animals and plants, no less +susceptible of the magnetic power than man, will be exempt from the +reproach of barrenness and the ravages of distemper. The flocks in the +fields, and the plants in the gardens, will be more vigorous and +nourishing, and the trees will bear more beautiful and grateful fruits. +The human race, once endowed with this elementary power, will probably +rise to still more sublime and astonishing effects of nature: who indeed +is able to pronounce, with certainty, how far this salutary influence +may extend?" + +"What splendid promises! What rich prospects! Messmer, the greatest of +philosophers, the most virtuous of men, the physician of mankind, +charitably opens his arms to all his fellow-mortals, who stand in need +of comfort and assistance. No wonder that the cause of magnetism, under +such a zealous apostle, rapidly gained ground, and obtained every day +large additions to the number of its converts. To the gay, the nervous, +and the dissipated of all ranks and ages, it held out the most +flattering promises. Men of the first respectability interested +themselves in behalf of this new philosophy; they anticipated in idea, +the more happy and more vigorous race which would proceed, as it were, +by enchantment, from the wonderful impulsive powers of animal magnetism. +The French were so far seduced by these flattering appearances, as to +offer the German adventurer _thirty thousand livres_ for the +communication of his secret art. He appears, however, to have understood +his own interest better than thus to dispose of his hypothetical +property, which, upon a more accurate investigation might be objected +to, as consisting of unfair articles of purchase. He consequently +returned the following answer to the credulous French ministers: + +"That Dr. M. considered his art of too great importance, and the abuses +it might lead to, too dangerous for him at present to make it public; +that he must therefore reserve to himself the time of its publication, +and mode of introducing it to general use and observation--that he would +first take proper measures to initiate or prepare the minds of men, by +exciting in them a susceptibility of this great power; and that he would +then undertake to communicate his secret gradually, which he meant to do +without hope of reward." + +Messmer, too politic to part with his secret for so small a premium, had +a better prospect in view; and his apparent disinterestedness and +hesitation served only to sound an over-curious public, to allure more +victims to his delusive practices, and to retain them more firmly in +their implicit belief. Soon after this he was easily prevailed upon to +institute a private society, into which none were admitted, but such as +bound themselves by a vow to perpetual secrecy. These pupils he agreed +to instruct in his important mysteries, on condition of each paying him +_one hundred louis_. In the course of six months, having had not less +than three hundred such pupils, he realized a fortune of _thirty +thousand louis_. + +It appears, however, that the disciples of Messmer did not adhere to +their engagement: we find them separating gradually from their +professor, and establishing schools for the propagation of his system, +with a view, no doubt, to reimburse themselves for the expenses of their +own initiation into the magnetising art. But few of them having +understood the terms and mysterious doctrines of their foreign master, +every new adept exerted himself to excel his fellow-labourers, in +additional explanations and inventions: others, who did not possess, or +could not spare the sum of one hundred louis, were industriously +employed in attempts to discover the secret, by their own ingenuity; and +thus arose a great variety of magnetical sects. At length, however, +Messmer's authority became suspected; his pecuniary acquisitions were +now notorious, and our _humane and disinterested philosopher_ was +assailed with critical and satirical animadversions from every quarter. +The fertility of his process for medical purposes, as well as the bad +consequences it might procure in a moral point of view, soon became +topics of common conversation, and ultimately even excited the +apprehensions of government. One dangerous effect of magnetical +associations was, that young voluptuaries began to employ this art, to +promote their libidinous and destructive designs. + +Matters having assumed this serious aspect, the French government, much +to its credit, deputed four respectable and unprejudiced men, to whom +were afterwards added four others of great learning and abilities, to +inquire into, and appreciate the merits of the new discovery of animal +magnetism. These philosophers, among whom we find the illustrious names +of Franklin and Lavoisier, recognised, indeed, very surprising and +unexpected phenomena in the physical state of magnetized individuals; +but they gave it as their opinion, that the powers of imagination, and +not animal magnetism, had produced these effects. Sensible of the +superior influence, which the imagination can exert on the human body, +when it is effectually wrought upon, they perceived, after a number of +experiments and facts frequently repeated, that _contact_, or touch, +_imagination, imitation_, and _excited sensibility_, were the real and +sole causes of these phenomena, which had so much confounded the +illiterate, the credulous, and the enthusiastic; that this boasted +magnetic element had no real existence in nature, consequently that +Messmer himself was either an arrant impostor, or a deluded fanatic. + +Meantime, this magnetic mystery had made no small progress in Germany. A +number of periodical and other publications vindicated its claims to +public favour and attention; and some literary men, who had rendered +themselves justly celebrated by their former writings, now stepped +forward as bold and eager champions in support of this mystical +doctrine. The ingenious Lavater undertook long journies for the +propagation of magnetism and somnambulism:[144] and what, manipulations +and other absurdities were not practised on hysterical young ladies in +the city of Bremen? It is farther worthy of notice, that an eminent +physician of that place, in a recent publication, does not scruple to +rank magnetism among medical remedies! It must, nevertheless, be +confessed, that the great body of the learned, throughout Germany, have +endeavoured, by strong and impartial criticism, to oppose and refute +animal magnetism, considered as a medical system. And how should it be +otherwise, since it is highly ridiculous to imagine that violent +agitations, spasms, convulsions, etc. which are obviously symptoms of a +diseased state of body, and which must increase rather than diminish the +disposition to nervous diseases, can be the means of improving the +constitution and ultimately of prolonging human life? Every attentive +person must have observed, that too frequent intercourse between nervous +and hypochondriac patients is infectious; and if this be the case, +public assemblies, for exhibiting magnetised individuals, can neither be +safe nor proper. It is no small proof of the good sense of the people of +this country, though they have at different times fallen into nearly +similar delusions, that the professors of animal magnetism did not long +maintain their ground; they were soon exposed to public ridicule on the +stage, and shortly became annihilated in their own absurdities. + +Other plans for the prolongation of life, little less absurd than +animal magnetism, which have, like every other imposture, "fretted their +hour," deserve to be noticed. The French and Germans have long stood +pre-eminent in the empirical world, though the merit of ingenious and +more plausible emanations of genius may fairly be attributed to the +latter. Animal magnetism; physiognomy, a rational though fallacious +science; phrenology, a doctrine abounding with many singular +manifestions, and possessing claims not to be put down by mere force of +prejudice, are all of German origin. + +The Count St. Germain, a Frenchman, realized large sums, by vending an +artificial tea, chiefly composed of yellow saunders, senna leaves, and +fennel seed, which was puffed off under the specious appellation of _Tea +for prolonging life_; which, at that time, was swallowed with such +voracity all over the continent, that few could subsist without it. Its +celebrity was of short duration, and none ever lived long enough to +realize its effects. + +The Chevalier d'Ailhoud, another brazen-faced adventurer, presented the +world with a powder, which met with so large and rapid a sale, that he +soon accumulated money enough to purchase a whole county. This famous +powder, however, instead of adding to the means of securing a long and +healthy life, is well known to produce constant indisposition, and at +length to cause a most miserable death; being composed of certain drugs +of a poisonous nature, though slow in their operation. + +Count Cagliostro, styled the luminary of modern impostors and +debauchees, prepared a very common stomach elixir, which was sold at a +most exorbitant price under the name of "_balm of life_" It was +pretended, with the most unparalleled effrontery, that, by the use of +this medicine, the count had lived above 200 years, and that he was +rendered invulnerable against every species of poison. These bold +assertions could not fail to excite very general attention. During his +residence at Strasburg, while descanting, in a large and respectable +company, on the virtues of his antidote, his pride met with a very +mortifying check. A physician who was present, and who had taken part in +the conversation, quitting the room privately, went to an apothecary's +shop, and ordering two pills of equal size to be made, agreeably to his +directions, suddenly appeared again before the count, and thus addressed +him:--"Here, my worthy count, are two pills; the one contains a mortal +poison, the other is perfectly innocent; choose one of these and swallow +it, and I engage to take that which you leave. This will be considered +as a decisive proof of your medical skill, and enable the public to +ascertain the efficacy of your extolled elixir." The count took the +alarm, made a number of apologies, but could not be prevailed upon to +touch the pills. The physician swallowed both immediately, and proved by +his apothecary, that they might be taken with perfect safety, being only +made of common bread. Notwithstanding the shame of this detection, +Cagliostro still retained numerous advocates by circulating unfounded +reports, and concealing his real character by a variety of tricks. + +The inspired father Gassner, of Bavaria, ascribed all diseases, +lameness, palsy, etc, to diabolical agency, contending from the history +of Job, Saul, and others recorded in sacred writ, that Satan, as the +grand enemy of mankind, has a power to embitter and shorten our lives by +diseases. Vast numbers of credulous and weak-minded people flocked to +this fanatic, with a view of obtaining relief which he never had the +means to administer. Multitudes of patients, afflicted with nervous and +hypochondriacal complaints, besieged him daily; being all stimulated by +a wild imagination, eager to view and acknowledge the works of Satan! +Men eminent for their literary attainments, even the natural +philosophers of Bavaria, were hurried away by the stream, and completely +blinded by sanctified imposture. + +It is no less astonishing than true, that so late as 1794, a Count Thun, +at Leipzig, pretended to perform miraculous cures on gouty, +hypochondriacal, and hysterical patients, merely by the imposition of +his sacred hands. He could not however raise a great number of disciples +in a place that abounds with so many sceptics and unbelievers. + +The commencement of the nineteenth century has been equally pregnant +with imposture. The delusions of Joanna Southcoat are too fresh in the +recollections of our readers to require notice here; yet, strange to +say, this fanatical old woman had her adherents and disciples; many of +them, in other respects, were keen and sensible men; nor has the +delusion altogether evaporated, though the sect is by no means powerful +or strong; the first impressions are still retained by her half frantic +and ridiculous devotees, who are only to be met with among the very +lowest and illiterate orders of society. + +The farce of the convert of Newhall, near Chelmsford, is of still more +recent date. Here we have a miracle performed by the holy Prince +Hohenlohe, at a distance of at least three hundred miles from the +presence of his patient. Hearing of the wonderful cures performed by +this prince, one of the nuns in the above convent, who had been +afflicted for a considerable length of time with a swelling and +inflammation extending from the ball of the thumb along the fore arm, +and up as high as the armpit, wrote to Prince Hohenlohe--having +previously been attended by the most eminent practitioners in London +without any apparent benefit--to relieve her from her sufferings. This +he willingly undertook to do, but accompanied his consent with an +injunction that she should offer up her prayers on a certain day (May 3, +1824,) held in reverence by the catholics, and at a certain hour, +promising that he would be at his devotions at the same time. All this, +the afflicted nun attended to; immediately after her prayers, she +experienced a tingling sensation along the arm, and from that instant +the cure rapidly advanced until the diseased limb became as sound as the +other. + +The days of priestcraft and superstition, it was hoped, had been fast +fleeting away before the luminous rays of science, even in those +countries where religious juggling had been most fostered and practised. +But for any man in this country to believe that such a miracle can be +wrought by human agency, is of itself an awfully convincing proof that +he is ignorant of the Scriptures, and that his own mind is likely to +become a prey to the wildest chimeras. Prince Hohenlohe's notoriety +however as a worker of miracles was not confined to Newhall. His mighty +prowess extended to the emerald isle; and several cures were performed +at as great, or even at a greater distance, than that wrought at +Newhall, and merely at the sound of his orisons. We hear of no miracles +being wrought by, or upon protestants; consequently we leave them to the +gloom of the cloister, whence they emanated, and where only they can be +of use in a cause which requires the aid of stratagem to support it. + +A taste for the marvellous seems to be natural to man in every stage of +society, and at almost every period of life; it cannot, therefore, be +much a matter of astonishment, that, from the earliest ages of the +world, persons have been found, who, more idle and more ingenious than +others, have availed themselves of this propensity, to obtain an easy +livelihood by levying contributions on the curiosity of the public. +Whether this taste is to be considered as a proof of the weakness of our +judgment, or of innate inquisitiveness, which stimulates us to enlarge +the sphere of our knowledge, must be left to the decision of +metaphysicians; it is sufficient for our present purpose to know that it +gave rise to a numerous class of impostors in the shape of quacks, +mountebanks, poison-swallowers, fire-eaters, and pill-mongers. + +There is another class of adepts, such as sleight of hand performers, +slack rope dancers, teachers of animals to perform extraordinary tricks; +in short, those persons who delude the senses, and practise harmless +deceptions on spectators, included under the common appellation of +jugglers. If these arts served no other purpose than that of mere +amusement, they yet merit a certain degree of encouragement, as +affording at once a cheap and innocent diversion; jugglers of this class +frequently exhibit instructive experiments in natural philosophy, +chemistry, and mechanics: thus the solar microscope was invented from an +instrument to reflect shadows, with which a savoyard amused a German +populace; and the celebrated Sir Richard Arkwright is said to have +conceived the idea of the spinning machines, which have so largely +contributed to the prosperity of the cotton manufactories in this +country, from a toy which he purchased for his child from an itinerant +showman. These deceptions have, besides, acted as an agreeable and most +powerful antidote to superstition, and to that popular belief in +miracles, conjuration, sorcery, and witchcraft, which preyed upon the +minds of our ancestors; and the effects of shadows, electricity, +mirrors, and the magnet, once formidable instruments in the hands of +interested persons, for keeping the vulgar in awe, have been stripped of +their terrors, and are no longer frightful in their most terrific forms. + + +ON THE TRANSFUSION OP BLOOD FROM ONE ANIMAL TO ANOTHER. + +At a time when the shortness of human life was imputed to a distempered +state of the blood; when all diseases were ascribed to this cause, +without attending to the whole of what relates to the moral and physical +nature of man, a conclusion was easily formed, that a radical removal of +the corrupted blood, and a complete renovation of the entire mass by +substitution was both practicable and effectual. The speculative mind +of man was not at a loss to devise expedients, to effect this desirable +purpose; and undoubtedly one of the boldest, most extraordinary, and +most ingenious attempts ever made to lengthen the period of human life +was made at this time. We allude here to the famous scheme of +_transfusion_, or of introducing the blood of one animal into that of +another. This curious discovery is attributed to Andreas Libavius, +professor of medicine and chemistry in the university of Halle, who, in +the year 1615, publicly recommended experimental essays to ascertain the +fact. + +Libavius was an honest and spirited opposer of the Theosophic system, +founded by the bombastic Paracelsus, and supported by a numerous tribe +of credulous and frantic followers. Although he was not totally exempt +from the follies of that age, since he believed in the transmutation of +metals, and suggested to his pupils the wonderful power of potable gold, +yet he distinguished rational alchemy from the fanatical systems then in +repute, and zealously defended the former against the disciples of +Galen, as well as those of Paracelsus. He made a number of important +discoveries in chemistry, and was unquestionably the first professor in +Germany who gave chemical lectures, upon pure principles of affinity, +unconnected with the extravagant notions of the theosophists. + +The first experiments relative to the transfusion of the blood, appear +to have been made, and that with great propriety, on the lower animals. +The blood of the young, healthy and vigorous, was transferred into the +old and infirm, by means of a delicate tube, placed in a vein opened for +that purpose. The effect of this operation was surprising and important: +aged and decrepit animals were soon observed to become more lively, and +to move with greater ease and rapidity. By the indefatigable exertions +of Lower, in England, of Dennis in France, and of Moulz, Hoffman, and +others in Germany, this artificial mode of renovating the life and +spirits was successfully continued, and even brought to some degree of +perfection. + +The vein usually opened in the arm of a patient was resorted to for the +purpose of transfusion; into this a small tube was placed in a +perpendicular direction; the same vein was then opened in a healthy +individual, but more frequently in an animal, into which another tube +was forced in a reclining direction; both small tubes were then slid +into one another, and in that position the delicate art of transfusion +was safely performed. When the operation was completed, the vein was +tied up in the same manner as on blood-letting. Sometimes a quantity of +blood was drawn from the patient, previously to the experiment taking +place. As few persons, however, were to be found, that would agree to +part with their blood to others, recourse was generally had to animals, +and most frequently to the calf, the lamb, and the stag. These being +laid upon a table, and tied so as to be unable to move, the operation +was performed in the manner before described. In some instances, the +good effects of these experiments were evident and promising, while they +excited the greatest hopes of the future improvement and progress of +this new art. But the unceasing abuses practised by bold and inexpert +adventurers, together with the great number of cases, which proved +unsuccessful, induced the different governments of Europe to put an +entire stop to the practice, by the strictest prohibitions. And, indeed, +while the constitutions and mode of living among men differ so +materially as they now do, this is, and ever must remain, an extremely +hazardous and equivocal, if not a desperate remedy. The blood of every +individual is of a peculiar nature, and congenial with that of the body +only to which it belongs, and in which it is generated. Hence our hope +of prolonging human life, by artificial evacuations and injections, must +necessarily be disappointed. It must not, however, be supposed, that +these, and similar pursuits during the ages of which we treat, as well +as those which succeeded, were solely or chiefly followed by mere +adventurers and fanatics. The greatest geniuses of those times employed +their wits with the most learned and eminent men, who deemed it an +object by no means below their consideration. + +The method of supplying good for unsound teeth, though long laid aside, +in consequence of the danger with which the practice was attended, by +the communication of disease from an unhealthy to a healthy person, was +at one time as much the rage as the transfusion of blood. This practice, +notwithstanding the objections which stand opposed to it, might, +nevertheless, be adopted with success on many occasions, could persons +enjoying a sound and wholesome state of body be found to answer the +demand, however unnatural it may appear. A few untoward cases soon +raised the hue and cry against the continuance of the practice, as in +the transfusion of blood, though the latter has recently been attempted +in the case of an individual exhausted by excessive hermorrage with a +success which answered the expectation. There is little doubt that both +the transfusion of blood, and engrafting or transplanting of teeth, are +capable, with judgment and discrimination, of being made subservient in +a variety of cases; though the chances of general success militate +against these experiments; for it is the unalterable plan of nature to +proceed gradually in her operations; all outrage and extravagance being +at variance with her established laws. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[144] The art of exciting sleep in persons under the influence of animal +magnetism, with a view to obtain or rather extort during this artificial +sleep, their verbal declarations and directions for curing the diseases +of both body and mind. Such, indeed, was the rage for propagating this +mystical nonsense, that even the pulpit was occasionally resorted to, in +order to make, not fair penitents, but fair proselytes. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +THE ROSICRUCIANS OR THEOSOPHISTS. + +This remarkable sect was founded upon the doctrines of Paracelsus, +during the latter part of the sixteenth, and the beginning of the +seventeenth centuries. The society was known by the name of the +Rosencrucians or Rosecrucians; and as it has not been without its +followers and propagators in different shapes, even to the present time, +we shall here present the reader with a concise account of the origin +and tenets of that fanatical sect. + +The first intimation of the existence of this order we find announced to +the world in a book published in the German language, in the year 1614, +with the following title, "_The universal and general Reformation of the +world, together with an account of the famous fraternity of the +Rosencrucians_." The work contains an intimation, that the members of +the society had been secretly engaged for a century preceding, and that +they had come to the knowledge of many great and important secrets, +which, if communicated to the world, would promote the happiness of man. + +An adventurer of the name of Christian Rosenkreuz is said to have +founded this order, in the fourteenth century after having been +previously initiated in the sublime wisdom of the east, during his +travels in Egypt and Fez. From what we are enabled to learn from this +work, the intention of the founder and the final aim of the society, +appear to have been the accumulation of wealth and treasures, by means +of secrets known only to the members; and by a proper distribution of +these treasures among princes and potentates, to promote the grand +scheme of the society, by producing "a general revolution of all +things." In their "confession of faith," there are many bold and +singular dogmas; among others, that the end of the world is at hand; +that a general reformation of men and manners will speedily take place; +that the wicked shall be expelled or subdued, the Jews converted, and +the doctrine of Christ propagated over the whole earth. The +Rosencrucians not only believed that these events must happen, but they +also endeavoured to accelerate them by unremitted exertions. To their +faithful votaries and followers, they promised abundance of celestial +wisdom, unspeakable riches, exemption from disease, an immortal state of +man of ever blooming youth, and above all the _philosopher's stone_. + +Learning and improvement of the mind were, by this order, considered as +superfluous and despised. They found all knowledge in the Bible; this, +however, has been supposed rather a pretext to obviate a charge, which +was brought against them, of not believing in the Christian religion. +The truth is, they imagined themselves superior to divine revelation, +and supposed every useful acquisition, every virtue to be derived from +the influence of the Deity on the soul of man. In this, as well as in +many other respects, they appear to be followers of Paracelsus, whom +they profess to revere as a Messenger of the divinity. Like him, they +pretend to cure all diseases; through _faith_ and the power of the +imagination, to heal the most mortal disorders by a touch, or even by +simply looking at the patient. The universal remedy was likewise a grand +secret of the order, the discovery of which was promised to all its +faithful members. + +It would be unnecessary to enumerate any more of such impious fancies, +if the founder of this still lurking sect, now partly revivified, had +not asserted, with astonishing effrontery, that human life was capable +of prolongation, like a fire kept up by combustible matter, and that he +was in the possession of a secret, which could verify this assertion. It +is evident, however, from the testimony of Libavius, a man of +unquestionable veracity, that this doughty champion in medical +chemistry, or rather alchemy, Paracelsus, notwithstanding his bold +assertions, died as before observed, at Sulzburgh in Germany, in the +Hospital of St. Stephen's in 1541: and that his death was chiefly +occasioned by the singular and desolate mode of life, which he had for a +long time pursued. When a competent knowledge of the economy of the +human frame is wanting, to enable a man to discriminate between internal +and external causes and effects, it will be impossible to ascertain, or +to counteract, the different causes by which our health is deranged. +This evidently was the case with Paracelsus, and many other +life-prolongers who have succeeded him; and should a fortunate +individual ever fix upon a remedy, possessing the power of checking +disease, or lengthening out human existence (an expectation never to be +realized) he will be indebted to chance alone for the discovery. This +has been the case in all ages, and still remains so. + +Remedies, from time to time, have been devised, not merely to serve as +nostrums for all diseases, but also for the pretended purpose of +prolonging life. Those of the latter kind have been applied with a view +to resist or check many operations of nature, which insensibly consume +the vital heat, and other powers of life, such as respiration, muscular +irritation, etc. Thus, from the implicit credulity of some, and the +exuberant imagination of others, observation and experiments, however +incompatible with sound reason and philosophy, have been multiplied, +with the avowed design of establishing proofs, or reputations of this or +that absurd opinion. In this manner have fanaticism and imposture +falsified the plainest truths, or forged the most unfounded and +ridiculous claims; insomuch that one glaring inconsistency has been +employed to combat another, and folly has succeeded folly, till a fund +of materials has been transmitted to posterity, sufficient to form a +concise history on this subject. Men in all ages have set a just value +on life; and in proportion to the means of enjoyment, this value has +been appreciated in a greater or less degree. If the gratification of +the sensual appetite formed the principal object of living, its +prolongation would be to the epicure, as desirable as the prospect of an +existence to be enjoyed beyond the limits of the grave, is to the +moralist and the believer. + +The desire of longevity appears to be inherent in all animated nature, +and particularly in the human race; it is intimately cherished by us, +through the whole duration of our existence, and is frequently supported +and strengthened, not only by justifiable means, but also by various +kinds of collusion. Living in an age when every branch of human +knowledge is reduced to popular systems; when the vigils of reason are +hallowed at the shrine of experiment and observation;--though we behold +in the immense variety of things, the utter uselessness of attempting to +renovate a shattered constitution, or of improving a sound one to last +beyond a certain period; we nevertheless observe that in the +inconceivable waste of elementary particles there prevails the strictest +economy. Nothing is produced in vain, nothing consumed without a cause. +We clearly perceive that all nature is united by indissoluble ties, that +every individual thing exists for the sake of another, and that no one +can subsist without its concomitant. Hence we conclude, that man himself +is not an insulated being, but a necessary link in the great chain, +which connects the universe. Nature is our safest guide, and she will be +so with greater certainty, as we become better acquainted with her +operations, especially with respect to those particulars which more +nearly concern our physical existence. Thus, n source of many and very +extensive advantages will be opened; thus, we shall reach our original +destination--namely, that of living long and in the enjoyment of sound +health, to which, if purity of morals he added, the best hopes may be +entertained of a happy state, in a future world, where its inhabitants +never die. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10088 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f0ad687 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #10088 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10088) diff --git a/old/10088-8.txt b/old/10088-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c4d445c --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10088-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9832 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Thaumaturgia, by An Oxonian + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Thaumaturgia + +Author: An Oxonian + +Release Date: November 15, 2003 [eBook #10088] + +Language: English + +Chatacter set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THAUMATURGIA*** + + +E-text prepared by Carlo Traverso, Eric Casteleijn, and Project Gutenberg +Distributed Proofreaders. This file was produced from images generously +made available by the Bibliotheque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at +http://gallica.bnf.fr. + + + +[Transcriber's note: The spelling peculiarities of the original have been +retained in this etext.] + + + +THAUMATURGIA, + +OR + +ELUCIDATIONS OF THE MARVELLOUS. + +BY + +AN OXONIAN. + +1835 + + + + + + + + "Bombastes kept the devil's bird, + Shut in the pommel of his sword, + And taught him all the cunning pranks, + Of past and future mountebanks." + _Hudibras_. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER I. + +Demonology--The Devil, a most unaccountable personage--Who is he?--His +predilection for old women--Traditions concerning evil spirits &c. + + +CHAPTER II. + +Magic and Magical rites. + +Jewish magi. + + +CHAPTER III. + +On the several kinds of magic. + +Augury, or divinations drawn from the flight and feeding of birds. + +Aruspices, or divinations drawn from brute or human sacrifices. + +Divisions of divination by the ancients--prodigies, etc. + + +CHAPTER IV. + +History of Oracles--The principal oracles of antiquity. + +The oracle of Jupiter Hammon. The oracle of Delphos, or Pythian Apollo. + +Ceremonies practised on consulting oracles. + +Oracles often equivocal and obscure. + +Urim and Thummim. + +Reputation of oracles, how lost. + +Cessation of oracles. + +Had demons any share in the oracles? + +Of oracles, the artifices of priests of false divinities. + + +CHAPTER V. + +The British Druids, or magi--Origin of fairies--Ancient +superstitions--Their skill in medicine, etc. + +The British magi. + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Aesculapian mysteries, etc. + + +CHAPTER VII. + +Inferior deities attending mankind from their birth to their decease. + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +Judicial astrology--Its chemical application to the prolongation of life +and health--Alchymical delusions. + + +CHAPTER IX + +Alchymical and astrological chimera. + +The Horoscope, a tale of the stars. + +The Fated Parricide; an oriental tale of the stars. + +Application of astrology to the prolongation of life, etc. + +Advertisement. + +Spring. \ +Summer. |_ influences of, +Autumn. | +the winter quarter. / + + +CHAPTER X. + +Oneirocritical presentiment, illustrating the cause, effects, principal +phenomena, and definition of dreams, etc. + +Cause of Dreams. + +Poetical illustrations of the effects of the imagination in dreams. + +Principal phenomena in dreaming. + +Definition of dreams. + + +CHAPTER XI. + +On Incubation, or the art of healing by visionary divination. + + +CHAPTER XII. + +On amulets, charms, talismans--Philters, their origin and imaginary +efficacy, etc. + +Amulets used by the common people. + +Eccentricities, caprices, and effects, of the imagination. + +Doctrine of Effluvia--Miraculous cures by means of charms, amulets, etc. + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +On talismans--some curious natural ones, etc. + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +On the medicinal powers attributed to music by the ancients. + + +CHAPTER XV. + +Presages, prodigies, presentiments, etc. + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +Phenomena of meteors, optic delusions, spectra, etc. + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +Elucidation of some ancient prodigies. + +Magical pretensions of certain herbs, etc. + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +The practice of Obeah, or negro witchcraft--charms--their knowledge of +vegetable poison--secret poisoning. + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +On the origin and superstitious influence of rings. + + +CHAPTER XX. + +Celestial influences--omens--climacterics--predominations.--Lucky and +unlucky days.--Empirics, etc. + +Absurdities of Paracelsus, and Van Helmont. + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +Modern empiricism. + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +The Rosicrucians or Theosophists. + +THAUMATURGIA, + +OR + +ELUCIDATIONS OF THE MARVELLOUS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +DEMONOLOGY--THE DEVIL, A MOST UNACCOUNTABLE PERSONAGE--WHO IS HE?--HIS +PREDILECTION FOR OLD WOMEN--TRADITIONS CONCERNING EVIL SPIRITS, &C. + +Children and old women have been accustomed to hear so many frightful +things of the cloven-footed potentate, and have formed such diabolical +ideas of his satanic majesty, exhibiting him in so many horrible and +monstrous shapes, that really it were enough to frighten Beelzebub +himself, were he by any accident to meet his prototype in the dark, +dressed up in the several figures in which imagination has embodied him. +And as regards men themselves, it might be presumed that the devil could +not by any means terrify them half so much, were they actually to meet +and converse with him face to face: so true it is that his satanic +majesty is not near so black as he is painted. + +However useful the undertaking might prove, to give a true history of +this "tyrant of the air," this "God of the world," this "terror and +overseer of mankind," it is not our intention to become the devil's +biographer, notwithstanding the facility with which the materials might +be collected. Of the devil's origin, and the first rise of his family, +we have sufficient authority on record; and, as regards his dealings, he +has certainly always acted in the dark; though many of his doings both +moral, political, ecclesiastical, and empirical, have left such strong +impressions behind them, as to mark their importance in some +transactions, even at the present period of the christian world. These +discussions, however, we shall leave in the hands of their respective +champions, in order to take, as we proceed, a cursory view of some of +the _diableries_ with which mankind, in imitation of this great master, +has been infected, from the first ages of the world. + +The Greeks, and after them the Romans, conferred the appellation of +Demon upon certain _genii_, or spirits, who made themselves visible to +men with the intention of either serving them as friends, or doing them +an injury as enemies. The followers of Plato distinguished between their +gods--or _Dei Majorum Gentium_; their demons, or those beings which were +not dissimilar in their general character to the good and bad angels of +Christian belief,--and their heroes. The Jews and the early christians +restricted the name of Demon to beings of a malignant nature, or to +devils properly so called; and it is to the early notions entertained by +this people, that the outlines of later systems of demonology are to be +traced. + +It is a question, we believe, not yet set at rest by the learned in +these sort of matters, whether the word _devil_ be singular or plural, +that is to say, whether it be the name of a personage so called, +standing by himself, or a noun of multitude. If it be singular, and used +only personal as a proper name, it consequently implies one imperial +devil, monarch or king of the whole clan of hell, justly distinguished +by the term DEVIL, or as our northern neighbours call him "the muckle +horned deil," and poetically, after Burns "auld Clootie, Nick, or +Hornie," or, according to others, in a broader set form of speech, "the +devil in hell," that is, the "devil of a devil," or in scriptural +phraseology, the "great red dragon," the "Devil or Satan." But we shall +not cavil on this mighty potentate's name; much less dispute his +identity, notwithstanding the doubt that has been broached, whether the +said devil be a real or an imaginary personage, in the shape, form, and +with the faculties that have been so miraculously ascribed to him; for + + If it should so fall out, as who can tell, + But there may be a God, a heav'n and hell? + Mankind had best consider well,--for fear + It be too late when their mistakes appear. + +The devil has always, it would seem, been particularly partial to old +women; the most ugly and hideous of whom he has invariably selected to +do his bidding. Mother Shipton, for instance, our famous old English +witch, of whom so many funny stories are still told, is evidently very +much wronged in her picture, if she was not of the most terrible aspect +imaginable; and, if it be true, Merlin, the famous Welch fortune-teller, +was a most frightful figure. If we credit another story, he was begotten +by "_old nick_" himself. To return, however, to the devil's agents being +so infernally ugly, it need merely be remarked, that from time +immemorial, he has invariably preferred such _rational_ creatures as +most belied the "human form divine." + +The sybils, of whom so many strange prophetic things are recorded, are +all, if the Italian poets are to be credited, represented as very old +women; and as if ugliness were the _ne plus ultra_ of beauty in old age, +they have given them all the hideousness of the devil himself. It will +be seen, despite of all that has been said to the disadvantage of the +devil, that he has very much improved in his management of worldly +affairs; so much so, that, instead of an administration of witches, +wizzards, magicians, diviners, astrologers, quack doctors, pettifogging +lawyers, and boroughmongers, he has selected some of the wisest men as +well as greatest fools of the day to carry his plans into effect. His +satanic majesty seems also to have considerably improved in his taste; +owing, no doubt, to the present improving state of society, and the +universal diffusion of useful knowledge. Indeed, we no longer hear of +cloven-footed devils, only in a metaphorical sense--fire and brimstone +are extinct or nearly so; the embers of hell and eternal damnation are +chiefly kept alive and blown up by ultras among the sectaries who are +invariably the promoters of religious fanaticism. Beauty, wit, address, +with the less shackled in mind, have superseded all that was frightful, +and terrible, odious, ugly, and deformed. This subject is poetically and +more beautifully illustrated in the following demonological stanzas, +which are so appropriate to the occasion, that we cannot resist quoting +them as a further prelude to our subjects: + + When the devil for weighty despatches + Wanted messengers cunning and bold, + He pass'd by the beautiful faces + And picked out the ugly and old. + + Of these he made warlocks and witches + To run of his errands by night, + Till the over-wrought hag-ridden wretches + Were as fit as the devil to fright. + + But whoever has been his adviser, + As his kingdom increases in growth, + He now takes his measures much wiser, + And trafics with beauty and youth. + + Disguis'd in the wanton and witty, + He haunts both the church and the court; + And sometimes he visits the city, + Where all the best christians resort. + + Thus dress'd up in full masquerade, + He the bolder can range up and down + For he better can drive on his trade, + In any one's name than his own. + +To be brief, the devil, it appears, is by far too cunning still for +mankind, and continues to manage things in his own way, in spite of +bishops, priests, laymen, and new churches. He governs the vices and +propensities of men by methods peculiarly his own; though every crime or +extortion, subterfuge or design, whether it be upon the purse or the +person, will not make a man a devil; it must nevertheless be confessed, +that every crime, be its magnitude or complexion what it may, puts the +criminal, in some measure, into the devil's power, and gives him an +ascendancy and even a title to the delinquent, whom he ever afterwards +treats in a very magisterial manner. + +We are told that every man has his attendant evil genius, or tutelary +spirit, to execute the orders of the master demon--that the attending +evil angel sees every move we make upon the board; witnesses all our +actions, and permits us to do mischief, and every thing that is +pernicious to ourselves;--that, on the contrary, our good spirit, +actuated by more benevolent motives, is always accessary to our good +actions, and reluctant to those that are bad. If this be the case, it +may be fairly asked, how does it happen that those two contending +spirits do not quarrel and give each other black eyes and broken heads +during their rivalship for pre-eminence? And why does the evil tempting +spirit so often prevail? + +Instead of literally answering these difficult questions, it may be +resolved into a good argument, as an excellent allegory to represent the +struggle in the mind of man between good and evil inclinations. But to +take them as they actually are, and merely to talk by way of natural +consequence--for to argue from nature is certainly the best way to get +to the bottom of the devil's story,--if there are good and evil spirits +attending us, that is to say, a good angel and a devil, then it is no +unjust reproach to say, when people follow the dictates of the latter, +that _the devil's in them_, or that _they are devils_! or, to carry the +simile a point farther, that as the generality, and by far the greatest +number of people follow and obey the evil spirit and not the good one, +and that the power predominating is allowed to be the nominating power, +it must then of course be allowed that the greater part of mankind have +the devil in them, which brings us to the conclusion of our argument; +and in support of which the following stanzas come happily to our +recollection. + + To persons and places he sends his disguises, + And dresses up all his banditti, + Who, as pickpockets flock to country assizes, + Crowd up to the court and the city. + + They're at every elbow, and every ear, + And ready at every call, Sir; + The vigilant scout, plants his agents about, + And has something to do with us all, Sir. + + In some he has part, and some he has whole, + And of some, (like the Vicar of _Baddow_) + It can neither be said they have body or soul; + And only are devils in shadow. + + The pretty and witty are devils in masque; + The beauties are mere apparitions; + The homely alone by their faces are known, + And the good by their ugly conditions. + + The beaux walk about like the shadows of men, + And wherever he leads them they follow; + But tak'em, and shak'em, there's not one in ten + But's as light as a feather, and hollow. + + Thus all his affairs he drives on in disguise, + And he tickles mankind with a feather, + Creeps in at one's ear, and looks out at our eyes, + And jumbles our senses together. + + He raises the vapours and prompts the desires, + And to ev'ry dark deed holds the candle; + The passions inflames and the appetite fires, + And takes every thing by the handle. + + Thus he walks up and down in complete masquerade + And with every company mixes; + Sells in every shop, works at every trade, + And ev'ry thing doubtful perplexes. + +The Jewish traditions concerning evil spirits are various, some of which +are founded on Scripture, some borrowed from the opinions of the Pagans, +some are fables of their own invention, and some are allegorical. + +The demons of the Jews were considered either as the distant progeny of +Adam or Eve, resulting from an improper intercourse with supernatural +beings, or of Cain. As the doctrine, however, was extremely revolting +to some few of the early Christians, they maintained that demons were +the souls of departed human beings, who were still permitted to +interfere in the affairs of the Earth, either to assist their friends or +to persecute their enemies. But this doctrine did not obtain. + +About two centuries and a half ago an attempt, in a condensed form, was +made, to give the various opinions entertained of demons at an early +date of the christian era; and it was not until a much later period of +Christianity, that a more decided doctrine relative to their origin and +nature was established. These tenets involved certain very knotty points +respecting the fall of those angels, who, for disobedience, had +forfeited their high abode in Heaven. The gnostics of early christian +times, in imitation of a classification of the different orders of +spirits by Plato, had attempted a similar arrangement with respect to an +hierarchy of angels, the gradation of which stood as follows. + +The first, and highest order, was named SERAPHINS; the second, +CHERUBINS; the third was the order of THRONES; the fourth, of DOMINIONS; +the fifth, of VIRTUES; the sixth, of POWERS; the seventh, of +PRINCIPALITIES; the eighth, of ARCHANGELS; the ninth, and lowest, of +ANGELS. This fable was, in a pointed manner, censured by the Apostles: +yet strange to say, it almost outlived the pneumatologists of the middle +ages. These schoolmen, in reference to the account that Lucifer rebelled +against heaven, and that Michael the archangel warred against him, long +agitated the momentous question, what order of angels fell on the +occasion. At length it became the prevailing opinion that Lucifer was of +the order of Seraphins. It was also proved after infinite research, that +Agares, Belial, and Barbatos, each of them deposed angels of great rank, +had been of the order of Virtues; that Beleth, Focalor, and Phoenix, had +been of the order of Thrones; that Gaap had been of the order of Powers, +and Virtues; and Murmur of Thrones and Angels. The pretensions of many +noble devils were, likewise, canvassed, and, in an equally satisfactory +manner, determined; a multiplicity of incidents connected therewith were +arranged, which previously had been matter of considerable doubt and +debate. These sovereign devils, to each of whom was assigned a certain +district, had many noble spirits subordinate to them whose various ranks +and precedence were settled with all the preciseness of heraldic +distinction:--there were, for instance, devil-dukes; devil-marquises; +devil-earls; devil-knights; devil-presidents, devil-archbishops, and +bishops; prelates; and, without question, devil-physicians, and +apothecaries. + +In the middle ages, when conjuration had attained a certain pitch of +perfection, and was regularly practised in Europe, devils of distinction +were supposed to make their appearance under decided forms, by which +they were as well recognised, as the head of any ancient family would be +by his crest and armorial bearings. The shapes they were accustomed to +adopt were registered among their names and characters. + +Although the leading tenets of Demonology may be traced to the Jews and +early Christians, yet they were matured by our early communications with +the Moors of Spain, who were the chief philosophers of the dark ages, +and between whom and the natives of France and Italy, a great +communication existed. Toledo, Seville and Salamanca, became the +greatest schools of magic. At the latter city predilections on the black +art from a consistent regard to the solemnity of the subject were +delivered within the walls of a vast and gloomy cavern. The schoolmen +taught that all knowledge might be obtained from the assistance of the +fallen angels. They were skilled in the abstract sciences, in the +knowledge of precious stones, in alchymy, in the various languages of +mankind and of the lower animals; in the Belles-Lettres, Moral +Philosophy, Pneumatology, Divinity, Magic, History, and Prophecy. They +could controul the winds and waters, and the stellar influences. They +could cause earthquakes, induce diseases or cure them, accomplish all +vast mechanical undertakings, and release souls out of Purgatory. They +could influence the passions of the mind, procure the reconciliation of +friends or of foes, engender mutual discord, induce mania, melancholy, +or direct the force and objects of human affection. Such was the +Demonology taught by its orthodox professors. Yet other systems of it +were devised, which had their origin in the causes attending the +propagation of christianity; for it must have been a work of much time +to eradicate the almost universal belief in the pagan deities, which had +become so numerous as to fill every creek and corner of the universe +with fabulous beings. Many learned men, indeed, were induced to side +with the popular opinion on the subject, and did nothing more than +endeavour to unite it with their acknowledged systems of Demonology. +They taught that the objects of heathen reverence were fallen angels in +league with the Prince of Darkness, who, until the appearance of our +Saviour, had been allowed to range on the earth uncontrolled, and to +involve the world in spiritual darkness and delusion. + +According to the various ranks which these spirits held in the vast +kingdom of Lucifer, they were suffered, in their degraded state, to take +up their abode in the air, in mountains, in springs, or in seas. But +although the various attributes ascribed to the Greek and Roman deities, +were, by the early teachers of christianity, considered in the humble +light of demoniacal delusions, yet, for many centuries they possessed +great influence over the minds of the vulgar. The notion of every man +being attended by an evil genius was abandoned much earlier than the far +more agreeable part of the same doctrine which taught that, as an +antidote to their influence, each individual was also accompanied by a +benignant spirit. "The ministration of angels," says a writer in the +Athenian Oracle, "is certain; but the manner _how_, is the knot to be +untied." It was an opinion of the early philosophers that not only +kingdoms[1] had their tutelary guardians, but that every person had his +particular genius or good spirit, to protect and admonish him through +the medium of dreams and visions. Such were the objects of superstitious +reverence derived from the Pantheons of Greece and Rome, the whole synod +of which was supposed to consist of demons, who were still actively +bestirring themselves to delude mankind. But in the west of Europe, a +host of other demons, far more formidable, were brought into play, who +had their origin in Celtic, Teutonic, and even in Eastern fables; and as +their existence, as well as influence, was boldly asserted, not only by +the early christians, but even by the reformers, it was long before the +rites to which they were accustomed were totally eradicated. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Thus the Penates, or household gods presided over new-born infants. +Every thing had its guardian or peculiar genius: cities, groves, +fountains, hills, were all provided with keepers of this kind, and to +each man was allotted no less than two--one good, the other bad (Hor. +Lib. II. Epist. 2.) who attended him from the cradle to the grave. The +Greeks called them _demons_. They were named _Praenestites_, from their +superintending human affairs. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +MAGIC AND MAGICAL RITES, &C. + +Few subjects present to a philosophic eye more matter of curious, +important and instructive research than the natural history of religion. +Some sort of religious service has been found to prevail in all ages and +nations, from the most rude and barbarous periods of human society, to +those of cultivation and refinement. In these periods are to be traced +specimens strongly marked with exertions of the feelings, and faculties +of men in every situation almost that can be supposed. It is from the +contemplation of these exertions that we learn what sort of creature man +is; that we discover the extent of his powers, and the tendency of his +desires: and that we become acquainted with the force of culture and +civilization upon him, by comparing the degrees of improvement he has +attained in the various stages of society through which he has passed. + +It seems to be a principle established by experience, that mankind in +general have at no time been able, by the operation of their own mutual +powers, to ascend in their inquiries to the great comprehensive +foundation of true religion,--the knowledge of a first cause. This idea +is too grand, too distinct, or too refined for the generality of the +human race. They are surrounded by sensible objects, and strongly +attached to them; they are in a great measure unaccustomed to the most +simple and obvious degrees of abstraction, and they can scarcely +conceive anything to have a real existence that may not become an object +of their senses. Possessed of such sentiments and views, they are fully +prepared in embracing all the follies and absurdities of superstition. +They worship every thing they either love or fear, in order to procure +the continuance of favours enjoyed, or to avert that resentment they may +have reason to dread. As their knowledge of nature is altogether +imperfect, and as many events every moment present themselves, upon +which they can form no theoretical conclusion, they fly for satisfaction +to the most simple, but most ineffectual of all solutions--the agency of +invisible beings, with which, in their opinion, all nature is filled. +Hence the rise of Polytheism and local deities, which have overspread +the face of the earth, under the different titles of guardian gods or +tutelary saints. Hence magnificent temples and splendid statues have +been erected to aid the imagination of votaries, and to realize objects +of worship, which, though supposed to be always hovering around, seldom +condescend to become visible. + +After obtaining some information concerning present objects, the next +cause of solicitude and inquiry to the mind of man, is to penetrate a +little into the secrets of futurity. The same tutelary gods who bestowed +their care, and exerted their powers to procure present pleasure and +happiness for mankind, were supposed not averse to grant them, in this +respect also, a little indulgence. Hence the famous oracular responses +of antiquity; hence the long train of conjurers, fortune-tellers, +astrologers, necromancers, magicians, wizards, and witches, that have +been found in all places and at all times; nor have superior knowledge +and civilization been sufficient to extirpate such characters, by +demonstrating the futility and absurdity of their views. + +Among the ancients, this superstition was a great engine of state. The +respect paid to omens, auguries and oracles, was profound and universal; +and the persons in power monopolized the privilege of consulting and +interpreting them. They joined the people in expressing their +veneration; but there is little reason to doubt that they conducted the +responses in such a manner as best suited the purposes of government. On +this account, it would not be difficult for the oracle to emit +predictions, which, to all those unacquainted with the secret, would +appear altogether astonishing and unaccountable. It would seem that this +principle alone is sufficient to explain all the phenomena of ancient +oracles. + +Though devination has long ceased to be an instrument of government, +abundance of designing persons have not been wanting in latter ages, who +found much interest in taking advantage of the weakness or credulity of +their fellow creatures. Against this pestilent and abandoned race of +men, most civilized countries have enacted penal laws. But what rendered +such persons peculiarly detestable in modern times, was the +communication which they were supposed to hold with the devil, to whom +they sold themselves, and from whom, in return, they derived their +information. And by this principle the penal statutes, instead of +extirpating, inflamed the evil. They alarmed the imaginations of the +people; they tempted them to impute the cause of their misfortunes and +disappointment to the malice or resentment of their neighbours; they +induced them to trust to their suspicions, much more than to their +reason; and they multiplied witches and wizards, by putting into +possession of every foolish informer the means of punishment. In several +countries of Europe, these statutes still subsist; they were not +abolished in Britain till a period still at no great distance. Since the +abolition of persecution, the faith of witchcraft has disappeared even +among the vulgar. It was long found inconsistent with any considerable +progress in philosophy. + +For these reasons we read, with some degree of astonishment, a treatise +on this exploded subject, by a philosopher, an eminent physician, a +privy counseller of the then Empress Queen, and a professor in the +university of Vienna. It was long doubted whether the professor was in +earnest, but the world was at length forced to admit, that the great +Antonius de Haen certainly believed in witchcraft, and reckoned the +knowledge of it, in treating a disease, of great importance to a +physician--to the acquisition of which useful knowledge, he dedicated a +great part of his time. In the year 1758, three old women, condemned to +death for witchcraft, were brought by order of the Empress from Croatia +to Vienna, to undergo an examination, with regard to the equity of the +sentence pronounced against them. The question was not whether the crime +existed; the only object of inquiry respected the justice of its +application. The author, and the illustrious van Swieten, were appointed +to make the investigation. After reading over the depositions, produced +on the trials with the greatest care, and interrogating the culprits +themselves _most vigorously_ by means of a Croatian interpreter, these +great physicians discovered that the _three old_ women were not witches, +and prevailed with the Empress to send them home in safety. It was this +circumstance that induced de Haen to write on magic. + +That some judgment may be formed of de Haen's very extraordinary and +curious production written in the latter part of the eighteenth century, +we shall here furnish our readers with an abstract of its principles and +reasoning, to which we shall subjoin some remarks. + +By the crime of magic, the author informs us, he means any improper +communication between men and evil spirits, whether it be called +theurgy, soothsaying, necromancy, chiromancy, incantation or witchcraft. +He proposes to prove, in the first place, that such a communication +does actually exist. He quotes the Egyptian magicians, the witch of +Endor, the possessions mentioned in the New Testament, and many more +exceptionable authorities from the fathers, and canons of the church. He +is positive the incantations of the Egyptian magicians were real +operations of infernal agents, and that the accounts of them, delivered +by Moses, can admit no other construction. + +May not the sincere believer in the divine authority of the scriptures +reasonably hesitate concerning this conclusion? Or rather, does not such +an interpretation justly expose revelation to reproach? The plain +dictates of the best philosophy are, that nothing is more simple, +regular, and uniform than the ordinary course of nature; and that this +course can neither be suspended nor altered, but by its author, nor can +by him be permitted to be interrupted by any inferior being, unless for +the most important reasons. It does not appear what good end could be +gained, on the part of Providence, by the permission of these magical +enchantments, supposing them supernatural; and if we imagine the Devil +to have acted spontaneously, with a view to support his power and +influence, he most manifestly erred in his design. Nothing could be more +impolitic than his appearance in a field of combat, where he well knew +he must sustain an ignominious defeat. Or if he worked effectually to +support the power and influence of his servants the magicians, he should +have counteracted, not repeated, the miraculous exhibitions of Moses. +That the magicians possessed no power sufficient for this purpose is +obvious, from their not exerting it. That Pharoah expected no such +exertion from them is evident from his never requesting it, and from his +application to Moses and Aaron. The truth seems to be, that Pharoah +conceived Moses and Aaron to be magicians like his own. He wished to +support the character of the latter; and he concluded this would be +effectually done, if they could only furnish a pretence for affirming +that they had performed every wonder accomplished by the former. Without +some such supposition of collusion, two of the miracles attempted by the +magicians are perfectly absurd and contradictory. They pretended to turn +water into blood, when there was not one drop of water in all the land +of Egypt, which Aaron had not previously converted into that substance. +They pretended to send frogs over the land of Egypt, when every corner +of it was swarming with that loathsome reptile. It is further remarkable +that, with the three first only of Moses's miracles they proposed to +vie; on the appearance of the fourth, they fairly resigned the contest, +and acknowledged very honestly that the hand of God was visible in the +miracles of Moses;--a plain confession that no supernatural power +operated in their own. + +De Haen considers the case of the witch of Endor as an authority still +more direct. He maintains that Samuel was actually called up, either +under corporeal or fantastic form, and foretold Saul the fate of his +engagements with the Philistines. Let us attend to the circumstances of +the story, and examine whether it is absolutely necessary to have +recourse to this supernatural hypothesis. The mind of Saul was +distracted and agitated beyond measure by the most critical and alarming +situation of his affairs; his distress was so great that, forgetting his +dignity and safety, he dismissed his attendants, laid aside his royal +robes, was unable to eat bread, and, dressed like the meanest of his +people, he took his journey to the abode of the conjurer. In this state +of mind, prepared for imposition, he arrives during the night at her +residence. He prevails with her, by much solicitation, and probably by +ample rewards, to call up Samuel. To discompose still further the +disordered mind of Saul, she announces the pretended approach of the +apparition by a loud acclamation, tells the king she knew him, which +till now she affected not to do, and describes the resurrection of the +prophet, under the awful semblance of God's rising out of the earth. + +During all this time the king had seen nothing extraordinary, either +because he was not allowed light sufficient for that purpose, or was not +admitted within the sphere of vision. He entreats an account of the +personage who approached, and the conjurer describes the well-known +appearance of Samuel. The prophet sternly challenges the king for +disturbing his repose, tells him that David was intended to be King of +Israel, that himself would be defeated by the Philistines, and that he +and his sons would fall in battle. The king enters into no conversation +with the apparition; but unable any longer to support his agitation, +drops lifeless on the ground. The conjurer returns to Saul, presses him +to take some food which she had prepared. He at last complies; and +having finished his repast, departs with his servants before the +morning. The whole of this scene, it is evident, passed in darkness. It +does not appear that Saul ever saw the prophet; and it surely required +no supernatural intelligence to communicate all the information he +obtained. This would readily be suggested by the despondency of the +king, the strength of his enemies, and the disposition of the whole +people of the Jews alienated from him, and inclined towards his +successor. The witch of Endor, therefore, might be a common +fortune-teller, and her case exhibits no direct proof of supernatural +possession. + +We do not pretend to account so easily for many of the possessions +recorded in the New Testament, though few of these only are applicable +to the case of sorcery. We are well aware, that several writers of +eminence, who cannot be supposed to entertain the least unfavourable +sentiments of revelation, have undertaken to explain these possessions, +without having recourse to any thing supernatural, by representing them +as figurative descriptions of particular and local diseases. + +We mean not to adopt, or defend the views of such authors, though we may +perhaps be allowed to observe that, were their opinions supported in a +satisfactory manner, christianity would lose nothing by the attempt. It +would be exempted, by this means, from a little cavilling and ridicule, +to which some of its enemies reckon it at present exposed, and the +design could not in the least derogate from its divinity, as the +instantaneous cure of a distemper cannot be considered less miraculous +than the expulsion of the devil. At any rate, these possessions are all +extraordinary; appeared on some most extraordinary occasion; and from +them, therefore, no general conclusion can be drawn to the ordinary +cases of common life. + +We shall now translate a specimen of de Haen's[2] authorities, extracted +from the fathers. The following from Jerome will need no comment. This +father, in his life of St. Hilario the hermit, relates that a young man +of the town of Gaza in Syria, fell deeply in love with a pious virgin in +the neighbourhood. He attacked her with looks, whispers, professions, +caresses, and all those arguments which usually conquer yielding +virginity; but finding them all ineffectual, he resolved to repair to +Memphis, the residence of many eminent conjurers, and implore their +magic aid. He remained there for a year, till he was fully instructed in +the art. He then returned home, exulting in his acquisitions, and +feasting his imagination with the luscious scenes he was now confident +of realizing. All he had to do was to lodge secretly some hard words and +uncouth figures, engraved on a plate of brass, below the threshold of +the door of the house in which the lady lived. She became perfectly +furious, she tore her hair, gnashed her teeth, and repeated incessantly +the name of the youth, who had been drawn from her presence by the +violence of her despairing passion. In this situation she was conducted +by her relations to the cell of old Hilario. The devil that possessed +her, in consequence of the charm, began immediately to howl, and to +confess the truth. "I have suffered violence," said he; "I have been +forced hither against my inclination. How happy was I at Memphis, +amusing my friends with visions! O the pains, the tortures which I +suffer! You command me to dislodge, and I am detained fast by the charm +below the threshold. I cannot depart, unless the young man dismiss me." +So cautious, however, was the saint, that he would not permit the magic +figures to be searched for, till he had released the virgin, for fear he +should seem to have intercourse with incantations in performing the cure +or to believe that a devil could even speak truth. He observed only that +demons are always liars, and cunning to deceive. + +De Haen imputes to the power of magic the miracles,[3] as they are +called, of the famous Apollonius Thyanaeus. He seems to entertain no +scruple about their authority. As several of the enemies of revelation +have held forth Thyanaeus as a rival of Jesus Christ, a specimen of his +performances may amuse our readers. During an assembly of the people at +Ephesus, a great flight of birds approached from a neighbouring wood; +one bird led all the rest. "There is nothing wonderful," says Thyanaeus, +to the astonished people, "in this appearance. A boy passing along a +particular street has carelessly scattered in it some corn which he +carried; one bird has tasted the food, and generously calls the rest to +partake the repast." The hearers repaired to the spot, and found the +information true. + +Being called to allay a pestilence which raged at Ephesus, he ordered an +old beggar to be burned under the stones near the temple of Hercules, as +an enemy to the gods. He commanded the people again to remove the +stones, that they might see what sort of animal had been put to death. +They found not a man, but a dog. The plague, however, ceased. + +A married woman of rank being dead, was carried out to be burned in an +open litter, followed by her husband dissolved in tears. Apollonius +approaching, requests him to stop the procession, and he would put an +end to his grief. He asked the name of the woman, touched her, and +muttered over her some words. She immediately revived, began to speak, +and returned again to her own house. Fleury, who relates the miracle, +remarks that some people doubted whether the woman had been really dead, +as they had observed something like breath issue from her mouth. Others +imagined she had been seized only with a tedious faint, and that the +operation of the cold dews and damps upon her body might naturally +recover her. On Fleury's remark de Haen most sagely observes, that the +persons who observed the woman breathing could not surely have +suppressed the joyful news, and would certainly have stopped the +procession before the philosopher arrived. + +De Haen's second attempt is to recite all the objections that have been +made against sorcery, and to subjoin to each a distinct refutation. +There is nothing in this part of the work that merits any attention. He +concludes in these words: "I may then with confidence affirm, that the +art of magic most certainly exists. History, sacred and prophane; +authority human and divine; experiments the most unquestionable and +unexceptionable, all concur to demonstrate its reality." + +The last part of de Haen's work relates to the discovering and treating +of magical diseases, to explain which seems to have been the chief +purpose of the author in composing his book. Much caution, he observes, +and attention are necessary on this head; and the physician should not +readily admit the imputation of witchcraft. No absence of the ordinary +symptoms, no uncommon alteration of the course of the distemper, are +sufficient to infer this conclusion, because these may arise from +unknown natural causes. What then are the marks of certain incantations? +De Haen holds the following to be indisputable: "if, in any uncommon +disease, there shall be found, in the stuffing of the cushions, or +cielings of the room in which the patient lies, in the feather or the +chaff of his bed, about the door, or under the threshold of his house, +any strange characters, images, bones, hair, seeds, or roots of plants; +and if upon the removal of these, or upon conveying the patient into +another apartment, he shall suddenly recover; or if the patient himself, +or his friends, shall be so wicked as to call a wizzard to their aid, by +whom the malady shall be removed; or if insects and animals which do +not lodge in the human body; if stones, metals, glass, knives, plaited +hair, pieces of pitch, be ejected from particular parts of the body, of +greater size, and weight and figure, than could be supposed to make +their way through these parts, without much greater demolition and +delaceration of the passages; in all these cases, the disease is +unquestionably magical." + +The author proceeds to enquire whether the physician may presume to +remove the instruments of incantation in order to relieve the patient +without incurring the accusation of impiety by interfering with the +implements and furniture of the devil; and concludes very formally that, +after approaching them with all due ceremony and respect, after +imploring with suitable devotion and ardour, the protection and +direction of heaven in such a perilous undertaking, he may attempt to +intermeddle, and may occasionally expect a successful issue. + +Such are the views, reasonings, and conclusions of, at the time, one of +the first physicians and philosophers of Germany;--views and reasonings +which would have been received with eagerness and applause two hundred +years ago, but which the philosophy and improvements of later times seem +to have banished to the abodes of ignorance and barbarity. + +The origin of almost all our knowledge may be traced to the earlier +periods of antiquity. This is peculiarly the case with respect to the +arts denominated magical. There were few ancient nations, however +barbarous, which could not furnish many individuals to whose spells and +enchantments the power of nature and the material world were supposed to +be subjected. The Chaldeans, the Egyptians, and indeed all the oriental +nations were accustomed to refer all natural effects, for which they +could not account to the agency of demons, who were believed to preside +over herbs, trees, rivers, mountains, and animals. Every member of the +human body was under their power, and all corporeal diseases were +produced by their malignity. For instance, if any happened to be +affected with a fever, little anxiety was manifested to discover its +cause, or to adopt rational measures for its cure; it must no doubt have +been occasioned by some evil spirit residing in the body, or +influencing, in some mysterious way, the fortunes of the sufferer. That +influence could be counteracted only by certain magical rites; hence the +observance of those rites soon obtained a permanent establishment in the +East. Even at the present day, many uncivilized people hold that all +nature is filled with genii, of which some exercise a beneficent, and +others a destructive power. All evils with which man is afflicted, are +considered the work of these imaginary beings, whose favour must he +propitiated by sacrifices, incantations, and songs. If the Greenlander +be unsuccessful in fishing, the Huron in hunting, or in war; if even the +scarcely half reasoning Hottentot finds every thing is not right in his +mind, body, or fortune, no time must be lost before the spirit be +invoked. After the removal of some present evil, the next strongest +desire in the human mind is the attainment of some future good. This +good is often beyond the power, and still oftener beyond the inclination +of man to bestow; it must therefore be sought from beings which are +supposed to possess considerable influence over human affairs, and which +being elevated above the baser passions of our nature, were thought to +regard with peculiar favour all who acknowledged their power, or invoked +their aid: hence the numerous rites which have, in all ages and +countries, been observed in consulting superior intelligences, and the +equally numerous modes in which their pleasure has been communicated to +mortals. + +The Chaldean magi were chiefly founded on astrology, and were much +conversant with certain animals, metals and plants, which they employed +in all their incantations; the virtue of which was derived from stellar +influence. Great attention was always paid to the positions and the +configurations presented by the celestial sphere; and it was only at +favourable seasons that the solemn rites were celebrated. Those rites +were accompanied with many peculiar and fantastic gestures, by leaping, +clapping of hands, prostrations, loud cries, and not unfrequently with +unintelligible exclamations. Sacrifices, and burnt offerings were used +to propitiate superior powers; but our knowledge of the magical rites +exercised by certain oriental nations, the Jews only excepted, is +extremely limited. All the books professedly written on the subject, +have been, swept away by the torrent of time. We learn, however, that +the professors among the Chaldeans were generally divided into three +classes; the _Ascaphim_, or charmers, whose office it was to remove +present, and to avert future contingent evils; to construct talismans, +etc. The _Mecaschephim_, or magicians, properly so called, who were +conversant with the occult powers of nature, and the supernatural world; +and the _chasdim_, or astrologers, who constituted by far the most +numerous and respectable class. And from the assembly of the wise men on +the occasion of the extraordinary dream of Nebuchadnezzar, it would +appear that Babylon had also her oneirocritici, or interpreters of +dreams--a species of diviners indeed, to which almost every nation of +antiquity gave birth. + +Like the Chaldean astrologers, the Persian magi, from whom our word +magic is derived, belong to the priesthood. But the worship of the gods +was not their chief occupation; they were also great proficients in the +arts. They joined to the worship of the gods, and to the profession of +medicine and natural magic, a pretended familiarity with superior +powers, from which they boasted of deriving all their knowledge. Like +Plato, who probably imbibed many of their notions, they taught that +demons hold a middle rank between gods and men; that they (the demons) +presided not only over divinations, auguries, conjurations, oracles, and +every species of magic, but also over sacrifices, and prayer, which in +behalf of men is thus presented, and rendered acceptable to the gods. +Indeed, the austerity of their lives[4] was well calculated to +strengthen the impression which their cunning had already made on the +multitude, and to prepare the way for whatever impostures they might +afterwards practise. + +We are less acquainted with Indian magic than with that practised by +any other Eastern nations. It may, however, be reasonably enough +inferred that it was very similar to that for which the magi in general +were held in such high estimation: although they were excluded, as +beings of too sacred a nature, from the ordinary occurrences of life. +Their Brahmins, or Gymnosophists, were regarded with as much reverence +as the magi, and probably were more worthy of it. Some of them dwelt in +woods, and others in the immediate vicinity of cities. Their skill in +medicine was great; the care which they took in educating youth, in +familiarizing it with generous and virtuous sentiments, did them +peculiar honour; and their maxims and discourses, as recorded by +historians, prove that they were much accustomed to profound reflection +on the principles of civil polity, morality, religion and philosophy. + + +JEWISH MAGI. + +Of the magi of the Jews, it is proved by Lightfoot,[5] that after their +return from Babylon, having entirely forsaken idolatry, and being no +longer favoured with the gift of prophecy, they gradually abandoned +themselves, before the coming of our Saviour, to sorcery and divination. +The Talmud, still regarded with a reverence bordering on idolatry, +abounds with instructions for the due observance of superstitious rites. +After their city and temple were destroyed, many Jewish impostors were +highly esteemed for their pretended skill in magic; and under pretence +of interpreting dreams, they met with daily opportunities of practising +the most shameful frauds. Many Rabbins were quite as well versed in the +school of Zoroaster, as in that of Moses. They prescribed all kinds of +conjuration, some for the cure of wounds, some against the dreaded bite +of serpents, and others against thefts and enchantments. Their +divinations were founded on the influence of the stars, and on the +operations of spirits, they did not, indeed, like the Chaldean magi, +regard the heavenly bodies as gods and genii, but they ascribed to them +a great power over the actions and opinions of men. + +The magical rites of the Jews were, and indeed are still, chiefly +performed on various important occasions, as on the birth of a child, +marriages, etc. On such occasions the evil spirits are supposed to be +more than usually active in their malignity, which can only be +counteracted by certain enchantments.[6] They believe that Lilis will +cause all their male children to die on the eighth day after their +birth; girls on the twenty-first.[7] The following are the means adopted +by the German Jews to avert this calamity. They draw arrows in circular +lines with chalk or charcoal on the four walls of the room in which the +accouchement takes place, and write upon each arrow: _Adam, Eve! make +Lilis go away!_ They write also on certain parts of the room the name of +the three angels who preside over medicine, _Senai, Sansenai and +Sanmangelof_, after the manner taught them by Lilis herself when she +entertained the hope of causing all the Jews to be drowned in the Red +Sea. + +Josephus, the historian of the Jews, does not allow to magic so ancient +an origin among them, as many Jewish writers do. He makes Solomon the +first who practised an art which is so powerful against demons; and the +knowledge of which, he asserts, was communicated to that prince by +immediate inspiration. The latter, continues this historian, invented +and transmitted to posterity in his writings, certain incantations for +the cure of diseases, and for the expulsion and perpetual banishment of +wicked spirits from the bodies of the possessed. It consisted, according +to his description, in the use of a certain root, which was sealed up, +and held under the nose of the person possessed; the name of Solomon, +with the words prescribed by him, was then pronounced, and the demon +forced immediately to retire. He does not even hesitate to assert, that +he himself has been an eye witness of such an effect produced on a +person named Eleazer, in the presence of the Emperor Vespasian and his +sons. Nor will this relation surprise us, when we consider the rooted +malignity entertained by the Jews to the christian religion, and this +writer's attempt to appreciate the miracles of our Saviour, by ascribing +them to magical influence, and by representing them as easy of +accomplishment to all acquainted with the occult sciences. + +Innumerable are the devices contained in the Cabala for averting +possible evils, as the plague, disease, and sudden death. It directs how +to select and combine some passages of scripture, which are believed +both to render supernatural beings visible, and to produce many +wonderful and surprising effects. The most famous wonders have been +accomplished by means of the name of God. The sacred word Jehovah is, +when read with points, multiplied by the Jewish doctors into twelve, +forty-two, and seventy-two letters, of which words are composed that are +thought to possess miraculous energy. By these, say they, Moses slew the +Egyptians; by these Israel was preserved from the destroying angel of +the wilderness; by these Elijah separated the waters of the river, to +open a passage for himself and Elisha, and by these it has been as +daringly and impudently asserted, that our blessed Saviour, the eternal +Son of God, cast out evil spirits. The name of the devil is likewise +used in their magical devices. The five Hebrew letters of which that +name[8] is composed, exactly constitute the number 364, one less than +the days of the whole year. They pretended that, owing to the wonderful +virtue of the number comprised in the name of Satan, he is prevented +from accusing them for an equal number of days: hence the stratagem +before alluded to, for depriving the devil of the power of doing them +any harm on the only day on which that power is granted to him. + +In allusion to the cabalists, Pliny says, "There is another sect of +magicians of which Moses and Latopea, Jews, were the first authors." It +was the prevailing opinion among the Hebrews, that the Cabala was +delivered by God to Moses, and thence through a succession of ages, even +to the times of Ezra, preserved by tradition only, without the help of +writing, in the same manner as the doctrine of Pythagoras was delivered +by Archippus and Lysiades, who kept schools at Thebes in Greece, where +the scholars learned all their master's precepts by heart, and employed +their memories instead of books. So certain Jews, despising letters, +placed all their learning in memory, observation, and verbal tradition; +whence it was called by them Cabala, that is, a receiving from one to +another by the ear an art said to be very ancient and only known to the +christians in later times. + +The Jews divided the Cabala into three parts; the first containing the +knowledge of _Bresith_, which they call also cosmology, the object of +which is to teach and explain the force and efficacy of things created, +natural or celestial; expounding also the laws and mysteries of the +Bible according to philosophical reasons, which on that account differs +little from natural magic, a science in which King Solomon is said to +have excelled. We find, therefore, in the sacred histories of the Jews, +that he was wont to discourse from the cedar of the forests of Lebanon +to the low hyssop of the valley; as also of cattle, birds, reptiles, and +fish, all which contain within themselves a kind of magical virtue. +Moses also, in his expositions upon the Pentateuch, and most of the +Talmudists, have followed the rules of the same art. + +The other division of the Cabala contains the knowledge of things more +sublime, as of divine and angelical powers, the contemplation of sacred +names and characters; being a certain kind of symbolical theology, in +which the letters, figures, numbers, names, points, lines, accents, etc. +are esteemed to contain the significations of most profound things and +wonderful mysteries. This part again is twofold--_Authmantick_, handling +the nature of angels, the powers, names, characters of spirits and souls +departed--and _Theomantick_, which searches into the mysteries of the +Divine Majesty, his emanations, his names, and _Pentacula_, which he who +attains to is supposed to be endowed with most wonderful power. It was, +they say, by virtue of this art, that Moses wrought so many miracles; +that Joshua commanded the sun to stand still; that Elias called down +fire from heaven; that Daniel the prophet muzzled the lions' mouths; and +that the three children sang in the fiery furnace. And, what is more, +the perfidious and unbelieving Jews, did not stick to aver, that our +Saviour himself wrought all his miracles by virtue of this art, and that +he discovered several of its secrets, containing a variety of charms +against devils, and also, as Josephus writes, against diseases. "As for +my part," says Cornelius Agrippa, in allusion to this subject, "I do not +doubt but that God revealed many things to Moses and the prophets, which +were contained under the covert of the words of the law, which were not +to be communicated to the profane vulgar: so for this art, which the +Jews so much boast of, which I have with great labour and diligence +searched into, I must acknowledge it to be a mere rhapsody of +superstition, and nothing but a kind of theurgic magic before spoken of. +For if, as the Jews contend, coming from God, it did any way conduce to +perfection of life, salvation of men, truth of understanding, certainly +that spirit of truth, which having forsaken the synagogue, is now come +to teach us all truth, had never concealed it all this while from the +church, which certainly knows all those things that are of God; whose +grace, baptism, and other sacraments of salvation, are perfectly +revealed in all languages;--for every language is alike, so that there +be the same piety; neither is there any other name in heaven or on +earth, by which we can be saved, but only the name of Jesus. Therefore +the Jews, most skilful in divine names, after the coming of Christ, were +able to do nothing, in comparison of their forefathers:--the Cabala of +the Jews, therefore, is nothing else, but a most pernicious +superstition, the which by collecting, dividing, and changing several +names, words, and letters, dispersed up and down in the bible, at their +own good will and pleasure, and making one thing out of another, they +dissolve the members of truth, raising up sentences, inductions, and +parables of their own, apply thereto the oracles of divine scripture to +them, defaming the scriptures, and affirming their fragments to consist +of them, blaspheme the word of God by their wrested suppositions of +words, syllables, letters and numbers; endeavouring to prop up their +villainous inventions, by arguments drawn from their own delusions." + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[2] Antonio de Haen, S.C.R.A. Majestate a consiliis anticis, et +Archiatri, medicinae in alma et antiquissimo universitate professoris +primarij, plurium eruditorium societatem socii, de magia liber. 8vo. +Vienna. + +[3] Many significations have been attached to the word miracle, both by +the ancients and moderns. With us a miracle is the suspension or +violation of the laws of nature; and a miracle, which can be explained +upon physical principles, ceases to be such. Whatever surpassed their +comprehension was regarded by the ancients as a miracle, and every +extraordinary degree of information attained by an individual, as well +as any unlooked-for occurrence, was referred to some peculiar +interposition of the deity. Hence among the ancients, the followers of +different divinities, far from denying the miracles performed by their +opponents, admitted their reality, but endeavoured to surpass them; and +thus in the "life of Zoroaster," we find that able innovator frequently +entering the lists with hostile enchanters, admitting but exceeding the +wonderful works they performed; and thus also when the thirst of power, +or of distinction, divided the sacerdotal colleges, similar trials of +skill would ensue, the successful combatant being considered to derive +his knowledge from the more powerful god. That the science on which each +party depended was derived from experimental physics, may be proved. 1. +by the conduct of the Thaumaturgists, or wonder-workers: 2. from what +they themselves had said concerning magic; the genii invoked by the +magicians, sometimes denoting physical or chemical agents employed, +sometimes men who cultivated the science. + +[4] All the three orders of Magi enumerated by Porphyry, abstained from +wine and women, and the first of these orders from animal food. + +[5] Vol. ii. p. 287. + +[6] See Tobit. chap. viii. v. 2 and 2. + +[7] Elias, as quoted by Becker. + +[8] There is no mention made of the word _Devil_ in the Old Testament, +but only of _Satan_: nor do we meet with it in any of the heathen +authors who say anything about the devil in the signification attached +to it among christians; that is, as a creature revolted from God. Their +theology went no farther than to evil genii, or demons, who harassed and +persecuted mankind, though we are still aware that many curious +_nick_-names are given to the prince of darkness both by ancient and +modern writers. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +ON THE SEVERAL KINDS OF MAGIC. + +The pretended art of producing, by the assistance of words and +ceremonies, such events as are above the natural power of men, was of +several kinds, and chiefly consisted in invoking the good and +benevolent, or the wicked and malignant spirits. The first, which was +called Theurgia, was adopted by the wisest of the Pagan world, who +esteemed this as much as they despised the latter, which they called +Goetia. + +Theurgia was by the philosophers accounted a divine art, which only +served to raise the mind to higher perfection, and to exalt the soul to +a greater degree of purity; and they who by means of this kind of magic, +were imagined to arrive at what is called intuition, wherein they +enjoyed an intimate intercourse with the deity, were believed to be +invested with divine power; so that it was imagined nothing was +impossible for them to perform; all who made profession of this kind of +magic aspired to this state of perfection. The priest, who was of this +order, was to be a man of unblemished morals, and all who joined with +him were bound to a strict purity of life. They were to abstain from +women, and from animal food; and were forbid to defile themselves by the +touch of a dead body. Nothing was to be forgotten in their rites and +ceremonies; the least omission or mistake, rendered all their art +ineffectual: so that this was a constant excuse for their not performing +all that was required of them, though as their sole employment (after +having arrived to a certain degree of perfection, by fasting, prayer, +and other methods of purification) was the study of universal nature, +they might gain such an insight into physical causes, as would enable +them to perform actions, that should fill the vulgar with astonishment; +and it is hardly to be doubted, but this was all the knowledge that many +of them aspired to. In this sort of magic, Hermes Tresmegistus and +Zoroaster excelled, and indeed it gained great reputation among the +Egyptians, Chaldeans, Persians, Indians and Jews. In times of ignorance, +a piece of clock-work, or some other curious machine, was sufficient to +entitle the inventor to the works of magic; and some have even asserted, +that the Egyptian magic, rendered so famous by the writings of the +ancients, consisted only in discoveries drawn from the mathematics, and +natural philosophy, since those Greek philosophers who travelled into +Egypt, in order to obtain a knowledge of the Egyptian sciences, returned +with only a knowledge of nature and religion, and some rational ideas +of their ancient symbols. + +But it can hardly be doubted, that magic in its grossest and most +ridiculous sense was practised in Egypt, at least among some of the +vulgar, long before Pythagoras or Empedocles travelled into that +country. The Egyptians had been very early accustomed to vary the +signification of their symbols, by adding to them several plants, ears +of corn, or blades of grass, to express the different employments of +husbandry; but understanding no longer their meaning nor the words that +had been made use of on these occasions, which were equally +unintelligible, the vulgar might mistake these for so many mysterious +practices observed by their fathers; and hence they might conceive the +notion, that a conjunction of plants, even without being made use of as +a remedy, might be of efficacy to preserve or procure health. "Of +these," adds the Abbé Pluche, "they made a collection, and an art by +which they pretended to procure the blessings, and provide against the +evils of life." By the assistance of these, men even attempted to hurt +their enemies; and indeed the knowledge of poisonous or useful simples, +might on particular occasions give sufficient weight to their empty +curses and innovations. But these magic incantations, so contrary to +humanity, were detested, and punished by almost all nations; nor could +they be tolerated in any. + +Pliny, after mentioning an herb, the throwing of which into an army, it +was said, was sufficient to put it to the route, asks, where was this +herb when Rome was so distressed by the Cambri and Teutones? Why did not +the Persians make use of it when Lucullus cut their troops to pieces? + +But amongst all the incantations of magic, the most solemn, as well as +the most frequent, was that of calling up the spirits of the dead; this +indeed was the very acmé of their art; and the reader cannot be +displeased with having this mystery here elucidated. An affection for +the body of a person, who in his life time was beloved, induced the +first natives to inter the dead in a decent manner, and to add to this +melancholy instance of esteem, those wishes which had a particular +regard to their new state of existence. The place of burial, conformable +to the custom of characterising all beloved places, or those +distinguished by a memorable event, was pointed out by a large stone or +pillar raised upon it. To this place families, and when the concern was +general, multitudes repaired every year, when, upon this stone, were +made libations of wine, oil, honey, and flour; and here they sacrificed +and ate in common, having first made a trench in which they burnt the +entrails of the victim into which the libation and the blood were made +to flow. They began with thanking God with having given them life, and +providing them necessary food; and then praised him for the good +examples they had been favoured with. From these melancholy rites were +banished all licentiousness and levity, and while other customs changed, +these continued the same. They roasted the flesh of the victim they had +offered, and eat it in common, discoursing on the virtues of him they +came to lament. + +All other feasts were distinguished by names suitable to the ceremonies +that attended them. These funeral meetings were simply called the manes, +that is, the assembly. Thus the manes and the dead were words that +became synonimous. In these meetings, they imagined that they renewed +their alliance with the deceased, who, they supposed, had still a regard +for the concerns of their country and family, and who, as affectionate +spirits, could do no less than inform them of whatever was necessary for +them to know. Thus, the funerals of the dead were at last converted into +methods of divination, and an innocent institution of one of the +grossest pieces of folly and superstition. But they did not stop here; +they became so extravagantly credulous, as to believe that the phantom +drank the libations that had been poured forth, while the relations were +feasting on the rest of the sacrifice round the pit: and from hence they +became apprehensive lest the rest of the dead should promiscuously +throng about this spot to get a share of the repast they were supposed +to be so fond of, and leave nothing for the dear spirit for whom the +feast was intended. They then made two pits or ditches, into one of +which they put wine, honey, water, and flour, to employ the generality +of the dead; and in the other they poured the blood of the victim; when +sitting down on the brink, they kept off, by the sight of their swords, +the crowd of dead who had no concern in their affairs, while they called +him by name, whom they had a mind to cheer and consult, and desired him +to draw near.[9] + +The questions made by the living were very intelligible; but the answers +of the dead were not so easily understood; the priests, therefore, and +the magicians made it their business to explain them. They retired into +deep caves, where the darkness and silence resembled the state of death, +and there fasted, and lay upon the skins of the beasts they had +sacrificed, and then gave for answer the dreams which most affected +them; or opened a certain book appointed for that purpose, and gave the +first sentence that offered.[10] At other times the priest, or any person +who came to consult, took care at his going out of the cave, to listen +to the first words he should hear, and these were to be his answer. And +though they had not the most remote relation to the mutter in question, +they were twisted so many ways, and their sense so violently wrested, +that they made them signify almost anything they pleased. At other times +they had recourse to a number of tickets, on which were some words or +verses, and these being thrown into an urn, the first that was taken out +was delivered to the family.[11] Health, prosperity in worldly affairs, +and all that was intermixed in the good or evil of this world were +regulated by the responses or signs which these equivocal, not to say +less than absurd, means afforded, of prying into the womb of future +events. + + +AUGURY, OR DIVINATIONS DRAWN FROM THE FLIGHT AND FEEDING OP BIRDS. + +The superstitious fondness of mankind for searching into futurity has +given rise to an infinite variety of extravagant follies. The Romans, +who were remarkably fertile in these sorts of demonological inventions, +suggested numerous ways of divination. With them all Nature had a voice, +and the most senseless beings, and most trivial things, the most +trifling incidents, became presages of future events; which introduced +ceremonies founded on a mistaken knowledge of antiquity, the most +childish and ridiculous, and which were performed with all the air of +solemnity and sanctity of devotion. Augury, or divinations founded on +the flight of birds, were not only considered by the Egyptians as the +symbols of the winds, but good and bad omens of every kind were founded +or rather derived from the flying of the feathered tribe. The birds at +this time had become wonderfully wise; and an owl, to whom, for reasons +not precisely known, light is not so agreeable as darkness, could not +pass by the windows of a sick person in the night, where the creature +was not offended by the glimmerings of a light or candle, but his +hooting must be considered as prophesying, that the life of the poor man +was nearly wound up. + +Amongst the Romans, these auguries were taken usually upon an eminence: +after the month of March they were prohibited in consequence of the +moulting season having commenced; nor were they permitted at the waning +of the moon, nor at any time in the afternoon, or when the air was the +least ruffled by winds or clouds. The feeding of the sacred chickens, +and the manner of their taking the corn that was offered to them, was +the most common method of taking the augury. Observations were also made +on the chattering or singing of birds, the hooting of crows, pies, +owls, etc., and from the running of beasts, as heifers, asses, rams, +hares, wolves, foxes, weasels and mice, when these appeared in uncommon +places, crossed the way, or ran to the right or left. They also +pretended to draw a good or bad omen from the most trifling actions or +occurrences of life, as sneezing, stumbling, starting, numbness of the +little finger, the tingling of the ear, the spilling of salt upon the +table, or the wine upon one's clothes, the accidental meeting of a bitch +with whelp, etc. It was also the business of the augur to interpret +dreams, oracles, and prodigies. + +Nothing can be so surprising than to find so wise and valorous a people +as the Romans addicted to such childish fooleries. Scipio, Augustus, and +many others, without any fatal consequences, despised the _sacred_ +chickens, and other arts of divination: but when the generals had +miscarried in any enterprise, the people laid the whole blame on the +negligence with which these oracles had been consulted: and if an +unfortunate general had neglected to consult them, the blame of +miscarriage was thrown upon him who had preferred his own forecast to +that of the fowls; while those who made these kinds of predictions a +subject of raillery, were accounted impious and profane. Thus they +construed, as a punishment of the gods, the defeat of Claudius Pulcher; +who, when the sacred chickens refused to eat what was set before them, +ordered them to be thrown into the sea; "If they won't eat," said he, +"they shall drink." + + +ARUSPICES, OR DIVINATIONS DRAWN FROM BRUTE, OR HUMAN SACRIFICES. + +In the earliest ages of the world, a sense of piety and a regard to +decency had introduced the custom of never sacrificing to Him, whence +all blessings emanated, any but the soundest, the most healthy, fat and +beautiful animals; which were always examined with the closest and most +exact attention. This ceremonial, which doubtless had its origin in +gratitude, or in some ideas of fitness and propriety, at length, +degenerated into trifling niceties and superstitious ceremonies. And it +having been once imagined that no favour was to be looked for from the +gods, when the victim was imperfect, the idea of perfection was united +with abundance of trivial circumstances. The entrails were examined with +peculiar care, and if the whole was without blemish, their duties were +fulfilled; under an assurance that they had engaged the gods to be on +their side, they engaged in war, and in the most hazardous undertakings, +with such a confidence of success, as had the greatest tendency to +procure it. All the motions of the victims that were led to the altar, +were considered as so many prophecies. If the victim advanced with an +easy and natural air, in a straight line, and without offering any +resistance,--if he made no extraordinary bellowing when he received the +blow,--if he did not get loose from the person who led him to the +sacrifice, it was deemed a certain prognostic of an easy and flowing +success. + +The victim was knocked down, but before its belly was ripped open, one +of the lobes of the liver was allotted to those who offered the +sacrifice, and the other to the enemies of the state. That which was +neither blemished nor withered, of a bright red, and neither smaller nor +larger than it ought to be, prognosticated great prosperity to those for +whom it was set apart; that which was livid, small or corrupted, +presaged the most fatal mischiefs. The next thing to be considered was +the heart, which was also examined with the utmost care, as was the +spleen, the gall, and the lungs; and if any of these were let fall, if +they smelt rank or were bloated, livid or withered, it presaged nothing +but misfortunes. + +After the examination of the entrails was over, the fire was kindled, +and from this also they drew several presages. If the flame was clear, +if it mounted up without dividing, and went not out till the victim was +entirely consumed, this was a proof that the sacrifice was accepted; but +if they found it difficult to kindle the fire, if the flame divided, if +it played around instead of taking bold of the victim, if it burnt ill, +or went out, it was a bad omen. The business, however, of the Aruspices +was not confined to the altars and sacrifices, they had an equal right +to explain all other portents. The Senate frequently consulted them on +the most extraordinary prodigies. The college of the Aruspices, as well +as those of the other religious orders, had their registers and +records, such as memorials of thunder and lightning,[12] the Tuscan +histories,[13] etc. + + +DIVISIONS OP DIVINATION BY THE ANCIENTS--PRODIGIES, ETC. + +Divination was divided by the ancients into artificial and natural. The +first is conducted by reasoning upon certain external signs, considered +as indications of futurity; the other consists in that which presages +things from a mere internal sense, and persuasion of the mind, without +any assistance of signs; and is of two kinds, the one from nature, and +the other by influx. The first supposes that the soul, collected within +itself, and not diffused or divided among the organs of the body, has +from its own nature and essence, some fore-knowledge of future things; +witness, for instance, what is seen in dreams, ecstasies, and on the +confines of death. The second supposes the soul after the manner of a +mirror to receive some secondary illumination from the presence of God +and other spirits. Artificial divination is also of two kinds: the one +argues from natural causes, as in the predictions of physicians relative +to the event of diseases, from the tongue, pulse, etc. The second the +consequence of experiments and observations arbitrarily instituted, and +is mostly superstitious. The systems of divination reduceable under +these heads are almost incalculable. Among these were the Augurs or +those who drew their knowledge of futurity from the flight, and various +other actions of birds; the Aruspices, from the entrails of beasts; +palmestry or the lines of the hands; points marked at random; numbers, +names, the motions of a scene, the air, fire, the Praenestine, Homerian, +and Virgilian lots, dreams, etc. + +Whoever reads the Roman historians[14] must be surprised at the number of +prodigies which are constantly recorded, and which frequently filled the +people with the most dreadful apprehensions. It must be confessed, that +some of these seem altogether supernatural; while much the greater part +only consist of some of the uncommon productions of nature, which +superstition always attributed to a superior cause, and represented as +the prognostication of some impending misfortunes. Of this class may be +reckoned the appearance of two suns, the nights illuminated by rays of +light, the views of fighting armies, swords, and spears, darting through +the air; showers of milk, of blood, of stones, of ashes, of frogs, +beasts with two heads, or infants who had some feature resembling those +of the brute creation. These were all dreadful prodigies, which filled +the people with inexpressible astonishment, and the Roman Empire with an +extreme perplexity; and whatever unhappy circumstance followed upon +these, was sure to be either caused or predicted by them.[15] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[9] Homer gives the same account of those ceremonies, when Ulysses +raised the soul of Tiresias; and the same usages are found in the poem +of Silius Italicus. And to these ceremonies the scriptures frequently +allude, when the Israelites are forbid to assemble upon high places. + +[10] The magical slumbers produced in the cave of Trophonius are justly +ascribed to medicated beverages. Here, the votary if he escaped with +life, had his health irreparably injured, and the whole class of +artificial dreams and visions, the effect of some powerful narcotic +acting upon the body after the mind had been predisposed for a certain +train of ideas. + +[11] The _sortes praenestinae_ were famous among the Greeks. The method +by which these lots were conducted was to put so many letters or even +whole words, into an urn; to shake them together, and throw them out; +and whatever should chance to be made out in the arrangement of these +letters or words, composed the answer of the oracle. The ancients also +made use of dice, drawing tickets, etc., in casting or deciding results. +In the Old Testament we meet with many standing and perpetual laws, and +a number of particular commands, prescribing and regulating the use of +them. We are informed by the Scripture that when a successor to Judas in +the apostolate was to be chosen, the lot fell on St. Mathias. And the +garment or coat without a seam of our Saviour was lotted for by the +Jews. In Cicero's time this mode of divination was at a very low ebb. +The _sortes Homericae_ and _sortes Virgilianae_ which succeeded the +_sortes Praenestinae_, gave rise to the same means used among christians +of casually opening the sacred books for directions in important +circumstances; to learn the consequence of events and what they had to +fear among their rulers. + +[12] Kennet's Roman Antiquities, Lib. XI, C. 4. + +[13] Romulus, who founded the institution of the Aruspices, borrowed it +from the Tuscans, to whom the Senate afterwards sent twelve of the sons +of the principal nobility to be instructed in these mysteries, and the +other ceremonies of their religion. The origin of this act among the +people of Tuscany, is related by Cicero in the following manner: "A +peasant," says he, "ploughing in the field, his ploughshare running +pretty deep in the earth, turned up a clod, from whence sprung a child, +who taught him and the other Tuscans the art of divination." (Cicero, De +Divinat. l. 2.) This fable, undoubtedly means no more, than that this +child, said to spring from the clod of earth, was a youth of a very mean +and obscure birth, but it is not known whether he was the author of it, +or whether he learnt it of the Greeks or any other nations. + +[14] Particularly Livy, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Pliny, and Valerius +Maximus. + +[15] Nothing is more easy than to account for these productions, which +have no relation to any events that may happen to follow them. The +appearance of two suns has frequently happened in England, as well as in +other places, and is only caused by the clouds being placed in such a +situation, as to reflect the image of that luminary; nocturnal fires, +enflamed spears, fighting armies, were no more than what we call the +Aurora Borealis or northern lights, or ignited vapours floating in the +air; showers of stones, of ashes, or of fire, were no other than the +effects of the eruptions of some volcano at a considerable distance; +showers of milk were caused by some quality in the air, condensing, and +giving a whitish colour to the water; and those of blood are now well +known to be only the red spots left upon the earth, on stones and leaves +of trees, by the butterflies which hatch in hot and stormy weather. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +HISTORY OF ORACLES--THE PRINCIPAL ORACLES OF ANTIQUITY. + +Few superstitions have been so famous, and so seductive to the minds of +men during a number of ages, as oracles. In treaties of peace or truces, +the Greeks never forgot to stipulate for the liberty of resorting to +oracles. No colony undertook new settlements, no war was declared, no +important affair begun, without first consulting the oracles. + +The most renowned oracles were those of Delphos, Dodona, Trophonius, +Jupiter Hammon, and the Clarian Apollo. Some have attributed the oracles +of Dodona to oaks, others to pigeons. The opinion of those +pigeon-prophetesses was introduced by the equivocation of a Thessalian +word, which signified both a pigeon and a woman; and gave room to the +fable, that two pigeons having taken wing from Thebes, one of them fled +into Lybia, where it occasioned the establishing of the oracle of +Jupiter Hammon; and the other, having stopped in the oaks of the forest +of Dodona, informed the inhabitants of the neighbouring parts, that it +was Jupiter's intention there should be an oracle in that place. +Herodotus has thus explained the fable: there were formerly two +Priestesses of Thebes, who were carried off by Phenecian merchants. She +that was sold into Greece, settled in the forest of Dodona, where great +numbers of the ancient inhabitants of Greece went to gather acorns. She +there erected a little chapel at the foot of an oak, in honour of the +same Jupiter, whose priestess she had been; and here it was this ancient +oracle was established, which in after times became so famous. The +manner of delivering the oracles of Dodona was very singular. There were +a great number of kettles suspended from trees near a copper statue, +which was also suspended with a hunch of rods in its hand. When the wind +happened to put it in motion, it struck the first kettle, which +communicating its motion to the next, all of them tingled, and produced +a certain sound which continued for a long time; after which the oracle +spoke. + + +THE ORACLE OP JUPITER HAMMON. + +This oracle, which was in the desert, in the midst of the burning sands +of Africa, declared to Alexander that Jupiter was his father. After +several questions, having asked if the death of his father was suddenly +revenged, the oracle answered, that the death of Philip was revenged, +but that the father of Alexander was immortal. This oracle gave occasion +to Lucan to put great sentiments in the mouth of Cato. After the battle +of Pharsalia, when Cesar began to be master of the world. Labrenus said +to Cato: "As we have now so good an opportunity of consulting so +celebrated an oracle, let us know from it how to regulate our conduct +during this war. The gods will not declare themselves more willingly for +any one than Cato. You have always been befriended by the gods, and may +therefore have the confidence to converse with Jupiter. Inform +yourselves of the destiny of the tyrant and the fate of our country; +whether we are to preserve our liberty, or to lose the fruit of the war; +and you may learn too what that virtue is to which you have been +elevated, and what its reward." + +Cato, full of the divinity that was within him, returned to Labrenus an +answer worthy of an oracle: "On what account, Labrenus, would you have +me consult Jupiter? Shall I ask him whether it be better to lose life +than liberty? Whether life be a real good? We have within us, Labrenus, +an oracle that can answer all these questions. Nothing happens but by +the order of God. Let us not require of him to repeat to us what he has +sufficiently engraved in our hearts. Truth has not withdrawn into those +deserts; it is not graved on those sands. The abode of God is in heaven, +in the earth, in the sea, and in virtuous hearts. God speaks to us by +all that we see, by all that surrounds us. Let the inconstant and those +that are subject to waver, according to events, have recourse to +oracles. For my part, I find in nature every thing that can inspire the +most constant resolution. The dastard, as well as the brave, cannot +avoid death. Jupiter cannot tell us more." Cato thus spoke, and quitted +the country without consulting the oracle. + + +THE ORACLE OF DELPHOS, OR PYTHIAN APOLLO. + +Diodorus Siculus, Plutarch, and several other authors relate, that a +herd of goats discovered the oracle of Delphos, or of the Pythian +Apollo. When a goat happened to come near enough the cavern to breathe +air that passed out of it, she returned skipping and bounding about, and +her voice articulated some extraordinary sounds; which having been +observed by the keepers, they went to look in, and were seized with a +fury which made them jump about, and foretel future events. Coretas, as +Plutarch tells, was the name of the goat-herd who discovered the oracle. +One of the guardians of Demetrius, coming too near the mouth of the +cavern, was suffocated by the force of the exhalations, and died +suddenly. The orifice or vent-hole of the cave was covered with a tripod +consecrated to Apollo, on which the priestesses, called Pythonesses,[16] +sat, to fill themselves with the prophetic vapour, and to conceive the +spirit of divination, with the fervor that made them know futurity, and +foretel it in Greek hexameters. Plutarch says, that, on the cessation of +oracles, a Pythoness was so excessively tormented by the vapour, and +suffered such violent convulsions, that all the priests ran away, and +she died soon after. + + +CEREMONIES PRACTISED ON CONSULTING ORACLES. + +Pausanias describes the ceremonies that were practiced for consulting +the oracle of Trophonius. Every man that went down into his cave, never +laughed his whole life after. This gave occasion to the proverbial +saying concerning those of a melancholy air: "He has consulted +Trophonius." Plato relates, that the two brothers, Agamedes and +Trophonius, having built the temple of Apollo, and asked the god for a +reward what he thought of most advantage to men, both died in the night +that succeeded their prayer. Pausanias gives us a quite different +account. In the palace there built for the King Hyrieus, they so laid a +stone, that it might be taken away, and in the night they crept in +through the hole they had thus contrived, to steal the king's treasures. +The king observing the quantity of his gold diminished, though no locks +nor seals had been broken open, fixed traps about his coffers, and +Agamedes being caught in one of them, Trophonius cut off his head to +prevent his discovering him. Trophonius having disappeared that moment, +it was given out that the earth had swallowed him on the same spot; and +impious superstition went so far as to place this wicked wretch in the +rank of the gods, and to consult his oracle with ceremonies equally +painful and mysterious. + +Tacitus thus speaks of the oracle of the Clarian Apollo: Germanicus +went to consult the oracle of Claros. It is not a woman that delivers +the oracle there, as at Delphos, but a man chosen out of certain +families, and always of Miletum. It is sufficient to tell him the number +and names of those who come to consult him; whereupon he retires into a +grot, and having taken some water out of a well that lies hid in it, he +answers you in verses to whatever you have thought of, though this man +is often very ignorant. + +Dion Cassius explains the manner in which the oracle of Nymphoea, in +Epirus, delivered its responses. The party that consulted took incense, +and having prayed, threw the incense into the fire, the flame pursued +and consumed it. But if the affair was not to succeed, the incense did +not come near the fire, or if it fell into the flame, it started out and +fled. It so happened for prognosticating futurity, in regard to every +thing that was asked, except death and marriage, about which it was not +allowed to ask any questions. + +Those who consulted the oracle of Amphiarus, lay on the skins of +victims, and received the answer of the oracle in a dream. Virgil +attests the same thing of the oracle of Faunus in Italy. + +A governor of Cilicia, who gave little credit to oracles, and who was +always surrounded by unbelieving Epicureans sent a letter sealed with +his signet to the oracle of Mopsus, requiring one of those answers that +were received in a dream. The messenger charged with the letter brought +it back in the same condition, not having been opened; and informed +him, that he had seen in a dream a very well made man, who said to him +'Black' without the addition of even another word. Then the governor +opening the letter, assured the company, that he wanted to know of the +divinity, whether he should sacrifice a white or black bull. + +In the temple of the goddess of Syria, when the statue of Apollo was +inclined to deliver oracles, it deviated, moved, and was full of +agitations on its pedestals. Then the priests carrying it on their +shoulders, it pushed and turned them on all sides, and the high-priest, +interrogating it on all sorts of affairs, if it refused its consent, it +drove the priests back; if otherwise, it made them advance. + +Suetonius says, that, some months before the birth of Augustus, an +oracle was current, importing, that nature was labouring at the +production of a king, who would be master of the Roman Empire; that the +Senate in great consternation, had forbid the rearing of any male +children who should be born that year, but that the senators whose wives +were pregnant, found means to hinder the inscribing of the decree in the +public registers. It seems that the prediction, of which Augustus was +only the type, regarded the birth of Jesus Christ, the spiritual king of +the whole world; or that the wicked spirit was willing, by suggesting +this rigorous decree to the Senate, to depose Herod; and by this +example, to involve the Messiah in the massacre that was made by his +orders of all the children of two years and under. The whole world was +then full of the coming of the Messiah. We see by Virgil's fourth +eclogue, that he applies to the son of the Consul Asinius Pollio the +prophecies which, from the Jews, had then passed into foreign nations. +This child the object of Virgil's flattery, died the ninth day after he +was born. Tacitus, Suetonius, and Josephus, applied to Vespasian the +prophecies that regarded the Messiah. + + +ORACLES OFTEN EQUIVOCAL AND OBSCURE. + +The oracles, were often very equivocal, or so obscure that their +signification was not understood but after the event. A few examples, +out of a great many, will be sufficient. + +Croesus, having received from the Pythoness, this answer, that by +passing the river Halys, he would destroy a great empire, he understood +it to be the empire of his enemy, whereas he destroyed his own. The +oracle consulted by Pyrrhus, gave him an answer, which might be equally +understood of the victory of Pyrrhus, and the victory of the Romans his +enemies. + + Aio te Aeacida, Romanos vincere posse. + +The equivocation lies in the construction of the Latin tongue, which +cannot be rendered in English. The Pythoness advises Croesus to guard +against the mule.[17] The king of Lydia understood nothing of the +oracle, which denoted Cyrus descended from two different nations, from +the Medes by Mandana his mother, the daughter of Astyages; and by the +Persians by his father Cambyses, whose race was by far less grand and +illustrious. Nero had for answer from the oracle of Delphos, that +seventy-three might prove fatal to him, he believed he was safe from all +danger till age, but, finding himself deserted by every one, and hearing +Galba proclaimed emperor, who was seventy-three years of age, he was +sensible of the deceit of the oracle. + +St. Jerome observes, that, if the devils speak any truth, by whatever +accident they always join lies to it and use such ambiguous expressions, +that they may be equally applied to contrary events. + + +URIM AND THUMMIM. + +Whilst the false oracles of demons deceived the idolatrous nations, +truth had retired from among the chosen people of God. The septuagint +have interpreted _Urim_ and _Thummim_, manifestation and truth, [Greek: +daelosin is alaetheian]; which expresses how different those divine +oracles were from the false and equivocal demons. It is said, in the +Book of Numbers, that Eleazar, the successor of Aaron, shall interrogate +Urim in form, and that a resolution shall be taken according to the +answer given. + +The Ephod applied to the chest of the sacerdotal vestments of the +high-priest, was a piece of stuff covered with twelve precious stones, +on which the names of the twelve tribes were engraved. It was not +allowed to consult the Lord by Urim and Thummim, but for the king, the +president of the sanhedrim, the general of the army, and other public +persons, and on affairs that regarded the general interest of the +nation. If the affair was to succeed, the stones of the ephod emitted a +sparkling light, or the high-priest inspired predicted the success. +Josephus, who was born thirty-nine years after Christ, says that it was +then two hundred years since the stones of the ephod had given an answer +to consultations by their extraordinary lustre. + +The Scriptures only inform us, that Urim and Thummim were something that +Moses had put in the high-priest's breast-plate. Some Rabbins by rash +conjectures, have believed that they were two small statues hidden +within the breast-plate; others, the ineffable name of God, graved in a +mysterious-manner. Without designing to discern what has not been +explained to us, we should understand by _Urim_ and _Thummim_, the +divine inspiration annexed to the consecrated breast-plate. + +Several passages of Scripture leave room to believe, that an articulate +voice came forth from the propitiatory, or holy of holies, beyond the +veil of the tabernacle, and that this voice was heard by the +high-priest. If the Urim and Thummim did not make answer, it was a sign +of God's anger. Saul abandoned by the spirit of the Lord, consulted it +in vain, and obtained no sort of answer. It appears by some passages of +St. John's Gospel, that in the time of Christ, the exercise of the +chief-priesthood, was still attended with the gift of prophecy. + + +REPUTATION OF ORACLES, HOW LOST. + +When men began to be better instructed by the lights philosophy had +introduced into the world, the false oracles insensibly lost their +credit. Chrysippus filled an entire volume with false or doubtful +oracles. Oenomanus,[18] to be revenged of some oracle that had deceived +him, made a compilation of oracles, to shew their absurdity and vanity. +But Oenomanus is still more out of humour with the oracle for the answer +which Apollo gave the Athenians, when Xerxes was about to attack Greece +with all the strength of Asia. The Pythian declared, that Minerva, the +protectress of Athens, had endeavoured in vain to appease the wrath of +Jupiter; yet that Jupiter, in complaisance with his daughter, was +willing the Athenians should secure themselves within wooden walls; and +that Salamis should behold the loss of a great many children, dead to +their mothers, either when Ceres was spread abroad, or gathered +together. At this Oenomanus loses all patience with the Delphian God: +"This contest," exclaims he, "between father and daughter, is very +becoming the deities! It is excellent that there should be contrary +inclinations and interests in heaven! Poor wizzard, thou art ignorant +who the children are that shall see Salamis perish; whether Greeks or +Persians. It is certain they must either be one or the other; but thou +needest not have told so openly that thou knowest not what. Thou +concealest the time of the battle under these fine poetical expressions +'_either when Ceres is spread abroad, or gathered together_:' and thou +wouldst cajole us with such pompous language! who knows not that if +there be a sea-fight, it must either be in seed-time or harvest? It is +certain it cannot be in winter. Let things go how they will, thou wilt +secure thyself by this Jupiter whom Minerva is endeavouring to appease. +If the Greeks lose the battle, Jupiter proved inexorable to the last; if +they gain it, why then Minerva at length prevailed."[19] + +Eusebius has preserved some fragments of this criticism on oracles by +Oenomanus. "I might," says Origen, "have recourse to the authority of +Aristotle, and the Peripatetics, to make the Pythoness much suspected. I +might extract from the writings of Epicurus and his sectators an +abundance of things to discredit oracles; and I might shew that the +Greeks themselves made no great account of them." + +The reputation of oracles was greatly lessened when they became an +artifice of politics. Themistocles, with a design of engaging the +Athenians to quit Athens, in order to be in a better condition to resist +Xerxes, made the Pythoness deliver an oracle, commanding them to take +refuge in wooden walls. Demosthenes said, that the Pythoness +philippised, to signify that she was gained over by Philip's presents. + + +CESSATION OF ORACLES. + +The cessation of oracles is attested by several prophane authors, as +Strabo, Juvenal, Lucien. + +Lucan, and others, Plutarch accounts for the cause of it, either that +the benefits of the gods are not eternal, as themselves are; or that the +genii who presided over oracles, are subject to death; or that the +exhalations of the earth had been exhausted. It appears that the last +reason had been alleged in the time of Cicero, who ridicules it in his +second book of Divination, as if the spirit of prophecy, supposed to be +excited by subterranean effluvia, had evaporated by length of time, as +wine or pickle by being kept is lost. + +Suidas, Nicephorus, and Cedrenus relate, that Augustus having consulted +the oracle of Delphos, could obtain no other answer but this: 'the +Hebrew child whom all the gods obey, drives me hence, and sends me back +to hell: get out of this temple without speaking one word.' Suidas adds, +that Augustus dedicated an altar in the Capitol, with the following +inscription: + + "_To the eldest Son of God_." + +Notwithstanding these testimonies, the answer of the oracle of Delphos +to Augustus seems very suspicious. Cedrenus cites Eusebius for this +oracle, which is not now found in his works; and Augustus' peregrination +into Greece was eighteen years before the birth of Christ. + +Suidas and Cedrenus give an account also of an ancient oracle delivered +to Thules, a king of Egypt, which they say is well authenticated. This +king having consulted the oracle of Seraphis, to know if there ever was, +or would be, one so great as himself, received this answer:--"First, +God, next the word, and the spirit with them. They are equally eternal, +and make but one whose power will never end. But thou, mortal, go hence, +and think that the end of man's life is uncertain." + +Van Dale, in his Treatise of oracles, does not believe that they ceased +at the coming of Christ. He relates several examples of oracles +consulted till the death of Theodosius the Great. He quotes the laws of +the Emperors Theodosius, Gratian, and Valentinian, against those who +consulted oracles, as a certain proof that the superstition of oracles +still existed in the time of those emperors. + + +HAD DEMONS ANY SHARE IN THE ORACLES? + +The opinion of those who believe that the demons had no share in the +oracles, and that the coming of the Messiah made no change in them: and +the contrary opinion of those who pretend that the incarnation of the +word imposed a general silence on oracles, should be equally rejected. +The reasons appear from what has been said, and therefore two sorts of +oracles ought to be distinguished, the one dictated by the spirits of +darkness, who deceived men by their obscure and doubtful answers, the +other the pure artifice and deceit of the priests of false +divinities.[20] As to the oracles given out by demons, the reign of +Satan was destroyed by the coming of the Saviour; truth shut the mouth +of falsehood; but Satan continued his old craft among idolaters. All the +devils were not forced to silence at the same time by the coming of the +Messiah; it was on particular occasions that the truth of christianity, +and the virtue of Christians imposed silence on the devils. St. +Athanasius tells the pagans, they have been witnesses themselves that +the sign of the cross puts the devils to flight, silences oracles, and +dissipates enchantments. + +This power of silencing oracles, and putting the devils to flight, is +also attested by Arnobius, Lactantius, Prudentius, Minutius, Felix, and +several others. Their testimony is a certain proof that the coming of +the Messiah had not imposed a general silence on oracles. + +The Emperor Julian, called the Apostate, consulting the oracle of +Apollo, in the suburbs of Antioch, the devil could make him no other +answer, than that the body of St. Babylas, buried in the neighbourhood, +imposed silence on him. The Emperor, transported with rage and vexation, +resolved to revenge his gods, by eluding a solemn prediction of Christ. +He ordered the Jews to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem; but in beginning +to dig the foundations, balls of fire burst out, and consumed the +artificers, their tools and materials. These facts are attested by +Ammianus Marcellinus, a pagan, and the emperor's historian; and by St. +Chrysostom, St. Gregory Nazianzen, and Theodoret, Sozomen and Socrates, +in their ecclesiastical histories. The sophist Libanius, who was an +enemy of the Christians, confessed also that St. Babylas had silenced +the oracle of Apollo, in the suburbs of Antioch. + +Plutarch relates that the pilot Thamus heard a voice in the air, crying +out:--"The great Pan is dead:" whereupon Eusebius observes, that the +deaths of the demons were frequent in the reign of Tiberius, when Christ +drove out the wicked spirits. The same judgments may be passed on +oracles as on possessions. It was on particular occasions, by the divine +permission, that the Christians cast out devils, or silenced oracles, in +the presence and even by the confession of the pagans themselves. And +thus it is we should, it seems, understand the passages of St. Jerom, +Eusebius, Cyril, Theodoret, Prudentius, and other authors, who said, +that the coming of Christ had imposed silence on the oracles. + + +OF ORACLES, THE ARTIFICES OP PRIESTS OP FALSE DIVINITIES. + +As regards the second sort of oracles, which were pure artifices and +cheats of the priests of false divinities, and which probably exceeded +the numbers of those that immediately proceed from demons, they did not +cease till idolatry was abolished, though they had lost their credit for +a considerable time before the coming of Christ. It was concerning this +more common and general sort of oracles that Minutius Felix said, they +began to discontinue their responses, according as men began to be more +polite. But, howsoever decried oracles were, impostors always found +dupes; the grossest cheats having never failed. + +Daniel discovered the imposture of the priests of Bel, who had a private +way of getting into the temple, to take away the offered meats, and made +the king believe that the idol consumed them. Mundus, being in love with +Paulina, the eldest of the priestesses of Isis, went and told her that +the god Anubis, being passionately fond of her, commanded her to give +him a meeting. She was afterwards shut up in a dark room, where her +lover Mundus (whom she believed to be the god Anubis,) was concealed. +This imposture having been discovered, Tiberius ordered those detestable +priests and priestesses to be crucified, and with them Iolea Mundus's +free woman, who had conducted the whole intrigue. He also commanded the +temple of Isis to be levelled with the ground, her statue to be thrown +into the Tiber, and, as to Mundus, he contented himself with sending him +into banishment. + +Theophilus, Bishop of Alexandria, not only destroyed the temples of the +gods, but discovered the cheats of the priests, by shewing that the +statues, some of which were of brass, and others of wood, were hollow +within, and led into dark passages made in the wall. + +Lucius in discovering the impostures of the false prophet Alexander, +says, that the oracles were chiefly afraid of the subtilties of the +Epicureans and Christians. The false prophet Alexander sometimes feigned +himself seized with a divine fury, and by means of the herb sopewort, +which he chewed, frothed at the mouth in so extraordinary a manner, that +the ignorant people attributed it to the power of the god he was +possessed by. He had long before prepared the head of a dragon made of +linen, which opened and shut its mouth by means of a horses hair. He +went by night to a place where the foundations of a temple were digging, +and having found water, either of a spring or rain that had settled +there, he hid in it a goose egg, in which he had inclosed a little +serpent that had just been hatched. The next day, very early in the +morning, he came quite naked into the street, having only a scarf about +his middle, holding in his hand a scythe, and tossing about his hair as +the priests of Cybele; then getting on the top of a high altar, he said +that the place was happy to be honoured by the birth of a god. +Afterwards running down to the place where he had hid the goose egg, and +going into the water, he began to sing the praises of Apollo and +Aesculapius, and to invite the latter to come and shew himself to men; +with these words he dips a bowl into the water and takes out a +mysterious egg, which had a god enclosed in it, and when he held it in +his hand, he began to say that he held Aesculapius, whilst all were +eager to have a sight of this fine mystery, he broke the egg, and the +little serpent starting out, twisted itself about his fingers. + +These examples shew clearly, that both Christians and pagans were so +far agreed as to treat the greater number of oracles as purely human +impostures. + +From the very nature of things, much that now serves for amusement must +formerly have been appropriated to a higher destination. Ventriloquism +may be quoted as a case in point, affording a ready and plausible +solution of the oracular stones and oaks, of the reply which the seer +Nessus addressed to Pythagoras, (Jamblichus, Vit. Pyth. xxxiii.) and of +the tree which at the command of the Gymnosophists, of upper Egypt, +spoke to Apollonius, "The voice," says Philostratus (Vit. Ap. xi. 5) +"was distinct but weak, and similar to the voice of a woman." But the +oracles, at least if we ascend to their origin, were not altogether +impostures. The pretended interpreters of the decrees of destiny were +frequently plunged into a sort of delirium, and when inhaling the fumes +of some intoxicating drug or powerful gas or vapour, or drinking some +beverage which produced a temporary suspension of the reason, the mind +of the enquirer was predisposed to feverish dreams:[21] if priestcraft +were concerned in the interpretation of such dreams, or eliciting senses +from the wild effusions of the disordered brain of the Pythoness, +Science presided over the investigation of the causes of this phrenzy, +and the advantages which the Thaumaturgists might derive from it. +Jamblicus states (de Mysterius C. xxix) that for obtaining a revelation +from the Deity in a dream, the youngest and most simple creatures were +the most proper for succeeding: they were prepared for it by magical +invocations and fumigations of particular perfumes. Porphyry declares +that these proceedings had an influence on the imagination; Jamblicus +that they rendered them more worthy of the inspiration of the Deity. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[16] The responses here were delivered by a young priestess called +Pythia or Phoebas, placed on a tripos, or stool with three feet, called +also cortina, from the skin of the serpent Python with which it was +covered, it is uncertain after what manner these oracles were delivered, +though Cicero supposes the Pythoness was inspired, or rather intoxicated +by certain vapours which ascended from the cave. Some say that the +Pythoness being once debauched, the oracles were afterwards delivered by +an old woman in the dress of a young maid. + +[17] This answer of the oracle brings to our recollection the equally +remarkable injunction of a modern seer to Sir William Windham, which is +related in the memoirs of Bishop Newton. "In his younger years, when Sir +William was abroad upon his travels, and was at Venice, there was a +noted fortune-teller, to whom great numbers resorted, and he among the +rest; and the fortune-teller told him, that he must beware of a white +horse. After his return to England, as he was walking by Charing-Cross, +he saw a crowd of people coming out and going in to a house, and +inquired what was the meaning of it, was informed that Duncan Campbell, +the dumb fortune-teller lived there. His curiosity also led him in, and +Duncan Campbell likewise told him that he must beware of a white horse. +It was somewhat extraordinary that two fortune-tellers, one at Venice +and the other in London, without any communication, and at some distance +of time, should both happen to hit upon the same thing, and to give the +very same warning. Some years afterwards, when he was taken up in 1715, +and committed to the Tower upon suspicion of treasonable practices, +which never appeared, his friends said to him that his fortune wan now +fulfilled, the Hanover House was the white horse whereof he was +admonished to beware. But some time after this, he had a fall from a +white horse, and received a blow by which he lost the sight of one of +his eyes." + +[18] "When we come to consult thee," says he to Apollo, "if thou seest +what is in the womb of futurity, why dost thou use expressions which +will not be understood? If thou dost, thou takest pleasure in abusing +us: if thou dost not, be informed of us, and learn to speak more +clearly. I tell thee, that if thou intendest an equivoque, the Greek +word whereby thou affirmest that Croesus should overthrow a great +empire, was ill-chosen; and that it could signify nothing but Croesus +conquering Cyrus. If things must necessarily come to pass, why dost thou +amuse us with thy ambiguities? What dost thou, wretch as thou art, at +Delphi, employed in muttering idle prophecies!"--See "_Demonologia, or +Natural Knowledge revealed_" p. 162. + +[19] See _Demonologia_, p, 163. + +[20] "Among the more learned, it is a pretty general opinion that all +the oracles were mere cheats and impostures; calculated either to serve +the avaricious ends of the heathenish priests, or the political views of +the princes. Bayle positively asserts, that they were mere human +artifices, in which the devil had no hand. In this opinion he is +strongly supported by Van Dale, a Dutch physician, and M. Fontenelle, +who have expressly written on the subject."--_Vide Demonologia_, op. +citat. p. 159. + +[21] We learn from Herodotus (iv. 75) that the Scythians and Tartars +intoxicated themselves by inhaling the vapour of a species of hemp +thrown upon red hot stones. And the odour of the seeds of henbane alone, +when its power is augmented by heat, produces a choleric and quarrelsome +disposition, in those who inhale the vapour arising from them in this +state. And in the "Dictionnaire de Médecine," (de l'Encyclopédie +Méthodique, vii, art. Jusquiaume) instances are quoted, the most +remarkable of which is, that if a married pair who, though living in +perfect harmony every where else, could never remain for a few hours in +the room where they worked without quarrelling. The apartment of course +was thought to be bewitched, until it was discovered that a considerable +quantity of seeds of henbane were deposited near the stove, which was +the cause of their daily dissensions, the removal of which put an end to +their bickerings. The same effects that were produced by draughts and +fumigations would follow from the application of liniments, of "Magical +Unctions," acting through the absorbent system, as if they had been +introduced into the stomach: allusions to these ointments are constantly +recurring in ancient authors. Philostratus, in his life of Apollonius +(iii. 5) states that the bodies of his companions, before being admitted +to the mysteries of the Indian sages, were rubbed over with so active an +oil, that it appeared as if they were bathed with fire. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +THE BRITISH DRUIDS, OR MAGI--ORIGIN OF FAIRIES--ANCIENT +SUPERSTITIONS----THEIR SKILL IN MEDECINE, &C. + +The British Druids, like the Indian Gymnosophists, or the Persian Magi, +had two sets of doctrines; the first for the initiated; the second for +the people. That there is one God the creator of heaven and earth, was a +secret doctrine of the Brachmans. And the nature and perfection of the +deity were among the druidical arcana. + +Among the sublimer tenets of the druidical priesthood, we have every +where apparent proofs of their polytheism: and the grossness of their +religious ideas, as represented by some writers, is very inconsistent +with that divine philosophy which has been considered as a part of their +character. These, however, were popular divinities which the Druids +ostensibly worshipped, and popular notions which they ostensibly +adopted, in conformity with the prejudices of the vulgar. The Druids +well knew that the common people were no philosophers. There is reason +also, to think that a great part of the idolatries were not sanctioned +by the Druids, but afterwards introduced by the Phoenician colony. But +it would be impossible to say how far the primitive Druids accommodated +themselves to vulgar superstition, or to separate their exterior +doctrines and ceremonies from the fables and absurd rites of subsequent +times. It would be vain to attempt to enumerate their gods: in the eye +of the vulgar they defied everything around them. They worshipped the +spirits of the mountains, the vallies, and the rivers. Every rock and +every spring were either the instruments or the objects of admiration. +The moonlight vallies of Danmonium were filled with the fairy people, +and its numerous rivers were the resort of genii. + +The fiction of fairies is supposed to have been brought, with other +extravagancies of a like nature from the Eastern nations, whilst the +Europeans and Christians were engaged in the holy war: such at least is +the notion of an ingenious writer, who thus expresses himself: "Nor were +the monstrous embellishments of enchantments the invention of romancers, +but formed upon Eastern tales, brought thence by travellers from their +crusades and pilgrimages, which indeed, have a cast peculiar to the wild +imagination of the Eastern people."[22] + +That fairies, in particular, came from the East, we are assured by that +learned orientalist, M. Herbelot, who tells us that the Persians called +the fairies _Peri_, and the Arabs _Genies_, that according: to the +Eastern fiction, there is a certain country inhabited by fairies, called +Gennistan, which answers to our _fairy-land_.[23] Mr. Martin, in his +observations on Spencer's Fairy Queen, is decided in his opinion, that +the fairies came from the East; but he justly remarks, that they were +introduced into the country long before the period of the crusades. The +race of fairies, he informs us, was established in Europe in very early +times, but, "_not universally_." The fairies were confined to the north +of Europe--to the _ultima Thule_--to the _British isles_--to the +_divisis orbe Britannis_. They were unknown at this remote era to the +Gauls or the Germans: and they were probably familiar to the vallies of +Scotland and Danmonium, when Gaul and Germany were yet unpeopled either +by real or imaginary beings. The belief indeed, of such invisible agents +assigned to different parts of nature, prevails at this very day in +Scotland, Devonshire and Cornwall, regularly transmitted from the +remotest antiquity to the present times, and totally unconnected with +the spurious romance of the crusader or the pilgrim. Hence those +superstitious notions now existing in our western villages, where the +spriggian[24] are still believed to delude benighted travellers, to +discover hidden treasures, to influence the weather, and to raise the +winds. "This," says Warton, "strengthens the hypotheses of the northern, +parts of Europe being peopled by colonies from the east!" + +The inhabitants of Shetland and the Isles pour libations of milk or +beer through a holed-stone, in honour of the spirit Brownie; and it is +probable the Danmonii were accustomed to sacrifice to the same spirit, +since the Cornish and the Devonians on the border of Cornwall, invoke to +this day the spirit Brownie, on the swarming of their bees. + +With respect to rivers, it is a certain fact that the primitive Britons +paid them divine honours; even now, in many parts of Devonshire and +Cornwall, the vulgar may be said to worship brooks and wells, to which +they resort at stated periods, performing various ceremonies in honour +of those consecrated waters: and the Highlanders, to this day, talk with +great respect of the genius of the sea; never bathe in a fountain, lest +the elegant spirit that resides in it should be offended and remove; and +mention not the water of rivers without prefixing to it the name of +_excellent_; and in one of the western islands the inhabitants retained +the custom, to the close of the last century, of making an annual +sacrifice to the genius of the ocean. That at this day the inhabitants +of India deify their principal rivers is a well known fact; the waters +of the Ganges possess an uncommon sanctity; and the modern Arabians, +like the Ishmaelites of old, concur with the Danmonii in their reverence +of springs and fountains. Even the names of the Arabian and Danmonian +wells have a striking correspondence. We have the _singing-well_; or the +_white-fountain_, and there are springs with similar names in the +deserts of Arabia. Perhaps the veneration of the Danmonii for fountains +and rivers may be accepted as no trivial proof, to be thrown into the +mass of circumstantial evidence, in favour of their Eastern original. +That the Arabs in their thirsty deserts, should even adore their wells +of "springing water," need not excite our surprise, but we may justly +wonder at the inhabitants of Devonshire and Cornwall thus worshipping +the gods of numerous rivers, and never failing brooks, familiar to every +part of Danmonium. + +The principal times of devotion among the Druids +were either mid-day or midnight. The officiating Druid was cloathed in a +white garment that swept the ground; on his head, he wore the tiara; he +had the _anguinum_ or serpent's egg, as the ensign of his order; his +temples were encircled with a wreath of oak-leaves, and he waved in his +hand the magic rod. As regards the Druid sacrifice there are vague and +contradictory representations. It is certain, however, that they offered +human victims to their gods. They taught that the punishment of the +wicked might be obliterated by sacrifices to Baal.[25] The sacrifice of +the black sheep, therefore, was offered up for the souls of the +departed, and various species of charms exhibited. Traces of the holy +fires, and fire worship of the Druids[26] may be observed in several +customs, both of the Devonians and the Cornish; but in Ireland may still +be seen the holy fires in all their solemnity. The Irish call the month +of May _Bel-tine_, or fire of Belus; and the first of May Lubel-tine, or +the day of Belus's fire. In an old Irish glossary, it is mentioned that +the Druids of Ireland used to light two solemn fires every year, through +which all four-footed beasts were driven, as a preservative against +contagious distempers. The Irish have this custom at the present moment, +they kindle the fire in the milking yards; men, women, and children pass +through or leap over it, and their cattle are driven through the flames +of the burning straw, on the _first of May_; and in the month of +November, they have also their fire feasts when, according to the custom +of the Danmonians, as well as the Irish Druids, the hills were enveloped +in flame. Previously to this solemnity (on the eve of November) the fire +in every private house was extinguished; hither, then, the people were +obliged to resort, in order to rekindle it. The ancient Persians named +the month of November, _Adur or fire_ Adur, according to Richardson was +the angel presiding over that element, in consequence of which, on the +ninth, his name-day, the country blazed all around with flaming piles, +whilst the magi, by the injunction of Zoroaster, visited with great +solemnity all the temples of fire throughout the empire; which, on this +occasion, were adorned and illuminated in a most splendid manner. Hence +our British illuminations in November had probably their origin. It was +at this season that _Baal Samham_ called the souls to judgment, which, +according to their deserts, were assigned to re-enter the bodies of men +or brutes, and to be happy or miserable during their next abode on the +earth. + +The primitive Christians, attached to their pagan ceremonies, placed +the feast of All-Souls on the la Samon, or the second of November. Even +now the peasants in Ireland assemble on the vigil of la Samon with +sticks and clubs, going from house to house, collecting money, +bread-cake, butter, cheese, eggs, etc., for the feast; repeating verses +in honour of the solemnity, and calling for the black sheep. Candles are +sent from house to house and lighted up on the Samon. (The next day.) +Every house abounds in the best viands the master can afford; apples and +nuts are eaten in great plenty; the nutshells are burnt, and from the +ashes many things are foretold. Hempseed is sown by the maidens, who +believe that, if they look back, they shall see the apparition of their +intended husbands. The girls make various efforts to read their destiny; +they hang a smock before the fire at the close of the feast, and sit up +all night concealed in one corner of the room, expecting the apparition +of the lover to come down the chimney and turn the _shimee_: they throw +a ball of yarn out of the window, and wind it on the reel within, +convinced that if they repeat the Paternoster backwards, and look at the +ball of yarn without, they shall then also see his apparition. Those who +celebrate this feast have numerous other rites derived from the Pagans. +They dip for apples in a tub of water, and endeavour to bring up one +with their mouths; they catch at an apple when stuck on at one of the +end of a kind of hanging beam, at the other extremity of which is fixed +a lighted candle, and that with their mouths only, whilst it is in a +circular motion, having their hands tied behind their backs.[27] + + +THE BRITISH MAGI. + +The Druids, who were the magi of the Britons, had an infinite number of +rites in common with the Persians. One of the chief functions of the +Eastern magi, was divination; and Pomponius Mela tells us, that our +Druids possessed the same art. There was a solemn rite of divination +among the Druids from the fall of the victim and convulsions of his +limbs, or the nature and position of his entrails. But the British +priests had various kinds of divination. By the number of criminal +causes, and by the increase or diminution of their own order, they +predicted fertility or scarcity. From the neighing or prancing of white +horses, harnessed to a consecrated chariot--from the turnings and +windings of a hare let loose from the bosom of the diviner (with a +variety of other ominous appearances or exhibitions) they pretended to +determine the events of futurity.[28] + +Of all creatures the serpent exercised, in the most curious manner, the +invention of the Druids. To the famous _anguinum_ they attributed high +virtues. The _anguinum_ or serpent's egg, was a congeries of small +snakes rolled together, and incrusted with a shell, formed by the saliva +or viscous gum, or froth of the mother serpent. This egg, it seems was +tossed into the air, by the hissings of its dam, and before it fell +again to the earth (where it would be defiled) it was to be received in +the sagus or sacred vestment. The person who caught the egg was to make +his escape on horseback, since the serpent pursues the ravisher of its +young, even to the brink of the next river. Pliny, from whom this +account is taken (lib. 29. C. 3.) proceeds with an enumeration of other +absurdities relating to the anguinum. This _anguinum_ is in British +called _Glain-neider_, or the serpent of glass; and the same +superstitious reverence which the Danmonii universally paid to the +anguinum, is still discoverable in some parts of Cornwall. Mr. Llhuyd +informs us that "the Cornish retain a variety of charms, and have still +towards the Land's-End, the amulets of Maen-Magal and Glain-neider, +which latter they call _Melprer_, and have a charm for the snake to make +it, when they find one asleep, and stick a hazel wand in the centre of +her spirae," or coils. + +We are informed by Cambden that, "in most parts of Wales, and +throughout all Scotland and Cornwall, it is an opinion of the vulgar, +that about midsummer-eve (though in the time they do not all agree) the +snakes meet in companies, and that by joining heads together and +hissing, a kind of bubble is formed, which the rest, by continual +hissing, blow on till it passes quite through the body, when it +immediately hardens, and resembles a glass-ring, which whoever finds +shall prosper in all his undertakings. The rings thus generated are +called _Gleiner-nadroeth_, or snake-stones. They are small glass +amulets, commonly about half as wide as our finger rings, but much +thicker, of a green colour usually, though sometimes blue, and waved +with red and white." + +Carew says, that "the country people, in Cornwall, have a persuasion +that the snake's breathing upon a hazel wand produces a stone ring of +blue colour, in which there appears the yellow figure of a snake, and +that beasts bit and envenomed, being given some water to drink wherein +this stone has been infused, will perfectly recover the poison."[29] + +From the animal, the Druids passed to the vegetable world; and these +also displayed their powers, whilst by the charms of the misletoe, the +selago, and the samopis, they prevented or repelled diseases. From the +undulation or bubbling of water stirred by an oak branch, or magic wand, +they foretold events that were to come. The superstition of the Druids +is even now retained in the western counties. To this day, the Cornish +have been accustomed to consult their famous well at Madem, or rather +the _spirit_ of the well, respecting their future destiny. + +"Hither," says Borlase, "come the uneasy, impatient, and superstitious, +and by dropping pins[30] or pebbles into the water, and by shaking the +ground round the spring, so as to raise bubbles from the bottom, at a +certain time of the year, moon and day, endeavour to remove their +uneasiness; yet the supposed responses serve equally to encrease the +gloom of the melancholy, the suspicions of the jealous, and the passion +of the enamoured. The Castalian fountain, and many others among the +Grecians were supposed to be of a prophetic nature. By dipping a fair +mirror into a well, the Patraeans of Greece received, as they supposed, +some notice of ensuing sickness or health from the various figures +pourtrayed upon the surface. The people of Laconia cast into a pool, +sacred to Juno, cakes of bread corn: if the cakes sunk, good was +portended; if they swam, something dreadful was to ensue. Sometimes the +superstitious threw three stones into the water, and formed their +conclusions from the several turns they made in sinking." The Druids +were likewise able to communicate, by consecration, the most portentous +virtues to rocks and stones, which could determine the succession of +princes or the fate of empires. To the Rocking or Logan stone, several +of which remain still in Devonshire and Cornwall, in particular, they +had recourse to confirm their authority, either as prophets or judges, +pretending that its motion was miraculous. These religious rites were +celebrated in consecrated places and temples, in the midst of groves. +The mysterious silence of an ancient wood diffuses even a shade of +horror over minds that are yet superior to superstitious credulity. +Their temple was seldom any other than a wide circle of rocks +perpendicularly raised. An artificial pile of large flat stone usually +composed the altar; and the whole religious mountain was usually +enclosed by a low mound, to prevent the intrusion of the profane. "There +was something in the Druidical species of heathenism," exclaims Mr. +Whitaker, in a style truly oriental, "that was well calculated to arrest +the attention and impress the mind. The rudely majestic circle of stones +in their temples, the enormous Cromlech, the massy Logan, the huge +Carnedde, and the magnificent amphitheatre of woods, would all very +strongly lay hold upon that religious thoughtfulness of soul, which has +ever been so natural to man, amid all the wrecks of humanity--the +monument of his former perfection!" That Druidism, as existing +originally in Devonshire and Cornwall, was immediately transported, in +all its purity and perfection, from the East, seems extremely probable. + +Among the sacred rites of the Druids there were none more celebrated +than that they used of the misletoe of the oak. They believed this tree +was chosen by God himself. The misletoe was what they found but seldom: +whenever, therefore, they met with it, they fetched it with great +ceremony, and did it on the sixth day of the moon, with which day they +began both their months and their years. They gave a name to this shrub, +denoting that it had the virtue of curing all diseases. They sacrificed +victims to it, believing that, by its virtue, the barren were made +fruitful. They looked upon it likewise as a preservative against all +poisons. Thus do several nations of the world place their religion in +the observation of trifles. + +The Druids were also extremely superstitious in relation to the herb +_selago_, which they reckoned a preservative against sore eyes, and +almost all misfortunes. Another herb called samotis, which they imagined +had a virtue to prevent diseases among cattle, they were very +ceremonious about gathering. The person was obliged to be clad in white, +and was not suffered to handle it; and the ceremony was preceded by a +sacrifice of bread and wine. + +The Druids had another superstition amongst them, in regard to their +serpents' eggs, which they supposed were formed of the saliva of many of +those creatures, at a certain time of the moon: these they looked upon +as a sure prognostic of getting the better of their enemies. These, with +many other ridiculous fooleries, were imposed upon the credulous people, +as they were very much attached to divination. The Druids regarded the +misletoe as an antidote against all poisons, and they preserved their +selago against all misfortunes. The Persians had the same confidence in +the efficacy of several herbs, and used them in a similar manner. The +Druids cut their misletoe with a golden hook, and the Persians cut the +twigs of _Ghez_, or _haulm_, called _bursam_, with a peculiar sort of +concentrated knife. The candidates for the British throne had recourse +to the fatal stone to determine their pretensions; and on similar +occasions the Persians had recourse to the _Artizoe_. + +From every view of the Druid religion, Mr. Polwhele concludes that it +derived its origin from the Persian magi. Dr. Borlasse has drawn a long +and elaborate parallel between the Druids and Persians, where he has +plainly proved that they resembled each other, as strictly as possible, +in every particular of religion.[31] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[22] Supplement to the translated preface to Jarvis's Don Quixote. + +[23] That the Druids worshipped rocks, stones, and fountains, and +imagined them inhabited, and actuated by _divine intelligences of a +lower rank_, may plainly be inferred from their stone monuments. These +inferior deities the Cornish call _spriggian, or spirits_, which answer +to genii or fairies; and the vulgar in Cornwall still discourse of them, +as of real beings. + +[24] See Macpherson's Introduction to the history of great Britain and +Ireland. + +[25] This idol, which is called by the Septuagint, Baal, is mentioned in +other parts of scripture by other names. To understand what this god +was, we may observe, that the deities of the Greeks and Romans come from +the East; and it is a tradition among the ancient and modern heathens +that this idol was an obscure deity, which may plead excuse for not +translating some passages concerning it; and this is agreeable to Hosea +(ix. 10). They _went out_ into _Baal Pheor_, and _separated themselves +to their shame_. And it is the opinion of Jerome, who quotes it from an +ancient tradition of the Jews, that _Baal Pheor_ is the _Priapus_ of the +Greeks and Romans; and if you look into the vulgar latin (1 Kings xv. +13.) we shall find it thus rendered, _and Asa, the King removed_ Maacha, +_his mother from being queen, that she might no longer be high Priestess +in the sacrifices of Priapus_. And he destroyed the grove she had +consecrated, and broke the most filthy idol, and burnt it at the brook +_Kedron_. Dr. Cumberland inserts, that the import of the word _Peor_, or +_Baal Pheor_, is he that shews boastingly or publicly, his nakedness. +Women to avoid barrenness, were to sit on this filthy image, as the +source of fruitfulness; for which Lactantius and Augustine justly deride +the heathens. + +[26] There was an awful mysteriousness in the original Druid sacrifice. +Descanting upon the human sacrifices of various countries, Mr. Bryant +informs us, that among the nations of Canaan, _the_ victims _were chosen +in a peculiar manner_; their own children, and whatsoever was nearest +and dearest to them, were thought the most worthy offerings to their +gods! The Carthagenians, who were a colony from Tyre, carried with them +the religion of their mother country and instituted the same worship in +the parts where they were seated. Parents offered up their own children +as dearest to themselves, and therefore the more acceptable to the +deity: they sacrificed "the fruit of their body for the sin of their +soul," The Druids, no doubt, were actuated with the same views. + +[27] There is no sort of doubt that _Baal_ and _Fire_ were principal +objects of the ceremonies and adoration of the Druids. The principal +season of these, and of their feasts in honour of Baal, was new year's +day, when the sun began visibly to return towards us; the custom is not +yet at an end, the country people still burning out the old year and +welcoming in the new by fires lighted on the top of hills, and other +high places. The next season was the month of May, when the fruits of +the earth began, in the Eastern countries, to be gathered, and the first +fruits of them consecrated to Baal, or to the _Sun_, whose benign +influence had ripened them; and one is almost persuaded that the dance +round the May pole, in that month, is a faint image of the rites +observed on such occasions. The next great festival was on the 21st of +June, when the sun, being in Cancer, first appears to go backwards and +leave us. On this occasion the Baalim used to call the people together, +and to light fires on high places, and to cause their sons, and their +daughters, and their cattle to pass through the fire, calling upon Baal +to bless them, and not forsake them. + +[28] In Devonshire and Cornwall it is still considered ominous if a hare +crosses a person on the road. + +[29] See _Carew's Survey of Cornwall_, p. 22. Mr. Carew had a stone-ring +of this kind in his possession, and the person who gave it to him +avowed, that "he himself saw a part of the stick sticking in it,"--but +"_Penes authorem sit fides_," says Mr. Carew. + +[30] The same superstition still exists in Devonshire. + +[31] See account of Druidism in Polewhele's Historical Views of +Devonshire, vol. 1. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +AESCULAPIAN MYSTERIES, &C. + +Apollo is said to have been one of the most gentle, and at the same +time, as may be inferred from his numerous issue, one of the most +gallant of the heathen deities. The first and most noted of his sons was +Aesculapius, whom he had by the nymph Coronis. Some say that Apollo, on +account of her infidelity, shot his mother when big with child with him; +but repenting the fact, saved the infant, and gave him to Chiron to be +instructed in physic.[32] Others report, that as King Phlegyas, her +father was carrying her with him into Peloponnesus, her pains surprised +her on the confines of Epidauria where, to conceal her shame, she +exposed the infant on a mountain. The _truth_, however is, that this +Aesculapius was a poor infant cast away, a dropt child, laid in a wood +near Epidaurus, by his unnatural parents, who were afterwards ashamed to +own him; he was shortly afterwards found by some huntsmen, who, seeing a +lighted flame or glory surrounding his head, looked upon it as a +prognostic of the child's future glory. The infant was delivered by them +to a nurse named Trigo, but the poets say he was suckled by a goat. He +studied physic under Chiron the centaur, by whose care he made such +progress in the medical art, as gained him so high a reputation that he +was even reported to have raised the dead. His first cures were wrought +upon Ascles, King of Epidaurus, and Aunes, King of Daunia, which last +was troubled with sore eyes. In short, his success was so great, that +Pluto, seeing the number of his ghosts daily decrease, complained to +Jupiter, who killed him with his thunderbolts. Such was his proficiency +in medical skill, that he was generally esteemed the god of physic. + +In the city of Tetrapolis, which belonged to the Ionians, Aesculapius +had a temple full of rare cures, dedicated to him by those who ascribed +their recovery to him; and its walls were covered and hung with +memorials of the miracles he had performed. + +Cicero reckons up three of the names of Aesculapius. The first the son +of Apollo, worshipped in Arcadia, who invented the probe and bandages +for wounds; the second the brother of Mercury, killed by lightning; and +the third the son of Arsippus Arsione, who first taught the art of +tooth-drawing and purging. Others make Aesculapius an Egyptian, King of +Memphis, antecedent by a thousand years to the Aesculapius of the +Greeks. The Romans numbered him among the Dii Adcititii, of such as were +raised to heaven by their merit, as Hercules, Castor and Pollux. The +Greeks received their knowledge of Aesculapius from the Phoenicians and +Egyptians. His chief temples were at Pergamus, Smyrna, and Trica, a city +of Ionia, and the isle of Coos, or Cos; in which all votive tablets were +hung up,[33] shewing the diseases cured by his assistance: but his most +famous shrine was at Epidaurus, where every five years in the spring, +solemn games were instituted to him nine days after the Isthmian games +at Corinth. + +It was by accident that the Romans became acquainted with Aesculapius. A +plague happened in Italy, the oracle was consulted, and the reply was +that they should fetch the god Esculapius from Epidaurus. An embassy was +appointed of ten senators, at the head of whom was Q. Ogulnius. These +deputies, on their arrival, visiting the temple of the god, a huge +serpent came from under the altar, and crossing the city, went directly +to their ship, and lay down in the cabin of Ogulnius;[34] upon which they +set sail immediately, and arriving in the Tiber, the serpent quitted the +ship, and retired to a little island opposite to the city, where a +temple was erected to the god, and the pestilence ceased. + +The animals sacrificed to Aesculapius were the goat; some say on +account of his having been nursed by this animal; others because this +creature is unhealthy, as labouring under a perpetual fever. The dog and +the cock were sacrificed to him, on account of their fidelity and +vigilance; the raven was also devoted to him for its forecast, and being +skilled in divination. Authors are not agreed as to his being the +inventor of physic, some affirming he perfected that part only which +relates to the regimen of the sick. + +The origin of this fable is as follows:--the public sign or symbol +exposed by the Egyptians in their assemblies, to warn the people to mark +the depth of the inundation of the Nile, in order to regulate their +ploughing accordingly, was the figure of a man with a dog's head, +carrying a pole with serpents twisted round it, to which they gave the +name of Anubis,[35] Thaaut,[36] and Aesculapius.[37] In process of time, +they made use of this representation for a real king, who by the study +of physic, sought the preservation of his subjects. Thus the dog and the +serpents became the characteristics of Aesculapius amongst the Romans +and Greeks, who were entirely strangers to the original meaning of these +hieroglyphics. + +Aesculapius was represented as an old man, with a long beard, crowned +with a branch of bay tree; in his hands was a staff full of knots, about +which a serpent had twisted itself: at his feet stood an owl or a +dog--characteristics of the qualities of a good physician, who must be +as cunning as a serpent, as vigilant as a dog, as cunning and +experienced as an old bashaw, to handle a thing so difficult as physic. +At Epidaurus his statue was of gold and ivory,[38] seated on a throne of +the same materials, with a long beard, having a knotty stick in one +hand, the other entwined with a serpent, and a dog lying at his feet. +The Phliasians depicted him as beardless, and the Romans crowned him +with a laurel, to denote his descent from Apollo. The knots in his staff +signify the difficulties that occur in the study of medicine. He had by +his wife Epione two sons, Machaon and Podalirius, both skilled in +surgery, and who are mentioned by Homer as having been present at the +siege of Troy, and who were very serviceable to the Greeks. He had also +two daughters, called Hygiaea and Jaso. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[32] Ovid, who relates the story of Coronis in his fanciful way, tells +us that Corvus, or the raven, who discovered her armour, had by Apollo, +his feathers changed from _black_ to _white_. + +[33] From these tablets, or votive inscriptions, Hippocrates is said to +have collected his aphorisms. + +[34] The Romans who sent for Aesculapius from Epidaurus, when their city +was troubled with the plague, say, that the serpent that was worshipped +there for him followed the ambassadors of its own accord to the ship +that transported it to Rome, where it was placed in a temple built in +the isle called Tiberina. In this temple the sick people were wont to +lie, and when they found themselves no better, they reviled Aesculapius: +so impatiently ungrateful and peevish were often the afflicted, that +they made no scruple to reproach the very god who administered to their +maladies. + +[35] From Hannobeach, which, in the Phoenician language, signifies the +_barker_, or _warner_, Anubis. + +[36] This word signifies the dog. + +[37] From _Aeish_, man, and _caleph_, dog, comes _Aescaleph_, the +man-dog, or Aesculapius. + +[38] This image was the work of Thrasymedes, the son of Arignotus, a +native of Paros. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +INFERIOR DEITIES ATTENDING MANKIND PROM THEIR BIRTH TO THEIR DECEASE. + +It would be almost an endless task to enter into a detail of all the +inferior deities of the Greeks and Romans; our object being to refer to +such only as preside over the health of the human race, every part and +parcel of whom had their presiding genius.--During pregnancy, the +tutelar powers were the god Pelumnus,[39] and the goddesses +Intercedonia,[40] and Deverra.[41] The import of these words seems to +point out the necessity of warmth and cleanliness to ladies in this +condition. + +Besides the superior goddesses Jemo-Lucien, Diana Hythia, and Latona, +who all presided at the birth, there were the goddesses Egeria,[42] +Prosa,[43] and Manageneta,[44] who with the Dii Nixii,[45] had all the care +of women in labour. + +To children, Janus performed the office of door-keeper or midwife; and +in this quality was assisted by the goddess Opis or Ops;[46] Cuma rocked +the cradle, while Carmenta sung their destiny; Levana lifted them up +from the ground;[47] and Vegetanus took care of them when they cried; +Rumina[48] watched them while they suckled; Polina furnished them with +drink; and Edura with food or nourishment; Osslago knit their bones; and +Carna[49] strengthened their constitutions. Nudina[50] was the goddess of +children's purification; Stilinus or Statanus instructed them to walk, +and kept them from falling; Fabulina learnt them to prattle; the goddess +Paventia preserved them from frights;[51] and Camaena taught them to +sing. + +Nor was the infant, when grown to riper years, left without his +protectors; Juventas was the god of youth; Agenoria excited men to +action; and the goddesses Stimula and Strenua inspired courage and +vivacity; Horta[52] inspired the fame or love of glory; and Sentra gave +them the sentiments of probity and justice; Quies was the goddesses of +repose or ease,[53] and Indolena, or laziness, was deified by the name of +Murcia;[54] Vacua protected the idle; Adeona and Abeona, secured people +in going abroad and returning;[55] and Vibilia, if they wandered, was so +kind as to put them in the right way; Fessonia refreshed the weary and +fatigued; and Meditrina healed the sickly;[56] Vitula was the goddess of +mirth and frolic;[57] Volupia the goddess who bestowed pleasure;[58] +Orbona was addressed, that parents might not love their offspring; +Pellonia averted mischief and danger; and Numeria taught people to cast +and keep accounts; Angerona cured the anguish or sorrow of the mind;[59] +Haeres Martia secured heirs the estates they expected; and Stata or +Statua Mater, secured the forum or market place from fire; even the +thieves had a protectress in Laverna;[60] Averruncus prevented sudden +misfortunes; and Conius was always disposed to give good advice to such +as wanted it; Volumnus inspired men with a disposition to do well; and +Honorus raised them to preferment and honours. + +Nor was the marriage state without its peculiar defenders. Five deities +were esteemed so necessary, that no marriages were solemnized without +asking their favours; these were Jupiter-Perfectus, or the Adult, Juno, +Venus, Suadela,[61] and Diana. Jugatinus tied the nuptial knot; Domiducus +ushered the bride home; Domitius took care to keep her there, and +prevent her gadding abroad; Maturna preserved the conjugal union entire; +Virginensis[62] loosed the bridle zone or girdle; Viriplaca was a +propitious goddess, ready to reconcile the married couple in case of any +accidental difference. Matuta was the patroness of matrons, no maid +being suffered to enter her temple. The married was always held to be +the only honourable state for woman, during the times of pagan +antiquity. The goddess Vacuna,[63] is mentioned by Horace (Lib. 1. Epist. +X. 49.) as having her temple at Rome; the rustics celebrated her +festival in December, after the harvest was got in (Ovid. Fast. Lib. +XI). + +The ancients assigned the particular parts of the body to particular +deities; the head was sacred to Jupiter; the breast to Neptune; the +waist to Mars; the forehead to Genius; the eye-brows to Juno, the eyes +to Cupid; the ears to Memory; the right hand to Fides or Veritas; the +back to Pluto; the knees to Misericordia or mercy; the legs to Mercury; +the feet to Thetis; and the fingers to Minerva.[64] + +The goddess who presided over funerals was Libitina,[65] whose temple at +Rome, the undertakers furnished with all the necessaries for the +interment of the poor or rich; all dead bodies were carried through the +Porto Libitina; and the Rationes Libitinae mentioned by Suetonius, very +nearly answer to our bills of mortality. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[39] Either from _pilum_, a pestle; or from _pello_, to drive away; +because he procured a safe delivery. + +[40] She taught the art of cutting wood with a hatchet to make fires. + +[41] The inventress of brooms. + +[42] From casting out the birth. + +[43] Aulus Gellius. + +[44] Aelian. + +[45] From _erritor_, to struggle. See Ausonius, Idyll 12. + +[46] Some make her the same with Rhea or Vesta. + +[47] Among the Romans the midwife always laid the child on the ground, +and the father or somebody appointed, lifted it up; hence the expression +of _tollere liberos_, to educate children. + +[48] This goddess had a temple at Rome, and her offerings were milk. + +[49] On the Kalends of June, sacrifices were offered to Carna, of bacon +and bean flour cakes; whence they were called Fabariae. + +[50] Boys were named always on the ninth day after the birth, and girls +on the eighth. + +[51] From Pavorema vertendo. + +[52] She had a temple at Home which always stood open. + +[53] She had a temple without the walls. + +[54] Murcia had her temple on Mount Aventine. + +[55] From _abeo_, to go away; and _adeo_, to come. + +[56] The festival of this goddess was in September, when the Romans +drank new wine mixed with old, by way of physic. + +[57] From _vitulo_, to leap or advance. + +[58] From _voluptas_, pleasure. + +[59] In a great murrain which destroyed their cattle, the Romans invoked +this goddess, and she removed the plague. + +[60] The image was a head without a body. Horace mentions her (Lib. 1. +Epist. XVI. 60). She had a temple without the walls, which gave the name +to the Porta Lavernalis. + +[61] The goddess of eloquence, or persuasion, who had always a great +hand in the success of courtship. + +[62] She was also called Cinxia Juno. + +[63] She was an old Sabine deity. Some make her the same with Ceres; but +Varro imagines her to be the goddess of victory. + +[64] From this distribution arose, perhaps, the scheme of our modern +astrologers, who assign the different parts of the body to the different +constellations, or signs of Zodiac: as the head to Aries, the neck to +Taurus, the shoulders to Gemini, the heart to Cancer, the breast to Leo, +and so on. The pretended issues of astrology have been always +inseparable from stellar influence, and the zodiac has ever been the +fruitful source of its solemn delusions. + +[65] Some confound this goddess with Proserpine, others with Venus. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +JUDICIAL ASTROLOGY--ITS CHEMICAL APPLICATION TO THE PROLONGATION OF LIFE +AND HEALTH--ALCHYMICAL DELUSIONS. + +The study of astrology, so flattering to human curiosity got into favour +with mankind at a very early period,--especially with the weak and +ignorant. The first account, of it we meet with is in Chaldea; and at +Rome it was known by the name of the "Babylonish calculation," against +which Horace very wisely cautioned his readers.[66] It was doubtless the +first method of divination, and probably prepared the mind of man for +all the various methods since employed of searching into futurity; a +brief view therefore of the rise of this pretended science cannot he +improper in this place, especially as the history of these absurdities +is the best method of confuting them. Others have ascribed the invention +of this deception to the Arabs;--be this as it may, Judicial +Astrology[67] has been too much used by the priests and physicians of all +nations to encrease their own power and emolument. They maintain that +the heavens are one great book, in which God has written the history of +the world; and in which every man may read his own fortune and the +transactions of his time. In this department of astrology (judicial) we +meet with all the idle conceits about the horary reign of planets, the +_doctrine of horoscopes, the distribution of the houses, the calculation +of nativities, fortunes, lucky and unlucky_ hours, and other ominous +fatalities. They assert that it had its rise from the same hands as +astronomy itself;--that while the ancient Assyrians, whose serene +unclouded sky favoured their celestial, observations, were intent on +tracing the paths and periods of the heavenly bodies, they discovered a +constant settled relation or analogy between them and things below; +hence they were led to conclude these to be the fates or destinies +(Parcae) so much talked of, which preside at our birth, and dispose of +our future state. + +The Egyptians, who derived their astrological superstitions from the +Chaldeans, becoming ignorant of the astronomical hieroglyphics, by +degrees looked upon the names of the signs as expressing certain powers +with which they were invested, and as indications of their several +offices. The sun, on account of its splendour and enlivening influence, +was imagined to be the great mover of nature; the moon held the second +rank of powers, and each sign and constellation a certain share in the +government of the world. The ram, (Aries [symbol: Aries]) had a strong +influence over the young of the flocks and herds; the balance, (Libra +[symbol: Libra]) could inspire nothing but inclinations to good order +and justice; and the scorpion, (Scorpio [symbol: Scorpio]) to excite +only evil dispositions. In short, each sign produced the good or evil +intimated by its name. + +Thus, if a child happened to be born at the instant when the first star +of the ram rose above the horizon, (when, in order to give this nonsense +the air of a science, the star was supposed to have its greatest +influence,) he would be rich in cattle; and he who should enter the +world under the crab, would meet with nothing but disappointments, and +all his affairs go backwards and downwards. The people were to be happy +whose king entered the world under the sign Libra; but completely +wretched if he should light under the horrid sign scorpion. Persons born +under capricorn ([symbol: Capricorn]) especially if the sun at the same +time ascended the horizon, were sure to meet with success, and rise +upwards like the wild goat and the sun which then ascends for six months +together. The lion, (Leo [symbol: Leo]) was to produce heroes; and the +virgin (Virgo [symbol: Virgo]) with her ear of corn to inspire chastity, +and to unite virtue with abundance. Could anything he more extravagant +and ridiculous! + +The case was exactly the same with respect to the planets, whose +influence is only founded on the wild supposition of their being the +habitations of the pretended deities, whose names they bear, and the +fabulous characters the poets have given them. Thus, to Saturn, [symbol: +Saturn], they gave languid and even destructive influences, for no other +reason but because they had been pleased to make this planet the +residence of Saturn, who was painted with grey hairs and a scythe. To +Jupiter [symbol: Jupiter] they gave the power of bestowing crowns and +distributing long life, wealth, and grandeur, merely because it bears +the name of the father of life. Mars [symbol: Mars] was supposed to +inspire a strong inclination for war, because it was believed to be the +residence of the god of war. Venus [symbol: Venus] had the power of +rendering men voluptuous and fond of pleasure, because they had been +pleased to give it the name of one who by some was thought to be the +mother of pleasure. Mercury [symbol: Mercury], though almost always +invisible, would never have been thought to superintend the property of +states, and the affairs of wit and commerce, had not men, without the +least reason, given it the name of one who was supposed to be the +inventor of civil polity. + +According to Astrologers, the power of the ascending planet is greatly +increased by that of an ascending sign; then the benign influences are +all united, and fall together on the head of all the happy infants who +at that moment enter the world; yet can anything be more contrary to +experience, which shews us, that the characters and events produced by +persons born under the same aspect of the stars, are so far from being +alike, that they are directly opposite. + +"What completes the ridicule," says the Abbé La Pluche, to whom we are +obliged for these judicious observations, "is, that what astronomers +call the first degree of the ram, the balance, or of sagitarius, is no +longer the first sign, which gives fruitfulness to the flocks, inspires +men with a love of justice, or forms the hero. It has been found that +all the celestial signs have, by degrees, receded from the vernal +equinox, and drawn back to the East: notwithstanding this, the point of +the zodiac that cuts the equator is still called the first degree of the +ram, though the first star of the ram be thirty degrees beyond it, and +all the other signs in the same proportion. When, therefore, any one is +said to be born under the first degree of the ram, it was in reality one +of the degrees of pisces that then came above the horizon: and when +another is said to be born with a royal soul and heroic disposition, +because at his birth the planet Jupiter ascended the horizon, in +conjunction with the first star of sagitary, Jupiter was indeed at that +time in conjunction with a star thirty degrees eastward of sagitary, and +in good truth it was the pernicious scorpion that presided at the birth +of this happy, this incomparable child." And so it would, as Shakspeare +says, "if my mother's cat had kittened. This," says our sagacious bard, +"is the excellent foppery of the world, that when we are sick in +fortune, (after the surfeit of our own behaviour) we make guilt of our +disasters, the sun, the moon, and the stars; as if we were villains by +necessity; fools, by heavenly compulsion; knaves, thieves, and +treachers, (traitors) by spherical predominance; drunkards, liars, and +adulterers, by an enforced obedience of planetary influence; and all +that we are evil in by a divine thrusting on; an admirable evasion of a +whoremaster to lay his goatish tricks to the charge of a star! My father +compounded with my mother under the dragon's tail; and my nativity was +under _Ursa major_; so that it follows I am rough and treacherous.--Tut! +I should have been that I am, had the maidenliest star in the firmament +twinkled at my bastardizing." Thus it is evident, that astrology is +built upon no principles, that it is founded on fables, and on +influences void of reality. Yet absurd as it is, and even was, it +obtained credit; and the more it spread, the greater injury was done to +the cause of virtue. Instead of the exercise of prudence and wise +precautions, it substituted superstitious forms and childish practices; +it enervated the courage of the brave by apprehensions grounded on puns, +and encouraged the wicked, by making them lay to the charge of a planet +those evils which only proceeded from their own depravity. + +But not content with such absurdities, which destroyed the very idea of +liberty, they asserted that these stars, which had not the least +connection with mankind, governed all the parts of the human body, and +ridiculously affirmed that the ram presided over the head, the bull over +the gullet, the twins over the breast, the scorpion over the entrails, +the fishes over the feet, etc. The juggles of astrology have been +admirably ridiculed by Butler in the following lines: + + Some by the nose with fumes trepan 'em, + As Dunstan did the devil's grannam; + Others, with characters and words, + Catch 'em, as men in nets do birds; + And some with symbols, signs, and tricks, + Engrav'd in planetary nicks, + With their own influence will fetch 'em + Down from their orbs, arrest and catch 'em; + Make 'em depose and answer to + All questions, ere they let them go. + Bombastus kept a devil's bird + Shut in the pummel of his sword, + And taught him all the cunning pranks + Of past and future mountebanks. + _Hudibras_, part ii. canto 3. + +By means of the zodiac, astrologers pretended to account for the various +disorders of the body, which were supposed to be in a good or had +disposition, according to the different aspects[68] of these signs. To +mention only one instance, they pretended that great caution ought to be +used in taking medicine under Taurus, or the bull; because, as this +animal chews his cud, the person would not be able to keep it in his +stomach. + +Each hour of the day had also its presiding star. The number seven, as +being that of the planets, became of mighty consequence. The seven days +in the week,--a period of time handed down by tradition, happened to +correspond with the number of the planets: and therefore they gave the +name of a planet to each day; and from thence some days in the week were +considered more fortunate or unlucky than the rest; and hence seven +times seven, called the climacterical period of hours, days, or years, +were thought extremely dangerous, and to have a surprising effect on +private persons, the fortunes of princes, and the government of states. +Thus the mind of man became distressed by imaginary evils, and the +approach of these moments, in themselves as harmless as the rest of +their lives, has by the strength of the imagination, brought on the most +fatal effects. + +Nay, the influence of the planets were extended to the bowels of the +earth, where they were supposed to produce metals. From hence it appears +that when superstition and folly are once on foot, there is no setting +hounds to their progress. Gold, as a matter of course, must be the +production of the sun, and the conformity in point of colour, +brightness, and value, was a sensible proof of it. By the same mode of +reasoning, the moon produced all the silver, to which it was related by +colour; Mars, all the iron, which ought to be the favourite metal of the +god of war. Venus presided over copper, which she might be well supposed +to produce, since it was found in abundance in the isle of Cyprus, the +supposed favourite residence of this goddess. In the same strain, the +other planets presided over the other metals. The languid Saturn +domineered over the lead mines, and Mercury, on account of his activity, +had the superintendency of quicksilver; while it was the province of +Jupiter to preside over tin, as this was the only metal left him, it +would appear, a kind of "Hobson's choice." + +This will explain the manner in which the metals obtained the names of +the planets; and from this opinion, that each planet engendered its own +peculiar metal, they at length formed an idea that, as one planet was +more powerful than another, the metal produced by the weakest was +converted into another by the predominating influence of a stronger orb. + +Lead, though really a metal, and as perfect in its kind as any of the +rest, was considered only half a metal, which, in consequence of the +languid influences of old Saturn, was left imperfect; and, therefore, +under the auspices of Jupiter, it was converted into tin; under that of +Venus, into copper: and at last into gold, under some particular aspects +of the sun. From hence, at length, arose the extravagant opinion of the +alchymists, who, with amazing sagacity, endeavoured to find out means +for hastening these changes or transmutations, which, as they conceived, +the planets performed too slowly. The world, however, became at length +convinced that the art of the alchymist was as ineffectual as the +influences of the planets, which, in a long succession of ages, had +never been known to change a mine of lead to that of tin or any other +metal.[69] + +The first author we are acquainted with who talks of making gold by the +transmutation of one metal, by means of an alcahest[70] into another, is +Zozimus the Pomopolite, who lived about the commencement of the fifth +century, and who has a treatise express upon it, called, "The divine art +of making gold and silver," in manuscript, and is, as formerly, in the +library of the King of France. + +As regards the universal medicine, said to depend on alchemical +research, we discover no earlier or plainer traces than in this author, +and in Aeneas Gazeus, another Greek writer, towards the close of the +same century;[71] nor among the physicians and materialists, from Moses +to Geber the Arab,[72] who is supposed to have lived in the seventh +century. In that author's work, entitled the "Philosopher's stone," +mention is made of medicine that cures all leprous diseases. This +passage, some authors suppose, to have given the first hint of the +matter, though Geber himself, perhaps, meant no such thing; for, by +attending to the Arabic style and diction of this author, which abounds +in allegory, it is highly probable that by man he means gold, and by +leprous, or other diseases, the other metals, which, with relation to +gold, are all impure. + +The origin and antiquity of alchymy have been much controverted. If any +credit may be placed on legend and tradition, it must be as old as the +flood--nay, Adam himself is represented to have been an alchymist. A +great part, not only of the heathen mythology, but of the Jewish +Scriptures, are supposed to refer to it. Thus, Suidas[73] will have the +fable of the philosopher's stone to be alluded to in the fable of the +Argonauts; and others find it in the book of Moses, as well as in other +remote places. But, if the era of the art be examined by the test of +history, it will lose much of its fancied antiquity. The manner in which +Suidas accounts for the total silence of alchymy among the old writers +is, that Dioclesian procured all the books of the ancient Egyptians to +be burnt; and that it was in these the great mysteries of chemistry were +contained.[74] Kercher asserts, that the theory of the philosopher's +stone is delivered at large in the table of Hermes, and the ancient +Egyptians were not ignorant of the art, but declined to prosecute it. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[66] + +------ nec Babylonios Tentaris numeros.--Lib, 1. ad XI. + +That is, consult not the tables of planetary calculations used by +astrologers of Babylonish origin. + +[67] This conjectural science is divided into natural and judicial. The +first is confined to the study of exploring natural effects, as change +of weather, winds and storms--hurricanes, thunder, floods, earthquakes, +and the like. In this sense it is admitted to be a part of natural +philosophy. It was under this view that Mr. Good, Mr. Boyle, and Dr. +Mead pleaded for its use. The first endeavours to account for the +diversity of seasons from the situations, habitudes, and motions of the +planets; and to explain an infinity of phenomena by the contemplation of +the stars. The honourable Mr. Boyle admitted, that all physical bodies +are influenced by the heavenly bodies; and the doctor's opinion, in his +treatise concerning the power of the sun and moon, etc. is in favour of +the doctrine. But these predictions and influence are ridiculed, and +entirely exploded by the most esteemed modern philosophers, of which the +reader may have a learned specimen in Rohault's Tract. Physic. pt. II. c +27. + +[68] By aspect is to be understood an angle formed by the rays of two +planets meeting on the earth, able to execute some natural power or +influence. + +[69] Those who wish to read a curious monument of the follies of the +alchymists, may consult the diary of Elias Ashmole, who is rather the +historian of this vain science, than an adept. It may amuse literary +leisure to turn over his quarto volume, in which he has collected the +works of several English alchymists, to which he has subjoined his +commentary. It affords curious specimens of Rosicrucian mysteries; and +he relates stories, which vie for the miraculous, with the wildest +fancies of Arabian invention. + +[70] Alcahest, in chemistry, (an obsolete term,) means a most pure and +universal menstruum or dissolvent, with which some chemists have +pretended to resolve all bodies into their first elements, and perform +other extraordinary and unaccountable operations. + +[71] In this writer we find the following passage: "Such as are skilled +in the ways of nature, can take; silver and tin, and changing their +nature, can turn them into gold." He also tells us that he was "wont to +call himself a _gold-melter_ and a _chemist_." + +[72] The principal Authors on alchymy are Geber, the Arab, Friar Bacon, +Sully, John and Isaac Hallendus, Basil Valentine, Paracelsus, Van +Zuchter, and Sendirogius. + +[73] Corringius calls this statement in question, and asks how Suidas, +who lived but five hundred yours between them, should know what happened +eight hundred years before him? To which Borrichius the Dane, answers, +that he had learnt it of Eudemus, Helladius, Zozimus, Pamphilius, and +others, as Suidas himself relates. + +[74] It does not appear that the Egyptians transmuted gold; they had +ways of separating it from all kinds of bodies, from the very mud of the +Nile, and stones of all kinds: but, adds Kercher, these secrets were +never written down, or made public, but confined to the royal family, +and handed down traditionally from father to son. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +ALCHYMICAL AND ASTROLOGICAL CHIMERA. + +Having so far explained the fragile basis on which human knowledge may +be said to have depended, during the obscurity and barbarity of the +middle ages, when the progress of true knowledge was obstructed by the +most absurd fancies, and puerile conceits: when conjectures, caprices, +and dreams supplied the place of the most useful sciences, and of the +most important truths, the subsequent illustrative reflections may serve +as a guide to direct the attention of the reader to other delusions, +which arose out of the general chaos. + +Chemistry, a science so essentially requisite to explain the phenomena +of known and unknown substances, was studied chiefly by jugglers and +fanatics;--their systems, replete with metaphysical nonsense, and +composed of the most crude and heterogeneous materials, served rather to +nourish superstition than to establish facts, and illustrate useful +truths. Universal remedies, in various forms, met with strenuous +advocates and deluded consumers. The path of accurate observation and +experiment was forsaken: instead of penetrating into the mysterious +recesses of nature, they bewildered themselves in the labyrinth of +fanciful speculation; they overstepped the bounds of good sense, +modesty, and truth; and the blind led the blind. The prolongation of +life too was no longer sought for in a manner agreeable to the dictates +of nature; even this interesting branch of human pursuits was rendered +subservient to chemistry, or rather to the confused system of alchymy. +Original matter was considered as the elementary cause of all beings, by +which they expected literally to work miracles, to transmute the base +into noble metals, to metamorphose man in his animal state by chemical +processes, to render him more durable, and to secure him against early +decline and dissolution. Millions of vessels, retorts, and phials, were +either exposed to the action of the most violent artificial heat, or to +the natural warmth of the sun; or else they were buried in some dunghill +or other fetid mass, for the purpose of attracting this _original +matter_, or obtaining it from putrescible substances. + +As the metal called gold always bore the highest value, these crude +philosophers concluded, from a ridiculous analogy, that its value with +respect to the preservation of health and the cure of diseases, must +likewise surpass that of all other remedies. The nugatory art of +dissolving it, so as to render it potable, and to prevent it from again +being converted into metal, employed a multitude of busy idiots, not +only in concealed corners, but in the splendid laboratories of the +great. Sovereigns, magistrates, counsellors, and impostors, struck with +the common frenzy, entered into friendship and alliance, formed private +fraternities, and sometimes proceeded to such a pitch of extravagance, +as to involve themselves and their posterity in ruinous debts. The real +object of many was, doubtless, to gratify their avarice and desire of +aggrandisement: although this sinister motive was concealed under the +specious pretext of searching for a remedy that should serve as a +tincture of life, both for the healthy and diseased, yet some among +these whimsical mortals were actuated by more honourable motives, +zealous only for the interest of truth, and the well-being of their +fellow creatures. + +The common people, in some countries, particularly Italy, Germany, and +France often denied themselves the common necessaries of life, to save +as much as would purchase a few drops of the tincture of gold, which was +offered for sale by some superstitious or fraudulent chemist: and so +thoroughly persuaded were they of the efficacy of this remedy, that it +afforded them in every instance the most confident and only hope of +recovery. These beneficial effects were positively promised, but were +looked for in vain. All subduing death would not submit to be bribed +with gold, and disease refused to hold any intercourse with that +powerful deity, who presides over the industry and commerce of all +nations. + +As, however, these diversified and almost numberless experiments were +frequently productive of useful inventions in arts and manufactures; +and, as many chemical remedies of real value were thereby accidentally +discovered, great and almost general attention to those bold projectors +was constantly kept alive and excited. Indeed, we are indebted to their +curious observations, or rather perhaps to chance, for several valuable +medicines, the excellence of which cannot be disputed, but which, +nevertheless, require more precaution in their use and application, and +more perspicuity and diligence in investigating their nature and +properties than the original preparers of such articles were able or +willing to afford. All their endeavours to prolong life, by artificial +means, could not be attended with beneficial effects; and the +application of the remedies thus contrived, must necessarily, in many +cases, have proved detrimental to the health of the patient. + +In proof of this assertion, it will be sufficient to give a slight +sketch of the different views and opinions of the gold-makers, +Rosicrucians, manufacturers of astralian salts, drops of life, and +tinctures of gold, hunters after the philosopher's stone, and other +equally absurd chimera. + +Some of these extravagant enthusiasts fancied that life resembled a +flame, from which the body derived warmth, spirit, and animation. They +endeavoured to cherish and increase the flame, and supplied the body +with materials to feed it, as we pour oil into a burning lamp. Others +imagined they had discovered something invisible and incorporeal in the +air, that important medium which supports the life of man. They +pretended to catch, refine, reduce, and materialize this indefinable +something, so that it might be swallowed in the form of powders, and +drops; that, by its penetrating powers, it might insinuate itself into +the whole animal frame, invigorate, and consequently qualify it for a +longer duration. + +Others again were foolish enough to indulge a notion that they could +divest themselves of the properties of matter during this life; that in +this manner they might be defended against the gradual approaches of +dissolution, to which every animal body is subject: and that thus +fortified, without quitting their terrestrial tabernacle, they could +associate at pleasure with the inhabitants of the spiritual world. The +sacred volume itself was interpreted and commented upon by alchymists, +with a view to render it subservient to their intended designs. +Indisputable historical facts, recorded in this invaluable book, were +treated by them as hieroglyphical symbols of chemical processes: and the +fundamental truths of the christian religion were applied, in a wanton +and blasphemous manner, to the purposes of making gold, and distilling +the elixir of life. + +The world of spirits was also invaded, and summoned, as it were, to +contribute to the prolongation of human life. Spirits were supposed to +have the dominion of air, fire, earth, and water; they were divided into +distinct classes, and particular services ascribed to each. The +malevolent spirits were opposed and counteracted by various means of +prevention: the good and tutelary were obliged to submit to n sort of +gentle, involuntary servitude. From invisible beings were expected and +demanded visible means of assistance--riches, health, friends, and long +life. Thus the poor spirits were profanely maltreated, nay, sometimes +severely punished, and even miserably flogged in effigy, when they +betrayed symptoms of disaffection, or want of implicit fealty. + +As men had thus, in their weakness and folly, forsaken the bounds of +this terrestrial sphere, it will easily be believed, that, with the help +of an exuberant imagination, they would make a transition to the higher +regions--to the celestial bodies and the stars to which, indeed, they +ascribed no less a power than that of deciding the destinies of men, and +which, consequently, must have had a considerable share in shortening or +prolonging the duration of human life--every nation or kingdom was +subjected to the dominion of its particular planet the time of whose +government was determined; and a number of ascendant powers were +fictitiously contrived, with a view to reduce, under its influence, +every thing which was produced and born under its administration. The +professors of astrology appeared as the confidents of these invisible +rulers, and the interpreters of their will; they were well versed in the +art of giving a respectable appearance to this usurped dignity. Provided +they could but ascertain the hour and minute of a person's birth, they +confidently took upon themselves to predict his mental capacities, +future vicissitudes of life, and the diseases he would be visited with, +together with the circumstances, the day and hour of his death.[75] + +Not only the common people, but persons of the highest rank and +stations, nay, even men the most distinguished for their rank and +abilities, did homage to those "gods of their idolatry," and lived in +continual dread of their occult powers. With anxious countenance and +attentive ears, they listened to the cantrip effusions of these +pretended oracles, which prognosticated the bright or gloomy days of +futurity. Even physicians were solicitous to qualify themselves for +appointments no less lucrative than respectable:--they forgot, over the +dazzling hoards of Mammon, that they are peculiarly and professedly the +pupils of nature.--The curious student in the universities found +everywhere public lecturers, who undertook to instruct him in the +profound arts of divination, chiromancy, and the _cabala_. + +Among other instances, the following anecdote is related of the noted +Thurneisen, who, in the seventeenth century, was invested, at Berlin, +with the respectable offices of printer to the court, bookseller, +almanack-maker, astrologer, chemist, and first physician. Messengers +daily arrived from the most respectable houses in Germany, Poland, +Hungary, Denmark, and even from England, for the purpose of consulting +him respecting the future fortunes[76] of their new-born infants, +acquainting him with the hour of the nativity, and soliciting his advice +and directions as to their management. Many volumes of this singular +correspondence are still preserved in the royal library at Berlin. The +business of this fortunate adept increased so rapidly, that he found it +necessary to employ a number of subaltern assistants, who, together with +their master, realized considerable fortunes. He died in high reputation +and favour with his superstitious contemporaries. + +The famous Melancthon was a believer in judicial astrology, and an +interpreter of dreams. Richelieu and Mazarin were so superstitious as to +employ and pension Morin, another pretender to astrology, who cast the +nativities of these two able politicians. Nor was Tacitus himself, who +generally appears superior to superstition, untainted with this folly, +as may be seen from his twenty-second chapter of the sixth book of his +Annals. + +In the time of the civil wars, astrology was in high repute. The +royalists and the rebels had their astrologers as well as their +soldiers; and the predictions of the former had a great influence over +the latter. When Charles the first was imprisoned, Lilly, the famous +astrologer, was consulted for the hour that should favour his escape; +and in Burnet's History of his own Times, there is a story which +strongly proves how much Charles II was bigotted to judicial astrology, +a man, though a king, whose mind was by no means unenlightened. The most +respectable characters of the age, Sir William Dugdale, Elias +Ashmole,[77] Dr. Grew, and others, were members of the astrological club. +Congreve's character of Foresight, in Love for Love, was then no +uncommon person, though the humour, now, is scarcely intelligible. +Dryden cast the nativities of his sons; and what is remarkable, his +prediction relating to his son Charles, was accomplished. The incident +being of so late a date, one might hope that it would have been cleared +up; but, if it be a fact, it must be allowed that it forms a rational +exultation for its irrational adepts. Astrologers were frequently, as +may easily be understood, put to their wit's end when their predictions +did not come to pass. Great winds were foretold, by one of the craft, +about the year 1586. No unusual storms, however, happened. Bodin, to +save the reputation of the art, applied it as a figure to some +revolutions in the state, of which there were instances enough at that +time. + +At the commencement of the 18th century, the _Illuminati_, a sect of +astrologers, had excited considerable sensation on the continent. +Blending philosophy with enthusiasm, and uniting to a knowledge of every +chemical process a profound acquaintance with astronomy, their influence +over the superstitious feelings of the people was prodigious; and in +many instances the infatuation was attended with fatal consequences. We +shall relate the following, as nearer home than many now before us. + + +THE HOROSCOPE, A TALE OF THE STARS. + +On the summit of St. Vincent's rocks, in the neighbourhood of Clifton, +looking on the Avon, as it rolls its lazy courses towards the Bristol +Channel, stands an edifice, known by the name of "Cooke's Folly." It +consists of a single round tower, and appears at a distance rather as +the remnant of some extensive building, than a complete and perfect +edifice, as it now exists. It was built more than two centuries ago, by +a man named Maurice Cooke; not, indeed, as a strong hold from the arms +of a mortal enemy, but as a refuge from the evils of destiny. He was the +proprietor of extensive estates in the neighbourhood; and while his lady +was pregnant with her first child, as she was one evening walking in +their domains, she encountered a strange looking gipsey, who, pestering +her for alms, received but a small sum. The man turned over the coin in +his hand, and implored a larger gift. "That," said the lady, "will buy +you food for the present." + +"Lady," said the gipsey, "it is not food for the wretched body that I +require; the herbs of the field, and the waters of the ditch, are good +enough for that. I asked your alms for higher purposes. Do not distrust +me, if my bearing be prouder than my garments; do not doubt the strength +of my sunken eye, when I tell you that I can read the skies as they +relate to the fate of men. Not more familiar is his hornbook to the +scholar, than are the heavens to my knowledge." + +"What, thou art an astrologer?"--"Aye, lady! my fathers were so before +me, even in the times when our people had a home amidst the pyramids of +the mighty--in the times when you are told the mightier prophets of the +Israelites put the soothsayers of Egypt to confusion; idle tales! but if +true, all reckless now. Judah's scattered sons are now desolate as +ourselves; but they bend and bow to the laws and ways of other land--we +remain in the stern stedfastness of our own." + +"If then," returned the lady, "I give thee more money, how will it be +applied?" + +"That is not a courteous question, but I will answer it. The most +cunning craftsman cannot work without his tools, and some of mine are +broken, which I seek to repair: another crown will be enough." + +The lady put the required sum into his hand, and at the same time +intimated a desire to have a specimen of his art. + +"Oh! to what purpose should that be? why, why seek to know the course +of futurity? destiny runs on in a sweeping and resistless tide. Enquire +not what rocks await your bark: the knowledge cannot avail you, for +caution is useless against stern necessity."--"Truly, you are not likely +to get rich by your trade, if you thus deter customers."--"It is not for +wealth I labour: I am alone on the earth, and have none to love. I will +not mix with the world lest I should learn to hate. This present is +nothing to me. It is in communion with the spirits who have lived in the +times that are past, and with the stars--those historians of the times +to come--that I feel aught of joy. Fools sometimes demand the exertions +of my powers, and sometimes I gratify their childish curiosity." +--"Notwithstanding I lie under the imputation of folly, I +will beg that you predict unto me the fate of the child which I shall +bear."--"Well, you have obliged me, and I will comply. Note the precious +moment at which it enters the world, and soon after you shall see me +again." + +Within a week the birth of an heir awoke the clamorous joy of the +vassals, and summoned the strange gipsey to ascertain the necessary +points. These learned, he returned home; and the next day presented Sir +Maurice with a scroll, containing the following lines: + + "Twenty times shall Avon's tide + In chains of glistening ice be tied-- + Twenty times the woods of Leigh + Shall wave their brunches merril + In spring burst forth in mantle gay, + And dance in summer's scorching ray: + Twenty times shall autumn's frown, + Wither all their green to brown-- + And still the child of yesterday + Shall laugh the happy hour away. + That period past, another sun + Shall not his annual journey run, + Before a secret silent foe, + Shall strike that boy a deadly blow. + Such, and sure his fate shall be: + Seek not to change his destiny." + +The knight read it; and in that age, when astrology was considered a +science as unerring as holy prophecies, it would have been little less +than infidelity to have doubted the truth of the prediction. Sir +Maurice, however, was wise enough to withhold the paper from his lady; +and in answer to her inquiries, continually asserted that the gipsey was +an impostor, and that the object of his assuming the character was +merely to increase her alms. + +The fated child grew in health and beauty; and as we are the most +usually the more strongly attached to pleasures in proportion to the +brevity of continuance, so did the melancholy fate of his son more +firmly fix him in the heart of Sir Maurice. Often did the wondering lady +observe the countenance of her husband with surprise, as watching the +endearing sportiveness of the boy, his countenance, at first brightened +by the smile of paternal love, gradually darkened to deepest grief, till +unable to suppress his tears, he would cover the child with caresses, +and rush from the room. To all inquiries, Sir Maurice was silent, or +returned evasive answers. + +We shall pass over the infancy of young Walter, and resume the narrative +at the period in which he entered into his twentieth year. His mother +was now dead, and had left two other children, both girls, who, however, +shared little of their father's love, which was almost exclusively fixed +on Walter, and appeared to encrease in strength as the fatal time grew +near. + +It is not to be supposed that he took no precaution against the +predicted event. Sometimes hope suggested that a mistake might have been +made in the horoscope, or that the astrologer might have overlooked some +sign which made the circumstance conditional; and in unison with the +latter idea he determined to erect a strong building, where, during the +year in which his doom was to be consumated, Walter might remain in +solitude. He accordingly gave directions for raising a single tower, +peculiarly formed to prevent ingress, except by permission of its +inhabitants. The purpose of this strange building, however, he kept +secret; and his neighbours, after numerous vain conjectures, gave it the +name of "Cooke's Folly." + +Walter, himself, was kept entirely ignorant of the subject, and all his +inquiries were answered with tears. At length the tower was completed, +and furnished with all things necessary for comfort and convenience; and +on the eve of Walter's completing his twentieth year, Sir Maurice shewed +him the gipsey's scroll, and begged him to make use of the retreat +prepared for him till the year expired. Walter at first treated the +matter lightly, laughed at the prophecy, and declared he would not lose +a year's liberty if all the astrologers in the world were to croak their +ridiculous prophecies against him. Seeing, however, his father so +earnestly bent on the matter, his resolution began to give way, and at +length he consented to the arrangement. At six the following morning, +therefore, Walter entered the tower, which he fastened within as +strongly as iron burs would admit, and which was secured outside in a +manner equally firm. He took possession of his voluntary prison with +melancholy feelings, rather occasioned by the loss of present pleasure, +than the fear of future pain. He sighed as he looked upon the wide +domain before him, and thought how sad would it be to hear the joyous +horn summoning his companions to the chase, and find himself prevented +from attending it--to hear the winter wind howling round his tower, and +rushing between the rocks beneath him, and miss the cheerful song and +merry jest, which were wont to make even the blast a pleasant sound. +Certainly his time passed as pleasantly as circumstances permitted. He +drew up in a basket, at his meal hours, every luxury which the season +produced. His father and sisters daily conversed with him from below, +for a considerable time; and the morris-dancers often raised his +laughter by their grotesque movements. + +Weeks and months thus passed, and Walter still was well and cheerful. +His own and his sisters' hopes grew more lively, but the anxiety of Sir +Maurice increased. The day drew near which was to restore his son to his +arms in confident security, or to fulfil the prediction which left him +without an heir to his name and honours. + +On the preceding afternoon Walter continually endeavoured to cheer his +parent, by speaking of what he would do on the morrow; desired his +sisters to send round to all their friends, that he might stretch his +limbs once more in the merry dance; and continued to talk of the future +with much confidence, that even Sir Maurice caught a spark of hope from +the fiery spirits of the youth. + +As the night drew on, and his sisters were about to leave him, promising +to wake him at six by a song, in answer to their usual inquiry if he +wanted anything more that night, "Nothing," said he, "and yet the night +feels chilly, and I have little fuel left--send me one more faggot." +This was sent him, and as he drew it up, "This," said he, "is the last +time I shall have to dip for my wants, like an old woman for water: +thank God! for it is wearisome work to the arm." + +Sir Maurice still lingered under the window in conversation with his +son, who at length complained of being cold and drowsy. "Mark," said he, +as he closed the window, "mark father, Mars, the star of my fate, looks +smilingly to-night, all will be well." Sir Maurice looked up--a dark +cloud spot suddenly crossed the planet, and he shuddered at the omen. +The anxious father could not leave the spot. Sleep he knew it was vain +to court, and he therefore determined to remain where he was. The +reflexions that occupied his mind continually varied: at one time he +painted to himself the proud career of his high spirited boy, known and +admired among the mighty of his time; a moment after he saw the +prediction verified, and the child of his love lying in the tomb. Who +can conceive his feelings as hour dragged after hour, while he walked to +and fro, watching the blaze of the fire in the tower, as it brightened +and sunk again--now pacing the court with hasty steps, and now praying +fervently for the preservation of his son? The hour came. The cathedral +bell struck heavy on the father's heart, which was not to be lightened +by the cheerful voices of his daughters, who came running full of hope +to the foot of the tower. They looked up, but Walter was not +there;--they called his name, he answered not. "Nay," said the youngest, +"this is only a jest; he thinks to frighten us, but I know he is safe." +A servant had brought a ladder, which he ascended, and he looked in at +the window. Sir Maurice stood immoveable and silent.--He looked up, and +the man answered the anxious expression of his eyes. "He is asleep," +said he. "He is dead!" murmured the father. + +The servant broke a pane of glass in the window, and opening the +casement, entered the room. The father, changing his gloomy stedfastness +for frenzied anxiety, rushed up the ladder. The servant had thrown aside +the curtains and the clothes, and displayed to the eyes of Sir Maurice, +his son lying dead, a serpent twined round his arm, and his throat +covered with blood. The reptile had crept up the faggot last sent him, +and fulfilled the _prophecy_. + +To this happy effort of the imagination in favour of prying into +futurity, may be added, with the same intention. + + +THE FATED PARRICIDE; AN ORIENTAL TALE OF THE STARS. + +Ibrahim was universally celebrated for his riches and magnificence. His +armies were formidable, his victories splendid, and his treasury +inexhaustible. He enjoyed, moreover, what was ten thousand times more +solid and more valuable than riches--the love and veneration of his +subjects; and he had a beautiful young wife, in whose endearing +tenderness alone he could find happiness--if happiness could be found on +earth. All these advantages entitled Ibrahim to the appellation of the +Solomon of his age; and yet Ibrahim was not happy. A son was wanting to +crown his felicity. In vain did a heart formed for all the charities of +the wedded state, endeavour to supply the refusal of nature, by the +adoption of a son; in vain did gratitude endeavour to deceive his heart, +by caresses which any other would have thought to be the natural +effusions of filial sensibility, of filial piety and affection; that +heart incessantly perceived a solitude within itself. Even the +consolatory visions of hope began to grow less frequent, when heaven at +last heard his prayers, Alas! in the very instant that Fortune gratifies +our fondest wishes, she often betrays us; and her smiles are a thousand +times more fatal than her frowns. The birth of the prince was +celebrated throughout the empire by the customary public demonstrations +of joy. The felicity of Ibrahim was complete. He was perpetually +revolving in his mind the sentiments and hopes which the nation would +form of the royal infant. Scarce was he born, when paternal solicitude +embraced, as it were, his whole life. Impatient to know his destiny, +that solicitude plunged into futurity, determined, if possible, to wrest +from time, the secrets of which he was the hoary-headed guardian. + +In Ibrahim's dominions were some sages particularly honoured with the +confidence of heaven. He commanded them to consult the stars, and to +report their answer. "Tremble," said the sages; "thou unfortunate +father, tremble! Never before have the skies presented such inauspicious +omens. Let him fly; let this son, too dear to you, fly; let him avoid, +if possible, the meeting with any savage beasts. His seventh year is the +fatal one; and if he should happen then, to escape the misfortune that +hangs over him, ah! do not wish him to live. His father, his very +father, will not be able to escape from the hand of a parricide." + +This answer threw the sultan into the deepest consternation. He did not +sink, however, into absolute despondency; his courage soon revived. He +determined to take all the precautions which paternal tenderness could +suggest, to defeat the prediction of the astrologers. He, therefore, +caused a kind of subterranean palace to be made on the summit of a lofty +mountain. The labour and expense of the excavation was prodigious. +Extensive walks were formed, with a variety of apartments, in which +every thing was provided that could contribute to the conveniences, and +even the luxuries of life. In this magnificent cavern, Ibrahim, as it +were, inhumed his son, together with his governess, of whose care, and +fidelity he had no doubt. Provisions were constantly carried thither at +stated periods. The king forgot not a single day to visit the mountain +that contained his beloved treasure, and to be satisfied of his safety +with his own eyes. With what delight did he behold the growing beauties +of his son! With what pleasure and rapture did he listen to his +sprightly saillies of wit, his smart repartees, and those pretty +_nothings_ which a father, in particular, is fond to recollect and to +repeat; at which the most rigid gravity may smile, and which are worth +all the understanding of riper years. He was perpetually counting the +hours and minutes that he had to spend with his son; and he incessantly +reproached himself, for not seeing him more frequently. + +Shah Abbas, for such was his name, at length reached his seventh year, +that fatal year, which Ibrahim would fain have delayed, even at the +expense of his crown. He would never leave his son a minute. But, alas! +is it possible to escape our destiny? Summoned one day to his palace by +affairs of the most pressing exigency, he left the mountain with extreme +reluctance. Never had Shah Abbas appeared wore amiable in his father's +eyes, never had Ibrahim appeared more affectionate to his son! Each was +tormented by an uneasy sensation, an unaccountable presentiment that +they were to meet there no more! + +Some robbers were hunting wild beasts: the ardour of the pursuit brought +them to this mountain. A lion that fled from them, perceived the +subterraneous passage, and took refuge in it. The robbers, who durst not +follow him, waited, however, for the sequel of this adventure. On a +sudden, they heard a violent scream, and presently all was silent. This +silence suggested to them, that the cavern now contained, not a living +creature, but the lion. They threw down a quantity of stones, which soon +put an end to the existence of the formidable animal. They then +descended into the cavern, securing themselves from all further danger +from the lion by cutting off his head. Wandering through every part of +this subterraneous palace, they were astonished at the prodigious riches +which they beheld. They perceived a slaughtered woman: this was the +prince's governess. By her side lay a child covered with blood, who +shewed, however, some signs of life. They examined his wounds: they +found not one of them dangerous. The captain of these banditti, after +stripping the cavern of its valuable contents, dressed the young +prince's wounds himself, and effected a cure. The growing qualities of +Shah Abbas endeared him to the chief, who adopted him as his son, and +distinguished him as such by all the tenderness of a paternal heart. + +Some years had elapsed since Ibrahim had first deplored the loss of a +son, who, having been constantly ignorant of the name and titles of his +father, had been unable to explain his origin to the robbers, was soon +to become their chief. Such were the unaccountable caprices of fortune, +which led to the completion of the prophecy, that had destined him to +become one day a parricide. Ibrahim was wont to divert his grief by the +pleasures of the chase; and this exercise soon became almost his only +occupation. One evening that he had strayed, with a very slender escort, +into the defiles of a very solitary mountain, a troop of robbers rushed +upon him. The combat for sometime was furious. An arrow pierced the +king; it excited the spirit of vengeance in his attendants, and they +fought, determined to conquer or die. They were soon victorious. The +murderer was taken, and conducted to the metropolis, that he might +undergo the punishment due to his crime. + +Ibrahim, on the bed of death, summoned the astrologers to attend him, +and thus addressed them: "I was to have perished, you told me, by the +hand of a son; but it is the hand of a robber that has inflicted the +blow."--"Sire," answered the sages, "forbear to seek an explanation. The +robber"... They proceed no further. The young robber appears, and +relates his history. Ibrahim, while he bowed in submission to God, and +adored His inscrutable decrees, blessed Him also for having restored his +son; and the tears which he saw flow from the eyes of Shah Abbas, were a +consolation in his dying moments. + + +APPLICATION OF ASTROLOGY TO THE PROLONGATION OF LIFE, &C. + +Astrology was also made subservient to the means of prolonging human +life; but how an art which determines the fate of mortals, and +ascertains the impassable limits of the grave, could consistently be +made subservient to such a purpose, we are rather at a loss to conceive, +unless accounted for as follows. The teachers of divination maintained, +that not only men, but all natural bodies, plants, animals, nay even +whole countries, including every place and family, were under the +government of some particular planet. As soon as the masters of the +occult science had discovered by their tables, under what constellation +the misfortune or distemper of any person originated, nothing farther +was required, than that he should remove to a dwelling ruled by an +opposite planet, and confine himself exclusively to such articles of +food and drink as were under the influence of a different star. In this +artificial manner they contrived to form a system, or peculiar +classification of planets, namely, Lunar, Solar, Mercurial and the +like--and hence arose a confused map of dictated rules, which, when +considered with reference to the purposes of health, cleanliness, +exercise etc. form remarkable contrasts to those of the Greeks. But this +preventive and repulsive method was not merely confined to persons who +suffered under some bodily disorder: even individuals, who enjoyed a +good state of health, if an unlucky constellation happened to forebode +a severe disease, or any other misfortune, were directed to choose a +place of residence influenced by a more friendly star--or to adopt such +aliment only, as being under the auspices of a propitious star, might +counteract the malignant influence of its antagonist. + +It was also pretty generally believed and maintained, that a sort of +intimate relation or sympathy subsisted between metals and plants: hence +the names of the latter were given to the former, in order to denote +this supposed connexion and affinity. The corresponding metals were +melted into a common mass, under a certain planet, and were formed into +small medals, or coins, with the firm persuasion, that he who carried +such a piece about his person, might confidently expect the whole favour +and protection of the planet, thus represented.[78] Thus we perceive how +easy the transition is from one degree of folly to another; and this may +help to account for the shocking delusions practised in the +manufacturing and wearing of metallic amulets of a peculiar mould, to +which were attributed, by a sort of magic influence, the power and +protection of the respective planet: these charms were thought to +possess virtue sufficient to overrule the bad effects presaged by an +unlucky hour of birth, to promote to places of honour and profit, and to +be of potent efficacy in matters of commerce and matrimony. The German +soldiers, in the dark and superstitious ages, believed that if the +figure of Mars, cast and engraved under the sign of the Scorpion, were +worn about the neck, it would render them invulnerable, and insure +success to their military enterprises--hence the reason why amulets were +then found upon every soldier, either killed in battle or taken +prisoner. + +We shall so far conclude these observations on the chimera of astrology +and medicine with the following remarks in the words of Chamber against +Knight's work,[79] which defends this fanciful science, if science it may +be called. "It demonstrates nothing while it defends every thing. It +confutes, according to Knight's own ideas: it alleges a few scattered +facts in favour of astrological productions, which may be picked up in +that immensity of fabling which disgraces history. He strenuously +denies, or ridicules, what the greatest writers have said of this +fanciful art, while he lays great stress on some passages from obscure +authors, or what is worse, from authors of no authority."--The most +pleasant part, however, is at the close where he defends the art from +the objections of Mr. Chamber by recrimination. Chamber had enriched +himself by medical practice, and when he charges the astrologers by +merely aiming to gain a few beggarly pence, Sir Christopher catches +fire, and shews by his quotations, that if we are to despise an art by +its professors attempting to subsist, or for the objections which may be +raised against its vital principles, we ought by this argument most +heartily to despise the medical science, and medical men; he gives all +here he can collect against physic and physicians, and from the +confessions of Galen and Hippocrates, Avicenna and Agrippa, medicine is +made to appear a vainer science than even astrology itself. + +Lilly's opinions, and his pretended science, were such favourites of +the age, that the learned Gataker[80] wrote professedly against this +popular delusion. At the head of his star-expounding friends, Lilly not +only formally replied to, but persecuted Gataker annually in his +predictions, and even struck at his ghost, when beyond the grave. +Gataker died in July 1654, and Lilly, having written in his almanack for +that year, for the month of August, the following barbarous latin line-- + + Hoc in tumbo, jacet presbyter et nebulo! + Here in this tomb lies a presbyter and a knave, + +had the impudence to assert, that he had predicted Gataker's death! But +the truth is, it was an empty epitaph to the "Lodgings to let:" it stood +empty, reader, for the first passenger that the immortal ferryman should +carry over the Styx. + +But hear that arch imposter Old Patridge of more modern date whose +_gulleries_ appear to have no end. "The practice of astrology is divided +into speculative and theoretical." (Astronomy and judicial astrology). +The first teaches us how to know the stars and planets, and to find +their places and motions. The second directs us to the knowledge of the +influence and operations of the stars and planets upon sublunary bodies, +and without this last the former is of little use. Astronomy cannot +direct and inform us of the secret influences and operations of the +stars and planets, without the assistance of' the _most sublime_ art of +astrology. For astronomy is conversant about the subject of this art, +and doth furnish the astrologer with matter whereon to exercise his +judgment, but astrology disposes this matter into predictions, or +rational conjectures, as time and occasion require. + +"The practice again is subdivided into two parts, or quadripartite, as +Ptolomy (lib. 2) declares: the first considers the general state of the +world, and from eclipses and comets, great conjunctions, annual +revolutions, quarterly ingressions and lunations, also the rising, +culminating, and setting of the fixed stars, together with the +configurations of the planets both to the sun and among themselves, +judgment is deduced, and the astrologer doth frame his annual +predictions of all sensitive and vegetative things lying in the air, +earth, or water; of plague, plenty, dearth, mutations of the air, wars, +peace, and other general accidents of countries, provinces, cities, etc. + +"The second of these subdivided parts, in particular, respects only the +private state of every single man and woman, which must be performed +from the scheme of the nativity, the knowledge of which is of most +excellent use to all persons. Therefore let the nativities of children +be diligently observed for the future, that is to say, the day, hour, +and minute of birth as near as can be, which will be of use to the +astrological physician, for the most principal conjecture of the +malignity of the disease, whether it be curable, or shall end with +death, depends upon the knowledge of the nativity; and very rarely any +disease invades a person, but some unfortunate direction of the +luminaries or ascendant to the body, or beams of malignant planets +preceded the same, or did then operate, or at least some evil +revolution, profection or transit, which cannot be discovered by any +other way but by astrology. Moreover, it would be convenient that the +true time of the first falling sick be observed precisely, and by that, +together with the nativity, be judiciously compared, the physician shall +gain more credit than by all his other skill; and herein, the +astrologer's foresight shall often contradict the judgment of the +physician; for when the astrologer foretells a phlegmatic man, that at +such a time he shall be afflicted with a choleric disease, the doctor +will perceive by his physical symptoms, the astrologer, from his +knowledge in more secret causes of nature, hath excelled him in his art. + +"Now if God Almighty do not countermand or check the ordinary course of +nature, or the matter of elementary bodies here below be not +unproportionable, and thereby unapt to receive their impressions, there +is no reason why, in a natural and physical necessity, astrological +predictions should not succeed and take effect, and by how much the +knowledge which we have by the known causes is more demonstrative and +infallible than that which we have either by signs or effects, so much +by this companion doth Astrology appear worthy to be preferred before +Physic." Cardan, who was an excellent physician saith: "If by the art of +Astrology he had not better attained to the knowledge of his diseases, +than the physician that would have administered to him by his skill, he +had been assuredly cured by death, rather than preserved alive by +physic. (Vide his Comment. upon Ptol. Quidrepart.) From hence it appears +it is necessary that the physician should be skilful in astrology, but +on the contrary, _ex quovis legno non fit Mercurius_, every astrologer +cannot be a physician; if the nativity be but precisely known, or if, +but _tempus ablatum_ or _suppositum_, and withal some notable accidents +of sickness, danger of drowning, peril by fire, marriage, or other, the +like accidents may be foreseen." + +The astrologers were a set of cunning, equivocal rogues; the more +cautious of whom only uttered their prognostications in obscure and +ambiguous language, which might be applied to all things, times, +princes, and nations whatever. An almanack maker, a Spanish friar, +predicted, in clear and precise words, the death of Henry the Fourth of +France; and Pierese, though he had no faith in star-gazing, yet, alarmed +at whatever menaced the life of a beloved sovereign, consulted with some +of the king's friends, and had the Spanish almanack laid before his +Majesty, who courteously thanked them for their solicitude, but utterly +slighted the prediction: the event occurred, and in the following year, +the Spanish _Lilly_ spread his own fame in an new almanack. This +prediction of the friar, was the result either of his being acquainted +with the plot, or from his being made an instrument for the purposes of +those who were. + +Cornelius Agrippa rightly designates astrologers "a perverse and +preposterous generation of men, who profess to know future things, but +in the meantime are altogether ignorant of past and present; and +undertaking to tell all people most obscure and hidden secrets abroad, +at the same time, know not what happens in their own houses." + + But this Agrippa, for profound + And solid lying, was renown'd: + The Anthroposophus, and Floud, + And Jacob Behmen, understood; + Knew many an amulet and charm + That would do neither good nor harm. + He understood the speech of birds + As well as they themselves do words; + Could tell what subtlest parrots mean + That speak and think contrary, clean; + What member 'tis of whom they talk, + Why they cry, rope and--walk, knave, walk. + He could foretell whatever was + By consequence to come to pass; + As death of great men, alterations, + Diseases, battles, inundations: + All this without th' eclipse o' th' sun, + Or dreadful comet, he hath done + By inward light, a way as good, + And easy to be understood: + But with more lucky hit than those + That use to make the stars depose + As if they were consenting to + All mischief in the world men do: + Or like the devil, did tempt and sway 'em + To rogueries, and then betray 'em. + +We shall conclude our astrological strictures with the following +advertisement, which affords as fine a satirical specimen of quackery as +is to be met with. It is extracted from "poor Robin's" almanack for +1773; and may not be without its use, to many at the present day. We +will vouch for it being harmless, but as we are not in the secret of all +that it contains, our readers must endeavour to get the information that +may be wanted, on certain important points, from other quarters. It will +shew, however, that the almanack astrologers did not live upon the best +terms, but like their predecessors, were constantly abusing and +attacking each other. + + +ADVERTISEMENT. + +"The best time to cut hair. How moles and dreams are to be interpreted. +When most proper season to bleed. Under what aspect of the moon best to +draw teeth, and cut corns. Pairing of nails, on what day unlucky. What +the kindest sign to graft or inoculate in; to open bee-hives, and kill +swine. How many hours boiling my Lady Kent's pudding requires. With +other notable questions, fully and faithfully resolved, by me Sylvester +Patridge, student in physic and astrology, near the Gun in Moorfields." + +"Of whom likewise may be had, at reasonable rates, trusses, antidotes, +elixirs, love-powders. Washes for freckles, plumpers, glass-eyes, false +calves and noses, ivory-jaws, and a new receipt to turn red hair into +black." + +Old Robin's almanack was evidently the best of the time, and free from +all the astrological cant with which Patridge's Merlinus Liberatus was +filled; against which Poor Robin did not a little declaim. The motto to +his title runs thus:-- + + "We use no weather-wise predictions + Nor any such-like airy fictions; + But (which we think is much the best) + Write the plain truth, or crack a jest: + And (without any further pretence) + Confess we write, and think of the pence: + For that's the aim of all who write, + Profit to gain, mixed with delight." + +Poor old Robin attacked the astrologers of his day with no little +vehemence: "How different a task is it," says he, "for man to behave so +in this world as to please all the people that inhabit it! A man who +makes use of his best endeavours to please every body is sure to please +but very few, and by that means displease a great many; which may very +possibly be the case with poor Robin this year. But (be that as it will) +_old Bob_ is sometimes well pleased, when rogues, prick-eared coxcombs, +fools, and such like, are the most displeased at him: be it therefore +known, that it is only men of sense and integrity, (whether they have +much money or no money) that he has any, (the least) regard for: I see +very plainly, that an humble man is (generally) accounted _base_; if +otherwise, he is esteemed _proud_; a bold look is looked upon as +_impudence_; if modest, (then to be sure) he must be _hypocritical_; if +his behaviour is grave, it is owing to a _sullenness_ of temper; if +affable, he is but _little_ regarded; if strictly just, then _cruel_ +must be his character; but, if merciful and forbearing, then (of +consequence) a silly, sheepish-headed fool! Now, I challenge all the +ASS-TROLOGERS and CONJURERS, throughout the whole kingdom, to +demonstrate that all the whimsey-headed opinions which different men +retain of different actions, together with their being so vastly +different at different times, one from another; I say, I call upon them +ALL to prove, that they are (wholly) owing to the STARRY influences! +There being, (I believe) in general as many different ideas and +conceptions in the mind of mankind, as there are variety of complexions +and countenances." + +His observations on the four _unequal_ quarters of the year, as he terms +them, are no less satirical, humorous, and full of truth, and so much in +"opposition" with others of the trade, that poor old Robin, in good +sense and trite remarks, carries away the palm from all his predecessors +and contemporaries; indeed, he is so little of an astrologer, that, +instead of consulting the angles, aspects, conjunctions and trines, of +the planets, he is vulgar enough to attach more importance to the +substantials and doings of this nether world. We present our readers +with the following as a specimen, which, though in his usual way, a +little rough-mouthed, occasionally is free from that almanack-cant which +characterises the vocations of his fellow-labourers in the same field. + + +SPRING, + +which, being the most delightful season in the whole year, as it comes +the next after a long and cold winter makes it as welcome as it is +delightful; for now the lengthening days afford full time for every body +but drunkards and watchmen to finish their respective day's works by +day-light, besides some time to spare to walk abroad, to see the fine +new livery with which Dame Flora has now decked out Mother Earth. In the +opening of the Spring, when all nature begins to recover herself, the +same animal pleasure which makes the bird sing, and the whole brute +creation rejoice, rises very sensibly in the hearts of mankind. This +quarter will bring whole shoals of mackerel, and plenty of green pease; +likewise gooseberries, cherries, cheese-cakes, and custards. + +But, let us now moralize,--and improve these vernal delights into real +virtue; and, when we find within ourselves a secret satisfaction arising +from the beauties of the creation, may we consider to whom we stand +indebted for all these various gratifications and entertainments of +sense; who it is that opens thus his hand, and fills the world with +good! But so soon as this quarter is ended; i.e. there, or then, or +thereabout, for in this case a day or two can break no great squares--I +say this quarter (as usual) will be followed by the + + +SUMMER, + +when, and at which time the days will have attained their greatest, and +consequently the nights the shortest lengths. June, in which month this +quarter is said to begin, will retain some likeness, if not exhibit the +perfections of the Spring; but the two next succeeding months will +perhaps have less vigour, but a greater degree of heat; for, as they +pass on, they will be ripening the fruits of the earth; whilst the Dog +star is shooting his rays amongst, the industrious farmer will have +business enough upon his hands: for now he expects to be reaping and +gathering together the returns of his labour; but then he must expect, +nevertheless, to bear the heat and burthen of the day. + +This quarter very justly represents a man in the full vigour of health +and strength; the beauty of the Spring is gone! The strength of Summer +is of short continuance! It will very soon be succeeded by Autumn: thus, +and thus (O reader) do then consider, hast thou seen the seasons, two, +three, or four times return in regular succession: remember that the +time is coming, when all opportunities of this sort will be for ever hid +from thine eyes: remember if forty years have passed thee, I say, I +would have thee remember, that thy spring is gone, thy summer almost +spent! Have then, therefore, a very serious retrospective view of thy +past, and, (if it please God) a fixed resolution to amend thy prolonged +life: then being now arrived almost on the eve of + + +AUTUMN + +which begins this year (as usual) when, or then, or thereabouts, the +time the Summer quarter ends--namely, when the nights begin to grow +longer and the days shorter: this is the time when the barns are filled +with wheat, which soon must be thrashed out, in order to be sowed again. +This also is the time when the orchards abound with fruits of the kind, +and consequently the properest time to make cider. + +Lamentable now must be the case of those poor women who, in this +quarter, happen to long for green pease or strawberries; for I dare +assure them, upon the _honest word_ of an astrologer, that they can get +none on this side of next Easter. Some now-abouts under the notion of +soldiers, shall sally out at night upon _Pullen_, or perhaps lie in +embuscade for a rope of onions, as if they were Welsh freebooters. Loss +of time and money may be recovered by industry: but to be a fool-born, +or a rogue in nature, are diseases incurable. + +Remember that in any quarter of the year, this is almost always a +certain presage of a wedding, when all parties are agreed, and the +parson in readiness; and then you must be sure to have money in +readiness too, or your intended marriage may happen to prove a +miscarriage. But those who are able to pay for tying the knot, when it +is fairly tied, may go home to dinner and be merry; go to the tavern and +be merry; go to supper and be merry; rise next morning and be merry: and +let the world know, that a married life is a plentiful life, when people +have good estates; a fruitful life when they have many children; and an +happy life, when man and wife love each other as they ought to do, and +never quarrel nor disagree. + + +OF THE WINTER QUARTER. + +But now comes on the cold, dirty, dithering, pouting, rainy, shivering, +freezing, blowing, stormy, blustering, cruel quarter called winter; the +very thoughts of it are enough to fright one; but that it very luckily +happens to be introduced (this year) by a good, fat merry Christmas: yet +it is the last and worse, and very much resembles extreme old age +accompanied by poverty; this quarter is also pretty much like Pharoah's +lean kine; for it generally (we find) eats up and devours most of the +produce of the preceding seasons: now the sun entering the southern +tropic, affords us the least share of his light, and consequently the +longest long nights: yet, nevertheless, in this uncomfortable quarter, +you may possibly pick up some crumbs of comfort, provided you have good +health, good store of the ready Rhino, a good wife, and other good +things about you: and especially a good conscience: for then the starry +influences must necessarily appear very benign, notwithstanding the +inclemency of the weather; for in such cases there will be frequent +_conjunctions_ of sirloins and ribs of beef; _aspects_ of legs and +shoulders of mutton, with _refrenations_ of loins of veal, shining near +the watery triplicity of plumb-porridge--together with trine and sextile +of minced pies; collared brawn from the Ursus major, and sturgeon from +Pisces--all for the honour of Christmas: and I think it is a much +pleasanter sight than a Covent-Garden comedy, to see a dozen or two of +husbandmen, farmers, and honest tenants, at a nobleman's table (who +never raised their rents) worry a sirloin, and hew down, (I mean cut up) +a goose like a log: while a good Cheshire cheese, and plenty of nappy +ale, and strong March beer, washes down the merry goblets, sets all +their wit afloat, and sends them to their respective homes, as happy as +kings. + + And now, kind loving readers, every one, + God send y'a good new-year, when the old one 's gone. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[75] The following prediction, and the verification of it are of so +recent a date, that we cannot resist giving it a place in our pages. In +the account of the late Captain Flinder's voyage of discovery, is the +melancholy relation of the loss of the master, Mr. Thistle, with seven +others, in a boat, on the inhospitable shores of Terra Australia. To +this narrative, the following note is subjoined, which we shall here +quote in Captain Flinder's own words: "This evening, Mr. Fowler, the +lieutenant, told me a circumstance which I thought very extraordinary, +and it afterwards proved to be more so. While we were lying at Spithead, +Mr. Thistle was one day waiting on shore, and having nothing else to do, +went to a certain old man, named Pine, to have his fortune told. The +cunning man informed him that he was going on a long voyage, and that +the ship, on arriving at her destination, would be joined by another +vessel. That such was intended, he might have learnt privately; but he +added that Mr. Thistle would be lost before the other vessel joined. As +to the manner of his loss the magician refused to give any information. +My boat's crew, hearing what Mr. Thistle said, went to consult the wise +man, and after the prefatory information of a long voyage, they were +told that they would be shipwrecked, but not in the ship they were going +out in; whether they would escape and return to England, he was not +permitted to reveal. This tale Mr. Thistle often told at the mess-table; +and I remarked, with some pain, in a future part of the voyage, that +every time my boat's crew went to embark in the Lady Nelson, there was +some degree of apprehension amongst them, that the time of the predicted +shipwreck was arrived. I make no comment, (says Capt. Flinders,) upon +this story, but to recommend a commander, if possible, to prevent any of +his crew from consulting fortune-tellers."--It should be observed that, +strange as it may appear, every particular of these predictions came +exactly to pass, for the master and his boat's crew were lost before the +Investigator was joined by the Lady Nelson, from Port-Jackson; and when +the former ship was condemned, the people embarked with their commander +on board the Porpoise, which was wrecked on a coral reef, and nine of +the crew were lost. + +[76] In 1670, the passion for horoscopes and expounding the stars, +prevailed in France among the first rank. The new-born child was usually +presented naked to the astrologer, who read the first lineaments in its +forehead, and the transverse lines in its hands, and thence wrote down +its future destiny. Catherine de Médicis carried Henry IV, when a child, +to old Nostradamus, who antiquaries esteem more for his Chronicle of +Provence than for his vaticinating powers. The sight of the revered +seer, with a heard which "streamed like a meteor in the air," terrified +the future hero, who dreaded a whipping from so grave a personage. + +[77] The Chaldean Sages were nearly put to the route by a quarto pack of +artillery, fired on them by Mr. John Chamber, in 1691. Apollo did not +use Marsyas more inhumanly than his scourging pen this mystical race; +and his personalities made them sorely feel it. However, a Norwich +knight, the very Quixote of Astrology, arrayed in the enchanted armour +of his occult authors, encountered this pagan in a most stately +carousal. He came forth with "A Defence of Judicial Astrologye, in +answer to a treatise lately published by Mr. John Chamber. By +Christopher Knight. Printed at Cambridge, 1693." + +[78] Vide Amulets passim. + +[79] Lilly's work, a voluminous quarto monument of the folly of the age, +was sold originally for four guineas; it is entitled "Christian +Astrology," modestly treated, in three books, by William Lilly, student +in Astrology, 2nd. edition 1659. Every page is embellished with a +horoscope which, sitting on the pretending tripod, he explains with the +utmost facility. There is also a portrait of this arch rogue and +star-gazer, an admirable illustration for Lavater. As to Lilly's great +skill in prophecy, there goes a pleasant story related by a kinsman of +Dr. Case, his successor--namely--that a person wanting to consult him on +a certain point coming to his house one morning, Lilly himself going to +the door, saw a piece of filthy carrion which some one, who had more wit +than manners, had left there: and being much offended at its unsightly +appearance wished heartily he did but know who had treated him in that +manner by leaving such an unwelcome legacy, as it were, in his very +teeth, that he might punish them accordingly; which his customer +observing when the conjurer demanded his business, "Nothing at all," +said he, "for I'm sure if you can't find out who has defiled your own +door, it is impossible you should discover anything relating to me," and +with this caustic remark he left him. + +[80] The Reverend and learned Thomas Gataker, with whom Lilly was +engaged in a dispute, in his Annotations on the tenth chapter of +Jeremiah and 10th verse, called him a "blind buzzard," and Lilly +reflected again on his antagonist in his _Annus Tenebrosus_. Mr. +Gataker's reply was entitled Thomas Gataker, B.D. his Vindication of the +annotation by him published upon these words, "thus saith the Lord," +(Jer. x. 2) against the scurrilous aspersions of that grand impostor +William Lilly; as also against the various expositions of two of his +advocates Mr. John Swan, and another by him cited but not named. Together +with the Annotations themselves, wherein the pretended grounds of +judiciary astrology, and the scripture proofs produced to it, are +discussed and refuted. London, 1653, in 4th part 192. Our author making +animadversions on this piece in his English Merlin, 1654 produced a +third piece from Mr. Gataker, called a Discourse apologetical, wherein +Lilly's lewd, and loud lies in his Merlin or Pasquil for 1654, are +clearly laid open; his shameless desertion of his own cause further +discovered, his abominable slanders fully refuted, and his malicious and +_murtherous_ mind, inciting to a general massacre of God's ministers, +from his own pen, evidently known, etc. London 1654. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +ONEIROCRITICAL PRESENTIMENT, ILLUSTRATING THE CAUSE, EFFECTS, PRINCIPAL +PHENOMENA, AND DEFINITION OF DREAMS, ETC. + +As we shall have to speak of the art practised through the medium, +termed incubation, of curing diseases, it may be proper to say something +previously on the interpretation of dreams through whose agency these +events were said to be realized. + +Oneirocritics, or interpreters of dreams, were called conjecturers, a +very fit and proper name for these worldly wise men, according to the +following lines, translated from Euripides-- + + He that conjectures least amiss + Of all, the best of prophets is. + +To the delusion of dreams not a few of the ancient philosophers lent +themselves. Among these were Democritus, Aristotle, and his follower +Themistius, Siresius the Platonic; who so far relied on dreams which +some accident or other brought about, that they thence endeavoured to +persuade men there are no dreams but what are founded on realities. For, +say they, as the celestial influences produce various forms and changes +in corporeal matter, so out of certain influences, predominating over +the power of the fancy, the impression of visions is made, being +consentaneous, through the disposition of the heavens, to the effect +produced; more especially in dreams, because the mind, being then at +liberty from all corporeal cares and exercises, more freely receives the +divine influences: it happens, therefore that many things are revealed +to them that are asleep, which are concealed from them that are awake. +With these and such reasons it is pretended that much is communicated +through the medium of dreams: + + When soft sleep the body lays at ease, + And from the heavy mass the fancy frees, + Whate'er it is in which we take delight, + And think of most by day we dream at night. + +The transition from sleep is very natural to that of dreams, the +wonderful and mysterious phenomena of that state, the ideal transactions +and vain illusions of the mind. According to Wolfius, an eminent +philosopher of Silesia, every dream originates in some sensation, and is +continued by the succession of phantoms; but no phantasm can arise in +the mind without some previous sensation. And yet it is not easy to +confirm this by experience, it being often difficult to distinguish +those slight sensations, which give rise to dreams, from phantasms, or +objects of imagination.[81] The series of phantasms which thus constitute +a dream, seems to be accounted for by the law of the imagination, or +association of ideas; though it may be very difficult to assign the +cause of every minute difference, not only in different subjects, but in +the same, at different times, and in different circumstances. And hence +M. Formey, who adopts the opinion of Wolfius, concludes, that those +dreams are supernatural, which either do not begin by sensation, or are +not continued by the law of imagination.[82] + +The opinion is as old as Aristotle, who asserted, that a dream is only +the [Greek: Phantasma] or _appearance_ of things, excited in the mind, +and remaining after the objects are removed.[83] The opinion of +Lucretius, translated in our motto, was likewise that of Tully.[84] Locke +also traces the origin of dreams to previous sensations. "The dreams of +sleeping men," says this profound philosopher, "are all made up of the +waking man's ideas, though for the most part oddly put together."[85] And +Dr. Hartley, who explains all the phenomena of the imagination by his +theory of vibrations and associations, says, that dreams are nothing but +the imaginations or reveries of sleeping men, and that they are +deducible from three causes--viz, the impressions and ideas lately +received, and particularly those of the preceding day, the state of the +body, more especially of the stomach and brain, and association.[86] + +Macrobius mentions five sorts of dreams. 1st. vision--2nd. a discovery +of something between sleeping and waking--3rd. a suggestion cast into +our fancy, called by Cicero, _visum_,--4th. an ordinary dream--and +fifth, a divine apparition or revelation in our sleep; such as were the +dreams of the prophets, and of Joseph, as also of the Eastern Magi. + + +CAUSE OF DREAMS. + +Avicen makes the cause of dreams to be an ultimate intelligence moving +the moon in the midst of that light with which the fancies of men are +illuminated while they sleep. Aristotle refers the cause of them to +common sense, but placed in the fancy. Averroes, an Arabian physician, +places it in the imagination; Democritus ascribes it to little images, +or representations, separated from the things themselves; Plato among +the specific and concrete notions of the soul; Albertus to the superior +influences, which continually flow from the sky, through many specific +channels. + +Some physicians attribute the cause of dreams to vapours and humours, +and the affections and cares of persons predominant when awake; for, say +they, by reason of the abundance of vapours, which are exhaled in +consequence of immoderate feeding, the brain is so stuffed by it, that +monsters and strange chimera are formed, of which the most inordinate +eaters and drinkers furnish us with sufficient instances. Some dreams, +they assert, are governed partly by the temperature of the body, and +partly by the humour which mostly abounds in it; to which may be added +the apprehensions which have preceded the day before; and which are +often remarked in dogs, and other animals, which bark and make a noise +in their sleep. Dreams, they observe, proceed from the humours and +temperature of the body; we see the choleric dreams of fire, combats, +yellow colours, etc. the phlegmatic of water baths, of sailing on the +sea; the melancholies of thick fumes, deserts, fantasies, hideous faces, +etc. they that have the hinder part of their brain clogged, with viscous +humours, called by physicians Ephialtes incubus, dream that they are +suffocated. And those who have the orifice of their stomach loaded with +malignant humours, are affrighted with strange visions, by reason of +those venemous vapours that mount to the brain and distemper it. + + +POETICAL ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE EFFECTS OF THE IMAGINATION IN DREAMS. + +Were we to enter more profoundly into the mysterious phenomena of +dreams, our present lucubrations might become too abstruse; and, after +all, no philosophical nor satisfactory account can be given of them. +Such of our readers therefore, as may wish for a more minute inquiry +into the opinions above stated, we beg leave to refer to the respective +authors whom we have already quoted. The reader, who is fond to find +amusement even in a serious subject, from the scenes of nocturnal +imagination, will be glad, perhaps for a moment, to be transported into +the regions of poetic fancy. And here we find that the fancy is not more +sportive in dreams, than are the poets in their descriptions of her +nocturnal vagaries. On the effects of the imagination in dreams, the +following effusion, put into the mouth of the volatile Mercurio, is an +admirable illustration:-- + + O, then I see, Queen Mab has been with you. + She is the fancy's midwife, and she comes + In shape no bigger than an agate stone + On the fore-finger of an Alderman, + Drawn with a team of little atomies, + Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep: + Her waggon spokes made of long spinners' legs; + The cover of the wings of grasshoppers; + The traces of the smallest spider's web; + The collars of the moonshine's watery beams; + Her whip of cricket's bone; the lash of film; + Her waggoner, a small grey coated gnat, + Not half so big as a round little worm, + Prickt from the lazy finger of a maid. + Her chariot is an empty hazel nut, + Made by the joiner squirril, old grub, + Time out of mind the fairies' coachmakers: + And in this state she gallops night by night, + Thro' lovers' brains, and then they dream of love; + On courtiers' knees, that dream on curtsies strait; + O'er lawyers' fingers, who strait dream on fees; + O'er ladies lips, who strait on kisses dream, + Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plague, + Because their breath with sweetmeats tainted are. + Sometimes she gallops o'er a lawyer's nose, + And then dreams he of smelling out a suit, + And sometimes comes she with a tithe-pig tail, + Tickling the parson as he lies asleep; + Then dreams he of another benefice; + Sometimes she driveth o'er a soldier's neck + And then he dreams of cutting foreign throats, + Of breaches, ambuscades, Spanish blades, + Of healths fire fathom deep; and then anon + Drums in his ears, at which he starts and wakes, + And being thus frighted, swears a pray'r or two, + And sleeps again. + +Lucretius, and Petronius in his poem on the vanity of dreams, had +preceded our immortal bard in a description of the effects of dreams on +different kinds of persons. Both the passages here alluded to, only +serve to shew the vast superiority of Shakspeare's boundless genius: +their sense is thus admirably expressed by Stepney: + + At dead of night imperial reason sleeps, + And fancy with her train, her revels keeps; + Then airy phantoms a mix'd scene display, + Of what we heard, or saw, or wish'd by day; + For memory those images retains + Which passion form'd, and still the strongest reigns. + Huntsmen renew the chase they lately run, + And generals fight again their battles won. + Spectres and fairies haunt the murderer's dreams; + Grants and disgraces are the courtier's themes. + The miser spies a thief, or a new hoard; + The cit's a knight; the sycophant a lord, + Thus fancy's in the wild distraction lost, + With what we most abhor, or covet most. + Honours and state before this phantom fall; + For sleep, like death, its image, equals all. + +Chaucer in his tale of the Cock and Fox, has a fine description, thus +versified by Dryden:-- + + Dreams are but interludes which fancy makes: + When monarch reason sleeps, this mimic wakes; + Compounds a medley of disjointed things, + A court of coblers and a mob of kings: + Light fumes are merry, grosser fumes are sad: + Both are the reasonable soul run mad; + And many monstrous forms in sleep we see, + That neither were, or are, or e'er can be. + Sometimes forgotten things, long cast behind, + Rush forward in the brain, and come to mind. + The nurse's legends are for truth received, + And the man dreams but what the boy believed, + Sometimes we but rehearse a former play, + The night restores our actions done by day; + As hounds in sleep will open for their prey. + In short, the farce of dreams is of a piece + In chimeras all; and more absurd or less. + +Shakspeare again:-- + + I talk of dreams, + Which are the children of an idle brain, + Begot of nothing but vain phantasy, + Which is as thin of substance as the air, + And more inconsistant than the wind. + +Nor must Milton be omitted-- + + In the soul + Are many lesser faculties, that serve + Reason as chief; among these Fancy next + Her office holds; of all external things, + Which the five watchful senses represent, + She forms imaginations, airy shapes, + Which reason joining, or disjoining, frames, + And all that we affirm, or what deny, or call + Our knowledge or opinion; then retires + Into her private cell, when nature rests. + Oft in her absence mimic fancy wakes, + To imitate her; but misjoining shapes, + Wild works produces oft, but most in dreams + Ill matching words or deeds, long past or tale. + + +PRINCIPAL PHENOMENA IN DREAMING. + +From these practical descriptions let us proceed to take a view of the +principal phenomena in dreaming. And first, Mr. Locke's beautiful _modes +of_ which will greatly illustrate the preceding observations. + +"When the mind," says Locke, "turns its view inward upon itself, and +contemplates its own actions, _thinking_ is the first that occurs. In it +the mind observes a great variety of modifications, and from thence +receives distinct _ideas_. Thus the perception, which actually +accompanies, and is annexed to any impression on the body, made by an +external object, being distinct from all other modifications of +thinking, furnishes the mind with a distinct idea which we call +_sensation_; which is, as it were, the actual entrance of an idea into +the understanding by the senses. + +"The same idea, when it occurs again without the operation of the like +object on the external sensory, is _remembrance_: if it be sought after +by the mind, and with pain and endeavour found, and brought again in +view, it is _recollection_: if it be held there long under +consideration, it is _contemplation_; when ideas float in our mind +without any reflexion or regard of the understanding, it is that which +the French call _réverie_;[87] our language has scarce a name for it. +When the ideas that offer themselves (for as I have observed in another +place, while we are awake, there will always be a train of ideas +succeeding one another in our minds) are taken notice of, and, as it +were, registered in the memory, it is _attention_; when the mind, with +great earnestness, and of choice, fixes its view on any idea, considers +it on all sides, and will not be called off by the ordinary +solicitations of other ideas, it is what we call _intention_ or _study_. +Sleep without dreaming is rest from all these: and _dreaming_ itself, is +the having of ideas (while the outward senses are stopped, so that they +receive not outward objects with their usual quickness) in the mind, not +suggested by any external objects, or known occasion, nor under any +choice or conduct of the understanding at all, and whether that which we +call _ecstasy_, be not dreaming with the eyes open, I leave to be +examined." + +Dr. Beattie, in his "Dissertations moral and critical," has an +ingenious essay on this subject, in which he attempts to ascertain, not +so much the _efficient_ as the _final_ causes of the phenomenon, and to +obviate those superstitions in regard to it, which have sometimes +troubled weak minds. He labours, with great earnestness, to shew, that +dreams may be of use in the way of physical admonition: that persons, +who attend to them with this view, may make important discoveries with +regard to their health; that they may be serviceable as the means of +moral improvement; that, by attending to them, we may discern our +predominant passions, and receive good hints for the regulation of them; +that they may have been intended by Providence to serve as an amusement +to the mental powers; and that dreaming is not universal, because, +probably, all constitutions do not require such intellectual amusement. +In observations of this kind, we may discover the ingenuity of fancy and +the sagacity of conjecture. We may find amusement in the arguments, but +we look in vain for satisfaction. Nature, certainly, does nothing in +vain, yet we are far from thinking, that man is able, in every case, to +discover her intentions. Final causes, perhaps, ought never to be the +subject of human speculation, but when they are plain and obvious. To +substitute vain conjectures, instead of the designs of Providence, on +subjects where those designs are beyond our reach, serves only to +furnish matter for the cavils of the sceptical, and the sneers of the +licentious. + +Among the many striking phenomena in our dreams, it may be observed, +that, while they last, the memory seems to lie wholly torpid, and the +understanding to be employed only about such objects as are then +presented, without comparing the present with the past. When we sleep, +we often converse with a friend who is either absent or dead, without +remembering that the grave or the ocean is between us. We float, like a +feather, upon the wind; for we find ourselves this moment in England, +and the next in India, without reflecting that the laws of nature are +suspended, or inquiring how the scene could have been so suddenly +shifted before us. We are familiar with prodigies; we accommodate +ourselves to every event, however romantic; and we not only reason, but +act upon principles, which are in the highest degree absurd and +extravagant. Our dreams, moreover, are so far from being the effect of a +voluntary effort, that we neither know of what we shall dream, or +whether we shall dream at all. + +But sleep is not the only time in which strange and unconnected objects +involve our ideas in confusion. Besides the _réveries_ of the day, +already spoken of, we have, in a moral view, our _waking-dreams_, which +are not less chimerical, and impossible to be realized, than the +imaginations of the night. + + Night visions may befriend---- + Our waking dreams are fatal. How I dreamt + Of things impossible (could sleep do more?) + Of joys perpetual in perpetual change! + Of stable pleasures on the tossing wave! + Eternal sunshine in the storms of life! + How richly were my noon-tide trances hung, + With gorgeous tapestries of pictur'd joys! + Till at deaths' toll,---- + Starting I woke, and found myself undone. + +Many of the fabulous stories of ghosts or apparitions have originated +unquestionably in dreams. There are times of slumber when we are +sensible of being asleep. "When the thoughts are much troubled," says +Hobbes, "and when a person sleeps without the circumstance of going to +bed, or pulling off his clothes, as when he nods in his chair, it is +very difficult to distinguish a dream from a reality. On the contrary, +he that composes himself to sleep, in case of any uncouth or absurd +fancy, easily suspects it to have been a dream."[88] On this principle, +Hobbes has ingeniously accounted for the spectre which is said to have +appeared to Brutus; and the well-known story told by Clarendon, of the +apparition of the duke of Buckingham's father will admit of a similar +solution. There was no man at that time in the kingdom so much the topic +of conversation as the duke; and, from the corruptness of his character, +he was very likely to fall a sacrifice to the corruptness of the times. +Sir George Villiers is said to have appeared to the man at +midnight--there is therefore the greatest probability that the man was +asleep; and the dream affrighting him, made a strong impression, and was +likely to be repeated. + +History furnishes us with numerous instances of a forecast having been +communicated through the medium of dreams, some of which are so +extraordinary as almost to shake our belief that the hand of Providence +is not sometimes evident through their instrumentality. Cicero, in his +first book on Divination, tells us, that Heraclides, a clever man, and +who had been a disciple of Plato, writes that the mother of Phalaris saw +in a dream the statues of the gods which she had consecrated in the +house of her son; and among other things, it appeared to her, that from +a cup which Mercury held in his hand, he had spilled some blood from it, +and that the blood had scarcely touched the ground, than rising up in +large bubbles it filled the whole house. This dream of the mother was +afterwards but too truly verified in the cruelty of the son. Cyrus +dreamt that seeing the sun at his feet, he made three different +unsuccessful attempts to lay his hand upon it, at each of which it +evaded him. The Persian Magi who interpreted this dream told him that +these three attempts to seize the sun signified that he would reign +thirty years. This prediction was verified: he died at the age of +seventy, having begun to reign when he was forty years old. + +"There is doubtless," says Cicero, "something even among barbarians +which marks that they possess the gift of presentiment and divination." +The Indian Calanus mounting the flaming faggot on which he was about to +be burnt, exclaimed "O what a fine exit from life, when my body, like +that of Hercules, shall be consumed by the fire, my spirit will freely +enjoy the light." And Alexander having asked if he had anything to say, +he replied, "Yes, I shall soon see you," which happened as he foretold, +Alexander having died a few days afterwards at Babylon. Xenophon, an +ardent disciple of Socrates, relates that in the war which he made in +favour of young Cyrus, he had some dreams which were followed by the +most miraculous events. Shall we say that Xenophon does not speak truth, +or is too extravagant? What! so great a personage, and so divine a +spirit as Aristotle, can he be deceived? Or does he wish to deceive +others, when he tells us of Eudemus of Cyprus, one of his friends, +wishing to go into Macedonia, passed by Pheres, a celebrated town in +Thessaly, which at that time was under the dominion of the tyrant +Alexander; and that having fallen very sick, he saw in a dream a very +handsome young man, who told him that he would cure him, and that the +tyrant Alexander would shortly die, but as to himself, he would return +home at the end of five years. Aristotle remarks that the two first +predictions were, indeed, soon accomplished; that Eudemus recovered, and +that the tyrant was killed by his wife's brothers; but that at the +expiration of five years, the time at which it was hoped Eudemus, +according to the dream, was to return to Sicily, his native country, +news were received that he had been killed in a combat near Syracuse; +which gave rise to another interpretation of the dream, namely, that, +when the spirit or soul of Eudemus left his body, it went thence +straight to his own house.--A cup of massy gold having been stolen from +the temple of Hercules, this god appeared in a dream to Sophocles three +consecutive times, and pointed out the thief to him; who was put to the +torture, confessed the delinquency, and gave up the cup. The temple +afterwards received the name of Hercules Indicator. + +An endless variety of similar instances, both from ancient and modern +history, might be adduced of the singularity of dreams, as well as their +instrumentality in revealing secrets which, without such agency, had +lain for ever in oblivion; these, however, are sufficient for our +purpose here; and the occurrence of one of a very recent date, connected +with the discovery of the body of the murdered Maria Martin, in the red +barn, is still fresh in the recollection of our readers. That there is a +ridiculous infatuation attached by some people to dreams, which have no +meaning, and which are the offsprings of the day's thoughts, even among +persons whose education should inform them better, particularly among +the fair sex, cannot be denied; indeed, a conversation seldom passes +among them, but some inconsistent dream or other, form a leading feature +of their gossip; and doubtless is with them an hysterical symptom. + +Sometimes in our sleeping dreams, we imagine ourselves involved in +inextricable woe, and enjoy at waking, the ecstasy of a deliverance from +it. "And such a deliverance," says Dr. Beattie, "will every good man +meet with at last, when he is taken away from the evils of life, and +awakes in the regions of everlasting light and peace; looking back upon +the world and its troubles, with a surprise and satisfaction similar in +kind (though far higher in degree) to that which we now feel, when we +escape from a terrifying dream, and open our eyes to the sweet serenity +of a summer morning." Sometimes, in our dreams, we imagine scenes of +pure and unutterable joy; and how much do we regret at waking, that the +heavenly vision is no more! But what must the raptures of the good man +be, when he enters the regions of immortality, and beholds the radiant +fields of permanent delight! The idea of such a happy death, such a +sweet transition, from the dreams of earth to the realities of heaven, +is thus beautifully described by Dryden, in his poem entitled Eleonora: + + "She passed serenely, with a single breath; + This moment perfect health, the next was death; + One sigh did her eternal bliss assure; + So little penance needs when souls are pure. + As gentle dreams our waking thoughts pursue; + Or, one dream past, we slide into a new; + So close they follow and such wild order keep, + We think ourselves awake and are asleep; + So softly death succeeded life in her: + She did but dream of heaven and she was there." + + +DEFINITION OF DREAMS. + +Dreams are vagaries of the imagination, and in most instances proceed +from external sensations. They take place only when our sleep is +unsound, in which case the brain and nervous system are capable of +performing certain motions. We seldom dream during the first hours of +sleep; perhaps because the nervous fluid is then too much exhausted; but +dreams mostly occur towards the morning, when this fluid has been, in +some measure, restored. + +Every thing capable of interrupting the tranquillity of mind and body, +may produce dreams; such are the various kinds of grief and sorrow, +exertions of the mind, affections and passions, crude and undigested +food, a hard and inconvenient posture of the body. Those ideas which +have lately occupied our minds or made a lively impression upon us, +generally constitute the principal subject of a dream, and more or less +employ our imagination, when we are asleep. + +Animals are likewise apt to dream, though seldom; and even men living +temperately, and enjoying a perfect state of health, are seldom +disturbed with this play of the fancy. And, indeed, there are examples +of lively and spirited persons who never dream at all. The great +physiologist Haller considers dreaming as a symptom of disease, or as a +stimulating cause, by which the perfect tranquillity of the sensorium is +interrupted. Hence, that sleep is the most refreshing, which is +undisturbed by dreams, or, at least, when we have the distinct +recollection of them. Most of our dreams are then nothing more than +sports of the fancy, and derive their origin chiefly from external +impressions; almost every thing we see and hear, when awake, leads our +imagination to collateral notions or representations, which, in a +manner, spontaneously, and without the least effort, associate with +external sensations. The place where a person whom we love formerly +resided, a dress similar to that which we have seen her wear, or the +objects that employed her attention, no sooner catch our eye, than she +immediately occupies our mind. And, though these images associating with +external sensations, do not arrive at complete consciousness within the +power of imagination, yet even in their latent state they may become +very strong and permanent. + +Cicero furnishes us with a story of two Arcadians, who, travelling +together, arrived at Megara, a city of Greece, between Athens and +Corinth, where one of them lodged in a friend's house, and the other at +an inn. After supper, the person who lodged at the private house went to +bed, and falling asleep, dreamed that his friend at the inn appeared to +him and begged his assistance, because the innkeeper was going to kill +him. The man immediately got out of bed much frightened at the dream; +but recovering himself, and falling asleep again, his friend appeared to +him a second time, and desired that, as he would not assist him in time, +he would take care at least not to let his death go unpunished; that the +innkeeper having murdered him had thrown his body into a cart and +covered it with dung; he therefore begged that he would be at the city +gate in the morning, before the cart was out; struck with this new +dream, he went early to the gate, saw the cart, and asked the driver +what was in it; the driver immediately fled, the dead body was taken +out of the cart, and the innkeeper apprehended and executed. + +It is very frequently observed, that in a dream a series of +representations is suddenly interrupted, and another series of a very +different kind occupies its place. This happens as soon as an idea +associates itself; which, from whatever cause, is more interesting than +that immediately preceding. The last then becomes the prevailing one, +and determines the association. Yet, by this too, the imagination is +frequently reconducted to the former series. The interruption in the +course of the preceding occurrences is remarked, and the power of +abstracting similarities is in search of the cause of this irregularity. +Hence, in such cases, there usually happens some unfortunate event or +other, which occasions the interruption of the story. The representing +power may again suddenly conduct us to another series of ideas, and thus +the imagination may be led by the subreasoning power before defined, +from one scene to another. Of this kind, for instance, is the following +remarkable dream, as related and explained in the works of professor +Maas of Halle: "I dreamed once," says he "that the Pope visited me. He +commanded me to open my desk, and carefully examined all the papers it +contained. While he was thus employed, a very sparkling diamond fell out +of his triple crown into my desk, of which, however, neither of us took +any notice. As soon as the Pope had withdrawn, I retired to bed, but was +soon obliged to rise, on account of a thick smoke, the cause of which I +had yet to learn. Upon examination I discovered, that the diamond had +set fire to the papers in my desk, and burnt them to ashes." + +On account of the peculiar circumstances by which this dream was +occasioned, it deserves the following short analysis. "On the preceding +evening," says professor Maas, "I was visited by a friend with whom I +had a lively conversation, upon Joseph IInd's suppression of monasteries +and convents. With this idea, though I did not become conscious of it in +my dream, was associated the visit which the Pope publicly paid the +Emperor Joseph at Vienna, in consequence of the measures taken against +the clergy; and with this again was combined, however faintly, the +representation of the visit, which had been paid me by my friend. These +two events were, by the subreasoning faculty, compounded into one, +according to the established rule--that things which agree in their +parts, also correspond as to the whole;--hence the Pope's visit, was +changed into a visit made to me. The subreasoning faculty then, in order +to account for this extraordinary visit, fixed upon that which was the +most important object in my room, namely, the desk, or rather the papers +contained in it. That a diamond fell out of the triple crown was a +collateral association, which was owing merely to the representation of +the desk. Some days before when opening the desk, I had broken the glass +of my watch, which I held in my hand, and the fragments fell among the +papers. Hence no farther attention was paid to the diamond, being a +representation of a collateral series of things. But afterwards the +representation of the sparkling stones was again excited, and became the +prevailing idea; hence it determined the succeeding association. On +account of its similarity, it excited, the representation of fire, with +which it was confounded; hence arose fire and smoke.--But, in the event, +the writings only were burnt, not the desk itself; to which, being of +comparatively less value, the attention was not at all directed." It is +farther observable, that there are in the human mind certain obscure +representations, and that it is necessary to be convinced of the reality +of these images, if we are desirous of perceiving the connexion, which +subsists among the operations of the imagination. Of the numerous +phenomena, founded on obscure ideas, and which consequently prove their +existence, we shall only remark the following. It is a well known fact, +that many dreams originate in the impressions made in the body during +sleep; and they consist of analogous images or such as are associated +with sensations that would arise from these impressions, during a waking +state. Hence, for instance, if our legs are placed in a perpendicular +posture, we are often terrified by a dream that implies the imminent +danger of falling from a steep rock or precipice. The mind must +represent to itself these external impressions in a lively manner, +otherwise no ideal picture could be thus excited; but, as we do not +become at all conscious of them, they are but faintly and obscurely +represented. + +If we make a resolution to rise earlier in the morning than usual; and +if we impress the determination on our mind, immediately before going to +rest, we are almost certain to succeed. Now it is self-evident that this +success cannot be ascribed to the efforts of the body, but altogether to +the mind, which probably, during sleep perceives and computes the +duration of time, so that it makes an impression on the body, which +enables us to awake at an appointed hour. Yet all this takes place, +without our consciousness, and the representations remain obscure. Many +productions of art are so complicated, that a variety of simple +conceptions are requisite to lay the foundation of them; yet the artist +is almost entirely unconscious of these individual notions. Thus a +person performs a piece of music, without being obliged to reflect, in a +conscious manner, on the signification of the notes, their value, and +the order of the fingers he must observe; nay even without clearly +distinguishing the strings of the harp, or the keys of the harpsichord. +We cannot attribute this to the mechanism of the body, which might +gradually accustom itself to the accurate placing of the fingers. This +could be applied only where we place a piece of music, frequently +practised; but it is totally inapplicable to a new piece, which is +played by the professor with equal facility, though he has never seen it +before. In the latter case there must arise, necessarily, an ideal +representation, or an act of judgment, previous to every motion of the +finger. + +These arguments, we trust, are sufficient, to evince the occurrence of +these obscure notions and representations, from which all our dreams +originate. Before, however, we close this subject, we shall relate the +following extraordinary dream of the celebrated Galileo, who at a very +advanced age had lost his sight. In one of his walks over a beautiful +plain, conducted by his pupil Troicelli, the venerable sage related the +following dream to him. "Once," said he, "my eyes permitted me to enjoy +the charms of these fields. But now, since their light is extinguished, +these pleasures are lost to me for ever. Heaven justly inflicts the +punishment which was predicted to me many years ago. When in prison, and +impatiently languishing for liberty, I began to be discontented with the +ways of Providence; Copernicus appeared to me in a dream; his celestial +spirit conducted me over luminous stars, and, in a threatening voice, +reprehended me for having murmured against him, at whose _fiat_ all +these worlds had proceeded from nothing. 'A time shall come (said he) +when thine eyes shall refuse to assist thee in contemplating these +wonders.'" + +We shall now proceed to notice the subject of dreams in another point of +view--that is, as being employed as a medium of divination in the cure +of diseases, in which the fancies of the brain appear, in reality, to as +little advantage as they do with reference to any other considerations +in which such pretended omens exist. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[81] Wolfius, Psychol. Empir. Sect. 123. + +[82] Mém. de l'acad. de Berlin, tom. ii. p. 316. + +[83] Arist. de insomn. cap 3. + +[84] Quae in vita usurpant homines, cogitant, curant, vident quaeque +agunt vigilantes, agitantque, ea cuique in somno accidunt. _De Div._ + +[85] Essay on Human Understanding, book, chap. i. sect 17. + +[86] Obs, on Man, vol. 1, sect. 5. + +[87] There is a phenomenon in the mind, which, though it happen to us +while we are perfectly awake, yet approaches the nearest to sleep of any +I know. It is called the _Reverie_, or, as some term it, the _brown +study_, a sort of middle state between waking and sleeping; in which, +though our eyes are open, our senses seem to be entirely shut up, and we +are quite insensible of every thing about us, yet we are all the while +engaged in a musing indolence of thought, or a supine and lolling kind +of roving from one fairy scene to another, without any self-command; +from which, if any noise or accident rouse us, we wake as from a real +dream, and are often as much at a loss to tell how our thoughts were +employed, as if we had waked from the soundest sleep. This is frequently +called _dreaming_, sometimes _absence_, a thing often observed in lovers +and people of a melancholy or indeed speculative turn.--_Fordyce's +Dialogues concerning education, vol. II. p. 255._ + +[88] Leviathan, part. 1. c. 1. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +ON INCUBATION; OR THE ART OF HEALING BY VISIONARY DIVINATION. + +Medicine unquestionably ranks among the most ancient of all human +sciences. In the infant state of society, when simplicity of manners +characterised the pursuits of mankind, medical assistance was little +wanted; but when the nature of man degenerated, and vice and luxury +corrupted his habits of innocence and temperance, diseases sprung up +which those aids alone could check or eradicate. The knowledge of them +at first could not fail to be empirical and precarious. The sick were +placed in the high ways, that travellers and passers by might assist +them with their counsel; and at length the priesthood appropriated this +privilege exclusively to themselves. + +It was not merely the sacerdotal dignity which rendered them objects of +awe and reverence to the illiterate multitude; the priests were regarded +as the depositaries of science and learning; and proved themselves as +skilful as they were successful, in cementing their influence by those +arts which were best calculated to inflame the prejudices of the vulgar +in their favour. + +It is the work of ages to wean men and nations from popular illusions, +and the deep-rooted opinions transmitted from sire to son: it cannot +therefore surprise us, that even when the intellectual energy of Greece +was signalizing itself by efforts which have commanded the admiration of +after ages, it should still remain a popular dogma in medicine "that +persons labouring under bodily infirmity, might be thrown into a state +of charmed torpor, in which, though destitute of any previous medical +knowledge, they would be enabled to ascertain the nature of their +malady, as well as of the diseases of others, and devise the means of +their cure." Upon this dogma was founded the mystery of incubations, or +the art of healing by visionary divination. + +It is not our object here to discuss whether a man can be capable of +divination: such a power, however, was assigned to him, not only by the +vulgar, but by the greater number of the philosophical sects of +antiquity; and it does appear to savour a little of temerity, that +Epicurus and the cynics should have ventured to reject a belief so +universally and strenuously maintained, and resting on an infinity of +traditions and accounts of prophets, in whom Greece had abounded from +her earliest times, and of whose divine gift of prophecy the firmest +conviction was currently entertained. Aeschylus, Plutarch, Apuleius, and +other Greek authors, bear ample testimony of this persuasion, and tell +us that by uncommon and irregular motions of the body intoxicating +vapours, or certain holy ejaculations, men might be thrown into an +enchanted trance; in which, being in a state between sleeping and +waking, they were unsusceptible of external impressions and obtaining a +glimpse of futurity, were gifted with the power of prophecy. Here their +allusion, however, only concerns the celebrated divinations of the +Pythia.[89] We must therefore, probe somewhat deeper, in order to +illustrate that species of divination which was the result of dreams, +and a source of divination on the nature of diseases and their remedies. + +This kind of superstition was in no less acceptation than the former +among the ancients, whose temples were constantly crowded with the sick, +and reverberated with their supplications for divinatory dreams, which +were regarded as an immediate gift from the gods. Indeed, the celestial +origin of dreams was universally admitted by the nations of antiquity, +and thence also their efficacy as oracles. Nothing could be more natural +than such an idea. From the crude and imperfect notions which long +prevailed with respect to the soul, it was scarcely possible for them to +ascribe the impressions, which their memory retained of the creation of +their fancy during their slumbers, to the instrumentality of their own +conceits; they could not fail therefore to impute them to the +interposition of some foreign agent, and to whom more naturally could +they refer them than to a divinity? When awake, they imagined themselves +always attended by the gods in person, and ascribed every thought, and +resolved every appearance or accident, which deviated from the common +course of nature, to the immediate influence of a superintending deity. +It was under such impressions that so many nations originally rested +their belief in divinatory dreams. The records of antiquity therefore +abound in instances (for the greater part of an early date) where the +actions of men have been the result of a dream, whose conceit was +entirely at variance with the real state of their affairs. It was not +long before the diversity of dreams awakened their attention: some were +connected and simple, others were obscure, and made up of curious +fancies, though not incapable of being resolved by the windings and +turnings of allegory. + +It was no unnatural transition from the received belief in dreams, to +the idea that they might become the medium of seeking instruction from +the gods: hence the institution of oracles, whose responses were given +in dreams; and the addition of sleeping chambers to many temples, such +as those in Epidaurus and at Oropos. Here it was, that after pious +ceremonies and prayers, men laid themselves down in expectation of +dreams; when the expectation was realized, though the dream proved ever +so confused or intricate, the dreamer always succeeded in reconciling +it to his circumstances: his own belief and priestly wiles, readily +effected the solution. The conceit of dreams, according to the votary's +wishes, was so powerfully promoted by the preparatory initiation he had +undergone, that it would have been somewhat extraordinary had he been +altogether disappointed. He was generally anxious to increase the fame +of his divinity by his dream, and possessed a high veneration and deep +impression of the miracles which that divinity had wrought. With these +predispositions he resorted to the temple, where he had a whole day +before him to ponder on his malady, and on every sort of remedy that +might have been suggested to him; how natural was it, therefore, for his +busy imagination to fix, in his sleep, upon one particular remedy more +forcibly than upon another? Add to this, the solemn lonely hour of night +was the appointed hour for his sleep, which was preceded by prayer and +other inspiring ceremonies, that would naturally elevate his devotion to +the highest pitch. He had also previously perambulated the temple, and +with a full heart surveyed the offerings of those whose sickness had +departed from them. + +If all these preparations were unavailing, the officiants of the temple +had still means in reserve, by which the credulous should be thrown into +that bodily state which was indispensable to the divinatory sleep: of +these, succeeding instances will be hereafter produced. In those days, +there were however, some men from whom the somniferous faculty was +withheld: they were, therefore, admonished to repeat their prayers and +oblations, in order to win the divinity's favour: and the ultimate and +customary resort was, if success did not crown his perseverance, to +pronounce it a token, that such patients were an eyesore to the +divinity. + +From this divinatory sleep, arose the vulgar expressions in Greece +[Greek: enkoimasdai], and [Greek: enkoimaesis][90] The latin terms are +_incubare_ and _incubatio_ an exact translation of the Greek words. It +appears, therefore, that the Romans and Greeks were equally acquainted +with the institution; though we find but very little mention made of it +by the Latin writers, yet this is no argument against its prevalence +among the Romans, as we are left with as scanty accounts of many other +superstitions which were in vogue amongst them. It is highly probable +that it was not by any means so popular in Rome as in Greece; and the +cause of this may, perhaps, be found in the reflecting disposition and +sober character of the haughty Roman, to which the light and volatile +temperament of the Grecian, formed so striking a contrast. + +That incubation was a ready means of diving into the future, needs no +demonstration. Although its practice was chiefly resorted to in cases +where medical aid was desired, it was still made use of in every other +case, in which the ancient oracles were consulted. Whether it arose in +Greece, or migrated thither from the East, is a point with which the +ancients have left us unacquainted, though they advert to its prevalence +amongst those who were called barbarians. Strabo has several instances +of it, and particularly mentions a place in the Caspian sea, where such +an oracle existed;[91] he also relates, in his celebrated account of +Moses, that this law-giver laid it down, in common with the priests of +Esculapius, that to those who led a chaste and virtuous life the deity +would vouchsafe prophetical visions in his sanctuary; but to those who +were of idle and impure habits, they would be denied.[92] + +Pomponius Mela even mentions a savage nation, in the interior of +Africa, who laid themselves down to sleep on the grave-stones of their +ancestors, and looked upon the dreams they had on those spots as oracles +from the dead.[93] We shall see, hereafter, that this superstition was +equally indigenous among the Egyptians. Although it be doubtful whether +the Greeks owed this species of divination to their own invention or +not, its existence may at least be traced as far as the earliest ages of +their history; notwithstanding no positive mention of it has been made +either by Homer or the authors following him. + +The oracular power of dreams, and the sanctuaries where they are +supposed to be dispersed, have been diffusely treated of in the +compilations of Van Dale and other learned writers. These species of +oracles were in high estimation, even in the most enlightened and +flourishing periods of Greece; it is somewhat singular, however, that no +people cherished them more devoutly than the Spartans, who depended +altogether upon oracles in their weightiest affairs of state. Of all the +civilized nations of Greece, Sparta always approved herself the most +superstitious; her advancement was rather the effect of her policy, than +of any stimulus given to her civilization by science. This consideration +will enable us to account for the powerful influence which, even in the +latest stages of Lacedemonian story, attached to the responses of +Passiphae, a local goddess of Thalame, but little known beyond the +confines of Laconia. The extent of their influence is particularly +evident in the history of Agis and Cleomenes.[94] + +The greater part of these somnambulistic oracles were ascribed to +persons who had distinguished themselves as great dreamers when on +earth. In old times there was a description of prophets who pretended to +prepare themselves for the foreboding of future events through the +medium of sacred dreams. They were classed under the appellation of +[Greek: Oneiroploi], to which rank the most celebrated Vates of the +heroic age belonged. In this way it was that a sacred spot was dedicated +to Calchus, whence he gave his responses in dreams after his decease: +this spot lay in Daunia, on the coast of the Adriatic. The supplicant's +offices began with the offering up of a ram, on whose skin he laid +himself down, and in this situation, received the instruction he sought +for.[95] Amphilocus, a contemporary soothsayer, who accompanied the +Epigoni in the first Theban war, had a similar oracle at Mallos, in +Cilicia, which Pausanias asserts, even at the close of the second +century, to have been the most credible of his age; it is also mentioned +by Dion Cassius, in his history of Commodus.[96] + +The most famous, however, of this class of oracles, was that of +Amphiaraus, the father of Amphilocus, which was one of the five +principal oracles of Greece; he had signalized himself as a sapient +soothsayer in the first Theban war; and his oracle was situated at +Oropos, on the borders of Boetia and Attica. Of all others this deserves +our most particular attention, as it was resorted to more frequently in +cases of infirmity and disease, than in any other circumstances. His +responses were always delivered in dreams, in whose interpretation, as +he was the first to possess that faculty. Pausanias says he received +divine honours. Those who repaired to Amphiaraus's oracle to supplicate +his aid, laid themselves down in the manner we have just related, after +several preparatory lustrations and sacrifices, on the skin of a ram +slain in honour of the god, and awaited the dreams, which were to +unfold the means of their different cures. + +Lustrations and sacrifices were not, however, the only preparatives for +inducing the visionary disposition. The priests subjected the patients +to various others, which Philostratus affirms[97] to have been very +instrumental towards rendering the sleeper's mind clear and unclouded. +Part of these preparatives consisted in one day's abstinence from +eating, and three, nay, even in some cases, fifteen days' abstinence +from wine, the common beverage of the Greeks. This was the practice also +with other oracles; nor were the priests in the meantime insensible to +their own interests on these occasions; for those who were cured by +Amphiaraus's revelations were permitted to bathe in the sacred waters of +a fountain, into which they were enjoined to cast pieces of gold and +silver, which were destined, most probably, to sweeten the labours of +his officiants. + +The oracles, whose intervention was principally or altogether sought for +the healing of the sick by means of divination founded on dreams, were +scattered over Greece, Italy, Egypt, and other countries. As regards +those of Egypt, it may be remarked, that although many of the Egyptians +believed there were thirty-six demons, or aerial deities, each of whom +had the care of a certain portion of the human frame, and when that +portion was diseased, would heal it on the patient's earnest prayer, yet +a variety of their oracles, such as those of Serapis, Isis, and Phthas, +the Hephaestos of the Greeks, appertained to the class, which is the +present object of our inquiry. + +The oracle Serapis was situated near Canopus; it was visited with the +highest veneration by the wealthiest and most illustrious Egyptians, and +contained ample records of miraculous cures which that god had performed +on sleepers.[98] Isis, it is said, effected similar cures in her +lifetime, whence it became her office, in her after state of +deification, to reveal in dreams the most efficacious remedies to the +sick. Indeed the healing powers of this goddess were such, that, as we +are told by Diodorus,[99] the remedies she prescribed never failed of +their effect, and that convalescents were daily seen returning from her +temple, many of whom had been abandoned as incurable by the physicians. + +The third oracle of the sick was consecrated to Phthas, and lay near +Memphis, but it is seldom mentioned by the ancients.[100] + +In Italy there existed two oracles, whose responses were imparted in +dreams, before the worship of Esculapius was introduced from Greece. One +of them only belongs to this place, that of the physician Podalirus, in +Daunia,[101] which is mentioned by Lycophron.[102] Subsequently it is well +known incubation was practised after the Grecian form in the Roman +temple of Aesculapius on the Insula Tiberina.[103] + +This description of oracles abounded throughout Greece; the most +memorable of which was that on the Asiatic coast, between Trattis and +Nyssa, which is more particularly described by Strabo than any other. +Not far from the town of Nyssa, says he, there is a place called +Charaka, where we find a grove and temple sacred to Pluto and +Proserpine, and close to the grove a subterraneous cave, of a most +extraordinary nature. It is related of it, that diseased persons, who +have faith in the remedies predicted by those deities, are accustomed to +resort to it and pass some time with experienced priests, who reside +near the cave. These priests lay themselves down to sleep in the cave, +and afterwards order such medicine as have been revealed to them there, +to be furnished to their patients in the temple. They frequently conduct +the sick themselves into the cave, where they remain for several days +together, without touching a morsel of food; nor are the profane +withheld from a participation in the _divinatory_ sleep, though this is +not permitted otherwise than under the controul, and with the sacred +sanction, of the priests. There is, however, nothing more surprising +about this place than that it is esteemed _noxious and fatal to the +healthy_.[104] This last remark of our geographer, proves how jealous the +priestly physicians were of their medical monopoly, and how fearful lest +the _saner_ part of mankind should detect and expose the pretended +virtues of their medical sanctuary. + +We have hitherto mentioned the name of Aesculapius but casually, though +there was no god of antiquity more celebrated for curing every species +of malady by the incubatory process. He was particularly designated by +the Greeks as "the sender of dreams," [Greek: Oneiropompon]; nor could +any other deity boast of so great a number of those oracles. The most +distinguished of these was the oracle of Epidaurus, in the Argivian +territory; from which spot his worship extended over a great proportion +of the old world;--hither, as being the place of his birth and the site +of his richest temple, crowds of sick persons constantly repaired in +quest of dreams. The success attending them was diligently set forth on +every wall of the temple; where the _tabulae votivae_ recorded the names +of those who had been healed, the nature of their maladies, and the cure +which the god prescribed. Similar circumstances are related of his +Temple at Triccae, in Thessaly, where Esculapius was held in great +veneration at a very early period; there appears also to have been +another such temple either at or near Athens,[105] where we must look for +the scene of the ridiculous cure which Aristophanes makes Aesculapius to +perform on the blind god of riches. Though there is undoubtedly a rich +vein of the burlesque in the Plutus of the Grecian dramatist, yet we may +gather much concerning our present subject from the scene in which the +slave, who had attended Plutus in the Temple, relates the whole process +of his master's wife. Here also the night was the chosen period of +incubation. Before the signal for sleep was given, the officiants of the +temple extinguished all the lights in the sick men's chamber; thus +involving them in a solemn stillness and obscurity highly favourable to +the work in hand, but in a particular manner to the subterfuge of the +priests, who enacted the nocturnal apparition of Aesculapius to his sick +client. + +This passage in Plutus is certainly the earliest circumstantial +relation we possess of the practice of this species of incubation.[106] +The license permitted to Grecian comedy was such as to authorise the +ridicule and contempt of the most popular deities; we are not, therefore +to conclude from the scenes that there were many unbelievers, or that +this ancient system of cure had sunk into disrepute: for the history of +our comedian's great contemporary, Hippocrates, informs us, that at this +very time the temple of Aesculapius at Cos abounded in tablets, on which +the sick attested the remedies that had been revealed to them during +incubation, and that he himself was highly indebted to them for much of +his medical knowledge. + +Were it not authenticated by the most undeniable testimonies, it would +appear incredible that the impostures of the disciples of Aesculapius, +and the common faith in his regenerative powers, should have survived +with equal potency and acceptation during the ages immediately +succeeding the Christian era. It must not however, be forgotten, that +these were the times also, when an infinity of superstitious of every +description disgraced the Roman world; although it would have appeared a +necessary consequence, that their prevalency should have been checked by +the increasing determination of learning and science. + +If at this period the number of dreaming patients had fallen off at Cos +and Epidaurus, the deficiency was amply compensated by the growing +popularity of Aesculapius's shrines at Rome, Pergamus, Alaea, Mallos, +and other places, where the ancient rituals were faithfully preserved. +The highest magistrates in the Roman states not only countenanced, but +patronised the superstition; Marcus Aurelius, by the friendship with +which he honoured the Paphlagonian imposter Alexander, and Caracalla, by +the journey he undertook to Pergamus, to obtain the cure of a disease +which inflicted him. This Alexander, the Cagliostro of his age, whose +memoirs have been handed down to us by Lucian, made shift to father a +new species of juggling upon the ancient process of incubation: for he +pretends that it was necessary for him to sleep for a night in the +sealed scrips which contain the queries he was to have resolved for +those who visited his oracle.[107] During this interval he dexterously +opened the scrips, and sealed them up again; pretending that the +responses which he delivered to the querists in the morning, had been +revealed to him by the deity in a dream. + +The priests of Aesculapius possessed a never failing source of +information on the recipes or votive tablets with which these temples +abounded. These were sometimes engraven on pillars, as at Epidaurus; of +which Pausanias says there were six remaining in his time, and besides +these, one in particular removed from the rest, on which it was recorded +that Hippolytus had sacrificed twenty horses, in return for his having +been restored to life by him. Five memorials only of this kind have +reached the present age. One of them is to be found in the beginning of +Galen's fifth book de Compos, medic.: it is taken from the temple of +Phthas, near Memphis, and is the least interesting of the whole. Its +subject is the use of the Diktamnus, borrowed from Heras of Cappadocia, +a medical writer, frequently quoted by Galen. The remaining four are +much more important: they were engraven on a marble slab,[108] of later +date at Rome, and are thought, with much probability, to have belonged +to the Aesculapian temple in the Insula Tiberina. The present +translation, in which some errors either of the artist or copyist are +rectified, is extracted from the first volume of Gruter's Corp. +Inscriptionum. The narrations are perspicuous and laconic. + +1. "In these latter days, a certain blind man, by name Caius, had this +oracle vouchsafed to him--'that he should draw near to the altar after +the manner of one who could see; then walk from right to left, lay the +five fingers of his right hand on the altar, then raise up his hand and +place it on his eyes.' And behold! the multitude saw the blind man open +his eyes, and they rejoiced, such splendid miracles should signalize the +reign of our Emperor Antoninus." + +2. "To Lucius, who was so wasted away by pains in his side, that all +doubted of his recovery, the god gave this response: 'Approach thou the +altar; take ashes from it, mix them up with wine and then lay thyself on +thy sore side.' And the man recovered, and openly returned thanks to the +god amidst the congratulations of the people." + +3. "To Julian who spitted blood, and was given over by every one, the +god granted this response: 'Draw near, take pine apples from off the +altar, and eat them with wine for three days. And the man got well, and +came and gave thanks in the presence of the people." + +4. "A blind soldier, Valerius Asper by name, received this answer from +the god: that he should mix the blood of a white cock with milk, make an +eye ointment therewith, and rub his eyes with it for three days. And lo! +the blind recovered his sight, and came, and publicly gave thanks to the +god." + +The success with which the Priests of Aesculapius carried on their +impostures, and the popularity which their dexterous management, no less +than the vulgar credulity obtained for them, will cease to surprise us +on maturer consideration. It could not be a difficult task for them to +give the minds of their patients whatever bias was best adapted to their +purposes. These credulous beings passed several days and nights in the +temple, and their imagination could not fail to be powerfully impressed +with what was diligently told them of the prescriptions and cures of +Aesculapius; nor to retain during their slumbers many lively impressions +of their meditations by day; their priestly nurses too were neither so +blind to their own interests, nor so careless of their reputations as to +omit the prescribing of such modes of diet and medical remedies as were +calculated to appease their patients' sufferings. Besides which, however +delusive and empirical their outward ceremonials and bold pretensions +might have been, we should remember, that priests, having some +acquaintance with the science of medicine, were generally selected to +officiate on those spots where the incubitary process[109] was the order +of the day. To this acquaintance were added the results of daily +experience, and the frequent opportunities which the incessant demands +of the infirm upon their skill afforded them of correcting previous +errors and improving their practical knowledge: of gradually +ascertaining the various kinds and appearances of human disorders; and +of digesting such data as would enable them, with the least possible +chance of failure, to prescribe the modes of cure and treatment suitable +to the various stages and species of the applicant's maladies. With such +means, it would have been not a little singular if the priests of +Aesculapius had failed in converting the popular veneration to his +credit and their own emolument. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[89] The Priestess of Apollo, by whom he delivered oracles. She was +called Pythia from the god himself, who was styled Apollo Pythius, from +his slaying the serpent Python. The Priestess was to be a pure virgin. +She sat on the covercle or lid of a brazen vessel, mounted on a tripod, +and thence, after a violent enthusiasm, she delivered his oracles; i.e. +she rehearsed a few ambiguous and obscure verses, which were taken for +oracles. + +[90] These words are but ill explained by the best Greek Lexicographers. +Servius ad Virg., Aen. vii. 88, says: _Incubare dicuntur proprie hic, +qui dormiunt accipienda responsa_. Tertullian de Anima, C. 49, thence +calls them _Incubatores fanorum_. + +[91] Lib. XI. p. 108. Paris, fol. 1620. + +[92] Ibid. lib. XVI. p. 761. + +[93] De situ orbis, lib. I. cap. 1. + +[94] Plutarch apud Agis et Cleomen. Cicero (de Div. 1. c. 48) probably +alludes to this oracle, when he says, that the Ephori of Sparta were +accustomed to sleep in the temple of Pasiphae on state emergencies. +There was a similar oracle in the neighbourhood of Thalame, not fur from +Aetylum, sacred to Ino. + +[95] Strabo, lib. VI. p, 284. + +[96] Pausanias, 1, 35. + +[97] De vita Apoll. Thyan, 11. 37. + +[98] Strabo, lib. xvii. p. 801. Anian. Exped. Alex, vii. 6. + +[99] In Egypt lib. I, 25. + +[100] Galen de comp. Med. p. Gen v. 2. + +[101] Podalirius and Machaon, the two sons of Esculapius. The state of +medicine at the time of the Trojan war was very imperfect, as we find +exemplified by these two acting as surgeons general to the Grecian army. +Their simple practice consisted chiefly in extracting darts or arrows, +in staunching blood by some infusion of bitter herbs, and sometimes they +added charms or incantations; which seemed to be a poetical way of +hinting, that frequently wounds were healed or diseases cured in a +manner unaccountable by any known properties they could discover either +in the effects of their rude remedies, or in the then known powers of +the human body to relieve itself. In Homer's description of the wound +which Ulysses, when young, received in his thigh from the tusk of an +enraged wild boar, the infusion of blood was stopped by divine +incantations and divine songs, and some sort of bandage which must have +acted by pressure. If any virtue could have acted as a charm, the very +verse that describes the wound might have as good a right to such a +claim as any other; but, in what manner the surgeons of ancient Greece, +before the discovery of the circulation of the blood, might apply +bandages for the purposes here mentioned, is not easily explained; +though doubtless these bandages must have acted like a tourniquet, which +is now the most effectual remedy for compressing a wounded artery, and +thereby stopping an hemorrhage. + +[102] Alexand. 1050. + +[103] Suet. Claid. c. 28. + +[104] Strabo. lib. xiii. Pausan. lib. ii. + +[105] Scholia ad Plut. v. 621 + +[106] Aristoph, Plut act. ii, sc. 6, and iii. sc 2. + +[107] Luciani, oper. t. ii. ed Reitzii. + +[108] It is often called by antiquaries _Tabella Marmorea apud +Maffaeos_, as it was first preserved in the collection. + +[109] It is somewhat singular, that Cicero's treatise on divination, as +well as the works of Hippocrates and Galen, should be so destitute of +information on the subject of a mode of cure which was of such long +standing, and so universally esteemed. From the two last, one should at +least have expected something more satisfactory: Cos being the +birthplace of the one, and Pergamus of the other. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +ON AMULETS, CHARMS, TALISMANS--PHILTERS, THEIR ORIGIN AND IMAGINARY +EFFICACY, ETC. + +Amulets are certain substances worn about the neck or other parts of the +body, under the superstitious impression of preventing diseases, of +curing, or removing them. + +The origin of amulets may be traced to the most remote ages of mankind. +In our researches to discover and fix the period when remedies were +first employed for the alleviation of bodily suffering, we are soon lost +in conjecture or involved in fable. We are unable, indeed, to reach the +period in any country, when the inhabitants were destitute of medical +resources, and even among the most uncultivated tribes we find medicine +cherished as a blessing and practised as an art. The feelings of the +sufferer, and the anxiety of those about him, must, in the rudest state +of society, have incited a spirit of industry and research to procure +ease, the modification of heat and cold, of moisture and dryness; and +the regulation and change of diet and habit, must intuitively have +suggested themselves for the relief of pain; and when these resources +failed, charms, amulets, and incantations, were the natural expedients +of the barbarians, ever more inclined to indulge the delusive hope of +superstition than to listen to the voice of sober reason. + +Traces of amulets may be discovered in very early history, though Dr. +Warburton is evidently in error when he fixes the origin of these +magical instruments to the age of the Ptolomies, which was not more than +three hundred years before Christ. This assertion is refuted by Galen, +who informs us the Egyptian King Nechepsus, who lived 630 years before +Christ, had written, that a green jasper cut into the form of a dragon +surrounded with rays, if applied externally, would strengthen the +stomach and organs of digestion. This opinion, moreover, is supported by +scripture: for what were the earrings which Jacob buried under the oak +of Sechem, as related in Genesis, but amulets. And Josephus in his +antiquities of the Jews,[110] informs us that Solomon discovered a plant +efficacious in the cure of epilepsy, and that he employed the aid of a +charm, for the purposes of assisting its virtues. The root of the herb +was concealed in a ring, which was applied to the nostrils of the +demoniac; and Josephus remarks that he saw himself a Jewish priest +practise the art of Solomon with complete success in the presence of the +Emperor Vespasian, his sons and the tribunes of the Roman army. From +this art of Solomon, exhibited through the medium of a ring or seal, we +have the Eastern stories which celebrate the seal of Solomon, and record +the potency of his sway over the various orders of demons or of genii, +who were supposed to be the invincible tormentors or benefactors of the +human race. + +Nor were such means confined to dark and barbarous ages. Theophrastus +pronounced Pericles to be insane in consequence of seeing him with an +amulet suspended from his neck. And in the declining era of the Roman +Empire, we find this superstitious custom so general that the Emperor +Caracalla was induced to make a public edict, ordering, that no man +should wear any superstitious amulets about his person. + +All remedies working as it were sympathetically, and plainly unequal to +the effect, may be termed amulets; whether used at a distance by another +person, or carried immediately about the patient. By the Jews, amulets +were called _kamea_, and by the Greeks _phylacteries_. The latins called +them _amuleta_ or _ligatura_; the catholics _agnus dei_, or consecrated +relics; and the natives of Guinea _fetishes_. Various kinds of +substances are employed by different people, and which they venerate and +suppose capable of preserving them from danger and infection, as well as +to remove disease when present. Plutarch says of Pericles, an Athenian +general, that when a friend come to see him, and inquired after his +health he reached out his hand and shewed him his amulet; by which he +meant to intimate the truth of his illness, and, at the same time, the +confidence he placed in these popular remedies. + +Amulets are still prevalent in catholic countries at the present day; +the Spaniards and Portuguese maintain their popularity. Among the Jews +they are equally venerated. Indeed, there are few instances of ancient +superstition some portion of which has not been preserved, and not +unfrequently have they been adopted by men of otherwise good +understanding, who plead in excuse, that they are innoxious, cost +little, and if they can do no good, they can do no harm. + +Lord Bacon, whom no one can suspect of ignorance, says, that if a man +wear a bone ring or a planet seal, strongly believing, by that means, +that he might obtain his mistress, and that it would preserve him unhurt +at sea, or in a battle, it would probably make him more active and less +timid; as the audacity they might inspire would conquer and bind weaker +minds in the execution of a peculiar duty. + + +AMULETS USED BY THE COMMON PEOPLE. + +A variety of things are worn about the person by the common people for +the cure of ague; and, upon whatever principle it may be accounted for, +whether by the imagination or a natural termination of the disease, many +have apparently been cured by them, where the Peruvian bark, the boasted +specific, had previously failed. Dr. Willis says that charms resisting +agues have often been applied to the wrist with success. ABRACADABRA, +written in a peculiar manner, that is, in the form of a cone, it is +said, has cured the ague; the herb lunaria, gathered by moon-light, has, +on some high authorities, performed surprising cures. Perhaps it was +gathered during the invocating influence of the following charm, which +may be found in the 12th book, chap. XIV. p. 177 of "Scot's discovery of +witchcraft," which is headed thus:-- + + "_Another charme that witches use at the gathering of + their medicinal herbs._" + + Haile be thou holy herbe, + Growing in the ground. + And in the mount Calvaire + First wert thou found. + Thou art good for many a sore, + And healest many a wound, + In the name of sweet Jesus + I take thee from the ground. + +We are told that Naaman was cured by dipping seven times in the river +Jordan. Certain formalities were also performed at the pool of Bethesda. +Dr. Chamberlayne's anodyne necklaces, were, for a length of time, +objects of the most anxious maternal solicitude, until their occult +virtues became lost by the reverence for them being destroyed; and those +which succeeded them have long since run their race or nearly so. + +The grey limewort was at one time supposed to have been a specific in +hydrophobia--that it not only cured those labouring under this disorder, +but by carrying it about the person, it was reputed to possess the +extraordinary power of preventing mad dogs from biting them. Calvert +paid devotions to St. Hubert for the recovery of his son, who was cured +by this means. The son also performed the necessary rites at the shrine, +and was cured not only of the hydrophobia "but of the worser phrensy +with which his father had instilled him." Cramp-rings were also used; +and eelskins to this day are tied round the legs as a preventive of this +spasmodic affection; and by laying sticks across the floor, on going to +bed, cramp has also been prevented. + +Numerous are the charms and incantations used at the present day for the +removal of warts, many cases of which are not a little surprising. And +we are told by Lord Verulam, who is allowed to have been as great a +genius as this country ever produced, that, when he was at Paris, he had +above a hundred warts on his hands; and that the English ambassador's +lady, then at court, and a woman far above superstition, removed them +all by only rubbing them with the fat side of the rind of a piece of +bacon, which they afterwards nailed to a post, with the fat side towards +the south. In five weeks, says my Lord, they were all removed. The +following are his Lordship's observations, in his own words, relative to +the power of amulets. After deep metaphysical observations on nature, +and arguing in mitigation of sorcery, witchcraft, and divination, +effects that far outstrip the belief in amulets, he observes "We should +not reject all of this kind, because it is not known how far those +contributing to superstition, depend on natural causes. Charms have not +the power from contract with evil spirits, but proceed wholly from +strengthening the imagination: in the same manner that images and their +influence, have prevailed on religion, being called from a different way +of use and application, sigils, incantations, and spells." + + +ECCENTRICITIES, CAPRICES, AND EFFECTS, OF THE IMAGINATION. + +A certain writer, apologizing for the irregularities of great genii, +delivers himself as follows: "The gifts of imagination bring the +heaviest task upon, the vigilance of reason; and to bear those faculties +with unerring rectitude or invariable propriety, requires a degree of +firmness and of cool attention, which does not always attend the higher +gifts of the mind. Yet, difficult as nature herself seems to have +reduced the task of regularity to genius, it is the supreme consolation +of dullness, to seize upon those excesses, which are the overflowings of +faculties they never enjoyed."[111] Are not the _gifts of imagination_ +mistaken here for the strength of passions? Doubtless, where strong +passions accompany great parts, as perhaps they often do, the +imagination may encrease their force and activity: but, where passions +are calm and gentle, imagination of itself should seem to have no +conflict but speculatively with reason. There, indeed, it wages an +eternal war; and, if not contracted and strictly regulated, it will +carry the patient into endless extravagancies. The term patient is here +properly used, because men, under the influence of imagination, are most +truly distempered. The degree of this distemper will be in proportion to +the prevalence of imagination over reason, and, according to this +proportion, amount to more or less of the whimsical; but when reason +shall become, as it were, extinct, and imagination govern alone, then +the distemper will be madness under the wildest and most fantastic +modes. Thus, one of those invalids, perhaps, shall be all sorrow for +having been most unjustly deprived of the crown; though his vocation, +poor man! be that of a school-master. Another, like Horace's madman, is +all joy; and it may seem even cruelty to cure him. + +The operations and caprices of the imagination are various and endless; +and, as they cannot be reduced to regularity or system, so it is highly +improbable that any certain method of cure should ever be found out for +them. It has generally been thought, that matter of fact might most +successfully be opposed to the delusions of imagination, as being proof +to the senses, and carrying conviction unavoidably to the understanding; +but we rather suspect, that the understanding or reasoning faculty, has +little to do in all these cases: at least so it should seem from the two +following facts, which are by no means badly attested. + +Fienus, in his curious little book, _de Viribus Imaginationis_, records +from Donatus the case of a man, who fancied his body encreased to such a +size, that he durst not attempt to pass through the door of his chamber. +The physician believing that nothing could more effectually cure this +error of imagination, than to shew that the thing could actually be +done, caused the patient to be thrust forcibly through it: who, struck +with horror, and falling suddenly into agonies, complained of being +crushed to pieces, and expired soon after.[112] + +The other case, as related by Van Swieten, in his commentaries upon +Boerhaave, is that of a learned man, who had studied, till be fancied +his legs to be of glass: in consequence of which he durst not attempt to +stir, but was constantly under anxiety about them. His maid bringing one +day some wood to the fire, threw it carelessly down; and was severely +reprimanded by her master, who was terrified not a little for his legs +of glass. The surly wench, out of all patience with his megrims, as she +called them, gave him a blow with a log upon the parts affected; which +so enraged him, that he instantly rose up, and from that moment +recovered the use of his legs.--Was reason concerned any more here; or +was it not rather one blind impulse acting against another? + +Imagination has, unquestionably, a most powerful effect upon the mind, +and in all these miraculous cures, is by far the strongest ingredient. +Dr. Strother says, "The influence of the mind and passions works upon +the mind and body in sensible operations like a medicine, and is of far +the greater force than exercise. The countenance betrays a good or +wicked intention; and that good or wicked intention will produce in +different persons a strength to encounter, or a weakness to yield to the +preponderating side." Dr. Brown says, "Our looks discover our passions, +there being mystically in our faces certain characters, which carry in +them the motto of our souls, and, therefore, probably work secret +effects in other parts." This idea is beautifully illustrated by Garth +in his Dispensatory, in the following lines:-- + + "Thus paler looks impetuous rage proclaim, + And chilly virgins redden into flame. + See envy oft transformed in wan disguise, + And mirth sits gay and smiling in the eyes, + Oft our complexions do the soul declare, + And tell what passions in the features are. + Hence 'tis we look the wond'rous cause to find, + How body acts upon impassive mind." + +On the power and pleasure of the imagination, from the pleasures and +pains it administers here below, Addison concludes that God, who knows +all the ways of afflicting us, may so transport us hereafter with such +beautiful and glorious visions, or torment us with such hideous and +ghastly spectres, as might even of themselves suffice to make up the +entire heaven or hell of any future being. + + +DOCTRINE OF EFFLUVIA--MIRACULOUS CURES BY MEANS OF CHARMS, AMULETS, +ETC. + +Dr. Willis, in his Treatise on nervous disorders, does not hesitate to +recommend amulets in epileptic disorders. "Take," says he, "some fresh +peony roots, cut them into square bits, and hang them round the neck, +changing them as often as they dry." It is not improbable that the hint +was taken from this circumstance for the anodyne necklaces, which, some +time ago, were in such repute, as the Doctor, some little way further +on, prescribes the same root for the looseness, fevers, and convulsions +of children, during the time of teething, mixed, to make it appear more +miraculous, with some elk's hoof. + +St. Vitus's dance is said to have been cured by the afflicted person +paying a visit to the tomb of the saint, near Ulm, every May. Indeed, +there is no little reason in this assertion; for exercise and change of +air will change many obstinate diseases. The bite of the tarantula is +cured by music; and this only by certain tunes. Turner, whose ideas are +so extravagantly absurd, where he asserts, that the symptoms of +hydrophobia may not appear for forty years after the bite of the dog, +and who maintains that "the slaver or breath of such a dog is +infectious;" and that men bitten by mad dogs, will bite like dogs again, +and die mad; although he laughs at the anodyne necklaces, argues much in +the same manner. It is not, indeed, so very strange that the effluvia +from external medicines entering our bodies, should effect such +considerable changes, when we see the efficient cause of apoplexy, +epilepsy, hysterics, plague, and a number of other disorders, consists, +as it were, in imperceptible vapours.--Blood-stone (Lapis Aetites) +fastened to the arm by some secret means, is said to prevent abortion. +Sydenham, in the iliac passion, orders a live kitten to be constantly +applied to the abdomen; others have used pigeons split alive, applied to +the soles of the feet, with success, in pestilential fevers and +convulsions. It was doubtless the impression that relief might be +obtained by external agents, that the court of king David advised him to +seek a young virgin, in order that a portion of the natural heat might +be communicated to his body, and give strength to the decay of nature. +"Take the heart and liver of the fish and make a smoke, and the devil +shall smell it and flee away." During the plague at Marseilles, which +Belort attributed to the larvae of worms infecting the saliva, food, and +chyle; and which, he says, "were hatched by the stomach, took their +passage into the blood, at a certain size, hindering the circulation, +affecting the juices and solid parts." He advised amulets of mercury to +be worn in bags suspended at the chest and nostrils, either as a +safeguard, or as means of cure; by which method, through the +_admissiveness_ of the pores, effluvia specially destructive of all +venomous insects, were received into the blood. "An illustrious prince," +Belort says, "by wearing such an amulet, escaped the small-pox." + +Clognini, an Italian physician, ordered two or three drachms of crude +mercury to be worn as a defensive against the jaundice; and also as a +preservative against the noxious vapours of inclement seasons: "It +breaks," he observes, "and conquers the different figured seeds of +pestilential distempers floating in the air; or else, mixing with the +air, kills them where hatched." By others, the power of mercury, in +these cases, has been ascribed to an elective faculty given out by the +warmth of the body, which draws out the contagious particles. For, +according to this entertained notion, all bodies are continually +emitting effluvia, more or less, around them, and some whether they are +internal or external. The Bath waters, for instance, change the colour +of silver in the pocket of those who use them. Mercury produces the same +effect; Tartar emetic, rubbed on the pit of the stomach, produces +vomiting. Yawning and laughing are infectious; so are fear and shame. +The sight of sour things, or even the idea of them, will set the teeth +on edge. Small-pox, itch, and other diseases, are contagious; if so, say +they, mercurial amulets bid fair to destroy the germ of some complaints +when used only as an external application, either by manual attrition, +or worn as an amulet. But medicated or not, all amulets are precarious +and uncertain, and in the cure of diseases are, by no means, to be +trusted to. + +The Barbary Moors, and generally throughout the Mahommedan dominions, +the people are strikingly attached to charms, to which, and nature, they +leave the cure of almost every disorder; and this is the most strongly +impressed upon them from their belief in predestination, which, +according to their creed, stipulates the evil a man is to suffer, as +well as the length of time it is ordained he should live upon the land +of his forefathers; consequently they imagine that any interference from +secondary means would avail them nothing, an opinion said to have been +entertained by William III, but one by no means calculated for nations, +liberty, and commerce; upon the principle that when the one was +entrenched upon, men would probably be more sudden in their revenge, and +dislike physic and occupation; and when actuated with religious +enthusiasm, nothing could stand them in any service. + +The opinion of an old navy surgeon,[113] on the subject, is worth +recording here. "A long and intense passion on one object, whether of +pride, love, fear, anger, or envy, we see have brought on some universal +tremors; on others, convulsions, madness, melancholy, consumption, +hectics, or such a chronical disorder as has wasted their flesh, or +their strength, as certainly as the taking in of any poisonous drugs +would have done. Anything frightful, sudden, or surprising, upon soft, +timorous natures, not only shews itself in the continuance, but produces +sometimes very troublesome consequences--for instance, a parliamentary +fright will make even grown men _bewray_ themselves, scare them out of +their wits, turn the hair grey. Surprise removes the hooping cough; +looking from precipices or seeing wheels turn swiftly will give +giddiness. Shall then these little accidents, or the passions, (from +caprice or humour, perhaps,) produce those effects, and not be able to +do anything by amulets? No; as the spirits, in many cases, resort in +plenty, we find where the fancy determines, giving joy and gladness to +the heart, strength and fleetness to the limbs, and violent +palpitations. To amulets, under strong imagination, is carried with more +force to a distempered part, and, under these circumstances, its natural +powers exert better to a discussion. + +"The cures compassed in this manner," says our author, "are not more +admirable than many of the distempers themselves. Who can apprehend by +what impenetrable method the bite of a mad dog, or tarantula, can +produce these symptoms? The touch of a torpedo numbness? If they are +allowed to do these, doubtless they may the other; and not by miracles, +which Spinoza denies the possibility of, but by natural and regular +causes, though inscrutable to us. The best way, therefore, in using +amulets, must be in squaring them to the imagination of patients: let +the newness and surprise exceed the invention, and keep up the humour by +a long scroll of cures and vouchers; by these and such means, many +distempers have been cured. Quacks again, according to their boldness +and way of addressing (velvet and infallibility particularly) command +success by striking the fancies of an audience. If a few, more sensible +than the rest, see the doctor's miscarriages, and are not easily gulled +at first sight, yet, when they see a man is never ashamed, in time, jump +in to his assistance." + +There is much truth and pertinence in some of the above remarks, and +they apply nearly to the general practice of the present day. The farces +and whims of people require often as much discrimination on the part of +the physician as the disease itself. Those who know best how to flatter +such caprices, are frequently the best paid for their trouble. Nervous +diseases are always in season, and it is here that some professional +dexterity is pardonable. Nature, when uninterrupted, will often do more +than art; but our inability upon all occasions to appreciate the efforts +of nature in the cure of diseases, must always render our notion, with +respect to the powers faith, liable to numerous errors and deceptions. +There is, in fact, nothing more natural, and at the same time more +erroneous, than to lay the cure of a disease to the door of the last +medicine that had been prescribed. By these means the advocates of +amulets and charms, have ever been enabled to appeal to the testimony of +what they are pleased to call experience in justification of their +pretensions, and egregious superstitions; and cases which, in truth, +ought to have been classed, or rather designated, as lucky escapes, have +been triumphantly pulled off as skilful cures; and thus, medicines and +medical practitioners, have alike received the meed of unmerited praise, +or the stigma of unjust censure. Of all branches of human science, +medicine is one of the most interesting to mankind: and, accordingly as +it is erroneously or judiciously cultivated, is evidently conducive to +the prejudice or welfare of the public. Of how great consequence is it, +then, that our endeavours should be exerted in stemming the propagation +of errors, whether arising from ignorance, or prompted by motives of +base cupidity, in giving assistance to the disseminations of useful +truths, and to the perfection of ingenious discoveries. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[110] Lib. viii. chap. 2. 5. + +[111] Langhorne's Life of Mr. Collins + +[112] Reverii Praxis Medica, p. 188. + +[113] John Ailkin, author of the Navy Surgeon, 1742. Sec Demonologia, p. +64 et seg. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +ON TALISMANS--SOME CURIOUS, NATURAL ONES, ETC. + +The Egyptian amulets are not so ancient as the Babylonian talismans, but +in their uses they were exactly similar. Some little figures, supposed +to have been intended as charms, have been found on several mummies, +which, at various times, have been brought to Europe. Plutarch informs +us that the soldiers wore rings, on which the representation of an +insect resembling our beetle, was inscribed; and we learn from Aelian, +that the judges had always suspended round their necks a small figure of +Truth formed of emeralds. The superstitious belief in the virtues of +talismans is yet far from being extinct, the Copths, the Arabians, the +Syrians, and, indeed, almost all the inhabitants of Asia, west of the +Ganges, whether Christians or mahometans, still use them against +possible evils. + +There is little distinction between talismans, amulets and the +gree-grees of the Africans as regards their pretended efficacy; though +there is some in their external configuration. Magical figures, engraven +or cut under superstitious observances of the characterisms and +configurations of the heavens, are called talismans; to which +astrologers, hermetical philosophers, and other adepts, attribute +wonderful virtues, particularly that of calling down celestial +influences.[114] + +The talismans of the Samothracians, so famous of old, were pieces of +iron formed into certain images, and set in rings. They were reputed as +preservatives against all kinds of evils. There were other talismans +taken from vegetables, and others from minerals. Three kinds of +talismans were usually distinguished 1st. the _astronomical_ known by +the signs or constellations of the heavens engraven upon them, with +other figures, and some unintelligible characters; 2nd. the _magical_, +bearing very extraordinary figures, with superstitious words and names +of angels unheard of; 3rd. the _mixt_ talismans, which consist of signs +and barbarous words; but without any superstitious ones, or names of +angels. + +It has been asserted and maintained by some Rabins, that the brazen +serpent raised by Moses in the wilderness, for the destruction of the +serpents that annoyed the Israelites, was properly a talisman. All the +miraculous things wrought by Apollonius Tyanaeus are attributed to the +virtue and influence of _talismans_; and that wizard, as he is called, +is even said to be the inventor of them. Some authors take several +Runic medals,--medals, at least, whose inscriptions are in the Runic +characters,--for talismans, it being notorious that the northern +nations, in their heathen state, were much devoted to them, M. Keder, +however has shown, that the medals here spoken of are quite other things +than talismans. + +It appears from the Evangelists[115] that, when St. Paul, after he had +been shipwrecked, and escaped to the island of Malta, a viper fastened +on his hand as he was laying a bundle of sticks, he had gathered, on the +fire; and that, by a miracle, and to the great astonishment of the +spectators, inhabitants of the island, he not only suffered no harm, but +also cured, by the divine power, the chief of the island, and a great +number of others, of very dangerous maladies. There remain still in that +island, as so many trophies gained by the Apostle over that venemous +beast, a great many small stones representing the eyes and tongues of +serpents, and considered for several centuries past, as powerful amulets +against different sorts of distempers and poisons. As the virtue of +these stones is still much boasted of by the Maltese, and as some, on +the contrary, maintain that they are the petrified teeth of a fish +called lamia, it will not be irrelevant here to relate some observations +from the best authors on this interesting subject, so much to our +purpose. + +It is said that those eyes and tongues of serpents are only found by the +Maltese when they dig into the earth, which is whitish throughout the +island, or draw up stone, especially about the cave of St. Paul. This +stone is so soft, that, like clay, it may be cut through with any sharp +instrument, and made to receive easily different figures, for building +the walls of their houses and ramparts; but, when it has been imbibed +with a sufficient quantity of rain or well water, it changes into a +flint that resists the cutting of the sharpest instrument: whence the +houses that are built of it in the two cities, appear as hewn out of one +solid rock, and become harder, the more they are exposed to the +inclemencies of the weather. This hardness may, with good reason, be +ascribed to the salt of nitre, which contracts a certain viscidity from +the rain wherewith it is mixed, and which easily penetrates into these +stones, because their substance is spongy and cretaceous, and adheres to +the tongue as hartshorn. + +It is in these stones that not only the eyes and tongues of serpents are +found, but also their viscera and other parts: as lungs, liver, heart, +spleen, ribs, and so resembling life, and with such natural colours, +that one may well doubt whether they are the work of nature or art; the +figure of the eyes and tongues is very different. Some are elliptic, +but, for the greater part round: some represent an hemisphere, others a +segment, others an hyperbola. The glossopetrae are naturally of a conic +figure, representing acute, obtuse, regular, and irregular cones. They +are also of different colours, especially the eyes; for some of them are +of an ash-colour, others liver colour, some brown, others blackish; but +these, as most rare, are most esteemed. Bracelets are frequently made +of them and set in gold: some representing an entire eye with a white +pupil, and these are the most beautiful. Several are likewise found of +an orange colour. + +The virtues attributed by the Maltese to those eyes and tongues, and to +the white earth which is found in the island, particularly in St. Paul's +cave, and which is kept for use by the apothecaries, as the American +bole, are very singular; for they reckon them not only a preservative +against all sorts of poison, and an efficacious remedy for those who +have taken poison, but also good in a number of diseases. They are taken +internally, infused in water, wine, or in any other convenient liquor; +or let to lie for some hours in vessels made of the white earth; or the +white earth is taken itself dissolved in those liquors. The eyes set as +precious stones in rings, and so as to touch immediately the flesh, are +worn by the inhabitants on the fingers; but the tongues are fastened +about the arm, or suspended from the neck. + +Paul Bucconi, a Sicilian nobleman, treated this notion of the eyes and +tongues of serpents as a mere vulgar error; and maintains that they +either constitute a particular species of stone produced in the earth, +or in the stones of the island of Malta, as in their matrix; or that +they are nothing more than the petrified teeth of some marine fish; +which is also the opinion of Fabius Columna, Nicholas Steno and other +physicians and anatomists. + +It seems to this noble author that the glossopetrae should be classed in +the animal kingdom, because, being burnt, they are changed into cinders +as bones, before they are reduced into a calx or ashes, whilst calcined +stones are immediately reduced into a calx. He further says, that the +roots of the glossopetrae are often found broken in different ways, +which is an evident argument that they have not been produced by nature, +in the place they are digged out of, because nature forms other fossils, +figured entirely in their matrix, without any hurt or mutilation. Add to +this, that the substance is different in different parts of the +glossopetrae; solid at the point, less solid at the root, compact at the +surface, porous and fibrous in the interior: besides, the polished +surface, contrary to the custom of nature, which forms no stone, whether +common or precious, is polished; and, lastly, the figure that varies +different ways, as well as the size, being found great, broad, +triangular, narrow, small, very small, pyramidal, straight, curved +before, behind, to the right and to the left, in form of a saw with +small teeth, furnished with great jags or notches, and frequently +absolutely pyramidal without notches; all these particulars favour his +opinion. But, as he thence believes he has proved that the glossopetrae +should not be classed amongst stones, so also what he has said may prove +that they are the natural teeth of those fishes, which are called, by +lithographers, lamia, aquila, requiem, (shark) etc. and therefore there +scarce remains any reason for a further doubt on this head. + +There are representations of curiosities, which we shall give an account +of from the Ephemerides of the Curious. It is customary to see at +Batavia, in the island of Java, the figure of serpents impressed on the +shells of eggs, Andrew Cleyerus, a naturalist of considerable note, +says, that when he was at Batavia in 1679, he had seen himself, on the +14th of September, an egg newly laid by a hen, of the ordinary size, but +representing very exactly, towards the summit of the other part of the +shell, the figure of a serpent and all its parts, not only the +lineaments of the serpent were marked on the surface, but the three +dimensions of the body were as sensible as if they had been engraved by +an able sculptor, or impressed on wax, plaister or some other like +matter. One could see very plainly the head, ears, and a cloven tongue +starting out of the throat; the eyes were sparkling and resplendent, and +represented so perfectly the interior and exterior of the parts of the +eye, with their natural colours, that they seemed to behold with +astonishment the eyes even of the spectators. To account for this +phenomenon, it may be supposed that, the hen being near laying, a +serpent presented itself to her sight, and that her imagination, struck +thereby, impressed the figure of the serpent on the egg that was ready +to press out of the ovarium. + +An egg equally wonderful, was laid by a hen at Rome on the 14th. of +December, 1680. The famous comet that appeared then on the head of +Andromeda, with other stars, were seen represented on its shell. +Sebastian Scheffer says, that he had seen an egg with the representation +of an eclipse on it. Signor Magliabecchi, in his letter to the academy +of the Curious, on the 20th. of October 1682, has these words; "Last +month I had sent me from Rome, a drawing of an egg found at Tivoli, with +the impression of the sun and the transparent comet with a twisted +tail." + +There are also representations of Indian nuts, or small cocos, with the +head of an ape. The nut has been exactly engraved in the Ephemerides of +the Curious, both as to size and form, and covered with its shell, as +expressed there by cyphers and other figures which represent the same +nut stripped of its covering, and exhibiting the head of an ape. This +nut seems pretty much like the foreign fruit described by Clusius, +Exoticorum lib. a, which John Bauhin (Hist. Plant. Universal Lib. 3) +retaining the description of Clusius, calls, "a nut resembling the +areca," and which C. Bauhin (Pinac. lib. II, sect. 6) calls, the fruit +of the fourteenth of Palm-tree, that bears nuts, or a foreign fruit of +the same sort as the areca. + +This fruit with its shell, is, as Clusius says, an inch and a half in +length, but is somewhat more than an inch thick. Its shell or +membraneous covering, is about the thickness of the blade of a knife, +and outwardly of an ash colour mixed with brown. Clusius was in the +right to say, that the shell of this nut was formed of several fibrous +parts, but those fibres resemble rather those of the shell of a coco, +than the fibrous parts of the back of the areca nut. He, moreover, has +very properly observed, that this shell is armed, at its lower part, +with a double calyx and that the opposite part terminates in a point; +but it is necessary to observe, that this point is not formed by the +prolongation of the shell, as the figure he has given of it seems to +specify; but that from the middle of the upper part of the fruit, there +juts out a sort of small needle. + +The shell being taken off, the nut is found to be hard, ligneous, +oblong, of unequal surface, furrowed, and of a chesnut yellow. One of +its extremities is roundish, and the other, by the reunion and +prolongation of three sorts of tubercles, terminates in a point; those +protuberances being so formed, that the middlemost placed between the +two others, has the appearance of a nose, and the two lateral +protuberances resemble flat lips. On each side of that which forms what +we call the nose, a small hole or nook is perceived, capable of +containing a pea; but does not penetrate deep, and is surrounded with +black filaments, sometimes like eye-brows and eyelashes, so that the nut +on that side resembles an ape or a hare. + +This _lusus naturae_, or sport of nature, has a very pretty effect, but +is oftener found in stones than other substances. A great variety of +such rare and singular productions of nature may be seen at the British +Museum: but nothing can be more extraordinary in this respect than what +is related concerning the agate of Pyrrhus, which represented, +naturally, Apollo holding a lyre, with the nine muses distinguished each +by their attributes. In all probability, there is great exaggeration in +this fact, for we see nothing of the kind that comes near this +perfection. However, it is said, that, at Pisa, in the church of St. +John, there is seen, on a stone, an old hermit perfectly painted by +nature, sitting near a rivulet, and holding a bell in his hand; and +that, in the temple of St. Sophia, at Constantinople, there is to be +seen, on a white sacred marble, an image of St. John the Baptist, +cloaked with a camel's skin, but so far defective that nature has given +him but one foot. + +There is an instance in the Mercury of France, for July 1730, of some +curious sports of nature on insects. The rector of St. James at Land, +within a league of Rennes, found in the month of March, 1730, in the +church-yard, a species of butterfly, about two inches long, and +half-an-inch broad, having on its head the figure of a death's-head, of +the length of one nail, and perfectly imitating those that are +represented on the church ornaments which are used for the office of the +dead. Two large wings were spotted like a pall, and the whole body +covered with a down, or black hair, diversified with black and yellow, +bearing some resemblance to yellow. + +These freaks of nature are equally extended to animate as to inanimate +bodies; and the human species, as well as the brute creation, affords +numerous specimens, not only of redundance and deficiency in her work, +but a variety of other phenomena not well understood. The march of +intellect, however, it is to be hoped, will be as successful in this +instance, as in obliterating the hobgoblins of astrologers and quacks +who so long have ruled the destiny and health of their less sagacious +fellow-creatures;--and when the public shall become persuaded of the +advantages which science may derive from occurrences similar to those we +shall enumerate in the next chapter, it will be more disposed to offer +them to the consideration of scientific men. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[114] The author of a book, entitled "_Talismans justifiés_" pronounces +a talisman to be the seal, figure, character, or image of a heavenly +sign, constellation or planet, engraven on a sympathetic stone, or on a +metal corresponding to the star, etc. in order to receive its +influences. + +[115] Acts of the Apostles, chap. xxviii. v. 3. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +ON THE MEDICINAL POWERS ATTRIBUTED TO MUSIC BY THE ANCIENTS. + +The power of music over the human mind, as well as its influence on the +animal creation, has been variously attested; and its curative virtues +have been no less extolled by the ancients.[116] Martianus Capella assures +us, that fevers were removed by songs, and that Asclepiades cured +deafness by the sound of the trumpet. Wonderful indeed! that the same +noise which would occasion deafness in some, should be a specific for it +in others! It is making the viper cure its own bite. But, perhaps +Asclepiades was the inventor of the _acousticon_, or ear-trumpet, which +has been thought a modern discovery; or of the speaking-trumpet, which +is a kind of cure for distant deafness. These would be admirable proofs +of musical power![117] We have the testimony of Plutarch, and several +other ancient writers, that Thaletas the Cretan, delivered the +Lacedemonians from the pestilence by the sweetness of his lyre. + +Xenocrates, as Martianus Capella further informs us, employed the sound +of instruments in the cure of maniacs; and Apollonius Dyscolus, in his +fabulous history (Historia Commentitia) tells us, from Theophrastus's +Treatise upon Enthusiasm, that music is a sovereign remedy for a +dejection of spirits, and disordered mind; and that the sound of the +flute will cure epilepsy and the sciatic gout. Athenaeus quotes the same +passage from Theophrastus, with this additional circumstance, that, as +to the second of these disorders, to render the cure more certain, the +flute should play in the Phrygian mode. But Aulus Gellius, who mentions +this remedy, seems to administer it in a very different manner, by +prescribing to the flute-player a soft and gentle strain, _si modulis +lenibus_ says he, _tibicen incinet_: for the Phrygian mode was +remarkably vehement and furious. + +This is what Coelius Aurelianus calls _loca dolentia decantare_, +enchanting the disordered places. He even tells us how the enchantment +is brought about upon these occasions, in saying that the pain is +relieved by causing a vibration of the fibres of the afflicted part. +Galen speaks seriously of playing the flute on the suffering part, upon +the principle, we suppose, of a medicated vapour bath. + +The sound of the flute was likewise a specific for the bite of a viper, +according to Theophrastus and Democritus, whose authority Aulus Gellius +gives for his belief of the fact. But there is nothing more +extraordinary among the virtues attributed to music by the ancients, +than what Aristotle relates in its supposed power of softening the +rigour of punishment. The Tyrhenians, says he, never scourge their +slaves, but by the sound of flutes, looking upon it as an instance of +humanity to give some counterpoise to pain, and thinking by such a +diversion to lessen the sum total of the punishment. To this account may +be added a passage from Jul. Pallus, by which we learn, that in the +_triremes_, or vessels with three banks of oars, there was always a +_tibicen_, or flute-player, not only to mark the time, or cadence for +each stroke of the oar, but to sooth and cheer the rowers by the +sweetness of the melody. And from this custom Quintilian took occasion +to say, that music is the gift of nature, to enable us the more +patiently to support toil and labour.[118] + +These are the principal passages which antiquity furnishes, relative to +the medicinal effects of music; in considering which, reliance is placed +on the judgment of M. Burette, whose opinions will come with the more +weight, as he had not only long made the music of the ancients his +particular study, but was a physician by profession. This writer, in a +dissertation on the subject, has examined and discussed many of the +stories above related, concerning the effects of music in the cure of +diseases. He allows it to be possible, and even probable, that music, by +reiterated strokes and vibrations given to the nerves, fibres, and +animal spirits, may be of use in the cure of certain diseases; yet he by +no means supposes that the music of the ancients possessed this power in +a greater degree than the modern music, but rather that a very coarse +and vulgar music is as likely to operate effectually on such occasions +as the most refined and perfect. The savages of America pretend to +perform these cures by the music and jargon of their imperfect +instruments; and in Apulia, where the bite of the tarantula is pretended +to be cured by music, which excites a desire to dance, it is by an +ordinary tune, very coarsely performed.[119] + +Baglivi refines on the doctrine of effluvia, by ascribing his cures of +the bite of the tarantula to the peculiar undulation any instrument or +tune makes by its strokes in the air; which, vibrating upon the external +parts of the patient, is communicated to the whole nervous system, and +produces that happy alteration in the solids and fluids which so +effectually contributes to the cure. The contraction of the solids, he +says, impresses new mathematical motions and directions to the fluids; +in one or both of which is seated all distempers, and without any other +help than a continuance of faith, will alter their quality; a philosophy +as wonderful and intricate as the nature of the poison it is intended to +expel; but which, however, supplies this observation, that, if the +particles of sound can do so much, the effluvia of amulets may do more. + +Credulity must be very strong in those who believe it possible for music +to drive away the pestilence. Antiquity, however, as mentioned above, +relates that Thaletas, a famous lyric poet, contemporary with Solon, was +gifted with this power; but it is impossible to render the fact +credible, without qualifying it by several circumstances omitted in the +relation. In the first place, it is certain, that this poet was received +among the Lacedemonians during the plague, by command of an oracle: that +by virtue of this mission, all the poetry of the hymns which he sung, +must have consisted of prayers and supplications, in order to avert the +anger of the gods against the people, whom he exhorted to sacrifices, +expiations, purifications, and many other acts of devotion, which, +however superstitious, could not fail to agitate the minds of the +multitude, and to produce nearly the same effects as public fasts, and, +in catholic countries, processions, as at present, in times of danger, +by exalting the courage, and by animating hope. The disease having, +probably, reached its highest pitch of malignity when the musician +arrived, must afterwards have become less contagious by degrees; till, +at length, ceasing of itself, by the air wafting away the seeds of +infection, and recovering its former purity, the extirpation of the +disease was attributed by the people to the music of Thaletas, who had +been thought the sole mediator, to whom they owed their happy +deliverance. + +This is exactly what Plutarch means, who tells the story; and what Homer +meant, in attributing the curation of the plague among the Greeks, at +the siege of Troy, to music: + + With hymns divine the joyous banquet ends, + The Poeans lengthen'd till the sun descends: + The Greeks restor'd, the grateful notes prolong; + Apollo listens and approves the song.[120] + +For the poet in these lines seems only to say, that Apollo was rendered +favourable, and had delivered the Greeks from the scourge with which +they were attacked, in consequence of Chriseis having been restored to +her father, and of sacrifices and offerings. + +M. Burette thinks it easy to conceive, that music may be really +efficacious in relieving, if not in removing, the pains of sciatica; and +that independent of the greater or less skill of the musician. He +supposes this may be effected in two different ways: first, by +flattering the ear, and diverting the attention; and, secondly, by +occasioning oscillations and vibrations of the nerves, which may, +perhaps, give motions to the humours, and remove the obstructions which +occasion this disorder. In this manner the action of musical sounds +upon the fibres of the brain and animal spirits, may sometimes soften +and alleviate the sufferings of epileptics and lunatics, and calm even +the most violent fits of these two cruel disorders. And if antiquity +affords examples of this power, we can oppose to them some of the same +kind said to have been effected by music, not of the most exquisite +sort. For not only M. Burette, but many modern philosophers, physicians, +and anatomists, as well as ancient poets and historians, have believed, +that music has the power of affecting, not only the mind, but the +nervous system, in such a manner as will give a temporary relief in +certain diseases, and, at length, even operate a radical cure. + +In the Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences for 1707 and 1708, we meet +with many accounts of diseases, which, after having resisted and baffled +all the most efficacious remedies in common use, had, at length, given +way to the soft impressions of harmony. M. de Mairan, in the Memoirs of +the same Academy, 1737, reasons upon the medicinal powers of music in +the following manner:--"It is from the mechanical and involuntary +connexion between the organ of hearing, and the consonances excited in +the outward air, joined to the rapid communication of the vibrations of +this organ to the whole nervous system, that we owe the cure of +spasmodic disorders, and of fevers attended with a delirium and +convulsions, of which our Memoirs furnish many examples." + +The late learned Dr. Branchini, professor of physic at Udine, collected +all the passages preserved in ancient authors, relative to the medicinal +application of music, by Asclepiades; and it appears from this work that +it was used as a remedy by the ancient Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks, and +Romans, not only in acute, but chronical disorders. This writer gives +several cases within his own knowledge, in which music has been +efficacious; but the consideration as well as the honour of these, more +properly belong to _modern_ than to ancient music. + +Music, of all arts, gives the most universal pleasure, and pleases +longest and oftenest. Infants are charmed with the melody of sounds, and +old age is animated by enlivening notes. The Arcadian shepherds drew +pleasure from their reeds; the solitude of Achilles was cheered by his +lyre; the English peasant delights in his pipe and tabor; the +mellifluous notes of the flute solace many an idle hour; and the +charming of snakes and other venomous reptiles, by the power of music, +is well attested among the Indians. "Music and the sounds of +instruments," says Vigneul de Marville, "contribute to the health of the +body and mind; they assist the circulation of the blood, they dissipate +vapours, and open the vessels, so that the action of perspiration is +freer." The same author tells a story of a person of distinction, who +assured him, that once being suddenly seized with a violent illness, +instead of a consultation of physicians, he immediately called a band of +musicians, and their violins acted so well upon his inside, that his +bowels became perfectly in tune, and in a few hours were harmoniously +becalmed. + +Farinelli, the famous singer, was sent for to Madrid to try the effect +of his magical voice on the king of Spain. His Majesty was absorbed in +the deepest melancholy; nothing could excite an emotion in him; he lived +in a state of total oblivion of life; he sat in a darkened chamber, +entirely given up to the most distressing kind of madness. The +physicians at first ordered Farinelli to sing in an outer room; and for +the first day or two this was done, without producing any effect on the +royal patient. At length it was observed, that the king, awakening from +his stupor, seemed to listen; on the next day tears were seen starting +from his eyes: the day after he ordered the door of his chamber to be +left open, and at length the perturbed spirit entirely left our modern +Saul, and the _medicinal_ music of Farinelli effected what medicine +itself had denied. + +"After food," says Sir William Jones,[121] "when the operations of +digestion and absorption gives so much employment to the vessels, that a +temporary state of mental repose, especially in hot climates, must be +found essential to health, it seems reasonable to believe that a few +agreeable airs, either heard or played without effort, must have all the +good effects of sleep, and none of its disadvantages; putting, as Milton +says, '_the soul in tune_' for any subsequent exertion; an experiment +often made by myself. I have been assured by a credible witness, that +two wild antelopes often used to come from their woods to the place +where a more savage beast, Serajuddaulah, entertained himself with +concerts, and that they listened to the strains with the appearance of +pleasure, till the monster, in whose soul there was no music, shot one +of them to display his archery." A learned native told Sir William Jones +that he had frequently seen the most venomous snakes leave their holes +upon hearing tunes on a flute, which, as he supposed, gave them peculiar +delight. + +Of the surprising effects of music, the two following instances, with +which we shall close these remarks, are related in the history of the +Royal Academy of Society of Paris. + +A famous musician, and great composer was taken ill of a fever, which +assumed the continued form, with a gradual increase of the symptoms. On +the second day he fell into a very violent delirium, almost constantly +accompanied by cries, tears, terrors, and a perpetual watchfulness. The +third day of his delirium one of those natural instincts, which make, as +it is said, sick animals seek out for the herbs that are proper to their +case, set him upon desiring earnestly to hear a little concert in his +chamber. His physician could hardly be prevailed upon to consent to it. +On hearing the first modulations, the air of his countenance became +serene, his eyes sparkled with a joyful alacrity, his convulsions +absolutely ceased, he shed tears of pleasure, and was then possessed for +music with a sensibility he never before had, nor after, when he was +recovered. He had no fever during the whole concert, but, when it was +over, he relapsed into his former condition. + +The fever and delirium were always suspended during the concert, and +music was become so necessary to the patient, that at night he obliged a +female relation who sometimes sat up with him, to sing and even to +dance, and who, being much afflicted, was put to great difficulty to +gratify him. One night, among others, he had none but his nurse to +attend him, who could sing nothing better than some wretched country +ballads. He was satisfied to put up with that, and he even found some +benefit from it. At last ten days of music cured him entirely, without +other assistance than of being let blood in the foot, which was the +second bleeding that was prescribed for him, and was followed by a +copious evacuation. + +This account was communicated to the Academy by M. Dodart, who had it +well authenticated. + +The second instance of the extraordinary effect of music is related of a +dancing-master of Alais, in the province of Languedoc. Being once +over-fatigued in Carnival time by the exercise of his profession, he was +seized with a violent fever, and on the fourth or fifth day, fell into a +lethargy, which continued upon him for a considerable time. On +recovering he was attacked with a furious and mute delirium, wherein he +made continual efforts to jump out of bed, threatened, with a shaking +head and angry countenance, those who attended him, and even all that +were present; and he besides obstinately refused, though without +speaking a word, all the remedies that were presented to him. One of the +assistants bethought himself that music perhaps might compose a +disordered imagination. He accordingly proposed it to his physician, who +did not disapprove the thought, but feared with good reason the +ridicule of the execution which might still have been infinitely +greater, if the patient should happen to die under the operation of such +a remedy. + +A friend of the dancing master, who seemed to disregard the caution of +the physician, and who could play on the violin, seeing that of the +patient hanging up in the chamber, laid hold of it, and played directly +for him the air most familiar to him. He was cried out against more than +the patient who lay in bed, confined in a straight jacket; and some were +ready to make him desist; when the patient, immediately sitting up as a +man agreeably surprised, attempted to caper with his arms in unison with +the music; and on his arms being held, he evinced, by the motion of his +head, the pleasure he felt. Sensible, however, of the effects of the +violin, he was suffered by degrees to yield to the movement he was +desirous to perform,--when, strange as it may appear, his furious fits +abated. In short, in the space of a quarter of an hour, the patient fell +into a profound sleep, and a salutary crisis in the interim rescued him +from all danger. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[116] Dr. Burney's History of Music. + +[117] It has been asserted by several moderns, that deaf people can hear +best in a great noise; perhaps to prove that Greek noise could do +nothing which the modern cannot operate as effectually: and Dr. Willis +in particular tells us of a lady who could hear only while a drum was +beating, in so much that her husband, the account says, hired a drummer +as her servant, in order to enjoy the pleasures of her conversation. + +[118] Many of the ancients speak of music as a recipe for every kind of +malady, and it is probable that the Latin was _praecinere_, to charm +away pain, _incantare_ to enchant, and our own word _incantation_, came +from the medical use of song. + +[119] M. Burette, with Dr. Mead, Baglivi, and all the learned of their +time throughout Europe, seem to have entertained no doubt of this fact, +which, however, philosophical and curious enquirers have since found to +be built upon fraud and fallacy. Vide Serrao, _della Tarantula o vero +falangio di Puglia._ + +[120] Pope's translation of the Iliad, Book 1. + +[121] See a curious Dissertation on the musical modes of the Hindoos by +Sir W. Jones. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +PRESAGES, PRODIGES, PRESENTIMENTS, ETC. + +The common opinion of comets being the presages of evil is an old pagan +superstition, introduced and entertained among Christians by their +prejudice for antiquity; and which Mr. Bayle says is a remnant of pagan +superstition, conveyed from father to son, ever since the first +conversion from paganism; as well because it has taken deep root in the +minds of men, as because Christians, generally speaking, are as far gone +in the folly of finding presages in every thing, as infidels themselves. +It may be easily conceived how the pagans might be brought stedfastly to +believe that comets, eclipses, and thunderstorms, were the forerunners +of calamities, when man's strong inclination for the marvellous is +considered, and his insatiable curiosity for prying into future events, +or what is to come to pass. This desire of peeping into futurity, as has +already been shown, has given birth to a thousand different kinds of +divination, all alike whimsical and impertinent, which in the hands of +the more expert and cunning have been made most important and +mysterious tools. When any one has been rogue enough to think of making +a penny of the simplicity of his neighbours, and has had the ingenuity +to invent something to amuse, the pretended faculty of foretelling +things to come, has always been one of the readiest projects. From hence +always the assumption of judiciary astrology. Those who first began to +consult the motions of the heavens, had no other design in view, than +the enriching their minds with so noble a knowledge; and as they had +their genius bent on the pursuit of useful knowledge, they never dreamed +of converting astrology or a knowledge of the stars to the purpose of +picking the pockets of the credulous and ignorant, of whose blind side +advantage was taken by these sideral sages to turn them to account by +making them believe that the doctrine of the stars comprehended the +knowledge of all things that were, or are, or ever shall be; so that +every one, for his money, might come to them and have their fortune +told. + +The better to gull the world, the Star-gazers assert that the heavens +are the book in which God has written the destiny of all things; and +that it is only necessary to learn to read this book, which is simply +the construction of the stars, to be able to know the whole history of +what is to come to pass. Very learned men, Origen and Plotinus among the +rest, were let into the secret, and grew so fond of it, that the +former,[122] willing to support his opinion by something very solid, +catches at the authority of an Apocryphal book, ascribed to the +patriarch Joseph, where Jacob is introduced speaking to his twelve sons: +"I have read in the register of heaven what shall happen to you and your +children."[123] But comets were the staple commodity that turned +principally to account. In compliance, however, with the impressions of +fear which the strangeness and excessive length of these stars made upon +mankind, the Astrologers did not hesitate to pronounce them of a malign +tendency; and the more so when they found they had, by this means, made +themselves in some degree necessary, in consequence of the impatient +applications that were made to them as from the mouth of an oracle, what +particular disaster such and such a comet portended. + +Eclipses furnished more frequent occasions for the exercise of their +talent. From this worthy precedent of Judicial Astrology, others took +the hint and invented new modes of divination, such as Geomancy, +Chiromancy, Onomancy, and the like; till the world by degrees became so +overrun with superstition, that the least trifle was converted into a +presage or presentiment; and the more so when this kind of knowledge +became the business of religion; and when the substance of divine +worship consisted in the ordinances of Augurs who, to make themselves +necessary in the world, were obliged to keep up and quicken men's +apprehensions of the wrath of God, took special care to cultivate +comets, and bring it into a proverb, that "so many comets so many +calamities." They knew, as Livy expresses it, that it was best to fish +in troubled waters, where, speaking of a contagious distemper, which, +from the country villages, spread over the city, occasioned by an +extraordinary drought in the year of Rome 326, he observes how, at last, +it infected the mind,[124] by the management of those who lived in the +superstition of the people; so that nothing was to be seen or heard +except some new fangled ceremony or other in every corner. "The devil," +as Bayle says, "who had a hopeful game on't, and saw superstition the +surest way to get himself worshipped under the name of the false gods, +in a hundred various ways, all criminal and abominable in the sight of +the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth, never failed, on the appearance +of any rare meteor, or uncommon star, to exert his imposing arts, and +make idolaters believe, they were the signs of divine wrath, and that +they were all undone unless they appeased their gods by sacrifices of +men and brute beasts." + +Politicians have also lent a helping hand to give presages a reputation, +as an excellent scheme, either to intimidate the people, or to raise +their drooping spirits. Had the Roman soldiers been free thinkers, +Drusus, the son of Tiberius, had not been so fortunate as to quell a +desperate mutiny among the legions of Pannonia, who utterly refused to +obey his commands; but an eclipse, which critically intervened, broke +their refractory spirits to such a degree, that Drusus, who managed +their panic fear with great dexterity and address, did what he liked +with them. + +An eclipse of the moon put the army of Alexander the Great into such a +consternation, some days before the battle of Arbela, that the soldiers, +under the impression that heaven was against them, were very reluctant +to advance; and their devotion turning to downright disobedience, +Alexander commanded the Egyptian astrologers, who were the deepest +versed in the mystery of the stars, to give their opinions of this +eclipse in the presence of all the officers of his army. Without giving +themselves much trouble to explain the physical cause which it was their +interest to conceal from the people, the wise men declared that the sun +was on the side of the Grecians, and the moon for the Persians; and that +this planet was never in an eclipse, but it threatened them with some +mighty disaster: of this they quoted several ancient examples among the +kings of Persia, who, after an eclipse, had always found their gods +unpropitious in the day of battle. "Nothing," says Quintus Curtius,[125] +"is so effectual as superstition for keeping the vulgar under. Be they +ever so unruly and inconstant, if once their minds are possessed with +the vain visions of religion, they are all obedience to the soothsayer, +whatever becomes of the general." The answer of the Egyptian astrologers +being circulated among the soldiers, restored their confidence and their +courage. + +On another occasion Alexander, just before he passed the river +Granicus, observing the circumstance of time, which was the month +Desius, reckoned unfortunate to the Macedonians from all antiquity, it +made the soldiers melancholy; he immediately ordered this dangerous +month to be called by the name of that which preceded it, well knowing +what power and influence vain religious scruples have over little and +ignorant minds. He sent private orders to Aristander his chief +soothsayer, just offering up a sacrifice for a happy passage, to write +on the liver of the victim with a liquor prepared for that purpose, that +the gods had "granted the victory to Alexander." The notice of this +miracle filled the men with invincible ardour; and now they rent the air +with acclamations, exclaiming that the day was their own, since the gods +had vouchsafed them such plain demonstrations of their favour. The +history, indeed, of this mighty conqueror, affords more such examples of +artifice, though he always affected to conquer by mere dint of bravery. +But what is still more extraordinary, this very hero, who palmed so +often such tricks upon others, was himself caught in his turn, as being +well as exceedingly superstitious by fits. We say nothing of +Themistocles,[126] who, in the war between Xerxes and the Athenians, +despairing to prevail upon his countrymen by force of reasoning to quit +their city, and betake themselves to sea, set all the engines of +religion to work; forged oracles, and procured the priests to circulate +among the people, that Minerva had fled from Athens, and had taken the +way which led to the port. Philip of Macedon, whose talent lay in +conquering his enemies by good intelligence, purchased at any price, had +as many oracles at command as he pleased; and hence Demosthenes justly +suspecting too good an understanding between Philip and the Delphian +priestess, rallied her with so much acrimony upon her partiality to that +prince. It is equally obvious how the same reasons of state, which kept +up the popular superstition for other prodigies, should take care to +encourage it with regard to comets and other celestial appearances. + +Panegyrists have also done their parts to promote the superstition of +presages, as well as the flattering of poets and orators. When a hero is +to be found and extolled, they exclaim, that _all nature adores him; +that she exerts her utmost powers to serve him; that she mourns at his +misfortunes, promises him long before hand to the world; and when the +world, by its sins, is unworthy to possess him longer, heaven, which +calls him home, hangs out new lights, etc._ With this hyperbole M. +Balzac regaled Cardinal Richelieu, adding, that _to form such a +minister, universal nature was on the stretch; God gives him first by +promise, and makes him the expectation of ages_. For this he was +attacked by the critics, but he defended himself; alleging, that other +panegyrics had gone some notes higher: he, for example, among the +ancients, who said of certain great souls that _all the orders of heaven +were called together to fancy a fine destiny for them_, and that +illustrious nation who wrote that _the eternal mind was wrapt in deep +contemplation, and big with the vast design, when it conceived such a +genius as Cardinal Hippolito d'Este_. Why could not this same writer +have thought of one example more, such as that of the priest who told +the Emperor Constantine that _divine Providence, not content with +qualifying him for the empire of the world, had formed virtues in his +soul, which should entitle him to reign in heaven with his only son_. +Thus have flatterers seized the most surprising natural effects to +enhance their hero's glory, and make their court to great men. The poets +of the time of Augustus vied with each other in persuading the world +that the murder of Julius Caesar was the cause of all the prodigies that +followed. Horace, for instance, in one of his odes, attempts to prove +that the overflowings of rivers were reckoned among bad presages; and +pretends that the Tiber had not committed all those ravages, but in +complaisance to his wife Ilia, who was bent on the death of his kinsman +Caesar; and that all the other calamities which subsequently afflicted +or threatened the Roman empire, were the consequences of his +assassination. If Virgil may be credited,[127] the sun was so troubled at +the death of Caesar that it went into deep mourning, and so obscured his +beams, that the world was alarmed lest it never should appear again. In +the mean time, no sooner was the comet observed, which followed this +murder, than another set of flatterers pretended that it was Caesar's +soul received into the order of the Gods; and they dedicated a temple[128] +to the comet, and set up the image of Caesar with a star on his +forehead. + +It appears from the sermons of the ancient fathers, that the Christians +of that time believed they gave great relief to the moon in an eclipse, +by raising hideous shouts to the skies, which they imagined recovered +her out of her fainting fit, and without which she must inevitably have +expired. St. Ambrose, the author of the 215th sermon _de tempore_, bound +up with those of St. Austin, and St. Eloy, Bishop of Noyon, declaim +particularly against this abuse. It appears also from the Homilies of +St. Chrysostom, St. Basil, St. Austin, and others, that the Christians +of their days drew several kinds of presages from persons sneezing at +critical times; from meeting a cat, a dog, or an ill-looking (squinting) +woman, a maiden, one blind of an eye, or a cripple; on being caught by +the cloak on stepping out of a door, or from a sudden catch in one's +joint or limb. + +St. Eloy tells his people plainly, that whoever pays attention to what +he meets at his first going out or coming in, or to any particular +voice, or to the chirping of a bird, is so far a Pagan. Indeed, all +these, and innumerable others of the same description of superstitious +among Christians, are remnants of ancient paganism; as they have been +denounced by the censures of popes, provincial councils, synodical +decrees, and other grave authorities. And, though there were not such a +cloud of witnesses, there would be no difficulty in proving the disease +of pagan origin. For, independent of those who preached the gospel of +our Saviour, having never promulgated such notions, we learn from +several ancient authorities, that the Gentiles had all these +superstitions in the highest regard. It was one general opinion among +them, that the eclipses of the moon were the consequence of certain +magic words by which sorcerers could wrench her from the skies, and drag +her near enough the earth to cast a frothy spittle on their herbs--one +of the principal ingredients in their incantations. To rescue the moon +from the supposed torture she was in, and to frustrate the charm, it was +necessary to prevent her from hearing the magic words, by drowning in +noise and hideous outcries, for which purpose the people used to +assemble during an eclipse of the moon with _rough_ music, such as +frying pans, brazen vessels, old tin kettles, etc. According to Pietro +della Voile, the Persians keep up the same ridiculous ceremony to this +day. It is likewise, according to Tavernier, observed in the kingdom of +Tunquin, where they imagine the moon to be, at that time, struggling +with a dragon. It is to the same source that we owe the imaginary raging +heat of the dog-star--the pretended presages of several evils ascribed +to eclipses, and all the allusions of astrology. + +In a treatise written by Abogard, Bishop of Lyons, in 833, composed to +undeceive a world of people, who were persuaded that there were +enchanters who could command thunder, and hail, and tempest, to destroy +the fruits of the earth; and that they drove a great trade by this +mystery with the people of a certain country called Magonia, who came +once a year, sailing in large fleets through the air, to freight with +the blighted corn, for which they paid down ready money to the +enchanters. So little was this matter doubted, that one day the bishop +had enough to do to save three men and a woman from being stoned to +death, the people insisting they had just fallen overboard from one of +these aërial ships. + +We do not here examine whether, in those days, the people literally were +more superstitious and credulous than in the days of paganism. It is +enough to say, that they were of very easy belief; and hence men began +to write their histories in the style of romance, mixing up a thousand +fables with the deeds of great men, such as Roland, nephew to +Charlemagne; which so suited the taste of the age, that no book would +afterwards go down in any other style--witness, for instance, the Manual +of Devotions by James de Voragine, archbishop of Genoa, composed towards +the latter end of the thirteenth century; and in which Melchior Canus, a +learned Spanish bishop, is so scandalized in his eleventh book of Common +Places. Another doctor of divinity,[129] speaking of the depraved state of +the times, says, "It was the error, or rather folly, of some of the +ancients, to think, that in writing the actions of illustrious men, the +style must sink, unless they mixed up with it the ornaments, for so they +called them, of poetical fiction, or something of this sort; and, +consequently, thus blended truth with fable." This being the prevailing +fashion of the times, we are inclined to believe, that in the histories +of the crusades, many apocryphal subjects are introduced, which ought, +consequently, to be read _cum grano salis_. This is decidedly the +opinion of Pere Maimbourg,[130] who, after the relation of the battle of +Iconium, won by Frederick of Barbarossa, 1190, says, "What was chiefly +wonderful after this battle, was the conqueror's sustaining little or no +loss, which most people ascribed to the particular protection of St. +Victor and St. George, names oftenest invoked in the Christian army, +which many of them said they saw engaging at the head of the squadrons. +Whether in reality there might be something in it extraordinary, which +has often happened, as the Scriptures inform us; or whether, by often +hearing of celestial squadrons appearing at the battle of Antioch in the +first crusade, warm imaginations possessed with the belief, and +penetrated with these ideas, formed new apparitions of their own, but +sure it is, that one Louie Helfenstein, a gentleman of reputation, and +far from a visionary, affirmed to the emperor, on his oath, and on the +vow of a pilgrim devoted to the holy sepulchre and the crusade, that _he +often saw St. George charge at the head of the squadrons, and put the +enemy to flight_; which was afterwards confirmed by the Turks +themselves, owning that they saw some troops in white charge in the +first ranks in the Christian army, though there were really none of that +livery. No one, I know, is bound (continues P. Maimbourg) to believe +visions of this kind, subject for the most part to notorious illusion: +but I know too, that an historian is not of his own authority, to reject +them, especially when supported by such remarkable testimony. + +"And though he be at liberty to believe or not, yet he has no regret, by +suppressing them, to deprive the reader of his liberty, when he meets +with passages of this kind, of judging as he thinks fit." This +reflection (says Bayle) from so celebrated an historian, not suspected +of favouring the Hugonot incredulity, is a strong presumption on my +side. + +The abuse of presentiments has been carried to the very Scriptures. We +are told, that the manner of Tamerlane giving his blessing to his two +sons, by bowing down the head of the elder, and chucking the youngest +under the chin, was a presage of the elevation of the latter in +prejudice to the former, was grounded on the 48th chapter of Genesis, +where Jacob is represented laying his right hand on the head of the +younger, forseeing by inspiration that he would be the greater of the +two. Meanwhile there is a difference between the two benedictions. The +Tartar, wholly destitute of the knowledge of future events, did not +diversify the motion of his hands, on purpose to establish a presage; +and God never vouchsafing this knowledge to infidels, did not guide his +hands in a particular manner to form a presage of what should befal his +children;--whereas Jacob, on the contrary, filled with the spirit of +prophecy, whereby he saw the fortunes of his children, directed his +words and actions according to this knowledge; by which means both +became presages. + +Presages, presentiments, and prodigies, might be multiplied ad +infinitum. Whoever reads the Roman historians will be surprised at their +number, and which frequently filled the people with the most dreadful +apprehensions. It must be confessed, that some of these seem altogether +supernatural; while much the greater part only consist of some of the +uncommon productions of nature, which superstition always attributed to +a superior cause, and represented as the prognostications of some +impending misfortunes. Of this class may be reckoned the appearance of +two suns;[131] the nights illuminated by rays of light; the views of +fighting armies; swords and spears darting through the air; showers of +milk, of blood, of stones, of ashes, or of fire; and the birth of +monsters, of children, or of beasts who had two heads; or of infants who +had some feature resembling those of the brute creation. These were all +dreadful prodigies which filled the people with inexpressible +astonishment, and the whole Roman empire with an extreme perplexity; and +whatever unhappy event followed, repentance was sure to be either caused +or predicted by them. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[122] Euseb. Praep. Evang. l. 6. c. 9. + +[123] Legi in tabulis coeli quaecunque contingent vobis et Feliis +vestris. + +[124] Nec corpora modo affecta tabo, sed animos quoque multiplex +religio, et pleraque externa invasit, novos ritus sacrificando +vaticinandoque, inferentibus in domos, quibus quaestui sunt capti +superstitione animi. L. 4, dec. 1. + +[125] Tacit, Annal. lib. 1, et ib. 4, cap. 10. + +[126] Plutarch in his life. + +[127] Georg. l. 1. + +[128] Suetonius in vita Caesaris. + +[129] Petseus, in Galfredo Monimetensi. + +[130] Hist. Crusade, l. 5. + +[131] Nothing is more easy than to account for these productions, which +have no relation to any events, no more than comets, that may happen to +follow them. The appearance of two suns has frequently happened in +England, as well as in other places, and is only caused by the clouds +being placed in such a situation as to reflect the image of that +luminary; nocturnal fires, inflamed spears, fighting armies, were no +more than what we call aurora borealis, northern lights, or inflamed +vapours floating in the air; showers of stones, of ashes, or of fire, +were no other than the effects of the eruptions of some volcano at a +considerable distance. Showers of milk were only caused by some quality +in the air condensing and giving a whitish colour to the water, etc. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +PHENOMENA OF METEORS, OPTIC DELUSIONS, SPECTRA, ETC. + +The meteors known to the ancients were called [Greek: Lampdes Pithoi] +Bolides, Faces, Globi, etc. from particular differences in their shape +and appearance, and sometimes under the general term of comets. In the +Philosophical Transactions, they are called, indiscriminately, +fire-balls, or fiery meteors; and names of similar import have been +applied to them in the different languages of Europe. The most material +circumstances observed of such meteors may be brought under the +following heads: 1. Their general appearance. 2. Their path. 3. Their +shape or figure. 4. Their light and colour. 5. Their height. 6. The +noise with which they are accompanied. 7. Their fire. 8. Duration, 9. +Their velocity. Under these different heads meteors have been +investigated by the scrutinizing of philosophy, and many superstitious +notions, long entertained concerning them, entirely exploded. Meteoric +phenomena, it has been demonstrated, all proceed from one common +cause--irregularity in the density of the atmosphere. When the +atmospheric fluid is homogenous and of equal density, the rays of light +pass without obstruction or alteration in their shape or direction; but +when they enter from a rarer into a denser medium, they are refracted or +bent out of their course; and this with greater or less effect according +to the different degrees of density in the media, or the deviation of +the ray from the perpendicular. If the second medium be very dense in +proportion, the ray will be both refracted and reflected; and the object +from which it proceeds, will assume a variety of grotesque and +extraordinary shapes, and it will sometimes appear as in a reflection +from a concave mirror, dilated in size, and changed in situation. + +The following striking effects are known to proceed from this simple +cause. + +The first is the mirage, seen in the desert of Africa. M. Monge, a +member of the National Institute, accompanied the French army into +Egypt. In the desert, between Alexandria and Cairo, the mirage of the +blue sky was inverted, and so mingled with the sand below, as to impart +to the desolate and arid wilderness an appearance of the most rich and +beautiful country. They saw, in all directions, green islands, +surrounded with extensive lakes of pure and transparent water. Nothing +could be conceived more lovely and picturesque than this landscape. On +the tranquil surface of the lakes, the trees and houses, with which the +islands were covered, were strongly reflected with vivid hues, and the +party hastened forward to enjoy the cool refreshments of shade and +stream, which these populous villages preferred to them. When they +arrived, the lake, on whose bosom they floated, the trees, among whose +foliage they were embowered, and the people who stood on the shore +inviting their approach, had all vanished, and nothing remained but an +uniform and irksome desert of sand and sky, with a few naked huts and +ragged shrubs. Had they not been undeceived by their nearer approach, +there was not a man in the French army who would not have sworn, that +the visionary trees and lakes had a real existence in the midst of the +desert. + +The same appearance precisely was observed by Dr. Clarke at Raschid, or +Rosetta. The city seemed surrounded by a beautiful sheet of water, and +so certain was his Greek interpreter, who was acquainted with the +country, of this fact, that he was quite indignant at an Arab, who +attempted to explain to him, that it was a mere optical delusion. At +length, they reached Rosetta in about two hours, without meeting any +water; and, on looking back on the sand they had just crossed, it seemed +to them, as if they had just waded through a vast blue lake. + +A similar deception takes place in northern climates. Cities, +battlements, houses, and all the accompaniments of populous places, are +seen in desolate regions, where life goes out, and where human foot has +never trod. When approached they vanish, and nothing remains but a +rugged rock, or a misshapen iceberg. + +Captain Scoresby, in his voyage to the arctic regions, on the coast of +East Greenland, constantly saw those visionary cities, and gives some +highly curious plates of the appearances they presented. They resembled +the real cities seen on the coast of Holland, where towers, and +battlements, and spires, "bosomed high in tufted trees," rise on the +level horizon, and are seen floating on the surface of the sea. Among +the optic deceptions noticed by Captain Scoresby, was one of a very +singular nature. His ship had been separated by the ice, from that of +his father for some time; and he was looking for her every day, with +great anxiety. At length, one evening, to his utter astonishment, he saw +her suspended in the air in an inverted position, traced on the horizon +in the clearest colours, and with the most distinct and perfect +representation. He sailed in the direction in which he saw this +visionary phenomenon, and actually found his father's vessel by its +indication. He was divided from him by immense masses of icebergs, and +at such a distance that it was quite impossible to have seen the ship in +her actual situation, or seen her at all, if her spectrum, or image, had +not been thus raised several degrees above the horizon into the sky, by +this most extraordinary refraction, in the same manner as the sun is +often seen, after he is known to have set, and actually sunk far below +the line of direct vision. + +The _Fata Morgana_ are further illustrations of this optic delusion. +This phenomenon is seen at the Pharo of Messina, in Sicily, under +certain circumstances. The spectator must stand with his back to the +east, on an elevated place behind the city, commanding a view of the +bay, and having the mountains, like a wall, opposite to him, to darken +the back ground of the picture; no wind must be abroad to ruffle the +surface of the sea; and the waters must be pressed up by currents, as +they sometimes are, to a considerable height in the middle of the +strait, and present a slight convex surface. When all these +circumstances occur, as soon as the sun rises over the heights of the +Calabrian shore, and makes an angle of 45º with the horizon, all the +objects on the shore at Reggio are transferred to the middle of the +strait, and seen distinctly on the surface of the water, forming an +immoveable landscape of rocks, trees, and houses, and a moveable one of +men, horses, and cattle; these are formed into a thousand separate +compartments, presenting most beautiful and ever varying pictures of +animate and inanimate nature, on the swelling surface of the water, +broken by the currents, present separate plates of convex mirrors to +reflect them; they then as suddenly disappear, as the broad aquatic +mirror of the current passes on. + +Sometimes the atmosphere is so dense that the objects are seen, like +Captain Scoresby's ship, snatched up into the regions of the air, thirty +or forty feet above the level of the sea; and in cloudy weather, nearer +to the surface, bordered with vivid prismatic colours. Sometimes +colonades of temples and churches, with cross-crowned spires, are all +represented as floating on the sea, and by a sudden change of +representation, the pillars are curved into arcades, and the crosses are +bent into crescents, and all the edifices of the floating city undergo +the most extraordinary and fantastic mutations. All these images are so +distinct, and produce objects seemingly as palpable as they are visible, +as sensible to touch as to sight, that the people of the country are +firmly persuaded of their reality. They consider the edifices as the +enchanted palaces of the fairy Morgana, and the moving objects as living +things which inhabit them. Whenever the optic phenomenon occurs, they +meet together in crowds, with an intense curiosity, mixed with awe and +apprehension, which is not removed by an acquaintance with those natural +causes, by which Mr. Swinburn and other foreign travellers, who have +witnessed the scene, are able to account for it. + +The lakes of Ireland are equally susceptible of producing those vivid +delusions, and the imagination of the people, as lively as that of the +Sicilians, clothes them with an equal reality. There is scarcely a loch +in that country, in which the remains of cities have not been at various +times discovered; and many men have been met with who would solemnly +swear they saw, and who no doubt did see, representations of them in +certain states of the atmosphere. The most celebrated is that which +occurs on the lake of Killarney. This romantic sheet of water is bounded +on one side by a semi-circle of rugged mountains, and on the other by a +flat morass, and the vapour generated in the mass, and broken by the +mountains, continually represent the most fantastic objects; and often +those on shore are transferred to the water, like the Fata Morgana. + +Many of the rocks are distinguished for their marked and lengthened +echoes, and the structure, which in acoustics reflects sounds to the +ear, from a point from whence they did not come, reflects images on the +eye, from a place very different from where the objects stood which +produced them. Frequently men riding along shore, are seen as if they +were moving across the lake, and this has given rise to the story of +O'Donougho. This celebrated chieftain was, according to the tradition of +the country, endued with the gift of magic; and, on one occasion, his +lady requested him to change his shape, that she might see a proof of +it. He complied, on condition that she would not be terrified, as such +an effect on her must prove fatal to him. Her mind failed her, however, +in the experiment, and at the sight of some horrible figure he assumed, +she shrieked, and he disappeared through the window of his castle, which +overhung the lake. From that time he continues an enchanted being, +condemned to ride a horse, shod with silver, over the surface of the +lake, till his horse's shoes are worn out. On every May morning he is +visible, and crowds assemble on the shore to see him. Many affirm they +have seen him; and one person relates many particulars of his +apparition, that the deception must have proceeded from some real +object, a man riding along shore, and transferred to the middle of the +water, by the optic delusion of the Fata Morgana. + +But perhaps the most wonderful, and apparently preternatural effect +arising from this cause, is the _spectre of the Hartz Mountains_ in +Hanover. There is one particular hill, called the Brocken, in which he +appears, terrifying the credulous, and gratifying the curious to a very +high degree. The most distinct and interesting account is given by Mr. +Hawe, who himself was a witness to it. He had climbed to the top of the +mountain thirty times, and had been disappointed, but he persevered, and +was at length highly gratified. The sun rose about four o'clock in a +serene sky, free from clouds, and its rays passed without obstruction, +over another mountain, called the Heinschoe. About a quarter past five +he looked round to see if the sky was clear, and if there was any chance +of his witnessing what he so ardently wished, when suddenly he saw the +Achtermanshoe, a human figure of monstrous size turned towards him, and +glaring at him. While gazing on this gigantic spectre with wonder mixed +with an irrepressible feeling of awe and apprehension, a sudden gust of +wind nearly carried off his own hat, and he clapped his hand to his head +to detain it, when to his great delight the colossal spectre did the +same. He then changed his body into a variety of attitudes, all which +the figure exactly imitated, but at length suddenly vanished without any +apparent cause, and again as suddenly appeared. He called the landlord +of the inn, who had accompanied him, to stand beside him, and in a +little time two correspondent figures, of dilated size, appeared on the +opposite mountain. They saluted them in various ways by different +movements of their bodies, all which the giants returned with perfect +politeness, and then vanished. A traveller now joined Mr. Hawe and the +innkeeper, and they kept steadily looking for their aerial friends, when +they suddenly appeared again three in number, who all performed exactly +the same movements as their correspondent spectators. Having continued +thus for some time, appearing and disappearing alternately, sometimes +faintly, and sometimes more distinct, they at length faded away not +again to return. They proved, however, that the preternatural spectre, +which had so long filled the country with awe and terror, was no unreal +being, still less an existence whose appearance suspended the ordinary +laws of God and Nature; that, on the contrary, it was the simple +production of a common cause, exhibited in an unusual manner, but as +regular an effect, and as easy to be accounted for, as the reflection of +a face in a looking glass. + +This constitution of the atmosphere, and its capability of dilating +objects, and altering their position by reflection and refraction, will +easily account for many phenomena which have been considered miraculous +and preternatural in early ages, by the ignorant; and in our own, by the +weak and superstitious. Such was probably the origin of the crosses seen +by Constantine and Constantius in the first ages of Christianity, and +such was that of the cross which appeared in the sky in France, to which +so many bore attestation. A large cross of wood, painted red, had been +erected beside the church, as a part of the ceremony they were +performing. In the winter, when the air is most frequently condensed by +cold, and its different strata of various degrees of tenacity, on a +clear evening after rain, when particles of humidity, still floating in +the air gives it greater power of reflection and refraction, when the +sun was setting, and his horizontal beams found most favourable to +produce meteoric phenomena, the spectrum of this wooden cross was cast +on the concave surface of some atmospheric mirror, and so reflected +back to the eyes of the spectators from an opposite place, retaining +exactly the same shape and proportions, but dilated in size, and changed +in position; and it was moreover tinged with red, the very colour of the +object of which it was the reflected image. This delusive appearance +continued till the sun was so far sunk below the horizon, as to afford +no more light to illumine the object, and the image ceased when the rays +were no longer distinctly reflected. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +ELUCIDATION OF SOME ANCIENT PRODIGIES. + +Many of the prodigies recorded by the ancients, admit of a natural +explanation; and an attentive examination will show that a small number +of causes, which may be discerned and developed, will serve for the +explanation of nearly the whole of them. There are two reasons for our +believing accounts of prodigies:-- + +1. The number and agreement of these accounts, and the confidence to +which the observers and witnesses are entitled. + +2. The possibility of dissipating what is wonderful, by ascertaining any +one of the principal causes which might have given to a natural fact a +tinge of the marvellous. + +Now, as regards the first reason, the ancients have recorded various +occurrences: for instance, a shower of quicksilver at Rome is mentioned +by Dion Cassius, in the year 197 of our era, and a similar event is +related under the reign of Aurelian. If we attend to phenomena taking +place in our time, such as a shower of blood, tremendous hail stones +weighing a pound each, and containing a stone within them; showers of +frogs, and other almost unaccountable occurrences, we must consign them +to, "the annals in which science has inserted the facts, she has +recognized as such, without as yet pretending to explain them." + +Respecting the second reason, the deceptive appearance which nature +sometimes assumes, the exaggeration, almost unavoidable, by partially +informed observers, of the details of a phenomenon, or its duration; +improper, ill-understood, or badly translated expressions, figurative +language, and a practical style; erroneous explanations of emblematical +representations; apologues and allegories adopted as real facts. Such +are the causes, which, singly or together, have frequently swollen with +prodigious fictions the page of history; and it is by carefully removing +this envelope, that elucidations must be sought of what has hitherto +been improperly and disdainfully rejected. A few examples will +illustrate these several positions. + +The river Adonis being impregnated, during certain seasons, with volumes +of dust raised from the red soil of that part of Mount Libanus near +which it flows, gave rise to the fable of the periodical effusion of the +blood of Adonis. There is a rock near the Island of Corfu, which bears +the resemblance of a ship under sail: the ancients adapted the story to +the phenomenon, and recognised in it the Phenician ship, in which +Ulysses returned to his country, converted into stone by Neptune, for +having carried away the slayer of his son Polyphemus. A more extensive +acquaintance with the ocean, has shown that this appearance is not +unique; a similar one on the coast of Patagonia, has more than once +deceived both French and English navigators; and rock Dunder, in the +West Indies, bears a resemblance, at a distance equally illusive. There +is another recorded by Captain Hardy, in his recent travels in Mexico, +near the shore of California; and the "story of the flying Dutchman," is +founded on a similar appearance at the Cape of Good Hope, connected with +a tradition which has been long current there among the Dutch colonists. +Another instance is afforded by the chimaera, the solution of which +enigma, as given by Ovid, is so fully substantiated by the very +intelligent British officer who surveyed the Caramania a few years +since. Scylla the sea monster, which devoured six of the rowers of +Ulysses, M. Salverte, a recent compiler on the marvellous, is tempted to +regard as an overgrown polypus magnified by the optical power of poetry, +though we are disposed to give the credit to an alligator, or its mate, +a crocodile; and this occurrence is not so fictitiously represented, as +it is supposed to be. + + +MAGICAL PRETENSIONS OF CERTAIN HERBS, ETC. + +In the enumeration of plants possessing magical properties, Pliny +mentions those which, according to Pythagoras, have the property of +concealing water. Elsewhere, without having resource to magic, he +assigns to hemp an analogous quality. According to him, the juice of +this plant poured into water becomes suddenly inspissated and +congealed. It is probable enough, that he indicated a species of mallow, +the hemp-leaved marsh-mallow, of which the mucilaginous juice produces +this effect to a certain point, and an effect which may also be obtained +from every vegetable as rich in mucilage. + +Of vegetable productions, many produce intoxicating effects, such as +berries of the night-shade,[132] scammony, and various species of fungi. +These unquestionably have been made subservient to demonological +purposes, which, with the ignorant, have passed off for supernatural +agency. The priests, to whom the little comparative learning of the dark +ages attached, knew well how to impose upon the credulous: but +imposition was not always their object; an extent of benevolence +prevailed which contemplated the relief of their fellow creatures +afflicted with sickness. + +It was maintained by the Egyptians that, besides the gods, there were +many demons which communicated with mortals, and which were often +rendered visible by certain ceremonies and songs; that genii exercised +an habitual and powerful influence over every particle of matter; that +thirty-six of these beings presided over the various members of the +human body; and thus, by magical incantations, it might be strengthened, +or debilitated, afflicted with, or delivered from disease. Thus, in +every case of sickness, the spirit presiding over the afflicted part, +was first duly invoked. But the magicians did not trust solely to their +vain invocations; they were well acquainted with the virtues of certain +herbs, which they wisely employed in their attempts at healing. These +herbs were greatly esteemed: such, for instance, as the _cynocephalia_, +or, as the Egyptians themselves termed the _asyrites_,[133] which was used +as a preventive against witchcraft; and the nepenthes which Helen +presented in a potion to Menelaus, and which was believed to be powerful +in banishing sadness, and in restoring the mind to its accustomed, or +even to greater, cheerfulness, were of Egyptian growth. But whatever may +be the virtues of such herbs, they were used rather for their magical, +than for their medicinal qualities; every cure was cunningly ascribed to +the presiding demons, with which not a few boasted that they were, by +means of their art, intimately connected. + +There can be no question, as attested by the earliest records, that the +ancients were in possession of many potent remedies. Melampus of Argos, +the most ancient Greek physician with whom we are acquainted, is reputed +to have cured one of the Argonauts of barrenness, by exhibiting the rust +of iron dissolved in wine, for the space of ten days. The same physician +used hellebore as a purgative on the daughters of King Proteus, who were +labouring under hypochondriasis or melancholy. Bleeding was also a +remedy of very early origin, and said to have been first suggested by +the hypopotamus or sea horse, which at a certain time of the year was +observed to cast itself on the sea shore, and to wound itself among the +rocks or stones, to relieve its plethora. Podalerius, on his return from +the Trojan war, cured the daughter of Damaethus, who had fallen from a +height, by bleeding her in both arms. Opium, the concrete juice of the +poppy, was known in the earliest ages; and probably it was opium that +Helen mixed with wine, and gave to the guests of Menelaus, under the +expressive name of _Nepenthe_, to drown their cares, and encrease their +hilarity. This conjecture, in a considerable degree, is supported from +the fact, that Homer's Nepenthe was procured from the Egyptian Thebes, +whence the tincture of opium, according to the nomenclature of the +pharmacopeia about fifty years ago, and still known by this name in the +older writers; and, if Dr. Darwin may be credited, the Cumaean Sybil +never sat on the portending tripod without first swallowing a few drops +of juice of the cherry-laurel. + +There is every reason to believe that the Pagan priesthood were under +the influence of some narcotic preparation during the display of their +oracular power, but the effects produced would seem rather to resemble +those of opium, or perhaps of stramonium, than of prussic acid, which +the cherry-laurel water is known to contain. + +The priests of the American Indians, says Monardur, whenever they were +consulted by the chief gentlemen, or _caciques_, as they are called, +took certain leaves of the tobacco, and cast them into the fire, and +then received the smoke thus produced by them into their mouths, which +caused them to fall upon the ground. After having remained in this +position for some time in a state of stupor, they recovered, and +delivered the answers, which they pretended to have received during the +supposed intercourse with the world of spirits. + +The narcotic, or sedative influence of the garden radish, was known in +the earliest times. In the fables of antiquity we read, that, after the +death of Adonis, Venus, to console herself, and repress her desires, lay +down upon a bed of lettuces. The sea onion, or squill, was administered +by the Egyptians, in cases of dropsy, under the mystic title of the eye +of Typhon. The practices of incision and scarification, were employed in +the Greek camp at the siege of Troy; and the application of spirits to +wounds, was likewise understood; for we find Nestor applying a poultice +compounded of cheese, onion, and meal, mixed up with the wine of +Pramnos, to the wounds of Machaon. + +To bring some inactive substance into repute, as promising some +extraordinary, nay, wonderful medicinal properties, requires only the +sanction of a few great names; and when once established on such a +basis, ingenuity, argument, and even experiment, may open their +otherwise powerful batteries in vain. In this manner all the quack +medicines, ever held in any estimation, got into repute. And the same +vulgar prejudice, which induces people to retain an accustomed remedy +upon bare assertion and presumption, either of ignorance or partiality, +will, in like manner, oppose the introduction of any innovation in +practice with asperity, and not unfrequently with a quantum sufficit of +scrutiny and abuse, unless, indeed, it be supported by authorities of +still greater weight and consideration. + +The history of many articles of diet, as well as medicine, amply prove +how much their reputation and fate have depended upon some authority or +other. Ipecacuanha had been imported into England for many years, before +Helvetius, under the patronage of Louis XIV, succeeded in introducing it +into practice in France; and, to the Queen of Charles II., we are +indebted for the introduction of that popular beverage, tea, into +England. Tobacco has suffered as many variable vicissitudes in its fame +and character. It has been successively opposed and commended by +physicians, condemned and praised by priests and kings, and proscribed +and protected by governments, until, at length, this once insignificant +production of a little island, has succeeded in propagating itself +through every climate and country. Nor is the history of the potatoe +less remarkable or less strikingly illustrative of the imperious +influence of authority. This valuable plant, for upwards of two +centuries, received an unprecedented opposition from vulgar prejudice, +which all the philosophy of the age was unable to dissipate, until Louis +XIV. wore a bunch of the flowers of the potatoe, in the midst of his +court, on a day of mirth and festivity. The people then, for the first +time, obsequiously acknowledged its utility, and began to express their +astonishment at the apathy which had so long prevailed with regard to +its general cultivation. + +Another instance may be furnished of overbearing authority, in giving +celebrity to a medicine, or in depriving it of that reputation to which +its virtues entitle it, is seen in the history of the Peruvian bark. +This famed medicine was imported into Spain by the Jesuits, where it +remained seven years, before a trial was given to it. A Spanish priest +was the first to whom it was administered, in the year 1639, and even +then its use was extremely limited; and it would undoubtedly have sunk +into oblivion, but for the supreme power of the church of Rome, under +whose protecting auspices it gained a temporary triumph over the +passions and prejudices which opposed its introduction. Pope Innocent X. +at the intercession of the Cardinal de Lugo, who was formerly a Spanish +Jesuit, ordered the bark to be duly examined, and on the favourable +report, which was the result of this examination, it immediately rose +into high favour and celebrity. + +The root of the male fern, a nostrum for the cure of the tape worm, was +secretly retailed by Madame Noufleur. This secret was purchased by Louis +XV. for a considerable sum of money. It was not until this event that +the physicans discovered, that the same remedy had been administered in +the same complaint by Galen. The history of popular remedies in the cure +of gout, is equally illustrative of this subject. The Duke of Portland's +celebrated powder was nothing less than the _deacintaureon_ of Caelius +Aurelianus, or the _antidotus et duobus centaurae generibus_ of Aetius, +the receipt for which, a friend of his grace brought with him from +Switzerland, into which country, in all likelihood, it had been +introduced by the early medical writers, who had transcribed it from the +Greek volumes, soon after their arrival into the western part of +Europe.[134] + +The active ingredient of a no less celebrated preparation for the same +complaint, the _Eau médicinale_ de Husson, a medicine brought into +fashion by M. de Husson, a military officer in the service of Louis XVI +has been discovered to be the meadow saffron. Upon searching after and +trying the properties of this herb, it was observed that similar effects +in the cure of the gout were ascribed to a certain plant, called +hermodaclyllus, by Oribasius (an eminent physician of the 4th century) +and Aetius, who flourished at Alexandria towards the end of the 5th +century, but more particularly by Alexander of Tralles, a physician of +Asia Minor, whose prescription consisted of hermodaclyllus, ginger, +pepper, cummin seed, aniseed, and scammony, which he says will enable +those who take it to walk immediately. On an inquiry being immediately +set on foot for the discovery of this unknown plant, a specimen of it +was procured at Constantinople, and it actually did turn out to be a +species of meadow saffron, the colchicum autumnale of Linnaeus. + +The celebrated fever powder of Dr. James was evidently not his original +composition, but an Italian nostrum, invented by a person of the name of +Lisle; a receipt for the preparation of which is to be found at length +in Colborne's complete English Dispensary for the year 1756. The various +secret preparations of opium which have been extolled as the discovery +of modern days, may be recognised in the works of ancient authors. The +use of prussic acid in the cure of consumptions, lately suggested by M. +Magendie, at Paris, is little more than the revival of the Dutch +practice in this disorder; for Linnaeus informs us, that distilled +laurel water was frequently used in the cure of pulmonary +consumption.[135] + +We shall conclude these observations with a few remarks on what are +termed _patent medicines, nostrums_, or _quack medicines_, and their +boasted pretensions in general. There is, in fact, but one state of +perfect health, yet the deviations from this state, and the general +species of diseases are almost infinite. Hence it will easily be +understood, that in the classes of medical remedies, there must likewise +he a great variety, and that some of them are even of opposite +tendencies. Such are both the warm and cold bath considered as medical +remedies. Though opposite to each other in their sensible effects, each +of them manifests its medical virtues, yet only in such a state of the +body as will admit of using it with advantage. From these premises, it +is evident that an universal remedy, or one that possesses healing +powers for the _cure of all diseases_, is, in fact, a non-entity, a mere +delusion, the existence of which is physically impossible, as the mere +idea of such a thing involves a contradiction. How, for instance, can it +he conceived, that the same remedy should be capable of restoring the +tone of the muscular fibres, when they are relaxed, and also have the +power of relaxing them when they are too rigid; that it should coagulate +the fluids when in a state of resolution, and again attenuate them when +they are too viscid; that it should moderate the nerves when in a state +of preturnatural sensibility, and likewise restore them to their proper +degree of irritability when they are in a contrary state. + +The belief in an universal remedy has long been abandoned, even among +the vulgar, and long exploded in those classes of society, which are not +influenced by prejudice, or tinctured with fanaticism. It is, however, +sincerely to be regretted, that the daily press continues to be +inundated with advertisements; and that the lower, and less informed +class of the community, are still imposed upon by a set of privileged +impostors, who frequently puzzle the intelligent to decide, whether the +impudence or the industry with which they endeavour to establish the +reputation of their respective poisons, be the most prominent feature in +their character. In illustration of this last observation, it may +further be observed, that most of the nostrums advertised as cough +drops, etc., are preparations of opium, similar, but inferior, to the +well-known paregoric elixir of the shops, but disguised and rendered +more deleterious by the addition of heating and aromatic gums. The +injury which may be occasioned by the indiscriminate employment of such +medicines might be very serious and irremediable, as is well known to +every person possessing the smallest portion of medical knowledge. The +boasted, though groundless pretensions of certain illiterate empirics to +cure diseases which have eluded the skill and penetration of the +faculty, is another absurdity into which people of good common sense +have been most woefully entrapped. The lessons of experience ought to +prove the most useful, as purchased at the greatest trouble and expense; +but if people choose to run over a precipice with their eyes open, they +leave themselves nothing to regret, and the public less to lament, by +their fall. + +It was justly observed by the sagacious and intelligent Bacon, "that a +reflecting physician is not directed by the opinion which the multitude +entertain of a favourite remedy, but that be must be guided by a sound +judgment; and consequently, he is led to make very important +distinctions between those things which only by their name pass for +medical remedies, and others, which in reality possess healing powers." +We avail ourselves of the quotation, as it indirectly censures the +conduct of certain medical practitioners, who do not scruple to +recommend what are vulgarly called patent and other quack preparations, +the composition of which is carefully concealed from the public. Having +acquired their unmerited reputation by mere chance, and being supported +by the most refined artifices, in order to delude the unwary, we are +unable to come at the evidence of perhaps nine tenths of those who have +experienced their fatal effects, and who are now no longer in a +situation to complain. + +From universal remedies or panaceas, to nostrums and specifics, such, +for instance, as pretend to cure the _same_ disease in every patient, is +easy and natural. With the latter also, impositions of a dangerous +tendency are often practised. It may be asked how far they are +practicably admissible, and in what cases they are wholly unavailing? +The answer is not difficult. In those diseases, which in every instance +depend upon the same cause, as in agues, the small-pox, measles, and +many other contagious distempers, the possibility of specifics, in a +limited sense, may be rationally, though hypothetically admitted. But in +either maladies, the causes of which depend on a variety of other +concurrent circumstances, and the cure of which in different +individuals, frequently requires very opposite remedies, as in dropsy, +various species of colds, the almost infinite variety of consumptions, +etc. a specific remedy is an imposition upon the common sense of +mankind. Those who are but imperfectly acquainted with the various +causes from which the same disorder originates in different individuals, +can never entertain such a vulgar and dangerous notion. They will easily +perceive, how much depends upon ascertaining with precision, the seat +and cause of the complaint, before any medicine can be presented with +safety or advantage:--even life and death are, we are sorry to add, too +often decided by the first steps. Different constitutions, different +symptoms, and stages of disease, all require more or less a separate +consideration. What is more natural than to place confidence in a +remedy, which has been known to afford relief to others in the same kind +of disposition? The patient anxiously enquires after a person who has +been afflicted with the same malady; he is eager to know the remedy that +has been used with success; his friend or neighbour imparts to him the +wished for intelligence; he is determined to give the medicine a fair +trial, and takes it with confidence. From what has been stated, it will +not be difficult to conceive, that if his case does not exactly +correspond with that of his friend, any _chance_ remedy may prove +extremely dangerous, if not fatal. + +Hence it becomes evident, that the results are not to be depended upon, +nor the chance risked. The physician is obliged to employ all his +sagacity, supported by his own experience, as well as by that of his +predecessors; and yet he is often under the necessity of discovering, +from the progress of the disease, what he could not derive from the +minutest research. How then can it be expected, that a novice in the art +of healing should be more successful, when the whole of his method of +cure is either the impulse of the moment, or the effect of his own +credulity? It may be therefore truly said, that life and death are +frequently entrusted to chance! + +The late Dr. Huxham, a physician of some eminence in his day, when +speaking of Asclepiades, the Roman empiric, says: "This man from a +_declaimer_ turned _physician_, and set himself up to oppose all the +physicians of his time; and the novelty of the thing bore him out, as it +frequently doth the quacks of the present time; and ever _will while the +majority of the world are fools_." In another place, he curiously +contrasts the too timid practice of some regular physicians, with the +hazardous treatment, which is the leading feature of quacks: "The timid, +low, insipid practice with some, is almost as dangerous as the bold, +unwarranted empiricism of others; time and opportunity, never to be +regained, are often lost by the former; while with the latter, by a +_bold push_, you are sent off the stage in a moment." + +From what has been said, it may confidently be asserted, that a +universal remedy still remains as great a desideratum as the +philosopher's stone; and either can only obtain credit with the +weak-minded, the credulous, or the fanatic. One of the most unfortunate +circumstances in the history of such medicines, is the insinuating and +dangerous method, by which they are puffed into notice. And as we have +little of the beneficial effects which they daily must produce, by being +promiscuously applied, people attend only to the extraordinary +instances, perhaps not one in fifty, where they have afforded a +temporary or apparent relief. It is well known, that the more powerful +a remedy is, the more permanent and dangerous must be its effects on the +constitution; especially if it be introduced like many patent medicines, +by an almost indefinite encrease of the dose. There is another +consideration, not apt to strike those who are unacquainted with the +laws of the animal economy. When it is intended to bring about any +remarkable change in the system of an organized body, such means are +obliged to be employed as may contribute to produce that change without +affecting too violently the living powers, or without carrying their +action to an improper length. Indeed, the patient may be gradually +habituated to almost any stimulus, but at the expence of a paralytic +stroke on an impaired constitution. Such are among the melancholy +effects of imposture and credulity! "Were it possible," says a learned +authority, "to collect all the cases of sacrifices to the mysterious +infatuation, it is probable that their number would exceed the enormous +havoc made by gunpowder or the sword." Another reputable writer makes +the following terse remark on this subject: "As matters stand at +present," says he, "it is easier to cheat a man out of his life, than of +a shilling: and almost impossible either to detect or punish the +offender. Notwithstanding this, people still shut their eyes, and take +every thing upon trust, that is administered by any pretender to +medicine, without daring to ask him a reason for any part of his +conduct. Implicit faith, every where else the object of ridicule, is +still sacred here." + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[132] The berries of the belladonna or deadly nightshade, produce, when +eaten, a furious madness, followed by sleep, which lasts for twenty-four +hours. Such drugs as produce mental stupefaction, without impairing the +physical powers, may have given rise to the accounts of men being +transformed into brutes, so frequent in what are denominated the +fabulous writers, while the evanescent but exquisite joys of an opposite +description, an anticipation of what implicit obedience would ensure +them for ever, produced blind, furious, devoted adherents to any +philosophical speculator, who would venture to try so desperate an +experiment. + +[133] The Rowan tree or Mountain ash, is used by the Scottish peasantry +with the same view; and a small twig of it is sewed up in the cow's +tail, to preserve the animal and its produce from the influence of +witches and warlocks. + +[134] See Pharmacologia, by Dr. Paris. + +[135] Vide "Amenetates Academicae," vol. 4. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +THE PRACTICE OF OBEAH, OR NEGRO WITCHCRAFT--CHARMS--THEIR KNOWLEDGE OP +VEGETABLE POISONS--SECRET POISONING. + +Obeah, a pretended sort of witchcraft, arising from a superstitious +credulity, prevailing among the negroes, has ever been considered as a +most dangerous practice, to suppress which, in our West India colonies, +the severest laws have been enacted. The Obeah is considered as a potent +and most irresistible spell, withering and paralyzing, by indiscribable +terrors and unusual sensations, the devoted victim. One negro who +desires to be revenged on another, and is afraid to make an open and +manly attack on his adversary, has usually recourse to this practice. +Like the witches' cauldron in Macbeth, it is a combination of many +strange and ominous things. Earth gathered from a grave, human blood, a +piece of wood fastened in the shape of a coffin, the feathers of the +carion crow, a snake or alligator's tooth, pieces of egg-shell, and +other nameless ingredients, compose the fatal mixture. The whole of +these articles may not be considered as absolutely necessary to complete +the charm, but two or three are at least indispensable.[136] + +It will of course be conceived, that the practice of OBEAH can have +little effect, unless a negro is conscious that it is practised upon +him, or thinks so;[137] for, as the whole evil consists in the terrors of +a superstitious imagination, it is of little consequence whether it be +practised or not, if he only imagines that it is. But if the charm fails +to take hold of the mind of the proscribed person, another and more +certain expedient is resorted to--the secretly administering of poison +to him. This saves the reputation of the sorcerer, and effects the +purpose he had in view. + +An OBEAH man or woman (for it is practised by both sexes) is a very +dangerous person on a plantation; and the practice of it is made felony +by law, punishable with death where poison has been administered, and +with transportation where only the charm has been used. But numbers +have, and may be swept off, by its infatuation, before the crime is +detected; for, strange as it may appear, so much do the negroes stand in +awe of those _Obeah_ professors, so much do they dread their malice and +their power, that, though knowing the havoc they have made, and are +still making, they are afraid to discover them to the whites; and, +others perhaps, are in league with them for sinister purposes of +mischief and revenge. + +A negro, under the infatuation of Obeah, can only be cured of his +terrors by being made a Christian: refuse him this boon, and he sinks a +martyr to imagined evils. A negro, in short, considers himself as no +longer under the influence of this sorcery when he becomes a christian. +And instances are known of negroes, who, being reduced by the fatal +influence of Obeah to the lowest state of dejection and debility, from +which there were little hopes of recovery, have been surprisingly and +rapidly restored to health and cheerfulness by being baptized +christians. The negroes believe also in apparitions, and stand in great +dread of them, conceiving that they forbode death, or some other great +evil, to those whom they visit; in short, that the spirits of the dead +come upon the earth to be revenged on those who did them evil when in +life. Thus we see, that not only from the remotest antiquity, but even +among slaves and barbarians, the belief in supernatural agencies has +been a popular creed, not, in fact, confined to any distant race or +tribe of people; and, what is still more surprising, there is a singular +and most remarkable identity in the notion or conception of their +infernal ministry. + +In the British West Indies, the negroes of the windward coast are called +_Mandingoes_, a name which is here taken as descriptive of a peculiar +race or nation. There seems reason, however, to believe, that a +_Mandingo_ or _Mandinga_-man, is properly the same with an Obi-man. A +late traveller in Brazil gives us the following anecdotes of the +_Mandinga_ and _Mandingueiro_ of the negroes in that country. "One day," +says Mr. Koster, "the old man (a negro named Apollinario) came to me +with a face of dismay, to show me a ball of leaves, tied up with a plant +called _cypo_, which he had found under a couple of boards, upon which +he slept, in an out-house. The ball was about the size of an apple. I +could not imagine what had caused his alarm, until he said that it was +_Mandinga_ which had been set for the purpose of killing him; and he +bitterly bewailed his fate, that at his age, any one should wish to +hasten his death, and to carry him from this world, before our lady +thought fit to send him. I knew that two of the black women were at +variance, and suspicion fell upon one of them, who was acquainted with +the old _Mandingueiro_ of Engenho Velho; therefore she was sent for. I +judged that the _Mandinga_ was not set for Apollonario, but for the +negress whose business it was to sweep the out-house. I threatened to +confine the suspected woman at Gara unless she discovered the whole +affair. She said the Mandinga was placed there to make one of the +negresses dislike her fellow-slaves, and prefer her to the other. The +ball of _Mandinga_ was formed of five or six kinds of leaves of trees, +among which was the pomegranate leaf; there were likewise two or three +bits of rag, each of a peculiar kind; ashes, which were the bones of +some animals; and there might be other ingredients besides, but these +were what I could recognize. This woman either could not from ignorance, +or would not give any information respecting the several things of which +the ball was composed. I made this serious matter of the _Mandinga_, +from knowing the faith which not only many of the negroes have in it, +but also some of the mulatto people. There is another name for this kind +of charm; it is called _feitiço_, and the initiated are called +_feitiçeros_; of these there was formerly one at the plantation of St. +Joam, who became so much dreaded, that his master sold him to be sent to +Maranham." + +Speaking of the green-beads (_contas verdas_) which are another object +of superstition in South America, and of the reliance placed upon them +by the Valentoens, a lawless description of persons among the colonists +of Brazil; the same author gives us this further view of the +_Mandingueiros_ and their charms. "These men," says he, "wore on their +necks strings of green beads, which had either come from the coast of +Africa, bearing the wonderful property of conveying in safety their +possessors through all descriptions of perils, or were charmed by the +Mandingueiros, African sorcerers, who had been brought over to the +Brazils as slaves, and in secret continued the prohibited practice of +imparting this virtue to them. Vincente had been acquainted with some of +the men, and was firmly persuaded of the virtues of the green beads. +When I expressed my doubts of the efficacy of the beads, against a +musket ball well directed, his anger rose; but there was pity mingled +with it." + +Labat brings these stones from the Orellana, or river of the Amazons. "I +was informed," says our author, "that _Contas verdas_ came from Africa; +but some have found their way from the Orellana, and been put into +requisition by the _Mandingueiros_." Mr. Southey has also given an +account of the "green stones of the Amazons," in his history of Brazil, +vol. 1. p. 107. + +In another place, some traveller presents us with the _Mandingueiros_ in +the new character of charmer of snakes. "The Mandingueiros are famous, +among other feats, for handling poisonous snakes, and can, by particular +noises or tunes, call those reptiles from their holes, and make them +assemble around them. These sorcerers profess to render innoxious the +bites of snakes, to persons who submit to their charms and ceremonies. +One of the modes which is adopted for this purpose, is that of allowing +a tame snake to crawl over the head, face, and shoulders of the person +who is to be _curado do cobras_, cured of snakes, as they term it. The +owner of the snake repeats a certain number of words during the +operation, of which, the meaning, if they contain any, is only known to +the initiated. The rattle-snake is said to be, above all other species, +the most susceptible of attention to the tunes of the Mandingueiros." +The above accounts I should not have related upon the authority of one +or two authors, I have heard them repeated by several individuals, and +even some men of education have spoken of the reputed efficacy of the +tame snakes of the Mandingueiros, as if they were somewhat staggered in +their belief of it. "These men do certainly play strange tricks and very +dexterously." The same writer also observes, "One of the negroes whom I +had hired with the plantation of Jaguaribi, had one leg much thicker +than the other. This was occasioned, as he told me, by the bite of a +rattlesnake; he said he had been _cured_ from the bites of snakes by a +certain _curador de cobra_, or Mandingueiro, and had therefore not died; +but that as the 'moon was strong,' he had not escaped receiving some +injury from the bite." + +Beaver, in his African Memoranda, says, "There is another sort of people +who travel about in the country, called Mandingo-men, (these are +Mahommedans;) they do not work; they go from place to place, and when +they find any chiefs or people, whom they think they can make anything +of, they take up their abode sometime with them, and make _gree-grees_, +and sometimes cast seed from them for which they make them pay." + +On this, and other occasion, the word _gree-gree_ is applied to a house +whence oracles are delivered: but it is also used for a charm or obi. +"They themselves," (the natives of the coast) says the author, last +quoted, "always wear _gree-grees_, or charms, which they purchase of the +_Mandingoes_, to guard them against the effects of certain arms, or of +poison, and on which they place the utmost reliance. They have one +against poison; another against a musket; another against a sword; and +another against a knife; and, indeed, against almost every thing that +they think can hurt them. Mandingo priest, or _gris gris_ merchant, that +is, a seller of charms, which carried about a person, secure the wearer +from any evils,--such as poison, murder, witchcraft, etc. To this priest +I had made some handsome presents, and he, in return, gave me twelve +gris gris, and assured me that they would inevitably secure me from all +danger, at the same time he gave me directions how to dispose of them. +Some were to be carried about my person; one secretly placed over each +archway; another kept under my pillow, and another under the door of the +house I was then building." The Byugas hold these people in great +reverence, and say that they 'talk with God.' + +Mr. Long, in his history of the West Indies, states that, under the +general name of Obi-men is also included the class of _Myal_ men, or +those who, by means of a narcotic poison, made with the juice of an herb +(said to be the branched Calalue, a species of solanum) which occasions +a trance of a certain duration, endeavour to convince the deluded +spectators of their power to reanimate dead bodies. + +Additional particulars of this superstition preserved by Labat, +Edwards, and others, are to be joined with those now produced;[138] but +after all, the questions to be solved are, whether Obi, Mandinga, and +_gree gree_, are usually words of similar import, and whether those who +are conversant in them are all alike, priests of one system of religious +faith and worship, or whether the one does not belong to the worship of +a good power, and the other to that of an evil one. + +It is remarkable, that while the Etymology of _Obi_ has been sought in +the names of ancient deities of Egypt, and in that of the serpent in the +language of the coast, the actual name of the evil deity or _Devil_, in +the same language, appears to have escaped attention. That name is +written by Mr. Edwards, _Obboney_; and the bearer of it is described as +a malicious deity, the author of all evil, the inflictor of perpetual +diseases, and whose anger is to be appeased only by human sacrifices. +This evil deity is the Satan of our own faith; and it is the worship of +Satan which, in all parts of the world constitutes the essence of +sorcery. + +If this name of _Obboney_ has any relation to the Ob of Egypt, and if +the Ob, both anciently in Egypt, and to this day in the west of Africa, +signifies "a serpent," what does this discover to our view, but that +Satan has the name of _serpent_ among the Negro nations as well as among +those of Europe? As to how it has happened that the serpent, which, in +some systems, is the emblem of the good spirit, is in others the emblem +of the evil one, that is a topic which belongs to a more extensive +enquiry. This is enough for our present satisfaction to remember that +the profession of, and belief in sorcery or witchcraft, supposes the +existence of two deities, the one, the author of good, and the other the +author of evil; the one worshipped by good men for good things, and for +good purposes: and the other by bad men for bad things and purposes; and +that this worship is sorcery and the worshippers sorcerers. + +It will be seen above, that since African charms are to prevent evil, +and others to procure it, the first belong to the worship, and are +derived from the power, of the good spirit; and the second are from the +opposite source. It is to be concluded, then, that the superstition of +_Obi_ is no other than the practice of, and belief in the worship of +_Obboney_ or _Oboni_, the evil deity of the Africans, the serpent of +Africa and of Europe, and the old serpent and Satan of the scriptures; +and that the witchcraft of the negroes is evidently the same with our +own. It might indeed be further shown, that the latter have their +temporary transformations of men into alligators, wolves, and the like, +as the French have their loups-garoux, the Germans their war-wolves, +wolf-men, and the rest.[139] + +The negroes practising obeah are acquainted with some very powerful +vegetable poisons, which they use on these occasions, and by which they +acquire much extensive credit. Their fetiches are their household gods, +or domestic divinities; one of whom is supposed to preside over a whole +province, and one over every family. This idol is a tree, the head of an +ape, a bird, or any such thing, as their fancy may suggest. The negroes +have long been held famous in the act of secret or slow poisoning. + +If doubts and difficulties envelope the discovery of poisons, whose +distinguishing character is the rapidity of these effects, how much +greater must be the uncertainty when we are required to ascertain the +administrations of what are called slow poisons. This subject, indeed, +is so closely entwined with popular superstitions, that it is difficult +to separate truth from falsehood. In Italy, for example, it was formerly +said, that poisons were made to destroy life at any stated period--from +a few hows to a year. This, however, turns out to be a mere fiction; +and, it is well understood, that we know of no substances that will +produce death at a determinate epoch. The following case of the late +Prince Charles of Augustenburgh, nevertheless, shows that the idea of +slow poison is still very prevalent, even among the physicians of +continental Europe. + +Prince Charles of Augustenburgh, Crown Prince of Sweden, and the +predecessor of Bernadotte, in that station, fell dead from his horse on +the 22nd of May, 1810, while reviewing troops in Scania. His death, +during that stormy period of public affairs, excited great attention, +and an opinion soon spread abroad that he had been poisoned. The king +ordered a judicial investigation; and it appeared that Dr. Rossi, the +physician of the late Prince, had, without directions, proceeded to +inspect the body twenty-four hours after death; that he had performed +this operation with great negligence, omitting many things which the law +presented, which the assisting physicians proposed, and which were +essential to render it satisfactory; and finally, that the coats of the +stomach, instead of being preserved and submitted to chemical analysis +were, according to his own acknowledgment, thrown away. The royal +tribunal adjudged him to be deprived of his appointment, and to be +banished from the kingdom. This decision would not of course, diminish +the suspicion already excited; and among other physicians, who were +consulted on the case, M. Lodin, professor of Medicine at Lynkoping, +presented two memoirs, in which he stated it as his opinion, that a +_slow poison_ of a vegetable nature, and probably analogous to the _aqua +tofania_, had been administered to the Prince, and that this had caused +the apopletic fit of which he died. His reasons were: + +1. That the Prince had always enjoyed good health previous to his +arrival in Sweden, and, indeed, had not been ill, until after eating a +cold pie at an inn, in Italy. He was shortly after seized with violent +vomiting, while the rest of the company experienced no ill effects. + +2. The Prince was naturally very temperate. + +3. Ever since he arrived in Sweden he had experienced a loss of +appetite, with cholic and diarrhoea; and + +4. That on dissection, the spleen was found of a black colour and in a +state of decomposition, and the liver indurated and dark coloured. +Whilst during life he had experienced no symptoms corresponding to these +appearances. Dr. Lodin confessed, however, that he was unacquainted with +the effects that indicate the administration of a slow poison, but +thought the previous symptoms were such as might be expected from it. + +For the credit of the profession, this conjectural opinion met with +decided reprobation from other medical men. It appeared that the Prince +had, for several days previously, been subject to giddiness and pain in +the head, and that all the symptoms were readily referable to a simple +case of apoplexy, while the appearances on dissection showed that rapid +tendency to putrefaction, which is frequently observed in similar cases. + +The public are highly indebted to professor Beckman for a very elaborate +article, in which he has concentrated nearly all that is known +concerning _secret poisoning_. Of this we shall here present our readers +with an abstract, as peculiarly adapted to the demonology of medicine, +aided with some facts from other sources. + +Professor Beckman considers it unquestionable, that the ancients were +acquainted with this kind of poison, and thinks that it may be proved +from the testimony of Plutarch, Quintilian, and other respectable +authors. The former states that a slow poison, which occasioned heat, a +cough, spitting of blood, a consumption, and weakness of intellect, was +administered to Aratus of Sicyon. Theophrastus speaks of a poison +prepared from aconite, which could be moderated in such a manner as to +have effect in two or three months, or at the end of a year or two +years; and he also relates, that Thrasyas had discovered a method of +preparing from other plants a poison which, given in small doses, +occasioned a certain but easy death, without any pain, and which could +be kept back for a long time without causing weakness or corruption. The +last poison was much used at Rome, about two hundred years before the +christian era. At a later period, a female named Locusta, was the agent +in preparing these poisons, and she destroyed, in this way, at the +instigation of Nero, Britannicus, son of Agrippina. + +The Carthagenians seem also to have been acquainted with this act of +diabolical poisoning; and they are said, on the authority of Aulus +Gellius, to have administered some to Regulus, the Roman general. +Contemporary writers, however, it must be added, do not mention this. + +The principal poisons known to the ancients were prepared from plants, +and particularly aconite, hemlock, and poppy, or from animal substances; +and among the latter none is more remarkable than that obtained from the +sea-hare (_Lepus marinus_ or _Apylsia depilans_ of the system of +nature). With this, Titus is said to have been dispatched by Domitian. +They do not seem to have been acquainted with the common mineral +poisons. + +In the year 1659, during the pontificate of Alexander VII, it was +observed at Rome, that many young women became widows, and that many +husbands died when they became disagreeable to their wives. The +government used great vigilance to detect the poisoners, and suspicion +at length fell upon a society of young wives, whose president appeared +to be an old woman, who pretended to foretel future events, and who had +often predicted very exactly the death of many persons. By means of a +crafty female their practices were detected; the whole society were +arrested and put to the torture, and the old woman, whose name was +Spara, and four others, were publicly hanged. This Spara was a Sicilian, +and is said to have acquired her knowledge from Tofania at Palermo. + +Tophania, or Tofania, was an infamous woman, who resided first at +Palermo and afterwards at Naples. She sold the poison which from her +acquired the name of Aqua della Toffana (it was also called _Acquetta di +Napoli_, or _Acquetta_ alone), but she distributed her preparation by +way of charity to such wives as wished to have other husbands. From four +to six drops were sufficient to destroy a man; and it was asserted, that +the dose could be so proportioned as to operate in a certain time. Labat +says, that Tofania distributed her poison in small glass phials, with +this inscription--_Manna of St. Nicholas of Bavi_, and ornamented with +the image of the saint. She lived to a great age, but was at last +dragged from a monastery, in which she had taken refuge, and put to the +torture, when she confessed her crimes and was strangled. + +In no country, however, has the art of poisoning excited more attention +than it did in France, about the year 1670. Margaret d'Aubray, wife of +the Marquis de Brinvillier, was the principal agent in this horrible +business. A needy adventurer, named Godin de St. Croix, had formed an +acquaintance with the Marquis during their campaigns in the +Netherlands--became at Paris a constant visitor at his house, where in a +short time he found means to insinuate himself into the good graces of +the Marchioness. It was not long before this Marquis died; not, however, +until their joint fortune was dissipated. Her conduct, in openly +carrying on this amour, induced her father to have St. Croix arrested +and sent to the Bastile. Here he got acquainted with an Italian, of the +name of Exili, from whom he learnt the art of preparing poisons. + +After a year's imprisonment St. Croix was released, when he flew to the +Marchioness and instructed her in the art, in order that she might +employ it in bettering the circumstances of both. She assumed the +appearance of a nun, distributed food to the poor, nursed the sick in +the Hôtel Dieu, and tried the strength of her poisons, undetected, on +these hapless wretches. She bribed one Chaussée, St. Croix's servant, to +poison her own father, after introducing him into his service, and also +her brother, and endeavoured to poison her sister. A suspicion arose +that they had been poisoned, and the bodies were opened, but no +detection followed at this time. Their villainous practices were brought +to light in the following manner:--St. Croix, when preparing poison, was +accustomed to wear a glass mask; but, as this happened once to drop off +by accident, he was suffocated and found dead in his laboratory. +Government caused the effects of this man, who had no family, to be +examined, and a list of them to be made out. On searching them, there +was found a small box, to which St. Croix had affixed a written paper +containing a request, that after his death "it might be delivered to the +Marchioness de Brinvillier, who resides in the street Neuve St. Paul, as +every thing it contains concerns her, and belongs to her alone; and as, +besides, there is nothing in it that can be of use to any person except +her; and in case she shall be dead before me, to burn it, and every +thing it contains; without opening or altering any thing; and in order +that no one may plead ignorance, I swear by God, whom I adore, and all +that is most sacred, that I advance nothing but what is true. And if my +intentions, just and reasonable as they are, be thwarted in this point, +I charge their consciences with it, both in this world and the next, in +order that I may unload mine, protesting that this is my last will. Done +at Paris, this 25th May, in the afternoon, 1672. _De Sainte Croix_" + +Nothing could he a greater inducement to have it opened, than this +singular petition, and that being done, there was found in it a great +abundance of poisons of every kind, with labels, on which their effects +proved, by experiments on animals, were marked. The principal poison, +however, was corrosive sublimate. When the Marchioness heard of the +death of her lover and instructor, she was desirous to have the casket, +and endeavoured to get possession of it by bribing the officers of +justice; but as she failed in this, she quitted the kingdom. La +Chaussée, however, continued at Paris, laid claim to the property of St. +Croix, was seized and imprisoned, confessed more acts of villainy than +was suspected, and was in consequence broke alive upon the wheel, in +1673,--The Marchioness fled to England, and from thence to Liege, where +she took refuge in a convent. Desgrais, an officer of justice, was +dispatched in pursuit of her, and having assumed the dress of an Abbé, +contrived to entice her from this privileged place. Among her effects at +the convent there was found a confession, and a complete catalogue of +all her crimes, in her own hand-writing. She was taken to Paris, +convicted, and on the 16th of July, 1676, publicly beheaded, and +afterwards burnt. + +The practice of poisoning was not, however, suppressed by this +execution, and it was asserted, that confessions of a suspicious nature +were constantly made to the priests. A court for watching, searching +after, and punishing prisoners was at length established in 1697, under +the title of _chambre de poison_, or _chambre ardente_. This was shortly +used as a state engine, against those who were obnoxious to the court, +and the names of individuals of the first rank, both male and female, +were prejudiced. Two females, la Vigreux and la Voison were burnt alive, +by order of this court, in February, 1680. But it was abolished in the +same year. + +Professor Beckman relates the following, as communicated to him by +Linnaeus: "Charles XI, King of Sweden, having ruined several noble +families by seizing on their property, and having, after that, made a +journey to Torneo, he fell into a consumptive disorder, which no +medicine could cure. One day he asked his physician in a very earnest +manner what was the cause of his illness. The physician replied, 'Your +Majesty has been loaded with too many maledictions.'--'Yes,' returned +the king, 'I wish to God that the reduction of the nobilities' estates +had not taken place, and that I had never undertaken a journey to +Torneo.' After his death his intestines were found to be full of small +ulcers." + +There has been a great diversity of opinions as to the nature of these +poisons. That prepared by Tofania appears to have been a clear insipid +water, and the sale of aqua fortis was for a long time forbidden in +Rome, because it was considered the principal ingredient. This, however, +is not probable. + +In Paris, the famous _poudre de succession_ (also a secret poison) was +at one time supposed to consist of diamond dust, powdered exceedingly +fine; and at another time, to contain sugar of lead as the principal +ingredient. Haller was of this last opinion. In the casket of St. Croix +were found sublimate, opium, regulus of antimony, vitriol, and a large +quantity of poison ready prepared, the principal ingredients of which +the physicians were not able to detect. Garelli, physician to Charles +VI, King of the Two Sicilies, at the time when Tofania was arrested, +wrote to the celebrated Hoffman, that the Aqua Tofania was nothing else +than crystallized arsenic, dissolved in a large quantity of water by +decoction, with the addition, (but for what purpose we know not) of the +herb _Cymbalaria_, (probably the _Antirrhinum Cymbalaria_). And this +information he observes, was communicated to him by his imperial majesty +himself, to whom the judicial procedure, confirmed by the confession of +the criminal, was transmitted. But it was objected to this opinion, that +it differed from the ordinary effects of arsenic, in never betraying +itself by any particular action on the human body. + +The Abbé Gagliani, on the other hand, asserts that it is a mixture of +opium and cantharides, and that the liquor obtained from its +composition, is as limpid as rock water, and without taste. Its effects +are slow, and almost imperceptible. Beckman appears to favour this idea, +and suggests that a similar poison is used in the East, under the name +of _powst_, being water that had stood a night over the juice of +poppies. It is given to princes, whom it is wished to despatch +privately; and produces loss of strength and understanding, so that they +die in the end, torpid and insensible.[140] + +The following extract will show that secret poisoning has penetrated +into the forests of America. "The celebrated chief, _Blackbird_ of the +Omawhaws, gained great reputation as a medicine man; his adversaries +fell rapidly before his potent spells. His medicine was arsenic, +furnished him for this purpose by the villainy of the traders."[141] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[136] Various etymologies have been suggested for the word obi. Mr. +Long, in a paper transmitted several years since, by the agents of +Jamaica to the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council, and by the +latter subjoined to the report on the slave trade, expresses himself on +this subject as follows: "From the learned Mr. Bryant's commentary on +the word OPH, we obtain a very probable etymology of the term; 'a +serpent,' in the Egyptian language, was called _Aub_ or _Ob_." +'_Obion_,' is still the Egyptian name of a serpent.' 'Moses, in the name +of God, forbids the Israelites to inquire of the demon _Ob_, which is +translated in our Bible, charmer or wizzard, _Divinator aut +sorcilegus_.' The woman of Endor is called _Oub_ or _Ob_, translated +Pythonissa; and _Oubaois_ (he cites Horus Apollo) was the name of the +Basilisk or royal serpent, emblem of the sun, and an ancient oracular +deity of Africa. Their etymology, if admitted, connects the modern +superstitions of the west of Africa, with the ancient ones of the east +of that continent, from which source they have also been spread in +Europe. They are humble parts of the great system which is adorned with +the fables of Osiris and Isis; and they comprise not only the Obi of +Africa, but the witchcraft of our own country. That superstition is +every where connected with the worship of the serpent, and with the moon +and the cat. Skulls and teeth of cats are among the principal +ingredients of the African charms or _Obies_. + +[137] Mr. Long gives the following account of the furniture of the house +of an Obi-woman, or African witch in Jamaica: "The whole inside of the +roof, (which was of thatch) and every crevice of the walls were stuck +with the implements of her trade, consisting of rags, feathers, bones of +cats, and a thousand other articles. Examining further, a large earthen +pot or jar, close covered, contained a prodigious quantity of round +balls of earth or clay, of various dimensions, large and small, whitened +on the outside, and variously compounded, some with hair and rags, or +feathers of all sorts, and strongly bound with twine: others blended +with the upper section of the skulls of cats, or set round with cats' +teeth and claws, or with human or dogs' teeth, and some glass beads of +different colours. There were also a great many egg-shells filled with a +viscous or gummy substance, the qualities of which were neglected to be +examined; and many little bags filled with a variety of articles, the +particulars of which cannot, at this distance of time, be recollected." +Shakespeare and Dryden, have left us poetical accounts of the +composition of European _Obies_ or charms, with which, and with more +historical descriptions, the above may be compared. The midnight hours +of the professors of Obi, are also to be compared with the witches of +Europe. Obi, therefore, is the serpent-worship. The Pythoness, at +Delphos, was an Obi-woman. With the serpent-worship is joined that of +the sun and moon, as the governors of the visible world, and emblems of +the male and female nature of the godhead; and to the cat, on account of +her nocturnal prowlings, is ascribed a mysterious relationship to the +moon. The dog and the wolf, doubtless for the same reason, are similarly +circumstanced. + +[138] The superstition of Obi was never generally remarked upon in the +British West Indies till the year 1760, when, after an insurrection in +Jamaica, of the Coromantyn or Gold Coast negroes, it was found that it +had been made an instrument for promoting that disturbance. An old +Coromantyn negro, the chief instigator and oracle of the insurgents of +the parish of St. Mary, in which the insurrection broke out, who had +administered the _Fetiche_ or solemn oath to the conspirators, and +furnished them with a magical preparation, which was to make them +invulnerable, was at that time apprehended and punished, and a law was +enacted for the suppression of the practice, under which several +examples were made, but without effecting for many years, any diminution +of the evil sought to be remedied. + +[139] In Kosters's travels in Brazil, we read of a negro who was +reported by one of his fellows to become occasionally _lobas homen_ or +wolf-man. "I asked him," said the author, "to explain; when he said, +that the man was at times transformed into an animal, of the size of a +calf with the figure of a dog;" and in the African memoranda is an +account of a negro who professed and even believed to have the power of +transforming himself into an alligator, in which state he devoured men. +Upon being questioned by Captain Beaver, he answered, "I can change +myself into an alligator, and have often done it." But though these may +be genuine African superstitions, and not such as have been introduced +by the Portuguese, yet it is certain there is no part of Europe to which +they do not equally belong. + +[140] Beckman, vol 1, p. 74 to 103. + +[141] See Major Long's expedition, vol. 1. p. 226. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +ON THE ORIGIN AND SUPERSTITIOUS INFLUENCE OP RINGS. + +The ancient magicians, among other pretended extraordinary powers of +accomplishing wonderful things by their superior knowledge of the secret +powers of nature, of the virtues of plants and minerals, and of the +motions and influence of the stars, attached no small degree of mystic +importance to rings, the origin of which, their matter and uses, +together with the supposed virtues of the stones set in them, afford a +subject squaring so much with our design, and so deserving of notice +from the curious, that no apology need be made for discoursing on them. + +According to the accounts of the heathen mythologists, Prometheus, who, +in the first times, had discovered a great number of secrets, having +been delivered from the charms, by which he was fastened to mount +Caucasus for stealing fire from heaven, in memory or acknowledgment of +the favour he received from Jupiter, made himself of one of those +chains, a ring, in whose collet he represented the figure of part of the +rock where he had been detained--or rather, as Pliny says, set it in a +bit of the same rock, and put it on his finger. This was the first ring +and the first stone. But we otherwise learn, that the use of rings is +very ancient, and the Egyptians were the first inventors of them; which +seems confirmed by the person of Joseph, who, as we read (Genesis, chap, +xi.) for having interpreted Pharoah's dream, received not only his +liberty, but was rewarded with his prince's ring, a collar of gold, and +the superintendancy of Egypt. + +Josephus, in the third book of Jewish antiquities says, the Israelites +had the use of them after passing the Red Sea, because Moses at his +return from Mount Sinai, found that they had forged the golden calf from +their wives' rings, enriched with precious stones. The same Moses, +upwards of 400 years before the wars of Troy, permitted the priests he +had established, the use of gold rings, enriched with precious stones. +The high priest wore upon his ephod, which was a kind of camail, rich +rings, that served as clasps; a large emerald was set and engraved with +mysterious names. The ring he wore on his finger was of inestimable +value and celestial virtue. Had not Aaron, the high priest of the +Hebrews, a ring on his finger, whereof the diamond, by its virtues, +operated prodigious things? For it changed its vivid lustre into a dark +colour, when the Hebrews were to be punished by death for their sins. +When they were to fall by the sword it appeared of a blood colour; if +they were innocent it sparkled as usual. + +It is observable that the ancient Hebrews used rings even in the time of +the wars of Troy. Queen Jezebel, to destroy Nabath, as it is related in +the first Book of Kings, made use of the ring of Ahab, King of the +Israelites, her husband, to seal the counterfeit letters that ordered +the death of that unfortunate man. Did not Judah, as mentioned in the +38th chapter of Genesis, abuse his daughter-in-law, Thamar, who had +disguised herself, by giving her his ring and bracelets, as a pledge of +the faith he had promised her? + +Though Homer is silent in regard to rings, both in his Iliad and +Odyssey, they were, notwithstanding, used in the time of the Greeks and +Trojans; and from them they were received by several other nations. The +Lacedemonians, as related by Alexander, ab. Alexandro, pursuant to the +orders of their king, Lycurgus, had only iron rings, despising those of +gold; either their king was thereby willing to retrench luxury, or to +prohibit the use of them. + +The ring was reputed, by some nations, a symbol of liberality, esteem, +and friendship, particularly among the Persians, none being permitted to +wear any, except they were given by the king himself. This is what may +also be remarked in the person of Apollonius Thyaneus, as a token of +singular esteem and liberality, received one from the great Iarchas, +prince of the Gymnosophists, who were the ancient priests of India and +dwelt in forests, as our ancient bards and druids, where they applied +themselves to the study of wisdom, and to the speculation of the heaven +and stars. This philosopher, by the means of that ring, learned every +day the secrets of nature. + +Though the ring found by Gyges, shepherd to the King of Lydia, has more +of fable than of truth in it, it will not, however, be amiss, to relate +what is said concerning Herodotus, Coelius, after Plato and Cicero, in +the third book of his Offices. This Gyges, after a great flood, passed +into a very deep cavity in the earth, where having found in the belly of +a brazen horse, with a large aperture in it, a human body of enormous +size, he pulled from off one of the fingers a ring of surprising virtue; +for the stone on the collet rendered him who wore it invisible, when the +collet was turned towards the palm of the hand, so that the party could +see, without being seen, all manner of persons and things. Gyges, having +made trial of its efficacy, bethought himself that it would be a means +for ascending the throne of Lydia, and for gaining the Queen by it. He +succeeded in his designs, having killed Candaules, her husband. The dead +body this ring belonged to was that of an ancient Brahman, who, in his +time, was chief of that sect. + +The rings of the ancients often served for seals. Alexander the Great, +after the death and defeat of Darius, used his ring for sealing the +letters he sent into Asia, and his own for those he sent to Europe. It +is customary in Rome for the bridegroom to send the bride, before +marriage, a ring of iron, without either stone or collet, to denote how +lasting their union ought to be, and the frugality they were to observe +together; but luxury herein soon gained ground, and there was a +necessity for moderating it. Caius Marius did not wear one of gold till +his third consulship; and Tiberius, as Suetonius says, made some +regulations in the authority of wearing rings; for, besides the liberty +of birth, he required a considerable revenue, both on the father and +grandfather's side. + +In a Polyglot dictionary, published in the year 1625, by John Minshew, +our attention was attracted by the following observations, under the +article "RINGFINGER.--Vetus versiculus singulis digitis Annulum trebuens +Miles. Mercator. Stultus. Maritus. Amator. Pollici adscribitur Militi, +seu Doctor. Mercatorem á pollice secundum, stultorum, tertium. Nuptorum +vel studiosorum quartum. Amatorum ultimum." + +By which it appears, that the fingers on which annuli were anciently +worn were directed by the calling, or peculiarity of the party. Were it + + A soldier, or doctor, to him was assigned the thumb. + A sailor, the finger next the thumb. + A fool, the middle finger. + A married or diligent person, the fourth or ring finger. + A lover, the last or little finger. + +The medicinal or curative power of rings are numerous and, as a matter +of course, founded on imaginary qualities. Thus the wedding ring rubbing +upon that little abscess called the stye, which is frequently seen on +the tarsi of the eyes, is said to remove it. Certain rings are worn as +talismans, either on the fingers or suspended from the neck; the +efficacy of which may be referred to the effects usually produced by +these charms. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +CELESTIAL INFLUENCES--OMENS--CLIMACTERICS--PREDOMINATIONS--LUCKY AND +UNLUCKY DAYS--EMPIRICS, &C. + +Astrologers, among other artifices, have used their best endeavours, and +employed all the rules of their art, to render those years of our age, +which they call climacterics, dangerous and formidable. + +The word climacteric is derived from the Greek, which means by a scale +or ladder, and implies a critical year, or a period in a man's age, +wherein, according Ficinusological juggling, there is some notable +alteration to arise in the body, and a person stands in great danger of +death. The first climacteric is the seventh year of a man's life; the +others are multiples of the first, as 21, 49, 56, 63, and 84, which two +last are called the grand climacterics and the danger more certain. The +foundation of this opinion is accounted for by Mark Ficimis as +follows:--There is a year, he tells us, assigned for each planet to rule +over the body of a man, each of his turn; now Saturn being the most +_maleficient_ (malignant) planet of all, every seventh year, which +falls to its lot, becomes very dangerous; especially those of +sixty-three and eighty-four, when the person is already advanced in +years. According to this doctrine, some hold every seventh year an +established climacteric; but others only allow the title to those +produced by multiplication of the climacterical space by an odd number, +3, 5, 7, 9, &c. Others observe every ninth year as a climacteric. + +Climacteric years are pretended, by some, to be fatal to political +bodies, which, perhaps, may be granted, when they are proved to be so +more than to natural ones; for it must be obvious that the reason of +such danger can by no means be discovered, nor the relation it can have +with any other of the numbers above mentioned. + +Though this opinion has a great deal of antiquity on its side; Aulus +Gellius says--it was borrowed from the Chaldeans, who possibly might +receive it from Pythagoras, whose philosophy teemed much in numbers, and +who imagined a very extraordinary virtue in the number 7. The principal +authors on climacterics are--Plato, Cicero, Macrobius, Aulus Gellius. +Among the ancients--Argal, Magirus, and Solmatheus. Among the +moderns--St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, Beda and Boethius, all countenance +the opinion. + +There is a work extant, though rather scarce, by Hevelius, under the +title of _Annus Climactericus_, wherein he describes the loss he +sustained by his observatory, &c. being burnt; which it would appear +happened in his grand climacteric, of which he was extremely +apprehensive. + +Astrologers have also brought under their inspection and controul the +days of the year, which they have presumed to divide into _lucky_ and +_unlucky_ days; calling even the sacred scriptures, and the common +belief of christians, in former ages, to their assistance for this +purpose. They pretend that the fourteenth day of the first month was a +blessed day among the Israelites, authorised, as they pretend, by the +several passages out of Exodus, v. 18:-- + +"In the first _month_, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye +shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day at even," v. +40. Now, the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, +was four hundred and thirty years. + +41. "And it came to pass, at the end of the four hundred and thirty +years, even the self same day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the +Lord went out from the land of Egypt." + +42. "It is a night to be much observed unto the Lord for bringing them +out of the land of Egypt; that is that night of the Lord to be observed +of all the children of Israel, in their generations." + +51. "And it came to pass, the self same day, that the Lord did bring the +children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies." Also +_Leviticus, chap. 23, v. 5._ "In the fourteenth day of the first month +at even, is the Lord's passover." _Numbers, chap. 28, v. 10._ "Four +hundred and thirty years being expired of their dwelling in Egypt, even +in the self same day they departed thence." + +With regard to evil days and times, Astrologers refer to _Amos. chap. 5, +v. 13._ "Therefore, the prudent shall keep silence in that time, for it +is an evil time," and _chap. 6, v. 3_, "Ye that put far away the evil +day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;" also _Psalm 37, v. +19_, "They shall not be ashamed in the evil time; and in the days of +famine, they shall be satisfied;" and _Jeremiah, chap. 46, v. 21_, "Also +her hired men are in the midst of her, like fatted bullocks, for they +are also turned back and are fled away together; they did not stand +because the day of their calamity was come upon them, and the time of +their visitation." And to _Job_ cursing the day of his birth, from the +first to the eleventh verse. In confirmation of which may also be quoted +a calendar, extracted out of several ancient Roman Catholic prayer +books, written on vellum, before printing was invented, in which were +inserted the unfortunate days of each month, which it would be +superfluous to cite here.[142] + +Roman History sufficiently proves that the nature of lucky and unlucky +days owes its origin to Paganism; where it is mentioned, that that very +day four years, the civil wars were begun by Pompey, the father; Caesar +made an end of them with his son, Cneius Pompeius being slain; and that +the Romans counted the 13th of February an unlucky day, because, on that +day they were overthrown by the Gauls at Alba; and the Fabii attacking +the city of the Recii, were all slain, with the exception of one man; +also from the calendar of Ovid's "Fastorum," _Aprilis erat mensis +Graecis auspicatissimus_; and from Horace, Book 2nd, Ode 13, cursing the +tree that had nearly fallen upon it; _ille nefasto posuit die_. + +The Pagans believed there were particular months and days which carried +something fatal in them; those, for instance, upon which the state +perhaps had lost a great battle; and under this impression, they never +undertook any enterprise on these days and months. The twenty-fourth of +February in the Bisextile years was considered so unlucky, that +Valentinian (_Ammiam. Marcell. lib. 26. cap. 1._) being elected Emperor +upon it, durst not appear in public under the apprehension of suffering +the fatality of the day. Many other particular days might be quoted upon +which generals of armies have constantly been favoured with fortune. +Timoleon (_Corn. Nepos_) won all his famous battles on his birthday. +Soliman (_Duverdier. Hist. des Turcs_) won the battle of Mohac, and took +the fortress of Belgrade, and, according to some historians, the Isle of +Rhodes, and the town of Buda on the 26th of August. But we find, in like +manner, the same day lucky and unlucky to the same people. Ventidius, at +the head of the Roman army, routed the Parthians, and slew their young +king Pacorus who commanded them, on the same day that Crassus, another +Roman general, had been slain, and his whole army cut in pieces by the +same people. Lucullus having attacked Tigranes, king of Armenia, +notwithstanding the vain scruples of his officers, who desired him to +beware fighting on that day, which was noted in the Roman calendar as an +unlucky one, ever since the fatal overthrow of the Romans by the Cimbri; +but he, (Lucullus) despising the superstition, gained one of the most +memorable battles recorded in Roman history, and changed the destiny of +the day as he promised those who would have dissuaded him from the +enterprise. And Valentinian's unlucky day was that on which Charles V, +another Roman Emperor, promised himself the best good fortune. Friday is +deemed on unlucky day for engaging in any particular business, and there +are few, if any, captains of ships who would sail from any port, on this +day of the week for their destination. + +The fishermen who dwell on the coasts of the Baltic never use their nets +between All-saints and St Martin's; they would then be certain of not +taking any fish through the whole year: they never fish on St Blaise's +day. On Ash Wednesday the women neither sew nor knit, for fear of +bringing misfortune upon their cattle. They contrive so as not to use +fire on St. Laurence's day; by taking this precaution they think +themselves secure against fire for the rest of the year. + +This prejudice of lucky and unlucky days has existed at all times and in +all nations; but if knowledge and civilization have not removed it, they +have at least diminished its influence. In Livonia, however, the people +are more than ever addicted to the most superstitious ideas on this +subject. In a Riga journal (_Rigaische Stadblatter_, No. 3657, anno +1822, edited by M. Sontag) there are several passages relative to a +letter from heaven, and which is no other than a catalogue of lucky and +unlucky days. This letter is in general circulation; every body carries +it about him, and though strictly forbidden by the police, the copies +are multiplied so profusely as to increase the evil all attempts to +destroy which have hitherto failed. Among the country people this idea +is equivalent to the doctrine of fatality; and if they commit faults or +even crimes, on the days which are marked as unlucky, they do not +consider themselves as guilty, because they were predestined. + +The flight of certain birds, or the meeting of certain animals on their +first going out in the morning, are with them good or bad omens. They do +not hunt on St. Mark's, or St. Catherine's day, on penalty of being +unsuccessful all the rest of the year. It is a good sign to sneeze on +Christmas day. Most of them are so prepossessed against Friday, that +they never settle any important business, or conclude a bargain on that +day; in some places they do not even dress their children. They do not +like visits on Thursdays, for it is a sign they shall have troublesome +guests the whole week. + +In some districts of Esthonia, up the Baltic, when the shepherd brings +his flocks back from the pasture, in spring for the first time, he is +sprinkled with water from head to foot under the persuasion that this +makes the cattle thrive. The malignity of beasts of prey is believed to +be prevented by designating them not by their proper names, but by some +of their attributes. For instance, they call the fox _hallkuhl_ (grey +coat) the bear, _layjatyk_ (broad-foot), etc. etc. They also fancy that +they can oblige the wolf to take another direction by strewing salt in +his way. The howling of wolves, especially at day-break, is considered a +very bad omen, predicting famine or disease. In more ancient times, it +was imagined that these animals, thus asked their god to give them +food, which he threw them out of the clouds. When a wolf seizes any of +their cattle, they can oblige him to quit his prey, by dropping a piece +of money, their pipe, hat, or any other article they have about them at +the time. They do not permit the hare to be often mentioned, for fear of +drawing it into their corn-fields. To make hens lay eggs, they beat them +with an old broom. In families where the wife is the eldest child of her +parents, it has been observed that they always sell the first calves, +being convinced, that, if kept, they would not thrive. To speak of +insects or mischievous animals at meal-times, is a sure way to make them +more voracious. + +If a fire breaks out, they think to stop its fury by throwing a black +hen into the flames. This idea, of an expiatory sacrifice, offered to a +malevolent and tutelary power, is a remnant of paganism. Various other +traces of it are found among the Esthonians; for instance, at the +beginning of their meals, they purposely let fall a piece of new bread, +or some drops of liquor from a bottle as an offering to the divinity. + +It is very offensive to the peasants, for any one to look into their +wells; they think it will cause the wells to dry up. + +When manna is carried into the fields, that which falls from the cart is +not gathered up, lest mischievous insects and blights come upon the +corn. + +When an old house is quitted for a new one they are attentive in noting +the first animal that dies. If it be an animal with hairy feet, the sign +is good; but if with naked feet, some fowl, for instance, there will be +mourning in the house; it is a sign of misery and bad success in all +their undertakings. These, with a scrupulous adherence to lucky and +unlucky days, are the prevailing popular superstitions in the three +duchies; a great number of which, especially among the Esthonians, are +connected with their ancient mythology. + +In reading that pleasant volume, by the late Sir Humphrey Davy, entitled +_Salmonia_, it is impossible not to be struck with his remark respecting +omens, which is here briefly noticed, with an account of others, which +it is imagined have not yet found their way far into print, in order to +account for such seeming absurdities. + +"The search after food,[143] as we agreed on a former occasion, is the +principal cause why animals change their places. The different tribes of +wading birds always migrate when rain is about to take place; and I +remember once in Italy, having been long waiting, in the end of March, +for the arrival of double snipe, in the campagna of Rome; a great flight +appeared on the third of April, and the day after, heavy rain set in, +which greatly interfered with my sport. The vulture, upon the same +principle, follows armies; and I have no doubt that the augury of the +ancients was a good deal founded upon the observation of the instinct of +birds. There are many superstitions of the vulgar owing to the same +source. For anglers, in spring, it is always unluckly to see single +magpies; but two may always be regarded as a favourable omen; and the +reason is, that in cold and stormy weather, one magpie alone leaves the +nest in search of food, the other remaining sitting upon the eggs of the +young ones: but, when two go out together, it is only when the weather +is mild and warm, and favourable for fishing. + +"This reasoning will, in general, be found correct, and may be applied +to solve many of the superstitions in the country; but the case of the +magpie is entitled to a little more consideration. The piannet, as we +call her in the North of England, is the most unlucky of all birds, to +see singly at any time; this, however, does not often happen, except a +short time during incubation; they either appear in pairs or in +families; but even this last appearance is as alarming to our +grandmothers. The following distich shows what each forbodes:--'One +sorrow, two mirth, three a wedding, four death.' This bird, indeed, +appears to have taken the same place with us, as an omen of evil, that +the owl had amongst the ancients. The nurse is often heard to declare +that she has lost all hopes of her charge when she has observed a +piannet on the house-top. + +"Another prejudice, indulged even by our good wives, is that of +destroying the feathers of the pigeon instead of saving them to stuff +beds, etc. They say, that if they were to do so, it would only prolong +the sufferings of the death-bed; and when these are more than usually +severe, it is attributed to this cause, and the reason given 'because +the bird has no gall' is to them quite conclusive, but to me, perfectly +irrelevant and unsatisfactory. A belief amongst boys, that to harm or +disturb the nests of the redbreast or swallow is unlucky, appears very +general throughout the kingdom; and the keen bird-nester, who prides +himself on the quantity of eggs blown and strung bead-fashion, here +often gets mortified by finding his trophies destroyed by the housewife +who considers their presence as affecting the safety of her crokery +ware. This belief may have been encouraged, if not invented, for a +humane purpose: but how are we to account for the efficacy of the Irish +stone in curing swellings caused by venomous reptiles, by merely being +rubbed upon the part affected? The fullest faith in the practice appears +to have prevailed in the country at no distant period, and is yet far +from extinct. The swallow and the cuckoo are generally hailed as +harbingers of spring and summer, but, perhaps, many of our readers are +not aware that it is only lucky to hear the cuckoo, for the first time +in the season, upon soft ground in contradistinction to hard roads, and +with money in the pocket, which the youngster is sagely advised to be +sure then to turn over. Perhaps the season of the year may +satisfactorily explain all these observances. Several superstitious +customs are mentioned regarding bees, some of which are not practised in +the north; yet it is fully believed that the death of the stock of hives +too often foretells the flitting of the bee-master. Wet cold years, +unfavourable to the insects, are also equally so to the farmer upon thin +clays, which border the moors, where bees are mostly kept. Has the use +of the mountain ash, 'rowan tree' [Pyrus aucuparia, _Gaertner_,] as a +charm against witchcraft, ever been accounted for? The belief in its +efficacy must be very old if we are to credit some of Shakspeare's +commentators, who give this word as the true reading in Macbeth, instead +of 'Aroint thee, witch!' + +"It often happens that the careless observer has, for the first time, +his attention called forcibly to some appearance of nature by accidental +circumstances: if at all superstitious, he immediately prognosticates +the most disastrous consequences from that which a little observation +would have convinced him was but a phenomenon a little more conspicuous +than usual. The northern lights are said to have caused much +consternation when first observed; and they have lately been viewed with +more than ordinary interest, as it appears from the _Newcastle +Chronicle_, the last autumn (1830), when they were more than usually +brilliant, some of the inhabitants of Weardale were convinced they saw, +on one occasion, very distinctly, the figure of a man on a white horse, +with a red sword in his hand, move across the heavens; and are, no +doubt, now certain that it foretold the present eventful times. Even +this belief may be accounted for on such accidental coincidences, or +even philosophically, by assuming as a fact that this phenomenon is the +result of an electrical change in the atmosphere, and that such a change +usually precedes rain. Now, if such happen in spring or in summer, and +before such a quantity of rain as is found to affect the harvest, it +may too often betoken scarcity, discontent, and turbulence, as such are +the times when all grievances, either real or imaginary, are brought +forward for redress. The origin of the superstition of sailors, of +nailing a horse-shoe to the mast, is to me unaccountable, unless it may +have been, like the following trial of the credulity of the +superstitious by some person for amusement:--Sailors sometimes make a +considerable pecuniary sacrifice for the acquisition of a child's caul, +the retaining of which is to infallibly preserve them from drowning. + +"Some years ago, a pretty wide district was alarmed by an account of the +beans [Fàba vulgàris var. equina] being laid the wrong way in the pod +that year, which most certainly foreboded something terrible to happen +in a short time, and this produced much consternation amongst those who +allow their imaginations to run riot. The whole of the terrible omen was +this: the eye of the bean was in the pod towards the apex, instead of +being towards the footstalk, as might appear at first sight to be its +natural position; and some were scarcely convinced that this was the +natural position of the beans in the pod ever since the creation, even +on being shown the pod of the preceding year with the seed in the same +position. + +"As yet, however, I fear we must sum up in the words of Davy:-- + +"_Phys._ But how can you explain such absurdities as Friday being an +unlucky day, and the terror of spilling salt, or meeting an old woman? + +"_Poiet_. These, as well as the omens of death-watches, dreams, etc. +are founded upon some accidental coincidences; but spilling of salt, on +an uncommon occasion, may, as I have known it, arise from a disposition +to apoplexy, shown by an incipient numbness in the hand, and may be a +fatal symptom; and persons dispirited by bad omens sometimes prepare the +way for evil fortune, for confidence of success is a great means of +insuring it. The dream of Brutus before the battle of Philippi probably +produced a species of irresolution and despondency which was the +principal cause of his losing the battle; and I have heard that the +illustrious sportsman, to whom you referred just now, was always +observed to shoot ill, because he shot carelessly, after one of his +dispiriting omens. + +"_Hal._ I have in life met with a few things which I have found it +impossible to explain, either by chance coincidences, or by natural +connections, and I have known minds of a very superior class affected by +them--persons in the habit of reasoning deeply and profoundly." + +The number of remarkable events that happened on some particular days, +have been the principal means of confirming both pagans and Christians +in their opinions on this subject. For instance, Alexander who was born +on the sixth of April, conquered Darius, and died on the same day. The +Emperor Basianus Caracalla was born, and died on the sixth day of April. +Augustus was adopted on the 19th of August, began his consulate, +conquered the Triumviri, and died the same day. The christians have +observed that the 24th of February was four times fortunate to Charles +the fifth. That Wednesday was a fortunate day to Pope Sixtus the fifth; +for on a Wednesday he was born, on that day made a monk, on the same day +made a general of his order, on that day created a Cardinal, on that day +elected Pope, and also on that day inaugurated. That Thursday was a +fatal day to Henry the eighth, King of England, and his posterity, for +he died on a thursday; King Edward the sixth on a Thursday; Queen Mary +on a Thursday; and Queen Elizabeth on a Thursday. + +The French have observed that the feast of Pentecoste had been lucky to +Henry III, King of France for on that day he was born, on that day +elected King of Poland, and on that day he succeeded his brother Charles +IX, on the throne of France. + +There are critical days observed by physicians, in continued fevers, a +doctrine which has been confirmed by the united testimony of De Haen and +Cullen; and these are the 3rd. 5th. 7th. 9th. 11th. 14th. 17th. and +20th. By critical days are meant, any of the above days, on which the +fever abates or terminates favourably, or on which it is exacerbated or +terminates fatally. + +Natural astrology is confined to the study of exploring natural effects, +in which sense it is admitted to be a part of natural philosophy. It was +under this view that Mr. Goad, Mr. Boyle, and Dr. Mead, pleaded for its +use. The first endeavours to account for the diversity of seasons from +the situations, habitudes and motions of the planets: and to explain an +infinity of phenomena by the contemplation of the stars. The Honourable +Mr. Boyle admitted, that all physical bodies are influenced by the +heavenly bodies; and Doctor Mead's opinion, in his treatise concerning +the power of the sun and moon, etc. is in favour of the doctrine. But +these predictions and influences are ridiculed and entirely exploded by +the most esteemed modern philosophers, of which the reader may have a +learned specimen in Rohault's, Tractat. Physic, part II. c. 27. + +The diseases of men, women, and children were supposed at times to be +more immediately caused by the influence of the seven planets. In order +to comprehend this exploded doctrine, we shall here set down the +pretended governing and days, at what time they are supposed to have the +most influence: + +[Symbol: Sol] Sol, or the sun governs on Sunday. +[Symbol: Luna] Luna, or the moon, Monday. +[Symbol: Mars] Mars, Tuesday. +[Symbol: Mercury] Mercury, Wednesday. +[Symbol: Jupiter] Jupiter, Thursday, +[Symbol: Venus] Venus. Friday. +[Symbol: Saturn] Saturn, Saturday. + +Saturn reigning, is said to cause cold diseases, as the gout, leprosy, +palsy, quartan agues, dropsies, catarrhs, colds, rheumatisms, etc. + +Jupiter causes cramps, numbness, inflammations of the liver, head-aches, +pains in the shoulders, flatulency, inflammatory fevers, and all +diseases caused by putrefaction, apoplexy, and quinsies. + +Mars, acute fevers and tartan agues, continual and intermitting fevers, +imposthumes, erisepelas, carbuncles, fistulas, dysentery, and similar +hot and dry diseases. + +Sol causes rheums in the eyes, coldness in the stomach and liver, +syncope, catarrhs, pustular eruptions, hysterics, eruptions on the lower +extremities. + +Venus causes sores, lientery, hysteria, sickness at the stomach, from +cold and moist causes, disorders of the liver and lungs. + +Mercury causes hoarseness and distempers in the senses, impediments in +the speech, falling sickness, coughs, jaundice, vomiting, catarrhs. + +The moon causes palsy, cholic, dropsy, imposthumes, dysenteries, and all +diseases arising from obstructed circulation. + +The means laid down for the prevention of these diseases are rational +enough, at least some of them, such as temperance, moderate bleeding +(whether or not indicated we are not told,) the use of laxatives at +seasonable times, when a friendly planet, opposite to the malignant +planet you were born under, has dominion, by which the effect of its +influence will be much abated, and a power given to nature to oppose its +malevolency, which, "if well heeded, may be a main prevention of +dangerous diseases." Thus every planet in the heavens carries with it a +diseased aspect, without, as it would appear, possessing any repelling +or sanative powers to correct or ward off the sickly influence it is +supposed to entertain over the life and limbs of frail mortals; that, in +the sense of this absurd doctrine, or rather jargon, when Jupiter has +dominion, it will be necessary to bleed and take calomel to guard +against (not to attack it when it has taken place) inflammation of the +liver; and when Mars presides, to send immediately for Van Butchel to +frighten away an imaginary fistula--absurd and ridiculous nonsense, too +prevalent even at the present day; for what can bleeding and physicking +at the spring and fall of the year be called but operations without +reason, under suppositious stellar influence. "Observe also to gather +all your physic herbs in the hour of the friendly planet, that +temporises with what you were born under, and in so doing they will have +more strength, power, and virtue to operate in the medicines; but +neither physic nor bleed on the third of January, the last of April, the +first of July, the first of August, and the last and second day of +October; for those astrologers, with whom physicians join, conclude it +perilous, by reason of the bad influence then reigning; and if it change +not the distemper into another worse, it will augment it, and put the +party in great danger of death, _if he or she in this case be not lucky +to escape_." It would be a waste of words to offer a single comment on +such egregious stuff--"do not bleed on the third of January," nor on +such and such a day, (as if there could be stated times for bleeding +beyond those which are indicated by the presence of disease, and +requiring such evacuation,) is a practice we believe peculiar only to +astrologers, and those who believe in such demonological cant. It is no +less, however, a singular fact that men distinguished in every other +respect for their learning, should most particularly have indulged in +the superstition of judicial astrology. At the present time a belief in +such subjects can only exist with those who may be said to have no +belief at all; for mere traditional sentiments can hardly be said to +amount to a belief. + +It was astronomy that gave rise to judicial astrology, which, offering +an ample field to enthusiasm and imposture, was eagerly pursued by many +who had no scientific purpose in view. It was connected with various +juggling tricks and deceptions, affected an obscure jargon of language, +and insinuated itself into every thing in which the hopes and fears of +mankind were concerned. The professors of this pretended science were at +first generally persons of mean education, in whom low cunning supplied +the place of knowledge. Most of them engaged in the empirical practice +of physic, and some through the credulity of the times, even arrived at +a degree of eminence in it; yet although the whole foundation of their +art was folly and deceit, they nevertheless gained many proselytes and +dupes, both among the well-informed and the ignorant. + +About the middle of the seventeenth century, the passion for horoscopes +and expounding the stars prevailed in France among people of the first +rank. The new-born child was usually presented naked to the +star-expounder, who read the first lineaments on its forehead, and the +transverse lines in its hands, and thence wrote down its future destiny. +It has been reported of several persons famous for their astrological +skill, that they have suffered a voluntary death merely to verify their +own predictions. It is curious to observe the shifts to which these wise +men were frequently put when their predictions were not verified. Great +winds at one time were predicted by a famous adept in the art, but no +unusual storms having happened, to save the reputation of the art, the +prediction was applied figuratively to some revolutions in the state, of +which there were instances enough at that time. + +The life of the famous Lilly the astrologer, and the Sidrophel of +Butler, written by himself, is a curious work, containing much artless +narrative, but at the same time, so much palpable imposture, that it is +difficult to know when he is speaking what he really believes to be the +truth. In a sketch of the state of astrology in his day, the adepts +whose characters he has drawn were the lowest miscreants of the town. +They all, indeed, speak of each other as rogues and impostors; among +whom were Booker, George Wharton, and Gadbury, who gained a livelihood +by practising on the credulity of even men of learning so late as 1650 +to the 18th century. In Ashmole's life an account of these artful +impostors may be read. Most of them had taken the air in the pillory, +and others had conjured themselves up to the gallows. + +To the astrologers of the 17th century, the quacks and impostors of the +beginning of the 19th are only equal. Quackery and astrology, the latter +of which often served as a mask to the former, appear to have been at +one time a kind of Castor and Pollux; quackery, however, it would seem +has outlived astrology, for there are more who would swallow the nostrum +of the quack than the flatulent bolus of the fortune-tellers. Both still +have their votaries. One Grigg, a poulterer in Surrey, was set in the +pillory at Croyden, (Temp. Edw. IV,) and again in the Borough, for +cheating people out of their money by pretending to cure them with +charms, by simply looking at the patients, or by practices still more +absurd and questionable. Of such doctors there is no lack. This kind of +practice offers one of the finest fields for deception of any species of +empirical delusion held out to the public at the present day. Such +indeed is the infatuation and credulity of the ignorant that, we are +confidently assured, a notorious German quack had within one year so +many half-guinea applications that he netted £2000; and that the glass +bottles in which the precious nostrums were conveyed from the sanctum +sanctorum of the mendacious empiric in high Germany, who made his debut +in this country by hawking about Dutch drops, amounted to as many +two-pences. To those of either sex, who are weak-minded enough to trust +their lives to the rash artifices of an ignorant pretender who affects +to discover an occult quality in the constitution of the patient +denoting the existence of some internal complaint beyond that which less +equivocal symptoms sufficiently present to the eye and knowledge of the +regular practitioner--we can only say that we conceive them to be justly +punished in the loss of their money, and the consequent ruin of their +health. + +In Stow's Chronicle we find that one of these said gentlemen was set on +horseback, his face towards the tail, which he held in his hand in the +manner of a bridle, while with a collar significative of his offence, +dangling about his neck, he made a public entrée into the city of +London, conducted by Jack Ketch, who afterwards did himself the honour +of scourging and branding the impostor, previous to banishment, which +completed his sentence. In the reign of James I, a terrible sweep was +made among the quacks and advertising gentry. The council dispatched a +warrant to the magistrates of the city of London, to take up all reputed +quacks, and bring them before the censors of the college, to examine how +properly qualified they were to be trusted, either with the limbs or +lives of his majesty's lieges. This is all that is required at the +present day. Let the legislature controul this department instead of the +college of physicians, who, as a body, can boast of as large an +allowance of licensed ignorance as any corporate set of men in +existence. We say nothing of surgery, for this branch of knowledge +leaves the world generally something to look at, hence so few pretenders +to it; but physic buries all its blemishes with the unfortunate victim. + +The country, even in this age of progressing wisdom, is deluged with +quack medicines, which credulous people say are not directed against the +constitution, but only against the pocket, and that they are too insipid +to do either good or harm; but were this the case, there would have been +no occasion for the exemplary punishments with which it is recorded +quacks of all sorts have at various times been visited. Be it known, +there can be no such thing invented by man as an universal remedy to +prevent or cure all kinds of diseases; because that which would agree +with one constitution would disagree with another differently organised; +and a quack nostrum, such as we see daily advertised, may certainly +agree at one stage of a disease, but might go far in killing the patient +at another. Besides, all these boasted specifics have been found to be +either inert, ineffectual, or dangerous, and every pretender to them, in +times less enlightened by the general march of intellect, has been +convicted either of gross ignorance or dishonesty. No one can vouch with +certainty for any particular kind of medicine,--that it will agree with +this or that individual, until acquainted with his peculiar +constitution; consequently it is the height of absurdity to prescribe +physic for a man without a knowledge of such circumstances to direct +him. Amulets, talismans, charms, and incantations, are innocent and +innoxious, and may impose only on credulity without any other untoward +consequence, leaving the patient in the same state in which he was +found; but so much cannot be said for quacks and quack-medicines which +frequently remove their deluded victims far beyond the reach of either +physic or philosophy. + +Butler is said to be the author of the following character of a quack; +and who can read it without being astonished at the prophetic +intelligence with which it abounds, and which, unfortunately, admits of +a too close analogy with some very recent and untoward events, in the +annals of modern empiricism. "He is a medicine-monger, probationer of +receipts, and Doctor Epidemic; he is perpetually putting his medicines +upon their trial, and very often finds them GUILTY OF MANSLAUGHTER, but +still they have some trick or other to come off, and avoid burning by +the hand of the hangman. He prints his trials of skill, and challenges +death at so many several weapons; that, though he is sure to be foiled +by every one, he cares not: for, _if he can but get money, he is sure to +get off_; for it is but posting up diseases for poltroons in all the +public places of the town, and daring them to meet him again, and his +credit stands as fair with the rabble, as ever it did. He makes nothing +* * * * * * * * * * *;--but will undertake to cure them and tie one hand +behind him, with so much ease and freedom, that his patients may surfeit +and get drunk as often as they please, and follow their business without +any inconvenience to their health or occasions; and recover with so much +secrecy, that they shall never know how it comes about. He professes "no +cure no pay," as well he may, for if nature does the work, he is paid +for it; if not, he neither wins nor loses; and like a cunning rook lays +his bets so artfully, that, let the chance be what it will, he either +wins or saves. He cheats the rich for their money, and the poor for +charity, and, if either succeed, both are pleased, and he passes for a +very just and conscientious man: for as those that pay nothing ought at +least to speak well of their entertainments, their testimony makes way +for those who are able to pay for both. He finds he has no reputation +among those that know him, and fears he is never like to have, and, +therefore, posts up his bills, to see if he can thrive better amongst +those who know nothing of him. He keeps his post continually, and will +undertake to maintain it against all the plagues of Egypt. He sets up +his trade upon a pillar, or the corner of a street--These are his +warehouses, where all he has is to be seen, and a great deal more; for +he that looks further finds nothing at all." + + +ABSURDITIES OF PARACELSUS, AND VAN HELMONT. + +Although some of the first chemists were men of sense and learning, yet +after that chemistry began to be fashionable and much in vogue, there +were some of its professors, who although men of an uncommon turn of +genius, were as great enthusiasts, both in the chemical and medical +arts, as any other men ever were in religion. They not only pretended to +transmute some of the baser metals into gold, contrary to the nature of +things--and if they could have succeeded in that impossible work, it +would have rendered gold as plentiful, cheap, and less valuable than +iron, because it is less fit for instruments and mechanical uses--but +they also pretended infallibly to cure all diseases, by some of their +new invented chemical machines;--a thing equally as impossible as the +other, and shewed their ignorance of the causes and nature of diseases. +As those who are the most ignorant are generally the greatest boasters, +we find that none of them were more so, than that vain, boasting, +paradoxical enthusiast Paracelsus, who had acquired great riches by +curing a certain disease with a mercurial ointment, the knowledge of +which secret he is said to have stolen from Jacobus Berengarius, of +Caipo, in his travels thither. He was withal so illiterate, that he said +philosophy could be taught in no language but high Dutch; but the true +reason was, that he neither understood philosophy nor any other +language. He also boasted that he was in possession of a nostrum which +would prolong man's life to the age of Methusaleh, though he died +himself at the age of forty-seven. He lived in the fifteenth century. +The cures he wrought were deemed so surprising in that age, that he was +supposed to have recourse to supernatural aid. In a picture of him at +Lumley Castle, he is represented in a close black gown, with both hands +on a great sword, on whose hilt is inscribed the word Azot. This was the +name of his _familiar_ spirit, that he kept imprisoned in the pummel, to +consult on emergent occasions. The circumstance is thus alluded to by +Butler:-- + + Bombastes kept the Devil's Bird + Shut in the pummel of his sword; + And taught him all the cunning pranks, + Of past and future mountebanks. + +Paracelsus was succeeded by his scholar van Helmont, who had much more +learning, but was as great an enthusiast, both in the chemical and +medical arts as his master, and embraced most of his paradoxical +opinions; and, having more technical terms, he frequently used them +rather to dazzle and confound the understandings of his readers, than to +inform their judgments. By thus giving his writings a mystical air of +wisdom, he rendered them obscure, and sometimes unintelligible; +consequently, more easily imposed them upon the public and vulgar, as +sublime and useful truths. He also vainly boasted that he could cure any +fever in four days' time, by sweating the patient with one draught of +his famous nostrum, the _Praecipitatus Diaphoreticus Paracelsi_; and +further adds, "that no man can deserve the name of a physician, who +cannot cure any fever in four days' time." He, however, admits, that he +sometimes added a little theriaca (treacle) and wine to it; which last, +he says, "is not only a great cordial, but as a vehicle, is a proper +messenger to be sent on such an errand, as it knows the road, is well +received wherever it goes, and readily admitted into the most private +apartments of the human body." Hence we believe that wine is not only a +good natured, but an intelligent being; though it sometimes deprives men +of their senses for a time, when they take too much of it: and hence we +see also a specimen of our author's method of reasoning and writing. + +Van Helmont, like his great master, also boasted, that he could cure all +inflammatory and other fevers, and even a pleurisy, without either +bleeding, vomiting, purging, clysters, or blisters; and he quarrelled +so much with the two last, that he calls clysters "a beastly remedy," +and says that blisters were invented by a wicked spirit, whom he calls +Moloz, though Beelzebub might have been as good a name, since Dr. +Baynard wittily observed, that he believed he was only a great +cantharid. And both Helmont and the Doctor were so far right, that +blistering was then, as well as now, much abused; and in truth they are +much oftener applied than is either necessary or useful. + +Thus these two eminent chemists, and too many of their followers, +frequently imposed their writings upon the unguarded reader, and +themselves upon the vulgar, for men of profound knowledge in the medical +art, and as great adepts in chemistry: and being puffed up with the high +opinion entertained of their new art, or new medicines, and their own +great wisdom, they rejected the philosophical theory of medicine by +Galen and Avicenna, then so much in vogue. They were right in doing +this, and might have done great service to mankind, if they had not set +up their own imaginary chemical theory in its place, which was neither +founded upon observations, nature, nor reason, and had no existence but +in their own vain imaginations. Thus they supposed a malignity which +caused all diseases, as well inflammatory as other fevers, and which was +to be forced out of the body by sweating, with their hot therapeutics; +they, therefore, attacked all fevers with this chemical ammunition, and +attempted to carry them with fire and storm, prescribing the +praecipitatus diaphoreticus and sweating regimen, which must have been +fatal to many, and no doubt would have been so to many more, if van +Helmont had not allowed his patients to dilute the medicine with a thin +diet, which rendered the calorific method less fatal. But, as the +learned Dr. Friend judiciously remarks, if any did escape after that hot +regimen, it was through a fiery trial. + +Thus the chemists, without any rational theory, or regard to nature, and +what she indicated or did;--without duly considering how the morbid +matter, which caused the disease, was to be concocted and fitted to be +carried off by some critical evacuation; or how to assist nature to +bring that crisis on, according to the Hippocratic method;--without +considering the benefit of the rational, cooling, antiphlogistic +practice of the Arabians--they introduced their sudorific regimen +instead; and this regimen was soon after brought into use in England, +and most other countries, where it continued to be the practice for many +years afterwards, as may be seen by the authors of those times, until +the judicious and honest Dr. Sydenham wisely rejected and exploded it, +introducing the rational method of Hippocrates and the cooling regimen +of the Arabians, which he seems rather to have taken _ex ipsa re et +ratione_ from nature and reason, than from the works of the Arabian +physicians, with which he appears not to have been acquainted, as he +never mentions them. + +Van Helmont had several other famous nostrums, with which he pretended +to perform wonders, as quacks have done in all ages, and as some do now: +for empiricism was never more in fashion than at the present day, and +the chemical art has supplied them with many more arcana and nostrums +than the ancients had in all their antidotes and theriacas, etc. since +chemistry was made subservient to medicine. Van Helmont, nevertheless +was a learned man, and acquired a great name and reputation, at least +for some time; but, as neither his theory nor his practice were founded +on nature and reason, nor conformable to them, the more judicious +physicians soon saw their errors, as well as the fallacy of his new +invented chemical terms and unmeaning phrases, which only contained the +shadow and not the substance of the medical science; therefore both his +chemical theory and hot regimen, together with his writings, sunk soon +after his death, into a state of merited oblivion. + +Notwithstanding that the science of chemistry was greatly improved by +these extraordinary men, who invented or discovered many useful +remedies, which they introduced into the practice of medicine in a no +less extraordinary manner, and thereby pointed out the way for others to +follow them; yet we must allow that the more able and learned chemists +have greatly enriched and improved the materia medica since, by making +many curious experiments, and thereby discovering several new and very +efficacious medicines, not only from the semi-metals, mercury and +antimony, and the various chemical preparations from them, but from the +more perfect metals, and some other mineral bodies, as well as from a +great variety of remedies which are prepared both from vegetable and +animal substances, as salts, oils, essences, spirits, tinctures, +elixirs, extracts and many more needless here to be mentioned, but all +of which are known to physicians. For all these we are indebted to the +chemists who first invented and introduced them into practice; although +the use and application, as well as the methods of administering them to +the sick, to cure various other diseases than those they were first used +for, has been greatly improved by several learned and ingenious +physicians. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[142] See Demonologia, by J.S.F. p. 40. + +[143] See Magazine of Natural History, April, 1830. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +MODERN EMPIRICISM. + +In one respect we have but very little occasion to extol our own +enlightened age at the expence of those ages which are so frequently and +justly termed _dark_. We allude to the bold and artful designs of +imposture, and particularly _medical imposture_. Daily are seen +illiterate and audacious empirics sporting with the lives of a credulous +public, that seem obstinately resolved to shut their ears against all +the suggestions of reason and experience. The host of empirics, +mountebanks, and self-dubbed hygeists, which infest the metropolis, and +the tinctures, cordials, pills, balms, and essences, so much extolled by +their retailers, and swallowed by the public, are indeed so many proofs +of the credulity of the age, that to say the least, the march of +intellect has evidently made a _faux-pas_ in this direction. + +The celestial beds, the enchanting magnetic powers introduced into this +country by Messmer, a German quack, and his numerous disciples, the +prevailing indifference to all dietetic precepts, the singular +imposition practised on many females, in persuading them to wear the +inert acromatic belts, the strange infatuation of the opulent in paying +five guineas for a pair of _metallic tractors_, not worth sixpence, the +tables for blood-letting, and other absurdities still inserted in +popular almanacs, (against all the rules of common sense)--all these +yield in nothing to the absurdities and superstitious notions conveyed +through the medium of astrology, dreams, and other ludicrous though by +far more imposing and interesting channels. The temple of the gulls is +now thronged with votaries as much as that of superstition formerly was; +human reason is still a slave to the most tyrannical prejudices; and +certainly, there is no ready way to excite general attention and +admiration, than to deal in the mysterious and the marvellous. The +visionary system of Jacob Böhman has latterly been revived in some parts +of Germany. The ghosts and apparitions which had disappeared from the +times of Thomasius and Swedenborg, have again left their graves, to the +great terror of fanaticism. New prophets announce their divine mission, +and, what is worse, find implicit believers! The _inventors_ of _secret_ +medicines are rewarded by patents, and obtain no small celebrity; while +some of the more conscientious, but less fortunate adepts, endeavour to +amuse the public with popular systems of medicine. + +One of the most dazzling and successful inventors in modern times, was +Messmer, who commenced his career of medical knight-errantry at Vienna. +His house was the focus of high life, the rendezvous of the gay, where +the young and opulent were enlivened and entertained with continual +concerts, routs, and illuminations. At a great expence, he imported into +Germany the first _Harmonica_ from this country: he established cabinets +of natural curiosities, and laboured constantly and secretly in his +chemical laboratory; so that he acquired the reputation of being a great +alchemist, a philosopher studiously employed in the most useful and +important researches. In 1766, he first publicly announced the object +and nature of his secret labours:--all his discoveries centered in the +_magnet_, which, according to his hypothesis, was the best and safest +remedy hitherto proposed against all diseases incident to the human +body. + +This declaration of Messmer excited very general attention; the more so +as about the same time he established a hospital in his own house, into +which he admitted a number of patients _gratis_. Such disinterestedness +procured, as might be expected, no small addition to his fame. He was, +besides, fortunate in gaining over many celebrated physicians to his +opinions, who lavished the greatest encomiums on his new art, and were +instrumental in communicating to the public a number of successful +experiments. This seems to have surpassed the expectations of Messmer, +and induced him to extend his original plan further than it is likely he +first intended. We find him soon after assuming a more dogmatical and +mysterious air, when, for the purpose of shining exclusively, he +appeared in the character of a _magician_:--his pride and egotism would +brook neither equal nor competitor. + +The common loadstone, or mineral magnet, which is so well known, did +not appear to him sufficiently important and mysterious--he contrived an +unusual one, to the effect of which he gave the name of '_animal +magnetism_'. After this, he proceeded to a still holder assumption, +everywhere giving it out, that the inconceivable powers of this subtile +fluid were centered in his own person. Now, the mona-drama began; and +Messmer, at once the hero and chorus of the piece, performed his part in +a masterly manner. He placed the most nervous, hysteric, and +hypocondriac patients opposite to him; and by the sole act of stretching +forth his finger, he made them feel the most violent shocks. The effects +of this wonderful power excited universal astonishment; its activity and +penetration being confirmed by unquestionable testimonies, from which it +appeared, that blows similar to those given by a blunt iron, could be +imparted by the operator, while he himself was separated by two doors, +nay, even by thick walls. The very looks of this prince of jugglers had +the power to excite painful cramps and twitches in his credulous and +predisposed patients. + +This wonderful tide of success instigated his indefatigable genius to +bolder attempts, especially as he had no severe criticism to apprehend +from the superstitious multitude. He roundly asserted things of which he +offered not the least shadow of proof; and for the truth of which he had +no other pledge to offer but his own high reputation. At one time he +could communicate his magnetic power to paper, wool, silk, bread, +leather, stones, water, etc., at another he asserted that certain +individuals possessed a greater degree of susceptibility for this power +than others. It must be owned, however, that many of his contemporaries +made it their business to encounter his extravagant pretensions, and +refute his dogmatical assertions with the most convincing arguments. +Yet, he long enjoyed the triumph of being supported by blind followers, +and their increasing number completely overpowered the suffrages of +reason. + +Messmer, at length perceived that in his native country, he should never +be able to reach the point which he had fixed upon, as the termination +of his magnetical career. The Germans began to discredit his pompous +claims; but it was only after repeated failures in some promised cures, +that he found himself under the necessity of seeking protection in +Paris. There he met with a most flattering reception, being caressed, +and in a manner adored by a nation which has always been extravagantly +fond of every new thing, whimsical and mysterious. Messmer well knew how +to turn this natural propensity to the best advantage. He addressed +himself particularly to the weak; to such as wished to be considered men +of profound knowledge, but who, when they were compelled to be silent +from real ignorance, took refuge behind the impenetrable shield of +mystery. The fashionable levity, the irresistible curiosity, and the +peculiar turn of the Parisians, ever solicitous to have something +interesting for conversation, to keep their active imagination in play, +were exactly suited to the genius and talents of the inventor of animal +magnetism. We need not wonder, therefore, if he availed himself of their +moral and physical character, to ensure a ready faith in his doctrines, +and success to his pretended experiments: in fact, he found friends and +admirers wherever he made his appearance. His first advertisement was +couched in the following high-sounding terms: + +"Behold a discovery which promises unspeakable advantages to the human +race, and immortal fame to its author! Behold the dawn of an universal +revolution! A new race of men shall arise, shall overspread the earth, +to embellish it by their virtues, and render it fertile by their +industry. Neither vice nor ignorance, shall stop their active career; +they will know our calamities only from the records of history. The +prolonged duration of their life will enable them to plan and accomplish +the most laudable undertakings. The tranquil, the innocent +gratifications of that primeval age will be restored, wherein man +laboured without toil, lived without sorrow, and expired without a +groan! Mothers will no longer be subject to pain and danger during their +pregnancy and child-birth: their progeny will be more robust and brave; +the now rugged and difficult path of education will be rendered smooth +and easy; and hereditary complaints and diseases will be for ever +banished from the future auspicious race. Fathers rejoicing to see their +posterity of the fourth and fifth generations, will only drop like fruit +fully ripe, at the extreme point of age! Animals and plants, no less +susceptible of the magnetic power than man, will be exempt from the +reproach of barrenness and the ravages of distemper. The flocks in the +fields, and the plants in the gardens, will be more vigorous and +nourishing, and the trees will bear more beautiful and grateful fruits. +The human race, once endowed with this elementary power, will probably +rise to still more sublime and astonishing effects of nature: who indeed +is able to pronounce, with certainty, how far this salutary influence +may extend?" + +"What splendid promises! What rich prospects! Messmer, the greatest of +philosophers, the most virtuous of men, the physician of mankind, +charitably opens his arms to all his fellow-mortals, who stand in need +of comfort and assistance. No wonder that the cause of magnetism, under +such a zealous apostle, rapidly gained ground, and obtained every day +large additions to the number of its converts. To the gay, the nervous, +and the dissipated of all ranks and ages, it held out the most +flattering promises. Men of the first respectability interested +themselves in behalf of this new philosophy; they anticipated in idea, +the more happy and more vigorous race which would proceed, as it were, +by enchantment, from the wonderful impulsive powers of animal magnetism. +The French were so far seduced by these flattering appearances, as to +offer the German adventurer _thirty thousand livres_ for the +communication of his secret art. He appears, however, to have understood +his own interest better than thus to dispose of his hypothetical +property, which, upon a more accurate investigation might be objected +to, as consisting of unfair articles of purchase. He consequently +returned the following answer to the credulous French ministers: + +"That Dr. M. considered his art of too great importance, and the abuses +it might lead to, too dangerous for him at present to make it public; +that he must therefore reserve to himself the time of its publication, +and mode of introducing it to general use and observation--that he would +first take proper measures to initiate or prepare the minds of men, by +exciting in them a susceptibility of this great power; and that he would +then undertake to communicate his secret gradually, which he meant to do +without hope of reward." + +Messmer, too politic to part with his secret for so small a premium, had +a better prospect in view; and his apparent disinterestedness and +hesitation served only to sound an over-curious public, to allure more +victims to his delusive practices, and to retain them more firmly in +their implicit belief. Soon after this he was easily prevailed upon to +institute a private society, into which none were admitted, but such as +bound themselves by a vow to perpetual secrecy. These pupils he agreed +to instruct in his important mysteries, on condition of each paying him +_one hundred louis_. In the course of six months, having had not less +than three hundred such pupils, he realized a fortune of _thirty +thousand louis_. + +It appears, however, that the disciples of Messmer did not adhere to +their engagement: we find them separating gradually from their +professor, and establishing schools for the propagation of his system, +with a view, no doubt, to reimburse themselves for the expenses of their +own initiation into the magnetising art. But few of them having +understood the terms and mysterious doctrines of their foreign master, +every new adept exerted himself to excel his fellow-labourers, in +additional explanations and inventions: others, who did not possess, or +could not spare the sum of one hundred louis, were industriously +employed in attempts to discover the secret, by their own ingenuity; and +thus arose a great variety of magnetical sects. At length, however, +Messmer's authority became suspected; his pecuniary acquisitions were +now notorious, and our _humane and disinterested philosopher_ was +assailed with critical and satirical animadversions from every quarter. +The fertility of his process for medical purposes, as well as the bad +consequences it might procure in a moral point of view, soon became +topics of common conversation, and ultimately even excited the +apprehensions of government. One dangerous effect of magnetical +associations was, that young voluptuaries began to employ this art, to +promote their libidinous and destructive designs. + +Matters having assumed this serious aspect, the French government, much +to its credit, deputed four respectable and unprejudiced men, to whom +were afterwards added four others of great learning and abilities, to +inquire into, and appreciate the merits of the new discovery of animal +magnetism. These philosophers, among whom we find the illustrious names +of Franklin and Lavoisier, recognised, indeed, very surprising and +unexpected phenomena in the physical state of magnetized individuals; +but they gave it as their opinion, that the powers of imagination, and +not animal magnetism, had produced these effects. Sensible of the +superior influence, which the imagination can exert on the human body, +when it is effectually wrought upon, they perceived, after a number of +experiments and facts frequently repeated, that _contact_, or touch, +_imagination, imitation_, and _excited sensibility_, were the real and +sole causes of these phenomena, which had so much confounded the +illiterate, the credulous, and the enthusiastic; that this boasted +magnetic element had no real existence in nature, consequently that +Messmer himself was either an arrant impostor, or a deluded fanatic. + +Meantime, this magnetic mystery had made no small progress in Germany. A +number of periodical and other publications vindicated its claims to +public favour and attention; and some literary men, who had rendered +themselves justly celebrated by their former writings, now stepped +forward as bold and eager champions in support of this mystical +doctrine. The ingenious Lavater undertook long journies for the +propagation of magnetism and somnambulism:[144] and what, manipulations +and other absurdities were not practised on hysterical young ladies in +the city of Bremen? It is farther worthy of notice, that an eminent +physician of that place, in a recent publication, does not scruple to +rank magnetism among medical remedies! It must, nevertheless, be +confessed, that the great body of the learned, throughout Germany, have +endeavoured, by strong and impartial criticism, to oppose and refute +animal magnetism, considered as a medical system. And how should it be +otherwise, since it is highly ridiculous to imagine that violent +agitations, spasms, convulsions, etc. which are obviously symptoms of a +diseased state of body, and which must increase rather than diminish the +disposition to nervous diseases, can be the means of improving the +constitution and ultimately of prolonging human life? Every attentive +person must have observed, that too frequent intercourse between nervous +and hypochondriac patients is infectious; and if this be the case, +public assemblies, for exhibiting magnetised individuals, can neither be +safe nor proper. It is no small proof of the good sense of the people of +this country, though they have at different times fallen into nearly +similar delusions, that the professors of animal magnetism did not long +maintain their ground; they were soon exposed to public ridicule on the +stage, and shortly became annihilated in their own absurdities. + +Other plans for the prolongation of life, little less absurd than +animal magnetism, which have, like every other imposture, "fretted their +hour," deserve to be noticed. The French and Germans have long stood +pre-eminent in the empirical world, though the merit of ingenious and +more plausible emanations of genius may fairly be attributed to the +latter. Animal magnetism; physiognomy, a rational though fallacious +science; phrenology, a doctrine abounding with many singular +manifestions, and possessing claims not to be put down by mere force of +prejudice, are all of German origin. + +The Count St. Germain, a Frenchman, realized large sums, by vending an +artificial tea, chiefly composed of yellow saunders, senna leaves, and +fennel seed, which was puffed off under the specious appellation of _Tea +for prolonging life_; which, at that time, was swallowed with such +voracity all over the continent, that few could subsist without it. Its +celebrity was of short duration, and none ever lived long enough to +realize its effects. + +The Chevalier d'Ailhoud, another brazen-faced adventurer, presented the +world with a powder, which met with so large and rapid a sale, that he +soon accumulated money enough to purchase a whole county. This famous +powder, however, instead of adding to the means of securing a long and +healthy life, is well known to produce constant indisposition, and at +length to cause a most miserable death; being composed of certain drugs +of a poisonous nature, though slow in their operation. + +Count Cagliostro, styled the luminary of modern impostors and +debauchees, prepared a very common stomach elixir, which was sold at a +most exorbitant price under the name of "_balm of life_" It was +pretended, with the most unparalleled effrontery, that, by the use of +this medicine, the count had lived above 200 years, and that he was +rendered invulnerable against every species of poison. These bold +assertions could not fail to excite very general attention. During his +residence at Strasburg, while descanting, in a large and respectable +company, on the virtues of his antidote, his pride met with a very +mortifying check. A physician who was present, and who had taken part in +the conversation, quitting the room privately, went to an apothecary's +shop, and ordering two pills of equal size to be made, agreeably to his +directions, suddenly appeared again before the count, and thus addressed +him:--"Here, my worthy count, are two pills; the one contains a mortal +poison, the other is perfectly innocent; choose one of these and swallow +it, and I engage to take that which you leave. This will be considered +as a decisive proof of your medical skill, and enable the public to +ascertain the efficacy of your extolled elixir." The count took the +alarm, made a number of apologies, but could not be prevailed upon to +touch the pills. The physician swallowed both immediately, and proved by +his apothecary, that they might be taken with perfect safety, being only +made of common bread. Notwithstanding the shame of this detection, +Cagliostro still retained numerous advocates by circulating unfounded +reports, and concealing his real character by a variety of tricks. + +The inspired father Gassner, of Bavaria, ascribed all diseases, +lameness, palsy, etc, to diabolical agency, contending from the history +of Job, Saul, and others recorded in sacred writ, that Satan, as the +grand enemy of mankind, has a power to embitter and shorten our lives by +diseases. Vast numbers of credulous and weak-minded people flocked to +this fanatic, with a view of obtaining relief which he never had the +means to administer. Multitudes of patients, afflicted with nervous and +hypochondriacal complaints, besieged him daily; being all stimulated by +a wild imagination, eager to view and acknowledge the works of Satan! +Men eminent for their literary attainments, even the natural +philosophers of Bavaria, were hurried away by the stream, and completely +blinded by sanctified imposture. + +It is no less astonishing than true, that so late as 1794, a Count Thun, +at Leipzig, pretended to perform miraculous cures on gouty, +hypochondriacal, and hysterical patients, merely by the imposition of +his sacred hands. He could not however raise a great number of disciples +in a place that abounds with so many sceptics and unbelievers. + +The commencement of the nineteenth century has been equally pregnant +with imposture. The delusions of Joanna Southcoat are too fresh in the +recollections of our readers to require notice here; yet, strange to +say, this fanatical old woman had her adherents and disciples; many of +them, in other respects, were keen and sensible men; nor has the +delusion altogether evaporated, though the sect is by no means powerful +or strong; the first impressions are still retained by her half frantic +and ridiculous devotees, who are only to be met with among the very +lowest and illiterate orders of society. + +The farce of the convert of Newhall, near Chelmsford, is of still more +recent date. Here we have a miracle performed by the holy Prince +Hohenlohe, at a distance of at least three hundred miles from the +presence of his patient. Hearing of the wonderful cures performed by +this prince, one of the nuns in the above convent, who had been +afflicted for a considerable length of time with a swelling and +inflammation extending from the ball of the thumb along the fore arm, +and up as high as the armpit, wrote to Prince Hohenlohe--having +previously been attended by the most eminent practitioners in London +without any apparent benefit--to relieve her from her sufferings. This +he willingly undertook to do, but accompanied his consent with an +injunction that she should offer up her prayers on a certain day (May 3, +1824,) held in reverence by the catholics, and at a certain hour, +promising that he would be at his devotions at the same time. All this, +the afflicted nun attended to; immediately after her prayers, she +experienced a tingling sensation along the arm, and from that instant +the cure rapidly advanced until the diseased limb became as sound as the +other. + +The days of priestcraft and superstition, it was hoped, had been fast +fleeting away before the luminous rays of science, even in those +countries where religious juggling had been most fostered and practised. +But for any man in this country to believe that such a miracle can be +wrought by human agency, is of itself an awfully convincing proof that +he is ignorant of the Scriptures, and that his own mind is likely to +become a prey to the wildest chimeras. Prince Hohenlohe's notoriety +however as a worker of miracles was not confined to Newhall. His mighty +prowess extended to the emerald isle; and several cures were performed +at as great, or even at a greater distance, than that wrought at +Newhall, and merely at the sound of his orisons. We hear of no miracles +being wrought by, or upon protestants; consequently we leave them to the +gloom of the cloister, whence they emanated, and where only they can be +of use in a cause which requires the aid of stratagem to support it. + +A taste for the marvellous seems to be natural to man in every stage of +society, and at almost every period of life; it cannot, therefore, be +much a matter of astonishment, that, from the earliest ages of the +world, persons have been found, who, more idle and more ingenious than +others, have availed themselves of this propensity, to obtain an easy +livelihood by levying contributions on the curiosity of the public. +Whether this taste is to be considered as a proof of the weakness of our +judgment, or of innate inquisitiveness, which stimulates us to enlarge +the sphere of our knowledge, must be left to the decision of +metaphysicians; it is sufficient for our present purpose to know that it +gave rise to a numerous class of impostors in the shape of quacks, +mountebanks, poison-swallowers, fire-eaters, and pill-mongers. + +There is another class of adepts, such as sleight of hand performers, +slack rope dancers, teachers of animals to perform extraordinary tricks; +in short, those persons who delude the senses, and practise harmless +deceptions on spectators, included under the common appellation of +jugglers. If these arts served no other purpose than that of mere +amusement, they yet merit a certain degree of encouragement, as +affording at once a cheap and innocent diversion; jugglers of this class +frequently exhibit instructive experiments in natural philosophy, +chemistry, and mechanics: thus the solar microscope was invented from an +instrument to reflect shadows, with which a savoyard amused a German +populace; and the celebrated Sir Richard Arkwright is said to have +conceived the idea of the spinning machines, which have so largely +contributed to the prosperity of the cotton manufactories in this +country, from a toy which he purchased for his child from an itinerant +showman. These deceptions have, besides, acted as an agreeable and most +powerful antidote to superstition, and to that popular belief in +miracles, conjuration, sorcery, and witchcraft, which preyed upon the +minds of our ancestors; and the effects of shadows, electricity, +mirrors, and the magnet, once formidable instruments in the hands of +interested persons, for keeping the vulgar in awe, have been stripped of +their terrors, and are no longer frightful in their most terrific forms. + + +ON THE TRANSFUSION OP BLOOD FROM ONE ANIMAL TO ANOTHER. + +At a time when the shortness of human life was imputed to a distempered +state of the blood; when all diseases were ascribed to this cause, +without attending to the whole of what relates to the moral and physical +nature of man, a conclusion was easily formed, that a radical removal of +the corrupted blood, and a complete renovation of the entire mass by +substitution was both practicable and effectual. The speculative mind +of man was not at a loss to devise expedients, to effect this desirable +purpose; and undoubtedly one of the boldest, most extraordinary, and +most ingenious attempts ever made to lengthen the period of human life +was made at this time. We allude here to the famous scheme of +_transfusion_, or of introducing the blood of one animal into that of +another. This curious discovery is attributed to Andreas Libavius, +professor of medicine and chemistry in the university of Halle, who, in +the year 1615, publicly recommended experimental essays to ascertain the +fact. + +Libavius was an honest and spirited opposer of the Theosophic system, +founded by the bombastic Paracelsus, and supported by a numerous tribe +of credulous and frantic followers. Although he was not totally exempt +from the follies of that age, since he believed in the transmutation of +metals, and suggested to his pupils the wonderful power of potable gold, +yet he distinguished rational alchemy from the fanatical systems then in +repute, and zealously defended the former against the disciples of +Galen, as well as those of Paracelsus. He made a number of important +discoveries in chemistry, and was unquestionably the first professor in +Germany who gave chemical lectures, upon pure principles of affinity, +unconnected with the extravagant notions of the theosophists. + +The first experiments relative to the transfusion of the blood, appear +to have been made, and that with great propriety, on the lower animals. +The blood of the young, healthy and vigorous, was transferred into the +old and infirm, by means of a delicate tube, placed in a vein opened for +that purpose. The effect of this operation was surprising and important: +aged and decrepit animals were soon observed to become more lively, and +to move with greater ease and rapidity. By the indefatigable exertions +of Lower, in England, of Dennis in France, and of Moulz, Hoffman, and +others in Germany, this artificial mode of renovating the life and +spirits was successfully continued, and even brought to some degree of +perfection. + +The vein usually opened in the arm of a patient was resorted to for the +purpose of transfusion; into this a small tube was placed in a +perpendicular direction; the same vein was then opened in a healthy +individual, but more frequently in an animal, into which another tube +was forced in a reclining direction; both small tubes were then slid +into one another, and in that position the delicate art of transfusion +was safely performed. When the operation was completed, the vein was +tied up in the same manner as on blood-letting. Sometimes a quantity of +blood was drawn from the patient, previously to the experiment taking +place. As few persons, however, were to be found, that would agree to +part with their blood to others, recourse was generally had to animals, +and most frequently to the calf, the lamb, and the stag. These being +laid upon a table, and tied so as to be unable to move, the operation +was performed in the manner before described. In some instances, the +good effects of these experiments were evident and promising, while they +excited the greatest hopes of the future improvement and progress of +this new art. But the unceasing abuses practised by bold and inexpert +adventurers, together with the great number of cases, which proved +unsuccessful, induced the different governments of Europe to put an +entire stop to the practice, by the strictest prohibitions. And, indeed, +while the constitutions and mode of living among men differ so +materially as they now do, this is, and ever must remain, an extremely +hazardous and equivocal, if not a desperate remedy. The blood of every +individual is of a peculiar nature, and congenial with that of the body +only to which it belongs, and in which it is generated. Hence our hope +of prolonging human life, by artificial evacuations and injections, must +necessarily be disappointed. It must not, however, be supposed, that +these, and similar pursuits during the ages of which we treat, as well +as those which succeeded, were solely or chiefly followed by mere +adventurers and fanatics. The greatest geniuses of those times employed +their wits with the most learned and eminent men, who deemed it an +object by no means below their consideration. + +The method of supplying good for unsound teeth, though long laid aside, +in consequence of the danger with which the practice was attended, by +the communication of disease from an unhealthy to a healthy person, was +at one time as much the rage as the transfusion of blood. This practice, +notwithstanding the objections which stand opposed to it, might, +nevertheless, be adopted with success on many occasions, could persons +enjoying a sound and wholesome state of body be found to answer the +demand, however unnatural it may appear. A few untoward cases soon +raised the hue and cry against the continuance of the practice, as in +the transfusion of blood, though the latter has recently been attempted +in the case of an individual exhausted by excessive hermorrage with a +success which answered the expectation. There is little doubt that both +the transfusion of blood, and engrafting or transplanting of teeth, are +capable, with judgment and discrimination, of being made subservient in +a variety of cases; though the chances of general success militate +against these experiments; for it is the unalterable plan of nature to +proceed gradually in her operations; all outrage and extravagance being +at variance with her established laws. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[144] The art of exciting sleep in persons under the influence of animal +magnetism, with a view to obtain or rather extort during this artificial +sleep, their verbal declarations and directions for curing the diseases +of both body and mind. Such, indeed, was the rage for propagating this +mystical nonsense, that even the pulpit was occasionally resorted to, in +order to make, not fair penitents, but fair proselytes. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +THE ROSICRUCIANS OR THEOSOPHISTS. + +This remarkable sect was founded upon the doctrines of Paracelsus, +during the latter part of the sixteenth, and the beginning of the +seventeenth centuries. The society was known by the name of the +Rosencrucians or Rosecrucians; and as it has not been without its +followers and propagators in different shapes, even to the present time, +we shall here present the reader with a concise account of the origin +and tenets of that fanatical sect. + +The first intimation of the existence of this order we find announced to +the world in a book published in the German language, in the year 1614, +with the following title, "_The universal and general Reformation of the +world, together with an account of the famous fraternity of the +Rosencrucians_." The work contains an intimation, that the members of +the society had been secretly engaged for a century preceding, and that +they had come to the knowledge of many great and important secrets, +which, if communicated to the world, would promote the happiness of man. + +An adventurer of the name of Christian Rosenkreuz is said to have +founded this order, in the fourteenth century after having been +previously initiated in the sublime wisdom of the east, during his +travels in Egypt and Fez. From what we are enabled to learn from this +work, the intention of the founder and the final aim of the society, +appear to have been the accumulation of wealth and treasures, by means +of secrets known only to the members; and by a proper distribution of +these treasures among princes and potentates, to promote the grand +scheme of the society, by producing "a general revolution of all +things." In their "confession of faith," there are many bold and +singular dogmas; among others, that the end of the world is at hand; +that a general reformation of men and manners will speedily take place; +that the wicked shall be expelled or subdued, the Jews converted, and +the doctrine of Christ propagated over the whole earth. The +Rosencrucians not only believed that these events must happen, but they +also endeavoured to accelerate them by unremitted exertions. To their +faithful votaries and followers, they promised abundance of celestial +wisdom, unspeakable riches, exemption from disease, an immortal state of +man of ever blooming youth, and above all the _philosopher's stone_. + +Learning and improvement of the mind were, by this order, considered as +superfluous and despised. They found all knowledge in the Bible; this, +however, has been supposed rather a pretext to obviate a charge, which +was brought against them, of not believing in the Christian religion. +The truth is, they imagined themselves superior to divine revelation, +and supposed every useful acquisition, every virtue to be derived from +the influence of the Deity on the soul of man. In this, as well as in +many other respects, they appear to be followers of Paracelsus, whom +they profess to revere as a Messenger of the divinity. Like him, they +pretend to cure all diseases; through _faith_ and the power of the +imagination, to heal the most mortal disorders by a touch, or even by +simply looking at the patient. The universal remedy was likewise a grand +secret of the order, the discovery of which was promised to all its +faithful members. + +It would be unnecessary to enumerate any more of such impious fancies, +if the founder of this still lurking sect, now partly revivified, had +not asserted, with astonishing effrontery, that human life was capable +of prolongation, like a fire kept up by combustible matter, and that he +was in the possession of a secret, which could verify this assertion. It +is evident, however, from the testimony of Libavius, a man of +unquestionable veracity, that this doughty champion in medical +chemistry, or rather alchemy, Paracelsus, notwithstanding his bold +assertions, died as before observed, at Sulzburgh in Germany, in the +Hospital of St. Stephen's in 1541: and that his death was chiefly +occasioned by the singular and desolate mode of life, which he had for a +long time pursued. When a competent knowledge of the economy of the +human frame is wanting, to enable a man to discriminate between internal +and external causes and effects, it will be impossible to ascertain, or +to counteract, the different causes by which our health is deranged. +This evidently was the case with Paracelsus, and many other +life-prolongers who have succeeded him; and should a fortunate +individual ever fix upon a remedy, possessing the power of checking +disease, or lengthening out human existence (an expectation never to be +realized) he will be indebted to chance alone for the discovery. This +has been the case in all ages, and still remains so. + +Remedies, from time to time, have been devised, not merely to serve as +nostrums for all diseases, but also for the pretended purpose of +prolonging life. Those of the latter kind have been applied with a view +to resist or check many operations of nature, which insensibly consume +the vital heat, and other powers of life, such as respiration, muscular +irritation, etc. Thus, from the implicit credulity of some, and the +exuberant imagination of others, observation and experiments, however +incompatible with sound reason and philosophy, have been multiplied, +with the avowed design of establishing proofs, or reputations of this or +that absurd opinion. In this manner have fanaticism and imposture +falsified the plainest truths, or forged the most unfounded and +ridiculous claims; insomuch that one glaring inconsistency has been +employed to combat another, and folly has succeeded folly, till a fund +of materials has been transmitted to posterity, sufficient to form a +concise history on this subject. Men in all ages have set a just value +on life; and in proportion to the means of enjoyment, this value has +been appreciated in a greater or less degree. If the gratification of +the sensual appetite formed the principal object of living, its +prolongation would be to the epicure, as desirable as the prospect of an +existence to be enjoyed beyond the limits of the grave, is to the +moralist and the believer. + +The desire of longevity appears to be inherent in all animated nature, +and particularly in the human race; it is intimately cherished by us, +through the whole duration of our existence, and is frequently supported +and strengthened, not only by justifiable means, but also by various +kinds of collusion. Living in an age when every branch of human +knowledge is reduced to popular systems; when the vigils of reason are +hallowed at the shrine of experiment and observation;--though we behold +in the immense variety of things, the utter uselessness of attempting to +renovate a shattered constitution, or of improving a sound one to last +beyond a certain period; we nevertheless observe that in the +inconceivable waste of elementary particles there prevails the strictest +economy. Nothing is produced in vain, nothing consumed without a cause. +We clearly perceive that all nature is united by indissoluble ties, that +every individual thing exists for the sake of another, and that no one +can subsist without its concomitant. Hence we conclude, that man himself +is not an insulated being, but a necessary link in the great chain, +which connects the universe. Nature is our safest guide, and she will be +so with greater certainty, as we become better acquainted with her +operations, especially with respect to those particulars which more +nearly concern our physical existence. Thus, n source of many and very +extensive advantages will be opened; thus, we shall reach our original +destination--namely, that of living long and in the enjoyment of sound +health, to which, if purity of morals he added, the best hopes may be +entertained of a happy state, in a future world, where its inhabitants +never die. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THAUMATURGIA*** + + +******* This file should be named 10088-8.txt or 10088-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/0/8/10088 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Thaumaturgia + +Author: An Oxonian + +Release Date: November 15, 2003 [eBook #10088] + +Language: English + +Chatacter set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THAUMATURGIA*** + + +E-text prepared by Carlo Traverso, Eric Casteleijn, and Project Gutenberg +Distributed Proofreaders. This file was produced from images generously +made available by the Bibliotheque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at +http://gallica.bnf.fr. + + + +[Transcriber's note: The spelling peculiarities of the original have been +retained in this etext.] + + + +THAUMATURGIA, + +OR + +ELUCIDATIONS OF THE MARVELLOUS. + +BY + +AN OXONIAN. + +1835 + + + + + + + + "Bombastes kept the devil's bird, + Shut in the pommel of his sword, + And taught him all the cunning pranks, + Of past and future mountebanks." + _Hudibras_. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER I. + +Demonology--The Devil, a most unaccountable personage--Who is he?--His +predilection for old women--Traditions concerning evil spirits &c. + + +CHAPTER II. + +Magic and Magical rites. + +Jewish magi. + + +CHAPTER III. + +On the several kinds of magic. + +Augury, or divinations drawn from the flight and feeding of birds. + +Aruspices, or divinations drawn from brute or human sacrifices. + +Divisions of divination by the ancients--prodigies, etc. + + +CHAPTER IV. + +History of Oracles--The principal oracles of antiquity. + +The oracle of Jupiter Hammon. The oracle of Delphos, or Pythian Apollo. + +Ceremonies practised on consulting oracles. + +Oracles often equivocal and obscure. + +Urim and Thummim. + +Reputation of oracles, how lost. + +Cessation of oracles. + +Had demons any share in the oracles? + +Of oracles, the artifices of priests of false divinities. + + +CHAPTER V. + +The British Druids, or magi--Origin of fairies--Ancient +superstitions--Their skill in medicine, etc. + +The British magi. + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Aesculapian mysteries, etc. + + +CHAPTER VII. + +Inferior deities attending mankind from their birth to their decease. + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +Judicial astrology--Its chemical application to the prolongation of life +and health--Alchymical delusions. + + +CHAPTER IX + +Alchymical and astrological chimera. + +The Horoscope, a tale of the stars. + +The Fated Parricide; an oriental tale of the stars. + +Application of astrology to the prolongation of life, etc. + +Advertisement. + +Spring. \ +Summer. |_ influences of, +Autumn. | +the winter quarter. / + + +CHAPTER X. + +Oneirocritical presentiment, illustrating the cause, effects, principal +phenomena, and definition of dreams, etc. + +Cause of Dreams. + +Poetical illustrations of the effects of the imagination in dreams. + +Principal phenomena in dreaming. + +Definition of dreams. + + +CHAPTER XI. + +On Incubation, or the art of healing by visionary divination. + + +CHAPTER XII. + +On amulets, charms, talismans--Philters, their origin and imaginary +efficacy, etc. + +Amulets used by the common people. + +Eccentricities, caprices, and effects, of the imagination. + +Doctrine of Effluvia--Miraculous cures by means of charms, amulets, etc. + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +On talismans--some curious natural ones, etc. + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +On the medicinal powers attributed to music by the ancients. + + +CHAPTER XV. + +Presages, prodigies, presentiments, etc. + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +Phenomena of meteors, optic delusions, spectra, etc. + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +Elucidation of some ancient prodigies. + +Magical pretensions of certain herbs, etc. + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +The practice of Obeah, or negro witchcraft--charms--their knowledge of +vegetable poison--secret poisoning. + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +On the origin and superstitious influence of rings. + + +CHAPTER XX. + +Celestial influences--omens--climacterics--predominations.--Lucky and +unlucky days.--Empirics, etc. + +Absurdities of Paracelsus, and Van Helmont. + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +Modern empiricism. + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +The Rosicrucians or Theosophists. + +THAUMATURGIA, + +OR + +ELUCIDATIONS OF THE MARVELLOUS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +DEMONOLOGY--THE DEVIL, A MOST UNACCOUNTABLE PERSONAGE--WHO IS HE?--HIS +PREDILECTION FOR OLD WOMEN--TRADITIONS CONCERNING EVIL SPIRITS, &C. + +Children and old women have been accustomed to hear so many frightful +things of the cloven-footed potentate, and have formed such diabolical +ideas of his satanic majesty, exhibiting him in so many horrible and +monstrous shapes, that really it were enough to frighten Beelzebub +himself, were he by any accident to meet his prototype in the dark, +dressed up in the several figures in which imagination has embodied him. +And as regards men themselves, it might be presumed that the devil could +not by any means terrify them half so much, were they actually to meet +and converse with him face to face: so true it is that his satanic +majesty is not near so black as he is painted. + +However useful the undertaking might prove, to give a true history of +this "tyrant of the air," this "God of the world," this "terror and +overseer of mankind," it is not our intention to become the devil's +biographer, notwithstanding the facility with which the materials might +be collected. Of the devil's origin, and the first rise of his family, +we have sufficient authority on record; and, as regards his dealings, he +has certainly always acted in the dark; though many of his doings both +moral, political, ecclesiastical, and empirical, have left such strong +impressions behind them, as to mark their importance in some +transactions, even at the present period of the christian world. These +discussions, however, we shall leave in the hands of their respective +champions, in order to take, as we proceed, a cursory view of some of +the _diableries_ with which mankind, in imitation of this great master, +has been infected, from the first ages of the world. + +The Greeks, and after them the Romans, conferred the appellation of +Demon upon certain _genii_, or spirits, who made themselves visible to +men with the intention of either serving them as friends, or doing them +an injury as enemies. The followers of Plato distinguished between their +gods--or _Dei Majorum Gentium_; their demons, or those beings which were +not dissimilar in their general character to the good and bad angels of +Christian belief,--and their heroes. The Jews and the early christians +restricted the name of Demon to beings of a malignant nature, or to +devils properly so called; and it is to the early notions entertained by +this people, that the outlines of later systems of demonology are to be +traced. + +It is a question, we believe, not yet set at rest by the learned in +these sort of matters, whether the word _devil_ be singular or plural, +that is to say, whether it be the name of a personage so called, +standing by himself, or a noun of multitude. If it be singular, and used +only personal as a proper name, it consequently implies one imperial +devil, monarch or king of the whole clan of hell, justly distinguished +by the term DEVIL, or as our northern neighbours call him "the muckle +horned deil," and poetically, after Burns "auld Clootie, Nick, or +Hornie," or, according to others, in a broader set form of speech, "the +devil in hell," that is, the "devil of a devil," or in scriptural +phraseology, the "great red dragon," the "Devil or Satan." But we shall +not cavil on this mighty potentate's name; much less dispute his +identity, notwithstanding the doubt that has been broached, whether the +said devil be a real or an imaginary personage, in the shape, form, and +with the faculties that have been so miraculously ascribed to him; for + + If it should so fall out, as who can tell, + But there may be a God, a heav'n and hell? + Mankind had best consider well,--for fear + It be too late when their mistakes appear. + +The devil has always, it would seem, been particularly partial to old +women; the most ugly and hideous of whom he has invariably selected to +do his bidding. Mother Shipton, for instance, our famous old English +witch, of whom so many funny stories are still told, is evidently very +much wronged in her picture, if she was not of the most terrible aspect +imaginable; and, if it be true, Merlin, the famous Welch fortune-teller, +was a most frightful figure. If we credit another story, he was begotten +by "_old nick_" himself. To return, however, to the devil's agents being +so infernally ugly, it need merely be remarked, that from time +immemorial, he has invariably preferred such _rational_ creatures as +most belied the "human form divine." + +The sybils, of whom so many strange prophetic things are recorded, are +all, if the Italian poets are to be credited, represented as very old +women; and as if ugliness were the _ne plus ultra_ of beauty in old age, +they have given them all the hideousness of the devil himself. It will +be seen, despite of all that has been said to the disadvantage of the +devil, that he has very much improved in his management of worldly +affairs; so much so, that, instead of an administration of witches, +wizzards, magicians, diviners, astrologers, quack doctors, pettifogging +lawyers, and boroughmongers, he has selected some of the wisest men as +well as greatest fools of the day to carry his plans into effect. His +satanic majesty seems also to have considerably improved in his taste; +owing, no doubt, to the present improving state of society, and the +universal diffusion of useful knowledge. Indeed, we no longer hear of +cloven-footed devils, only in a metaphorical sense--fire and brimstone +are extinct or nearly so; the embers of hell and eternal damnation are +chiefly kept alive and blown up by ultras among the sectaries who are +invariably the promoters of religious fanaticism. Beauty, wit, address, +with the less shackled in mind, have superseded all that was frightful, +and terrible, odious, ugly, and deformed. This subject is poetically and +more beautifully illustrated in the following demonological stanzas, +which are so appropriate to the occasion, that we cannot resist quoting +them as a further prelude to our subjects: + + When the devil for weighty despatches + Wanted messengers cunning and bold, + He pass'd by the beautiful faces + And picked out the ugly and old. + + Of these he made warlocks and witches + To run of his errands by night, + Till the over-wrought hag-ridden wretches + Were as fit as the devil to fright. + + But whoever has been his adviser, + As his kingdom increases in growth, + He now takes his measures much wiser, + And trafics with beauty and youth. + + Disguis'd in the wanton and witty, + He haunts both the church and the court; + And sometimes he visits the city, + Where all the best christians resort. + + Thus dress'd up in full masquerade, + He the bolder can range up and down + For he better can drive on his trade, + In any one's name than his own. + +To be brief, the devil, it appears, is by far too cunning still for +mankind, and continues to manage things in his own way, in spite of +bishops, priests, laymen, and new churches. He governs the vices and +propensities of men by methods peculiarly his own; though every crime or +extortion, subterfuge or design, whether it be upon the purse or the +person, will not make a man a devil; it must nevertheless be confessed, +that every crime, be its magnitude or complexion what it may, puts the +criminal, in some measure, into the devil's power, and gives him an +ascendancy and even a title to the delinquent, whom he ever afterwards +treats in a very magisterial manner. + +We are told that every man has his attendant evil genius, or tutelary +spirit, to execute the orders of the master demon--that the attending +evil angel sees every move we make upon the board; witnesses all our +actions, and permits us to do mischief, and every thing that is +pernicious to ourselves;--that, on the contrary, our good spirit, +actuated by more benevolent motives, is always accessary to our good +actions, and reluctant to those that are bad. If this be the case, it +may be fairly asked, how does it happen that those two contending +spirits do not quarrel and give each other black eyes and broken heads +during their rivalship for pre-eminence? And why does the evil tempting +spirit so often prevail? + +Instead of literally answering these difficult questions, it may be +resolved into a good argument, as an excellent allegory to represent the +struggle in the mind of man between good and evil inclinations. But to +take them as they actually are, and merely to talk by way of natural +consequence--for to argue from nature is certainly the best way to get +to the bottom of the devil's story,--if there are good and evil spirits +attending us, that is to say, a good angel and a devil, then it is no +unjust reproach to say, when people follow the dictates of the latter, +that _the devil's in them_, or that _they are devils_! or, to carry the +simile a point farther, that as the generality, and by far the greatest +number of people follow and obey the evil spirit and not the good one, +and that the power predominating is allowed to be the nominating power, +it must then of course be allowed that the greater part of mankind have +the devil in them, which brings us to the conclusion of our argument; +and in support of which the following stanzas come happily to our +recollection. + + To persons and places he sends his disguises, + And dresses up all his banditti, + Who, as pickpockets flock to country assizes, + Crowd up to the court and the city. + + They're at every elbow, and every ear, + And ready at every call, Sir; + The vigilant scout, plants his agents about, + And has something to do with us all, Sir. + + In some he has part, and some he has whole, + And of some, (like the Vicar of _Baddow_) + It can neither be said they have body or soul; + And only are devils in shadow. + + The pretty and witty are devils in masque; + The beauties are mere apparitions; + The homely alone by their faces are known, + And the good by their ugly conditions. + + The beaux walk about like the shadows of men, + And wherever he leads them they follow; + But tak'em, and shak'em, there's not one in ten + But's as light as a feather, and hollow. + + Thus all his affairs he drives on in disguise, + And he tickles mankind with a feather, + Creeps in at one's ear, and looks out at our eyes, + And jumbles our senses together. + + He raises the vapours and prompts the desires, + And to ev'ry dark deed holds the candle; + The passions inflames and the appetite fires, + And takes every thing by the handle. + + Thus he walks up and down in complete masquerade + And with every company mixes; + Sells in every shop, works at every trade, + And ev'ry thing doubtful perplexes. + +The Jewish traditions concerning evil spirits are various, some of which +are founded on Scripture, some borrowed from the opinions of the Pagans, +some are fables of their own invention, and some are allegorical. + +The demons of the Jews were considered either as the distant progeny of +Adam or Eve, resulting from an improper intercourse with supernatural +beings, or of Cain. As the doctrine, however, was extremely revolting +to some few of the early Christians, they maintained that demons were +the souls of departed human beings, who were still permitted to +interfere in the affairs of the Earth, either to assist their friends or +to persecute their enemies. But this doctrine did not obtain. + +About two centuries and a half ago an attempt, in a condensed form, was +made, to give the various opinions entertained of demons at an early +date of the christian era; and it was not until a much later period of +Christianity, that a more decided doctrine relative to their origin and +nature was established. These tenets involved certain very knotty points +respecting the fall of those angels, who, for disobedience, had +forfeited their high abode in Heaven. The gnostics of early christian +times, in imitation of a classification of the different orders of +spirits by Plato, had attempted a similar arrangement with respect to an +hierarchy of angels, the gradation of which stood as follows. + +The first, and highest order, was named SERAPHINS; the second, +CHERUBINS; the third was the order of THRONES; the fourth, of DOMINIONS; +the fifth, of VIRTUES; the sixth, of POWERS; the seventh, of +PRINCIPALITIES; the eighth, of ARCHANGELS; the ninth, and lowest, of +ANGELS. This fable was, in a pointed manner, censured by the Apostles: +yet strange to say, it almost outlived the pneumatologists of the middle +ages. These schoolmen, in reference to the account that Lucifer rebelled +against heaven, and that Michael the archangel warred against him, long +agitated the momentous question, what order of angels fell on the +occasion. At length it became the prevailing opinion that Lucifer was of +the order of Seraphins. It was also proved after infinite research, that +Agares, Belial, and Barbatos, each of them deposed angels of great rank, +had been of the order of Virtues; that Beleth, Focalor, and Phoenix, had +been of the order of Thrones; that Gaap had been of the order of Powers, +and Virtues; and Murmur of Thrones and Angels. The pretensions of many +noble devils were, likewise, canvassed, and, in an equally satisfactory +manner, determined; a multiplicity of incidents connected therewith were +arranged, which previously had been matter of considerable doubt and +debate. These sovereign devils, to each of whom was assigned a certain +district, had many noble spirits subordinate to them whose various ranks +and precedence were settled with all the preciseness of heraldic +distinction:--there were, for instance, devil-dukes; devil-marquises; +devil-earls; devil-knights; devil-presidents, devil-archbishops, and +bishops; prelates; and, without question, devil-physicians, and +apothecaries. + +In the middle ages, when conjuration had attained a certain pitch of +perfection, and was regularly practised in Europe, devils of distinction +were supposed to make their appearance under decided forms, by which +they were as well recognised, as the head of any ancient family would be +by his crest and armorial bearings. The shapes they were accustomed to +adopt were registered among their names and characters. + +Although the leading tenets of Demonology may be traced to the Jews and +early Christians, yet they were matured by our early communications with +the Moors of Spain, who were the chief philosophers of the dark ages, +and between whom and the natives of France and Italy, a great +communication existed. Toledo, Seville and Salamanca, became the +greatest schools of magic. At the latter city predilections on the black +art from a consistent regard to the solemnity of the subject were +delivered within the walls of a vast and gloomy cavern. The schoolmen +taught that all knowledge might be obtained from the assistance of the +fallen angels. They were skilled in the abstract sciences, in the +knowledge of precious stones, in alchymy, in the various languages of +mankind and of the lower animals; in the Belles-Lettres, Moral +Philosophy, Pneumatology, Divinity, Magic, History, and Prophecy. They +could controul the winds and waters, and the stellar influences. They +could cause earthquakes, induce diseases or cure them, accomplish all +vast mechanical undertakings, and release souls out of Purgatory. They +could influence the passions of the mind, procure the reconciliation of +friends or of foes, engender mutual discord, induce mania, melancholy, +or direct the force and objects of human affection. Such was the +Demonology taught by its orthodox professors. Yet other systems of it +were devised, which had their origin in the causes attending the +propagation of christianity; for it must have been a work of much time +to eradicate the almost universal belief in the pagan deities, which had +become so numerous as to fill every creek and corner of the universe +with fabulous beings. Many learned men, indeed, were induced to side +with the popular opinion on the subject, and did nothing more than +endeavour to unite it with their acknowledged systems of Demonology. +They taught that the objects of heathen reverence were fallen angels in +league with the Prince of Darkness, who, until the appearance of our +Saviour, had been allowed to range on the earth uncontrolled, and to +involve the world in spiritual darkness and delusion. + +According to the various ranks which these spirits held in the vast +kingdom of Lucifer, they were suffered, in their degraded state, to take +up their abode in the air, in mountains, in springs, or in seas. But +although the various attributes ascribed to the Greek and Roman deities, +were, by the early teachers of christianity, considered in the humble +light of demoniacal delusions, yet, for many centuries they possessed +great influence over the minds of the vulgar. The notion of every man +being attended by an evil genius was abandoned much earlier than the far +more agreeable part of the same doctrine which taught that, as an +antidote to their influence, each individual was also accompanied by a +benignant spirit. "The ministration of angels," says a writer in the +Athenian Oracle, "is certain; but the manner _how_, is the knot to be +untied." It was an opinion of the early philosophers that not only +kingdoms[1] had their tutelary guardians, but that every person had his +particular genius or good spirit, to protect and admonish him through +the medium of dreams and visions. Such were the objects of superstitious +reverence derived from the Pantheons of Greece and Rome, the whole synod +of which was supposed to consist of demons, who were still actively +bestirring themselves to delude mankind. But in the west of Europe, a +host of other demons, far more formidable, were brought into play, who +had their origin in Celtic, Teutonic, and even in Eastern fables; and as +their existence, as well as influence, was boldly asserted, not only by +the early christians, but even by the reformers, it was long before the +rites to which they were accustomed were totally eradicated. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Thus the Penates, or household gods presided over new-born infants. +Every thing had its guardian or peculiar genius: cities, groves, +fountains, hills, were all provided with keepers of this kind, and to +each man was allotted no less than two--one good, the other bad (Hor. +Lib. II. Epist. 2.) who attended him from the cradle to the grave. The +Greeks called them _demons_. They were named _Praenestites_, from their +superintending human affairs. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +MAGIC AND MAGICAL RITES, &C. + +Few subjects present to a philosophic eye more matter of curious, +important and instructive research than the natural history of religion. +Some sort of religious service has been found to prevail in all ages and +nations, from the most rude and barbarous periods of human society, to +those of cultivation and refinement. In these periods are to be traced +specimens strongly marked with exertions of the feelings, and faculties +of men in every situation almost that can be supposed. It is from the +contemplation of these exertions that we learn what sort of creature man +is; that we discover the extent of his powers, and the tendency of his +desires: and that we become acquainted with the force of culture and +civilization upon him, by comparing the degrees of improvement he has +attained in the various stages of society through which he has passed. + +It seems to be a principle established by experience, that mankind in +general have at no time been able, by the operation of their own mutual +powers, to ascend in their inquiries to the great comprehensive +foundation of true religion,--the knowledge of a first cause. This idea +is too grand, too distinct, or too refined for the generality of the +human race. They are surrounded by sensible objects, and strongly +attached to them; they are in a great measure unaccustomed to the most +simple and obvious degrees of abstraction, and they can scarcely +conceive anything to have a real existence that may not become an object +of their senses. Possessed of such sentiments and views, they are fully +prepared in embracing all the follies and absurdities of superstition. +They worship every thing they either love or fear, in order to procure +the continuance of favours enjoyed, or to avert that resentment they may +have reason to dread. As their knowledge of nature is altogether +imperfect, and as many events every moment present themselves, upon +which they can form no theoretical conclusion, they fly for satisfaction +to the most simple, but most ineffectual of all solutions--the agency of +invisible beings, with which, in their opinion, all nature is filled. +Hence the rise of Polytheism and local deities, which have overspread +the face of the earth, under the different titles of guardian gods or +tutelary saints. Hence magnificent temples and splendid statues have +been erected to aid the imagination of votaries, and to realize objects +of worship, which, though supposed to be always hovering around, seldom +condescend to become visible. + +After obtaining some information concerning present objects, the next +cause of solicitude and inquiry to the mind of man, is to penetrate a +little into the secrets of futurity. The same tutelary gods who bestowed +their care, and exerted their powers to procure present pleasure and +happiness for mankind, were supposed not averse to grant them, in this +respect also, a little indulgence. Hence the famous oracular responses +of antiquity; hence the long train of conjurers, fortune-tellers, +astrologers, necromancers, magicians, wizards, and witches, that have +been found in all places and at all times; nor have superior knowledge +and civilization been sufficient to extirpate such characters, by +demonstrating the futility and absurdity of their views. + +Among the ancients, this superstition was a great engine of state. The +respect paid to omens, auguries and oracles, was profound and universal; +and the persons in power monopolized the privilege of consulting and +interpreting them. They joined the people in expressing their +veneration; but there is little reason to doubt that they conducted the +responses in such a manner as best suited the purposes of government. On +this account, it would not be difficult for the oracle to emit +predictions, which, to all those unacquainted with the secret, would +appear altogether astonishing and unaccountable. It would seem that this +principle alone is sufficient to explain all the phenomena of ancient +oracles. + +Though devination has long ceased to be an instrument of government, +abundance of designing persons have not been wanting in latter ages, who +found much interest in taking advantage of the weakness or credulity of +their fellow creatures. Against this pestilent and abandoned race of +men, most civilized countries have enacted penal laws. But what rendered +such persons peculiarly detestable in modern times, was the +communication which they were supposed to hold with the devil, to whom +they sold themselves, and from whom, in return, they derived their +information. And by this principle the penal statutes, instead of +extirpating, inflamed the evil. They alarmed the imaginations of the +people; they tempted them to impute the cause of their misfortunes and +disappointment to the malice or resentment of their neighbours; they +induced them to trust to their suspicions, much more than to their +reason; and they multiplied witches and wizards, by putting into +possession of every foolish informer the means of punishment. In several +countries of Europe, these statutes still subsist; they were not +abolished in Britain till a period still at no great distance. Since the +abolition of persecution, the faith of witchcraft has disappeared even +among the vulgar. It was long found inconsistent with any considerable +progress in philosophy. + +For these reasons we read, with some degree of astonishment, a treatise +on this exploded subject, by a philosopher, an eminent physician, a +privy counseller of the then Empress Queen, and a professor in the +university of Vienna. It was long doubted whether the professor was in +earnest, but the world was at length forced to admit, that the great +Antonius de Haen certainly believed in witchcraft, and reckoned the +knowledge of it, in treating a disease, of great importance to a +physician--to the acquisition of which useful knowledge, he dedicated a +great part of his time. In the year 1758, three old women, condemned to +death for witchcraft, were brought by order of the Empress from Croatia +to Vienna, to undergo an examination, with regard to the equity of the +sentence pronounced against them. The question was not whether the crime +existed; the only object of inquiry respected the justice of its +application. The author, and the illustrious van Swieten, were appointed +to make the investigation. After reading over the depositions, produced +on the trials with the greatest care, and interrogating the culprits +themselves _most vigorously_ by means of a Croatian interpreter, these +great physicians discovered that the _three old_ women were not witches, +and prevailed with the Empress to send them home in safety. It was this +circumstance that induced de Haen to write on magic. + +That some judgment may be formed of de Haen's very extraordinary and +curious production written in the latter part of the eighteenth century, +we shall here furnish our readers with an abstract of its principles and +reasoning, to which we shall subjoin some remarks. + +By the crime of magic, the author informs us, he means any improper +communication between men and evil spirits, whether it be called +theurgy, soothsaying, necromancy, chiromancy, incantation or witchcraft. +He proposes to prove, in the first place, that such a communication +does actually exist. He quotes the Egyptian magicians, the witch of +Endor, the possessions mentioned in the New Testament, and many more +exceptionable authorities from the fathers, and canons of the church. He +is positive the incantations of the Egyptian magicians were real +operations of infernal agents, and that the accounts of them, delivered +by Moses, can admit no other construction. + +May not the sincere believer in the divine authority of the scriptures +reasonably hesitate concerning this conclusion? Or rather, does not such +an interpretation justly expose revelation to reproach? The plain +dictates of the best philosophy are, that nothing is more simple, +regular, and uniform than the ordinary course of nature; and that this +course can neither be suspended nor altered, but by its author, nor can +by him be permitted to be interrupted by any inferior being, unless for +the most important reasons. It does not appear what good end could be +gained, on the part of Providence, by the permission of these magical +enchantments, supposing them supernatural; and if we imagine the Devil +to have acted spontaneously, with a view to support his power and +influence, he most manifestly erred in his design. Nothing could be more +impolitic than his appearance in a field of combat, where he well knew +he must sustain an ignominious defeat. Or if he worked effectually to +support the power and influence of his servants the magicians, he should +have counteracted, not repeated, the miraculous exhibitions of Moses. +That the magicians possessed no power sufficient for this purpose is +obvious, from their not exerting it. That Pharoah expected no such +exertion from them is evident from his never requesting it, and from his +application to Moses and Aaron. The truth seems to be, that Pharoah +conceived Moses and Aaron to be magicians like his own. He wished to +support the character of the latter; and he concluded this would be +effectually done, if they could only furnish a pretence for affirming +that they had performed every wonder accomplished by the former. Without +some such supposition of collusion, two of the miracles attempted by the +magicians are perfectly absurd and contradictory. They pretended to turn +water into blood, when there was not one drop of water in all the land +of Egypt, which Aaron had not previously converted into that substance. +They pretended to send frogs over the land of Egypt, when every corner +of it was swarming with that loathsome reptile. It is further remarkable +that, with the three first only of Moses's miracles they proposed to +vie; on the appearance of the fourth, they fairly resigned the contest, +and acknowledged very honestly that the hand of God was visible in the +miracles of Moses;--a plain confession that no supernatural power +operated in their own. + +De Haen considers the case of the witch of Endor as an authority still +more direct. He maintains that Samuel was actually called up, either +under corporeal or fantastic form, and foretold Saul the fate of his +engagements with the Philistines. Let us attend to the circumstances of +the story, and examine whether it is absolutely necessary to have +recourse to this supernatural hypothesis. The mind of Saul was +distracted and agitated beyond measure by the most critical and alarming +situation of his affairs; his distress was so great that, forgetting his +dignity and safety, he dismissed his attendants, laid aside his royal +robes, was unable to eat bread, and, dressed like the meanest of his +people, he took his journey to the abode of the conjurer. In this state +of mind, prepared for imposition, he arrives during the night at her +residence. He prevails with her, by much solicitation, and probably by +ample rewards, to call up Samuel. To discompose still further the +disordered mind of Saul, she announces the pretended approach of the +apparition by a loud acclamation, tells the king she knew him, which +till now she affected not to do, and describes the resurrection of the +prophet, under the awful semblance of God's rising out of the earth. + +During all this time the king had seen nothing extraordinary, either +because he was not allowed light sufficient for that purpose, or was not +admitted within the sphere of vision. He entreats an account of the +personage who approached, and the conjurer describes the well-known +appearance of Samuel. The prophet sternly challenges the king for +disturbing his repose, tells him that David was intended to be King of +Israel, that himself would be defeated by the Philistines, and that he +and his sons would fall in battle. The king enters into no conversation +with the apparition; but unable any longer to support his agitation, +drops lifeless on the ground. The conjurer returns to Saul, presses him +to take some food which she had prepared. He at last complies; and +having finished his repast, departs with his servants before the +morning. The whole of this scene, it is evident, passed in darkness. It +does not appear that Saul ever saw the prophet; and it surely required +no supernatural intelligence to communicate all the information he +obtained. This would readily be suggested by the despondency of the +king, the strength of his enemies, and the disposition of the whole +people of the Jews alienated from him, and inclined towards his +successor. The witch of Endor, therefore, might be a common +fortune-teller, and her case exhibits no direct proof of supernatural +possession. + +We do not pretend to account so easily for many of the possessions +recorded in the New Testament, though few of these only are applicable +to the case of sorcery. We are well aware, that several writers of +eminence, who cannot be supposed to entertain the least unfavourable +sentiments of revelation, have undertaken to explain these possessions, +without having recourse to any thing supernatural, by representing them +as figurative descriptions of particular and local diseases. + +We mean not to adopt, or defend the views of such authors, though we may +perhaps be allowed to observe that, were their opinions supported in a +satisfactory manner, christianity would lose nothing by the attempt. It +would be exempted, by this means, from a little cavilling and ridicule, +to which some of its enemies reckon it at present exposed, and the +design could not in the least derogate from its divinity, as the +instantaneous cure of a distemper cannot be considered less miraculous +than the expulsion of the devil. At any rate, these possessions are all +extraordinary; appeared on some most extraordinary occasion; and from +them, therefore, no general conclusion can be drawn to the ordinary +cases of common life. + +We shall now translate a specimen of de Haen's[2] authorities, extracted +from the fathers. The following from Jerome will need no comment. This +father, in his life of St. Hilario the hermit, relates that a young man +of the town of Gaza in Syria, fell deeply in love with a pious virgin in +the neighbourhood. He attacked her with looks, whispers, professions, +caresses, and all those arguments which usually conquer yielding +virginity; but finding them all ineffectual, he resolved to repair to +Memphis, the residence of many eminent conjurers, and implore their +magic aid. He remained there for a year, till he was fully instructed in +the art. He then returned home, exulting in his acquisitions, and +feasting his imagination with the luscious scenes he was now confident +of realizing. All he had to do was to lodge secretly some hard words and +uncouth figures, engraved on a plate of brass, below the threshold of +the door of the house in which the lady lived. She became perfectly +furious, she tore her hair, gnashed her teeth, and repeated incessantly +the name of the youth, who had been drawn from her presence by the +violence of her despairing passion. In this situation she was conducted +by her relations to the cell of old Hilario. The devil that possessed +her, in consequence of the charm, began immediately to howl, and to +confess the truth. "I have suffered violence," said he; "I have been +forced hither against my inclination. How happy was I at Memphis, +amusing my friends with visions! O the pains, the tortures which I +suffer! You command me to dislodge, and I am detained fast by the charm +below the threshold. I cannot depart, unless the young man dismiss me." +So cautious, however, was the saint, that he would not permit the magic +figures to be searched for, till he had released the virgin, for fear he +should seem to have intercourse with incantations in performing the cure +or to believe that a devil could even speak truth. He observed only that +demons are always liars, and cunning to deceive. + +De Haen imputes to the power of magic the miracles,[3] as they are +called, of the famous Apollonius Thyanaeus. He seems to entertain no +scruple about their authority. As several of the enemies of revelation +have held forth Thyanaeus as a rival of Jesus Christ, a specimen of his +performances may amuse our readers. During an assembly of the people at +Ephesus, a great flight of birds approached from a neighbouring wood; +one bird led all the rest. "There is nothing wonderful," says Thyanaeus, +to the astonished people, "in this appearance. A boy passing along a +particular street has carelessly scattered in it some corn which he +carried; one bird has tasted the food, and generously calls the rest to +partake the repast." The hearers repaired to the spot, and found the +information true. + +Being called to allay a pestilence which raged at Ephesus, he ordered an +old beggar to be burned under the stones near the temple of Hercules, as +an enemy to the gods. He commanded the people again to remove the +stones, that they might see what sort of animal had been put to death. +They found not a man, but a dog. The plague, however, ceased. + +A married woman of rank being dead, was carried out to be burned in an +open litter, followed by her husband dissolved in tears. Apollonius +approaching, requests him to stop the procession, and he would put an +end to his grief. He asked the name of the woman, touched her, and +muttered over her some words. She immediately revived, began to speak, +and returned again to her own house. Fleury, who relates the miracle, +remarks that some people doubted whether the woman had been really dead, +as they had observed something like breath issue from her mouth. Others +imagined she had been seized only with a tedious faint, and that the +operation of the cold dews and damps upon her body might naturally +recover her. On Fleury's remark de Haen most sagely observes, that the +persons who observed the woman breathing could not surely have +suppressed the joyful news, and would certainly have stopped the +procession before the philosopher arrived. + +De Haen's second attempt is to recite all the objections that have been +made against sorcery, and to subjoin to each a distinct refutation. +There is nothing in this part of the work that merits any attention. He +concludes in these words: "I may then with confidence affirm, that the +art of magic most certainly exists. History, sacred and prophane; +authority human and divine; experiments the most unquestionable and +unexceptionable, all concur to demonstrate its reality." + +The last part of de Haen's work relates to the discovering and treating +of magical diseases, to explain which seems to have been the chief +purpose of the author in composing his book. Much caution, he observes, +and attention are necessary on this head; and the physician should not +readily admit the imputation of witchcraft. No absence of the ordinary +symptoms, no uncommon alteration of the course of the distemper, are +sufficient to infer this conclusion, because these may arise from +unknown natural causes. What then are the marks of certain incantations? +De Haen holds the following to be indisputable: "if, in any uncommon +disease, there shall be found, in the stuffing of the cushions, or +cielings of the room in which the patient lies, in the feather or the +chaff of his bed, about the door, or under the threshold of his house, +any strange characters, images, bones, hair, seeds, or roots of plants; +and if upon the removal of these, or upon conveying the patient into +another apartment, he shall suddenly recover; or if the patient himself, +or his friends, shall be so wicked as to call a wizzard to their aid, by +whom the malady shall be removed; or if insects and animals which do +not lodge in the human body; if stones, metals, glass, knives, plaited +hair, pieces of pitch, be ejected from particular parts of the body, of +greater size, and weight and figure, than could be supposed to make +their way through these parts, without much greater demolition and +delaceration of the passages; in all these cases, the disease is +unquestionably magical." + +The author proceeds to enquire whether the physician may presume to +remove the instruments of incantation in order to relieve the patient +without incurring the accusation of impiety by interfering with the +implements and furniture of the devil; and concludes very formally that, +after approaching them with all due ceremony and respect, after +imploring with suitable devotion and ardour, the protection and +direction of heaven in such a perilous undertaking, he may attempt to +intermeddle, and may occasionally expect a successful issue. + +Such are the views, reasonings, and conclusions of, at the time, one of +the first physicians and philosophers of Germany;--views and reasonings +which would have been received with eagerness and applause two hundred +years ago, but which the philosophy and improvements of later times seem +to have banished to the abodes of ignorance and barbarity. + +The origin of almost all our knowledge may be traced to the earlier +periods of antiquity. This is peculiarly the case with respect to the +arts denominated magical. There were few ancient nations, however +barbarous, which could not furnish many individuals to whose spells and +enchantments the power of nature and the material world were supposed to +be subjected. The Chaldeans, the Egyptians, and indeed all the oriental +nations were accustomed to refer all natural effects, for which they +could not account to the agency of demons, who were believed to preside +over herbs, trees, rivers, mountains, and animals. Every member of the +human body was under their power, and all corporeal diseases were +produced by their malignity. For instance, if any happened to be +affected with a fever, little anxiety was manifested to discover its +cause, or to adopt rational measures for its cure; it must no doubt have +been occasioned by some evil spirit residing in the body, or +influencing, in some mysterious way, the fortunes of the sufferer. That +influence could be counteracted only by certain magical rites; hence the +observance of those rites soon obtained a permanent establishment in the +East. Even at the present day, many uncivilized people hold that all +nature is filled with genii, of which some exercise a beneficent, and +others a destructive power. All evils with which man is afflicted, are +considered the work of these imaginary beings, whose favour must he +propitiated by sacrifices, incantations, and songs. If the Greenlander +be unsuccessful in fishing, the Huron in hunting, or in war; if even the +scarcely half reasoning Hottentot finds every thing is not right in his +mind, body, or fortune, no time must be lost before the spirit be +invoked. After the removal of some present evil, the next strongest +desire in the human mind is the attainment of some future good. This +good is often beyond the power, and still oftener beyond the inclination +of man to bestow; it must therefore be sought from beings which are +supposed to possess considerable influence over human affairs, and which +being elevated above the baser passions of our nature, were thought to +regard with peculiar favour all who acknowledged their power, or invoked +their aid: hence the numerous rites which have, in all ages and +countries, been observed in consulting superior intelligences, and the +equally numerous modes in which their pleasure has been communicated to +mortals. + +The Chaldean magi were chiefly founded on astrology, and were much +conversant with certain animals, metals and plants, which they employed +in all their incantations; the virtue of which was derived from stellar +influence. Great attention was always paid to the positions and the +configurations presented by the celestial sphere; and it was only at +favourable seasons that the solemn rites were celebrated. Those rites +were accompanied with many peculiar and fantastic gestures, by leaping, +clapping of hands, prostrations, loud cries, and not unfrequently with +unintelligible exclamations. Sacrifices, and burnt offerings were used +to propitiate superior powers; but our knowledge of the magical rites +exercised by certain oriental nations, the Jews only excepted, is +extremely limited. All the books professedly written on the subject, +have been, swept away by the torrent of time. We learn, however, that +the professors among the Chaldeans were generally divided into three +classes; the _Ascaphim_, or charmers, whose office it was to remove +present, and to avert future contingent evils; to construct talismans, +etc. The _Mecaschephim_, or magicians, properly so called, who were +conversant with the occult powers of nature, and the supernatural world; +and the _chasdim_, or astrologers, who constituted by far the most +numerous and respectable class. And from the assembly of the wise men on +the occasion of the extraordinary dream of Nebuchadnezzar, it would +appear that Babylon had also her oneirocritici, or interpreters of +dreams--a species of diviners indeed, to which almost every nation of +antiquity gave birth. + +Like the Chaldean astrologers, the Persian magi, from whom our word +magic is derived, belong to the priesthood. But the worship of the gods +was not their chief occupation; they were also great proficients in the +arts. They joined to the worship of the gods, and to the profession of +medicine and natural magic, a pretended familiarity with superior +powers, from which they boasted of deriving all their knowledge. Like +Plato, who probably imbibed many of their notions, they taught that +demons hold a middle rank between gods and men; that they (the demons) +presided not only over divinations, auguries, conjurations, oracles, and +every species of magic, but also over sacrifices, and prayer, which in +behalf of men is thus presented, and rendered acceptable to the gods. +Indeed, the austerity of their lives[4] was well calculated to +strengthen the impression which their cunning had already made on the +multitude, and to prepare the way for whatever impostures they might +afterwards practise. + +We are less acquainted with Indian magic than with that practised by +any other Eastern nations. It may, however, be reasonably enough +inferred that it was very similar to that for which the magi in general +were held in such high estimation: although they were excluded, as +beings of too sacred a nature, from the ordinary occurrences of life. +Their Brahmins, or Gymnosophists, were regarded with as much reverence +as the magi, and probably were more worthy of it. Some of them dwelt in +woods, and others in the immediate vicinity of cities. Their skill in +medicine was great; the care which they took in educating youth, in +familiarizing it with generous and virtuous sentiments, did them +peculiar honour; and their maxims and discourses, as recorded by +historians, prove that they were much accustomed to profound reflection +on the principles of civil polity, morality, religion and philosophy. + + +JEWISH MAGI. + +Of the magi of the Jews, it is proved by Lightfoot,[5] that after their +return from Babylon, having entirely forsaken idolatry, and being no +longer favoured with the gift of prophecy, they gradually abandoned +themselves, before the coming of our Saviour, to sorcery and divination. +The Talmud, still regarded with a reverence bordering on idolatry, +abounds with instructions for the due observance of superstitious rites. +After their city and temple were destroyed, many Jewish impostors were +highly esteemed for their pretended skill in magic; and under pretence +of interpreting dreams, they met with daily opportunities of practising +the most shameful frauds. Many Rabbins were quite as well versed in the +school of Zoroaster, as in that of Moses. They prescribed all kinds of +conjuration, some for the cure of wounds, some against the dreaded bite +of serpents, and others against thefts and enchantments. Their +divinations were founded on the influence of the stars, and on the +operations of spirits, they did not, indeed, like the Chaldean magi, +regard the heavenly bodies as gods and genii, but they ascribed to them +a great power over the actions and opinions of men. + +The magical rites of the Jews were, and indeed are still, chiefly +performed on various important occasions, as on the birth of a child, +marriages, etc. On such occasions the evil spirits are supposed to be +more than usually active in their malignity, which can only be +counteracted by certain enchantments.[6] They believe that Lilis will +cause all their male children to die on the eighth day after their +birth; girls on the twenty-first.[7] The following are the means adopted +by the German Jews to avert this calamity. They draw arrows in circular +lines with chalk or charcoal on the four walls of the room in which the +accouchement takes place, and write upon each arrow: _Adam, Eve! make +Lilis go away!_ They write also on certain parts of the room the name of +the three angels who preside over medicine, _Senai, Sansenai and +Sanmangelof_, after the manner taught them by Lilis herself when she +entertained the hope of causing all the Jews to be drowned in the Red +Sea. + +Josephus, the historian of the Jews, does not allow to magic so ancient +an origin among them, as many Jewish writers do. He makes Solomon the +first who practised an art which is so powerful against demons; and the +knowledge of which, he asserts, was communicated to that prince by +immediate inspiration. The latter, continues this historian, invented +and transmitted to posterity in his writings, certain incantations for +the cure of diseases, and for the expulsion and perpetual banishment of +wicked spirits from the bodies of the possessed. It consisted, according +to his description, in the use of a certain root, which was sealed up, +and held under the nose of the person possessed; the name of Solomon, +with the words prescribed by him, was then pronounced, and the demon +forced immediately to retire. He does not even hesitate to assert, that +he himself has been an eye witness of such an effect produced on a +person named Eleazer, in the presence of the Emperor Vespasian and his +sons. Nor will this relation surprise us, when we consider the rooted +malignity entertained by the Jews to the christian religion, and this +writer's attempt to appreciate the miracles of our Saviour, by ascribing +them to magical influence, and by representing them as easy of +accomplishment to all acquainted with the occult sciences. + +Innumerable are the devices contained in the Cabala for averting +possible evils, as the plague, disease, and sudden death. It directs how +to select and combine some passages of scripture, which are believed +both to render supernatural beings visible, and to produce many +wonderful and surprising effects. The most famous wonders have been +accomplished by means of the name of God. The sacred word Jehovah is, +when read with points, multiplied by the Jewish doctors into twelve, +forty-two, and seventy-two letters, of which words are composed that are +thought to possess miraculous energy. By these, say they, Moses slew the +Egyptians; by these Israel was preserved from the destroying angel of +the wilderness; by these Elijah separated the waters of the river, to +open a passage for himself and Elisha, and by these it has been as +daringly and impudently asserted, that our blessed Saviour, the eternal +Son of God, cast out evil spirits. The name of the devil is likewise +used in their magical devices. The five Hebrew letters of which that +name[8] is composed, exactly constitute the number 364, one less than +the days of the whole year. They pretended that, owing to the wonderful +virtue of the number comprised in the name of Satan, he is prevented +from accusing them for an equal number of days: hence the stratagem +before alluded to, for depriving the devil of the power of doing them +any harm on the only day on which that power is granted to him. + +In allusion to the cabalists, Pliny says, "There is another sect of +magicians of which Moses and Latopea, Jews, were the first authors." It +was the prevailing opinion among the Hebrews, that the Cabala was +delivered by God to Moses, and thence through a succession of ages, even +to the times of Ezra, preserved by tradition only, without the help of +writing, in the same manner as the doctrine of Pythagoras was delivered +by Archippus and Lysiades, who kept schools at Thebes in Greece, where +the scholars learned all their master's precepts by heart, and employed +their memories instead of books. So certain Jews, despising letters, +placed all their learning in memory, observation, and verbal tradition; +whence it was called by them Cabala, that is, a receiving from one to +another by the ear an art said to be very ancient and only known to the +christians in later times. + +The Jews divided the Cabala into three parts; the first containing the +knowledge of _Bresith_, which they call also cosmology, the object of +which is to teach and explain the force and efficacy of things created, +natural or celestial; expounding also the laws and mysteries of the +Bible according to philosophical reasons, which on that account differs +little from natural magic, a science in which King Solomon is said to +have excelled. We find, therefore, in the sacred histories of the Jews, +that he was wont to discourse from the cedar of the forests of Lebanon +to the low hyssop of the valley; as also of cattle, birds, reptiles, and +fish, all which contain within themselves a kind of magical virtue. +Moses also, in his expositions upon the Pentateuch, and most of the +Talmudists, have followed the rules of the same art. + +The other division of the Cabala contains the knowledge of things more +sublime, as of divine and angelical powers, the contemplation of sacred +names and characters; being a certain kind of symbolical theology, in +which the letters, figures, numbers, names, points, lines, accents, etc. +are esteemed to contain the significations of most profound things and +wonderful mysteries. This part again is twofold--_Authmantick_, handling +the nature of angels, the powers, names, characters of spirits and souls +departed--and _Theomantick_, which searches into the mysteries of the +Divine Majesty, his emanations, his names, and _Pentacula_, which he who +attains to is supposed to be endowed with most wonderful power. It was, +they say, by virtue of this art, that Moses wrought so many miracles; +that Joshua commanded the sun to stand still; that Elias called down +fire from heaven; that Daniel the prophet muzzled the lions' mouths; and +that the three children sang in the fiery furnace. And, what is more, +the perfidious and unbelieving Jews, did not stick to aver, that our +Saviour himself wrought all his miracles by virtue of this art, and that +he discovered several of its secrets, containing a variety of charms +against devils, and also, as Josephus writes, against diseases. "As for +my part," says Cornelius Agrippa, in allusion to this subject, "I do not +doubt but that God revealed many things to Moses and the prophets, which +were contained under the covert of the words of the law, which were not +to be communicated to the profane vulgar: so for this art, which the +Jews so much boast of, which I have with great labour and diligence +searched into, I must acknowledge it to be a mere rhapsody of +superstition, and nothing but a kind of theurgic magic before spoken of. +For if, as the Jews contend, coming from God, it did any way conduce to +perfection of life, salvation of men, truth of understanding, certainly +that spirit of truth, which having forsaken the synagogue, is now come +to teach us all truth, had never concealed it all this while from the +church, which certainly knows all those things that are of God; whose +grace, baptism, and other sacraments of salvation, are perfectly +revealed in all languages;--for every language is alike, so that there +be the same piety; neither is there any other name in heaven or on +earth, by which we can be saved, but only the name of Jesus. Therefore +the Jews, most skilful in divine names, after the coming of Christ, were +able to do nothing, in comparison of their forefathers:--the Cabala of +the Jews, therefore, is nothing else, but a most pernicious +superstition, the which by collecting, dividing, and changing several +names, words, and letters, dispersed up and down in the bible, at their +own good will and pleasure, and making one thing out of another, they +dissolve the members of truth, raising up sentences, inductions, and +parables of their own, apply thereto the oracles of divine scripture to +them, defaming the scriptures, and affirming their fragments to consist +of them, blaspheme the word of God by their wrested suppositions of +words, syllables, letters and numbers; endeavouring to prop up their +villainous inventions, by arguments drawn from their own delusions." + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[2] Antonio de Haen, S.C.R.A. Majestate a consiliis anticis, et +Archiatri, medicinae in alma et antiquissimo universitate professoris +primarij, plurium eruditorium societatem socii, de magia liber. 8vo. +Vienna. + +[3] Many significations have been attached to the word miracle, both by +the ancients and moderns. With us a miracle is the suspension or +violation of the laws of nature; and a miracle, which can be explained +upon physical principles, ceases to be such. Whatever surpassed their +comprehension was regarded by the ancients as a miracle, and every +extraordinary degree of information attained by an individual, as well +as any unlooked-for occurrence, was referred to some peculiar +interposition of the deity. Hence among the ancients, the followers of +different divinities, far from denying the miracles performed by their +opponents, admitted their reality, but endeavoured to surpass them; and +thus in the "life of Zoroaster," we find that able innovator frequently +entering the lists with hostile enchanters, admitting but exceeding the +wonderful works they performed; and thus also when the thirst of power, +or of distinction, divided the sacerdotal colleges, similar trials of +skill would ensue, the successful combatant being considered to derive +his knowledge from the more powerful god. That the science on which each +party depended was derived from experimental physics, may be proved. 1. +by the conduct of the Thaumaturgists, or wonder-workers: 2. from what +they themselves had said concerning magic; the genii invoked by the +magicians, sometimes denoting physical or chemical agents employed, +sometimes men who cultivated the science. + +[4] All the three orders of Magi enumerated by Porphyry, abstained from +wine and women, and the first of these orders from animal food. + +[5] Vol. ii. p. 287. + +[6] See Tobit. chap. viii. v. 2 and 2. + +[7] Elias, as quoted by Becker. + +[8] There is no mention made of the word _Devil_ in the Old Testament, +but only of _Satan_: nor do we meet with it in any of the heathen +authors who say anything about the devil in the signification attached +to it among christians; that is, as a creature revolted from God. Their +theology went no farther than to evil genii, or demons, who harassed and +persecuted mankind, though we are still aware that many curious +_nick_-names are given to the prince of darkness both by ancient and +modern writers. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +ON THE SEVERAL KINDS OF MAGIC. + +The pretended art of producing, by the assistance of words and +ceremonies, such events as are above the natural power of men, was of +several kinds, and chiefly consisted in invoking the good and +benevolent, or the wicked and malignant spirits. The first, which was +called Theurgia, was adopted by the wisest of the Pagan world, who +esteemed this as much as they despised the latter, which they called +Goetia. + +Theurgia was by the philosophers accounted a divine art, which only +served to raise the mind to higher perfection, and to exalt the soul to +a greater degree of purity; and they who by means of this kind of magic, +were imagined to arrive at what is called intuition, wherein they +enjoyed an intimate intercourse with the deity, were believed to be +invested with divine power; so that it was imagined nothing was +impossible for them to perform; all who made profession of this kind of +magic aspired to this state of perfection. The priest, who was of this +order, was to be a man of unblemished morals, and all who joined with +him were bound to a strict purity of life. They were to abstain from +women, and from animal food; and were forbid to defile themselves by the +touch of a dead body. Nothing was to be forgotten in their rites and +ceremonies; the least omission or mistake, rendered all their art +ineffectual: so that this was a constant excuse for their not performing +all that was required of them, though as their sole employment (after +having arrived to a certain degree of perfection, by fasting, prayer, +and other methods of purification) was the study of universal nature, +they might gain such an insight into physical causes, as would enable +them to perform actions, that should fill the vulgar with astonishment; +and it is hardly to be doubted, but this was all the knowledge that many +of them aspired to. In this sort of magic, Hermes Tresmegistus and +Zoroaster excelled, and indeed it gained great reputation among the +Egyptians, Chaldeans, Persians, Indians and Jews. In times of ignorance, +a piece of clock-work, or some other curious machine, was sufficient to +entitle the inventor to the works of magic; and some have even asserted, +that the Egyptian magic, rendered so famous by the writings of the +ancients, consisted only in discoveries drawn from the mathematics, and +natural philosophy, since those Greek philosophers who travelled into +Egypt, in order to obtain a knowledge of the Egyptian sciences, returned +with only a knowledge of nature and religion, and some rational ideas +of their ancient symbols. + +But it can hardly be doubted, that magic in its grossest and most +ridiculous sense was practised in Egypt, at least among some of the +vulgar, long before Pythagoras or Empedocles travelled into that +country. The Egyptians had been very early accustomed to vary the +signification of their symbols, by adding to them several plants, ears +of corn, or blades of grass, to express the different employments of +husbandry; but understanding no longer their meaning nor the words that +had been made use of on these occasions, which were equally +unintelligible, the vulgar might mistake these for so many mysterious +practices observed by their fathers; and hence they might conceive the +notion, that a conjunction of plants, even without being made use of as +a remedy, might be of efficacy to preserve or procure health. "Of +these," adds the Abbe Pluche, "they made a collection, and an art by +which they pretended to procure the blessings, and provide against the +evils of life." By the assistance of these, men even attempted to hurt +their enemies; and indeed the knowledge of poisonous or useful simples, +might on particular occasions give sufficient weight to their empty +curses and innovations. But these magic incantations, so contrary to +humanity, were detested, and punished by almost all nations; nor could +they be tolerated in any. + +Pliny, after mentioning an herb, the throwing of which into an army, it +was said, was sufficient to put it to the route, asks, where was this +herb when Rome was so distressed by the Cambri and Teutones? Why did not +the Persians make use of it when Lucullus cut their troops to pieces? + +But amongst all the incantations of magic, the most solemn, as well as +the most frequent, was that of calling up the spirits of the dead; this +indeed was the very acme of their art; and the reader cannot be +displeased with having this mystery here elucidated. An affection for +the body of a person, who in his life time was beloved, induced the +first natives to inter the dead in a decent manner, and to add to this +melancholy instance of esteem, those wishes which had a particular +regard to their new state of existence. The place of burial, conformable +to the custom of characterising all beloved places, or those +distinguished by a memorable event, was pointed out by a large stone or +pillar raised upon it. To this place families, and when the concern was +general, multitudes repaired every year, when, upon this stone, were +made libations of wine, oil, honey, and flour; and here they sacrificed +and ate in common, having first made a trench in which they burnt the +entrails of the victim into which the libation and the blood were made +to flow. They began with thanking God with having given them life, and +providing them necessary food; and then praised him for the good +examples they had been favoured with. From these melancholy rites were +banished all licentiousness and levity, and while other customs changed, +these continued the same. They roasted the flesh of the victim they had +offered, and eat it in common, discoursing on the virtues of him they +came to lament. + +All other feasts were distinguished by names suitable to the ceremonies +that attended them. These funeral meetings were simply called the manes, +that is, the assembly. Thus the manes and the dead were words that +became synonimous. In these meetings, they imagined that they renewed +their alliance with the deceased, who, they supposed, had still a regard +for the concerns of their country and family, and who, as affectionate +spirits, could do no less than inform them of whatever was necessary for +them to know. Thus, the funerals of the dead were at last converted into +methods of divination, and an innocent institution of one of the +grossest pieces of folly and superstition. But they did not stop here; +they became so extravagantly credulous, as to believe that the phantom +drank the libations that had been poured forth, while the relations were +feasting on the rest of the sacrifice round the pit: and from hence they +became apprehensive lest the rest of the dead should promiscuously +throng about this spot to get a share of the repast they were supposed +to be so fond of, and leave nothing for the dear spirit for whom the +feast was intended. They then made two pits or ditches, into one of +which they put wine, honey, water, and flour, to employ the generality +of the dead; and in the other they poured the blood of the victim; when +sitting down on the brink, they kept off, by the sight of their swords, +the crowd of dead who had no concern in their affairs, while they called +him by name, whom they had a mind to cheer and consult, and desired him +to draw near.[9] + +The questions made by the living were very intelligible; but the answers +of the dead were not so easily understood; the priests, therefore, and +the magicians made it their business to explain them. They retired into +deep caves, where the darkness and silence resembled the state of death, +and there fasted, and lay upon the skins of the beasts they had +sacrificed, and then gave for answer the dreams which most affected +them; or opened a certain book appointed for that purpose, and gave the +first sentence that offered.[10] At other times the priest, or any person +who came to consult, took care at his going out of the cave, to listen +to the first words he should hear, and these were to be his answer. And +though they had not the most remote relation to the mutter in question, +they were twisted so many ways, and their sense so violently wrested, +that they made them signify almost anything they pleased. At other times +they had recourse to a number of tickets, on which were some words or +verses, and these being thrown into an urn, the first that was taken out +was delivered to the family.[11] Health, prosperity in worldly affairs, +and all that was intermixed in the good or evil of this world were +regulated by the responses or signs which these equivocal, not to say +less than absurd, means afforded, of prying into the womb of future +events. + + +AUGURY, OR DIVINATIONS DRAWN FROM THE FLIGHT AND FEEDING OP BIRDS. + +The superstitious fondness of mankind for searching into futurity has +given rise to an infinite variety of extravagant follies. The Romans, +who were remarkably fertile in these sorts of demonological inventions, +suggested numerous ways of divination. With them all Nature had a voice, +and the most senseless beings, and most trivial things, the most +trifling incidents, became presages of future events; which introduced +ceremonies founded on a mistaken knowledge of antiquity, the most +childish and ridiculous, and which were performed with all the air of +solemnity and sanctity of devotion. Augury, or divinations founded on +the flight of birds, were not only considered by the Egyptians as the +symbols of the winds, but good and bad omens of every kind were founded +or rather derived from the flying of the feathered tribe. The birds at +this time had become wonderfully wise; and an owl, to whom, for reasons +not precisely known, light is not so agreeable as darkness, could not +pass by the windows of a sick person in the night, where the creature +was not offended by the glimmerings of a light or candle, but his +hooting must be considered as prophesying, that the life of the poor man +was nearly wound up. + +Amongst the Romans, these auguries were taken usually upon an eminence: +after the month of March they were prohibited in consequence of the +moulting season having commenced; nor were they permitted at the waning +of the moon, nor at any time in the afternoon, or when the air was the +least ruffled by winds or clouds. The feeding of the sacred chickens, +and the manner of their taking the corn that was offered to them, was +the most common method of taking the augury. Observations were also made +on the chattering or singing of birds, the hooting of crows, pies, +owls, etc., and from the running of beasts, as heifers, asses, rams, +hares, wolves, foxes, weasels and mice, when these appeared in uncommon +places, crossed the way, or ran to the right or left. They also +pretended to draw a good or bad omen from the most trifling actions or +occurrences of life, as sneezing, stumbling, starting, numbness of the +little finger, the tingling of the ear, the spilling of salt upon the +table, or the wine upon one's clothes, the accidental meeting of a bitch +with whelp, etc. It was also the business of the augur to interpret +dreams, oracles, and prodigies. + +Nothing can be so surprising than to find so wise and valorous a people +as the Romans addicted to such childish fooleries. Scipio, Augustus, and +many others, without any fatal consequences, despised the _sacred_ +chickens, and other arts of divination: but when the generals had +miscarried in any enterprise, the people laid the whole blame on the +negligence with which these oracles had been consulted: and if an +unfortunate general had neglected to consult them, the blame of +miscarriage was thrown upon him who had preferred his own forecast to +that of the fowls; while those who made these kinds of predictions a +subject of raillery, were accounted impious and profane. Thus they +construed, as a punishment of the gods, the defeat of Claudius Pulcher; +who, when the sacred chickens refused to eat what was set before them, +ordered them to be thrown into the sea; "If they won't eat," said he, +"they shall drink." + + +ARUSPICES, OR DIVINATIONS DRAWN FROM BRUTE, OR HUMAN SACRIFICES. + +In the earliest ages of the world, a sense of piety and a regard to +decency had introduced the custom of never sacrificing to Him, whence +all blessings emanated, any but the soundest, the most healthy, fat and +beautiful animals; which were always examined with the closest and most +exact attention. This ceremonial, which doubtless had its origin in +gratitude, or in some ideas of fitness and propriety, at length, +degenerated into trifling niceties and superstitious ceremonies. And it +having been once imagined that no favour was to be looked for from the +gods, when the victim was imperfect, the idea of perfection was united +with abundance of trivial circumstances. The entrails were examined with +peculiar care, and if the whole was without blemish, their duties were +fulfilled; under an assurance that they had engaged the gods to be on +their side, they engaged in war, and in the most hazardous undertakings, +with such a confidence of success, as had the greatest tendency to +procure it. All the motions of the victims that were led to the altar, +were considered as so many prophecies. If the victim advanced with an +easy and natural air, in a straight line, and without offering any +resistance,--if he made no extraordinary bellowing when he received the +blow,--if he did not get loose from the person who led him to the +sacrifice, it was deemed a certain prognostic of an easy and flowing +success. + +The victim was knocked down, but before its belly was ripped open, one +of the lobes of the liver was allotted to those who offered the +sacrifice, and the other to the enemies of the state. That which was +neither blemished nor withered, of a bright red, and neither smaller nor +larger than it ought to be, prognosticated great prosperity to those for +whom it was set apart; that which was livid, small or corrupted, +presaged the most fatal mischiefs. The next thing to be considered was +the heart, which was also examined with the utmost care, as was the +spleen, the gall, and the lungs; and if any of these were let fall, if +they smelt rank or were bloated, livid or withered, it presaged nothing +but misfortunes. + +After the examination of the entrails was over, the fire was kindled, +and from this also they drew several presages. If the flame was clear, +if it mounted up without dividing, and went not out till the victim was +entirely consumed, this was a proof that the sacrifice was accepted; but +if they found it difficult to kindle the fire, if the flame divided, if +it played around instead of taking bold of the victim, if it burnt ill, +or went out, it was a bad omen. The business, however, of the Aruspices +was not confined to the altars and sacrifices, they had an equal right +to explain all other portents. The Senate frequently consulted them on +the most extraordinary prodigies. The college of the Aruspices, as well +as those of the other religious orders, had their registers and +records, such as memorials of thunder and lightning,[12] the Tuscan +histories,[13] etc. + + +DIVISIONS OP DIVINATION BY THE ANCIENTS--PRODIGIES, ETC. + +Divination was divided by the ancients into artificial and natural. The +first is conducted by reasoning upon certain external signs, considered +as indications of futurity; the other consists in that which presages +things from a mere internal sense, and persuasion of the mind, without +any assistance of signs; and is of two kinds, the one from nature, and +the other by influx. The first supposes that the soul, collected within +itself, and not diffused or divided among the organs of the body, has +from its own nature and essence, some fore-knowledge of future things; +witness, for instance, what is seen in dreams, ecstasies, and on the +confines of death. The second supposes the soul after the manner of a +mirror to receive some secondary illumination from the presence of God +and other spirits. Artificial divination is also of two kinds: the one +argues from natural causes, as in the predictions of physicians relative +to the event of diseases, from the tongue, pulse, etc. The second the +consequence of experiments and observations arbitrarily instituted, and +is mostly superstitious. The systems of divination reduceable under +these heads are almost incalculable. Among these were the Augurs or +those who drew their knowledge of futurity from the flight, and various +other actions of birds; the Aruspices, from the entrails of beasts; +palmestry or the lines of the hands; points marked at random; numbers, +names, the motions of a scene, the air, fire, the Praenestine, Homerian, +and Virgilian lots, dreams, etc. + +Whoever reads the Roman historians[14] must be surprised at the number of +prodigies which are constantly recorded, and which frequently filled the +people with the most dreadful apprehensions. It must be confessed, that +some of these seem altogether supernatural; while much the greater part +only consist of some of the uncommon productions of nature, which +superstition always attributed to a superior cause, and represented as +the prognostication of some impending misfortunes. Of this class may be +reckoned the appearance of two suns, the nights illuminated by rays of +light, the views of fighting armies, swords, and spears, darting through +the air; showers of milk, of blood, of stones, of ashes, of frogs, +beasts with two heads, or infants who had some feature resembling those +of the brute creation. These were all dreadful prodigies, which filled +the people with inexpressible astonishment, and the Roman Empire with an +extreme perplexity; and whatever unhappy circumstance followed upon +these, was sure to be either caused or predicted by them.[15] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[9] Homer gives the same account of those ceremonies, when Ulysses +raised the soul of Tiresias; and the same usages are found in the poem +of Silius Italicus. And to these ceremonies the scriptures frequently +allude, when the Israelites are forbid to assemble upon high places. + +[10] The magical slumbers produced in the cave of Trophonius are justly +ascribed to medicated beverages. Here, the votary if he escaped with +life, had his health irreparably injured, and the whole class of +artificial dreams and visions, the effect of some powerful narcotic +acting upon the body after the mind had been predisposed for a certain +train of ideas. + +[11] The _sortes praenestinae_ were famous among the Greeks. The method +by which these lots were conducted was to put so many letters or even +whole words, into an urn; to shake them together, and throw them out; +and whatever should chance to be made out in the arrangement of these +letters or words, composed the answer of the oracle. The ancients also +made use of dice, drawing tickets, etc., in casting or deciding results. +In the Old Testament we meet with many standing and perpetual laws, and +a number of particular commands, prescribing and regulating the use of +them. We are informed by the Scripture that when a successor to Judas in +the apostolate was to be chosen, the lot fell on St. Mathias. And the +garment or coat without a seam of our Saviour was lotted for by the +Jews. In Cicero's time this mode of divination was at a very low ebb. +The _sortes Homericae_ and _sortes Virgilianae_ which succeeded the +_sortes Praenestinae_, gave rise to the same means used among christians +of casually opening the sacred books for directions in important +circumstances; to learn the consequence of events and what they had to +fear among their rulers. + +[12] Kennet's Roman Antiquities, Lib. XI, C. 4. + +[13] Romulus, who founded the institution of the Aruspices, borrowed it +from the Tuscans, to whom the Senate afterwards sent twelve of the sons +of the principal nobility to be instructed in these mysteries, and the +other ceremonies of their religion. The origin of this act among the +people of Tuscany, is related by Cicero in the following manner: "A +peasant," says he, "ploughing in the field, his ploughshare running +pretty deep in the earth, turned up a clod, from whence sprung a child, +who taught him and the other Tuscans the art of divination." (Cicero, De +Divinat. l. 2.) This fable, undoubtedly means no more, than that this +child, said to spring from the clod of earth, was a youth of a very mean +and obscure birth, but it is not known whether he was the author of it, +or whether he learnt it of the Greeks or any other nations. + +[14] Particularly Livy, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Pliny, and Valerius +Maximus. + +[15] Nothing is more easy than to account for these productions, which +have no relation to any events that may happen to follow them. The +appearance of two suns has frequently happened in England, as well as in +other places, and is only caused by the clouds being placed in such a +situation, as to reflect the image of that luminary; nocturnal fires, +enflamed spears, fighting armies, were no more than what we call the +Aurora Borealis or northern lights, or ignited vapours floating in the +air; showers of stones, of ashes, or of fire, were no other than the +effects of the eruptions of some volcano at a considerable distance; +showers of milk were caused by some quality in the air, condensing, and +giving a whitish colour to the water; and those of blood are now well +known to be only the red spots left upon the earth, on stones and leaves +of trees, by the butterflies which hatch in hot and stormy weather. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +HISTORY OF ORACLES--THE PRINCIPAL ORACLES OF ANTIQUITY. + +Few superstitions have been so famous, and so seductive to the minds of +men during a number of ages, as oracles. In treaties of peace or truces, +the Greeks never forgot to stipulate for the liberty of resorting to +oracles. No colony undertook new settlements, no war was declared, no +important affair begun, without first consulting the oracles. + +The most renowned oracles were those of Delphos, Dodona, Trophonius, +Jupiter Hammon, and the Clarian Apollo. Some have attributed the oracles +of Dodona to oaks, others to pigeons. The opinion of those +pigeon-prophetesses was introduced by the equivocation of a Thessalian +word, which signified both a pigeon and a woman; and gave room to the +fable, that two pigeons having taken wing from Thebes, one of them fled +into Lybia, where it occasioned the establishing of the oracle of +Jupiter Hammon; and the other, having stopped in the oaks of the forest +of Dodona, informed the inhabitants of the neighbouring parts, that it +was Jupiter's intention there should be an oracle in that place. +Herodotus has thus explained the fable: there were formerly two +Priestesses of Thebes, who were carried off by Phenecian merchants. She +that was sold into Greece, settled in the forest of Dodona, where great +numbers of the ancient inhabitants of Greece went to gather acorns. She +there erected a little chapel at the foot of an oak, in honour of the +same Jupiter, whose priestess she had been; and here it was this ancient +oracle was established, which in after times became so famous. The +manner of delivering the oracles of Dodona was very singular. There were +a great number of kettles suspended from trees near a copper statue, +which was also suspended with a hunch of rods in its hand. When the wind +happened to put it in motion, it struck the first kettle, which +communicating its motion to the next, all of them tingled, and produced +a certain sound which continued for a long time; after which the oracle +spoke. + + +THE ORACLE OP JUPITER HAMMON. + +This oracle, which was in the desert, in the midst of the burning sands +of Africa, declared to Alexander that Jupiter was his father. After +several questions, having asked if the death of his father was suddenly +revenged, the oracle answered, that the death of Philip was revenged, +but that the father of Alexander was immortal. This oracle gave occasion +to Lucan to put great sentiments in the mouth of Cato. After the battle +of Pharsalia, when Cesar began to be master of the world. Labrenus said +to Cato: "As we have now so good an opportunity of consulting so +celebrated an oracle, let us know from it how to regulate our conduct +during this war. The gods will not declare themselves more willingly for +any one than Cato. You have always been befriended by the gods, and may +therefore have the confidence to converse with Jupiter. Inform +yourselves of the destiny of the tyrant and the fate of our country; +whether we are to preserve our liberty, or to lose the fruit of the war; +and you may learn too what that virtue is to which you have been +elevated, and what its reward." + +Cato, full of the divinity that was within him, returned to Labrenus an +answer worthy of an oracle: "On what account, Labrenus, would you have +me consult Jupiter? Shall I ask him whether it be better to lose life +than liberty? Whether life be a real good? We have within us, Labrenus, +an oracle that can answer all these questions. Nothing happens but by +the order of God. Let us not require of him to repeat to us what he has +sufficiently engraved in our hearts. Truth has not withdrawn into those +deserts; it is not graved on those sands. The abode of God is in heaven, +in the earth, in the sea, and in virtuous hearts. God speaks to us by +all that we see, by all that surrounds us. Let the inconstant and those +that are subject to waver, according to events, have recourse to +oracles. For my part, I find in nature every thing that can inspire the +most constant resolution. The dastard, as well as the brave, cannot +avoid death. Jupiter cannot tell us more." Cato thus spoke, and quitted +the country without consulting the oracle. + + +THE ORACLE OF DELPHOS, OR PYTHIAN APOLLO. + +Diodorus Siculus, Plutarch, and several other authors relate, that a +herd of goats discovered the oracle of Delphos, or of the Pythian +Apollo. When a goat happened to come near enough the cavern to breathe +air that passed out of it, she returned skipping and bounding about, and +her voice articulated some extraordinary sounds; which having been +observed by the keepers, they went to look in, and were seized with a +fury which made them jump about, and foretel future events. Coretas, as +Plutarch tells, was the name of the goat-herd who discovered the oracle. +One of the guardians of Demetrius, coming too near the mouth of the +cavern, was suffocated by the force of the exhalations, and died +suddenly. The orifice or vent-hole of the cave was covered with a tripod +consecrated to Apollo, on which the priestesses, called Pythonesses,[16] +sat, to fill themselves with the prophetic vapour, and to conceive the +spirit of divination, with the fervor that made them know futurity, and +foretel it in Greek hexameters. Plutarch says, that, on the cessation of +oracles, a Pythoness was so excessively tormented by the vapour, and +suffered such violent convulsions, that all the priests ran away, and +she died soon after. + + +CEREMONIES PRACTISED ON CONSULTING ORACLES. + +Pausanias describes the ceremonies that were practiced for consulting +the oracle of Trophonius. Every man that went down into his cave, never +laughed his whole life after. This gave occasion to the proverbial +saying concerning those of a melancholy air: "He has consulted +Trophonius." Plato relates, that the two brothers, Agamedes and +Trophonius, having built the temple of Apollo, and asked the god for a +reward what he thought of most advantage to men, both died in the night +that succeeded their prayer. Pausanias gives us a quite different +account. In the palace there built for the King Hyrieus, they so laid a +stone, that it might be taken away, and in the night they crept in +through the hole they had thus contrived, to steal the king's treasures. +The king observing the quantity of his gold diminished, though no locks +nor seals had been broken open, fixed traps about his coffers, and +Agamedes being caught in one of them, Trophonius cut off his head to +prevent his discovering him. Trophonius having disappeared that moment, +it was given out that the earth had swallowed him on the same spot; and +impious superstition went so far as to place this wicked wretch in the +rank of the gods, and to consult his oracle with ceremonies equally +painful and mysterious. + +Tacitus thus speaks of the oracle of the Clarian Apollo: Germanicus +went to consult the oracle of Claros. It is not a woman that delivers +the oracle there, as at Delphos, but a man chosen out of certain +families, and always of Miletum. It is sufficient to tell him the number +and names of those who come to consult him; whereupon he retires into a +grot, and having taken some water out of a well that lies hid in it, he +answers you in verses to whatever you have thought of, though this man +is often very ignorant. + +Dion Cassius explains the manner in which the oracle of Nymphoea, in +Epirus, delivered its responses. The party that consulted took incense, +and having prayed, threw the incense into the fire, the flame pursued +and consumed it. But if the affair was not to succeed, the incense did +not come near the fire, or if it fell into the flame, it started out and +fled. It so happened for prognosticating futurity, in regard to every +thing that was asked, except death and marriage, about which it was not +allowed to ask any questions. + +Those who consulted the oracle of Amphiarus, lay on the skins of +victims, and received the answer of the oracle in a dream. Virgil +attests the same thing of the oracle of Faunus in Italy. + +A governor of Cilicia, who gave little credit to oracles, and who was +always surrounded by unbelieving Epicureans sent a letter sealed with +his signet to the oracle of Mopsus, requiring one of those answers that +were received in a dream. The messenger charged with the letter brought +it back in the same condition, not having been opened; and informed +him, that he had seen in a dream a very well made man, who said to him +'Black' without the addition of even another word. Then the governor +opening the letter, assured the company, that he wanted to know of the +divinity, whether he should sacrifice a white or black bull. + +In the temple of the goddess of Syria, when the statue of Apollo was +inclined to deliver oracles, it deviated, moved, and was full of +agitations on its pedestals. Then the priests carrying it on their +shoulders, it pushed and turned them on all sides, and the high-priest, +interrogating it on all sorts of affairs, if it refused its consent, it +drove the priests back; if otherwise, it made them advance. + +Suetonius says, that, some months before the birth of Augustus, an +oracle was current, importing, that nature was labouring at the +production of a king, who would be master of the Roman Empire; that the +Senate in great consternation, had forbid the rearing of any male +children who should be born that year, but that the senators whose wives +were pregnant, found means to hinder the inscribing of the decree in the +public registers. It seems that the prediction, of which Augustus was +only the type, regarded the birth of Jesus Christ, the spiritual king of +the whole world; or that the wicked spirit was willing, by suggesting +this rigorous decree to the Senate, to depose Herod; and by this +example, to involve the Messiah in the massacre that was made by his +orders of all the children of two years and under. The whole world was +then full of the coming of the Messiah. We see by Virgil's fourth +eclogue, that he applies to the son of the Consul Asinius Pollio the +prophecies which, from the Jews, had then passed into foreign nations. +This child the object of Virgil's flattery, died the ninth day after he +was born. Tacitus, Suetonius, and Josephus, applied to Vespasian the +prophecies that regarded the Messiah. + + +ORACLES OFTEN EQUIVOCAL AND OBSCURE. + +The oracles, were often very equivocal, or so obscure that their +signification was not understood but after the event. A few examples, +out of a great many, will be sufficient. + +Croesus, having received from the Pythoness, this answer, that by +passing the river Halys, he would destroy a great empire, he understood +it to be the empire of his enemy, whereas he destroyed his own. The +oracle consulted by Pyrrhus, gave him an answer, which might be equally +understood of the victory of Pyrrhus, and the victory of the Romans his +enemies. + + Aio te Aeacida, Romanos vincere posse. + +The equivocation lies in the construction of the Latin tongue, which +cannot be rendered in English. The Pythoness advises Croesus to guard +against the mule.[17] The king of Lydia understood nothing of the +oracle, which denoted Cyrus descended from two different nations, from +the Medes by Mandana his mother, the daughter of Astyages; and by the +Persians by his father Cambyses, whose race was by far less grand and +illustrious. Nero had for answer from the oracle of Delphos, that +seventy-three might prove fatal to him, he believed he was safe from all +danger till age, but, finding himself deserted by every one, and hearing +Galba proclaimed emperor, who was seventy-three years of age, he was +sensible of the deceit of the oracle. + +St. Jerome observes, that, if the devils speak any truth, by whatever +accident they always join lies to it and use such ambiguous expressions, +that they may be equally applied to contrary events. + + +URIM AND THUMMIM. + +Whilst the false oracles of demons deceived the idolatrous nations, +truth had retired from among the chosen people of God. The septuagint +have interpreted _Urim_ and _Thummim_, manifestation and truth, [Greek: +daelosin is alaetheian]; which expresses how different those divine +oracles were from the false and equivocal demons. It is said, in the +Book of Numbers, that Eleazar, the successor of Aaron, shall interrogate +Urim in form, and that a resolution shall be taken according to the +answer given. + +The Ephod applied to the chest of the sacerdotal vestments of the +high-priest, was a piece of stuff covered with twelve precious stones, +on which the names of the twelve tribes were engraved. It was not +allowed to consult the Lord by Urim and Thummim, but for the king, the +president of the sanhedrim, the general of the army, and other public +persons, and on affairs that regarded the general interest of the +nation. If the affair was to succeed, the stones of the ephod emitted a +sparkling light, or the high-priest inspired predicted the success. +Josephus, who was born thirty-nine years after Christ, says that it was +then two hundred years since the stones of the ephod had given an answer +to consultations by their extraordinary lustre. + +The Scriptures only inform us, that Urim and Thummim were something that +Moses had put in the high-priest's breast-plate. Some Rabbins by rash +conjectures, have believed that they were two small statues hidden +within the breast-plate; others, the ineffable name of God, graved in a +mysterious-manner. Without designing to discern what has not been +explained to us, we should understand by _Urim_ and _Thummim_, the +divine inspiration annexed to the consecrated breast-plate. + +Several passages of Scripture leave room to believe, that an articulate +voice came forth from the propitiatory, or holy of holies, beyond the +veil of the tabernacle, and that this voice was heard by the +high-priest. If the Urim and Thummim did not make answer, it was a sign +of God's anger. Saul abandoned by the spirit of the Lord, consulted it +in vain, and obtained no sort of answer. It appears by some passages of +St. John's Gospel, that in the time of Christ, the exercise of the +chief-priesthood, was still attended with the gift of prophecy. + + +REPUTATION OF ORACLES, HOW LOST. + +When men began to be better instructed by the lights philosophy had +introduced into the world, the false oracles insensibly lost their +credit. Chrysippus filled an entire volume with false or doubtful +oracles. Oenomanus,[18] to be revenged of some oracle that had deceived +him, made a compilation of oracles, to shew their absurdity and vanity. +But Oenomanus is still more out of humour with the oracle for the answer +which Apollo gave the Athenians, when Xerxes was about to attack Greece +with all the strength of Asia. The Pythian declared, that Minerva, the +protectress of Athens, had endeavoured in vain to appease the wrath of +Jupiter; yet that Jupiter, in complaisance with his daughter, was +willing the Athenians should secure themselves within wooden walls; and +that Salamis should behold the loss of a great many children, dead to +their mothers, either when Ceres was spread abroad, or gathered +together. At this Oenomanus loses all patience with the Delphian God: +"This contest," exclaims he, "between father and daughter, is very +becoming the deities! It is excellent that there should be contrary +inclinations and interests in heaven! Poor wizzard, thou art ignorant +who the children are that shall see Salamis perish; whether Greeks or +Persians. It is certain they must either be one or the other; but thou +needest not have told so openly that thou knowest not what. Thou +concealest the time of the battle under these fine poetical expressions +'_either when Ceres is spread abroad, or gathered together_:' and thou +wouldst cajole us with such pompous language! who knows not that if +there be a sea-fight, it must either be in seed-time or harvest? It is +certain it cannot be in winter. Let things go how they will, thou wilt +secure thyself by this Jupiter whom Minerva is endeavouring to appease. +If the Greeks lose the battle, Jupiter proved inexorable to the last; if +they gain it, why then Minerva at length prevailed."[19] + +Eusebius has preserved some fragments of this criticism on oracles by +Oenomanus. "I might," says Origen, "have recourse to the authority of +Aristotle, and the Peripatetics, to make the Pythoness much suspected. I +might extract from the writings of Epicurus and his sectators an +abundance of things to discredit oracles; and I might shew that the +Greeks themselves made no great account of them." + +The reputation of oracles was greatly lessened when they became an +artifice of politics. Themistocles, with a design of engaging the +Athenians to quit Athens, in order to be in a better condition to resist +Xerxes, made the Pythoness deliver an oracle, commanding them to take +refuge in wooden walls. Demosthenes said, that the Pythoness +philippised, to signify that she was gained over by Philip's presents. + + +CESSATION OF ORACLES. + +The cessation of oracles is attested by several prophane authors, as +Strabo, Juvenal, Lucien. + +Lucan, and others, Plutarch accounts for the cause of it, either that +the benefits of the gods are not eternal, as themselves are; or that the +genii who presided over oracles, are subject to death; or that the +exhalations of the earth had been exhausted. It appears that the last +reason had been alleged in the time of Cicero, who ridicules it in his +second book of Divination, as if the spirit of prophecy, supposed to be +excited by subterranean effluvia, had evaporated by length of time, as +wine or pickle by being kept is lost. + +Suidas, Nicephorus, and Cedrenus relate, that Augustus having consulted +the oracle of Delphos, could obtain no other answer but this: 'the +Hebrew child whom all the gods obey, drives me hence, and sends me back +to hell: get out of this temple without speaking one word.' Suidas adds, +that Augustus dedicated an altar in the Capitol, with the following +inscription: + + "_To the eldest Son of God_." + +Notwithstanding these testimonies, the answer of the oracle of Delphos +to Augustus seems very suspicious. Cedrenus cites Eusebius for this +oracle, which is not now found in his works; and Augustus' peregrination +into Greece was eighteen years before the birth of Christ. + +Suidas and Cedrenus give an account also of an ancient oracle delivered +to Thules, a king of Egypt, which they say is well authenticated. This +king having consulted the oracle of Seraphis, to know if there ever was, +or would be, one so great as himself, received this answer:--"First, +God, next the word, and the spirit with them. They are equally eternal, +and make but one whose power will never end. But thou, mortal, go hence, +and think that the end of man's life is uncertain." + +Van Dale, in his Treatise of oracles, does not believe that they ceased +at the coming of Christ. He relates several examples of oracles +consulted till the death of Theodosius the Great. He quotes the laws of +the Emperors Theodosius, Gratian, and Valentinian, against those who +consulted oracles, as a certain proof that the superstition of oracles +still existed in the time of those emperors. + + +HAD DEMONS ANY SHARE IN THE ORACLES? + +The opinion of those who believe that the demons had no share in the +oracles, and that the coming of the Messiah made no change in them: and +the contrary opinion of those who pretend that the incarnation of the +word imposed a general silence on oracles, should be equally rejected. +The reasons appear from what has been said, and therefore two sorts of +oracles ought to be distinguished, the one dictated by the spirits of +darkness, who deceived men by their obscure and doubtful answers, the +other the pure artifice and deceit of the priests of false +divinities.[20] As to the oracles given out by demons, the reign of +Satan was destroyed by the coming of the Saviour; truth shut the mouth +of falsehood; but Satan continued his old craft among idolaters. All the +devils were not forced to silence at the same time by the coming of the +Messiah; it was on particular occasions that the truth of christianity, +and the virtue of Christians imposed silence on the devils. St. +Athanasius tells the pagans, they have been witnesses themselves that +the sign of the cross puts the devils to flight, silences oracles, and +dissipates enchantments. + +This power of silencing oracles, and putting the devils to flight, is +also attested by Arnobius, Lactantius, Prudentius, Minutius, Felix, and +several others. Their testimony is a certain proof that the coming of +the Messiah had not imposed a general silence on oracles. + +The Emperor Julian, called the Apostate, consulting the oracle of +Apollo, in the suburbs of Antioch, the devil could make him no other +answer, than that the body of St. Babylas, buried in the neighbourhood, +imposed silence on him. The Emperor, transported with rage and vexation, +resolved to revenge his gods, by eluding a solemn prediction of Christ. +He ordered the Jews to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem; but in beginning +to dig the foundations, balls of fire burst out, and consumed the +artificers, their tools and materials. These facts are attested by +Ammianus Marcellinus, a pagan, and the emperor's historian; and by St. +Chrysostom, St. Gregory Nazianzen, and Theodoret, Sozomen and Socrates, +in their ecclesiastical histories. The sophist Libanius, who was an +enemy of the Christians, confessed also that St. Babylas had silenced +the oracle of Apollo, in the suburbs of Antioch. + +Plutarch relates that the pilot Thamus heard a voice in the air, crying +out:--"The great Pan is dead:" whereupon Eusebius observes, that the +deaths of the demons were frequent in the reign of Tiberius, when Christ +drove out the wicked spirits. The same judgments may be passed on +oracles as on possessions. It was on particular occasions, by the divine +permission, that the Christians cast out devils, or silenced oracles, in +the presence and even by the confession of the pagans themselves. And +thus it is we should, it seems, understand the passages of St. Jerom, +Eusebius, Cyril, Theodoret, Prudentius, and other authors, who said, +that the coming of Christ had imposed silence on the oracles. + + +OF ORACLES, THE ARTIFICES OP PRIESTS OP FALSE DIVINITIES. + +As regards the second sort of oracles, which were pure artifices and +cheats of the priests of false divinities, and which probably exceeded +the numbers of those that immediately proceed from demons, they did not +cease till idolatry was abolished, though they had lost their credit for +a considerable time before the coming of Christ. It was concerning this +more common and general sort of oracles that Minutius Felix said, they +began to discontinue their responses, according as men began to be more +polite. But, howsoever decried oracles were, impostors always found +dupes; the grossest cheats having never failed. + +Daniel discovered the imposture of the priests of Bel, who had a private +way of getting into the temple, to take away the offered meats, and made +the king believe that the idol consumed them. Mundus, being in love with +Paulina, the eldest of the priestesses of Isis, went and told her that +the god Anubis, being passionately fond of her, commanded her to give +him a meeting. She was afterwards shut up in a dark room, where her +lover Mundus (whom she believed to be the god Anubis,) was concealed. +This imposture having been discovered, Tiberius ordered those detestable +priests and priestesses to be crucified, and with them Iolea Mundus's +free woman, who had conducted the whole intrigue. He also commanded the +temple of Isis to be levelled with the ground, her statue to be thrown +into the Tiber, and, as to Mundus, he contented himself with sending him +into banishment. + +Theophilus, Bishop of Alexandria, not only destroyed the temples of the +gods, but discovered the cheats of the priests, by shewing that the +statues, some of which were of brass, and others of wood, were hollow +within, and led into dark passages made in the wall. + +Lucius in discovering the impostures of the false prophet Alexander, +says, that the oracles were chiefly afraid of the subtilties of the +Epicureans and Christians. The false prophet Alexander sometimes feigned +himself seized with a divine fury, and by means of the herb sopewort, +which he chewed, frothed at the mouth in so extraordinary a manner, that +the ignorant people attributed it to the power of the god he was +possessed by. He had long before prepared the head of a dragon made of +linen, which opened and shut its mouth by means of a horses hair. He +went by night to a place where the foundations of a temple were digging, +and having found water, either of a spring or rain that had settled +there, he hid in it a goose egg, in which he had inclosed a little +serpent that had just been hatched. The next day, very early in the +morning, he came quite naked into the street, having only a scarf about +his middle, holding in his hand a scythe, and tossing about his hair as +the priests of Cybele; then getting on the top of a high altar, he said +that the place was happy to be honoured by the birth of a god. +Afterwards running down to the place where he had hid the goose egg, and +going into the water, he began to sing the praises of Apollo and +Aesculapius, and to invite the latter to come and shew himself to men; +with these words he dips a bowl into the water and takes out a +mysterious egg, which had a god enclosed in it, and when he held it in +his hand, he began to say that he held Aesculapius, whilst all were +eager to have a sight of this fine mystery, he broke the egg, and the +little serpent starting out, twisted itself about his fingers. + +These examples shew clearly, that both Christians and pagans were so +far agreed as to treat the greater number of oracles as purely human +impostures. + +From the very nature of things, much that now serves for amusement must +formerly have been appropriated to a higher destination. Ventriloquism +may be quoted as a case in point, affording a ready and plausible +solution of the oracular stones and oaks, of the reply which the seer +Nessus addressed to Pythagoras, (Jamblichus, Vit. Pyth. xxxiii.) and of +the tree which at the command of the Gymnosophists, of upper Egypt, +spoke to Apollonius, "The voice," says Philostratus (Vit. Ap. xi. 5) +"was distinct but weak, and similar to the voice of a woman." But the +oracles, at least if we ascend to their origin, were not altogether +impostures. The pretended interpreters of the decrees of destiny were +frequently plunged into a sort of delirium, and when inhaling the fumes +of some intoxicating drug or powerful gas or vapour, or drinking some +beverage which produced a temporary suspension of the reason, the mind +of the enquirer was predisposed to feverish dreams:[21] if priestcraft +were concerned in the interpretation of such dreams, or eliciting senses +from the wild effusions of the disordered brain of the Pythoness, +Science presided over the investigation of the causes of this phrenzy, +and the advantages which the Thaumaturgists might derive from it. +Jamblicus states (de Mysterius C. xxix) that for obtaining a revelation +from the Deity in a dream, the youngest and most simple creatures were +the most proper for succeeding: they were prepared for it by magical +invocations and fumigations of particular perfumes. Porphyry declares +that these proceedings had an influence on the imagination; Jamblicus +that they rendered them more worthy of the inspiration of the Deity. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[16] The responses here were delivered by a young priestess called +Pythia or Phoebas, placed on a tripos, or stool with three feet, called +also cortina, from the skin of the serpent Python with which it was +covered, it is uncertain after what manner these oracles were delivered, +though Cicero supposes the Pythoness was inspired, or rather intoxicated +by certain vapours which ascended from the cave. Some say that the +Pythoness being once debauched, the oracles were afterwards delivered by +an old woman in the dress of a young maid. + +[17] This answer of the oracle brings to our recollection the equally +remarkable injunction of a modern seer to Sir William Windham, which is +related in the memoirs of Bishop Newton. "In his younger years, when Sir +William was abroad upon his travels, and was at Venice, there was a +noted fortune-teller, to whom great numbers resorted, and he among the +rest; and the fortune-teller told him, that he must beware of a white +horse. After his return to England, as he was walking by Charing-Cross, +he saw a crowd of people coming out and going in to a house, and +inquired what was the meaning of it, was informed that Duncan Campbell, +the dumb fortune-teller lived there. His curiosity also led him in, and +Duncan Campbell likewise told him that he must beware of a white horse. +It was somewhat extraordinary that two fortune-tellers, one at Venice +and the other in London, without any communication, and at some distance +of time, should both happen to hit upon the same thing, and to give the +very same warning. Some years afterwards, when he was taken up in 1715, +and committed to the Tower upon suspicion of treasonable practices, +which never appeared, his friends said to him that his fortune wan now +fulfilled, the Hanover House was the white horse whereof he was +admonished to beware. But some time after this, he had a fall from a +white horse, and received a blow by which he lost the sight of one of +his eyes." + +[18] "When we come to consult thee," says he to Apollo, "if thou seest +what is in the womb of futurity, why dost thou use expressions which +will not be understood? If thou dost, thou takest pleasure in abusing +us: if thou dost not, be informed of us, and learn to speak more +clearly. I tell thee, that if thou intendest an equivoque, the Greek +word whereby thou affirmest that Croesus should overthrow a great +empire, was ill-chosen; and that it could signify nothing but Croesus +conquering Cyrus. If things must necessarily come to pass, why dost thou +amuse us with thy ambiguities? What dost thou, wretch as thou art, at +Delphi, employed in muttering idle prophecies!"--See "_Demonologia, or +Natural Knowledge revealed_" p. 162. + +[19] See _Demonologia_, p, 163. + +[20] "Among the more learned, it is a pretty general opinion that all +the oracles were mere cheats and impostures; calculated either to serve +the avaricious ends of the heathenish priests, or the political views of +the princes. Bayle positively asserts, that they were mere human +artifices, in which the devil had no hand. In this opinion he is +strongly supported by Van Dale, a Dutch physician, and M. Fontenelle, +who have expressly written on the subject."--_Vide Demonologia_, op. +citat. p. 159. + +[21] We learn from Herodotus (iv. 75) that the Scythians and Tartars +intoxicated themselves by inhaling the vapour of a species of hemp +thrown upon red hot stones. And the odour of the seeds of henbane alone, +when its power is augmented by heat, produces a choleric and quarrelsome +disposition, in those who inhale the vapour arising from them in this +state. And in the "Dictionnaire de Medecine," (de l'Encyclopedie +Methodique, vii, art. Jusquiaume) instances are quoted, the most +remarkable of which is, that if a married pair who, though living in +perfect harmony every where else, could never remain for a few hours in +the room where they worked without quarrelling. The apartment of course +was thought to be bewitched, until it was discovered that a considerable +quantity of seeds of henbane were deposited near the stove, which was +the cause of their daily dissensions, the removal of which put an end to +their bickerings. The same effects that were produced by draughts and +fumigations would follow from the application of liniments, of "Magical +Unctions," acting through the absorbent system, as if they had been +introduced into the stomach: allusions to these ointments are constantly +recurring in ancient authors. Philostratus, in his life of Apollonius +(iii. 5) states that the bodies of his companions, before being admitted +to the mysteries of the Indian sages, were rubbed over with so active an +oil, that it appeared as if they were bathed with fire. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +THE BRITISH DRUIDS, OR MAGI--ORIGIN OF FAIRIES--ANCIENT +SUPERSTITIONS----THEIR SKILL IN MEDECINE, &C. + +The British Druids, like the Indian Gymnosophists, or the Persian Magi, +had two sets of doctrines; the first for the initiated; the second for +the people. That there is one God the creator of heaven and earth, was a +secret doctrine of the Brachmans. And the nature and perfection of the +deity were among the druidical arcana. + +Among the sublimer tenets of the druidical priesthood, we have every +where apparent proofs of their polytheism: and the grossness of their +religious ideas, as represented by some writers, is very inconsistent +with that divine philosophy which has been considered as a part of their +character. These, however, were popular divinities which the Druids +ostensibly worshipped, and popular notions which they ostensibly +adopted, in conformity with the prejudices of the vulgar. The Druids +well knew that the common people were no philosophers. There is reason +also, to think that a great part of the idolatries were not sanctioned +by the Druids, but afterwards introduced by the Phoenician colony. But +it would be impossible to say how far the primitive Druids accommodated +themselves to vulgar superstition, or to separate their exterior +doctrines and ceremonies from the fables and absurd rites of subsequent +times. It would be vain to attempt to enumerate their gods: in the eye +of the vulgar they defied everything around them. They worshipped the +spirits of the mountains, the vallies, and the rivers. Every rock and +every spring were either the instruments or the objects of admiration. +The moonlight vallies of Danmonium were filled with the fairy people, +and its numerous rivers were the resort of genii. + +The fiction of fairies is supposed to have been brought, with other +extravagancies of a like nature from the Eastern nations, whilst the +Europeans and Christians were engaged in the holy war: such at least is +the notion of an ingenious writer, who thus expresses himself: "Nor were +the monstrous embellishments of enchantments the invention of romancers, +but formed upon Eastern tales, brought thence by travellers from their +crusades and pilgrimages, which indeed, have a cast peculiar to the wild +imagination of the Eastern people."[22] + +That fairies, in particular, came from the East, we are assured by that +learned orientalist, M. Herbelot, who tells us that the Persians called +the fairies _Peri_, and the Arabs _Genies_, that according: to the +Eastern fiction, there is a certain country inhabited by fairies, called +Gennistan, which answers to our _fairy-land_.[23] Mr. Martin, in his +observations on Spencer's Fairy Queen, is decided in his opinion, that +the fairies came from the East; but he justly remarks, that they were +introduced into the country long before the period of the crusades. The +race of fairies, he informs us, was established in Europe in very early +times, but, "_not universally_." The fairies were confined to the north +of Europe--to the _ultima Thule_--to the _British isles_--to the +_divisis orbe Britannis_. They were unknown at this remote era to the +Gauls or the Germans: and they were probably familiar to the vallies of +Scotland and Danmonium, when Gaul and Germany were yet unpeopled either +by real or imaginary beings. The belief indeed, of such invisible agents +assigned to different parts of nature, prevails at this very day in +Scotland, Devonshire and Cornwall, regularly transmitted from the +remotest antiquity to the present times, and totally unconnected with +the spurious romance of the crusader or the pilgrim. Hence those +superstitious notions now existing in our western villages, where the +spriggian[24] are still believed to delude benighted travellers, to +discover hidden treasures, to influence the weather, and to raise the +winds. "This," says Warton, "strengthens the hypotheses of the northern, +parts of Europe being peopled by colonies from the east!" + +The inhabitants of Shetland and the Isles pour libations of milk or +beer through a holed-stone, in honour of the spirit Brownie; and it is +probable the Danmonii were accustomed to sacrifice to the same spirit, +since the Cornish and the Devonians on the border of Cornwall, invoke to +this day the spirit Brownie, on the swarming of their bees. + +With respect to rivers, it is a certain fact that the primitive Britons +paid them divine honours; even now, in many parts of Devonshire and +Cornwall, the vulgar may be said to worship brooks and wells, to which +they resort at stated periods, performing various ceremonies in honour +of those consecrated waters: and the Highlanders, to this day, talk with +great respect of the genius of the sea; never bathe in a fountain, lest +the elegant spirit that resides in it should be offended and remove; and +mention not the water of rivers without prefixing to it the name of +_excellent_; and in one of the western islands the inhabitants retained +the custom, to the close of the last century, of making an annual +sacrifice to the genius of the ocean. That at this day the inhabitants +of India deify their principal rivers is a well known fact; the waters +of the Ganges possess an uncommon sanctity; and the modern Arabians, +like the Ishmaelites of old, concur with the Danmonii in their reverence +of springs and fountains. Even the names of the Arabian and Danmonian +wells have a striking correspondence. We have the _singing-well_; or the +_white-fountain_, and there are springs with similar names in the +deserts of Arabia. Perhaps the veneration of the Danmonii for fountains +and rivers may be accepted as no trivial proof, to be thrown into the +mass of circumstantial evidence, in favour of their Eastern original. +That the Arabs in their thirsty deserts, should even adore their wells +of "springing water," need not excite our surprise, but we may justly +wonder at the inhabitants of Devonshire and Cornwall thus worshipping +the gods of numerous rivers, and never failing brooks, familiar to every +part of Danmonium. + +The principal times of devotion among the Druids +were either mid-day or midnight. The officiating Druid was cloathed in a +white garment that swept the ground; on his head, he wore the tiara; he +had the _anguinum_ or serpent's egg, as the ensign of his order; his +temples were encircled with a wreath of oak-leaves, and he waved in his +hand the magic rod. As regards the Druid sacrifice there are vague and +contradictory representations. It is certain, however, that they offered +human victims to their gods. They taught that the punishment of the +wicked might be obliterated by sacrifices to Baal.[25] The sacrifice of +the black sheep, therefore, was offered up for the souls of the +departed, and various species of charms exhibited. Traces of the holy +fires, and fire worship of the Druids[26] may be observed in several +customs, both of the Devonians and the Cornish; but in Ireland may still +be seen the holy fires in all their solemnity. The Irish call the month +of May _Bel-tine_, or fire of Belus; and the first of May Lubel-tine, or +the day of Belus's fire. In an old Irish glossary, it is mentioned that +the Druids of Ireland used to light two solemn fires every year, through +which all four-footed beasts were driven, as a preservative against +contagious distempers. The Irish have this custom at the present moment, +they kindle the fire in the milking yards; men, women, and children pass +through or leap over it, and their cattle are driven through the flames +of the burning straw, on the _first of May_; and in the month of +November, they have also their fire feasts when, according to the custom +of the Danmonians, as well as the Irish Druids, the hills were enveloped +in flame. Previously to this solemnity (on the eve of November) the fire +in every private house was extinguished; hither, then, the people were +obliged to resort, in order to rekindle it. The ancient Persians named +the month of November, _Adur or fire_ Adur, according to Richardson was +the angel presiding over that element, in consequence of which, on the +ninth, his name-day, the country blazed all around with flaming piles, +whilst the magi, by the injunction of Zoroaster, visited with great +solemnity all the temples of fire throughout the empire; which, on this +occasion, were adorned and illuminated in a most splendid manner. Hence +our British illuminations in November had probably their origin. It was +at this season that _Baal Samham_ called the souls to judgment, which, +according to their deserts, were assigned to re-enter the bodies of men +or brutes, and to be happy or miserable during their next abode on the +earth. + +The primitive Christians, attached to their pagan ceremonies, placed +the feast of All-Souls on the la Samon, or the second of November. Even +now the peasants in Ireland assemble on the vigil of la Samon with +sticks and clubs, going from house to house, collecting money, +bread-cake, butter, cheese, eggs, etc., for the feast; repeating verses +in honour of the solemnity, and calling for the black sheep. Candles are +sent from house to house and lighted up on the Samon. (The next day.) +Every house abounds in the best viands the master can afford; apples and +nuts are eaten in great plenty; the nutshells are burnt, and from the +ashes many things are foretold. Hempseed is sown by the maidens, who +believe that, if they look back, they shall see the apparition of their +intended husbands. The girls make various efforts to read their destiny; +they hang a smock before the fire at the close of the feast, and sit up +all night concealed in one corner of the room, expecting the apparition +of the lover to come down the chimney and turn the _shimee_: they throw +a ball of yarn out of the window, and wind it on the reel within, +convinced that if they repeat the Paternoster backwards, and look at the +ball of yarn without, they shall then also see his apparition. Those who +celebrate this feast have numerous other rites derived from the Pagans. +They dip for apples in a tub of water, and endeavour to bring up one +with their mouths; they catch at an apple when stuck on at one of the +end of a kind of hanging beam, at the other extremity of which is fixed +a lighted candle, and that with their mouths only, whilst it is in a +circular motion, having their hands tied behind their backs.[27] + + +THE BRITISH MAGI. + +The Druids, who were the magi of the Britons, had an infinite number of +rites in common with the Persians. One of the chief functions of the +Eastern magi, was divination; and Pomponius Mela tells us, that our +Druids possessed the same art. There was a solemn rite of divination +among the Druids from the fall of the victim and convulsions of his +limbs, or the nature and position of his entrails. But the British +priests had various kinds of divination. By the number of criminal +causes, and by the increase or diminution of their own order, they +predicted fertility or scarcity. From the neighing or prancing of white +horses, harnessed to a consecrated chariot--from the turnings and +windings of a hare let loose from the bosom of the diviner (with a +variety of other ominous appearances or exhibitions) they pretended to +determine the events of futurity.[28] + +Of all creatures the serpent exercised, in the most curious manner, the +invention of the Druids. To the famous _anguinum_ they attributed high +virtues. The _anguinum_ or serpent's egg, was a congeries of small +snakes rolled together, and incrusted with a shell, formed by the saliva +or viscous gum, or froth of the mother serpent. This egg, it seems was +tossed into the air, by the hissings of its dam, and before it fell +again to the earth (where it would be defiled) it was to be received in +the sagus or sacred vestment. The person who caught the egg was to make +his escape on horseback, since the serpent pursues the ravisher of its +young, even to the brink of the next river. Pliny, from whom this +account is taken (lib. 29. C. 3.) proceeds with an enumeration of other +absurdities relating to the anguinum. This _anguinum_ is in British +called _Glain-neider_, or the serpent of glass; and the same +superstitious reverence which the Danmonii universally paid to the +anguinum, is still discoverable in some parts of Cornwall. Mr. Llhuyd +informs us that "the Cornish retain a variety of charms, and have still +towards the Land's-End, the amulets of Maen-Magal and Glain-neider, +which latter they call _Melprer_, and have a charm for the snake to make +it, when they find one asleep, and stick a hazel wand in the centre of +her spirae," or coils. + +We are informed by Cambden that, "in most parts of Wales, and +throughout all Scotland and Cornwall, it is an opinion of the vulgar, +that about midsummer-eve (though in the time they do not all agree) the +snakes meet in companies, and that by joining heads together and +hissing, a kind of bubble is formed, which the rest, by continual +hissing, blow on till it passes quite through the body, when it +immediately hardens, and resembles a glass-ring, which whoever finds +shall prosper in all his undertakings. The rings thus generated are +called _Gleiner-nadroeth_, or snake-stones. They are small glass +amulets, commonly about half as wide as our finger rings, but much +thicker, of a green colour usually, though sometimes blue, and waved +with red and white." + +Carew says, that "the country people, in Cornwall, have a persuasion +that the snake's breathing upon a hazel wand produces a stone ring of +blue colour, in which there appears the yellow figure of a snake, and +that beasts bit and envenomed, being given some water to drink wherein +this stone has been infused, will perfectly recover the poison."[29] + +From the animal, the Druids passed to the vegetable world; and these +also displayed their powers, whilst by the charms of the misletoe, the +selago, and the samopis, they prevented or repelled diseases. From the +undulation or bubbling of water stirred by an oak branch, or magic wand, +they foretold events that were to come. The superstition of the Druids +is even now retained in the western counties. To this day, the Cornish +have been accustomed to consult their famous well at Madem, or rather +the _spirit_ of the well, respecting their future destiny. + +"Hither," says Borlase, "come the uneasy, impatient, and superstitious, +and by dropping pins[30] or pebbles into the water, and by shaking the +ground round the spring, so as to raise bubbles from the bottom, at a +certain time of the year, moon and day, endeavour to remove their +uneasiness; yet the supposed responses serve equally to encrease the +gloom of the melancholy, the suspicions of the jealous, and the passion +of the enamoured. The Castalian fountain, and many others among the +Grecians were supposed to be of a prophetic nature. By dipping a fair +mirror into a well, the Patraeans of Greece received, as they supposed, +some notice of ensuing sickness or health from the various figures +pourtrayed upon the surface. The people of Laconia cast into a pool, +sacred to Juno, cakes of bread corn: if the cakes sunk, good was +portended; if they swam, something dreadful was to ensue. Sometimes the +superstitious threw three stones into the water, and formed their +conclusions from the several turns they made in sinking." The Druids +were likewise able to communicate, by consecration, the most portentous +virtues to rocks and stones, which could determine the succession of +princes or the fate of empires. To the Rocking or Logan stone, several +of which remain still in Devonshire and Cornwall, in particular, they +had recourse to confirm their authority, either as prophets or judges, +pretending that its motion was miraculous. These religious rites were +celebrated in consecrated places and temples, in the midst of groves. +The mysterious silence of an ancient wood diffuses even a shade of +horror over minds that are yet superior to superstitious credulity. +Their temple was seldom any other than a wide circle of rocks +perpendicularly raised. An artificial pile of large flat stone usually +composed the altar; and the whole religious mountain was usually +enclosed by a low mound, to prevent the intrusion of the profane. "There +was something in the Druidical species of heathenism," exclaims Mr. +Whitaker, in a style truly oriental, "that was well calculated to arrest +the attention and impress the mind. The rudely majestic circle of stones +in their temples, the enormous Cromlech, the massy Logan, the huge +Carnedde, and the magnificent amphitheatre of woods, would all very +strongly lay hold upon that religious thoughtfulness of soul, which has +ever been so natural to man, amid all the wrecks of humanity--the +monument of his former perfection!" That Druidism, as existing +originally in Devonshire and Cornwall, was immediately transported, in +all its purity and perfection, from the East, seems extremely probable. + +Among the sacred rites of the Druids there were none more celebrated +than that they used of the misletoe of the oak. They believed this tree +was chosen by God himself. The misletoe was what they found but seldom: +whenever, therefore, they met with it, they fetched it with great +ceremony, and did it on the sixth day of the moon, with which day they +began both their months and their years. They gave a name to this shrub, +denoting that it had the virtue of curing all diseases. They sacrificed +victims to it, believing that, by its virtue, the barren were made +fruitful. They looked upon it likewise as a preservative against all +poisons. Thus do several nations of the world place their religion in +the observation of trifles. + +The Druids were also extremely superstitious in relation to the herb +_selago_, which they reckoned a preservative against sore eyes, and +almost all misfortunes. Another herb called samotis, which they imagined +had a virtue to prevent diseases among cattle, they were very +ceremonious about gathering. The person was obliged to be clad in white, +and was not suffered to handle it; and the ceremony was preceded by a +sacrifice of bread and wine. + +The Druids had another superstition amongst them, in regard to their +serpents' eggs, which they supposed were formed of the saliva of many of +those creatures, at a certain time of the moon: these they looked upon +as a sure prognostic of getting the better of their enemies. These, with +many other ridiculous fooleries, were imposed upon the credulous people, +as they were very much attached to divination. The Druids regarded the +misletoe as an antidote against all poisons, and they preserved their +selago against all misfortunes. The Persians had the same confidence in +the efficacy of several herbs, and used them in a similar manner. The +Druids cut their misletoe with a golden hook, and the Persians cut the +twigs of _Ghez_, or _haulm_, called _bursam_, with a peculiar sort of +concentrated knife. The candidates for the British throne had recourse +to the fatal stone to determine their pretensions; and on similar +occasions the Persians had recourse to the _Artizoe_. + +From every view of the Druid religion, Mr. Polwhele concludes that it +derived its origin from the Persian magi. Dr. Borlasse has drawn a long +and elaborate parallel between the Druids and Persians, where he has +plainly proved that they resembled each other, as strictly as possible, +in every particular of religion.[31] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[22] Supplement to the translated preface to Jarvis's Don Quixote. + +[23] That the Druids worshipped rocks, stones, and fountains, and +imagined them inhabited, and actuated by _divine intelligences of a +lower rank_, may plainly be inferred from their stone monuments. These +inferior deities the Cornish call _spriggian, or spirits_, which answer +to genii or fairies; and the vulgar in Cornwall still discourse of them, +as of real beings. + +[24] See Macpherson's Introduction to the history of great Britain and +Ireland. + +[25] This idol, which is called by the Septuagint, Baal, is mentioned in +other parts of scripture by other names. To understand what this god +was, we may observe, that the deities of the Greeks and Romans come from +the East; and it is a tradition among the ancient and modern heathens +that this idol was an obscure deity, which may plead excuse for not +translating some passages concerning it; and this is agreeable to Hosea +(ix. 10). They _went out_ into _Baal Pheor_, and _separated themselves +to their shame_. And it is the opinion of Jerome, who quotes it from an +ancient tradition of the Jews, that _Baal Pheor_ is the _Priapus_ of the +Greeks and Romans; and if you look into the vulgar latin (1 Kings xv. +13.) we shall find it thus rendered, _and Asa, the King removed_ Maacha, +_his mother from being queen, that she might no longer be high Priestess +in the sacrifices of Priapus_. And he destroyed the grove she had +consecrated, and broke the most filthy idol, and burnt it at the brook +_Kedron_. Dr. Cumberland inserts, that the import of the word _Peor_, or +_Baal Pheor_, is he that shews boastingly or publicly, his nakedness. +Women to avoid barrenness, were to sit on this filthy image, as the +source of fruitfulness; for which Lactantius and Augustine justly deride +the heathens. + +[26] There was an awful mysteriousness in the original Druid sacrifice. +Descanting upon the human sacrifices of various countries, Mr. Bryant +informs us, that among the nations of Canaan, _the_ victims _were chosen +in a peculiar manner_; their own children, and whatsoever was nearest +and dearest to them, were thought the most worthy offerings to their +gods! The Carthagenians, who were a colony from Tyre, carried with them +the religion of their mother country and instituted the same worship in +the parts where they were seated. Parents offered up their own children +as dearest to themselves, and therefore the more acceptable to the +deity: they sacrificed "the fruit of their body for the sin of their +soul," The Druids, no doubt, were actuated with the same views. + +[27] There is no sort of doubt that _Baal_ and _Fire_ were principal +objects of the ceremonies and adoration of the Druids. The principal +season of these, and of their feasts in honour of Baal, was new year's +day, when the sun began visibly to return towards us; the custom is not +yet at an end, the country people still burning out the old year and +welcoming in the new by fires lighted on the top of hills, and other +high places. The next season was the month of May, when the fruits of +the earth began, in the Eastern countries, to be gathered, and the first +fruits of them consecrated to Baal, or to the _Sun_, whose benign +influence had ripened them; and one is almost persuaded that the dance +round the May pole, in that month, is a faint image of the rites +observed on such occasions. The next great festival was on the 21st of +June, when the sun, being in Cancer, first appears to go backwards and +leave us. On this occasion the Baalim used to call the people together, +and to light fires on high places, and to cause their sons, and their +daughters, and their cattle to pass through the fire, calling upon Baal +to bless them, and not forsake them. + +[28] In Devonshire and Cornwall it is still considered ominous if a hare +crosses a person on the road. + +[29] See _Carew's Survey of Cornwall_, p. 22. Mr. Carew had a stone-ring +of this kind in his possession, and the person who gave it to him +avowed, that "he himself saw a part of the stick sticking in it,"--but +"_Penes authorem sit fides_," says Mr. Carew. + +[30] The same superstition still exists in Devonshire. + +[31] See account of Druidism in Polewhele's Historical Views of +Devonshire, vol. 1. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +AESCULAPIAN MYSTERIES, &C. + +Apollo is said to have been one of the most gentle, and at the same +time, as may be inferred from his numerous issue, one of the most +gallant of the heathen deities. The first and most noted of his sons was +Aesculapius, whom he had by the nymph Coronis. Some say that Apollo, on +account of her infidelity, shot his mother when big with child with him; +but repenting the fact, saved the infant, and gave him to Chiron to be +instructed in physic.[32] Others report, that as King Phlegyas, her +father was carrying her with him into Peloponnesus, her pains surprised +her on the confines of Epidauria where, to conceal her shame, she +exposed the infant on a mountain. The _truth_, however is, that this +Aesculapius was a poor infant cast away, a dropt child, laid in a wood +near Epidaurus, by his unnatural parents, who were afterwards ashamed to +own him; he was shortly afterwards found by some huntsmen, who, seeing a +lighted flame or glory surrounding his head, looked upon it as a +prognostic of the child's future glory. The infant was delivered by them +to a nurse named Trigo, but the poets say he was suckled by a goat. He +studied physic under Chiron the centaur, by whose care he made such +progress in the medical art, as gained him so high a reputation that he +was even reported to have raised the dead. His first cures were wrought +upon Ascles, King of Epidaurus, and Aunes, King of Daunia, which last +was troubled with sore eyes. In short, his success was so great, that +Pluto, seeing the number of his ghosts daily decrease, complained to +Jupiter, who killed him with his thunderbolts. Such was his proficiency +in medical skill, that he was generally esteemed the god of physic. + +In the city of Tetrapolis, which belonged to the Ionians, Aesculapius +had a temple full of rare cures, dedicated to him by those who ascribed +their recovery to him; and its walls were covered and hung with +memorials of the miracles he had performed. + +Cicero reckons up three of the names of Aesculapius. The first the son +of Apollo, worshipped in Arcadia, who invented the probe and bandages +for wounds; the second the brother of Mercury, killed by lightning; and +the third the son of Arsippus Arsione, who first taught the art of +tooth-drawing and purging. Others make Aesculapius an Egyptian, King of +Memphis, antecedent by a thousand years to the Aesculapius of the +Greeks. The Romans numbered him among the Dii Adcititii, of such as were +raised to heaven by their merit, as Hercules, Castor and Pollux. The +Greeks received their knowledge of Aesculapius from the Phoenicians and +Egyptians. His chief temples were at Pergamus, Smyrna, and Trica, a city +of Ionia, and the isle of Coos, or Cos; in which all votive tablets were +hung up,[33] shewing the diseases cured by his assistance: but his most +famous shrine was at Epidaurus, where every five years in the spring, +solemn games were instituted to him nine days after the Isthmian games +at Corinth. + +It was by accident that the Romans became acquainted with Aesculapius. A +plague happened in Italy, the oracle was consulted, and the reply was +that they should fetch the god Esculapius from Epidaurus. An embassy was +appointed of ten senators, at the head of whom was Q. Ogulnius. These +deputies, on their arrival, visiting the temple of the god, a huge +serpent came from under the altar, and crossing the city, went directly +to their ship, and lay down in the cabin of Ogulnius;[34] upon which they +set sail immediately, and arriving in the Tiber, the serpent quitted the +ship, and retired to a little island opposite to the city, where a +temple was erected to the god, and the pestilence ceased. + +The animals sacrificed to Aesculapius were the goat; some say on +account of his having been nursed by this animal; others because this +creature is unhealthy, as labouring under a perpetual fever. The dog and +the cock were sacrificed to him, on account of their fidelity and +vigilance; the raven was also devoted to him for its forecast, and being +skilled in divination. Authors are not agreed as to his being the +inventor of physic, some affirming he perfected that part only which +relates to the regimen of the sick. + +The origin of this fable is as follows:--the public sign or symbol +exposed by the Egyptians in their assemblies, to warn the people to mark +the depth of the inundation of the Nile, in order to regulate their +ploughing accordingly, was the figure of a man with a dog's head, +carrying a pole with serpents twisted round it, to which they gave the +name of Anubis,[35] Thaaut,[36] and Aesculapius.[37] In process of time, +they made use of this representation for a real king, who by the study +of physic, sought the preservation of his subjects. Thus the dog and the +serpents became the characteristics of Aesculapius amongst the Romans +and Greeks, who were entirely strangers to the original meaning of these +hieroglyphics. + +Aesculapius was represented as an old man, with a long beard, crowned +with a branch of bay tree; in his hands was a staff full of knots, about +which a serpent had twisted itself: at his feet stood an owl or a +dog--characteristics of the qualities of a good physician, who must be +as cunning as a serpent, as vigilant as a dog, as cunning and +experienced as an old bashaw, to handle a thing so difficult as physic. +At Epidaurus his statue was of gold and ivory,[38] seated on a throne of +the same materials, with a long beard, having a knotty stick in one +hand, the other entwined with a serpent, and a dog lying at his feet. +The Phliasians depicted him as beardless, and the Romans crowned him +with a laurel, to denote his descent from Apollo. The knots in his staff +signify the difficulties that occur in the study of medicine. He had by +his wife Epione two sons, Machaon and Podalirius, both skilled in +surgery, and who are mentioned by Homer as having been present at the +siege of Troy, and who were very serviceable to the Greeks. He had also +two daughters, called Hygiaea and Jaso. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[32] Ovid, who relates the story of Coronis in his fanciful way, tells +us that Corvus, or the raven, who discovered her armour, had by Apollo, +his feathers changed from _black_ to _white_. + +[33] From these tablets, or votive inscriptions, Hippocrates is said to +have collected his aphorisms. + +[34] The Romans who sent for Aesculapius from Epidaurus, when their city +was troubled with the plague, say, that the serpent that was worshipped +there for him followed the ambassadors of its own accord to the ship +that transported it to Rome, where it was placed in a temple built in +the isle called Tiberina. In this temple the sick people were wont to +lie, and when they found themselves no better, they reviled Aesculapius: +so impatiently ungrateful and peevish were often the afflicted, that +they made no scruple to reproach the very god who administered to their +maladies. + +[35] From Hannobeach, which, in the Phoenician language, signifies the +_barker_, or _warner_, Anubis. + +[36] This word signifies the dog. + +[37] From _Aeish_, man, and _caleph_, dog, comes _Aescaleph_, the +man-dog, or Aesculapius. + +[38] This image was the work of Thrasymedes, the son of Arignotus, a +native of Paros. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +INFERIOR DEITIES ATTENDING MANKIND PROM THEIR BIRTH TO THEIR DECEASE. + +It would be almost an endless task to enter into a detail of all the +inferior deities of the Greeks and Romans; our object being to refer to +such only as preside over the health of the human race, every part and +parcel of whom had their presiding genius.--During pregnancy, the +tutelar powers were the god Pelumnus,[39] and the goddesses +Intercedonia,[40] and Deverra.[41] The import of these words seems to +point out the necessity of warmth and cleanliness to ladies in this +condition. + +Besides the superior goddesses Jemo-Lucien, Diana Hythia, and Latona, +who all presided at the birth, there were the goddesses Egeria,[42] +Prosa,[43] and Manageneta,[44] who with the Dii Nixii,[45] had all the care +of women in labour. + +To children, Janus performed the office of door-keeper or midwife; and +in this quality was assisted by the goddess Opis or Ops;[46] Cuma rocked +the cradle, while Carmenta sung their destiny; Levana lifted them up +from the ground;[47] and Vegetanus took care of them when they cried; +Rumina[48] watched them while they suckled; Polina furnished them with +drink; and Edura with food or nourishment; Osslago knit their bones; and +Carna[49] strengthened their constitutions. Nudina[50] was the goddess of +children's purification; Stilinus or Statanus instructed them to walk, +and kept them from falling; Fabulina learnt them to prattle; the goddess +Paventia preserved them from frights;[51] and Camaena taught them to +sing. + +Nor was the infant, when grown to riper years, left without his +protectors; Juventas was the god of youth; Agenoria excited men to +action; and the goddesses Stimula and Strenua inspired courage and +vivacity; Horta[52] inspired the fame or love of glory; and Sentra gave +them the sentiments of probity and justice; Quies was the goddesses of +repose or ease,[53] and Indolena, or laziness, was deified by the name of +Murcia;[54] Vacua protected the idle; Adeona and Abeona, secured people +in going abroad and returning;[55] and Vibilia, if they wandered, was so +kind as to put them in the right way; Fessonia refreshed the weary and +fatigued; and Meditrina healed the sickly;[56] Vitula was the goddess of +mirth and frolic;[57] Volupia the goddess who bestowed pleasure;[58] +Orbona was addressed, that parents might not love their offspring; +Pellonia averted mischief and danger; and Numeria taught people to cast +and keep accounts; Angerona cured the anguish or sorrow of the mind;[59] +Haeres Martia secured heirs the estates they expected; and Stata or +Statua Mater, secured the forum or market place from fire; even the +thieves had a protectress in Laverna;[60] Averruncus prevented sudden +misfortunes; and Conius was always disposed to give good advice to such +as wanted it; Volumnus inspired men with a disposition to do well; and +Honorus raised them to preferment and honours. + +Nor was the marriage state without its peculiar defenders. Five deities +were esteemed so necessary, that no marriages were solemnized without +asking their favours; these were Jupiter-Perfectus, or the Adult, Juno, +Venus, Suadela,[61] and Diana. Jugatinus tied the nuptial knot; Domiducus +ushered the bride home; Domitius took care to keep her there, and +prevent her gadding abroad; Maturna preserved the conjugal union entire; +Virginensis[62] loosed the bridle zone or girdle; Viriplaca was a +propitious goddess, ready to reconcile the married couple in case of any +accidental difference. Matuta was the patroness of matrons, no maid +being suffered to enter her temple. The married was always held to be +the only honourable state for woman, during the times of pagan +antiquity. The goddess Vacuna,[63] is mentioned by Horace (Lib. 1. Epist. +X. 49.) as having her temple at Rome; the rustics celebrated her +festival in December, after the harvest was got in (Ovid. Fast. Lib. +XI). + +The ancients assigned the particular parts of the body to particular +deities; the head was sacred to Jupiter; the breast to Neptune; the +waist to Mars; the forehead to Genius; the eye-brows to Juno, the eyes +to Cupid; the ears to Memory; the right hand to Fides or Veritas; the +back to Pluto; the knees to Misericordia or mercy; the legs to Mercury; +the feet to Thetis; and the fingers to Minerva.[64] + +The goddess who presided over funerals was Libitina,[65] whose temple at +Rome, the undertakers furnished with all the necessaries for the +interment of the poor or rich; all dead bodies were carried through the +Porto Libitina; and the Rationes Libitinae mentioned by Suetonius, very +nearly answer to our bills of mortality. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[39] Either from _pilum_, a pestle; or from _pello_, to drive away; +because he procured a safe delivery. + +[40] She taught the art of cutting wood with a hatchet to make fires. + +[41] The inventress of brooms. + +[42] From casting out the birth. + +[43] Aulus Gellius. + +[44] Aelian. + +[45] From _erritor_, to struggle. See Ausonius, Idyll 12. + +[46] Some make her the same with Rhea or Vesta. + +[47] Among the Romans the midwife always laid the child on the ground, +and the father or somebody appointed, lifted it up; hence the expression +of _tollere liberos_, to educate children. + +[48] This goddess had a temple at Rome, and her offerings were milk. + +[49] On the Kalends of June, sacrifices were offered to Carna, of bacon +and bean flour cakes; whence they were called Fabariae. + +[50] Boys were named always on the ninth day after the birth, and girls +on the eighth. + +[51] From Pavorema vertendo. + +[52] She had a temple at Home which always stood open. + +[53] She had a temple without the walls. + +[54] Murcia had her temple on Mount Aventine. + +[55] From _abeo_, to go away; and _adeo_, to come. + +[56] The festival of this goddess was in September, when the Romans +drank new wine mixed with old, by way of physic. + +[57] From _vitulo_, to leap or advance. + +[58] From _voluptas_, pleasure. + +[59] In a great murrain which destroyed their cattle, the Romans invoked +this goddess, and she removed the plague. + +[60] The image was a head without a body. Horace mentions her (Lib. 1. +Epist. XVI. 60). She had a temple without the walls, which gave the name +to the Porta Lavernalis. + +[61] The goddess of eloquence, or persuasion, who had always a great +hand in the success of courtship. + +[62] She was also called Cinxia Juno. + +[63] She was an old Sabine deity. Some make her the same with Ceres; but +Varro imagines her to be the goddess of victory. + +[64] From this distribution arose, perhaps, the scheme of our modern +astrologers, who assign the different parts of the body to the different +constellations, or signs of Zodiac: as the head to Aries, the neck to +Taurus, the shoulders to Gemini, the heart to Cancer, the breast to Leo, +and so on. The pretended issues of astrology have been always +inseparable from stellar influence, and the zodiac has ever been the +fruitful source of its solemn delusions. + +[65] Some confound this goddess with Proserpine, others with Venus. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +JUDICIAL ASTROLOGY--ITS CHEMICAL APPLICATION TO THE PROLONGATION OF LIFE +AND HEALTH--ALCHYMICAL DELUSIONS. + +The study of astrology, so flattering to human curiosity got into favour +with mankind at a very early period,--especially with the weak and +ignorant. The first account, of it we meet with is in Chaldea; and at +Rome it was known by the name of the "Babylonish calculation," against +which Horace very wisely cautioned his readers.[66] It was doubtless the +first method of divination, and probably prepared the mind of man for +all the various methods since employed of searching into futurity; a +brief view therefore of the rise of this pretended science cannot he +improper in this place, especially as the history of these absurdities +is the best method of confuting them. Others have ascribed the invention +of this deception to the Arabs;--be this as it may, Judicial +Astrology[67] has been too much used by the priests and physicians of all +nations to encrease their own power and emolument. They maintain that +the heavens are one great book, in which God has written the history of +the world; and in which every man may read his own fortune and the +transactions of his time. In this department of astrology (judicial) we +meet with all the idle conceits about the horary reign of planets, the +_doctrine of horoscopes, the distribution of the houses, the calculation +of nativities, fortunes, lucky and unlucky_ hours, and other ominous +fatalities. They assert that it had its rise from the same hands as +astronomy itself;--that while the ancient Assyrians, whose serene +unclouded sky favoured their celestial, observations, were intent on +tracing the paths and periods of the heavenly bodies, they discovered a +constant settled relation or analogy between them and things below; +hence they were led to conclude these to be the fates or destinies +(Parcae) so much talked of, which preside at our birth, and dispose of +our future state. + +The Egyptians, who derived their astrological superstitions from the +Chaldeans, becoming ignorant of the astronomical hieroglyphics, by +degrees looked upon the names of the signs as expressing certain powers +with which they were invested, and as indications of their several +offices. The sun, on account of its splendour and enlivening influence, +was imagined to be the great mover of nature; the moon held the second +rank of powers, and each sign and constellation a certain share in the +government of the world. The ram, (Aries [symbol: Aries]) had a strong +influence over the young of the flocks and herds; the balance, (Libra +[symbol: Libra]) could inspire nothing but inclinations to good order +and justice; and the scorpion, (Scorpio [symbol: Scorpio]) to excite +only evil dispositions. In short, each sign produced the good or evil +intimated by its name. + +Thus, if a child happened to be born at the instant when the first star +of the ram rose above the horizon, (when, in order to give this nonsense +the air of a science, the star was supposed to have its greatest +influence,) he would be rich in cattle; and he who should enter the +world under the crab, would meet with nothing but disappointments, and +all his affairs go backwards and downwards. The people were to be happy +whose king entered the world under the sign Libra; but completely +wretched if he should light under the horrid sign scorpion. Persons born +under capricorn ([symbol: Capricorn]) especially if the sun at the same +time ascended the horizon, were sure to meet with success, and rise +upwards like the wild goat and the sun which then ascends for six months +together. The lion, (Leo [symbol: Leo]) was to produce heroes; and the +virgin (Virgo [symbol: Virgo]) with her ear of corn to inspire chastity, +and to unite virtue with abundance. Could anything he more extravagant +and ridiculous! + +The case was exactly the same with respect to the planets, whose +influence is only founded on the wild supposition of their being the +habitations of the pretended deities, whose names they bear, and the +fabulous characters the poets have given them. Thus, to Saturn, [symbol: +Saturn], they gave languid and even destructive influences, for no other +reason but because they had been pleased to make this planet the +residence of Saturn, who was painted with grey hairs and a scythe. To +Jupiter [symbol: Jupiter] they gave the power of bestowing crowns and +distributing long life, wealth, and grandeur, merely because it bears +the name of the father of life. Mars [symbol: Mars] was supposed to +inspire a strong inclination for war, because it was believed to be the +residence of the god of war. Venus [symbol: Venus] had the power of +rendering men voluptuous and fond of pleasure, because they had been +pleased to give it the name of one who by some was thought to be the +mother of pleasure. Mercury [symbol: Mercury], though almost always +invisible, would never have been thought to superintend the property of +states, and the affairs of wit and commerce, had not men, without the +least reason, given it the name of one who was supposed to be the +inventor of civil polity. + +According to Astrologers, the power of the ascending planet is greatly +increased by that of an ascending sign; then the benign influences are +all united, and fall together on the head of all the happy infants who +at that moment enter the world; yet can anything be more contrary to +experience, which shews us, that the characters and events produced by +persons born under the same aspect of the stars, are so far from being +alike, that they are directly opposite. + +"What completes the ridicule," says the Abbe La Pluche, to whom we are +obliged for these judicious observations, "is, that what astronomers +call the first degree of the ram, the balance, or of sagitarius, is no +longer the first sign, which gives fruitfulness to the flocks, inspires +men with a love of justice, or forms the hero. It has been found that +all the celestial signs have, by degrees, receded from the vernal +equinox, and drawn back to the East: notwithstanding this, the point of +the zodiac that cuts the equator is still called the first degree of the +ram, though the first star of the ram be thirty degrees beyond it, and +all the other signs in the same proportion. When, therefore, any one is +said to be born under the first degree of the ram, it was in reality one +of the degrees of pisces that then came above the horizon: and when +another is said to be born with a royal soul and heroic disposition, +because at his birth the planet Jupiter ascended the horizon, in +conjunction with the first star of sagitary, Jupiter was indeed at that +time in conjunction with a star thirty degrees eastward of sagitary, and +in good truth it was the pernicious scorpion that presided at the birth +of this happy, this incomparable child." And so it would, as Shakspeare +says, "if my mother's cat had kittened. This," says our sagacious bard, +"is the excellent foppery of the world, that when we are sick in +fortune, (after the surfeit of our own behaviour) we make guilt of our +disasters, the sun, the moon, and the stars; as if we were villains by +necessity; fools, by heavenly compulsion; knaves, thieves, and +treachers, (traitors) by spherical predominance; drunkards, liars, and +adulterers, by an enforced obedience of planetary influence; and all +that we are evil in by a divine thrusting on; an admirable evasion of a +whoremaster to lay his goatish tricks to the charge of a star! My father +compounded with my mother under the dragon's tail; and my nativity was +under _Ursa major_; so that it follows I am rough and treacherous.--Tut! +I should have been that I am, had the maidenliest star in the firmament +twinkled at my bastardizing." Thus it is evident, that astrology is +built upon no principles, that it is founded on fables, and on +influences void of reality. Yet absurd as it is, and even was, it +obtained credit; and the more it spread, the greater injury was done to +the cause of virtue. Instead of the exercise of prudence and wise +precautions, it substituted superstitious forms and childish practices; +it enervated the courage of the brave by apprehensions grounded on puns, +and encouraged the wicked, by making them lay to the charge of a planet +those evils which only proceeded from their own depravity. + +But not content with such absurdities, which destroyed the very idea of +liberty, they asserted that these stars, which had not the least +connection with mankind, governed all the parts of the human body, and +ridiculously affirmed that the ram presided over the head, the bull over +the gullet, the twins over the breast, the scorpion over the entrails, +the fishes over the feet, etc. The juggles of astrology have been +admirably ridiculed by Butler in the following lines: + + Some by the nose with fumes trepan 'em, + As Dunstan did the devil's grannam; + Others, with characters and words, + Catch 'em, as men in nets do birds; + And some with symbols, signs, and tricks, + Engrav'd in planetary nicks, + With their own influence will fetch 'em + Down from their orbs, arrest and catch 'em; + Make 'em depose and answer to + All questions, ere they let them go. + Bombastus kept a devil's bird + Shut in the pummel of his sword, + And taught him all the cunning pranks + Of past and future mountebanks. + _Hudibras_, part ii. canto 3. + +By means of the zodiac, astrologers pretended to account for the various +disorders of the body, which were supposed to be in a good or had +disposition, according to the different aspects[68] of these signs. To +mention only one instance, they pretended that great caution ought to be +used in taking medicine under Taurus, or the bull; because, as this +animal chews his cud, the person would not be able to keep it in his +stomach. + +Each hour of the day had also its presiding star. The number seven, as +being that of the planets, became of mighty consequence. The seven days +in the week,--a period of time handed down by tradition, happened to +correspond with the number of the planets: and therefore they gave the +name of a planet to each day; and from thence some days in the week were +considered more fortunate or unlucky than the rest; and hence seven +times seven, called the climacterical period of hours, days, or years, +were thought extremely dangerous, and to have a surprising effect on +private persons, the fortunes of princes, and the government of states. +Thus the mind of man became distressed by imaginary evils, and the +approach of these moments, in themselves as harmless as the rest of +their lives, has by the strength of the imagination, brought on the most +fatal effects. + +Nay, the influence of the planets were extended to the bowels of the +earth, where they were supposed to produce metals. From hence it appears +that when superstition and folly are once on foot, there is no setting +hounds to their progress. Gold, as a matter of course, must be the +production of the sun, and the conformity in point of colour, +brightness, and value, was a sensible proof of it. By the same mode of +reasoning, the moon produced all the silver, to which it was related by +colour; Mars, all the iron, which ought to be the favourite metal of the +god of war. Venus presided over copper, which she might be well supposed +to produce, since it was found in abundance in the isle of Cyprus, the +supposed favourite residence of this goddess. In the same strain, the +other planets presided over the other metals. The languid Saturn +domineered over the lead mines, and Mercury, on account of his activity, +had the superintendency of quicksilver; while it was the province of +Jupiter to preside over tin, as this was the only metal left him, it +would appear, a kind of "Hobson's choice." + +This will explain the manner in which the metals obtained the names of +the planets; and from this opinion, that each planet engendered its own +peculiar metal, they at length formed an idea that, as one planet was +more powerful than another, the metal produced by the weakest was +converted into another by the predominating influence of a stronger orb. + +Lead, though really a metal, and as perfect in its kind as any of the +rest, was considered only half a metal, which, in consequence of the +languid influences of old Saturn, was left imperfect; and, therefore, +under the auspices of Jupiter, it was converted into tin; under that of +Venus, into copper: and at last into gold, under some particular aspects +of the sun. From hence, at length, arose the extravagant opinion of the +alchymists, who, with amazing sagacity, endeavoured to find out means +for hastening these changes or transmutations, which, as they conceived, +the planets performed too slowly. The world, however, became at length +convinced that the art of the alchymist was as ineffectual as the +influences of the planets, which, in a long succession of ages, had +never been known to change a mine of lead to that of tin or any other +metal.[69] + +The first author we are acquainted with who talks of making gold by the +transmutation of one metal, by means of an alcahest[70] into another, is +Zozimus the Pomopolite, who lived about the commencement of the fifth +century, and who has a treatise express upon it, called, "The divine art +of making gold and silver," in manuscript, and is, as formerly, in the +library of the King of France. + +As regards the universal medicine, said to depend on alchemical +research, we discover no earlier or plainer traces than in this author, +and in Aeneas Gazeus, another Greek writer, towards the close of the +same century;[71] nor among the physicians and materialists, from Moses +to Geber the Arab,[72] who is supposed to have lived in the seventh +century. In that author's work, entitled the "Philosopher's stone," +mention is made of medicine that cures all leprous diseases. This +passage, some authors suppose, to have given the first hint of the +matter, though Geber himself, perhaps, meant no such thing; for, by +attending to the Arabic style and diction of this author, which abounds +in allegory, it is highly probable that by man he means gold, and by +leprous, or other diseases, the other metals, which, with relation to +gold, are all impure. + +The origin and antiquity of alchymy have been much controverted. If any +credit may be placed on legend and tradition, it must be as old as the +flood--nay, Adam himself is represented to have been an alchymist. A +great part, not only of the heathen mythology, but of the Jewish +Scriptures, are supposed to refer to it. Thus, Suidas[73] will have the +fable of the philosopher's stone to be alluded to in the fable of the +Argonauts; and others find it in the book of Moses, as well as in other +remote places. But, if the era of the art be examined by the test of +history, it will lose much of its fancied antiquity. The manner in which +Suidas accounts for the total silence of alchymy among the old writers +is, that Dioclesian procured all the books of the ancient Egyptians to +be burnt; and that it was in these the great mysteries of chemistry were +contained.[74] Kercher asserts, that the theory of the philosopher's +stone is delivered at large in the table of Hermes, and the ancient +Egyptians were not ignorant of the art, but declined to prosecute it. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[66] + +------ nec Babylonios Tentaris numeros.--Lib, 1. ad XI. + +That is, consult not the tables of planetary calculations used by +astrologers of Babylonish origin. + +[67] This conjectural science is divided into natural and judicial. The +first is confined to the study of exploring natural effects, as change +of weather, winds and storms--hurricanes, thunder, floods, earthquakes, +and the like. In this sense it is admitted to be a part of natural +philosophy. It was under this view that Mr. Good, Mr. Boyle, and Dr. +Mead pleaded for its use. The first endeavours to account for the +diversity of seasons from the situations, habitudes, and motions of the +planets; and to explain an infinity of phenomena by the contemplation of +the stars. The honourable Mr. Boyle admitted, that all physical bodies +are influenced by the heavenly bodies; and the doctor's opinion, in his +treatise concerning the power of the sun and moon, etc. is in favour of +the doctrine. But these predictions and influence are ridiculed, and +entirely exploded by the most esteemed modern philosophers, of which the +reader may have a learned specimen in Rohault's Tract. Physic. pt. II. c +27. + +[68] By aspect is to be understood an angle formed by the rays of two +planets meeting on the earth, able to execute some natural power or +influence. + +[69] Those who wish to read a curious monument of the follies of the +alchymists, may consult the diary of Elias Ashmole, who is rather the +historian of this vain science, than an adept. It may amuse literary +leisure to turn over his quarto volume, in which he has collected the +works of several English alchymists, to which he has subjoined his +commentary. It affords curious specimens of Rosicrucian mysteries; and +he relates stories, which vie for the miraculous, with the wildest +fancies of Arabian invention. + +[70] Alcahest, in chemistry, (an obsolete term,) means a most pure and +universal menstruum or dissolvent, with which some chemists have +pretended to resolve all bodies into their first elements, and perform +other extraordinary and unaccountable operations. + +[71] In this writer we find the following passage: "Such as are skilled +in the ways of nature, can take; silver and tin, and changing their +nature, can turn them into gold." He also tells us that he was "wont to +call himself a _gold-melter_ and a _chemist_." + +[72] The principal Authors on alchymy are Geber, the Arab, Friar Bacon, +Sully, John and Isaac Hallendus, Basil Valentine, Paracelsus, Van +Zuchter, and Sendirogius. + +[73] Corringius calls this statement in question, and asks how Suidas, +who lived but five hundred yours between them, should know what happened +eight hundred years before him? To which Borrichius the Dane, answers, +that he had learnt it of Eudemus, Helladius, Zozimus, Pamphilius, and +others, as Suidas himself relates. + +[74] It does not appear that the Egyptians transmuted gold; they had +ways of separating it from all kinds of bodies, from the very mud of the +Nile, and stones of all kinds: but, adds Kercher, these secrets were +never written down, or made public, but confined to the royal family, +and handed down traditionally from father to son. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +ALCHYMICAL AND ASTROLOGICAL CHIMERA. + +Having so far explained the fragile basis on which human knowledge may +be said to have depended, during the obscurity and barbarity of the +middle ages, when the progress of true knowledge was obstructed by the +most absurd fancies, and puerile conceits: when conjectures, caprices, +and dreams supplied the place of the most useful sciences, and of the +most important truths, the subsequent illustrative reflections may serve +as a guide to direct the attention of the reader to other delusions, +which arose out of the general chaos. + +Chemistry, a science so essentially requisite to explain the phenomena +of known and unknown substances, was studied chiefly by jugglers and +fanatics;--their systems, replete with metaphysical nonsense, and +composed of the most crude and heterogeneous materials, served rather to +nourish superstition than to establish facts, and illustrate useful +truths. Universal remedies, in various forms, met with strenuous +advocates and deluded consumers. The path of accurate observation and +experiment was forsaken: instead of penetrating into the mysterious +recesses of nature, they bewildered themselves in the labyrinth of +fanciful speculation; they overstepped the bounds of good sense, +modesty, and truth; and the blind led the blind. The prolongation of +life too was no longer sought for in a manner agreeable to the dictates +of nature; even this interesting branch of human pursuits was rendered +subservient to chemistry, or rather to the confused system of alchymy. +Original matter was considered as the elementary cause of all beings, by +which they expected literally to work miracles, to transmute the base +into noble metals, to metamorphose man in his animal state by chemical +processes, to render him more durable, and to secure him against early +decline and dissolution. Millions of vessels, retorts, and phials, were +either exposed to the action of the most violent artificial heat, or to +the natural warmth of the sun; or else they were buried in some dunghill +or other fetid mass, for the purpose of attracting this _original +matter_, or obtaining it from putrescible substances. + +As the metal called gold always bore the highest value, these crude +philosophers concluded, from a ridiculous analogy, that its value with +respect to the preservation of health and the cure of diseases, must +likewise surpass that of all other remedies. The nugatory art of +dissolving it, so as to render it potable, and to prevent it from again +being converted into metal, employed a multitude of busy idiots, not +only in concealed corners, but in the splendid laboratories of the +great. Sovereigns, magistrates, counsellors, and impostors, struck with +the common frenzy, entered into friendship and alliance, formed private +fraternities, and sometimes proceeded to such a pitch of extravagance, +as to involve themselves and their posterity in ruinous debts. The real +object of many was, doubtless, to gratify their avarice and desire of +aggrandisement: although this sinister motive was concealed under the +specious pretext of searching for a remedy that should serve as a +tincture of life, both for the healthy and diseased, yet some among +these whimsical mortals were actuated by more honourable motives, +zealous only for the interest of truth, and the well-being of their +fellow creatures. + +The common people, in some countries, particularly Italy, Germany, and +France often denied themselves the common necessaries of life, to save +as much as would purchase a few drops of the tincture of gold, which was +offered for sale by some superstitious or fraudulent chemist: and so +thoroughly persuaded were they of the efficacy of this remedy, that it +afforded them in every instance the most confident and only hope of +recovery. These beneficial effects were positively promised, but were +looked for in vain. All subduing death would not submit to be bribed +with gold, and disease refused to hold any intercourse with that +powerful deity, who presides over the industry and commerce of all +nations. + +As, however, these diversified and almost numberless experiments were +frequently productive of useful inventions in arts and manufactures; +and, as many chemical remedies of real value were thereby accidentally +discovered, great and almost general attention to those bold projectors +was constantly kept alive and excited. Indeed, we are indebted to their +curious observations, or rather perhaps to chance, for several valuable +medicines, the excellence of which cannot be disputed, but which, +nevertheless, require more precaution in their use and application, and +more perspicuity and diligence in investigating their nature and +properties than the original preparers of such articles were able or +willing to afford. All their endeavours to prolong life, by artificial +means, could not be attended with beneficial effects; and the +application of the remedies thus contrived, must necessarily, in many +cases, have proved detrimental to the health of the patient. + +In proof of this assertion, it will be sufficient to give a slight +sketch of the different views and opinions of the gold-makers, +Rosicrucians, manufacturers of astralian salts, drops of life, and +tinctures of gold, hunters after the philosopher's stone, and other +equally absurd chimera. + +Some of these extravagant enthusiasts fancied that life resembled a +flame, from which the body derived warmth, spirit, and animation. They +endeavoured to cherish and increase the flame, and supplied the body +with materials to feed it, as we pour oil into a burning lamp. Others +imagined they had discovered something invisible and incorporeal in the +air, that important medium which supports the life of man. They +pretended to catch, refine, reduce, and materialize this indefinable +something, so that it might be swallowed in the form of powders, and +drops; that, by its penetrating powers, it might insinuate itself into +the whole animal frame, invigorate, and consequently qualify it for a +longer duration. + +Others again were foolish enough to indulge a notion that they could +divest themselves of the properties of matter during this life; that in +this manner they might be defended against the gradual approaches of +dissolution, to which every animal body is subject: and that thus +fortified, without quitting their terrestrial tabernacle, they could +associate at pleasure with the inhabitants of the spiritual world. The +sacred volume itself was interpreted and commented upon by alchymists, +with a view to render it subservient to their intended designs. +Indisputable historical facts, recorded in this invaluable book, were +treated by them as hieroglyphical symbols of chemical processes: and the +fundamental truths of the christian religion were applied, in a wanton +and blasphemous manner, to the purposes of making gold, and distilling +the elixir of life. + +The world of spirits was also invaded, and summoned, as it were, to +contribute to the prolongation of human life. Spirits were supposed to +have the dominion of air, fire, earth, and water; they were divided into +distinct classes, and particular services ascribed to each. The +malevolent spirits were opposed and counteracted by various means of +prevention: the good and tutelary were obliged to submit to n sort of +gentle, involuntary servitude. From invisible beings were expected and +demanded visible means of assistance--riches, health, friends, and long +life. Thus the poor spirits were profanely maltreated, nay, sometimes +severely punished, and even miserably flogged in effigy, when they +betrayed symptoms of disaffection, or want of implicit fealty. + +As men had thus, in their weakness and folly, forsaken the bounds of +this terrestrial sphere, it will easily be believed, that, with the help +of an exuberant imagination, they would make a transition to the higher +regions--to the celestial bodies and the stars to which, indeed, they +ascribed no less a power than that of deciding the destinies of men, and +which, consequently, must have had a considerable share in shortening or +prolonging the duration of human life--every nation or kingdom was +subjected to the dominion of its particular planet the time of whose +government was determined; and a number of ascendant powers were +fictitiously contrived, with a view to reduce, under its influence, +every thing which was produced and born under its administration. The +professors of astrology appeared as the confidents of these invisible +rulers, and the interpreters of their will; they were well versed in the +art of giving a respectable appearance to this usurped dignity. Provided +they could but ascertain the hour and minute of a person's birth, they +confidently took upon themselves to predict his mental capacities, +future vicissitudes of life, and the diseases he would be visited with, +together with the circumstances, the day and hour of his death.[75] + +Not only the common people, but persons of the highest rank and +stations, nay, even men the most distinguished for their rank and +abilities, did homage to those "gods of their idolatry," and lived in +continual dread of their occult powers. With anxious countenance and +attentive ears, they listened to the cantrip effusions of these +pretended oracles, which prognosticated the bright or gloomy days of +futurity. Even physicians were solicitous to qualify themselves for +appointments no less lucrative than respectable:--they forgot, over the +dazzling hoards of Mammon, that they are peculiarly and professedly the +pupils of nature.--The curious student in the universities found +everywhere public lecturers, who undertook to instruct him in the +profound arts of divination, chiromancy, and the _cabala_. + +Among other instances, the following anecdote is related of the noted +Thurneisen, who, in the seventeenth century, was invested, at Berlin, +with the respectable offices of printer to the court, bookseller, +almanack-maker, astrologer, chemist, and first physician. Messengers +daily arrived from the most respectable houses in Germany, Poland, +Hungary, Denmark, and even from England, for the purpose of consulting +him respecting the future fortunes[76] of their new-born infants, +acquainting him with the hour of the nativity, and soliciting his advice +and directions as to their management. Many volumes of this singular +correspondence are still preserved in the royal library at Berlin. The +business of this fortunate adept increased so rapidly, that he found it +necessary to employ a number of subaltern assistants, who, together with +their master, realized considerable fortunes. He died in high reputation +and favour with his superstitious contemporaries. + +The famous Melancthon was a believer in judicial astrology, and an +interpreter of dreams. Richelieu and Mazarin were so superstitious as to +employ and pension Morin, another pretender to astrology, who cast the +nativities of these two able politicians. Nor was Tacitus himself, who +generally appears superior to superstition, untainted with this folly, +as may be seen from his twenty-second chapter of the sixth book of his +Annals. + +In the time of the civil wars, astrology was in high repute. The +royalists and the rebels had their astrologers as well as their +soldiers; and the predictions of the former had a great influence over +the latter. When Charles the first was imprisoned, Lilly, the famous +astrologer, was consulted for the hour that should favour his escape; +and in Burnet's History of his own Times, there is a story which +strongly proves how much Charles II was bigotted to judicial astrology, +a man, though a king, whose mind was by no means unenlightened. The most +respectable characters of the age, Sir William Dugdale, Elias +Ashmole,[77] Dr. Grew, and others, were members of the astrological club. +Congreve's character of Foresight, in Love for Love, was then no +uncommon person, though the humour, now, is scarcely intelligible. +Dryden cast the nativities of his sons; and what is remarkable, his +prediction relating to his son Charles, was accomplished. The incident +being of so late a date, one might hope that it would have been cleared +up; but, if it be a fact, it must be allowed that it forms a rational +exultation for its irrational adepts. Astrologers were frequently, as +may easily be understood, put to their wit's end when their predictions +did not come to pass. Great winds were foretold, by one of the craft, +about the year 1586. No unusual storms, however, happened. Bodin, to +save the reputation of the art, applied it as a figure to some +revolutions in the state, of which there were instances enough at that +time. + +At the commencement of the 18th century, the _Illuminati_, a sect of +astrologers, had excited considerable sensation on the continent. +Blending philosophy with enthusiasm, and uniting to a knowledge of every +chemical process a profound acquaintance with astronomy, their influence +over the superstitious feelings of the people was prodigious; and in +many instances the infatuation was attended with fatal consequences. We +shall relate the following, as nearer home than many now before us. + + +THE HOROSCOPE, A TALE OF THE STARS. + +On the summit of St. Vincent's rocks, in the neighbourhood of Clifton, +looking on the Avon, as it rolls its lazy courses towards the Bristol +Channel, stands an edifice, known by the name of "Cooke's Folly." It +consists of a single round tower, and appears at a distance rather as +the remnant of some extensive building, than a complete and perfect +edifice, as it now exists. It was built more than two centuries ago, by +a man named Maurice Cooke; not, indeed, as a strong hold from the arms +of a mortal enemy, but as a refuge from the evils of destiny. He was the +proprietor of extensive estates in the neighbourhood; and while his lady +was pregnant with her first child, as she was one evening walking in +their domains, she encountered a strange looking gipsey, who, pestering +her for alms, received but a small sum. The man turned over the coin in +his hand, and implored a larger gift. "That," said the lady, "will buy +you food for the present." + +"Lady," said the gipsey, "it is not food for the wretched body that I +require; the herbs of the field, and the waters of the ditch, are good +enough for that. I asked your alms for higher purposes. Do not distrust +me, if my bearing be prouder than my garments; do not doubt the strength +of my sunken eye, when I tell you that I can read the skies as they +relate to the fate of men. Not more familiar is his hornbook to the +scholar, than are the heavens to my knowledge." + +"What, thou art an astrologer?"--"Aye, lady! my fathers were so before +me, even in the times when our people had a home amidst the pyramids of +the mighty--in the times when you are told the mightier prophets of the +Israelites put the soothsayers of Egypt to confusion; idle tales! but if +true, all reckless now. Judah's scattered sons are now desolate as +ourselves; but they bend and bow to the laws and ways of other land--we +remain in the stern stedfastness of our own." + +"If then," returned the lady, "I give thee more money, how will it be +applied?" + +"That is not a courteous question, but I will answer it. The most +cunning craftsman cannot work without his tools, and some of mine are +broken, which I seek to repair: another crown will be enough." + +The lady put the required sum into his hand, and at the same time +intimated a desire to have a specimen of his art. + +"Oh! to what purpose should that be? why, why seek to know the course +of futurity? destiny runs on in a sweeping and resistless tide. Enquire +not what rocks await your bark: the knowledge cannot avail you, for +caution is useless against stern necessity."--"Truly, you are not likely +to get rich by your trade, if you thus deter customers."--"It is not for +wealth I labour: I am alone on the earth, and have none to love. I will +not mix with the world lest I should learn to hate. This present is +nothing to me. It is in communion with the spirits who have lived in the +times that are past, and with the stars--those historians of the times +to come--that I feel aught of joy. Fools sometimes demand the exertions +of my powers, and sometimes I gratify their childish curiosity." +--"Notwithstanding I lie under the imputation of folly, I +will beg that you predict unto me the fate of the child which I shall +bear."--"Well, you have obliged me, and I will comply. Note the precious +moment at which it enters the world, and soon after you shall see me +again." + +Within a week the birth of an heir awoke the clamorous joy of the +vassals, and summoned the strange gipsey to ascertain the necessary +points. These learned, he returned home; and the next day presented Sir +Maurice with a scroll, containing the following lines: + + "Twenty times shall Avon's tide + In chains of glistening ice be tied-- + Twenty times the woods of Leigh + Shall wave their brunches merril + In spring burst forth in mantle gay, + And dance in summer's scorching ray: + Twenty times shall autumn's frown, + Wither all their green to brown-- + And still the child of yesterday + Shall laugh the happy hour away. + That period past, another sun + Shall not his annual journey run, + Before a secret silent foe, + Shall strike that boy a deadly blow. + Such, and sure his fate shall be: + Seek not to change his destiny." + +The knight read it; and in that age, when astrology was considered a +science as unerring as holy prophecies, it would have been little less +than infidelity to have doubted the truth of the prediction. Sir +Maurice, however, was wise enough to withhold the paper from his lady; +and in answer to her inquiries, continually asserted that the gipsey was +an impostor, and that the object of his assuming the character was +merely to increase her alms. + +The fated child grew in health and beauty; and as we are the most +usually the more strongly attached to pleasures in proportion to the +brevity of continuance, so did the melancholy fate of his son more +firmly fix him in the heart of Sir Maurice. Often did the wondering lady +observe the countenance of her husband with surprise, as watching the +endearing sportiveness of the boy, his countenance, at first brightened +by the smile of paternal love, gradually darkened to deepest grief, till +unable to suppress his tears, he would cover the child with caresses, +and rush from the room. To all inquiries, Sir Maurice was silent, or +returned evasive answers. + +We shall pass over the infancy of young Walter, and resume the narrative +at the period in which he entered into his twentieth year. His mother +was now dead, and had left two other children, both girls, who, however, +shared little of their father's love, which was almost exclusively fixed +on Walter, and appeared to encrease in strength as the fatal time grew +near. + +It is not to be supposed that he took no precaution against the +predicted event. Sometimes hope suggested that a mistake might have been +made in the horoscope, or that the astrologer might have overlooked some +sign which made the circumstance conditional; and in unison with the +latter idea he determined to erect a strong building, where, during the +year in which his doom was to be consumated, Walter might remain in +solitude. He accordingly gave directions for raising a single tower, +peculiarly formed to prevent ingress, except by permission of its +inhabitants. The purpose of this strange building, however, he kept +secret; and his neighbours, after numerous vain conjectures, gave it the +name of "Cooke's Folly." + +Walter, himself, was kept entirely ignorant of the subject, and all his +inquiries were answered with tears. At length the tower was completed, +and furnished with all things necessary for comfort and convenience; and +on the eve of Walter's completing his twentieth year, Sir Maurice shewed +him the gipsey's scroll, and begged him to make use of the retreat +prepared for him till the year expired. Walter at first treated the +matter lightly, laughed at the prophecy, and declared he would not lose +a year's liberty if all the astrologers in the world were to croak their +ridiculous prophecies against him. Seeing, however, his father so +earnestly bent on the matter, his resolution began to give way, and at +length he consented to the arrangement. At six the following morning, +therefore, Walter entered the tower, which he fastened within as +strongly as iron burs would admit, and which was secured outside in a +manner equally firm. He took possession of his voluntary prison with +melancholy feelings, rather occasioned by the loss of present pleasure, +than the fear of future pain. He sighed as he looked upon the wide +domain before him, and thought how sad would it be to hear the joyous +horn summoning his companions to the chase, and find himself prevented +from attending it--to hear the winter wind howling round his tower, and +rushing between the rocks beneath him, and miss the cheerful song and +merry jest, which were wont to make even the blast a pleasant sound. +Certainly his time passed as pleasantly as circumstances permitted. He +drew up in a basket, at his meal hours, every luxury which the season +produced. His father and sisters daily conversed with him from below, +for a considerable time; and the morris-dancers often raised his +laughter by their grotesque movements. + +Weeks and months thus passed, and Walter still was well and cheerful. +His own and his sisters' hopes grew more lively, but the anxiety of Sir +Maurice increased. The day drew near which was to restore his son to his +arms in confident security, or to fulfil the prediction which left him +without an heir to his name and honours. + +On the preceding afternoon Walter continually endeavoured to cheer his +parent, by speaking of what he would do on the morrow; desired his +sisters to send round to all their friends, that he might stretch his +limbs once more in the merry dance; and continued to talk of the future +with much confidence, that even Sir Maurice caught a spark of hope from +the fiery spirits of the youth. + +As the night drew on, and his sisters were about to leave him, promising +to wake him at six by a song, in answer to their usual inquiry if he +wanted anything more that night, "Nothing," said he, "and yet the night +feels chilly, and I have little fuel left--send me one more faggot." +This was sent him, and as he drew it up, "This," said he, "is the last +time I shall have to dip for my wants, like an old woman for water: +thank God! for it is wearisome work to the arm." + +Sir Maurice still lingered under the window in conversation with his +son, who at length complained of being cold and drowsy. "Mark," said he, +as he closed the window, "mark father, Mars, the star of my fate, looks +smilingly to-night, all will be well." Sir Maurice looked up--a dark +cloud spot suddenly crossed the planet, and he shuddered at the omen. +The anxious father could not leave the spot. Sleep he knew it was vain +to court, and he therefore determined to remain where he was. The +reflexions that occupied his mind continually varied: at one time he +painted to himself the proud career of his high spirited boy, known and +admired among the mighty of his time; a moment after he saw the +prediction verified, and the child of his love lying in the tomb. Who +can conceive his feelings as hour dragged after hour, while he walked to +and fro, watching the blaze of the fire in the tower, as it brightened +and sunk again--now pacing the court with hasty steps, and now praying +fervently for the preservation of his son? The hour came. The cathedral +bell struck heavy on the father's heart, which was not to be lightened +by the cheerful voices of his daughters, who came running full of hope +to the foot of the tower. They looked up, but Walter was not +there;--they called his name, he answered not. "Nay," said the youngest, +"this is only a jest; he thinks to frighten us, but I know he is safe." +A servant had brought a ladder, which he ascended, and he looked in at +the window. Sir Maurice stood immoveable and silent.--He looked up, and +the man answered the anxious expression of his eyes. "He is asleep," +said he. "He is dead!" murmured the father. + +The servant broke a pane of glass in the window, and opening the +casement, entered the room. The father, changing his gloomy stedfastness +for frenzied anxiety, rushed up the ladder. The servant had thrown aside +the curtains and the clothes, and displayed to the eyes of Sir Maurice, +his son lying dead, a serpent twined round his arm, and his throat +covered with blood. The reptile had crept up the faggot last sent him, +and fulfilled the _prophecy_. + +To this happy effort of the imagination in favour of prying into +futurity, may be added, with the same intention. + + +THE FATED PARRICIDE; AN ORIENTAL TALE OF THE STARS. + +Ibrahim was universally celebrated for his riches and magnificence. His +armies were formidable, his victories splendid, and his treasury +inexhaustible. He enjoyed, moreover, what was ten thousand times more +solid and more valuable than riches--the love and veneration of his +subjects; and he had a beautiful young wife, in whose endearing +tenderness alone he could find happiness--if happiness could be found on +earth. All these advantages entitled Ibrahim to the appellation of the +Solomon of his age; and yet Ibrahim was not happy. A son was wanting to +crown his felicity. In vain did a heart formed for all the charities of +the wedded state, endeavour to supply the refusal of nature, by the +adoption of a son; in vain did gratitude endeavour to deceive his heart, +by caresses which any other would have thought to be the natural +effusions of filial sensibility, of filial piety and affection; that +heart incessantly perceived a solitude within itself. Even the +consolatory visions of hope began to grow less frequent, when heaven at +last heard his prayers, Alas! in the very instant that Fortune gratifies +our fondest wishes, she often betrays us; and her smiles are a thousand +times more fatal than her frowns. The birth of the prince was +celebrated throughout the empire by the customary public demonstrations +of joy. The felicity of Ibrahim was complete. He was perpetually +revolving in his mind the sentiments and hopes which the nation would +form of the royal infant. Scarce was he born, when paternal solicitude +embraced, as it were, his whole life. Impatient to know his destiny, +that solicitude plunged into futurity, determined, if possible, to wrest +from time, the secrets of which he was the hoary-headed guardian. + +In Ibrahim's dominions were some sages particularly honoured with the +confidence of heaven. He commanded them to consult the stars, and to +report their answer. "Tremble," said the sages; "thou unfortunate +father, tremble! Never before have the skies presented such inauspicious +omens. Let him fly; let this son, too dear to you, fly; let him avoid, +if possible, the meeting with any savage beasts. His seventh year is the +fatal one; and if he should happen then, to escape the misfortune that +hangs over him, ah! do not wish him to live. His father, his very +father, will not be able to escape from the hand of a parricide." + +This answer threw the sultan into the deepest consternation. He did not +sink, however, into absolute despondency; his courage soon revived. He +determined to take all the precautions which paternal tenderness could +suggest, to defeat the prediction of the astrologers. He, therefore, +caused a kind of subterranean palace to be made on the summit of a lofty +mountain. The labour and expense of the excavation was prodigious. +Extensive walks were formed, with a variety of apartments, in which +every thing was provided that could contribute to the conveniences, and +even the luxuries of life. In this magnificent cavern, Ibrahim, as it +were, inhumed his son, together with his governess, of whose care, and +fidelity he had no doubt. Provisions were constantly carried thither at +stated periods. The king forgot not a single day to visit the mountain +that contained his beloved treasure, and to be satisfied of his safety +with his own eyes. With what delight did he behold the growing beauties +of his son! With what pleasure and rapture did he listen to his +sprightly saillies of wit, his smart repartees, and those pretty +_nothings_ which a father, in particular, is fond to recollect and to +repeat; at which the most rigid gravity may smile, and which are worth +all the understanding of riper years. He was perpetually counting the +hours and minutes that he had to spend with his son; and he incessantly +reproached himself, for not seeing him more frequently. + +Shah Abbas, for such was his name, at length reached his seventh year, +that fatal year, which Ibrahim would fain have delayed, even at the +expense of his crown. He would never leave his son a minute. But, alas! +is it possible to escape our destiny? Summoned one day to his palace by +affairs of the most pressing exigency, he left the mountain with extreme +reluctance. Never had Shah Abbas appeared wore amiable in his father's +eyes, never had Ibrahim appeared more affectionate to his son! Each was +tormented by an uneasy sensation, an unaccountable presentiment that +they were to meet there no more! + +Some robbers were hunting wild beasts: the ardour of the pursuit brought +them to this mountain. A lion that fled from them, perceived the +subterraneous passage, and took refuge in it. The robbers, who durst not +follow him, waited, however, for the sequel of this adventure. On a +sudden, they heard a violent scream, and presently all was silent. This +silence suggested to them, that the cavern now contained, not a living +creature, but the lion. They threw down a quantity of stones, which soon +put an end to the existence of the formidable animal. They then +descended into the cavern, securing themselves from all further danger +from the lion by cutting off his head. Wandering through every part of +this subterraneous palace, they were astonished at the prodigious riches +which they beheld. They perceived a slaughtered woman: this was the +prince's governess. By her side lay a child covered with blood, who +shewed, however, some signs of life. They examined his wounds: they +found not one of them dangerous. The captain of these banditti, after +stripping the cavern of its valuable contents, dressed the young +prince's wounds himself, and effected a cure. The growing qualities of +Shah Abbas endeared him to the chief, who adopted him as his son, and +distinguished him as such by all the tenderness of a paternal heart. + +Some years had elapsed since Ibrahim had first deplored the loss of a +son, who, having been constantly ignorant of the name and titles of his +father, had been unable to explain his origin to the robbers, was soon +to become their chief. Such were the unaccountable caprices of fortune, +which led to the completion of the prophecy, that had destined him to +become one day a parricide. Ibrahim was wont to divert his grief by the +pleasures of the chase; and this exercise soon became almost his only +occupation. One evening that he had strayed, with a very slender escort, +into the defiles of a very solitary mountain, a troop of robbers rushed +upon him. The combat for sometime was furious. An arrow pierced the +king; it excited the spirit of vengeance in his attendants, and they +fought, determined to conquer or die. They were soon victorious. The +murderer was taken, and conducted to the metropolis, that he might +undergo the punishment due to his crime. + +Ibrahim, on the bed of death, summoned the astrologers to attend him, +and thus addressed them: "I was to have perished, you told me, by the +hand of a son; but it is the hand of a robber that has inflicted the +blow."--"Sire," answered the sages, "forbear to seek an explanation. The +robber"... They proceed no further. The young robber appears, and +relates his history. Ibrahim, while he bowed in submission to God, and +adored His inscrutable decrees, blessed Him also for having restored his +son; and the tears which he saw flow from the eyes of Shah Abbas, were a +consolation in his dying moments. + + +APPLICATION OF ASTROLOGY TO THE PROLONGATION OF LIFE, &C. + +Astrology was also made subservient to the means of prolonging human +life; but how an art which determines the fate of mortals, and +ascertains the impassable limits of the grave, could consistently be +made subservient to such a purpose, we are rather at a loss to conceive, +unless accounted for as follows. The teachers of divination maintained, +that not only men, but all natural bodies, plants, animals, nay even +whole countries, including every place and family, were under the +government of some particular planet. As soon as the masters of the +occult science had discovered by their tables, under what constellation +the misfortune or distemper of any person originated, nothing farther +was required, than that he should remove to a dwelling ruled by an +opposite planet, and confine himself exclusively to such articles of +food and drink as were under the influence of a different star. In this +artificial manner they contrived to form a system, or peculiar +classification of planets, namely, Lunar, Solar, Mercurial and the +like--and hence arose a confused map of dictated rules, which, when +considered with reference to the purposes of health, cleanliness, +exercise etc. form remarkable contrasts to those of the Greeks. But this +preventive and repulsive method was not merely confined to persons who +suffered under some bodily disorder: even individuals, who enjoyed a +good state of health, if an unlucky constellation happened to forebode +a severe disease, or any other misfortune, were directed to choose a +place of residence influenced by a more friendly star--or to adopt such +aliment only, as being under the auspices of a propitious star, might +counteract the malignant influence of its antagonist. + +It was also pretty generally believed and maintained, that a sort of +intimate relation or sympathy subsisted between metals and plants: hence +the names of the latter were given to the former, in order to denote +this supposed connexion and affinity. The corresponding metals were +melted into a common mass, under a certain planet, and were formed into +small medals, or coins, with the firm persuasion, that he who carried +such a piece about his person, might confidently expect the whole favour +and protection of the planet, thus represented.[78] Thus we perceive how +easy the transition is from one degree of folly to another; and this may +help to account for the shocking delusions practised in the +manufacturing and wearing of metallic amulets of a peculiar mould, to +which were attributed, by a sort of magic influence, the power and +protection of the respective planet: these charms were thought to +possess virtue sufficient to overrule the bad effects presaged by an +unlucky hour of birth, to promote to places of honour and profit, and to +be of potent efficacy in matters of commerce and matrimony. The German +soldiers, in the dark and superstitious ages, believed that if the +figure of Mars, cast and engraved under the sign of the Scorpion, were +worn about the neck, it would render them invulnerable, and insure +success to their military enterprises--hence the reason why amulets were +then found upon every soldier, either killed in battle or taken +prisoner. + +We shall so far conclude these observations on the chimera of astrology +and medicine with the following remarks in the words of Chamber against +Knight's work,[79] which defends this fanciful science, if science it may +be called. "It demonstrates nothing while it defends every thing. It +confutes, according to Knight's own ideas: it alleges a few scattered +facts in favour of astrological productions, which may be picked up in +that immensity of fabling which disgraces history. He strenuously +denies, or ridicules, what the greatest writers have said of this +fanciful art, while he lays great stress on some passages from obscure +authors, or what is worse, from authors of no authority."--The most +pleasant part, however, is at the close where he defends the art from +the objections of Mr. Chamber by recrimination. Chamber had enriched +himself by medical practice, and when he charges the astrologers by +merely aiming to gain a few beggarly pence, Sir Christopher catches +fire, and shews by his quotations, that if we are to despise an art by +its professors attempting to subsist, or for the objections which may be +raised against its vital principles, we ought by this argument most +heartily to despise the medical science, and medical men; he gives all +here he can collect against physic and physicians, and from the +confessions of Galen and Hippocrates, Avicenna and Agrippa, medicine is +made to appear a vainer science than even astrology itself. + +Lilly's opinions, and his pretended science, were such favourites of +the age, that the learned Gataker[80] wrote professedly against this +popular delusion. At the head of his star-expounding friends, Lilly not +only formally replied to, but persecuted Gataker annually in his +predictions, and even struck at his ghost, when beyond the grave. +Gataker died in July 1654, and Lilly, having written in his almanack for +that year, for the month of August, the following barbarous latin line-- + + Hoc in tumbo, jacet presbyter et nebulo! + Here in this tomb lies a presbyter and a knave, + +had the impudence to assert, that he had predicted Gataker's death! But +the truth is, it was an empty epitaph to the "Lodgings to let:" it stood +empty, reader, for the first passenger that the immortal ferryman should +carry over the Styx. + +But hear that arch imposter Old Patridge of more modern date whose +_gulleries_ appear to have no end. "The practice of astrology is divided +into speculative and theoretical." (Astronomy and judicial astrology). +The first teaches us how to know the stars and planets, and to find +their places and motions. The second directs us to the knowledge of the +influence and operations of the stars and planets upon sublunary bodies, +and without this last the former is of little use. Astronomy cannot +direct and inform us of the secret influences and operations of the +stars and planets, without the assistance of' the _most sublime_ art of +astrology. For astronomy is conversant about the subject of this art, +and doth furnish the astrologer with matter whereon to exercise his +judgment, but astrology disposes this matter into predictions, or +rational conjectures, as time and occasion require. + +"The practice again is subdivided into two parts, or quadripartite, as +Ptolomy (lib. 2) declares: the first considers the general state of the +world, and from eclipses and comets, great conjunctions, annual +revolutions, quarterly ingressions and lunations, also the rising, +culminating, and setting of the fixed stars, together with the +configurations of the planets both to the sun and among themselves, +judgment is deduced, and the astrologer doth frame his annual +predictions of all sensitive and vegetative things lying in the air, +earth, or water; of plague, plenty, dearth, mutations of the air, wars, +peace, and other general accidents of countries, provinces, cities, etc. + +"The second of these subdivided parts, in particular, respects only the +private state of every single man and woman, which must be performed +from the scheme of the nativity, the knowledge of which is of most +excellent use to all persons. Therefore let the nativities of children +be diligently observed for the future, that is to say, the day, hour, +and minute of birth as near as can be, which will be of use to the +astrological physician, for the most principal conjecture of the +malignity of the disease, whether it be curable, or shall end with +death, depends upon the knowledge of the nativity; and very rarely any +disease invades a person, but some unfortunate direction of the +luminaries or ascendant to the body, or beams of malignant planets +preceded the same, or did then operate, or at least some evil +revolution, profection or transit, which cannot be discovered by any +other way but by astrology. Moreover, it would be convenient that the +true time of the first falling sick be observed precisely, and by that, +together with the nativity, be judiciously compared, the physician shall +gain more credit than by all his other skill; and herein, the +astrologer's foresight shall often contradict the judgment of the +physician; for when the astrologer foretells a phlegmatic man, that at +such a time he shall be afflicted with a choleric disease, the doctor +will perceive by his physical symptoms, the astrologer, from his +knowledge in more secret causes of nature, hath excelled him in his art. + +"Now if God Almighty do not countermand or check the ordinary course of +nature, or the matter of elementary bodies here below be not +unproportionable, and thereby unapt to receive their impressions, there +is no reason why, in a natural and physical necessity, astrological +predictions should not succeed and take effect, and by how much the +knowledge which we have by the known causes is more demonstrative and +infallible than that which we have either by signs or effects, so much +by this companion doth Astrology appear worthy to be preferred before +Physic." Cardan, who was an excellent physician saith: "If by the art of +Astrology he had not better attained to the knowledge of his diseases, +than the physician that would have administered to him by his skill, he +had been assuredly cured by death, rather than preserved alive by +physic. (Vide his Comment. upon Ptol. Quidrepart.) From hence it appears +it is necessary that the physician should be skilful in astrology, but +on the contrary, _ex quovis legno non fit Mercurius_, every astrologer +cannot be a physician; if the nativity be but precisely known, or if, +but _tempus ablatum_ or _suppositum_, and withal some notable accidents +of sickness, danger of drowning, peril by fire, marriage, or other, the +like accidents may be foreseen." + +The astrologers were a set of cunning, equivocal rogues; the more +cautious of whom only uttered their prognostications in obscure and +ambiguous language, which might be applied to all things, times, +princes, and nations whatever. An almanack maker, a Spanish friar, +predicted, in clear and precise words, the death of Henry the Fourth of +France; and Pierese, though he had no faith in star-gazing, yet, alarmed +at whatever menaced the life of a beloved sovereign, consulted with some +of the king's friends, and had the Spanish almanack laid before his +Majesty, who courteously thanked them for their solicitude, but utterly +slighted the prediction: the event occurred, and in the following year, +the Spanish _Lilly_ spread his own fame in an new almanack. This +prediction of the friar, was the result either of his being acquainted +with the plot, or from his being made an instrument for the purposes of +those who were. + +Cornelius Agrippa rightly designates astrologers "a perverse and +preposterous generation of men, who profess to know future things, but +in the meantime are altogether ignorant of past and present; and +undertaking to tell all people most obscure and hidden secrets abroad, +at the same time, know not what happens in their own houses." + + But this Agrippa, for profound + And solid lying, was renown'd: + The Anthroposophus, and Floud, + And Jacob Behmen, understood; + Knew many an amulet and charm + That would do neither good nor harm. + He understood the speech of birds + As well as they themselves do words; + Could tell what subtlest parrots mean + That speak and think contrary, clean; + What member 'tis of whom they talk, + Why they cry, rope and--walk, knave, walk. + He could foretell whatever was + By consequence to come to pass; + As death of great men, alterations, + Diseases, battles, inundations: + All this without th' eclipse o' th' sun, + Or dreadful comet, he hath done + By inward light, a way as good, + And easy to be understood: + But with more lucky hit than those + That use to make the stars depose + As if they were consenting to + All mischief in the world men do: + Or like the devil, did tempt and sway 'em + To rogueries, and then betray 'em. + +We shall conclude our astrological strictures with the following +advertisement, which affords as fine a satirical specimen of quackery as +is to be met with. It is extracted from "poor Robin's" almanack for +1773; and may not be without its use, to many at the present day. We +will vouch for it being harmless, but as we are not in the secret of all +that it contains, our readers must endeavour to get the information that +may be wanted, on certain important points, from other quarters. It will +shew, however, that the almanack astrologers did not live upon the best +terms, but like their predecessors, were constantly abusing and +attacking each other. + + +ADVERTISEMENT. + +"The best time to cut hair. How moles and dreams are to be interpreted. +When most proper season to bleed. Under what aspect of the moon best to +draw teeth, and cut corns. Pairing of nails, on what day unlucky. What +the kindest sign to graft or inoculate in; to open bee-hives, and kill +swine. How many hours boiling my Lady Kent's pudding requires. With +other notable questions, fully and faithfully resolved, by me Sylvester +Patridge, student in physic and astrology, near the Gun in Moorfields." + +"Of whom likewise may be had, at reasonable rates, trusses, antidotes, +elixirs, love-powders. Washes for freckles, plumpers, glass-eyes, false +calves and noses, ivory-jaws, and a new receipt to turn red hair into +black." + +Old Robin's almanack was evidently the best of the time, and free from +all the astrological cant with which Patridge's Merlinus Liberatus was +filled; against which Poor Robin did not a little declaim. The motto to +his title runs thus:-- + + "We use no weather-wise predictions + Nor any such-like airy fictions; + But (which we think is much the best) + Write the plain truth, or crack a jest: + And (without any further pretence) + Confess we write, and think of the pence: + For that's the aim of all who write, + Profit to gain, mixed with delight." + +Poor old Robin attacked the astrologers of his day with no little +vehemence: "How different a task is it," says he, "for man to behave so +in this world as to please all the people that inhabit it! A man who +makes use of his best endeavours to please every body is sure to please +but very few, and by that means displease a great many; which may very +possibly be the case with poor Robin this year. But (be that as it will) +_old Bob_ is sometimes well pleased, when rogues, prick-eared coxcombs, +fools, and such like, are the most displeased at him: be it therefore +known, that it is only men of sense and integrity, (whether they have +much money or no money) that he has any, (the least) regard for: I see +very plainly, that an humble man is (generally) accounted _base_; if +otherwise, he is esteemed _proud_; a bold look is looked upon as +_impudence_; if modest, (then to be sure) he must be _hypocritical_; if +his behaviour is grave, it is owing to a _sullenness_ of temper; if +affable, he is but _little_ regarded; if strictly just, then _cruel_ +must be his character; but, if merciful and forbearing, then (of +consequence) a silly, sheepish-headed fool! Now, I challenge all the +ASS-TROLOGERS and CONJURERS, throughout the whole kingdom, to +demonstrate that all the whimsey-headed opinions which different men +retain of different actions, together with their being so vastly +different at different times, one from another; I say, I call upon them +ALL to prove, that they are (wholly) owing to the STARRY influences! +There being, (I believe) in general as many different ideas and +conceptions in the mind of mankind, as there are variety of complexions +and countenances." + +His observations on the four _unequal_ quarters of the year, as he terms +them, are no less satirical, humorous, and full of truth, and so much in +"opposition" with others of the trade, that poor old Robin, in good +sense and trite remarks, carries away the palm from all his predecessors +and contemporaries; indeed, he is so little of an astrologer, that, +instead of consulting the angles, aspects, conjunctions and trines, of +the planets, he is vulgar enough to attach more importance to the +substantials and doings of this nether world. We present our readers +with the following as a specimen, which, though in his usual way, a +little rough-mouthed, occasionally is free from that almanack-cant which +characterises the vocations of his fellow-labourers in the same field. + + +SPRING, + +which, being the most delightful season in the whole year, as it comes +the next after a long and cold winter makes it as welcome as it is +delightful; for now the lengthening days afford full time for every body +but drunkards and watchmen to finish their respective day's works by +day-light, besides some time to spare to walk abroad, to see the fine +new livery with which Dame Flora has now decked out Mother Earth. In the +opening of the Spring, when all nature begins to recover herself, the +same animal pleasure which makes the bird sing, and the whole brute +creation rejoice, rises very sensibly in the hearts of mankind. This +quarter will bring whole shoals of mackerel, and plenty of green pease; +likewise gooseberries, cherries, cheese-cakes, and custards. + +But, let us now moralize,--and improve these vernal delights into real +virtue; and, when we find within ourselves a secret satisfaction arising +from the beauties of the creation, may we consider to whom we stand +indebted for all these various gratifications and entertainments of +sense; who it is that opens thus his hand, and fills the world with +good! But so soon as this quarter is ended; i.e. there, or then, or +thereabout, for in this case a day or two can break no great squares--I +say this quarter (as usual) will be followed by the + + +SUMMER, + +when, and at which time the days will have attained their greatest, and +consequently the nights the shortest lengths. June, in which month this +quarter is said to begin, will retain some likeness, if not exhibit the +perfections of the Spring; but the two next succeeding months will +perhaps have less vigour, but a greater degree of heat; for, as they +pass on, they will be ripening the fruits of the earth; whilst the Dog +star is shooting his rays amongst, the industrious farmer will have +business enough upon his hands: for now he expects to be reaping and +gathering together the returns of his labour; but then he must expect, +nevertheless, to bear the heat and burthen of the day. + +This quarter very justly represents a man in the full vigour of health +and strength; the beauty of the Spring is gone! The strength of Summer +is of short continuance! It will very soon be succeeded by Autumn: thus, +and thus (O reader) do then consider, hast thou seen the seasons, two, +three, or four times return in regular succession: remember that the +time is coming, when all opportunities of this sort will be for ever hid +from thine eyes: remember if forty years have passed thee, I say, I +would have thee remember, that thy spring is gone, thy summer almost +spent! Have then, therefore, a very serious retrospective view of thy +past, and, (if it please God) a fixed resolution to amend thy prolonged +life: then being now arrived almost on the eve of + + +AUTUMN + +which begins this year (as usual) when, or then, or thereabouts, the +time the Summer quarter ends--namely, when the nights begin to grow +longer and the days shorter: this is the time when the barns are filled +with wheat, which soon must be thrashed out, in order to be sowed again. +This also is the time when the orchards abound with fruits of the kind, +and consequently the properest time to make cider. + +Lamentable now must be the case of those poor women who, in this +quarter, happen to long for green pease or strawberries; for I dare +assure them, upon the _honest word_ of an astrologer, that they can get +none on this side of next Easter. Some now-abouts under the notion of +soldiers, shall sally out at night upon _Pullen_, or perhaps lie in +embuscade for a rope of onions, as if they were Welsh freebooters. Loss +of time and money may be recovered by industry: but to be a fool-born, +or a rogue in nature, are diseases incurable. + +Remember that in any quarter of the year, this is almost always a +certain presage of a wedding, when all parties are agreed, and the +parson in readiness; and then you must be sure to have money in +readiness too, or your intended marriage may happen to prove a +miscarriage. But those who are able to pay for tying the knot, when it +is fairly tied, may go home to dinner and be merry; go to the tavern and +be merry; go to supper and be merry; rise next morning and be merry: and +let the world know, that a married life is a plentiful life, when people +have good estates; a fruitful life when they have many children; and an +happy life, when man and wife love each other as they ought to do, and +never quarrel nor disagree. + + +OF THE WINTER QUARTER. + +But now comes on the cold, dirty, dithering, pouting, rainy, shivering, +freezing, blowing, stormy, blustering, cruel quarter called winter; the +very thoughts of it are enough to fright one; but that it very luckily +happens to be introduced (this year) by a good, fat merry Christmas: yet +it is the last and worse, and very much resembles extreme old age +accompanied by poverty; this quarter is also pretty much like Pharoah's +lean kine; for it generally (we find) eats up and devours most of the +produce of the preceding seasons: now the sun entering the southern +tropic, affords us the least share of his light, and consequently the +longest long nights: yet, nevertheless, in this uncomfortable quarter, +you may possibly pick up some crumbs of comfort, provided you have good +health, good store of the ready Rhino, a good wife, and other good +things about you: and especially a good conscience: for then the starry +influences must necessarily appear very benign, notwithstanding the +inclemency of the weather; for in such cases there will be frequent +_conjunctions_ of sirloins and ribs of beef; _aspects_ of legs and +shoulders of mutton, with _refrenations_ of loins of veal, shining near +the watery triplicity of plumb-porridge--together with trine and sextile +of minced pies; collared brawn from the Ursus major, and sturgeon from +Pisces--all for the honour of Christmas: and I think it is a much +pleasanter sight than a Covent-Garden comedy, to see a dozen or two of +husbandmen, farmers, and honest tenants, at a nobleman's table (who +never raised their rents) worry a sirloin, and hew down, (I mean cut up) +a goose like a log: while a good Cheshire cheese, and plenty of nappy +ale, and strong March beer, washes down the merry goblets, sets all +their wit afloat, and sends them to their respective homes, as happy as +kings. + + And now, kind loving readers, every one, + God send y'a good new-year, when the old one 's gone. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[75] The following prediction, and the verification of it are of so +recent a date, that we cannot resist giving it a place in our pages. In +the account of the late Captain Flinder's voyage of discovery, is the +melancholy relation of the loss of the master, Mr. Thistle, with seven +others, in a boat, on the inhospitable shores of Terra Australia. To +this narrative, the following note is subjoined, which we shall here +quote in Captain Flinder's own words: "This evening, Mr. Fowler, the +lieutenant, told me a circumstance which I thought very extraordinary, +and it afterwards proved to be more so. While we were lying at Spithead, +Mr. Thistle was one day waiting on shore, and having nothing else to do, +went to a certain old man, named Pine, to have his fortune told. The +cunning man informed him that he was going on a long voyage, and that +the ship, on arriving at her destination, would be joined by another +vessel. That such was intended, he might have learnt privately; but he +added that Mr. Thistle would be lost before the other vessel joined. As +to the manner of his loss the magician refused to give any information. +My boat's crew, hearing what Mr. Thistle said, went to consult the wise +man, and after the prefatory information of a long voyage, they were +told that they would be shipwrecked, but not in the ship they were going +out in; whether they would escape and return to England, he was not +permitted to reveal. This tale Mr. Thistle often told at the mess-table; +and I remarked, with some pain, in a future part of the voyage, that +every time my boat's crew went to embark in the Lady Nelson, there was +some degree of apprehension amongst them, that the time of the predicted +shipwreck was arrived. I make no comment, (says Capt. Flinders,) upon +this story, but to recommend a commander, if possible, to prevent any of +his crew from consulting fortune-tellers."--It should be observed that, +strange as it may appear, every particular of these predictions came +exactly to pass, for the master and his boat's crew were lost before the +Investigator was joined by the Lady Nelson, from Port-Jackson; and when +the former ship was condemned, the people embarked with their commander +on board the Porpoise, which was wrecked on a coral reef, and nine of +the crew were lost. + +[76] In 1670, the passion for horoscopes and expounding the stars, +prevailed in France among the first rank. The new-born child was usually +presented naked to the astrologer, who read the first lineaments in its +forehead, and the transverse lines in its hands, and thence wrote down +its future destiny. Catherine de Medicis carried Henry IV, when a child, +to old Nostradamus, who antiquaries esteem more for his Chronicle of +Provence than for his vaticinating powers. The sight of the revered +seer, with a heard which "streamed like a meteor in the air," terrified +the future hero, who dreaded a whipping from so grave a personage. + +[77] The Chaldean Sages were nearly put to the route by a quarto pack of +artillery, fired on them by Mr. John Chamber, in 1691. Apollo did not +use Marsyas more inhumanly than his scourging pen this mystical race; +and his personalities made them sorely feel it. However, a Norwich +knight, the very Quixote of Astrology, arrayed in the enchanted armour +of his occult authors, encountered this pagan in a most stately +carousal. He came forth with "A Defence of Judicial Astrologye, in +answer to a treatise lately published by Mr. John Chamber. By +Christopher Knight. Printed at Cambridge, 1693." + +[78] Vide Amulets passim. + +[79] Lilly's work, a voluminous quarto monument of the folly of the age, +was sold originally for four guineas; it is entitled "Christian +Astrology," modestly treated, in three books, by William Lilly, student +in Astrology, 2nd. edition 1659. Every page is embellished with a +horoscope which, sitting on the pretending tripod, he explains with the +utmost facility. There is also a portrait of this arch rogue and +star-gazer, an admirable illustration for Lavater. As to Lilly's great +skill in prophecy, there goes a pleasant story related by a kinsman of +Dr. Case, his successor--namely--that a person wanting to consult him on +a certain point coming to his house one morning, Lilly himself going to +the door, saw a piece of filthy carrion which some one, who had more wit +than manners, had left there: and being much offended at its unsightly +appearance wished heartily he did but know who had treated him in that +manner by leaving such an unwelcome legacy, as it were, in his very +teeth, that he might punish them accordingly; which his customer +observing when the conjurer demanded his business, "Nothing at all," +said he, "for I'm sure if you can't find out who has defiled your own +door, it is impossible you should discover anything relating to me," and +with this caustic remark he left him. + +[80] The Reverend and learned Thomas Gataker, with whom Lilly was +engaged in a dispute, in his Annotations on the tenth chapter of +Jeremiah and 10th verse, called him a "blind buzzard," and Lilly +reflected again on his antagonist in his _Annus Tenebrosus_. Mr. +Gataker's reply was entitled Thomas Gataker, B.D. his Vindication of the +annotation by him published upon these words, "thus saith the Lord," +(Jer. x. 2) against the scurrilous aspersions of that grand impostor +William Lilly; as also against the various expositions of two of his +advocates Mr. John Swan, and another by him cited but not named. Together +with the Annotations themselves, wherein the pretended grounds of +judiciary astrology, and the scripture proofs produced to it, are +discussed and refuted. London, 1653, in 4th part 192. Our author making +animadversions on this piece in his English Merlin, 1654 produced a +third piece from Mr. Gataker, called a Discourse apologetical, wherein +Lilly's lewd, and loud lies in his Merlin or Pasquil for 1654, are +clearly laid open; his shameless desertion of his own cause further +discovered, his abominable slanders fully refuted, and his malicious and +_murtherous_ mind, inciting to a general massacre of God's ministers, +from his own pen, evidently known, etc. London 1654. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +ONEIROCRITICAL PRESENTIMENT, ILLUSTRATING THE CAUSE, EFFECTS, PRINCIPAL +PHENOMENA, AND DEFINITION OF DREAMS, ETC. + +As we shall have to speak of the art practised through the medium, +termed incubation, of curing diseases, it may be proper to say something +previously on the interpretation of dreams through whose agency these +events were said to be realized. + +Oneirocritics, or interpreters of dreams, were called conjecturers, a +very fit and proper name for these worldly wise men, according to the +following lines, translated from Euripides-- + + He that conjectures least amiss + Of all, the best of prophets is. + +To the delusion of dreams not a few of the ancient philosophers lent +themselves. Among these were Democritus, Aristotle, and his follower +Themistius, Siresius the Platonic; who so far relied on dreams which +some accident or other brought about, that they thence endeavoured to +persuade men there are no dreams but what are founded on realities. For, +say they, as the celestial influences produce various forms and changes +in corporeal matter, so out of certain influences, predominating over +the power of the fancy, the impression of visions is made, being +consentaneous, through the disposition of the heavens, to the effect +produced; more especially in dreams, because the mind, being then at +liberty from all corporeal cares and exercises, more freely receives the +divine influences: it happens, therefore that many things are revealed +to them that are asleep, which are concealed from them that are awake. +With these and such reasons it is pretended that much is communicated +through the medium of dreams: + + When soft sleep the body lays at ease, + And from the heavy mass the fancy frees, + Whate'er it is in which we take delight, + And think of most by day we dream at night. + +The transition from sleep is very natural to that of dreams, the +wonderful and mysterious phenomena of that state, the ideal transactions +and vain illusions of the mind. According to Wolfius, an eminent +philosopher of Silesia, every dream originates in some sensation, and is +continued by the succession of phantoms; but no phantasm can arise in +the mind without some previous sensation. And yet it is not easy to +confirm this by experience, it being often difficult to distinguish +those slight sensations, which give rise to dreams, from phantasms, or +objects of imagination.[81] The series of phantasms which thus constitute +a dream, seems to be accounted for by the law of the imagination, or +association of ideas; though it may be very difficult to assign the +cause of every minute difference, not only in different subjects, but in +the same, at different times, and in different circumstances. And hence +M. Formey, who adopts the opinion of Wolfius, concludes, that those +dreams are supernatural, which either do not begin by sensation, or are +not continued by the law of imagination.[82] + +The opinion is as old as Aristotle, who asserted, that a dream is only +the [Greek: Phantasma] or _appearance_ of things, excited in the mind, +and remaining after the objects are removed.[83] The opinion of +Lucretius, translated in our motto, was likewise that of Tully.[84] Locke +also traces the origin of dreams to previous sensations. "The dreams of +sleeping men," says this profound philosopher, "are all made up of the +waking man's ideas, though for the most part oddly put together."[85] And +Dr. Hartley, who explains all the phenomena of the imagination by his +theory of vibrations and associations, says, that dreams are nothing but +the imaginations or reveries of sleeping men, and that they are +deducible from three causes--viz, the impressions and ideas lately +received, and particularly those of the preceding day, the state of the +body, more especially of the stomach and brain, and association.[86] + +Macrobius mentions five sorts of dreams. 1st. vision--2nd. a discovery +of something between sleeping and waking--3rd. a suggestion cast into +our fancy, called by Cicero, _visum_,--4th. an ordinary dream--and +fifth, a divine apparition or revelation in our sleep; such as were the +dreams of the prophets, and of Joseph, as also of the Eastern Magi. + + +CAUSE OF DREAMS. + +Avicen makes the cause of dreams to be an ultimate intelligence moving +the moon in the midst of that light with which the fancies of men are +illuminated while they sleep. Aristotle refers the cause of them to +common sense, but placed in the fancy. Averroes, an Arabian physician, +places it in the imagination; Democritus ascribes it to little images, +or representations, separated from the things themselves; Plato among +the specific and concrete notions of the soul; Albertus to the superior +influences, which continually flow from the sky, through many specific +channels. + +Some physicians attribute the cause of dreams to vapours and humours, +and the affections and cares of persons predominant when awake; for, say +they, by reason of the abundance of vapours, which are exhaled in +consequence of immoderate feeding, the brain is so stuffed by it, that +monsters and strange chimera are formed, of which the most inordinate +eaters and drinkers furnish us with sufficient instances. Some dreams, +they assert, are governed partly by the temperature of the body, and +partly by the humour which mostly abounds in it; to which may be added +the apprehensions which have preceded the day before; and which are +often remarked in dogs, and other animals, which bark and make a noise +in their sleep. Dreams, they observe, proceed from the humours and +temperature of the body; we see the choleric dreams of fire, combats, +yellow colours, etc. the phlegmatic of water baths, of sailing on the +sea; the melancholies of thick fumes, deserts, fantasies, hideous faces, +etc. they that have the hinder part of their brain clogged, with viscous +humours, called by physicians Ephialtes incubus, dream that they are +suffocated. And those who have the orifice of their stomach loaded with +malignant humours, are affrighted with strange visions, by reason of +those venemous vapours that mount to the brain and distemper it. + + +POETICAL ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE EFFECTS OF THE IMAGINATION IN DREAMS. + +Were we to enter more profoundly into the mysterious phenomena of +dreams, our present lucubrations might become too abstruse; and, after +all, no philosophical nor satisfactory account can be given of them. +Such of our readers therefore, as may wish for a more minute inquiry +into the opinions above stated, we beg leave to refer to the respective +authors whom we have already quoted. The reader, who is fond to find +amusement even in a serious subject, from the scenes of nocturnal +imagination, will be glad, perhaps for a moment, to be transported into +the regions of poetic fancy. And here we find that the fancy is not more +sportive in dreams, than are the poets in their descriptions of her +nocturnal vagaries. On the effects of the imagination in dreams, the +following effusion, put into the mouth of the volatile Mercurio, is an +admirable illustration:-- + + O, then I see, Queen Mab has been with you. + She is the fancy's midwife, and she comes + In shape no bigger than an agate stone + On the fore-finger of an Alderman, + Drawn with a team of little atomies, + Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep: + Her waggon spokes made of long spinners' legs; + The cover of the wings of grasshoppers; + The traces of the smallest spider's web; + The collars of the moonshine's watery beams; + Her whip of cricket's bone; the lash of film; + Her waggoner, a small grey coated gnat, + Not half so big as a round little worm, + Prickt from the lazy finger of a maid. + Her chariot is an empty hazel nut, + Made by the joiner squirril, old grub, + Time out of mind the fairies' coachmakers: + And in this state she gallops night by night, + Thro' lovers' brains, and then they dream of love; + On courtiers' knees, that dream on curtsies strait; + O'er lawyers' fingers, who strait dream on fees; + O'er ladies lips, who strait on kisses dream, + Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plague, + Because their breath with sweetmeats tainted are. + Sometimes she gallops o'er a lawyer's nose, + And then dreams he of smelling out a suit, + And sometimes comes she with a tithe-pig tail, + Tickling the parson as he lies asleep; + Then dreams he of another benefice; + Sometimes she driveth o'er a soldier's neck + And then he dreams of cutting foreign throats, + Of breaches, ambuscades, Spanish blades, + Of healths fire fathom deep; and then anon + Drums in his ears, at which he starts and wakes, + And being thus frighted, swears a pray'r or two, + And sleeps again. + +Lucretius, and Petronius in his poem on the vanity of dreams, had +preceded our immortal bard in a description of the effects of dreams on +different kinds of persons. Both the passages here alluded to, only +serve to shew the vast superiority of Shakspeare's boundless genius: +their sense is thus admirably expressed by Stepney: + + At dead of night imperial reason sleeps, + And fancy with her train, her revels keeps; + Then airy phantoms a mix'd scene display, + Of what we heard, or saw, or wish'd by day; + For memory those images retains + Which passion form'd, and still the strongest reigns. + Huntsmen renew the chase they lately run, + And generals fight again their battles won. + Spectres and fairies haunt the murderer's dreams; + Grants and disgraces are the courtier's themes. + The miser spies a thief, or a new hoard; + The cit's a knight; the sycophant a lord, + Thus fancy's in the wild distraction lost, + With what we most abhor, or covet most. + Honours and state before this phantom fall; + For sleep, like death, its image, equals all. + +Chaucer in his tale of the Cock and Fox, has a fine description, thus +versified by Dryden:-- + + Dreams are but interludes which fancy makes: + When monarch reason sleeps, this mimic wakes; + Compounds a medley of disjointed things, + A court of coblers and a mob of kings: + Light fumes are merry, grosser fumes are sad: + Both are the reasonable soul run mad; + And many monstrous forms in sleep we see, + That neither were, or are, or e'er can be. + Sometimes forgotten things, long cast behind, + Rush forward in the brain, and come to mind. + The nurse's legends are for truth received, + And the man dreams but what the boy believed, + Sometimes we but rehearse a former play, + The night restores our actions done by day; + As hounds in sleep will open for their prey. + In short, the farce of dreams is of a piece + In chimeras all; and more absurd or less. + +Shakspeare again:-- + + I talk of dreams, + Which are the children of an idle brain, + Begot of nothing but vain phantasy, + Which is as thin of substance as the air, + And more inconsistant than the wind. + +Nor must Milton be omitted-- + + In the soul + Are many lesser faculties, that serve + Reason as chief; among these Fancy next + Her office holds; of all external things, + Which the five watchful senses represent, + She forms imaginations, airy shapes, + Which reason joining, or disjoining, frames, + And all that we affirm, or what deny, or call + Our knowledge or opinion; then retires + Into her private cell, when nature rests. + Oft in her absence mimic fancy wakes, + To imitate her; but misjoining shapes, + Wild works produces oft, but most in dreams + Ill matching words or deeds, long past or tale. + + +PRINCIPAL PHENOMENA IN DREAMING. + +From these practical descriptions let us proceed to take a view of the +principal phenomena in dreaming. And first, Mr. Locke's beautiful _modes +of_ which will greatly illustrate the preceding observations. + +"When the mind," says Locke, "turns its view inward upon itself, and +contemplates its own actions, _thinking_ is the first that occurs. In it +the mind observes a great variety of modifications, and from thence +receives distinct _ideas_. Thus the perception, which actually +accompanies, and is annexed to any impression on the body, made by an +external object, being distinct from all other modifications of +thinking, furnishes the mind with a distinct idea which we call +_sensation_; which is, as it were, the actual entrance of an idea into +the understanding by the senses. + +"The same idea, when it occurs again without the operation of the like +object on the external sensory, is _remembrance_: if it be sought after +by the mind, and with pain and endeavour found, and brought again in +view, it is _recollection_: if it be held there long under +consideration, it is _contemplation_; when ideas float in our mind +without any reflexion or regard of the understanding, it is that which +the French call _reverie_;[87] our language has scarce a name for it. +When the ideas that offer themselves (for as I have observed in another +place, while we are awake, there will always be a train of ideas +succeeding one another in our minds) are taken notice of, and, as it +were, registered in the memory, it is _attention_; when the mind, with +great earnestness, and of choice, fixes its view on any idea, considers +it on all sides, and will not be called off by the ordinary +solicitations of other ideas, it is what we call _intention_ or _study_. +Sleep without dreaming is rest from all these: and _dreaming_ itself, is +the having of ideas (while the outward senses are stopped, so that they +receive not outward objects with their usual quickness) in the mind, not +suggested by any external objects, or known occasion, nor under any +choice or conduct of the understanding at all, and whether that which we +call _ecstasy_, be not dreaming with the eyes open, I leave to be +examined." + +Dr. Beattie, in his "Dissertations moral and critical," has an +ingenious essay on this subject, in which he attempts to ascertain, not +so much the _efficient_ as the _final_ causes of the phenomenon, and to +obviate those superstitions in regard to it, which have sometimes +troubled weak minds. He labours, with great earnestness, to shew, that +dreams may be of use in the way of physical admonition: that persons, +who attend to them with this view, may make important discoveries with +regard to their health; that they may be serviceable as the means of +moral improvement; that, by attending to them, we may discern our +predominant passions, and receive good hints for the regulation of them; +that they may have been intended by Providence to serve as an amusement +to the mental powers; and that dreaming is not universal, because, +probably, all constitutions do not require such intellectual amusement. +In observations of this kind, we may discover the ingenuity of fancy and +the sagacity of conjecture. We may find amusement in the arguments, but +we look in vain for satisfaction. Nature, certainly, does nothing in +vain, yet we are far from thinking, that man is able, in every case, to +discover her intentions. Final causes, perhaps, ought never to be the +subject of human speculation, but when they are plain and obvious. To +substitute vain conjectures, instead of the designs of Providence, on +subjects where those designs are beyond our reach, serves only to +furnish matter for the cavils of the sceptical, and the sneers of the +licentious. + +Among the many striking phenomena in our dreams, it may be observed, +that, while they last, the memory seems to lie wholly torpid, and the +understanding to be employed only about such objects as are then +presented, without comparing the present with the past. When we sleep, +we often converse with a friend who is either absent or dead, without +remembering that the grave or the ocean is between us. We float, like a +feather, upon the wind; for we find ourselves this moment in England, +and the next in India, without reflecting that the laws of nature are +suspended, or inquiring how the scene could have been so suddenly +shifted before us. We are familiar with prodigies; we accommodate +ourselves to every event, however romantic; and we not only reason, but +act upon principles, which are in the highest degree absurd and +extravagant. Our dreams, moreover, are so far from being the effect of a +voluntary effort, that we neither know of what we shall dream, or +whether we shall dream at all. + +But sleep is not the only time in which strange and unconnected objects +involve our ideas in confusion. Besides the _reveries_ of the day, +already spoken of, we have, in a moral view, our _waking-dreams_, which +are not less chimerical, and impossible to be realized, than the +imaginations of the night. + + Night visions may befriend---- + Our waking dreams are fatal. How I dreamt + Of things impossible (could sleep do more?) + Of joys perpetual in perpetual change! + Of stable pleasures on the tossing wave! + Eternal sunshine in the storms of life! + How richly were my noon-tide trances hung, + With gorgeous tapestries of pictur'd joys! + Till at deaths' toll,---- + Starting I woke, and found myself undone. + +Many of the fabulous stories of ghosts or apparitions have originated +unquestionably in dreams. There are times of slumber when we are +sensible of being asleep. "When the thoughts are much troubled," says +Hobbes, "and when a person sleeps without the circumstance of going to +bed, or pulling off his clothes, as when he nods in his chair, it is +very difficult to distinguish a dream from a reality. On the contrary, +he that composes himself to sleep, in case of any uncouth or absurd +fancy, easily suspects it to have been a dream."[88] On this principle, +Hobbes has ingeniously accounted for the spectre which is said to have +appeared to Brutus; and the well-known story told by Clarendon, of the +apparition of the duke of Buckingham's father will admit of a similar +solution. There was no man at that time in the kingdom so much the topic +of conversation as the duke; and, from the corruptness of his character, +he was very likely to fall a sacrifice to the corruptness of the times. +Sir George Villiers is said to have appeared to the man at +midnight--there is therefore the greatest probability that the man was +asleep; and the dream affrighting him, made a strong impression, and was +likely to be repeated. + +History furnishes us with numerous instances of a forecast having been +communicated through the medium of dreams, some of which are so +extraordinary as almost to shake our belief that the hand of Providence +is not sometimes evident through their instrumentality. Cicero, in his +first book on Divination, tells us, that Heraclides, a clever man, and +who had been a disciple of Plato, writes that the mother of Phalaris saw +in a dream the statues of the gods which she had consecrated in the +house of her son; and among other things, it appeared to her, that from +a cup which Mercury held in his hand, he had spilled some blood from it, +and that the blood had scarcely touched the ground, than rising up in +large bubbles it filled the whole house. This dream of the mother was +afterwards but too truly verified in the cruelty of the son. Cyrus +dreamt that seeing the sun at his feet, he made three different +unsuccessful attempts to lay his hand upon it, at each of which it +evaded him. The Persian Magi who interpreted this dream told him that +these three attempts to seize the sun signified that he would reign +thirty years. This prediction was verified: he died at the age of +seventy, having begun to reign when he was forty years old. + +"There is doubtless," says Cicero, "something even among barbarians +which marks that they possess the gift of presentiment and divination." +The Indian Calanus mounting the flaming faggot on which he was about to +be burnt, exclaimed "O what a fine exit from life, when my body, like +that of Hercules, shall be consumed by the fire, my spirit will freely +enjoy the light." And Alexander having asked if he had anything to say, +he replied, "Yes, I shall soon see you," which happened as he foretold, +Alexander having died a few days afterwards at Babylon. Xenophon, an +ardent disciple of Socrates, relates that in the war which he made in +favour of young Cyrus, he had some dreams which were followed by the +most miraculous events. Shall we say that Xenophon does not speak truth, +or is too extravagant? What! so great a personage, and so divine a +spirit as Aristotle, can he be deceived? Or does he wish to deceive +others, when he tells us of Eudemus of Cyprus, one of his friends, +wishing to go into Macedonia, passed by Pheres, a celebrated town in +Thessaly, which at that time was under the dominion of the tyrant +Alexander; and that having fallen very sick, he saw in a dream a very +handsome young man, who told him that he would cure him, and that the +tyrant Alexander would shortly die, but as to himself, he would return +home at the end of five years. Aristotle remarks that the two first +predictions were, indeed, soon accomplished; that Eudemus recovered, and +that the tyrant was killed by his wife's brothers; but that at the +expiration of five years, the time at which it was hoped Eudemus, +according to the dream, was to return to Sicily, his native country, +news were received that he had been killed in a combat near Syracuse; +which gave rise to another interpretation of the dream, namely, that, +when the spirit or soul of Eudemus left his body, it went thence +straight to his own house.--A cup of massy gold having been stolen from +the temple of Hercules, this god appeared in a dream to Sophocles three +consecutive times, and pointed out the thief to him; who was put to the +torture, confessed the delinquency, and gave up the cup. The temple +afterwards received the name of Hercules Indicator. + +An endless variety of similar instances, both from ancient and modern +history, might be adduced of the singularity of dreams, as well as their +instrumentality in revealing secrets which, without such agency, had +lain for ever in oblivion; these, however, are sufficient for our +purpose here; and the occurrence of one of a very recent date, connected +with the discovery of the body of the murdered Maria Martin, in the red +barn, is still fresh in the recollection of our readers. That there is a +ridiculous infatuation attached by some people to dreams, which have no +meaning, and which are the offsprings of the day's thoughts, even among +persons whose education should inform them better, particularly among +the fair sex, cannot be denied; indeed, a conversation seldom passes +among them, but some inconsistent dream or other, form a leading feature +of their gossip; and doubtless is with them an hysterical symptom. + +Sometimes in our sleeping dreams, we imagine ourselves involved in +inextricable woe, and enjoy at waking, the ecstasy of a deliverance from +it. "And such a deliverance," says Dr. Beattie, "will every good man +meet with at last, when he is taken away from the evils of life, and +awakes in the regions of everlasting light and peace; looking back upon +the world and its troubles, with a surprise and satisfaction similar in +kind (though far higher in degree) to that which we now feel, when we +escape from a terrifying dream, and open our eyes to the sweet serenity +of a summer morning." Sometimes, in our dreams, we imagine scenes of +pure and unutterable joy; and how much do we regret at waking, that the +heavenly vision is no more! But what must the raptures of the good man +be, when he enters the regions of immortality, and beholds the radiant +fields of permanent delight! The idea of such a happy death, such a +sweet transition, from the dreams of earth to the realities of heaven, +is thus beautifully described by Dryden, in his poem entitled Eleonora: + + "She passed serenely, with a single breath; + This moment perfect health, the next was death; + One sigh did her eternal bliss assure; + So little penance needs when souls are pure. + As gentle dreams our waking thoughts pursue; + Or, one dream past, we slide into a new; + So close they follow and such wild order keep, + We think ourselves awake and are asleep; + So softly death succeeded life in her: + She did but dream of heaven and she was there." + + +DEFINITION OF DREAMS. + +Dreams are vagaries of the imagination, and in most instances proceed +from external sensations. They take place only when our sleep is +unsound, in which case the brain and nervous system are capable of +performing certain motions. We seldom dream during the first hours of +sleep; perhaps because the nervous fluid is then too much exhausted; but +dreams mostly occur towards the morning, when this fluid has been, in +some measure, restored. + +Every thing capable of interrupting the tranquillity of mind and body, +may produce dreams; such are the various kinds of grief and sorrow, +exertions of the mind, affections and passions, crude and undigested +food, a hard and inconvenient posture of the body. Those ideas which +have lately occupied our minds or made a lively impression upon us, +generally constitute the principal subject of a dream, and more or less +employ our imagination, when we are asleep. + +Animals are likewise apt to dream, though seldom; and even men living +temperately, and enjoying a perfect state of health, are seldom +disturbed with this play of the fancy. And, indeed, there are examples +of lively and spirited persons who never dream at all. The great +physiologist Haller considers dreaming as a symptom of disease, or as a +stimulating cause, by which the perfect tranquillity of the sensorium is +interrupted. Hence, that sleep is the most refreshing, which is +undisturbed by dreams, or, at least, when we have the distinct +recollection of them. Most of our dreams are then nothing more than +sports of the fancy, and derive their origin chiefly from external +impressions; almost every thing we see and hear, when awake, leads our +imagination to collateral notions or representations, which, in a +manner, spontaneously, and without the least effort, associate with +external sensations. The place where a person whom we love formerly +resided, a dress similar to that which we have seen her wear, or the +objects that employed her attention, no sooner catch our eye, than she +immediately occupies our mind. And, though these images associating with +external sensations, do not arrive at complete consciousness within the +power of imagination, yet even in their latent state they may become +very strong and permanent. + +Cicero furnishes us with a story of two Arcadians, who, travelling +together, arrived at Megara, a city of Greece, between Athens and +Corinth, where one of them lodged in a friend's house, and the other at +an inn. After supper, the person who lodged at the private house went to +bed, and falling asleep, dreamed that his friend at the inn appeared to +him and begged his assistance, because the innkeeper was going to kill +him. The man immediately got out of bed much frightened at the dream; +but recovering himself, and falling asleep again, his friend appeared to +him a second time, and desired that, as he would not assist him in time, +he would take care at least not to let his death go unpunished; that the +innkeeper having murdered him had thrown his body into a cart and +covered it with dung; he therefore begged that he would be at the city +gate in the morning, before the cart was out; struck with this new +dream, he went early to the gate, saw the cart, and asked the driver +what was in it; the driver immediately fled, the dead body was taken +out of the cart, and the innkeeper apprehended and executed. + +It is very frequently observed, that in a dream a series of +representations is suddenly interrupted, and another series of a very +different kind occupies its place. This happens as soon as an idea +associates itself; which, from whatever cause, is more interesting than +that immediately preceding. The last then becomes the prevailing one, +and determines the association. Yet, by this too, the imagination is +frequently reconducted to the former series. The interruption in the +course of the preceding occurrences is remarked, and the power of +abstracting similarities is in search of the cause of this irregularity. +Hence, in such cases, there usually happens some unfortunate event or +other, which occasions the interruption of the story. The representing +power may again suddenly conduct us to another series of ideas, and thus +the imagination may be led by the subreasoning power before defined, +from one scene to another. Of this kind, for instance, is the following +remarkable dream, as related and explained in the works of professor +Maas of Halle: "I dreamed once," says he "that the Pope visited me. He +commanded me to open my desk, and carefully examined all the papers it +contained. While he was thus employed, a very sparkling diamond fell out +of his triple crown into my desk, of which, however, neither of us took +any notice. As soon as the Pope had withdrawn, I retired to bed, but was +soon obliged to rise, on account of a thick smoke, the cause of which I +had yet to learn. Upon examination I discovered, that the diamond had +set fire to the papers in my desk, and burnt them to ashes." + +On account of the peculiar circumstances by which this dream was +occasioned, it deserves the following short analysis. "On the preceding +evening," says professor Maas, "I was visited by a friend with whom I +had a lively conversation, upon Joseph IInd's suppression of monasteries +and convents. With this idea, though I did not become conscious of it in +my dream, was associated the visit which the Pope publicly paid the +Emperor Joseph at Vienna, in consequence of the measures taken against +the clergy; and with this again was combined, however faintly, the +representation of the visit, which had been paid me by my friend. These +two events were, by the subreasoning faculty, compounded into one, +according to the established rule--that things which agree in their +parts, also correspond as to the whole;--hence the Pope's visit, was +changed into a visit made to me. The subreasoning faculty then, in order +to account for this extraordinary visit, fixed upon that which was the +most important object in my room, namely, the desk, or rather the papers +contained in it. That a diamond fell out of the triple crown was a +collateral association, which was owing merely to the representation of +the desk. Some days before when opening the desk, I had broken the glass +of my watch, which I held in my hand, and the fragments fell among the +papers. Hence no farther attention was paid to the diamond, being a +representation of a collateral series of things. But afterwards the +representation of the sparkling stones was again excited, and became the +prevailing idea; hence it determined the succeeding association. On +account of its similarity, it excited, the representation of fire, with +which it was confounded; hence arose fire and smoke.--But, in the event, +the writings only were burnt, not the desk itself; to which, being of +comparatively less value, the attention was not at all directed." It is +farther observable, that there are in the human mind certain obscure +representations, and that it is necessary to be convinced of the reality +of these images, if we are desirous of perceiving the connexion, which +subsists among the operations of the imagination. Of the numerous +phenomena, founded on obscure ideas, and which consequently prove their +existence, we shall only remark the following. It is a well known fact, +that many dreams originate in the impressions made in the body during +sleep; and they consist of analogous images or such as are associated +with sensations that would arise from these impressions, during a waking +state. Hence, for instance, if our legs are placed in a perpendicular +posture, we are often terrified by a dream that implies the imminent +danger of falling from a steep rock or precipice. The mind must +represent to itself these external impressions in a lively manner, +otherwise no ideal picture could be thus excited; but, as we do not +become at all conscious of them, they are but faintly and obscurely +represented. + +If we make a resolution to rise earlier in the morning than usual; and +if we impress the determination on our mind, immediately before going to +rest, we are almost certain to succeed. Now it is self-evident that this +success cannot be ascribed to the efforts of the body, but altogether to +the mind, which probably, during sleep perceives and computes the +duration of time, so that it makes an impression on the body, which +enables us to awake at an appointed hour. Yet all this takes place, +without our consciousness, and the representations remain obscure. Many +productions of art are so complicated, that a variety of simple +conceptions are requisite to lay the foundation of them; yet the artist +is almost entirely unconscious of these individual notions. Thus a +person performs a piece of music, without being obliged to reflect, in a +conscious manner, on the signification of the notes, their value, and +the order of the fingers he must observe; nay even without clearly +distinguishing the strings of the harp, or the keys of the harpsichord. +We cannot attribute this to the mechanism of the body, which might +gradually accustom itself to the accurate placing of the fingers. This +could be applied only where we place a piece of music, frequently +practised; but it is totally inapplicable to a new piece, which is +played by the professor with equal facility, though he has never seen it +before. In the latter case there must arise, necessarily, an ideal +representation, or an act of judgment, previous to every motion of the +finger. + +These arguments, we trust, are sufficient, to evince the occurrence of +these obscure notions and representations, from which all our dreams +originate. Before, however, we close this subject, we shall relate the +following extraordinary dream of the celebrated Galileo, who at a very +advanced age had lost his sight. In one of his walks over a beautiful +plain, conducted by his pupil Troicelli, the venerable sage related the +following dream to him. "Once," said he, "my eyes permitted me to enjoy +the charms of these fields. But now, since their light is extinguished, +these pleasures are lost to me for ever. Heaven justly inflicts the +punishment which was predicted to me many years ago. When in prison, and +impatiently languishing for liberty, I began to be discontented with the +ways of Providence; Copernicus appeared to me in a dream; his celestial +spirit conducted me over luminous stars, and, in a threatening voice, +reprehended me for having murmured against him, at whose _fiat_ all +these worlds had proceeded from nothing. 'A time shall come (said he) +when thine eyes shall refuse to assist thee in contemplating these +wonders.'" + +We shall now proceed to notice the subject of dreams in another point of +view--that is, as being employed as a medium of divination in the cure +of diseases, in which the fancies of the brain appear, in reality, to as +little advantage as they do with reference to any other considerations +in which such pretended omens exist. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[81] Wolfius, Psychol. Empir. Sect. 123. + +[82] Mem. de l'acad. de Berlin, tom. ii. p. 316. + +[83] Arist. de insomn. cap 3. + +[84] Quae in vita usurpant homines, cogitant, curant, vident quaeque +agunt vigilantes, agitantque, ea cuique in somno accidunt. _De Div._ + +[85] Essay on Human Understanding, book, chap. i. sect 17. + +[86] Obs, on Man, vol. 1, sect. 5. + +[87] There is a phenomenon in the mind, which, though it happen to us +while we are perfectly awake, yet approaches the nearest to sleep of any +I know. It is called the _Reverie_, or, as some term it, the _brown +study_, a sort of middle state between waking and sleeping; in which, +though our eyes are open, our senses seem to be entirely shut up, and we +are quite insensible of every thing about us, yet we are all the while +engaged in a musing indolence of thought, or a supine and lolling kind +of roving from one fairy scene to another, without any self-command; +from which, if any noise or accident rouse us, we wake as from a real +dream, and are often as much at a loss to tell how our thoughts were +employed, as if we had waked from the soundest sleep. This is frequently +called _dreaming_, sometimes _absence_, a thing often observed in lovers +and people of a melancholy or indeed speculative turn.--_Fordyce's +Dialogues concerning education, vol. II. p. 255._ + +[88] Leviathan, part. 1. c. 1. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +ON INCUBATION; OR THE ART OF HEALING BY VISIONARY DIVINATION. + +Medicine unquestionably ranks among the most ancient of all human +sciences. In the infant state of society, when simplicity of manners +characterised the pursuits of mankind, medical assistance was little +wanted; but when the nature of man degenerated, and vice and luxury +corrupted his habits of innocence and temperance, diseases sprung up +which those aids alone could check or eradicate. The knowledge of them +at first could not fail to be empirical and precarious. The sick were +placed in the high ways, that travellers and passers by might assist +them with their counsel; and at length the priesthood appropriated this +privilege exclusively to themselves. + +It was not merely the sacerdotal dignity which rendered them objects of +awe and reverence to the illiterate multitude; the priests were regarded +as the depositaries of science and learning; and proved themselves as +skilful as they were successful, in cementing their influence by those +arts which were best calculated to inflame the prejudices of the vulgar +in their favour. + +It is the work of ages to wean men and nations from popular illusions, +and the deep-rooted opinions transmitted from sire to son: it cannot +therefore surprise us, that even when the intellectual energy of Greece +was signalizing itself by efforts which have commanded the admiration of +after ages, it should still remain a popular dogma in medicine "that +persons labouring under bodily infirmity, might be thrown into a state +of charmed torpor, in which, though destitute of any previous medical +knowledge, they would be enabled to ascertain the nature of their +malady, as well as of the diseases of others, and devise the means of +their cure." Upon this dogma was founded the mystery of incubations, or +the art of healing by visionary divination. + +It is not our object here to discuss whether a man can be capable of +divination: such a power, however, was assigned to him, not only by the +vulgar, but by the greater number of the philosophical sects of +antiquity; and it does appear to savour a little of temerity, that +Epicurus and the cynics should have ventured to reject a belief so +universally and strenuously maintained, and resting on an infinity of +traditions and accounts of prophets, in whom Greece had abounded from +her earliest times, and of whose divine gift of prophecy the firmest +conviction was currently entertained. Aeschylus, Plutarch, Apuleius, and +other Greek authors, bear ample testimony of this persuasion, and tell +us that by uncommon and irregular motions of the body intoxicating +vapours, or certain holy ejaculations, men might be thrown into an +enchanted trance; in which, being in a state between sleeping and +waking, they were unsusceptible of external impressions and obtaining a +glimpse of futurity, were gifted with the power of prophecy. Here their +allusion, however, only concerns the celebrated divinations of the +Pythia.[89] We must therefore, probe somewhat deeper, in order to +illustrate that species of divination which was the result of dreams, +and a source of divination on the nature of diseases and their remedies. + +This kind of superstition was in no less acceptation than the former +among the ancients, whose temples were constantly crowded with the sick, +and reverberated with their supplications for divinatory dreams, which +were regarded as an immediate gift from the gods. Indeed, the celestial +origin of dreams was universally admitted by the nations of antiquity, +and thence also their efficacy as oracles. Nothing could be more natural +than such an idea. From the crude and imperfect notions which long +prevailed with respect to the soul, it was scarcely possible for them to +ascribe the impressions, which their memory retained of the creation of +their fancy during their slumbers, to the instrumentality of their own +conceits; they could not fail therefore to impute them to the +interposition of some foreign agent, and to whom more naturally could +they refer them than to a divinity? When awake, they imagined themselves +always attended by the gods in person, and ascribed every thought, and +resolved every appearance or accident, which deviated from the common +course of nature, to the immediate influence of a superintending deity. +It was under such impressions that so many nations originally rested +their belief in divinatory dreams. The records of antiquity therefore +abound in instances (for the greater part of an early date) where the +actions of men have been the result of a dream, whose conceit was +entirely at variance with the real state of their affairs. It was not +long before the diversity of dreams awakened their attention: some were +connected and simple, others were obscure, and made up of curious +fancies, though not incapable of being resolved by the windings and +turnings of allegory. + +It was no unnatural transition from the received belief in dreams, to +the idea that they might become the medium of seeking instruction from +the gods: hence the institution of oracles, whose responses were given +in dreams; and the addition of sleeping chambers to many temples, such +as those in Epidaurus and at Oropos. Here it was, that after pious +ceremonies and prayers, men laid themselves down in expectation of +dreams; when the expectation was realized, though the dream proved ever +so confused or intricate, the dreamer always succeeded in reconciling +it to his circumstances: his own belief and priestly wiles, readily +effected the solution. The conceit of dreams, according to the votary's +wishes, was so powerfully promoted by the preparatory initiation he had +undergone, that it would have been somewhat extraordinary had he been +altogether disappointed. He was generally anxious to increase the fame +of his divinity by his dream, and possessed a high veneration and deep +impression of the miracles which that divinity had wrought. With these +predispositions he resorted to the temple, where he had a whole day +before him to ponder on his malady, and on every sort of remedy that +might have been suggested to him; how natural was it, therefore, for his +busy imagination to fix, in his sleep, upon one particular remedy more +forcibly than upon another? Add to this, the solemn lonely hour of night +was the appointed hour for his sleep, which was preceded by prayer and +other inspiring ceremonies, that would naturally elevate his devotion to +the highest pitch. He had also previously perambulated the temple, and +with a full heart surveyed the offerings of those whose sickness had +departed from them. + +If all these preparations were unavailing, the officiants of the temple +had still means in reserve, by which the credulous should be thrown into +that bodily state which was indispensable to the divinatory sleep: of +these, succeeding instances will be hereafter produced. In those days, +there were however, some men from whom the somniferous faculty was +withheld: they were, therefore, admonished to repeat their prayers and +oblations, in order to win the divinity's favour: and the ultimate and +customary resort was, if success did not crown his perseverance, to +pronounce it a token, that such patients were an eyesore to the +divinity. + +From this divinatory sleep, arose the vulgar expressions in Greece +[Greek: enkoimasdai], and [Greek: enkoimaesis][90] The latin terms are +_incubare_ and _incubatio_ an exact translation of the Greek words. It +appears, therefore, that the Romans and Greeks were equally acquainted +with the institution; though we find but very little mention made of it +by the Latin writers, yet this is no argument against its prevalence +among the Romans, as we are left with as scanty accounts of many other +superstitions which were in vogue amongst them. It is highly probable +that it was not by any means so popular in Rome as in Greece; and the +cause of this may, perhaps, be found in the reflecting disposition and +sober character of the haughty Roman, to which the light and volatile +temperament of the Grecian, formed so striking a contrast. + +That incubation was a ready means of diving into the future, needs no +demonstration. Although its practice was chiefly resorted to in cases +where medical aid was desired, it was still made use of in every other +case, in which the ancient oracles were consulted. Whether it arose in +Greece, or migrated thither from the East, is a point with which the +ancients have left us unacquainted, though they advert to its prevalence +amongst those who were called barbarians. Strabo has several instances +of it, and particularly mentions a place in the Caspian sea, where such +an oracle existed;[91] he also relates, in his celebrated account of +Moses, that this law-giver laid it down, in common with the priests of +Esculapius, that to those who led a chaste and virtuous life the deity +would vouchsafe prophetical visions in his sanctuary; but to those who +were of idle and impure habits, they would be denied.[92] + +Pomponius Mela even mentions a savage nation, in the interior of +Africa, who laid themselves down to sleep on the grave-stones of their +ancestors, and looked upon the dreams they had on those spots as oracles +from the dead.[93] We shall see, hereafter, that this superstition was +equally indigenous among the Egyptians. Although it be doubtful whether +the Greeks owed this species of divination to their own invention or +not, its existence may at least be traced as far as the earliest ages of +their history; notwithstanding no positive mention of it has been made +either by Homer or the authors following him. + +The oracular power of dreams, and the sanctuaries where they are +supposed to be dispersed, have been diffusely treated of in the +compilations of Van Dale and other learned writers. These species of +oracles were in high estimation, even in the most enlightened and +flourishing periods of Greece; it is somewhat singular, however, that no +people cherished them more devoutly than the Spartans, who depended +altogether upon oracles in their weightiest affairs of state. Of all the +civilized nations of Greece, Sparta always approved herself the most +superstitious; her advancement was rather the effect of her policy, than +of any stimulus given to her civilization by science. This consideration +will enable us to account for the powerful influence which, even in the +latest stages of Lacedemonian story, attached to the responses of +Passiphae, a local goddess of Thalame, but little known beyond the +confines of Laconia. The extent of their influence is particularly +evident in the history of Agis and Cleomenes.[94] + +The greater part of these somnambulistic oracles were ascribed to +persons who had distinguished themselves as great dreamers when on +earth. In old times there was a description of prophets who pretended to +prepare themselves for the foreboding of future events through the +medium of sacred dreams. They were classed under the appellation of +[Greek: Oneiroploi], to which rank the most celebrated Vates of the +heroic age belonged. In this way it was that a sacred spot was dedicated +to Calchus, whence he gave his responses in dreams after his decease: +this spot lay in Daunia, on the coast of the Adriatic. The supplicant's +offices began with the offering up of a ram, on whose skin he laid +himself down, and in this situation, received the instruction he sought +for.[95] Amphilocus, a contemporary soothsayer, who accompanied the +Epigoni in the first Theban war, had a similar oracle at Mallos, in +Cilicia, which Pausanias asserts, even at the close of the second +century, to have been the most credible of his age; it is also mentioned +by Dion Cassius, in his history of Commodus.[96] + +The most famous, however, of this class of oracles, was that of +Amphiaraus, the father of Amphilocus, which was one of the five +principal oracles of Greece; he had signalized himself as a sapient +soothsayer in the first Theban war; and his oracle was situated at +Oropos, on the borders of Boetia and Attica. Of all others this deserves +our most particular attention, as it was resorted to more frequently in +cases of infirmity and disease, than in any other circumstances. His +responses were always delivered in dreams, in whose interpretation, as +he was the first to possess that faculty. Pausanias says he received +divine honours. Those who repaired to Amphiaraus's oracle to supplicate +his aid, laid themselves down in the manner we have just related, after +several preparatory lustrations and sacrifices, on the skin of a ram +slain in honour of the god, and awaited the dreams, which were to +unfold the means of their different cures. + +Lustrations and sacrifices were not, however, the only preparatives for +inducing the visionary disposition. The priests subjected the patients +to various others, which Philostratus affirms[97] to have been very +instrumental towards rendering the sleeper's mind clear and unclouded. +Part of these preparatives consisted in one day's abstinence from +eating, and three, nay, even in some cases, fifteen days' abstinence +from wine, the common beverage of the Greeks. This was the practice also +with other oracles; nor were the priests in the meantime insensible to +their own interests on these occasions; for those who were cured by +Amphiaraus's revelations were permitted to bathe in the sacred waters of +a fountain, into which they were enjoined to cast pieces of gold and +silver, which were destined, most probably, to sweeten the labours of +his officiants. + +The oracles, whose intervention was principally or altogether sought for +the healing of the sick by means of divination founded on dreams, were +scattered over Greece, Italy, Egypt, and other countries. As regards +those of Egypt, it may be remarked, that although many of the Egyptians +believed there were thirty-six demons, or aerial deities, each of whom +had the care of a certain portion of the human frame, and when that +portion was diseased, would heal it on the patient's earnest prayer, yet +a variety of their oracles, such as those of Serapis, Isis, and Phthas, +the Hephaestos of the Greeks, appertained to the class, which is the +present object of our inquiry. + +The oracle Serapis was situated near Canopus; it was visited with the +highest veneration by the wealthiest and most illustrious Egyptians, and +contained ample records of miraculous cures which that god had performed +on sleepers.[98] Isis, it is said, effected similar cures in her +lifetime, whence it became her office, in her after state of +deification, to reveal in dreams the most efficacious remedies to the +sick. Indeed the healing powers of this goddess were such, that, as we +are told by Diodorus,[99] the remedies she prescribed never failed of +their effect, and that convalescents were daily seen returning from her +temple, many of whom had been abandoned as incurable by the physicians. + +The third oracle of the sick was consecrated to Phthas, and lay near +Memphis, but it is seldom mentioned by the ancients.[100] + +In Italy there existed two oracles, whose responses were imparted in +dreams, before the worship of Esculapius was introduced from Greece. One +of them only belongs to this place, that of the physician Podalirus, in +Daunia,[101] which is mentioned by Lycophron.[102] Subsequently it is well +known incubation was practised after the Grecian form in the Roman +temple of Aesculapius on the Insula Tiberina.[103] + +This description of oracles abounded throughout Greece; the most +memorable of which was that on the Asiatic coast, between Trattis and +Nyssa, which is more particularly described by Strabo than any other. +Not far from the town of Nyssa, says he, there is a place called +Charaka, where we find a grove and temple sacred to Pluto and +Proserpine, and close to the grove a subterraneous cave, of a most +extraordinary nature. It is related of it, that diseased persons, who +have faith in the remedies predicted by those deities, are accustomed to +resort to it and pass some time with experienced priests, who reside +near the cave. These priests lay themselves down to sleep in the cave, +and afterwards order such medicine as have been revealed to them there, +to be furnished to their patients in the temple. They frequently conduct +the sick themselves into the cave, where they remain for several days +together, without touching a morsel of food; nor are the profane +withheld from a participation in the _divinatory_ sleep, though this is +not permitted otherwise than under the controul, and with the sacred +sanction, of the priests. There is, however, nothing more surprising +about this place than that it is esteemed _noxious and fatal to the +healthy_.[104] This last remark of our geographer, proves how jealous the +priestly physicians were of their medical monopoly, and how fearful lest +the _saner_ part of mankind should detect and expose the pretended +virtues of their medical sanctuary. + +We have hitherto mentioned the name of Aesculapius but casually, though +there was no god of antiquity more celebrated for curing every species +of malady by the incubatory process. He was particularly designated by +the Greeks as "the sender of dreams," [Greek: Oneiropompon]; nor could +any other deity boast of so great a number of those oracles. The most +distinguished of these was the oracle of Epidaurus, in the Argivian +territory; from which spot his worship extended over a great proportion +of the old world;--hither, as being the place of his birth and the site +of his richest temple, crowds of sick persons constantly repaired in +quest of dreams. The success attending them was diligently set forth on +every wall of the temple; where the _tabulae votivae_ recorded the names +of those who had been healed, the nature of their maladies, and the cure +which the god prescribed. Similar circumstances are related of his +Temple at Triccae, in Thessaly, where Esculapius was held in great +veneration at a very early period; there appears also to have been +another such temple either at or near Athens,[105] where we must look for +the scene of the ridiculous cure which Aristophanes makes Aesculapius to +perform on the blind god of riches. Though there is undoubtedly a rich +vein of the burlesque in the Plutus of the Grecian dramatist, yet we may +gather much concerning our present subject from the scene in which the +slave, who had attended Plutus in the Temple, relates the whole process +of his master's wife. Here also the night was the chosen period of +incubation. Before the signal for sleep was given, the officiants of the +temple extinguished all the lights in the sick men's chamber; thus +involving them in a solemn stillness and obscurity highly favourable to +the work in hand, but in a particular manner to the subterfuge of the +priests, who enacted the nocturnal apparition of Aesculapius to his sick +client. + +This passage in Plutus is certainly the earliest circumstantial +relation we possess of the practice of this species of incubation.[106] +The license permitted to Grecian comedy was such as to authorise the +ridicule and contempt of the most popular deities; we are not, therefore +to conclude from the scenes that there were many unbelievers, or that +this ancient system of cure had sunk into disrepute: for the history of +our comedian's great contemporary, Hippocrates, informs us, that at this +very time the temple of Aesculapius at Cos abounded in tablets, on which +the sick attested the remedies that had been revealed to them during +incubation, and that he himself was highly indebted to them for much of +his medical knowledge. + +Were it not authenticated by the most undeniable testimonies, it would +appear incredible that the impostures of the disciples of Aesculapius, +and the common faith in his regenerative powers, should have survived +with equal potency and acceptation during the ages immediately +succeeding the Christian era. It must not however, be forgotten, that +these were the times also, when an infinity of superstitious of every +description disgraced the Roman world; although it would have appeared a +necessary consequence, that their prevalency should have been checked by +the increasing determination of learning and science. + +If at this period the number of dreaming patients had fallen off at Cos +and Epidaurus, the deficiency was amply compensated by the growing +popularity of Aesculapius's shrines at Rome, Pergamus, Alaea, Mallos, +and other places, where the ancient rituals were faithfully preserved. +The highest magistrates in the Roman states not only countenanced, but +patronised the superstition; Marcus Aurelius, by the friendship with +which he honoured the Paphlagonian imposter Alexander, and Caracalla, by +the journey he undertook to Pergamus, to obtain the cure of a disease +which inflicted him. This Alexander, the Cagliostro of his age, whose +memoirs have been handed down to us by Lucian, made shift to father a +new species of juggling upon the ancient process of incubation: for he +pretends that it was necessary for him to sleep for a night in the +sealed scrips which contain the queries he was to have resolved for +those who visited his oracle.[107] During this interval he dexterously +opened the scrips, and sealed them up again; pretending that the +responses which he delivered to the querists in the morning, had been +revealed to him by the deity in a dream. + +The priests of Aesculapius possessed a never failing source of +information on the recipes or votive tablets with which these temples +abounded. These were sometimes engraven on pillars, as at Epidaurus; of +which Pausanias says there were six remaining in his time, and besides +these, one in particular removed from the rest, on which it was recorded +that Hippolytus had sacrificed twenty horses, in return for his having +been restored to life by him. Five memorials only of this kind have +reached the present age. One of them is to be found in the beginning of +Galen's fifth book de Compos, medic.: it is taken from the temple of +Phthas, near Memphis, and is the least interesting of the whole. Its +subject is the use of the Diktamnus, borrowed from Heras of Cappadocia, +a medical writer, frequently quoted by Galen. The remaining four are +much more important: they were engraven on a marble slab,[108] of later +date at Rome, and are thought, with much probability, to have belonged +to the Aesculapian temple in the Insula Tiberina. The present +translation, in which some errors either of the artist or copyist are +rectified, is extracted from the first volume of Gruter's Corp. +Inscriptionum. The narrations are perspicuous and laconic. + +1. "In these latter days, a certain blind man, by name Caius, had this +oracle vouchsafed to him--'that he should draw near to the altar after +the manner of one who could see; then walk from right to left, lay the +five fingers of his right hand on the altar, then raise up his hand and +place it on his eyes.' And behold! the multitude saw the blind man open +his eyes, and they rejoiced, such splendid miracles should signalize the +reign of our Emperor Antoninus." + +2. "To Lucius, who was so wasted away by pains in his side, that all +doubted of his recovery, the god gave this response: 'Approach thou the +altar; take ashes from it, mix them up with wine and then lay thyself on +thy sore side.' And the man recovered, and openly returned thanks to the +god amidst the congratulations of the people." + +3. "To Julian who spitted blood, and was given over by every one, the +god granted this response: 'Draw near, take pine apples from off the +altar, and eat them with wine for three days. And the man got well, and +came and gave thanks in the presence of the people." + +4. "A blind soldier, Valerius Asper by name, received this answer from +the god: that he should mix the blood of a white cock with milk, make an +eye ointment therewith, and rub his eyes with it for three days. And lo! +the blind recovered his sight, and came, and publicly gave thanks to the +god." + +The success with which the Priests of Aesculapius carried on their +impostures, and the popularity which their dexterous management, no less +than the vulgar credulity obtained for them, will cease to surprise us +on maturer consideration. It could not be a difficult task for them to +give the minds of their patients whatever bias was best adapted to their +purposes. These credulous beings passed several days and nights in the +temple, and their imagination could not fail to be powerfully impressed +with what was diligently told them of the prescriptions and cures of +Aesculapius; nor to retain during their slumbers many lively impressions +of their meditations by day; their priestly nurses too were neither so +blind to their own interests, nor so careless of their reputations as to +omit the prescribing of such modes of diet and medical remedies as were +calculated to appease their patients' sufferings. Besides which, however +delusive and empirical their outward ceremonials and bold pretensions +might have been, we should remember, that priests, having some +acquaintance with the science of medicine, were generally selected to +officiate on those spots where the incubitary process[109] was the order +of the day. To this acquaintance were added the results of daily +experience, and the frequent opportunities which the incessant demands +of the infirm upon their skill afforded them of correcting previous +errors and improving their practical knowledge: of gradually +ascertaining the various kinds and appearances of human disorders; and +of digesting such data as would enable them, with the least possible +chance of failure, to prescribe the modes of cure and treatment suitable +to the various stages and species of the applicant's maladies. With such +means, it would have been not a little singular if the priests of +Aesculapius had failed in converting the popular veneration to his +credit and their own emolument. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[89] The Priestess of Apollo, by whom he delivered oracles. She was +called Pythia from the god himself, who was styled Apollo Pythius, from +his slaying the serpent Python. The Priestess was to be a pure virgin. +She sat on the covercle or lid of a brazen vessel, mounted on a tripod, +and thence, after a violent enthusiasm, she delivered his oracles; i.e. +she rehearsed a few ambiguous and obscure verses, which were taken for +oracles. + +[90] These words are but ill explained by the best Greek Lexicographers. +Servius ad Virg., Aen. vii. 88, says: _Incubare dicuntur proprie hic, +qui dormiunt accipienda responsa_. Tertullian de Anima, C. 49, thence +calls them _Incubatores fanorum_. + +[91] Lib. XI. p. 108. Paris, fol. 1620. + +[92] Ibid. lib. XVI. p. 761. + +[93] De situ orbis, lib. I. cap. 1. + +[94] Plutarch apud Agis et Cleomen. Cicero (de Div. 1. c. 48) probably +alludes to this oracle, when he says, that the Ephori of Sparta were +accustomed to sleep in the temple of Pasiphae on state emergencies. +There was a similar oracle in the neighbourhood of Thalame, not fur from +Aetylum, sacred to Ino. + +[95] Strabo, lib. VI. p, 284. + +[96] Pausanias, 1, 35. + +[97] De vita Apoll. Thyan, 11. 37. + +[98] Strabo, lib. xvii. p. 801. Anian. Exped. Alex, vii. 6. + +[99] In Egypt lib. I, 25. + +[100] Galen de comp. Med. p. Gen v. 2. + +[101] Podalirius and Machaon, the two sons of Esculapius. The state of +medicine at the time of the Trojan war was very imperfect, as we find +exemplified by these two acting as surgeons general to the Grecian army. +Their simple practice consisted chiefly in extracting darts or arrows, +in staunching blood by some infusion of bitter herbs, and sometimes they +added charms or incantations; which seemed to be a poetical way of +hinting, that frequently wounds were healed or diseases cured in a +manner unaccountable by any known properties they could discover either +in the effects of their rude remedies, or in the then known powers of +the human body to relieve itself. In Homer's description of the wound +which Ulysses, when young, received in his thigh from the tusk of an +enraged wild boar, the infusion of blood was stopped by divine +incantations and divine songs, and some sort of bandage which must have +acted by pressure. If any virtue could have acted as a charm, the very +verse that describes the wound might have as good a right to such a +claim as any other; but, in what manner the surgeons of ancient Greece, +before the discovery of the circulation of the blood, might apply +bandages for the purposes here mentioned, is not easily explained; +though doubtless these bandages must have acted like a tourniquet, which +is now the most effectual remedy for compressing a wounded artery, and +thereby stopping an hemorrhage. + +[102] Alexand. 1050. + +[103] Suet. Claid. c. 28. + +[104] Strabo. lib. xiii. Pausan. lib. ii. + +[105] Scholia ad Plut. v. 621 + +[106] Aristoph, Plut act. ii, sc. 6, and iii. sc 2. + +[107] Luciani, oper. t. ii. ed Reitzii. + +[108] It is often called by antiquaries _Tabella Marmorea apud +Maffaeos_, as it was first preserved in the collection. + +[109] It is somewhat singular, that Cicero's treatise on divination, as +well as the works of Hippocrates and Galen, should be so destitute of +information on the subject of a mode of cure which was of such long +standing, and so universally esteemed. From the two last, one should at +least have expected something more satisfactory: Cos being the +birthplace of the one, and Pergamus of the other. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +ON AMULETS, CHARMS, TALISMANS--PHILTERS, THEIR ORIGIN AND IMAGINARY +EFFICACY, ETC. + +Amulets are certain substances worn about the neck or other parts of the +body, under the superstitious impression of preventing diseases, of +curing, or removing them. + +The origin of amulets may be traced to the most remote ages of mankind. +In our researches to discover and fix the period when remedies were +first employed for the alleviation of bodily suffering, we are soon lost +in conjecture or involved in fable. We are unable, indeed, to reach the +period in any country, when the inhabitants were destitute of medical +resources, and even among the most uncultivated tribes we find medicine +cherished as a blessing and practised as an art. The feelings of the +sufferer, and the anxiety of those about him, must, in the rudest state +of society, have incited a spirit of industry and research to procure +ease, the modification of heat and cold, of moisture and dryness; and +the regulation and change of diet and habit, must intuitively have +suggested themselves for the relief of pain; and when these resources +failed, charms, amulets, and incantations, were the natural expedients +of the barbarians, ever more inclined to indulge the delusive hope of +superstition than to listen to the voice of sober reason. + +Traces of amulets may be discovered in very early history, though Dr. +Warburton is evidently in error when he fixes the origin of these +magical instruments to the age of the Ptolomies, which was not more than +three hundred years before Christ. This assertion is refuted by Galen, +who informs us the Egyptian King Nechepsus, who lived 630 years before +Christ, had written, that a green jasper cut into the form of a dragon +surrounded with rays, if applied externally, would strengthen the +stomach and organs of digestion. This opinion, moreover, is supported by +scripture: for what were the earrings which Jacob buried under the oak +of Sechem, as related in Genesis, but amulets. And Josephus in his +antiquities of the Jews,[110] informs us that Solomon discovered a plant +efficacious in the cure of epilepsy, and that he employed the aid of a +charm, for the purposes of assisting its virtues. The root of the herb +was concealed in a ring, which was applied to the nostrils of the +demoniac; and Josephus remarks that he saw himself a Jewish priest +practise the art of Solomon with complete success in the presence of the +Emperor Vespasian, his sons and the tribunes of the Roman army. From +this art of Solomon, exhibited through the medium of a ring or seal, we +have the Eastern stories which celebrate the seal of Solomon, and record +the potency of his sway over the various orders of demons or of genii, +who were supposed to be the invincible tormentors or benefactors of the +human race. + +Nor were such means confined to dark and barbarous ages. Theophrastus +pronounced Pericles to be insane in consequence of seeing him with an +amulet suspended from his neck. And in the declining era of the Roman +Empire, we find this superstitious custom so general that the Emperor +Caracalla was induced to make a public edict, ordering, that no man +should wear any superstitious amulets about his person. + +All remedies working as it were sympathetically, and plainly unequal to +the effect, may be termed amulets; whether used at a distance by another +person, or carried immediately about the patient. By the Jews, amulets +were called _kamea_, and by the Greeks _phylacteries_. The latins called +them _amuleta_ or _ligatura_; the catholics _agnus dei_, or consecrated +relics; and the natives of Guinea _fetishes_. Various kinds of +substances are employed by different people, and which they venerate and +suppose capable of preserving them from danger and infection, as well as +to remove disease when present. Plutarch says of Pericles, an Athenian +general, that when a friend come to see him, and inquired after his +health he reached out his hand and shewed him his amulet; by which he +meant to intimate the truth of his illness, and, at the same time, the +confidence he placed in these popular remedies. + +Amulets are still prevalent in catholic countries at the present day; +the Spaniards and Portuguese maintain their popularity. Among the Jews +they are equally venerated. Indeed, there are few instances of ancient +superstition some portion of which has not been preserved, and not +unfrequently have they been adopted by men of otherwise good +understanding, who plead in excuse, that they are innoxious, cost +little, and if they can do no good, they can do no harm. + +Lord Bacon, whom no one can suspect of ignorance, says, that if a man +wear a bone ring or a planet seal, strongly believing, by that means, +that he might obtain his mistress, and that it would preserve him unhurt +at sea, or in a battle, it would probably make him more active and less +timid; as the audacity they might inspire would conquer and bind weaker +minds in the execution of a peculiar duty. + + +AMULETS USED BY THE COMMON PEOPLE. + +A variety of things are worn about the person by the common people for +the cure of ague; and, upon whatever principle it may be accounted for, +whether by the imagination or a natural termination of the disease, many +have apparently been cured by them, where the Peruvian bark, the boasted +specific, had previously failed. Dr. Willis says that charms resisting +agues have often been applied to the wrist with success. ABRACADABRA, +written in a peculiar manner, that is, in the form of a cone, it is +said, has cured the ague; the herb lunaria, gathered by moon-light, has, +on some high authorities, performed surprising cures. Perhaps it was +gathered during the invocating influence of the following charm, which +may be found in the 12th book, chap. XIV. p. 177 of "Scot's discovery of +witchcraft," which is headed thus:-- + + "_Another charme that witches use at the gathering of + their medicinal herbs._" + + Haile be thou holy herbe, + Growing in the ground. + And in the mount Calvaire + First wert thou found. + Thou art good for many a sore, + And healest many a wound, + In the name of sweet Jesus + I take thee from the ground. + +We are told that Naaman was cured by dipping seven times in the river +Jordan. Certain formalities were also performed at the pool of Bethesda. +Dr. Chamberlayne's anodyne necklaces, were, for a length of time, +objects of the most anxious maternal solicitude, until their occult +virtues became lost by the reverence for them being destroyed; and those +which succeeded them have long since run their race or nearly so. + +The grey limewort was at one time supposed to have been a specific in +hydrophobia--that it not only cured those labouring under this disorder, +but by carrying it about the person, it was reputed to possess the +extraordinary power of preventing mad dogs from biting them. Calvert +paid devotions to St. Hubert for the recovery of his son, who was cured +by this means. The son also performed the necessary rites at the shrine, +and was cured not only of the hydrophobia "but of the worser phrensy +with which his father had instilled him." Cramp-rings were also used; +and eelskins to this day are tied round the legs as a preventive of this +spasmodic affection; and by laying sticks across the floor, on going to +bed, cramp has also been prevented. + +Numerous are the charms and incantations used at the present day for the +removal of warts, many cases of which are not a little surprising. And +we are told by Lord Verulam, who is allowed to have been as great a +genius as this country ever produced, that, when he was at Paris, he had +above a hundred warts on his hands; and that the English ambassador's +lady, then at court, and a woman far above superstition, removed them +all by only rubbing them with the fat side of the rind of a piece of +bacon, which they afterwards nailed to a post, with the fat side towards +the south. In five weeks, says my Lord, they were all removed. The +following are his Lordship's observations, in his own words, relative to +the power of amulets. After deep metaphysical observations on nature, +and arguing in mitigation of sorcery, witchcraft, and divination, +effects that far outstrip the belief in amulets, he observes "We should +not reject all of this kind, because it is not known how far those +contributing to superstition, depend on natural causes. Charms have not +the power from contract with evil spirits, but proceed wholly from +strengthening the imagination: in the same manner that images and their +influence, have prevailed on religion, being called from a different way +of use and application, sigils, incantations, and spells." + + +ECCENTRICITIES, CAPRICES, AND EFFECTS, OF THE IMAGINATION. + +A certain writer, apologizing for the irregularities of great genii, +delivers himself as follows: "The gifts of imagination bring the +heaviest task upon, the vigilance of reason; and to bear those faculties +with unerring rectitude or invariable propriety, requires a degree of +firmness and of cool attention, which does not always attend the higher +gifts of the mind. Yet, difficult as nature herself seems to have +reduced the task of regularity to genius, it is the supreme consolation +of dullness, to seize upon those excesses, which are the overflowings of +faculties they never enjoyed."[111] Are not the _gifts of imagination_ +mistaken here for the strength of passions? Doubtless, where strong +passions accompany great parts, as perhaps they often do, the +imagination may encrease their force and activity: but, where passions +are calm and gentle, imagination of itself should seem to have no +conflict but speculatively with reason. There, indeed, it wages an +eternal war; and, if not contracted and strictly regulated, it will +carry the patient into endless extravagancies. The term patient is here +properly used, because men, under the influence of imagination, are most +truly distempered. The degree of this distemper will be in proportion to +the prevalence of imagination over reason, and, according to this +proportion, amount to more or less of the whimsical; but when reason +shall become, as it were, extinct, and imagination govern alone, then +the distemper will be madness under the wildest and most fantastic +modes. Thus, one of those invalids, perhaps, shall be all sorrow for +having been most unjustly deprived of the crown; though his vocation, +poor man! be that of a school-master. Another, like Horace's madman, is +all joy; and it may seem even cruelty to cure him. + +The operations and caprices of the imagination are various and endless; +and, as they cannot be reduced to regularity or system, so it is highly +improbable that any certain method of cure should ever be found out for +them. It has generally been thought, that matter of fact might most +successfully be opposed to the delusions of imagination, as being proof +to the senses, and carrying conviction unavoidably to the understanding; +but we rather suspect, that the understanding or reasoning faculty, has +little to do in all these cases: at least so it should seem from the two +following facts, which are by no means badly attested. + +Fienus, in his curious little book, _de Viribus Imaginationis_, records +from Donatus the case of a man, who fancied his body encreased to such a +size, that he durst not attempt to pass through the door of his chamber. +The physician believing that nothing could more effectually cure this +error of imagination, than to shew that the thing could actually be +done, caused the patient to be thrust forcibly through it: who, struck +with horror, and falling suddenly into agonies, complained of being +crushed to pieces, and expired soon after.[112] + +The other case, as related by Van Swieten, in his commentaries upon +Boerhaave, is that of a learned man, who had studied, till be fancied +his legs to be of glass: in consequence of which he durst not attempt to +stir, but was constantly under anxiety about them. His maid bringing one +day some wood to the fire, threw it carelessly down; and was severely +reprimanded by her master, who was terrified not a little for his legs +of glass. The surly wench, out of all patience with his megrims, as she +called them, gave him a blow with a log upon the parts affected; which +so enraged him, that he instantly rose up, and from that moment +recovered the use of his legs.--Was reason concerned any more here; or +was it not rather one blind impulse acting against another? + +Imagination has, unquestionably, a most powerful effect upon the mind, +and in all these miraculous cures, is by far the strongest ingredient. +Dr. Strother says, "The influence of the mind and passions works upon +the mind and body in sensible operations like a medicine, and is of far +the greater force than exercise. The countenance betrays a good or +wicked intention; and that good or wicked intention will produce in +different persons a strength to encounter, or a weakness to yield to the +preponderating side." Dr. Brown says, "Our looks discover our passions, +there being mystically in our faces certain characters, which carry in +them the motto of our souls, and, therefore, probably work secret +effects in other parts." This idea is beautifully illustrated by Garth +in his Dispensatory, in the following lines:-- + + "Thus paler looks impetuous rage proclaim, + And chilly virgins redden into flame. + See envy oft transformed in wan disguise, + And mirth sits gay and smiling in the eyes, + Oft our complexions do the soul declare, + And tell what passions in the features are. + Hence 'tis we look the wond'rous cause to find, + How body acts upon impassive mind." + +On the power and pleasure of the imagination, from the pleasures and +pains it administers here below, Addison concludes that God, who knows +all the ways of afflicting us, may so transport us hereafter with such +beautiful and glorious visions, or torment us with such hideous and +ghastly spectres, as might even of themselves suffice to make up the +entire heaven or hell of any future being. + + +DOCTRINE OF EFFLUVIA--MIRACULOUS CURES BY MEANS OF CHARMS, AMULETS, +ETC. + +Dr. Willis, in his Treatise on nervous disorders, does not hesitate to +recommend amulets in epileptic disorders. "Take," says he, "some fresh +peony roots, cut them into square bits, and hang them round the neck, +changing them as often as they dry." It is not improbable that the hint +was taken from this circumstance for the anodyne necklaces, which, some +time ago, were in such repute, as the Doctor, some little way further +on, prescribes the same root for the looseness, fevers, and convulsions +of children, during the time of teething, mixed, to make it appear more +miraculous, with some elk's hoof. + +St. Vitus's dance is said to have been cured by the afflicted person +paying a visit to the tomb of the saint, near Ulm, every May. Indeed, +there is no little reason in this assertion; for exercise and change of +air will change many obstinate diseases. The bite of the tarantula is +cured by music; and this only by certain tunes. Turner, whose ideas are +so extravagantly absurd, where he asserts, that the symptoms of +hydrophobia may not appear for forty years after the bite of the dog, +and who maintains that "the slaver or breath of such a dog is +infectious;" and that men bitten by mad dogs, will bite like dogs again, +and die mad; although he laughs at the anodyne necklaces, argues much in +the same manner. It is not, indeed, so very strange that the effluvia +from external medicines entering our bodies, should effect such +considerable changes, when we see the efficient cause of apoplexy, +epilepsy, hysterics, plague, and a number of other disorders, consists, +as it were, in imperceptible vapours.--Blood-stone (Lapis Aetites) +fastened to the arm by some secret means, is said to prevent abortion. +Sydenham, in the iliac passion, orders a live kitten to be constantly +applied to the abdomen; others have used pigeons split alive, applied to +the soles of the feet, with success, in pestilential fevers and +convulsions. It was doubtless the impression that relief might be +obtained by external agents, that the court of king David advised him to +seek a young virgin, in order that a portion of the natural heat might +be communicated to his body, and give strength to the decay of nature. +"Take the heart and liver of the fish and make a smoke, and the devil +shall smell it and flee away." During the plague at Marseilles, which +Belort attributed to the larvae of worms infecting the saliva, food, and +chyle; and which, he says, "were hatched by the stomach, took their +passage into the blood, at a certain size, hindering the circulation, +affecting the juices and solid parts." He advised amulets of mercury to +be worn in bags suspended at the chest and nostrils, either as a +safeguard, or as means of cure; by which method, through the +_admissiveness_ of the pores, effluvia specially destructive of all +venomous insects, were received into the blood. "An illustrious prince," +Belort says, "by wearing such an amulet, escaped the small-pox." + +Clognini, an Italian physician, ordered two or three drachms of crude +mercury to be worn as a defensive against the jaundice; and also as a +preservative against the noxious vapours of inclement seasons: "It +breaks," he observes, "and conquers the different figured seeds of +pestilential distempers floating in the air; or else, mixing with the +air, kills them where hatched." By others, the power of mercury, in +these cases, has been ascribed to an elective faculty given out by the +warmth of the body, which draws out the contagious particles. For, +according to this entertained notion, all bodies are continually +emitting effluvia, more or less, around them, and some whether they are +internal or external. The Bath waters, for instance, change the colour +of silver in the pocket of those who use them. Mercury produces the same +effect; Tartar emetic, rubbed on the pit of the stomach, produces +vomiting. Yawning and laughing are infectious; so are fear and shame. +The sight of sour things, or even the idea of them, will set the teeth +on edge. Small-pox, itch, and other diseases, are contagious; if so, say +they, mercurial amulets bid fair to destroy the germ of some complaints +when used only as an external application, either by manual attrition, +or worn as an amulet. But medicated or not, all amulets are precarious +and uncertain, and in the cure of diseases are, by no means, to be +trusted to. + +The Barbary Moors, and generally throughout the Mahommedan dominions, +the people are strikingly attached to charms, to which, and nature, they +leave the cure of almost every disorder; and this is the most strongly +impressed upon them from their belief in predestination, which, +according to their creed, stipulates the evil a man is to suffer, as +well as the length of time it is ordained he should live upon the land +of his forefathers; consequently they imagine that any interference from +secondary means would avail them nothing, an opinion said to have been +entertained by William III, but one by no means calculated for nations, +liberty, and commerce; upon the principle that when the one was +entrenched upon, men would probably be more sudden in their revenge, and +dislike physic and occupation; and when actuated with religious +enthusiasm, nothing could stand them in any service. + +The opinion of an old navy surgeon,[113] on the subject, is worth +recording here. "A long and intense passion on one object, whether of +pride, love, fear, anger, or envy, we see have brought on some universal +tremors; on others, convulsions, madness, melancholy, consumption, +hectics, or such a chronical disorder as has wasted their flesh, or +their strength, as certainly as the taking in of any poisonous drugs +would have done. Anything frightful, sudden, or surprising, upon soft, +timorous natures, not only shews itself in the continuance, but produces +sometimes very troublesome consequences--for instance, a parliamentary +fright will make even grown men _bewray_ themselves, scare them out of +their wits, turn the hair grey. Surprise removes the hooping cough; +looking from precipices or seeing wheels turn swiftly will give +giddiness. Shall then these little accidents, or the passions, (from +caprice or humour, perhaps,) produce those effects, and not be able to +do anything by amulets? No; as the spirits, in many cases, resort in +plenty, we find where the fancy determines, giving joy and gladness to +the heart, strength and fleetness to the limbs, and violent +palpitations. To amulets, under strong imagination, is carried with more +force to a distempered part, and, under these circumstances, its natural +powers exert better to a discussion. + +"The cures compassed in this manner," says our author, "are not more +admirable than many of the distempers themselves. Who can apprehend by +what impenetrable method the bite of a mad dog, or tarantula, can +produce these symptoms? The touch of a torpedo numbness? If they are +allowed to do these, doubtless they may the other; and not by miracles, +which Spinoza denies the possibility of, but by natural and regular +causes, though inscrutable to us. The best way, therefore, in using +amulets, must be in squaring them to the imagination of patients: let +the newness and surprise exceed the invention, and keep up the humour by +a long scroll of cures and vouchers; by these and such means, many +distempers have been cured. Quacks again, according to their boldness +and way of addressing (velvet and infallibility particularly) command +success by striking the fancies of an audience. If a few, more sensible +than the rest, see the doctor's miscarriages, and are not easily gulled +at first sight, yet, when they see a man is never ashamed, in time, jump +in to his assistance." + +There is much truth and pertinence in some of the above remarks, and +they apply nearly to the general practice of the present day. The farces +and whims of people require often as much discrimination on the part of +the physician as the disease itself. Those who know best how to flatter +such caprices, are frequently the best paid for their trouble. Nervous +diseases are always in season, and it is here that some professional +dexterity is pardonable. Nature, when uninterrupted, will often do more +than art; but our inability upon all occasions to appreciate the efforts +of nature in the cure of diseases, must always render our notion, with +respect to the powers faith, liable to numerous errors and deceptions. +There is, in fact, nothing more natural, and at the same time more +erroneous, than to lay the cure of a disease to the door of the last +medicine that had been prescribed. By these means the advocates of +amulets and charms, have ever been enabled to appeal to the testimony of +what they are pleased to call experience in justification of their +pretensions, and egregious superstitions; and cases which, in truth, +ought to have been classed, or rather designated, as lucky escapes, have +been triumphantly pulled off as skilful cures; and thus, medicines and +medical practitioners, have alike received the meed of unmerited praise, +or the stigma of unjust censure. Of all branches of human science, +medicine is one of the most interesting to mankind: and, accordingly as +it is erroneously or judiciously cultivated, is evidently conducive to +the prejudice or welfare of the public. Of how great consequence is it, +then, that our endeavours should be exerted in stemming the propagation +of errors, whether arising from ignorance, or prompted by motives of +base cupidity, in giving assistance to the disseminations of useful +truths, and to the perfection of ingenious discoveries. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[110] Lib. viii. chap. 2. 5. + +[111] Langhorne's Life of Mr. Collins + +[112] Reverii Praxis Medica, p. 188. + +[113] John Ailkin, author of the Navy Surgeon, 1742. Sec Demonologia, p. +64 et seg. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +ON TALISMANS--SOME CURIOUS, NATURAL ONES, ETC. + +The Egyptian amulets are not so ancient as the Babylonian talismans, but +in their uses they were exactly similar. Some little figures, supposed +to have been intended as charms, have been found on several mummies, +which, at various times, have been brought to Europe. Plutarch informs +us that the soldiers wore rings, on which the representation of an +insect resembling our beetle, was inscribed; and we learn from Aelian, +that the judges had always suspended round their necks a small figure of +Truth formed of emeralds. The superstitious belief in the virtues of +talismans is yet far from being extinct, the Copths, the Arabians, the +Syrians, and, indeed, almost all the inhabitants of Asia, west of the +Ganges, whether Christians or mahometans, still use them against +possible evils. + +There is little distinction between talismans, amulets and the +gree-grees of the Africans as regards their pretended efficacy; though +there is some in their external configuration. Magical figures, engraven +or cut under superstitious observances of the characterisms and +configurations of the heavens, are called talismans; to which +astrologers, hermetical philosophers, and other adepts, attribute +wonderful virtues, particularly that of calling down celestial +influences.[114] + +The talismans of the Samothracians, so famous of old, were pieces of +iron formed into certain images, and set in rings. They were reputed as +preservatives against all kinds of evils. There were other talismans +taken from vegetables, and others from minerals. Three kinds of +talismans were usually distinguished 1st. the _astronomical_ known by +the signs or constellations of the heavens engraven upon them, with +other figures, and some unintelligible characters; 2nd. the _magical_, +bearing very extraordinary figures, with superstitious words and names +of angels unheard of; 3rd. the _mixt_ talismans, which consist of signs +and barbarous words; but without any superstitious ones, or names of +angels. + +It has been asserted and maintained by some Rabins, that the brazen +serpent raised by Moses in the wilderness, for the destruction of the +serpents that annoyed the Israelites, was properly a talisman. All the +miraculous things wrought by Apollonius Tyanaeus are attributed to the +virtue and influence of _talismans_; and that wizard, as he is called, +is even said to be the inventor of them. Some authors take several +Runic medals,--medals, at least, whose inscriptions are in the Runic +characters,--for talismans, it being notorious that the northern +nations, in their heathen state, were much devoted to them, M. Keder, +however has shown, that the medals here spoken of are quite other things +than talismans. + +It appears from the Evangelists[115] that, when St. Paul, after he had +been shipwrecked, and escaped to the island of Malta, a viper fastened +on his hand as he was laying a bundle of sticks, he had gathered, on the +fire; and that, by a miracle, and to the great astonishment of the +spectators, inhabitants of the island, he not only suffered no harm, but +also cured, by the divine power, the chief of the island, and a great +number of others, of very dangerous maladies. There remain still in that +island, as so many trophies gained by the Apostle over that venemous +beast, a great many small stones representing the eyes and tongues of +serpents, and considered for several centuries past, as powerful amulets +against different sorts of distempers and poisons. As the virtue of +these stones is still much boasted of by the Maltese, and as some, on +the contrary, maintain that they are the petrified teeth of a fish +called lamia, it will not be irrelevant here to relate some observations +from the best authors on this interesting subject, so much to our +purpose. + +It is said that those eyes and tongues of serpents are only found by the +Maltese when they dig into the earth, which is whitish throughout the +island, or draw up stone, especially about the cave of St. Paul. This +stone is so soft, that, like clay, it may be cut through with any sharp +instrument, and made to receive easily different figures, for building +the walls of their houses and ramparts; but, when it has been imbibed +with a sufficient quantity of rain or well water, it changes into a +flint that resists the cutting of the sharpest instrument: whence the +houses that are built of it in the two cities, appear as hewn out of one +solid rock, and become harder, the more they are exposed to the +inclemencies of the weather. This hardness may, with good reason, be +ascribed to the salt of nitre, which contracts a certain viscidity from +the rain wherewith it is mixed, and which easily penetrates into these +stones, because their substance is spongy and cretaceous, and adheres to +the tongue as hartshorn. + +It is in these stones that not only the eyes and tongues of serpents are +found, but also their viscera and other parts: as lungs, liver, heart, +spleen, ribs, and so resembling life, and with such natural colours, +that one may well doubt whether they are the work of nature or art; the +figure of the eyes and tongues is very different. Some are elliptic, +but, for the greater part round: some represent an hemisphere, others a +segment, others an hyperbola. The glossopetrae are naturally of a conic +figure, representing acute, obtuse, regular, and irregular cones. They +are also of different colours, especially the eyes; for some of them are +of an ash-colour, others liver colour, some brown, others blackish; but +these, as most rare, are most esteemed. Bracelets are frequently made +of them and set in gold: some representing an entire eye with a white +pupil, and these are the most beautiful. Several are likewise found of +an orange colour. + +The virtues attributed by the Maltese to those eyes and tongues, and to +the white earth which is found in the island, particularly in St. Paul's +cave, and which is kept for use by the apothecaries, as the American +bole, are very singular; for they reckon them not only a preservative +against all sorts of poison, and an efficacious remedy for those who +have taken poison, but also good in a number of diseases. They are taken +internally, infused in water, wine, or in any other convenient liquor; +or let to lie for some hours in vessels made of the white earth; or the +white earth is taken itself dissolved in those liquors. The eyes set as +precious stones in rings, and so as to touch immediately the flesh, are +worn by the inhabitants on the fingers; but the tongues are fastened +about the arm, or suspended from the neck. + +Paul Bucconi, a Sicilian nobleman, treated this notion of the eyes and +tongues of serpents as a mere vulgar error; and maintains that they +either constitute a particular species of stone produced in the earth, +or in the stones of the island of Malta, as in their matrix; or that +they are nothing more than the petrified teeth of some marine fish; +which is also the opinion of Fabius Columna, Nicholas Steno and other +physicians and anatomists. + +It seems to this noble author that the glossopetrae should be classed in +the animal kingdom, because, being burnt, they are changed into cinders +as bones, before they are reduced into a calx or ashes, whilst calcined +stones are immediately reduced into a calx. He further says, that the +roots of the glossopetrae are often found broken in different ways, +which is an evident argument that they have not been produced by nature, +in the place they are digged out of, because nature forms other fossils, +figured entirely in their matrix, without any hurt or mutilation. Add to +this, that the substance is different in different parts of the +glossopetrae; solid at the point, less solid at the root, compact at the +surface, porous and fibrous in the interior: besides, the polished +surface, contrary to the custom of nature, which forms no stone, whether +common or precious, is polished; and, lastly, the figure that varies +different ways, as well as the size, being found great, broad, +triangular, narrow, small, very small, pyramidal, straight, curved +before, behind, to the right and to the left, in form of a saw with +small teeth, furnished with great jags or notches, and frequently +absolutely pyramidal without notches; all these particulars favour his +opinion. But, as he thence believes he has proved that the glossopetrae +should not be classed amongst stones, so also what he has said may prove +that they are the natural teeth of those fishes, which are called, by +lithographers, lamia, aquila, requiem, (shark) etc. and therefore there +scarce remains any reason for a further doubt on this head. + +There are representations of curiosities, which we shall give an account +of from the Ephemerides of the Curious. It is customary to see at +Batavia, in the island of Java, the figure of serpents impressed on the +shells of eggs, Andrew Cleyerus, a naturalist of considerable note, +says, that when he was at Batavia in 1679, he had seen himself, on the +14th of September, an egg newly laid by a hen, of the ordinary size, but +representing very exactly, towards the summit of the other part of the +shell, the figure of a serpent and all its parts, not only the +lineaments of the serpent were marked on the surface, but the three +dimensions of the body were as sensible as if they had been engraved by +an able sculptor, or impressed on wax, plaister or some other like +matter. One could see very plainly the head, ears, and a cloven tongue +starting out of the throat; the eyes were sparkling and resplendent, and +represented so perfectly the interior and exterior of the parts of the +eye, with their natural colours, that they seemed to behold with +astonishment the eyes even of the spectators. To account for this +phenomenon, it may be supposed that, the hen being near laying, a +serpent presented itself to her sight, and that her imagination, struck +thereby, impressed the figure of the serpent on the egg that was ready +to press out of the ovarium. + +An egg equally wonderful, was laid by a hen at Rome on the 14th. of +December, 1680. The famous comet that appeared then on the head of +Andromeda, with other stars, were seen represented on its shell. +Sebastian Scheffer says, that he had seen an egg with the representation +of an eclipse on it. Signor Magliabecchi, in his letter to the academy +of the Curious, on the 20th. of October 1682, has these words; "Last +month I had sent me from Rome, a drawing of an egg found at Tivoli, with +the impression of the sun and the transparent comet with a twisted +tail." + +There are also representations of Indian nuts, or small cocos, with the +head of an ape. The nut has been exactly engraved in the Ephemerides of +the Curious, both as to size and form, and covered with its shell, as +expressed there by cyphers and other figures which represent the same +nut stripped of its covering, and exhibiting the head of an ape. This +nut seems pretty much like the foreign fruit described by Clusius, +Exoticorum lib. a, which John Bauhin (Hist. Plant. Universal Lib. 3) +retaining the description of Clusius, calls, "a nut resembling the +areca," and which C. Bauhin (Pinac. lib. II, sect. 6) calls, the fruit +of the fourteenth of Palm-tree, that bears nuts, or a foreign fruit of +the same sort as the areca. + +This fruit with its shell, is, as Clusius says, an inch and a half in +length, but is somewhat more than an inch thick. Its shell or +membraneous covering, is about the thickness of the blade of a knife, +and outwardly of an ash colour mixed with brown. Clusius was in the +right to say, that the shell of this nut was formed of several fibrous +parts, but those fibres resemble rather those of the shell of a coco, +than the fibrous parts of the back of the areca nut. He, moreover, has +very properly observed, that this shell is armed, at its lower part, +with a double calyx and that the opposite part terminates in a point; +but it is necessary to observe, that this point is not formed by the +prolongation of the shell, as the figure he has given of it seems to +specify; but that from the middle of the upper part of the fruit, there +juts out a sort of small needle. + +The shell being taken off, the nut is found to be hard, ligneous, +oblong, of unequal surface, furrowed, and of a chesnut yellow. One of +its extremities is roundish, and the other, by the reunion and +prolongation of three sorts of tubercles, terminates in a point; those +protuberances being so formed, that the middlemost placed between the +two others, has the appearance of a nose, and the two lateral +protuberances resemble flat lips. On each side of that which forms what +we call the nose, a small hole or nook is perceived, capable of +containing a pea; but does not penetrate deep, and is surrounded with +black filaments, sometimes like eye-brows and eyelashes, so that the nut +on that side resembles an ape or a hare. + +This _lusus naturae_, or sport of nature, has a very pretty effect, but +is oftener found in stones than other substances. A great variety of +such rare and singular productions of nature may be seen at the British +Museum: but nothing can be more extraordinary in this respect than what +is related concerning the agate of Pyrrhus, which represented, +naturally, Apollo holding a lyre, with the nine muses distinguished each +by their attributes. In all probability, there is great exaggeration in +this fact, for we see nothing of the kind that comes near this +perfection. However, it is said, that, at Pisa, in the church of St. +John, there is seen, on a stone, an old hermit perfectly painted by +nature, sitting near a rivulet, and holding a bell in his hand; and +that, in the temple of St. Sophia, at Constantinople, there is to be +seen, on a white sacred marble, an image of St. John the Baptist, +cloaked with a camel's skin, but so far defective that nature has given +him but one foot. + +There is an instance in the Mercury of France, for July 1730, of some +curious sports of nature on insects. The rector of St. James at Land, +within a league of Rennes, found in the month of March, 1730, in the +church-yard, a species of butterfly, about two inches long, and +half-an-inch broad, having on its head the figure of a death's-head, of +the length of one nail, and perfectly imitating those that are +represented on the church ornaments which are used for the office of the +dead. Two large wings were spotted like a pall, and the whole body +covered with a down, or black hair, diversified with black and yellow, +bearing some resemblance to yellow. + +These freaks of nature are equally extended to animate as to inanimate +bodies; and the human species, as well as the brute creation, affords +numerous specimens, not only of redundance and deficiency in her work, +but a variety of other phenomena not well understood. The march of +intellect, however, it is to be hoped, will be as successful in this +instance, as in obliterating the hobgoblins of astrologers and quacks +who so long have ruled the destiny and health of their less sagacious +fellow-creatures;--and when the public shall become persuaded of the +advantages which science may derive from occurrences similar to those we +shall enumerate in the next chapter, it will be more disposed to offer +them to the consideration of scientific men. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[114] The author of a book, entitled "_Talismans justifies_" pronounces +a talisman to be the seal, figure, character, or image of a heavenly +sign, constellation or planet, engraven on a sympathetic stone, or on a +metal corresponding to the star, etc. in order to receive its +influences. + +[115] Acts of the Apostles, chap. xxviii. v. 3. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +ON THE MEDICINAL POWERS ATTRIBUTED TO MUSIC BY THE ANCIENTS. + +The power of music over the human mind, as well as its influence on the +animal creation, has been variously attested; and its curative virtues +have been no less extolled by the ancients.[116] Martianus Capella assures +us, that fevers were removed by songs, and that Asclepiades cured +deafness by the sound of the trumpet. Wonderful indeed! that the same +noise which would occasion deafness in some, should be a specific for it +in others! It is making the viper cure its own bite. But, perhaps +Asclepiades was the inventor of the _acousticon_, or ear-trumpet, which +has been thought a modern discovery; or of the speaking-trumpet, which +is a kind of cure for distant deafness. These would be admirable proofs +of musical power![117] We have the testimony of Plutarch, and several +other ancient writers, that Thaletas the Cretan, delivered the +Lacedemonians from the pestilence by the sweetness of his lyre. + +Xenocrates, as Martianus Capella further informs us, employed the sound +of instruments in the cure of maniacs; and Apollonius Dyscolus, in his +fabulous history (Historia Commentitia) tells us, from Theophrastus's +Treatise upon Enthusiasm, that music is a sovereign remedy for a +dejection of spirits, and disordered mind; and that the sound of the +flute will cure epilepsy and the sciatic gout. Athenaeus quotes the same +passage from Theophrastus, with this additional circumstance, that, as +to the second of these disorders, to render the cure more certain, the +flute should play in the Phrygian mode. But Aulus Gellius, who mentions +this remedy, seems to administer it in a very different manner, by +prescribing to the flute-player a soft and gentle strain, _si modulis +lenibus_ says he, _tibicen incinet_: for the Phrygian mode was +remarkably vehement and furious. + +This is what Coelius Aurelianus calls _loca dolentia decantare_, +enchanting the disordered places. He even tells us how the enchantment +is brought about upon these occasions, in saying that the pain is +relieved by causing a vibration of the fibres of the afflicted part. +Galen speaks seriously of playing the flute on the suffering part, upon +the principle, we suppose, of a medicated vapour bath. + +The sound of the flute was likewise a specific for the bite of a viper, +according to Theophrastus and Democritus, whose authority Aulus Gellius +gives for his belief of the fact. But there is nothing more +extraordinary among the virtues attributed to music by the ancients, +than what Aristotle relates in its supposed power of softening the +rigour of punishment. The Tyrhenians, says he, never scourge their +slaves, but by the sound of flutes, looking upon it as an instance of +humanity to give some counterpoise to pain, and thinking by such a +diversion to lessen the sum total of the punishment. To this account may +be added a passage from Jul. Pallus, by which we learn, that in the +_triremes_, or vessels with three banks of oars, there was always a +_tibicen_, or flute-player, not only to mark the time, or cadence for +each stroke of the oar, but to sooth and cheer the rowers by the +sweetness of the melody. And from this custom Quintilian took occasion +to say, that music is the gift of nature, to enable us the more +patiently to support toil and labour.[118] + +These are the principal passages which antiquity furnishes, relative to +the medicinal effects of music; in considering which, reliance is placed +on the judgment of M. Burette, whose opinions will come with the more +weight, as he had not only long made the music of the ancients his +particular study, but was a physician by profession. This writer, in a +dissertation on the subject, has examined and discussed many of the +stories above related, concerning the effects of music in the cure of +diseases. He allows it to be possible, and even probable, that music, by +reiterated strokes and vibrations given to the nerves, fibres, and +animal spirits, may be of use in the cure of certain diseases; yet he by +no means supposes that the music of the ancients possessed this power in +a greater degree than the modern music, but rather that a very coarse +and vulgar music is as likely to operate effectually on such occasions +as the most refined and perfect. The savages of America pretend to +perform these cures by the music and jargon of their imperfect +instruments; and in Apulia, where the bite of the tarantula is pretended +to be cured by music, which excites a desire to dance, it is by an +ordinary tune, very coarsely performed.[119] + +Baglivi refines on the doctrine of effluvia, by ascribing his cures of +the bite of the tarantula to the peculiar undulation any instrument or +tune makes by its strokes in the air; which, vibrating upon the external +parts of the patient, is communicated to the whole nervous system, and +produces that happy alteration in the solids and fluids which so +effectually contributes to the cure. The contraction of the solids, he +says, impresses new mathematical motions and directions to the fluids; +in one or both of which is seated all distempers, and without any other +help than a continuance of faith, will alter their quality; a philosophy +as wonderful and intricate as the nature of the poison it is intended to +expel; but which, however, supplies this observation, that, if the +particles of sound can do so much, the effluvia of amulets may do more. + +Credulity must be very strong in those who believe it possible for music +to drive away the pestilence. Antiquity, however, as mentioned above, +relates that Thaletas, a famous lyric poet, contemporary with Solon, was +gifted with this power; but it is impossible to render the fact +credible, without qualifying it by several circumstances omitted in the +relation. In the first place, it is certain, that this poet was received +among the Lacedemonians during the plague, by command of an oracle: that +by virtue of this mission, all the poetry of the hymns which he sung, +must have consisted of prayers and supplications, in order to avert the +anger of the gods against the people, whom he exhorted to sacrifices, +expiations, purifications, and many other acts of devotion, which, +however superstitious, could not fail to agitate the minds of the +multitude, and to produce nearly the same effects as public fasts, and, +in catholic countries, processions, as at present, in times of danger, +by exalting the courage, and by animating hope. The disease having, +probably, reached its highest pitch of malignity when the musician +arrived, must afterwards have become less contagious by degrees; till, +at length, ceasing of itself, by the air wafting away the seeds of +infection, and recovering its former purity, the extirpation of the +disease was attributed by the people to the music of Thaletas, who had +been thought the sole mediator, to whom they owed their happy +deliverance. + +This is exactly what Plutarch means, who tells the story; and what Homer +meant, in attributing the curation of the plague among the Greeks, at +the siege of Troy, to music: + + With hymns divine the joyous banquet ends, + The Poeans lengthen'd till the sun descends: + The Greeks restor'd, the grateful notes prolong; + Apollo listens and approves the song.[120] + +For the poet in these lines seems only to say, that Apollo was rendered +favourable, and had delivered the Greeks from the scourge with which +they were attacked, in consequence of Chriseis having been restored to +her father, and of sacrifices and offerings. + +M. Burette thinks it easy to conceive, that music may be really +efficacious in relieving, if not in removing, the pains of sciatica; and +that independent of the greater or less skill of the musician. He +supposes this may be effected in two different ways: first, by +flattering the ear, and diverting the attention; and, secondly, by +occasioning oscillations and vibrations of the nerves, which may, +perhaps, give motions to the humours, and remove the obstructions which +occasion this disorder. In this manner the action of musical sounds +upon the fibres of the brain and animal spirits, may sometimes soften +and alleviate the sufferings of epileptics and lunatics, and calm even +the most violent fits of these two cruel disorders. And if antiquity +affords examples of this power, we can oppose to them some of the same +kind said to have been effected by music, not of the most exquisite +sort. For not only M. Burette, but many modern philosophers, physicians, +and anatomists, as well as ancient poets and historians, have believed, +that music has the power of affecting, not only the mind, but the +nervous system, in such a manner as will give a temporary relief in +certain diseases, and, at length, even operate a radical cure. + +In the Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences for 1707 and 1708, we meet +with many accounts of diseases, which, after having resisted and baffled +all the most efficacious remedies in common use, had, at length, given +way to the soft impressions of harmony. M. de Mairan, in the Memoirs of +the same Academy, 1737, reasons upon the medicinal powers of music in +the following manner:--"It is from the mechanical and involuntary +connexion between the organ of hearing, and the consonances excited in +the outward air, joined to the rapid communication of the vibrations of +this organ to the whole nervous system, that we owe the cure of +spasmodic disorders, and of fevers attended with a delirium and +convulsions, of which our Memoirs furnish many examples." + +The late learned Dr. Branchini, professor of physic at Udine, collected +all the passages preserved in ancient authors, relative to the medicinal +application of music, by Asclepiades; and it appears from this work that +it was used as a remedy by the ancient Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks, and +Romans, not only in acute, but chronical disorders. This writer gives +several cases within his own knowledge, in which music has been +efficacious; but the consideration as well as the honour of these, more +properly belong to _modern_ than to ancient music. + +Music, of all arts, gives the most universal pleasure, and pleases +longest and oftenest. Infants are charmed with the melody of sounds, and +old age is animated by enlivening notes. The Arcadian shepherds drew +pleasure from their reeds; the solitude of Achilles was cheered by his +lyre; the English peasant delights in his pipe and tabor; the +mellifluous notes of the flute solace many an idle hour; and the +charming of snakes and other venomous reptiles, by the power of music, +is well attested among the Indians. "Music and the sounds of +instruments," says Vigneul de Marville, "contribute to the health of the +body and mind; they assist the circulation of the blood, they dissipate +vapours, and open the vessels, so that the action of perspiration is +freer." The same author tells a story of a person of distinction, who +assured him, that once being suddenly seized with a violent illness, +instead of a consultation of physicians, he immediately called a band of +musicians, and their violins acted so well upon his inside, that his +bowels became perfectly in tune, and in a few hours were harmoniously +becalmed. + +Farinelli, the famous singer, was sent for to Madrid to try the effect +of his magical voice on the king of Spain. His Majesty was absorbed in +the deepest melancholy; nothing could excite an emotion in him; he lived +in a state of total oblivion of life; he sat in a darkened chamber, +entirely given up to the most distressing kind of madness. The +physicians at first ordered Farinelli to sing in an outer room; and for +the first day or two this was done, without producing any effect on the +royal patient. At length it was observed, that the king, awakening from +his stupor, seemed to listen; on the next day tears were seen starting +from his eyes: the day after he ordered the door of his chamber to be +left open, and at length the perturbed spirit entirely left our modern +Saul, and the _medicinal_ music of Farinelli effected what medicine +itself had denied. + +"After food," says Sir William Jones,[121] "when the operations of +digestion and absorption gives so much employment to the vessels, that a +temporary state of mental repose, especially in hot climates, must be +found essential to health, it seems reasonable to believe that a few +agreeable airs, either heard or played without effort, must have all the +good effects of sleep, and none of its disadvantages; putting, as Milton +says, '_the soul in tune_' for any subsequent exertion; an experiment +often made by myself. I have been assured by a credible witness, that +two wild antelopes often used to come from their woods to the place +where a more savage beast, Serajuddaulah, entertained himself with +concerts, and that they listened to the strains with the appearance of +pleasure, till the monster, in whose soul there was no music, shot one +of them to display his archery." A learned native told Sir William Jones +that he had frequently seen the most venomous snakes leave their holes +upon hearing tunes on a flute, which, as he supposed, gave them peculiar +delight. + +Of the surprising effects of music, the two following instances, with +which we shall close these remarks, are related in the history of the +Royal Academy of Society of Paris. + +A famous musician, and great composer was taken ill of a fever, which +assumed the continued form, with a gradual increase of the symptoms. On +the second day he fell into a very violent delirium, almost constantly +accompanied by cries, tears, terrors, and a perpetual watchfulness. The +third day of his delirium one of those natural instincts, which make, as +it is said, sick animals seek out for the herbs that are proper to their +case, set him upon desiring earnestly to hear a little concert in his +chamber. His physician could hardly be prevailed upon to consent to it. +On hearing the first modulations, the air of his countenance became +serene, his eyes sparkled with a joyful alacrity, his convulsions +absolutely ceased, he shed tears of pleasure, and was then possessed for +music with a sensibility he never before had, nor after, when he was +recovered. He had no fever during the whole concert, but, when it was +over, he relapsed into his former condition. + +The fever and delirium were always suspended during the concert, and +music was become so necessary to the patient, that at night he obliged a +female relation who sometimes sat up with him, to sing and even to +dance, and who, being much afflicted, was put to great difficulty to +gratify him. One night, among others, he had none but his nurse to +attend him, who could sing nothing better than some wretched country +ballads. He was satisfied to put up with that, and he even found some +benefit from it. At last ten days of music cured him entirely, without +other assistance than of being let blood in the foot, which was the +second bleeding that was prescribed for him, and was followed by a +copious evacuation. + +This account was communicated to the Academy by M. Dodart, who had it +well authenticated. + +The second instance of the extraordinary effect of music is related of a +dancing-master of Alais, in the province of Languedoc. Being once +over-fatigued in Carnival time by the exercise of his profession, he was +seized with a violent fever, and on the fourth or fifth day, fell into a +lethargy, which continued upon him for a considerable time. On +recovering he was attacked with a furious and mute delirium, wherein he +made continual efforts to jump out of bed, threatened, with a shaking +head and angry countenance, those who attended him, and even all that +were present; and he besides obstinately refused, though without +speaking a word, all the remedies that were presented to him. One of the +assistants bethought himself that music perhaps might compose a +disordered imagination. He accordingly proposed it to his physician, who +did not disapprove the thought, but feared with good reason the +ridicule of the execution which might still have been infinitely +greater, if the patient should happen to die under the operation of such +a remedy. + +A friend of the dancing master, who seemed to disregard the caution of +the physician, and who could play on the violin, seeing that of the +patient hanging up in the chamber, laid hold of it, and played directly +for him the air most familiar to him. He was cried out against more than +the patient who lay in bed, confined in a straight jacket; and some were +ready to make him desist; when the patient, immediately sitting up as a +man agreeably surprised, attempted to caper with his arms in unison with +the music; and on his arms being held, he evinced, by the motion of his +head, the pleasure he felt. Sensible, however, of the effects of the +violin, he was suffered by degrees to yield to the movement he was +desirous to perform,--when, strange as it may appear, his furious fits +abated. In short, in the space of a quarter of an hour, the patient fell +into a profound sleep, and a salutary crisis in the interim rescued him +from all danger. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[116] Dr. Burney's History of Music. + +[117] It has been asserted by several moderns, that deaf people can hear +best in a great noise; perhaps to prove that Greek noise could do +nothing which the modern cannot operate as effectually: and Dr. Willis +in particular tells us of a lady who could hear only while a drum was +beating, in so much that her husband, the account says, hired a drummer +as her servant, in order to enjoy the pleasures of her conversation. + +[118] Many of the ancients speak of music as a recipe for every kind of +malady, and it is probable that the Latin was _praecinere_, to charm +away pain, _incantare_ to enchant, and our own word _incantation_, came +from the medical use of song. + +[119] M. Burette, with Dr. Mead, Baglivi, and all the learned of their +time throughout Europe, seem to have entertained no doubt of this fact, +which, however, philosophical and curious enquirers have since found to +be built upon fraud and fallacy. Vide Serrao, _della Tarantula o vero +falangio di Puglia._ + +[120] Pope's translation of the Iliad, Book 1. + +[121] See a curious Dissertation on the musical modes of the Hindoos by +Sir W. Jones. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +PRESAGES, PRODIGES, PRESENTIMENTS, ETC. + +The common opinion of comets being the presages of evil is an old pagan +superstition, introduced and entertained among Christians by their +prejudice for antiquity; and which Mr. Bayle says is a remnant of pagan +superstition, conveyed from father to son, ever since the first +conversion from paganism; as well because it has taken deep root in the +minds of men, as because Christians, generally speaking, are as far gone +in the folly of finding presages in every thing, as infidels themselves. +It may be easily conceived how the pagans might be brought stedfastly to +believe that comets, eclipses, and thunderstorms, were the forerunners +of calamities, when man's strong inclination for the marvellous is +considered, and his insatiable curiosity for prying into future events, +or what is to come to pass. This desire of peeping into futurity, as has +already been shown, has given birth to a thousand different kinds of +divination, all alike whimsical and impertinent, which in the hands of +the more expert and cunning have been made most important and +mysterious tools. When any one has been rogue enough to think of making +a penny of the simplicity of his neighbours, and has had the ingenuity +to invent something to amuse, the pretended faculty of foretelling +things to come, has always been one of the readiest projects. From hence +always the assumption of judiciary astrology. Those who first began to +consult the motions of the heavens, had no other design in view, than +the enriching their minds with so noble a knowledge; and as they had +their genius bent on the pursuit of useful knowledge, they never dreamed +of converting astrology or a knowledge of the stars to the purpose of +picking the pockets of the credulous and ignorant, of whose blind side +advantage was taken by these sideral sages to turn them to account by +making them believe that the doctrine of the stars comprehended the +knowledge of all things that were, or are, or ever shall be; so that +every one, for his money, might come to them and have their fortune +told. + +The better to gull the world, the Star-gazers assert that the heavens +are the book in which God has written the destiny of all things; and +that it is only necessary to learn to read this book, which is simply +the construction of the stars, to be able to know the whole history of +what is to come to pass. Very learned men, Origen and Plotinus among the +rest, were let into the secret, and grew so fond of it, that the +former,[122] willing to support his opinion by something very solid, +catches at the authority of an Apocryphal book, ascribed to the +patriarch Joseph, where Jacob is introduced speaking to his twelve sons: +"I have read in the register of heaven what shall happen to you and your +children."[123] But comets were the staple commodity that turned +principally to account. In compliance, however, with the impressions of +fear which the strangeness and excessive length of these stars made upon +mankind, the Astrologers did not hesitate to pronounce them of a malign +tendency; and the more so when they found they had, by this means, made +themselves in some degree necessary, in consequence of the impatient +applications that were made to them as from the mouth of an oracle, what +particular disaster such and such a comet portended. + +Eclipses furnished more frequent occasions for the exercise of their +talent. From this worthy precedent of Judicial Astrology, others took +the hint and invented new modes of divination, such as Geomancy, +Chiromancy, Onomancy, and the like; till the world by degrees became so +overrun with superstition, that the least trifle was converted into a +presage or presentiment; and the more so when this kind of knowledge +became the business of religion; and when the substance of divine +worship consisted in the ordinances of Augurs who, to make themselves +necessary in the world, were obliged to keep up and quicken men's +apprehensions of the wrath of God, took special care to cultivate +comets, and bring it into a proverb, that "so many comets so many +calamities." They knew, as Livy expresses it, that it was best to fish +in troubled waters, where, speaking of a contagious distemper, which, +from the country villages, spread over the city, occasioned by an +extraordinary drought in the year of Rome 326, he observes how, at last, +it infected the mind,[124] by the management of those who lived in the +superstition of the people; so that nothing was to be seen or heard +except some new fangled ceremony or other in every corner. "The devil," +as Bayle says, "who had a hopeful game on't, and saw superstition the +surest way to get himself worshipped under the name of the false gods, +in a hundred various ways, all criminal and abominable in the sight of +the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth, never failed, on the appearance +of any rare meteor, or uncommon star, to exert his imposing arts, and +make idolaters believe, they were the signs of divine wrath, and that +they were all undone unless they appeased their gods by sacrifices of +men and brute beasts." + +Politicians have also lent a helping hand to give presages a reputation, +as an excellent scheme, either to intimidate the people, or to raise +their drooping spirits. Had the Roman soldiers been free thinkers, +Drusus, the son of Tiberius, had not been so fortunate as to quell a +desperate mutiny among the legions of Pannonia, who utterly refused to +obey his commands; but an eclipse, which critically intervened, broke +their refractory spirits to such a degree, that Drusus, who managed +their panic fear with great dexterity and address, did what he liked +with them. + +An eclipse of the moon put the army of Alexander the Great into such a +consternation, some days before the battle of Arbela, that the soldiers, +under the impression that heaven was against them, were very reluctant +to advance; and their devotion turning to downright disobedience, +Alexander commanded the Egyptian astrologers, who were the deepest +versed in the mystery of the stars, to give their opinions of this +eclipse in the presence of all the officers of his army. Without giving +themselves much trouble to explain the physical cause which it was their +interest to conceal from the people, the wise men declared that the sun +was on the side of the Grecians, and the moon for the Persians; and that +this planet was never in an eclipse, but it threatened them with some +mighty disaster: of this they quoted several ancient examples among the +kings of Persia, who, after an eclipse, had always found their gods +unpropitious in the day of battle. "Nothing," says Quintus Curtius,[125] +"is so effectual as superstition for keeping the vulgar under. Be they +ever so unruly and inconstant, if once their minds are possessed with +the vain visions of religion, they are all obedience to the soothsayer, +whatever becomes of the general." The answer of the Egyptian astrologers +being circulated among the soldiers, restored their confidence and their +courage. + +On another occasion Alexander, just before he passed the river +Granicus, observing the circumstance of time, which was the month +Desius, reckoned unfortunate to the Macedonians from all antiquity, it +made the soldiers melancholy; he immediately ordered this dangerous +month to be called by the name of that which preceded it, well knowing +what power and influence vain religious scruples have over little and +ignorant minds. He sent private orders to Aristander his chief +soothsayer, just offering up a sacrifice for a happy passage, to write +on the liver of the victim with a liquor prepared for that purpose, that +the gods had "granted the victory to Alexander." The notice of this +miracle filled the men with invincible ardour; and now they rent the air +with acclamations, exclaiming that the day was their own, since the gods +had vouchsafed them such plain demonstrations of their favour. The +history, indeed, of this mighty conqueror, affords more such examples of +artifice, though he always affected to conquer by mere dint of bravery. +But what is still more extraordinary, this very hero, who palmed so +often such tricks upon others, was himself caught in his turn, as being +well as exceedingly superstitious by fits. We say nothing of +Themistocles,[126] who, in the war between Xerxes and the Athenians, +despairing to prevail upon his countrymen by force of reasoning to quit +their city, and betake themselves to sea, set all the engines of +religion to work; forged oracles, and procured the priests to circulate +among the people, that Minerva had fled from Athens, and had taken the +way which led to the port. Philip of Macedon, whose talent lay in +conquering his enemies by good intelligence, purchased at any price, had +as many oracles at command as he pleased; and hence Demosthenes justly +suspecting too good an understanding between Philip and the Delphian +priestess, rallied her with so much acrimony upon her partiality to that +prince. It is equally obvious how the same reasons of state, which kept +up the popular superstition for other prodigies, should take care to +encourage it with regard to comets and other celestial appearances. + +Panegyrists have also done their parts to promote the superstition of +presages, as well as the flattering of poets and orators. When a hero is +to be found and extolled, they exclaim, that _all nature adores him; +that she exerts her utmost powers to serve him; that she mourns at his +misfortunes, promises him long before hand to the world; and when the +world, by its sins, is unworthy to possess him longer, heaven, which +calls him home, hangs out new lights, etc._ With this hyperbole M. +Balzac regaled Cardinal Richelieu, adding, that _to form such a +minister, universal nature was on the stretch; God gives him first by +promise, and makes him the expectation of ages_. For this he was +attacked by the critics, but he defended himself; alleging, that other +panegyrics had gone some notes higher: he, for example, among the +ancients, who said of certain great souls that _all the orders of heaven +were called together to fancy a fine destiny for them_, and that +illustrious nation who wrote that _the eternal mind was wrapt in deep +contemplation, and big with the vast design, when it conceived such a +genius as Cardinal Hippolito d'Este_. Why could not this same writer +have thought of one example more, such as that of the priest who told +the Emperor Constantine that _divine Providence, not content with +qualifying him for the empire of the world, had formed virtues in his +soul, which should entitle him to reign in heaven with his only son_. +Thus have flatterers seized the most surprising natural effects to +enhance their hero's glory, and make their court to great men. The poets +of the time of Augustus vied with each other in persuading the world +that the murder of Julius Caesar was the cause of all the prodigies that +followed. Horace, for instance, in one of his odes, attempts to prove +that the overflowings of rivers were reckoned among bad presages; and +pretends that the Tiber had not committed all those ravages, but in +complaisance to his wife Ilia, who was bent on the death of his kinsman +Caesar; and that all the other calamities which subsequently afflicted +or threatened the Roman empire, were the consequences of his +assassination. If Virgil may be credited,[127] the sun was so troubled at +the death of Caesar that it went into deep mourning, and so obscured his +beams, that the world was alarmed lest it never should appear again. In +the mean time, no sooner was the comet observed, which followed this +murder, than another set of flatterers pretended that it was Caesar's +soul received into the order of the Gods; and they dedicated a temple[128] +to the comet, and set up the image of Caesar with a star on his +forehead. + +It appears from the sermons of the ancient fathers, that the Christians +of that time believed they gave great relief to the moon in an eclipse, +by raising hideous shouts to the skies, which they imagined recovered +her out of her fainting fit, and without which she must inevitably have +expired. St. Ambrose, the author of the 215th sermon _de tempore_, bound +up with those of St. Austin, and St. Eloy, Bishop of Noyon, declaim +particularly against this abuse. It appears also from the Homilies of +St. Chrysostom, St. Basil, St. Austin, and others, that the Christians +of their days drew several kinds of presages from persons sneezing at +critical times; from meeting a cat, a dog, or an ill-looking (squinting) +woman, a maiden, one blind of an eye, or a cripple; on being caught by +the cloak on stepping out of a door, or from a sudden catch in one's +joint or limb. + +St. Eloy tells his people plainly, that whoever pays attention to what +he meets at his first going out or coming in, or to any particular +voice, or to the chirping of a bird, is so far a Pagan. Indeed, all +these, and innumerable others of the same description of superstitious +among Christians, are remnants of ancient paganism; as they have been +denounced by the censures of popes, provincial councils, synodical +decrees, and other grave authorities. And, though there were not such a +cloud of witnesses, there would be no difficulty in proving the disease +of pagan origin. For, independent of those who preached the gospel of +our Saviour, having never promulgated such notions, we learn from +several ancient authorities, that the Gentiles had all these +superstitions in the highest regard. It was one general opinion among +them, that the eclipses of the moon were the consequence of certain +magic words by which sorcerers could wrench her from the skies, and drag +her near enough the earth to cast a frothy spittle on their herbs--one +of the principal ingredients in their incantations. To rescue the moon +from the supposed torture she was in, and to frustrate the charm, it was +necessary to prevent her from hearing the magic words, by drowning in +noise and hideous outcries, for which purpose the people used to +assemble during an eclipse of the moon with _rough_ music, such as +frying pans, brazen vessels, old tin kettles, etc. According to Pietro +della Voile, the Persians keep up the same ridiculous ceremony to this +day. It is likewise, according to Tavernier, observed in the kingdom of +Tunquin, where they imagine the moon to be, at that time, struggling +with a dragon. It is to the same source that we owe the imaginary raging +heat of the dog-star--the pretended presages of several evils ascribed +to eclipses, and all the allusions of astrology. + +In a treatise written by Abogard, Bishop of Lyons, in 833, composed to +undeceive a world of people, who were persuaded that there were +enchanters who could command thunder, and hail, and tempest, to destroy +the fruits of the earth; and that they drove a great trade by this +mystery with the people of a certain country called Magonia, who came +once a year, sailing in large fleets through the air, to freight with +the blighted corn, for which they paid down ready money to the +enchanters. So little was this matter doubted, that one day the bishop +had enough to do to save three men and a woman from being stoned to +death, the people insisting they had just fallen overboard from one of +these aerial ships. + +We do not here examine whether, in those days, the people literally were +more superstitious and credulous than in the days of paganism. It is +enough to say, that they were of very easy belief; and hence men began +to write their histories in the style of romance, mixing up a thousand +fables with the deeds of great men, such as Roland, nephew to +Charlemagne; which so suited the taste of the age, that no book would +afterwards go down in any other style--witness, for instance, the Manual +of Devotions by James de Voragine, archbishop of Genoa, composed towards +the latter end of the thirteenth century; and in which Melchior Canus, a +learned Spanish bishop, is so scandalized in his eleventh book of Common +Places. Another doctor of divinity,[129] speaking of the depraved state of +the times, says, "It was the error, or rather folly, of some of the +ancients, to think, that in writing the actions of illustrious men, the +style must sink, unless they mixed up with it the ornaments, for so they +called them, of poetical fiction, or something of this sort; and, +consequently, thus blended truth with fable." This being the prevailing +fashion of the times, we are inclined to believe, that in the histories +of the crusades, many apocryphal subjects are introduced, which ought, +consequently, to be read _cum grano salis_. This is decidedly the +opinion of Pere Maimbourg,[130] who, after the relation of the battle of +Iconium, won by Frederick of Barbarossa, 1190, says, "What was chiefly +wonderful after this battle, was the conqueror's sustaining little or no +loss, which most people ascribed to the particular protection of St. +Victor and St. George, names oftenest invoked in the Christian army, +which many of them said they saw engaging at the head of the squadrons. +Whether in reality there might be something in it extraordinary, which +has often happened, as the Scriptures inform us; or whether, by often +hearing of celestial squadrons appearing at the battle of Antioch in the +first crusade, warm imaginations possessed with the belief, and +penetrated with these ideas, formed new apparitions of their own, but +sure it is, that one Louie Helfenstein, a gentleman of reputation, and +far from a visionary, affirmed to the emperor, on his oath, and on the +vow of a pilgrim devoted to the holy sepulchre and the crusade, that _he +often saw St. George charge at the head of the squadrons, and put the +enemy to flight_; which was afterwards confirmed by the Turks +themselves, owning that they saw some troops in white charge in the +first ranks in the Christian army, though there were really none of that +livery. No one, I know, is bound (continues P. Maimbourg) to believe +visions of this kind, subject for the most part to notorious illusion: +but I know too, that an historian is not of his own authority, to reject +them, especially when supported by such remarkable testimony. + +"And though he be at liberty to believe or not, yet he has no regret, by +suppressing them, to deprive the reader of his liberty, when he meets +with passages of this kind, of judging as he thinks fit." This +reflection (says Bayle) from so celebrated an historian, not suspected +of favouring the Hugonot incredulity, is a strong presumption on my +side. + +The abuse of presentiments has been carried to the very Scriptures. We +are told, that the manner of Tamerlane giving his blessing to his two +sons, by bowing down the head of the elder, and chucking the youngest +under the chin, was a presage of the elevation of the latter in +prejudice to the former, was grounded on the 48th chapter of Genesis, +where Jacob is represented laying his right hand on the head of the +younger, forseeing by inspiration that he would be the greater of the +two. Meanwhile there is a difference between the two benedictions. The +Tartar, wholly destitute of the knowledge of future events, did not +diversify the motion of his hands, on purpose to establish a presage; +and God never vouchsafing this knowledge to infidels, did not guide his +hands in a particular manner to form a presage of what should befal his +children;--whereas Jacob, on the contrary, filled with the spirit of +prophecy, whereby he saw the fortunes of his children, directed his +words and actions according to this knowledge; by which means both +became presages. + +Presages, presentiments, and prodigies, might be multiplied ad +infinitum. Whoever reads the Roman historians will be surprised at their +number, and which frequently filled the people with the most dreadful +apprehensions. It must be confessed, that some of these seem altogether +supernatural; while much the greater part only consist of some of the +uncommon productions of nature, which superstition always attributed to +a superior cause, and represented as the prognostications of some +impending misfortunes. Of this class may be reckoned the appearance of +two suns;[131] the nights illuminated by rays of light; the views of +fighting armies; swords and spears darting through the air; showers of +milk, of blood, of stones, of ashes, or of fire; and the birth of +monsters, of children, or of beasts who had two heads; or of infants who +had some feature resembling those of the brute creation. These were all +dreadful prodigies which filled the people with inexpressible +astonishment, and the whole Roman empire with an extreme perplexity; and +whatever unhappy event followed, repentance was sure to be either caused +or predicted by them. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[122] Euseb. Praep. Evang. l. 6. c. 9. + +[123] Legi in tabulis coeli quaecunque contingent vobis et Feliis +vestris. + +[124] Nec corpora modo affecta tabo, sed animos quoque multiplex +religio, et pleraque externa invasit, novos ritus sacrificando +vaticinandoque, inferentibus in domos, quibus quaestui sunt capti +superstitione animi. L. 4, dec. 1. + +[125] Tacit, Annal. lib. 1, et ib. 4, cap. 10. + +[126] Plutarch in his life. + +[127] Georg. l. 1. + +[128] Suetonius in vita Caesaris. + +[129] Petseus, in Galfredo Monimetensi. + +[130] Hist. Crusade, l. 5. + +[131] Nothing is more easy than to account for these productions, which +have no relation to any events, no more than comets, that may happen to +follow them. The appearance of two suns has frequently happened in +England, as well as in other places, and is only caused by the clouds +being placed in such a situation as to reflect the image of that +luminary; nocturnal fires, inflamed spears, fighting armies, were no +more than what we call aurora borealis, northern lights, or inflamed +vapours floating in the air; showers of stones, of ashes, or of fire, +were no other than the effects of the eruptions of some volcano at a +considerable distance. Showers of milk were only caused by some quality +in the air condensing and giving a whitish colour to the water, etc. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +PHENOMENA OF METEORS, OPTIC DELUSIONS, SPECTRA, ETC. + +The meteors known to the ancients were called [Greek: Lampdes Pithoi] +Bolides, Faces, Globi, etc. from particular differences in their shape +and appearance, and sometimes under the general term of comets. In the +Philosophical Transactions, they are called, indiscriminately, +fire-balls, or fiery meteors; and names of similar import have been +applied to them in the different languages of Europe. The most material +circumstances observed of such meteors may be brought under the +following heads: 1. Their general appearance. 2. Their path. 3. Their +shape or figure. 4. Their light and colour. 5. Their height. 6. The +noise with which they are accompanied. 7. Their fire. 8. Duration, 9. +Their velocity. Under these different heads meteors have been +investigated by the scrutinizing of philosophy, and many superstitious +notions, long entertained concerning them, entirely exploded. Meteoric +phenomena, it has been demonstrated, all proceed from one common +cause--irregularity in the density of the atmosphere. When the +atmospheric fluid is homogenous and of equal density, the rays of light +pass without obstruction or alteration in their shape or direction; but +when they enter from a rarer into a denser medium, they are refracted or +bent out of their course; and this with greater or less effect according +to the different degrees of density in the media, or the deviation of +the ray from the perpendicular. If the second medium be very dense in +proportion, the ray will be both refracted and reflected; and the object +from which it proceeds, will assume a variety of grotesque and +extraordinary shapes, and it will sometimes appear as in a reflection +from a concave mirror, dilated in size, and changed in situation. + +The following striking effects are known to proceed from this simple +cause. + +The first is the mirage, seen in the desert of Africa. M. Monge, a +member of the National Institute, accompanied the French army into +Egypt. In the desert, between Alexandria and Cairo, the mirage of the +blue sky was inverted, and so mingled with the sand below, as to impart +to the desolate and arid wilderness an appearance of the most rich and +beautiful country. They saw, in all directions, green islands, +surrounded with extensive lakes of pure and transparent water. Nothing +could be conceived more lovely and picturesque than this landscape. On +the tranquil surface of the lakes, the trees and houses, with which the +islands were covered, were strongly reflected with vivid hues, and the +party hastened forward to enjoy the cool refreshments of shade and +stream, which these populous villages preferred to them. When they +arrived, the lake, on whose bosom they floated, the trees, among whose +foliage they were embowered, and the people who stood on the shore +inviting their approach, had all vanished, and nothing remained but an +uniform and irksome desert of sand and sky, with a few naked huts and +ragged shrubs. Had they not been undeceived by their nearer approach, +there was not a man in the French army who would not have sworn, that +the visionary trees and lakes had a real existence in the midst of the +desert. + +The same appearance precisely was observed by Dr. Clarke at Raschid, or +Rosetta. The city seemed surrounded by a beautiful sheet of water, and +so certain was his Greek interpreter, who was acquainted with the +country, of this fact, that he was quite indignant at an Arab, who +attempted to explain to him, that it was a mere optical delusion. At +length, they reached Rosetta in about two hours, without meeting any +water; and, on looking back on the sand they had just crossed, it seemed +to them, as if they had just waded through a vast blue lake. + +A similar deception takes place in northern climates. Cities, +battlements, houses, and all the accompaniments of populous places, are +seen in desolate regions, where life goes out, and where human foot has +never trod. When approached they vanish, and nothing remains but a +rugged rock, or a misshapen iceberg. + +Captain Scoresby, in his voyage to the arctic regions, on the coast of +East Greenland, constantly saw those visionary cities, and gives some +highly curious plates of the appearances they presented. They resembled +the real cities seen on the coast of Holland, where towers, and +battlements, and spires, "bosomed high in tufted trees," rise on the +level horizon, and are seen floating on the surface of the sea. Among +the optic deceptions noticed by Captain Scoresby, was one of a very +singular nature. His ship had been separated by the ice, from that of +his father for some time; and he was looking for her every day, with +great anxiety. At length, one evening, to his utter astonishment, he saw +her suspended in the air in an inverted position, traced on the horizon +in the clearest colours, and with the most distinct and perfect +representation. He sailed in the direction in which he saw this +visionary phenomenon, and actually found his father's vessel by its +indication. He was divided from him by immense masses of icebergs, and +at such a distance that it was quite impossible to have seen the ship in +her actual situation, or seen her at all, if her spectrum, or image, had +not been thus raised several degrees above the horizon into the sky, by +this most extraordinary refraction, in the same manner as the sun is +often seen, after he is known to have set, and actually sunk far below +the line of direct vision. + +The _Fata Morgana_ are further illustrations of this optic delusion. +This phenomenon is seen at the Pharo of Messina, in Sicily, under +certain circumstances. The spectator must stand with his back to the +east, on an elevated place behind the city, commanding a view of the +bay, and having the mountains, like a wall, opposite to him, to darken +the back ground of the picture; no wind must be abroad to ruffle the +surface of the sea; and the waters must be pressed up by currents, as +they sometimes are, to a considerable height in the middle of the +strait, and present a slight convex surface. When all these +circumstances occur, as soon as the sun rises over the heights of the +Calabrian shore, and makes an angle of 45 degrees with the horizon, all +the objects on the shore at Reggio are transferred to the middle of the +strait, and seen distinctly on the surface of the water, forming an +immoveable landscape of rocks, trees, and houses, and a moveable one of +men, horses, and cattle; these are formed into a thousand separate +compartments, presenting most beautiful and ever varying pictures of +animate and inanimate nature, on the swelling surface of the water, +broken by the currents, present separate plates of convex mirrors to +reflect them; they then as suddenly disappear, as the broad aquatic +mirror of the current passes on. + +Sometimes the atmosphere is so dense that the objects are seen, like +Captain Scoresby's ship, snatched up into the regions of the air, thirty +or forty feet above the level of the sea; and in cloudy weather, nearer +to the surface, bordered with vivid prismatic colours. Sometimes +colonades of temples and churches, with cross-crowned spires, are all +represented as floating on the sea, and by a sudden change of +representation, the pillars are curved into arcades, and the crosses are +bent into crescents, and all the edifices of the floating city undergo +the most extraordinary and fantastic mutations. All these images are so +distinct, and produce objects seemingly as palpable as they are visible, +as sensible to touch as to sight, that the people of the country are +firmly persuaded of their reality. They consider the edifices as the +enchanted palaces of the fairy Morgana, and the moving objects as living +things which inhabit them. Whenever the optic phenomenon occurs, they +meet together in crowds, with an intense curiosity, mixed with awe and +apprehension, which is not removed by an acquaintance with those natural +causes, by which Mr. Swinburn and other foreign travellers, who have +witnessed the scene, are able to account for it. + +The lakes of Ireland are equally susceptible of producing those vivid +delusions, and the imagination of the people, as lively as that of the +Sicilians, clothes them with an equal reality. There is scarcely a loch +in that country, in which the remains of cities have not been at various +times discovered; and many men have been met with who would solemnly +swear they saw, and who no doubt did see, representations of them in +certain states of the atmosphere. The most celebrated is that which +occurs on the lake of Killarney. This romantic sheet of water is bounded +on one side by a semi-circle of rugged mountains, and on the other by a +flat morass, and the vapour generated in the mass, and broken by the +mountains, continually represent the most fantastic objects; and often +those on shore are transferred to the water, like the Fata Morgana. + +Many of the rocks are distinguished for their marked and lengthened +echoes, and the structure, which in acoustics reflects sounds to the +ear, from a point from whence they did not come, reflects images on the +eye, from a place very different from where the objects stood which +produced them. Frequently men riding along shore, are seen as if they +were moving across the lake, and this has given rise to the story of +O'Donougho. This celebrated chieftain was, according to the tradition of +the country, endued with the gift of magic; and, on one occasion, his +lady requested him to change his shape, that she might see a proof of +it. He complied, on condition that she would not be terrified, as such +an effect on her must prove fatal to him. Her mind failed her, however, +in the experiment, and at the sight of some horrible figure he assumed, +she shrieked, and he disappeared through the window of his castle, which +overhung the lake. From that time he continues an enchanted being, +condemned to ride a horse, shod with silver, over the surface of the +lake, till his horse's shoes are worn out. On every May morning he is +visible, and crowds assemble on the shore to see him. Many affirm they +have seen him; and one person relates many particulars of his +apparition, that the deception must have proceeded from some real +object, a man riding along shore, and transferred to the middle of the +water, by the optic delusion of the Fata Morgana. + +But perhaps the most wonderful, and apparently preternatural effect +arising from this cause, is the _spectre of the Hartz Mountains_ in +Hanover. There is one particular hill, called the Brocken, in which he +appears, terrifying the credulous, and gratifying the curious to a very +high degree. The most distinct and interesting account is given by Mr. +Hawe, who himself was a witness to it. He had climbed to the top of the +mountain thirty times, and had been disappointed, but he persevered, and +was at length highly gratified. The sun rose about four o'clock in a +serene sky, free from clouds, and its rays passed without obstruction, +over another mountain, called the Heinschoe. About a quarter past five +he looked round to see if the sky was clear, and if there was any chance +of his witnessing what he so ardently wished, when suddenly he saw the +Achtermanshoe, a human figure of monstrous size turned towards him, and +glaring at him. While gazing on this gigantic spectre with wonder mixed +with an irrepressible feeling of awe and apprehension, a sudden gust of +wind nearly carried off his own hat, and he clapped his hand to his head +to detain it, when to his great delight the colossal spectre did the +same. He then changed his body into a variety of attitudes, all which +the figure exactly imitated, but at length suddenly vanished without any +apparent cause, and again as suddenly appeared. He called the landlord +of the inn, who had accompanied him, to stand beside him, and in a +little time two correspondent figures, of dilated size, appeared on the +opposite mountain. They saluted them in various ways by different +movements of their bodies, all which the giants returned with perfect +politeness, and then vanished. A traveller now joined Mr. Hawe and the +innkeeper, and they kept steadily looking for their aerial friends, when +they suddenly appeared again three in number, who all performed exactly +the same movements as their correspondent spectators. Having continued +thus for some time, appearing and disappearing alternately, sometimes +faintly, and sometimes more distinct, they at length faded away not +again to return. They proved, however, that the preternatural spectre, +which had so long filled the country with awe and terror, was no unreal +being, still less an existence whose appearance suspended the ordinary +laws of God and Nature; that, on the contrary, it was the simple +production of a common cause, exhibited in an unusual manner, but as +regular an effect, and as easy to be accounted for, as the reflection of +a face in a looking glass. + +This constitution of the atmosphere, and its capability of dilating +objects, and altering their position by reflection and refraction, will +easily account for many phenomena which have been considered miraculous +and preternatural in early ages, by the ignorant; and in our own, by the +weak and superstitious. Such was probably the origin of the crosses seen +by Constantine and Constantius in the first ages of Christianity, and +such was that of the cross which appeared in the sky in France, to which +so many bore attestation. A large cross of wood, painted red, had been +erected beside the church, as a part of the ceremony they were +performing. In the winter, when the air is most frequently condensed by +cold, and its different strata of various degrees of tenacity, on a +clear evening after rain, when particles of humidity, still floating in +the air gives it greater power of reflection and refraction, when the +sun was setting, and his horizontal beams found most favourable to +produce meteoric phenomena, the spectrum of this wooden cross was cast +on the concave surface of some atmospheric mirror, and so reflected +back to the eyes of the spectators from an opposite place, retaining +exactly the same shape and proportions, but dilated in size, and changed +in position; and it was moreover tinged with red, the very colour of the +object of which it was the reflected image. This delusive appearance +continued till the sun was so far sunk below the horizon, as to afford +no more light to illumine the object, and the image ceased when the rays +were no longer distinctly reflected. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +ELUCIDATION OF SOME ANCIENT PRODIGIES. + +Many of the prodigies recorded by the ancients, admit of a natural +explanation; and an attentive examination will show that a small number +of causes, which may be discerned and developed, will serve for the +explanation of nearly the whole of them. There are two reasons for our +believing accounts of prodigies:-- + +1. The number and agreement of these accounts, and the confidence to +which the observers and witnesses are entitled. + +2. The possibility of dissipating what is wonderful, by ascertaining any +one of the principal causes which might have given to a natural fact a +tinge of the marvellous. + +Now, as regards the first reason, the ancients have recorded various +occurrences: for instance, a shower of quicksilver at Rome is mentioned +by Dion Cassius, in the year 197 of our era, and a similar event is +related under the reign of Aurelian. If we attend to phenomena taking +place in our time, such as a shower of blood, tremendous hail stones +weighing a pound each, and containing a stone within them; showers of +frogs, and other almost unaccountable occurrences, we must consign them +to, "the annals in which science has inserted the facts, she has +recognized as such, without as yet pretending to explain them." + +Respecting the second reason, the deceptive appearance which nature +sometimes assumes, the exaggeration, almost unavoidable, by partially +informed observers, of the details of a phenomenon, or its duration; +improper, ill-understood, or badly translated expressions, figurative +language, and a practical style; erroneous explanations of emblematical +representations; apologues and allegories adopted as real facts. Such +are the causes, which, singly or together, have frequently swollen with +prodigious fictions the page of history; and it is by carefully removing +this envelope, that elucidations must be sought of what has hitherto +been improperly and disdainfully rejected. A few examples will +illustrate these several positions. + +The river Adonis being impregnated, during certain seasons, with volumes +of dust raised from the red soil of that part of Mount Libanus near +which it flows, gave rise to the fable of the periodical effusion of the +blood of Adonis. There is a rock near the Island of Corfu, which bears +the resemblance of a ship under sail: the ancients adapted the story to +the phenomenon, and recognised in it the Phenician ship, in which +Ulysses returned to his country, converted into stone by Neptune, for +having carried away the slayer of his son Polyphemus. A more extensive +acquaintance with the ocean, has shown that this appearance is not +unique; a similar one on the coast of Patagonia, has more than once +deceived both French and English navigators; and rock Dunder, in the +West Indies, bears a resemblance, at a distance equally illusive. There +is another recorded by Captain Hardy, in his recent travels in Mexico, +near the shore of California; and the "story of the flying Dutchman," is +founded on a similar appearance at the Cape of Good Hope, connected with +a tradition which has been long current there among the Dutch colonists. +Another instance is afforded by the chimaera, the solution of which +enigma, as given by Ovid, is so fully substantiated by the very +intelligent British officer who surveyed the Caramania a few years +since. Scylla the sea monster, which devoured six of the rowers of +Ulysses, M. Salverte, a recent compiler on the marvellous, is tempted to +regard as an overgrown polypus magnified by the optical power of poetry, +though we are disposed to give the credit to an alligator, or its mate, +a crocodile; and this occurrence is not so fictitiously represented, as +it is supposed to be. + + +MAGICAL PRETENSIONS OF CERTAIN HERBS, ETC. + +In the enumeration of plants possessing magical properties, Pliny +mentions those which, according to Pythagoras, have the property of +concealing water. Elsewhere, without having resource to magic, he +assigns to hemp an analogous quality. According to him, the juice of +this plant poured into water becomes suddenly inspissated and +congealed. It is probable enough, that he indicated a species of mallow, +the hemp-leaved marsh-mallow, of which the mucilaginous juice produces +this effect to a certain point, and an effect which may also be obtained +from every vegetable as rich in mucilage. + +Of vegetable productions, many produce intoxicating effects, such as +berries of the night-shade,[132] scammony, and various species of fungi. +These unquestionably have been made subservient to demonological +purposes, which, with the ignorant, have passed off for supernatural +agency. The priests, to whom the little comparative learning of the dark +ages attached, knew well how to impose upon the credulous: but +imposition was not always their object; an extent of benevolence +prevailed which contemplated the relief of their fellow creatures +afflicted with sickness. + +It was maintained by the Egyptians that, besides the gods, there were +many demons which communicated with mortals, and which were often +rendered visible by certain ceremonies and songs; that genii exercised +an habitual and powerful influence over every particle of matter; that +thirty-six of these beings presided over the various members of the +human body; and thus, by magical incantations, it might be strengthened, +or debilitated, afflicted with, or delivered from disease. Thus, in +every case of sickness, the spirit presiding over the afflicted part, +was first duly invoked. But the magicians did not trust solely to their +vain invocations; they were well acquainted with the virtues of certain +herbs, which they wisely employed in their attempts at healing. These +herbs were greatly esteemed: such, for instance, as the _cynocephalia_, +or, as the Egyptians themselves termed the _asyrites_,[133] which was used +as a preventive against witchcraft; and the nepenthes which Helen +presented in a potion to Menelaus, and which was believed to be powerful +in banishing sadness, and in restoring the mind to its accustomed, or +even to greater, cheerfulness, were of Egyptian growth. But whatever may +be the virtues of such herbs, they were used rather for their magical, +than for their medicinal qualities; every cure was cunningly ascribed to +the presiding demons, with which not a few boasted that they were, by +means of their art, intimately connected. + +There can be no question, as attested by the earliest records, that the +ancients were in possession of many potent remedies. Melampus of Argos, +the most ancient Greek physician with whom we are acquainted, is reputed +to have cured one of the Argonauts of barrenness, by exhibiting the rust +of iron dissolved in wine, for the space of ten days. The same physician +used hellebore as a purgative on the daughters of King Proteus, who were +labouring under hypochondriasis or melancholy. Bleeding was also a +remedy of very early origin, and said to have been first suggested by +the hypopotamus or sea horse, which at a certain time of the year was +observed to cast itself on the sea shore, and to wound itself among the +rocks or stones, to relieve its plethora. Podalerius, on his return from +the Trojan war, cured the daughter of Damaethus, who had fallen from a +height, by bleeding her in both arms. Opium, the concrete juice of the +poppy, was known in the earliest ages; and probably it was opium that +Helen mixed with wine, and gave to the guests of Menelaus, under the +expressive name of _Nepenthe_, to drown their cares, and encrease their +hilarity. This conjecture, in a considerable degree, is supported from +the fact, that Homer's Nepenthe was procured from the Egyptian Thebes, +whence the tincture of opium, according to the nomenclature of the +pharmacopeia about fifty years ago, and still known by this name in the +older writers; and, if Dr. Darwin may be credited, the Cumaean Sybil +never sat on the portending tripod without first swallowing a few drops +of juice of the cherry-laurel. + +There is every reason to believe that the Pagan priesthood were under +the influence of some narcotic preparation during the display of their +oracular power, but the effects produced would seem rather to resemble +those of opium, or perhaps of stramonium, than of prussic acid, which +the cherry-laurel water is known to contain. + +The priests of the American Indians, says Monardur, whenever they were +consulted by the chief gentlemen, or _caciques_, as they are called, +took certain leaves of the tobacco, and cast them into the fire, and +then received the smoke thus produced by them into their mouths, which +caused them to fall upon the ground. After having remained in this +position for some time in a state of stupor, they recovered, and +delivered the answers, which they pretended to have received during the +supposed intercourse with the world of spirits. + +The narcotic, or sedative influence of the garden radish, was known in +the earliest times. In the fables of antiquity we read, that, after the +death of Adonis, Venus, to console herself, and repress her desires, lay +down upon a bed of lettuces. The sea onion, or squill, was administered +by the Egyptians, in cases of dropsy, under the mystic title of the eye +of Typhon. The practices of incision and scarification, were employed in +the Greek camp at the siege of Troy; and the application of spirits to +wounds, was likewise understood; for we find Nestor applying a poultice +compounded of cheese, onion, and meal, mixed up with the wine of +Pramnos, to the wounds of Machaon. + +To bring some inactive substance into repute, as promising some +extraordinary, nay, wonderful medicinal properties, requires only the +sanction of a few great names; and when once established on such a +basis, ingenuity, argument, and even experiment, may open their +otherwise powerful batteries in vain. In this manner all the quack +medicines, ever held in any estimation, got into repute. And the same +vulgar prejudice, which induces people to retain an accustomed remedy +upon bare assertion and presumption, either of ignorance or partiality, +will, in like manner, oppose the introduction of any innovation in +practice with asperity, and not unfrequently with a quantum sufficit of +scrutiny and abuse, unless, indeed, it be supported by authorities of +still greater weight and consideration. + +The history of many articles of diet, as well as medicine, amply prove +how much their reputation and fate have depended upon some authority or +other. Ipecacuanha had been imported into England for many years, before +Helvetius, under the patronage of Louis XIV, succeeded in introducing it +into practice in France; and, to the Queen of Charles II., we are +indebted for the introduction of that popular beverage, tea, into +England. Tobacco has suffered as many variable vicissitudes in its fame +and character. It has been successively opposed and commended by +physicians, condemned and praised by priests and kings, and proscribed +and protected by governments, until, at length, this once insignificant +production of a little island, has succeeded in propagating itself +through every climate and country. Nor is the history of the potatoe +less remarkable or less strikingly illustrative of the imperious +influence of authority. This valuable plant, for upwards of two +centuries, received an unprecedented opposition from vulgar prejudice, +which all the philosophy of the age was unable to dissipate, until Louis +XIV. wore a bunch of the flowers of the potatoe, in the midst of his +court, on a day of mirth and festivity. The people then, for the first +time, obsequiously acknowledged its utility, and began to express their +astonishment at the apathy which had so long prevailed with regard to +its general cultivation. + +Another instance may be furnished of overbearing authority, in giving +celebrity to a medicine, or in depriving it of that reputation to which +its virtues entitle it, is seen in the history of the Peruvian bark. +This famed medicine was imported into Spain by the Jesuits, where it +remained seven years, before a trial was given to it. A Spanish priest +was the first to whom it was administered, in the year 1639, and even +then its use was extremely limited; and it would undoubtedly have sunk +into oblivion, but for the supreme power of the church of Rome, under +whose protecting auspices it gained a temporary triumph over the +passions and prejudices which opposed its introduction. Pope Innocent X. +at the intercession of the Cardinal de Lugo, who was formerly a Spanish +Jesuit, ordered the bark to be duly examined, and on the favourable +report, which was the result of this examination, it immediately rose +into high favour and celebrity. + +The root of the male fern, a nostrum for the cure of the tape worm, was +secretly retailed by Madame Noufleur. This secret was purchased by Louis +XV. for a considerable sum of money. It was not until this event that +the physicans discovered, that the same remedy had been administered in +the same complaint by Galen. The history of popular remedies in the cure +of gout, is equally illustrative of this subject. The Duke of Portland's +celebrated powder was nothing less than the _deacintaureon_ of Caelius +Aurelianus, or the _antidotus et duobus centaurae generibus_ of Aetius, +the receipt for which, a friend of his grace brought with him from +Switzerland, into which country, in all likelihood, it had been +introduced by the early medical writers, who had transcribed it from the +Greek volumes, soon after their arrival into the western part of +Europe.[134] + +The active ingredient of a no less celebrated preparation for the same +complaint, the _Eau medicinale_ de Husson, a medicine brought into +fashion by M. de Husson, a military officer in the service of Louis XVI +has been discovered to be the meadow saffron. Upon searching after and +trying the properties of this herb, it was observed that similar effects +in the cure of the gout were ascribed to a certain plant, called +hermodaclyllus, by Oribasius (an eminent physician of the 4th century) +and Aetius, who flourished at Alexandria towards the end of the 5th +century, but more particularly by Alexander of Tralles, a physician of +Asia Minor, whose prescription consisted of hermodaclyllus, ginger, +pepper, cummin seed, aniseed, and scammony, which he says will enable +those who take it to walk immediately. On an inquiry being immediately +set on foot for the discovery of this unknown plant, a specimen of it +was procured at Constantinople, and it actually did turn out to be a +species of meadow saffron, the colchicum autumnale of Linnaeus. + +The celebrated fever powder of Dr. James was evidently not his original +composition, but an Italian nostrum, invented by a person of the name of +Lisle; a receipt for the preparation of which is to be found at length +in Colborne's complete English Dispensary for the year 1756. The various +secret preparations of opium which have been extolled as the discovery +of modern days, may be recognised in the works of ancient authors. The +use of prussic acid in the cure of consumptions, lately suggested by M. +Magendie, at Paris, is little more than the revival of the Dutch +practice in this disorder; for Linnaeus informs us, that distilled +laurel water was frequently used in the cure of pulmonary +consumption.[135] + +We shall conclude these observations with a few remarks on what are +termed _patent medicines, nostrums_, or _quack medicines_, and their +boasted pretensions in general. There is, in fact, but one state of +perfect health, yet the deviations from this state, and the general +species of diseases are almost infinite. Hence it will easily be +understood, that in the classes of medical remedies, there must likewise +he a great variety, and that some of them are even of opposite +tendencies. Such are both the warm and cold bath considered as medical +remedies. Though opposite to each other in their sensible effects, each +of them manifests its medical virtues, yet only in such a state of the +body as will admit of using it with advantage. From these premises, it +is evident that an universal remedy, or one that possesses healing +powers for the _cure of all diseases_, is, in fact, a non-entity, a mere +delusion, the existence of which is physically impossible, as the mere +idea of such a thing involves a contradiction. How, for instance, can it +he conceived, that the same remedy should be capable of restoring the +tone of the muscular fibres, when they are relaxed, and also have the +power of relaxing them when they are too rigid; that it should coagulate +the fluids when in a state of resolution, and again attenuate them when +they are too viscid; that it should moderate the nerves when in a state +of preturnatural sensibility, and likewise restore them to their proper +degree of irritability when they are in a contrary state. + +The belief in an universal remedy has long been abandoned, even among +the vulgar, and long exploded in those classes of society, which are not +influenced by prejudice, or tinctured with fanaticism. It is, however, +sincerely to be regretted, that the daily press continues to be +inundated with advertisements; and that the lower, and less informed +class of the community, are still imposed upon by a set of privileged +impostors, who frequently puzzle the intelligent to decide, whether the +impudence or the industry with which they endeavour to establish the +reputation of their respective poisons, be the most prominent feature in +their character. In illustration of this last observation, it may +further be observed, that most of the nostrums advertised as cough +drops, etc., are preparations of opium, similar, but inferior, to the +well-known paregoric elixir of the shops, but disguised and rendered +more deleterious by the addition of heating and aromatic gums. The +injury which may be occasioned by the indiscriminate employment of such +medicines might be very serious and irremediable, as is well known to +every person possessing the smallest portion of medical knowledge. The +boasted, though groundless pretensions of certain illiterate empirics to +cure diseases which have eluded the skill and penetration of the +faculty, is another absurdity into which people of good common sense +have been most woefully entrapped. The lessons of experience ought to +prove the most useful, as purchased at the greatest trouble and expense; +but if people choose to run over a precipice with their eyes open, they +leave themselves nothing to regret, and the public less to lament, by +their fall. + +It was justly observed by the sagacious and intelligent Bacon, "that a +reflecting physician is not directed by the opinion which the multitude +entertain of a favourite remedy, but that be must be guided by a sound +judgment; and consequently, he is led to make very important +distinctions between those things which only by their name pass for +medical remedies, and others, which in reality possess healing powers." +We avail ourselves of the quotation, as it indirectly censures the +conduct of certain medical practitioners, who do not scruple to +recommend what are vulgarly called patent and other quack preparations, +the composition of which is carefully concealed from the public. Having +acquired their unmerited reputation by mere chance, and being supported +by the most refined artifices, in order to delude the unwary, we are +unable to come at the evidence of perhaps nine tenths of those who have +experienced their fatal effects, and who are now no longer in a +situation to complain. + +From universal remedies or panaceas, to nostrums and specifics, such, +for instance, as pretend to cure the _same_ disease in every patient, is +easy and natural. With the latter also, impositions of a dangerous +tendency are often practised. It may be asked how far they are +practicably admissible, and in what cases they are wholly unavailing? +The answer is not difficult. In those diseases, which in every instance +depend upon the same cause, as in agues, the small-pox, measles, and +many other contagious distempers, the possibility of specifics, in a +limited sense, may be rationally, though hypothetically admitted. But in +either maladies, the causes of which depend on a variety of other +concurrent circumstances, and the cure of which in different +individuals, frequently requires very opposite remedies, as in dropsy, +various species of colds, the almost infinite variety of consumptions, +etc. a specific remedy is an imposition upon the common sense of +mankind. Those who are but imperfectly acquainted with the various +causes from which the same disorder originates in different individuals, +can never entertain such a vulgar and dangerous notion. They will easily +perceive, how much depends upon ascertaining with precision, the seat +and cause of the complaint, before any medicine can be presented with +safety or advantage:--even life and death are, we are sorry to add, too +often decided by the first steps. Different constitutions, different +symptoms, and stages of disease, all require more or less a separate +consideration. What is more natural than to place confidence in a +remedy, which has been known to afford relief to others in the same kind +of disposition? The patient anxiously enquires after a person who has +been afflicted with the same malady; he is eager to know the remedy that +has been used with success; his friend or neighbour imparts to him the +wished for intelligence; he is determined to give the medicine a fair +trial, and takes it with confidence. From what has been stated, it will +not be difficult to conceive, that if his case does not exactly +correspond with that of his friend, any _chance_ remedy may prove +extremely dangerous, if not fatal. + +Hence it becomes evident, that the results are not to be depended upon, +nor the chance risked. The physician is obliged to employ all his +sagacity, supported by his own experience, as well as by that of his +predecessors; and yet he is often under the necessity of discovering, +from the progress of the disease, what he could not derive from the +minutest research. How then can it be expected, that a novice in the art +of healing should be more successful, when the whole of his method of +cure is either the impulse of the moment, or the effect of his own +credulity? It may be therefore truly said, that life and death are +frequently entrusted to chance! + +The late Dr. Huxham, a physician of some eminence in his day, when +speaking of Asclepiades, the Roman empiric, says: "This man from a +_declaimer_ turned _physician_, and set himself up to oppose all the +physicians of his time; and the novelty of the thing bore him out, as it +frequently doth the quacks of the present time; and ever _will while the +majority of the world are fools_." In another place, he curiously +contrasts the too timid practice of some regular physicians, with the +hazardous treatment, which is the leading feature of quacks: "The timid, +low, insipid practice with some, is almost as dangerous as the bold, +unwarranted empiricism of others; time and opportunity, never to be +regained, are often lost by the former; while with the latter, by a +_bold push_, you are sent off the stage in a moment." + +From what has been said, it may confidently be asserted, that a +universal remedy still remains as great a desideratum as the +philosopher's stone; and either can only obtain credit with the +weak-minded, the credulous, or the fanatic. One of the most unfortunate +circumstances in the history of such medicines, is the insinuating and +dangerous method, by which they are puffed into notice. And as we have +little of the beneficial effects which they daily must produce, by being +promiscuously applied, people attend only to the extraordinary +instances, perhaps not one in fifty, where they have afforded a +temporary or apparent relief. It is well known, that the more powerful +a remedy is, the more permanent and dangerous must be its effects on the +constitution; especially if it be introduced like many patent medicines, +by an almost indefinite encrease of the dose. There is another +consideration, not apt to strike those who are unacquainted with the +laws of the animal economy. When it is intended to bring about any +remarkable change in the system of an organized body, such means are +obliged to be employed as may contribute to produce that change without +affecting too violently the living powers, or without carrying their +action to an improper length. Indeed, the patient may be gradually +habituated to almost any stimulus, but at the expence of a paralytic +stroke on an impaired constitution. Such are among the melancholy +effects of imposture and credulity! "Were it possible," says a learned +authority, "to collect all the cases of sacrifices to the mysterious +infatuation, it is probable that their number would exceed the enormous +havoc made by gunpowder or the sword." Another reputable writer makes +the following terse remark on this subject: "As matters stand at +present," says he, "it is easier to cheat a man out of his life, than of +a shilling: and almost impossible either to detect or punish the +offender. Notwithstanding this, people still shut their eyes, and take +every thing upon trust, that is administered by any pretender to +medicine, without daring to ask him a reason for any part of his +conduct. Implicit faith, every where else the object of ridicule, is +still sacred here." + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[132] The berries of the belladonna or deadly nightshade, produce, when +eaten, a furious madness, followed by sleep, which lasts for twenty-four +hours. Such drugs as produce mental stupefaction, without impairing the +physical powers, may have given rise to the accounts of men being +transformed into brutes, so frequent in what are denominated the +fabulous writers, while the evanescent but exquisite joys of an opposite +description, an anticipation of what implicit obedience would ensure +them for ever, produced blind, furious, devoted adherents to any +philosophical speculator, who would venture to try so desperate an +experiment. + +[133] The Rowan tree or Mountain ash, is used by the Scottish peasantry +with the same view; and a small twig of it is sewed up in the cow's +tail, to preserve the animal and its produce from the influence of +witches and warlocks. + +[134] See Pharmacologia, by Dr. Paris. + +[135] Vide "Amenetates Academicae," vol. 4. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +THE PRACTICE OF OBEAH, OR NEGRO WITCHCRAFT--CHARMS--THEIR KNOWLEDGE OP +VEGETABLE POISONS--SECRET POISONING. + +Obeah, a pretended sort of witchcraft, arising from a superstitious +credulity, prevailing among the negroes, has ever been considered as a +most dangerous practice, to suppress which, in our West India colonies, +the severest laws have been enacted. The Obeah is considered as a potent +and most irresistible spell, withering and paralyzing, by indiscribable +terrors and unusual sensations, the devoted victim. One negro who +desires to be revenged on another, and is afraid to make an open and +manly attack on his adversary, has usually recourse to this practice. +Like the witches' cauldron in Macbeth, it is a combination of many +strange and ominous things. Earth gathered from a grave, human blood, a +piece of wood fastened in the shape of a coffin, the feathers of the +carion crow, a snake or alligator's tooth, pieces of egg-shell, and +other nameless ingredients, compose the fatal mixture. The whole of +these articles may not be considered as absolutely necessary to complete +the charm, but two or three are at least indispensable.[136] + +It will of course be conceived, that the practice of OBEAH can have +little effect, unless a negro is conscious that it is practised upon +him, or thinks so;[137] for, as the whole evil consists in the terrors of +a superstitious imagination, it is of little consequence whether it be +practised or not, if he only imagines that it is. But if the charm fails +to take hold of the mind of the proscribed person, another and more +certain expedient is resorted to--the secretly administering of poison +to him. This saves the reputation of the sorcerer, and effects the +purpose he had in view. + +An OBEAH man or woman (for it is practised by both sexes) is a very +dangerous person on a plantation; and the practice of it is made felony +by law, punishable with death where poison has been administered, and +with transportation where only the charm has been used. But numbers +have, and may be swept off, by its infatuation, before the crime is +detected; for, strange as it may appear, so much do the negroes stand in +awe of those _Obeah_ professors, so much do they dread their malice and +their power, that, though knowing the havoc they have made, and are +still making, they are afraid to discover them to the whites; and, +others perhaps, are in league with them for sinister purposes of +mischief and revenge. + +A negro, under the infatuation of Obeah, can only be cured of his +terrors by being made a Christian: refuse him this boon, and he sinks a +martyr to imagined evils. A negro, in short, considers himself as no +longer under the influence of this sorcery when he becomes a christian. +And instances are known of negroes, who, being reduced by the fatal +influence of Obeah to the lowest state of dejection and debility, from +which there were little hopes of recovery, have been surprisingly and +rapidly restored to health and cheerfulness by being baptized +christians. The negroes believe also in apparitions, and stand in great +dread of them, conceiving that they forbode death, or some other great +evil, to those whom they visit; in short, that the spirits of the dead +come upon the earth to be revenged on those who did them evil when in +life. Thus we see, that not only from the remotest antiquity, but even +among slaves and barbarians, the belief in supernatural agencies has +been a popular creed, not, in fact, confined to any distant race or +tribe of people; and, what is still more surprising, there is a singular +and most remarkable identity in the notion or conception of their +infernal ministry. + +In the British West Indies, the negroes of the windward coast are called +_Mandingoes_, a name which is here taken as descriptive of a peculiar +race or nation. There seems reason, however, to believe, that a +_Mandingo_ or _Mandinga_-man, is properly the same with an Obi-man. A +late traveller in Brazil gives us the following anecdotes of the +_Mandinga_ and _Mandingueiro_ of the negroes in that country. "One day," +says Mr. Koster, "the old man (a negro named Apollinario) came to me +with a face of dismay, to show me a ball of leaves, tied up with a plant +called _cypo_, which he had found under a couple of boards, upon which +he slept, in an out-house. The ball was about the size of an apple. I +could not imagine what had caused his alarm, until he said that it was +_Mandinga_ which had been set for the purpose of killing him; and he +bitterly bewailed his fate, that at his age, any one should wish to +hasten his death, and to carry him from this world, before our lady +thought fit to send him. I knew that two of the black women were at +variance, and suspicion fell upon one of them, who was acquainted with +the old _Mandingueiro_ of Engenho Velho; therefore she was sent for. I +judged that the _Mandinga_ was not set for Apollonario, but for the +negress whose business it was to sweep the out-house. I threatened to +confine the suspected woman at Gara unless she discovered the whole +affair. She said the Mandinga was placed there to make one of the +negresses dislike her fellow-slaves, and prefer her to the other. The +ball of _Mandinga_ was formed of five or six kinds of leaves of trees, +among which was the pomegranate leaf; there were likewise two or three +bits of rag, each of a peculiar kind; ashes, which were the bones of +some animals; and there might be other ingredients besides, but these +were what I could recognize. This woman either could not from ignorance, +or would not give any information respecting the several things of which +the ball was composed. I made this serious matter of the _Mandinga_, +from knowing the faith which not only many of the negroes have in it, +but also some of the mulatto people. There is another name for this kind +of charm; it is called _feitico_, and the initiated are called +_feiticeros_; of these there was formerly one at the plantation of St. +Joam, who became so much dreaded, that his master sold him to be sent to +Maranham." + +Speaking of the green-beads (_contas verdas_) which are another object +of superstition in South America, and of the reliance placed upon them +by the Valentoens, a lawless description of persons among the colonists +of Brazil; the same author gives us this further view of the +_Mandingueiros_ and their charms. "These men," says he, "wore on their +necks strings of green beads, which had either come from the coast of +Africa, bearing the wonderful property of conveying in safety their +possessors through all descriptions of perils, or were charmed by the +Mandingueiros, African sorcerers, who had been brought over to the +Brazils as slaves, and in secret continued the prohibited practice of +imparting this virtue to them. Vincente had been acquainted with some of +the men, and was firmly persuaded of the virtues of the green beads. +When I expressed my doubts of the efficacy of the beads, against a +musket ball well directed, his anger rose; but there was pity mingled +with it." + +Labat brings these stones from the Orellana, or river of the Amazons. "I +was informed," says our author, "that _Contas verdas_ came from Africa; +but some have found their way from the Orellana, and been put into +requisition by the _Mandingueiros_." Mr. Southey has also given an +account of the "green stones of the Amazons," in his history of Brazil, +vol. 1. p. 107. + +In another place, some traveller presents us with the _Mandingueiros_ in +the new character of charmer of snakes. "The Mandingueiros are famous, +among other feats, for handling poisonous snakes, and can, by particular +noises or tunes, call those reptiles from their holes, and make them +assemble around them. These sorcerers profess to render innoxious the +bites of snakes, to persons who submit to their charms and ceremonies. +One of the modes which is adopted for this purpose, is that of allowing +a tame snake to crawl over the head, face, and shoulders of the person +who is to be _curado do cobras_, cured of snakes, as they term it. The +owner of the snake repeats a certain number of words during the +operation, of which, the meaning, if they contain any, is only known to +the initiated. The rattle-snake is said to be, above all other species, +the most susceptible of attention to the tunes of the Mandingueiros." +The above accounts I should not have related upon the authority of one +or two authors, I have heard them repeated by several individuals, and +even some men of education have spoken of the reputed efficacy of the +tame snakes of the Mandingueiros, as if they were somewhat staggered in +their belief of it. "These men do certainly play strange tricks and very +dexterously." The same writer also observes, "One of the negroes whom I +had hired with the plantation of Jaguaribi, had one leg much thicker +than the other. This was occasioned, as he told me, by the bite of a +rattlesnake; he said he had been _cured_ from the bites of snakes by a +certain _curador de cobra_, or Mandingueiro, and had therefore not died; +but that as the 'moon was strong,' he had not escaped receiving some +injury from the bite." + +Beaver, in his African Memoranda, says, "There is another sort of people +who travel about in the country, called Mandingo-men, (these are +Mahommedans;) they do not work; they go from place to place, and when +they find any chiefs or people, whom they think they can make anything +of, they take up their abode sometime with them, and make _gree-grees_, +and sometimes cast seed from them for which they make them pay." + +On this, and other occasion, the word _gree-gree_ is applied to a house +whence oracles are delivered: but it is also used for a charm or obi. +"They themselves," (the natives of the coast) says the author, last +quoted, "always wear _gree-grees_, or charms, which they purchase of the +_Mandingoes_, to guard them against the effects of certain arms, or of +poison, and on which they place the utmost reliance. They have one +against poison; another against a musket; another against a sword; and +another against a knife; and, indeed, against almost every thing that +they think can hurt them. Mandingo priest, or _gris gris_ merchant, that +is, a seller of charms, which carried about a person, secure the wearer +from any evils,--such as poison, murder, witchcraft, etc. To this priest +I had made some handsome presents, and he, in return, gave me twelve +gris gris, and assured me that they would inevitably secure me from all +danger, at the same time he gave me directions how to dispose of them. +Some were to be carried about my person; one secretly placed over each +archway; another kept under my pillow, and another under the door of the +house I was then building." The Byugas hold these people in great +reverence, and say that they 'talk with God.' + +Mr. Long, in his history of the West Indies, states that, under the +general name of Obi-men is also included the class of _Myal_ men, or +those who, by means of a narcotic poison, made with the juice of an herb +(said to be the branched Calalue, a species of solanum) which occasions +a trance of a certain duration, endeavour to convince the deluded +spectators of their power to reanimate dead bodies. + +Additional particulars of this superstition preserved by Labat, +Edwards, and others, are to be joined with those now produced;[138] but +after all, the questions to be solved are, whether Obi, Mandinga, and +_gree gree_, are usually words of similar import, and whether those who +are conversant in them are all alike, priests of one system of religious +faith and worship, or whether the one does not belong to the worship of +a good power, and the other to that of an evil one. + +It is remarkable, that while the Etymology of _Obi_ has been sought in +the names of ancient deities of Egypt, and in that of the serpent in the +language of the coast, the actual name of the evil deity or _Devil_, in +the same language, appears to have escaped attention. That name is +written by Mr. Edwards, _Obboney_; and the bearer of it is described as +a malicious deity, the author of all evil, the inflictor of perpetual +diseases, and whose anger is to be appeased only by human sacrifices. +This evil deity is the Satan of our own faith; and it is the worship of +Satan which, in all parts of the world constitutes the essence of +sorcery. + +If this name of _Obboney_ has any relation to the Ob of Egypt, and if +the Ob, both anciently in Egypt, and to this day in the west of Africa, +signifies "a serpent," what does this discover to our view, but that +Satan has the name of _serpent_ among the Negro nations as well as among +those of Europe? As to how it has happened that the serpent, which, in +some systems, is the emblem of the good spirit, is in others the emblem +of the evil one, that is a topic which belongs to a more extensive +enquiry. This is enough for our present satisfaction to remember that +the profession of, and belief in sorcery or witchcraft, supposes the +existence of two deities, the one, the author of good, and the other the +author of evil; the one worshipped by good men for good things, and for +good purposes: and the other by bad men for bad things and purposes; and +that this worship is sorcery and the worshippers sorcerers. + +It will be seen above, that since African charms are to prevent evil, +and others to procure it, the first belong to the worship, and are +derived from the power, of the good spirit; and the second are from the +opposite source. It is to be concluded, then, that the superstition of +_Obi_ is no other than the practice of, and belief in the worship of +_Obboney_ or _Oboni_, the evil deity of the Africans, the serpent of +Africa and of Europe, and the old serpent and Satan of the scriptures; +and that the witchcraft of the negroes is evidently the same with our +own. It might indeed be further shown, that the latter have their +temporary transformations of men into alligators, wolves, and the like, +as the French have their loups-garoux, the Germans their war-wolves, +wolf-men, and the rest.[139] + +The negroes practising obeah are acquainted with some very powerful +vegetable poisons, which they use on these occasions, and by which they +acquire much extensive credit. Their fetiches are their household gods, +or domestic divinities; one of whom is supposed to preside over a whole +province, and one over every family. This idol is a tree, the head of an +ape, a bird, or any such thing, as their fancy may suggest. The negroes +have long been held famous in the act of secret or slow poisoning. + +If doubts and difficulties envelope the discovery of poisons, whose +distinguishing character is the rapidity of these effects, how much +greater must be the uncertainty when we are required to ascertain the +administrations of what are called slow poisons. This subject, indeed, +is so closely entwined with popular superstitions, that it is difficult +to separate truth from falsehood. In Italy, for example, it was formerly +said, that poisons were made to destroy life at any stated period--from +a few hows to a year. This, however, turns out to be a mere fiction; +and, it is well understood, that we know of no substances that will +produce death at a determinate epoch. The following case of the late +Prince Charles of Augustenburgh, nevertheless, shows that the idea of +slow poison is still very prevalent, even among the physicians of +continental Europe. + +Prince Charles of Augustenburgh, Crown Prince of Sweden, and the +predecessor of Bernadotte, in that station, fell dead from his horse on +the 22nd of May, 1810, while reviewing troops in Scania. His death, +during that stormy period of public affairs, excited great attention, +and an opinion soon spread abroad that he had been poisoned. The king +ordered a judicial investigation; and it appeared that Dr. Rossi, the +physician of the late Prince, had, without directions, proceeded to +inspect the body twenty-four hours after death; that he had performed +this operation with great negligence, omitting many things which the law +presented, which the assisting physicians proposed, and which were +essential to render it satisfactory; and finally, that the coats of the +stomach, instead of being preserved and submitted to chemical analysis +were, according to his own acknowledgment, thrown away. The royal +tribunal adjudged him to be deprived of his appointment, and to be +banished from the kingdom. This decision would not of course, diminish +the suspicion already excited; and among other physicians, who were +consulted on the case, M. Lodin, professor of Medicine at Lynkoping, +presented two memoirs, in which he stated it as his opinion, that a +_slow poison_ of a vegetable nature, and probably analogous to the _aqua +tofania_, had been administered to the Prince, and that this had caused +the apopletic fit of which he died. His reasons were: + +1. That the Prince had always enjoyed good health previous to his +arrival in Sweden, and, indeed, had not been ill, until after eating a +cold pie at an inn, in Italy. He was shortly after seized with violent +vomiting, while the rest of the company experienced no ill effects. + +2. The Prince was naturally very temperate. + +3. Ever since he arrived in Sweden he had experienced a loss of +appetite, with cholic and diarrhoea; and + +4. That on dissection, the spleen was found of a black colour and in a +state of decomposition, and the liver indurated and dark coloured. +Whilst during life he had experienced no symptoms corresponding to these +appearances. Dr. Lodin confessed, however, that he was unacquainted with +the effects that indicate the administration of a slow poison, but +thought the previous symptoms were such as might be expected from it. + +For the credit of the profession, this conjectural opinion met with +decided reprobation from other medical men. It appeared that the Prince +had, for several days previously, been subject to giddiness and pain in +the head, and that all the symptoms were readily referable to a simple +case of apoplexy, while the appearances on dissection showed that rapid +tendency to putrefaction, which is frequently observed in similar cases. + +The public are highly indebted to professor Beckman for a very elaborate +article, in which he has concentrated nearly all that is known +concerning _secret poisoning_. Of this we shall here present our readers +with an abstract, as peculiarly adapted to the demonology of medicine, +aided with some facts from other sources. + +Professor Beckman considers it unquestionable, that the ancients were +acquainted with this kind of poison, and thinks that it may be proved +from the testimony of Plutarch, Quintilian, and other respectable +authors. The former states that a slow poison, which occasioned heat, a +cough, spitting of blood, a consumption, and weakness of intellect, was +administered to Aratus of Sicyon. Theophrastus speaks of a poison +prepared from aconite, which could be moderated in such a manner as to +have effect in two or three months, or at the end of a year or two +years; and he also relates, that Thrasyas had discovered a method of +preparing from other plants a poison which, given in small doses, +occasioned a certain but easy death, without any pain, and which could +be kept back for a long time without causing weakness or corruption. The +last poison was much used at Rome, about two hundred years before the +christian era. At a later period, a female named Locusta, was the agent +in preparing these poisons, and she destroyed, in this way, at the +instigation of Nero, Britannicus, son of Agrippina. + +The Carthagenians seem also to have been acquainted with this act of +diabolical poisoning; and they are said, on the authority of Aulus +Gellius, to have administered some to Regulus, the Roman general. +Contemporary writers, however, it must be added, do not mention this. + +The principal poisons known to the ancients were prepared from plants, +and particularly aconite, hemlock, and poppy, or from animal substances; +and among the latter none is more remarkable than that obtained from the +sea-hare (_Lepus marinus_ or _Apylsia depilans_ of the system of +nature). With this, Titus is said to have been dispatched by Domitian. +They do not seem to have been acquainted with the common mineral +poisons. + +In the year 1659, during the pontificate of Alexander VII, it was +observed at Rome, that many young women became widows, and that many +husbands died when they became disagreeable to their wives. The +government used great vigilance to detect the poisoners, and suspicion +at length fell upon a society of young wives, whose president appeared +to be an old woman, who pretended to foretel future events, and who had +often predicted very exactly the death of many persons. By means of a +crafty female their practices were detected; the whole society were +arrested and put to the torture, and the old woman, whose name was +Spara, and four others, were publicly hanged. This Spara was a Sicilian, +and is said to have acquired her knowledge from Tofania at Palermo. + +Tophania, or Tofania, was an infamous woman, who resided first at +Palermo and afterwards at Naples. She sold the poison which from her +acquired the name of Aqua della Toffana (it was also called _Acquetta di +Napoli_, or _Acquetta_ alone), but she distributed her preparation by +way of charity to such wives as wished to have other husbands. From four +to six drops were sufficient to destroy a man; and it was asserted, that +the dose could be so proportioned as to operate in a certain time. Labat +says, that Tofania distributed her poison in small glass phials, with +this inscription--_Manna of St. Nicholas of Bavi_, and ornamented with +the image of the saint. She lived to a great age, but was at last +dragged from a monastery, in which she had taken refuge, and put to the +torture, when she confessed her crimes and was strangled. + +In no country, however, has the art of poisoning excited more attention +than it did in France, about the year 1670. Margaret d'Aubray, wife of +the Marquis de Brinvillier, was the principal agent in this horrible +business. A needy adventurer, named Godin de St. Croix, had formed an +acquaintance with the Marquis during their campaigns in the +Netherlands--became at Paris a constant visitor at his house, where in a +short time he found means to insinuate himself into the good graces of +the Marchioness. It was not long before this Marquis died; not, however, +until their joint fortune was dissipated. Her conduct, in openly +carrying on this amour, induced her father to have St. Croix arrested +and sent to the Bastile. Here he got acquainted with an Italian, of the +name of Exili, from whom he learnt the art of preparing poisons. + +After a year's imprisonment St. Croix was released, when he flew to the +Marchioness and instructed her in the art, in order that she might +employ it in bettering the circumstances of both. She assumed the +appearance of a nun, distributed food to the poor, nursed the sick in +the Hotel Dieu, and tried the strength of her poisons, undetected, on +these hapless wretches. She bribed one Chaussee, St. Croix's servant, to +poison her own father, after introducing him into his service, and also +her brother, and endeavoured to poison her sister. A suspicion arose +that they had been poisoned, and the bodies were opened, but no +detection followed at this time. Their villainous practices were brought +to light in the following manner:--St. Croix, when preparing poison, was +accustomed to wear a glass mask; but, as this happened once to drop off +by accident, he was suffocated and found dead in his laboratory. +Government caused the effects of this man, who had no family, to be +examined, and a list of them to be made out. On searching them, there +was found a small box, to which St. Croix had affixed a written paper +containing a request, that after his death "it might be delivered to the +Marchioness de Brinvillier, who resides in the street Neuve St. Paul, as +every thing it contains concerns her, and belongs to her alone; and as, +besides, there is nothing in it that can be of use to any person except +her; and in case she shall be dead before me, to burn it, and every +thing it contains; without opening or altering any thing; and in order +that no one may plead ignorance, I swear by God, whom I adore, and all +that is most sacred, that I advance nothing but what is true. And if my +intentions, just and reasonable as they are, be thwarted in this point, +I charge their consciences with it, both in this world and the next, in +order that I may unload mine, protesting that this is my last will. Done +at Paris, this 25th May, in the afternoon, 1672. _De Sainte Croix_" + +Nothing could he a greater inducement to have it opened, than this +singular petition, and that being done, there was found in it a great +abundance of poisons of every kind, with labels, on which their effects +proved, by experiments on animals, were marked. The principal poison, +however, was corrosive sublimate. When the Marchioness heard of the +death of her lover and instructor, she was desirous to have the casket, +and endeavoured to get possession of it by bribing the officers of +justice; but as she failed in this, she quitted the kingdom. La +Chaussee, however, continued at Paris, laid claim to the property of St. +Croix, was seized and imprisoned, confessed more acts of villainy than +was suspected, and was in consequence broke alive upon the wheel, in +1673,--The Marchioness fled to England, and from thence to Liege, where +she took refuge in a convent. Desgrais, an officer of justice, was +dispatched in pursuit of her, and having assumed the dress of an Abbe, +contrived to entice her from this privileged place. Among her effects at +the convent there was found a confession, and a complete catalogue of +all her crimes, in her own hand-writing. She was taken to Paris, +convicted, and on the 16th of July, 1676, publicly beheaded, and +afterwards burnt. + +The practice of poisoning was not, however, suppressed by this +execution, and it was asserted, that confessions of a suspicious nature +were constantly made to the priests. A court for watching, searching +after, and punishing prisoners was at length established in 1697, under +the title of _chambre de poison_, or _chambre ardente_. This was shortly +used as a state engine, against those who were obnoxious to the court, +and the names of individuals of the first rank, both male and female, +were prejudiced. Two females, la Vigreux and la Voison were burnt alive, +by order of this court, in February, 1680. But it was abolished in the +same year. + +Professor Beckman relates the following, as communicated to him by +Linnaeus: "Charles XI, King of Sweden, having ruined several noble +families by seizing on their property, and having, after that, made a +journey to Torneo, he fell into a consumptive disorder, which no +medicine could cure. One day he asked his physician in a very earnest +manner what was the cause of his illness. The physician replied, 'Your +Majesty has been loaded with too many maledictions.'--'Yes,' returned +the king, 'I wish to God that the reduction of the nobilities' estates +had not taken place, and that I had never undertaken a journey to +Torneo.' After his death his intestines were found to be full of small +ulcers." + +There has been a great diversity of opinions as to the nature of these +poisons. That prepared by Tofania appears to have been a clear insipid +water, and the sale of aqua fortis was for a long time forbidden in +Rome, because it was considered the principal ingredient. This, however, +is not probable. + +In Paris, the famous _poudre de succession_ (also a secret poison) was +at one time supposed to consist of diamond dust, powdered exceedingly +fine; and at another time, to contain sugar of lead as the principal +ingredient. Haller was of this last opinion. In the casket of St. Croix +were found sublimate, opium, regulus of antimony, vitriol, and a large +quantity of poison ready prepared, the principal ingredients of which +the physicians were not able to detect. Garelli, physician to Charles +VI, King of the Two Sicilies, at the time when Tofania was arrested, +wrote to the celebrated Hoffman, that the Aqua Tofania was nothing else +than crystallized arsenic, dissolved in a large quantity of water by +decoction, with the addition, (but for what purpose we know not) of the +herb _Cymbalaria_, (probably the _Antirrhinum Cymbalaria_). And this +information he observes, was communicated to him by his imperial majesty +himself, to whom the judicial procedure, confirmed by the confession of +the criminal, was transmitted. But it was objected to this opinion, that +it differed from the ordinary effects of arsenic, in never betraying +itself by any particular action on the human body. + +The Abbe Gagliani, on the other hand, asserts that it is a mixture of +opium and cantharides, and that the liquor obtained from its +composition, is as limpid as rock water, and without taste. Its effects +are slow, and almost imperceptible. Beckman appears to favour this idea, +and suggests that a similar poison is used in the East, under the name +of _powst_, being water that had stood a night over the juice of +poppies. It is given to princes, whom it is wished to despatch +privately; and produces loss of strength and understanding, so that they +die in the end, torpid and insensible.[140] + +The following extract will show that secret poisoning has penetrated +into the forests of America. "The celebrated chief, _Blackbird_ of the +Omawhaws, gained great reputation as a medicine man; his adversaries +fell rapidly before his potent spells. His medicine was arsenic, +furnished him for this purpose by the villainy of the traders."[141] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[136] Various etymologies have been suggested for the word obi. Mr. +Long, in a paper transmitted several years since, by the agents of +Jamaica to the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council, and by the +latter subjoined to the report on the slave trade, expresses himself on +this subject as follows: "From the learned Mr. Bryant's commentary on +the word OPH, we obtain a very probable etymology of the term; 'a +serpent,' in the Egyptian language, was called _Aub_ or _Ob_." +'_Obion_,' is still the Egyptian name of a serpent.' 'Moses, in the name +of God, forbids the Israelites to inquire of the demon _Ob_, which is +translated in our Bible, charmer or wizzard, _Divinator aut +sorcilegus_.' The woman of Endor is called _Oub_ or _Ob_, translated +Pythonissa; and _Oubaois_ (he cites Horus Apollo) was the name of the +Basilisk or royal serpent, emblem of the sun, and an ancient oracular +deity of Africa. Their etymology, if admitted, connects the modern +superstitions of the west of Africa, with the ancient ones of the east +of that continent, from which source they have also been spread in +Europe. They are humble parts of the great system which is adorned with +the fables of Osiris and Isis; and they comprise not only the Obi of +Africa, but the witchcraft of our own country. That superstition is +every where connected with the worship of the serpent, and with the moon +and the cat. Skulls and teeth of cats are among the principal +ingredients of the African charms or _Obies_. + +[137] Mr. Long gives the following account of the furniture of the house +of an Obi-woman, or African witch in Jamaica: "The whole inside of the +roof, (which was of thatch) and every crevice of the walls were stuck +with the implements of her trade, consisting of rags, feathers, bones of +cats, and a thousand other articles. Examining further, a large earthen +pot or jar, close covered, contained a prodigious quantity of round +balls of earth or clay, of various dimensions, large and small, whitened +on the outside, and variously compounded, some with hair and rags, or +feathers of all sorts, and strongly bound with twine: others blended +with the upper section of the skulls of cats, or set round with cats' +teeth and claws, or with human or dogs' teeth, and some glass beads of +different colours. There were also a great many egg-shells filled with a +viscous or gummy substance, the qualities of which were neglected to be +examined; and many little bags filled with a variety of articles, the +particulars of which cannot, at this distance of time, be recollected." +Shakespeare and Dryden, have left us poetical accounts of the +composition of European _Obies_ or charms, with which, and with more +historical descriptions, the above may be compared. The midnight hours +of the professors of Obi, are also to be compared with the witches of +Europe. Obi, therefore, is the serpent-worship. The Pythoness, at +Delphos, was an Obi-woman. With the serpent-worship is joined that of +the sun and moon, as the governors of the visible world, and emblems of +the male and female nature of the godhead; and to the cat, on account of +her nocturnal prowlings, is ascribed a mysterious relationship to the +moon. The dog and the wolf, doubtless for the same reason, are similarly +circumstanced. + +[138] The superstition of Obi was never generally remarked upon in the +British West Indies till the year 1760, when, after an insurrection in +Jamaica, of the Coromantyn or Gold Coast negroes, it was found that it +had been made an instrument for promoting that disturbance. An old +Coromantyn negro, the chief instigator and oracle of the insurgents of +the parish of St. Mary, in which the insurrection broke out, who had +administered the _Fetiche_ or solemn oath to the conspirators, and +furnished them with a magical preparation, which was to make them +invulnerable, was at that time apprehended and punished, and a law was +enacted for the suppression of the practice, under which several +examples were made, but without effecting for many years, any diminution +of the evil sought to be remedied. + +[139] In Kosters's travels in Brazil, we read of a negro who was +reported by one of his fellows to become occasionally _lobas homen_ or +wolf-man. "I asked him," said the author, "to explain; when he said, +that the man was at times transformed into an animal, of the size of a +calf with the figure of a dog;" and in the African memoranda is an +account of a negro who professed and even believed to have the power of +transforming himself into an alligator, in which state he devoured men. +Upon being questioned by Captain Beaver, he answered, "I can change +myself into an alligator, and have often done it." But though these may +be genuine African superstitions, and not such as have been introduced +by the Portuguese, yet it is certain there is no part of Europe to which +they do not equally belong. + +[140] Beckman, vol 1, p. 74 to 103. + +[141] See Major Long's expedition, vol. 1. p. 226. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +ON THE ORIGIN AND SUPERSTITIOUS INFLUENCE OP RINGS. + +The ancient magicians, among other pretended extraordinary powers of +accomplishing wonderful things by their superior knowledge of the secret +powers of nature, of the virtues of plants and minerals, and of the +motions and influence of the stars, attached no small degree of mystic +importance to rings, the origin of which, their matter and uses, +together with the supposed virtues of the stones set in them, afford a +subject squaring so much with our design, and so deserving of notice +from the curious, that no apology need be made for discoursing on them. + +According to the accounts of the heathen mythologists, Prometheus, who, +in the first times, had discovered a great number of secrets, having +been delivered from the charms, by which he was fastened to mount +Caucasus for stealing fire from heaven, in memory or acknowledgment of +the favour he received from Jupiter, made himself of one of those +chains, a ring, in whose collet he represented the figure of part of the +rock where he had been detained--or rather, as Pliny says, set it in a +bit of the same rock, and put it on his finger. This was the first ring +and the first stone. But we otherwise learn, that the use of rings is +very ancient, and the Egyptians were the first inventors of them; which +seems confirmed by the person of Joseph, who, as we read (Genesis, chap, +xi.) for having interpreted Pharoah's dream, received not only his +liberty, but was rewarded with his prince's ring, a collar of gold, and +the superintendancy of Egypt. + +Josephus, in the third book of Jewish antiquities says, the Israelites +had the use of them after passing the Red Sea, because Moses at his +return from Mount Sinai, found that they had forged the golden calf from +their wives' rings, enriched with precious stones. The same Moses, +upwards of 400 years before the wars of Troy, permitted the priests he +had established, the use of gold rings, enriched with precious stones. +The high priest wore upon his ephod, which was a kind of camail, rich +rings, that served as clasps; a large emerald was set and engraved with +mysterious names. The ring he wore on his finger was of inestimable +value and celestial virtue. Had not Aaron, the high priest of the +Hebrews, a ring on his finger, whereof the diamond, by its virtues, +operated prodigious things? For it changed its vivid lustre into a dark +colour, when the Hebrews were to be punished by death for their sins. +When they were to fall by the sword it appeared of a blood colour; if +they were innocent it sparkled as usual. + +It is observable that the ancient Hebrews used rings even in the time of +the wars of Troy. Queen Jezebel, to destroy Nabath, as it is related in +the first Book of Kings, made use of the ring of Ahab, King of the +Israelites, her husband, to seal the counterfeit letters that ordered +the death of that unfortunate man. Did not Judah, as mentioned in the +38th chapter of Genesis, abuse his daughter-in-law, Thamar, who had +disguised herself, by giving her his ring and bracelets, as a pledge of +the faith he had promised her? + +Though Homer is silent in regard to rings, both in his Iliad and +Odyssey, they were, notwithstanding, used in the time of the Greeks and +Trojans; and from them they were received by several other nations. The +Lacedemonians, as related by Alexander, ab. Alexandro, pursuant to the +orders of their king, Lycurgus, had only iron rings, despising those of +gold; either their king was thereby willing to retrench luxury, or to +prohibit the use of them. + +The ring was reputed, by some nations, a symbol of liberality, esteem, +and friendship, particularly among the Persians, none being permitted to +wear any, except they were given by the king himself. This is what may +also be remarked in the person of Apollonius Thyaneus, as a token of +singular esteem and liberality, received one from the great Iarchas, +prince of the Gymnosophists, who were the ancient priests of India and +dwelt in forests, as our ancient bards and druids, where they applied +themselves to the study of wisdom, and to the speculation of the heaven +and stars. This philosopher, by the means of that ring, learned every +day the secrets of nature. + +Though the ring found by Gyges, shepherd to the King of Lydia, has more +of fable than of truth in it, it will not, however, be amiss, to relate +what is said concerning Herodotus, Coelius, after Plato and Cicero, in +the third book of his Offices. This Gyges, after a great flood, passed +into a very deep cavity in the earth, where having found in the belly of +a brazen horse, with a large aperture in it, a human body of enormous +size, he pulled from off one of the fingers a ring of surprising virtue; +for the stone on the collet rendered him who wore it invisible, when the +collet was turned towards the palm of the hand, so that the party could +see, without being seen, all manner of persons and things. Gyges, having +made trial of its efficacy, bethought himself that it would be a means +for ascending the throne of Lydia, and for gaining the Queen by it. He +succeeded in his designs, having killed Candaules, her husband. The dead +body this ring belonged to was that of an ancient Brahman, who, in his +time, was chief of that sect. + +The rings of the ancients often served for seals. Alexander the Great, +after the death and defeat of Darius, used his ring for sealing the +letters he sent into Asia, and his own for those he sent to Europe. It +is customary in Rome for the bridegroom to send the bride, before +marriage, a ring of iron, without either stone or collet, to denote how +lasting their union ought to be, and the frugality they were to observe +together; but luxury herein soon gained ground, and there was a +necessity for moderating it. Caius Marius did not wear one of gold till +his third consulship; and Tiberius, as Suetonius says, made some +regulations in the authority of wearing rings; for, besides the liberty +of birth, he required a considerable revenue, both on the father and +grandfather's side. + +In a Polyglot dictionary, published in the year 1625, by John Minshew, +our attention was attracted by the following observations, under the +article "RINGFINGER.--Vetus versiculus singulis digitis Annulum trebuens +Miles. Mercator. Stultus. Maritus. Amator. Pollici adscribitur Militi, +seu Doctor. Mercatorem a pollice secundum, stultorum, tertium. Nuptorum +vel studiosorum quartum. Amatorum ultimum." + +By which it appears, that the fingers on which annuli were anciently +worn were directed by the calling, or peculiarity of the party. Were it + + A soldier, or doctor, to him was assigned the thumb. + A sailor, the finger next the thumb. + A fool, the middle finger. + A married or diligent person, the fourth or ring finger. + A lover, the last or little finger. + +The medicinal or curative power of rings are numerous and, as a matter +of course, founded on imaginary qualities. Thus the wedding ring rubbing +upon that little abscess called the stye, which is frequently seen on +the tarsi of the eyes, is said to remove it. Certain rings are worn as +talismans, either on the fingers or suspended from the neck; the +efficacy of which may be referred to the effects usually produced by +these charms. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +CELESTIAL INFLUENCES--OMENS--CLIMACTERICS--PREDOMINATIONS--LUCKY AND +UNLUCKY DAYS--EMPIRICS, &C. + +Astrologers, among other artifices, have used their best endeavours, and +employed all the rules of their art, to render those years of our age, +which they call climacterics, dangerous and formidable. + +The word climacteric is derived from the Greek, which means by a scale +or ladder, and implies a critical year, or a period in a man's age, +wherein, according Ficinusological juggling, there is some notable +alteration to arise in the body, and a person stands in great danger of +death. The first climacteric is the seventh year of a man's life; the +others are multiples of the first, as 21, 49, 56, 63, and 84, which two +last are called the grand climacterics and the danger more certain. The +foundation of this opinion is accounted for by Mark Ficimis as +follows:--There is a year, he tells us, assigned for each planet to rule +over the body of a man, each of his turn; now Saturn being the most +_maleficient_ (malignant) planet of all, every seventh year, which +falls to its lot, becomes very dangerous; especially those of +sixty-three and eighty-four, when the person is already advanced in +years. According to this doctrine, some hold every seventh year an +established climacteric; but others only allow the title to those +produced by multiplication of the climacterical space by an odd number, +3, 5, 7, 9, &c. Others observe every ninth year as a climacteric. + +Climacteric years are pretended, by some, to be fatal to political +bodies, which, perhaps, may be granted, when they are proved to be so +more than to natural ones; for it must be obvious that the reason of +such danger can by no means be discovered, nor the relation it can have +with any other of the numbers above mentioned. + +Though this opinion has a great deal of antiquity on its side; Aulus +Gellius says--it was borrowed from the Chaldeans, who possibly might +receive it from Pythagoras, whose philosophy teemed much in numbers, and +who imagined a very extraordinary virtue in the number 7. The principal +authors on climacterics are--Plato, Cicero, Macrobius, Aulus Gellius. +Among the ancients--Argal, Magirus, and Solmatheus. Among the +moderns--St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, Beda and Boethius, all countenance +the opinion. + +There is a work extant, though rather scarce, by Hevelius, under the +title of _Annus Climactericus_, wherein he describes the loss he +sustained by his observatory, &c. being burnt; which it would appear +happened in his grand climacteric, of which he was extremely +apprehensive. + +Astrologers have also brought under their inspection and controul the +days of the year, which they have presumed to divide into _lucky_ and +_unlucky_ days; calling even the sacred scriptures, and the common +belief of christians, in former ages, to their assistance for this +purpose. They pretend that the fourteenth day of the first month was a +blessed day among the Israelites, authorised, as they pretend, by the +several passages out of Exodus, v. 18:-- + +"In the first _month_, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye +shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day at even," v. +40. Now, the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, +was four hundred and thirty years. + +41. "And it came to pass, at the end of the four hundred and thirty +years, even the self same day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the +Lord went out from the land of Egypt." + +42. "It is a night to be much observed unto the Lord for bringing them +out of the land of Egypt; that is that night of the Lord to be observed +of all the children of Israel, in their generations." + +51. "And it came to pass, the self same day, that the Lord did bring the +children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies." Also +_Leviticus, chap. 23, v. 5._ "In the fourteenth day of the first month +at even, is the Lord's passover." _Numbers, chap. 28, v. 10._ "Four +hundred and thirty years being expired of their dwelling in Egypt, even +in the self same day they departed thence." + +With regard to evil days and times, Astrologers refer to _Amos. chap. 5, +v. 13._ "Therefore, the prudent shall keep silence in that time, for it +is an evil time," and _chap. 6, v. 3_, "Ye that put far away the evil +day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;" also _Psalm 37, v. +19_, "They shall not be ashamed in the evil time; and in the days of +famine, they shall be satisfied;" and _Jeremiah, chap. 46, v. 21_, "Also +her hired men are in the midst of her, like fatted bullocks, for they +are also turned back and are fled away together; they did not stand +because the day of their calamity was come upon them, and the time of +their visitation." And to _Job_ cursing the day of his birth, from the +first to the eleventh verse. In confirmation of which may also be quoted +a calendar, extracted out of several ancient Roman Catholic prayer +books, written on vellum, before printing was invented, in which were +inserted the unfortunate days of each month, which it would be +superfluous to cite here.[142] + +Roman History sufficiently proves that the nature of lucky and unlucky +days owes its origin to Paganism; where it is mentioned, that that very +day four years, the civil wars were begun by Pompey, the father; Caesar +made an end of them with his son, Cneius Pompeius being slain; and that +the Romans counted the 13th of February an unlucky day, because, on that +day they were overthrown by the Gauls at Alba; and the Fabii attacking +the city of the Recii, were all slain, with the exception of one man; +also from the calendar of Ovid's "Fastorum," _Aprilis erat mensis +Graecis auspicatissimus_; and from Horace, Book 2nd, Ode 13, cursing the +tree that had nearly fallen upon it; _ille nefasto posuit die_. + +The Pagans believed there were particular months and days which carried +something fatal in them; those, for instance, upon which the state +perhaps had lost a great battle; and under this impression, they never +undertook any enterprise on these days and months. The twenty-fourth of +February in the Bisextile years was considered so unlucky, that +Valentinian (_Ammiam. Marcell. lib. 26. cap. 1._) being elected Emperor +upon it, durst not appear in public under the apprehension of suffering +the fatality of the day. Many other particular days might be quoted upon +which generals of armies have constantly been favoured with fortune. +Timoleon (_Corn. Nepos_) won all his famous battles on his birthday. +Soliman (_Duverdier. Hist. des Turcs_) won the battle of Mohac, and took +the fortress of Belgrade, and, according to some historians, the Isle of +Rhodes, and the town of Buda on the 26th of August. But we find, in like +manner, the same day lucky and unlucky to the same people. Ventidius, at +the head of the Roman army, routed the Parthians, and slew their young +king Pacorus who commanded them, on the same day that Crassus, another +Roman general, had been slain, and his whole army cut in pieces by the +same people. Lucullus having attacked Tigranes, king of Armenia, +notwithstanding the vain scruples of his officers, who desired him to +beware fighting on that day, which was noted in the Roman calendar as an +unlucky one, ever since the fatal overthrow of the Romans by the Cimbri; +but he, (Lucullus) despising the superstition, gained one of the most +memorable battles recorded in Roman history, and changed the destiny of +the day as he promised those who would have dissuaded him from the +enterprise. And Valentinian's unlucky day was that on which Charles V, +another Roman Emperor, promised himself the best good fortune. Friday is +deemed on unlucky day for engaging in any particular business, and there +are few, if any, captains of ships who would sail from any port, on this +day of the week for their destination. + +The fishermen who dwell on the coasts of the Baltic never use their nets +between All-saints and St Martin's; they would then be certain of not +taking any fish through the whole year: they never fish on St Blaise's +day. On Ash Wednesday the women neither sew nor knit, for fear of +bringing misfortune upon their cattle. They contrive so as not to use +fire on St. Laurence's day; by taking this precaution they think +themselves secure against fire for the rest of the year. + +This prejudice of lucky and unlucky days has existed at all times and in +all nations; but if knowledge and civilization have not removed it, they +have at least diminished its influence. In Livonia, however, the people +are more than ever addicted to the most superstitious ideas on this +subject. In a Riga journal (_Rigaische Stadblatter_, No. 3657, anno +1822, edited by M. Sontag) there are several passages relative to a +letter from heaven, and which is no other than a catalogue of lucky and +unlucky days. This letter is in general circulation; every body carries +it about him, and though strictly forbidden by the police, the copies +are multiplied so profusely as to increase the evil all attempts to +destroy which have hitherto failed. Among the country people this idea +is equivalent to the doctrine of fatality; and if they commit faults or +even crimes, on the days which are marked as unlucky, they do not +consider themselves as guilty, because they were predestined. + +The flight of certain birds, or the meeting of certain animals on their +first going out in the morning, are with them good or bad omens. They do +not hunt on St. Mark's, or St. Catherine's day, on penalty of being +unsuccessful all the rest of the year. It is a good sign to sneeze on +Christmas day. Most of them are so prepossessed against Friday, that +they never settle any important business, or conclude a bargain on that +day; in some places they do not even dress their children. They do not +like visits on Thursdays, for it is a sign they shall have troublesome +guests the whole week. + +In some districts of Esthonia, up the Baltic, when the shepherd brings +his flocks back from the pasture, in spring for the first time, he is +sprinkled with water from head to foot under the persuasion that this +makes the cattle thrive. The malignity of beasts of prey is believed to +be prevented by designating them not by their proper names, but by some +of their attributes. For instance, they call the fox _hallkuhl_ (grey +coat) the bear, _layjatyk_ (broad-foot), etc. etc. They also fancy that +they can oblige the wolf to take another direction by strewing salt in +his way. The howling of wolves, especially at day-break, is considered a +very bad omen, predicting famine or disease. In more ancient times, it +was imagined that these animals, thus asked their god to give them +food, which he threw them out of the clouds. When a wolf seizes any of +their cattle, they can oblige him to quit his prey, by dropping a piece +of money, their pipe, hat, or any other article they have about them at +the time. They do not permit the hare to be often mentioned, for fear of +drawing it into their corn-fields. To make hens lay eggs, they beat them +with an old broom. In families where the wife is the eldest child of her +parents, it has been observed that they always sell the first calves, +being convinced, that, if kept, they would not thrive. To speak of +insects or mischievous animals at meal-times, is a sure way to make them +more voracious. + +If a fire breaks out, they think to stop its fury by throwing a black +hen into the flames. This idea, of an expiatory sacrifice, offered to a +malevolent and tutelary power, is a remnant of paganism. Various other +traces of it are found among the Esthonians; for instance, at the +beginning of their meals, they purposely let fall a piece of new bread, +or some drops of liquor from a bottle as an offering to the divinity. + +It is very offensive to the peasants, for any one to look into their +wells; they think it will cause the wells to dry up. + +When manna is carried into the fields, that which falls from the cart is +not gathered up, lest mischievous insects and blights come upon the +corn. + +When an old house is quitted for a new one they are attentive in noting +the first animal that dies. If it be an animal with hairy feet, the sign +is good; but if with naked feet, some fowl, for instance, there will be +mourning in the house; it is a sign of misery and bad success in all +their undertakings. These, with a scrupulous adherence to lucky and +unlucky days, are the prevailing popular superstitions in the three +duchies; a great number of which, especially among the Esthonians, are +connected with their ancient mythology. + +In reading that pleasant volume, by the late Sir Humphrey Davy, entitled +_Salmonia_, it is impossible not to be struck with his remark respecting +omens, which is here briefly noticed, with an account of others, which +it is imagined have not yet found their way far into print, in order to +account for such seeming absurdities. + +"The search after food,[143] as we agreed on a former occasion, is the +principal cause why animals change their places. The different tribes of +wading birds always migrate when rain is about to take place; and I +remember once in Italy, having been long waiting, in the end of March, +for the arrival of double snipe, in the campagna of Rome; a great flight +appeared on the third of April, and the day after, heavy rain set in, +which greatly interfered with my sport. The vulture, upon the same +principle, follows armies; and I have no doubt that the augury of the +ancients was a good deal founded upon the observation of the instinct of +birds. There are many superstitions of the vulgar owing to the same +source. For anglers, in spring, it is always unluckly to see single +magpies; but two may always be regarded as a favourable omen; and the +reason is, that in cold and stormy weather, one magpie alone leaves the +nest in search of food, the other remaining sitting upon the eggs of the +young ones: but, when two go out together, it is only when the weather +is mild and warm, and favourable for fishing. + +"This reasoning will, in general, be found correct, and may be applied +to solve many of the superstitions in the country; but the case of the +magpie is entitled to a little more consideration. The piannet, as we +call her in the North of England, is the most unlucky of all birds, to +see singly at any time; this, however, does not often happen, except a +short time during incubation; they either appear in pairs or in +families; but even this last appearance is as alarming to our +grandmothers. The following distich shows what each forbodes:--'One +sorrow, two mirth, three a wedding, four death.' This bird, indeed, +appears to have taken the same place with us, as an omen of evil, that +the owl had amongst the ancients. The nurse is often heard to declare +that she has lost all hopes of her charge when she has observed a +piannet on the house-top. + +"Another prejudice, indulged even by our good wives, is that of +destroying the feathers of the pigeon instead of saving them to stuff +beds, etc. They say, that if they were to do so, it would only prolong +the sufferings of the death-bed; and when these are more than usually +severe, it is attributed to this cause, and the reason given 'because +the bird has no gall' is to them quite conclusive, but to me, perfectly +irrelevant and unsatisfactory. A belief amongst boys, that to harm or +disturb the nests of the redbreast or swallow is unlucky, appears very +general throughout the kingdom; and the keen bird-nester, who prides +himself on the quantity of eggs blown and strung bead-fashion, here +often gets mortified by finding his trophies destroyed by the housewife +who considers their presence as affecting the safety of her crokery +ware. This belief may have been encouraged, if not invented, for a +humane purpose: but how are we to account for the efficacy of the Irish +stone in curing swellings caused by venomous reptiles, by merely being +rubbed upon the part affected? The fullest faith in the practice appears +to have prevailed in the country at no distant period, and is yet far +from extinct. The swallow and the cuckoo are generally hailed as +harbingers of spring and summer, but, perhaps, many of our readers are +not aware that it is only lucky to hear the cuckoo, for the first time +in the season, upon soft ground in contradistinction to hard roads, and +with money in the pocket, which the youngster is sagely advised to be +sure then to turn over. Perhaps the season of the year may +satisfactorily explain all these observances. Several superstitious +customs are mentioned regarding bees, some of which are not practised in +the north; yet it is fully believed that the death of the stock of hives +too often foretells the flitting of the bee-master. Wet cold years, +unfavourable to the insects, are also equally so to the farmer upon thin +clays, which border the moors, where bees are mostly kept. Has the use +of the mountain ash, 'rowan tree' [Pyrus aucuparia, _Gaertner_,] as a +charm against witchcraft, ever been accounted for? The belief in its +efficacy must be very old if we are to credit some of Shakspeare's +commentators, who give this word as the true reading in Macbeth, instead +of 'Aroint thee, witch!' + +"It often happens that the careless observer has, for the first time, +his attention called forcibly to some appearance of nature by accidental +circumstances: if at all superstitious, he immediately prognosticates +the most disastrous consequences from that which a little observation +would have convinced him was but a phenomenon a little more conspicuous +than usual. The northern lights are said to have caused much +consternation when first observed; and they have lately been viewed with +more than ordinary interest, as it appears from the _Newcastle +Chronicle_, the last autumn (1830), when they were more than usually +brilliant, some of the inhabitants of Weardale were convinced they saw, +on one occasion, very distinctly, the figure of a man on a white horse, +with a red sword in his hand, move across the heavens; and are, no +doubt, now certain that it foretold the present eventful times. Even +this belief may be accounted for on such accidental coincidences, or +even philosophically, by assuming as a fact that this phenomenon is the +result of an electrical change in the atmosphere, and that such a change +usually precedes rain. Now, if such happen in spring or in summer, and +before such a quantity of rain as is found to affect the harvest, it +may too often betoken scarcity, discontent, and turbulence, as such are +the times when all grievances, either real or imaginary, are brought +forward for redress. The origin of the superstition of sailors, of +nailing a horse-shoe to the mast, is to me unaccountable, unless it may +have been, like the following trial of the credulity of the +superstitious by some person for amusement:--Sailors sometimes make a +considerable pecuniary sacrifice for the acquisition of a child's caul, +the retaining of which is to infallibly preserve them from drowning. + +"Some years ago, a pretty wide district was alarmed by an account of the +beans [Faba vulgaris var. equina] being laid the wrong way in the pod +that year, which most certainly foreboded something terrible to happen +in a short time, and this produced much consternation amongst those who +allow their imaginations to run riot. The whole of the terrible omen was +this: the eye of the bean was in the pod towards the apex, instead of +being towards the footstalk, as might appear at first sight to be its +natural position; and some were scarcely convinced that this was the +natural position of the beans in the pod ever since the creation, even +on being shown the pod of the preceding year with the seed in the same +position. + +"As yet, however, I fear we must sum up in the words of Davy:-- + +"_Phys._ But how can you explain such absurdities as Friday being an +unlucky day, and the terror of spilling salt, or meeting an old woman? + +"_Poiet_. These, as well as the omens of death-watches, dreams, etc. +are founded upon some accidental coincidences; but spilling of salt, on +an uncommon occasion, may, as I have known it, arise from a disposition +to apoplexy, shown by an incipient numbness in the hand, and may be a +fatal symptom; and persons dispirited by bad omens sometimes prepare the +way for evil fortune, for confidence of success is a great means of +insuring it. The dream of Brutus before the battle of Philippi probably +produced a species of irresolution and despondency which was the +principal cause of his losing the battle; and I have heard that the +illustrious sportsman, to whom you referred just now, was always +observed to shoot ill, because he shot carelessly, after one of his +dispiriting omens. + +"_Hal._ I have in life met with a few things which I have found it +impossible to explain, either by chance coincidences, or by natural +connections, and I have known minds of a very superior class affected by +them--persons in the habit of reasoning deeply and profoundly." + +The number of remarkable events that happened on some particular days, +have been the principal means of confirming both pagans and Christians +in their opinions on this subject. For instance, Alexander who was born +on the sixth of April, conquered Darius, and died on the same day. The +Emperor Basianus Caracalla was born, and died on the sixth day of April. +Augustus was adopted on the 19th of August, began his consulate, +conquered the Triumviri, and died the same day. The christians have +observed that the 24th of February was four times fortunate to Charles +the fifth. That Wednesday was a fortunate day to Pope Sixtus the fifth; +for on a Wednesday he was born, on that day made a monk, on the same day +made a general of his order, on that day created a Cardinal, on that day +elected Pope, and also on that day inaugurated. That Thursday was a +fatal day to Henry the eighth, King of England, and his posterity, for +he died on a thursday; King Edward the sixth on a Thursday; Queen Mary +on a Thursday; and Queen Elizabeth on a Thursday. + +The French have observed that the feast of Pentecoste had been lucky to +Henry III, King of France for on that day he was born, on that day +elected King of Poland, and on that day he succeeded his brother Charles +IX, on the throne of France. + +There are critical days observed by physicians, in continued fevers, a +doctrine which has been confirmed by the united testimony of De Haen and +Cullen; and these are the 3rd. 5th. 7th. 9th. 11th. 14th. 17th. and +20th. By critical days are meant, any of the above days, on which the +fever abates or terminates favourably, or on which it is exacerbated or +terminates fatally. + +Natural astrology is confined to the study of exploring natural effects, +in which sense it is admitted to be a part of natural philosophy. It was +under this view that Mr. Goad, Mr. Boyle, and Dr. Mead, pleaded for its +use. The first endeavours to account for the diversity of seasons from +the situations, habitudes and motions of the planets: and to explain an +infinity of phenomena by the contemplation of the stars. The Honourable +Mr. Boyle admitted, that all physical bodies are influenced by the +heavenly bodies; and Doctor Mead's opinion, in his treatise concerning +the power of the sun and moon, etc. is in favour of the doctrine. But +these predictions and influences are ridiculed and entirely exploded by +the most esteemed modern philosophers, of which the reader may have a +learned specimen in Rohault's, Tractat. Physic, part II. c. 27. + +The diseases of men, women, and children were supposed at times to be +more immediately caused by the influence of the seven planets. In order +to comprehend this exploded doctrine, we shall here set down the +pretended governing and days, at what time they are supposed to have the +most influence: + +[Symbol: Sol] Sol, or the sun governs on Sunday. +[Symbol: Luna] Luna, or the moon, Monday. +[Symbol: Mars] Mars, Tuesday. +[Symbol: Mercury] Mercury, Wednesday. +[Symbol: Jupiter] Jupiter, Thursday, +[Symbol: Venus] Venus. Friday. +[Symbol: Saturn] Saturn, Saturday. + +Saturn reigning, is said to cause cold diseases, as the gout, leprosy, +palsy, quartan agues, dropsies, catarrhs, colds, rheumatisms, etc. + +Jupiter causes cramps, numbness, inflammations of the liver, head-aches, +pains in the shoulders, flatulency, inflammatory fevers, and all +diseases caused by putrefaction, apoplexy, and quinsies. + +Mars, acute fevers and tartan agues, continual and intermitting fevers, +imposthumes, erisepelas, carbuncles, fistulas, dysentery, and similar +hot and dry diseases. + +Sol causes rheums in the eyes, coldness in the stomach and liver, +syncope, catarrhs, pustular eruptions, hysterics, eruptions on the lower +extremities. + +Venus causes sores, lientery, hysteria, sickness at the stomach, from +cold and moist causes, disorders of the liver and lungs. + +Mercury causes hoarseness and distempers in the senses, impediments in +the speech, falling sickness, coughs, jaundice, vomiting, catarrhs. + +The moon causes palsy, cholic, dropsy, imposthumes, dysenteries, and all +diseases arising from obstructed circulation. + +The means laid down for the prevention of these diseases are rational +enough, at least some of them, such as temperance, moderate bleeding +(whether or not indicated we are not told,) the use of laxatives at +seasonable times, when a friendly planet, opposite to the malignant +planet you were born under, has dominion, by which the effect of its +influence will be much abated, and a power given to nature to oppose its +malevolency, which, "if well heeded, may be a main prevention of +dangerous diseases." Thus every planet in the heavens carries with it a +diseased aspect, without, as it would appear, possessing any repelling +or sanative powers to correct or ward off the sickly influence it is +supposed to entertain over the life and limbs of frail mortals; that, in +the sense of this absurd doctrine, or rather jargon, when Jupiter has +dominion, it will be necessary to bleed and take calomel to guard +against (not to attack it when it has taken place) inflammation of the +liver; and when Mars presides, to send immediately for Van Butchel to +frighten away an imaginary fistula--absurd and ridiculous nonsense, too +prevalent even at the present day; for what can bleeding and physicking +at the spring and fall of the year be called but operations without +reason, under suppositious stellar influence. "Observe also to gather +all your physic herbs in the hour of the friendly planet, that +temporises with what you were born under, and in so doing they will have +more strength, power, and virtue to operate in the medicines; but +neither physic nor bleed on the third of January, the last of April, the +first of July, the first of August, and the last and second day of +October; for those astrologers, with whom physicians join, conclude it +perilous, by reason of the bad influence then reigning; and if it change +not the distemper into another worse, it will augment it, and put the +party in great danger of death, _if he or she in this case be not lucky +to escape_." It would be a waste of words to offer a single comment on +such egregious stuff--"do not bleed on the third of January," nor on +such and such a day, (as if there could be stated times for bleeding +beyond those which are indicated by the presence of disease, and +requiring such evacuation,) is a practice we believe peculiar only to +astrologers, and those who believe in such demonological cant. It is no +less, however, a singular fact that men distinguished in every other +respect for their learning, should most particularly have indulged in +the superstition of judicial astrology. At the present time a belief in +such subjects can only exist with those who may be said to have no +belief at all; for mere traditional sentiments can hardly be said to +amount to a belief. + +It was astronomy that gave rise to judicial astrology, which, offering +an ample field to enthusiasm and imposture, was eagerly pursued by many +who had no scientific purpose in view. It was connected with various +juggling tricks and deceptions, affected an obscure jargon of language, +and insinuated itself into every thing in which the hopes and fears of +mankind were concerned. The professors of this pretended science were at +first generally persons of mean education, in whom low cunning supplied +the place of knowledge. Most of them engaged in the empirical practice +of physic, and some through the credulity of the times, even arrived at +a degree of eminence in it; yet although the whole foundation of their +art was folly and deceit, they nevertheless gained many proselytes and +dupes, both among the well-informed and the ignorant. + +About the middle of the seventeenth century, the passion for horoscopes +and expounding the stars prevailed in France among people of the first +rank. The new-born child was usually presented naked to the +star-expounder, who read the first lineaments on its forehead, and the +transverse lines in its hands, and thence wrote down its future destiny. +It has been reported of several persons famous for their astrological +skill, that they have suffered a voluntary death merely to verify their +own predictions. It is curious to observe the shifts to which these wise +men were frequently put when their predictions were not verified. Great +winds at one time were predicted by a famous adept in the art, but no +unusual storms having happened, to save the reputation of the art, the +prediction was applied figuratively to some revolutions in the state, of +which there were instances enough at that time. + +The life of the famous Lilly the astrologer, and the Sidrophel of +Butler, written by himself, is a curious work, containing much artless +narrative, but at the same time, so much palpable imposture, that it is +difficult to know when he is speaking what he really believes to be the +truth. In a sketch of the state of astrology in his day, the adepts +whose characters he has drawn were the lowest miscreants of the town. +They all, indeed, speak of each other as rogues and impostors; among +whom were Booker, George Wharton, and Gadbury, who gained a livelihood +by practising on the credulity of even men of learning so late as 1650 +to the 18th century. In Ashmole's life an account of these artful +impostors may be read. Most of them had taken the air in the pillory, +and others had conjured themselves up to the gallows. + +To the astrologers of the 17th century, the quacks and impostors of the +beginning of the 19th are only equal. Quackery and astrology, the latter +of which often served as a mask to the former, appear to have been at +one time a kind of Castor and Pollux; quackery, however, it would seem +has outlived astrology, for there are more who would swallow the nostrum +of the quack than the flatulent bolus of the fortune-tellers. Both still +have their votaries. One Grigg, a poulterer in Surrey, was set in the +pillory at Croyden, (Temp. Edw. IV,) and again in the Borough, for +cheating people out of their money by pretending to cure them with +charms, by simply looking at the patients, or by practices still more +absurd and questionable. Of such doctors there is no lack. This kind of +practice offers one of the finest fields for deception of any species of +empirical delusion held out to the public at the present day. Such +indeed is the infatuation and credulity of the ignorant that, we are +confidently assured, a notorious German quack had within one year so +many half-guinea applications that he netted L2000; and that the glass +bottles in which the precious nostrums were conveyed from the sanctum +sanctorum of the mendacious empiric in high Germany, who made his debut +in this country by hawking about Dutch drops, amounted to as many +two-pences. To those of either sex, who are weak-minded enough to trust +their lives to the rash artifices of an ignorant pretender who affects +to discover an occult quality in the constitution of the patient +denoting the existence of some internal complaint beyond that which less +equivocal symptoms sufficiently present to the eye and knowledge of the +regular practitioner--we can only say that we conceive them to be justly +punished in the loss of their money, and the consequent ruin of their +health. + +In Stow's Chronicle we find that one of these said gentlemen was set on +horseback, his face towards the tail, which he held in his hand in the +manner of a bridle, while with a collar significative of his offence, +dangling about his neck, he made a public entree into the city of +London, conducted by Jack Ketch, who afterwards did himself the honour +of scourging and branding the impostor, previous to banishment, which +completed his sentence. In the reign of James I, a terrible sweep was +made among the quacks and advertising gentry. The council dispatched a +warrant to the magistrates of the city of London, to take up all reputed +quacks, and bring them before the censors of the college, to examine how +properly qualified they were to be trusted, either with the limbs or +lives of his majesty's lieges. This is all that is required at the +present day. Let the legislature controul this department instead of the +college of physicians, who, as a body, can boast of as large an +allowance of licensed ignorance as any corporate set of men in +existence. We say nothing of surgery, for this branch of knowledge +leaves the world generally something to look at, hence so few pretenders +to it; but physic buries all its blemishes with the unfortunate victim. + +The country, even in this age of progressing wisdom, is deluged with +quack medicines, which credulous people say are not directed against the +constitution, but only against the pocket, and that they are too insipid +to do either good or harm; but were this the case, there would have been +no occasion for the exemplary punishments with which it is recorded +quacks of all sorts have at various times been visited. Be it known, +there can be no such thing invented by man as an universal remedy to +prevent or cure all kinds of diseases; because that which would agree +with one constitution would disagree with another differently organised; +and a quack nostrum, such as we see daily advertised, may certainly +agree at one stage of a disease, but might go far in killing the patient +at another. Besides, all these boasted specifics have been found to be +either inert, ineffectual, or dangerous, and every pretender to them, in +times less enlightened by the general march of intellect, has been +convicted either of gross ignorance or dishonesty. No one can vouch with +certainty for any particular kind of medicine,--that it will agree with +this or that individual, until acquainted with his peculiar +constitution; consequently it is the height of absurdity to prescribe +physic for a man without a knowledge of such circumstances to direct +him. Amulets, talismans, charms, and incantations, are innocent and +innoxious, and may impose only on credulity without any other untoward +consequence, leaving the patient in the same state in which he was +found; but so much cannot be said for quacks and quack-medicines which +frequently remove their deluded victims far beyond the reach of either +physic or philosophy. + +Butler is said to be the author of the following character of a quack; +and who can read it without being astonished at the prophetic +intelligence with which it abounds, and which, unfortunately, admits of +a too close analogy with some very recent and untoward events, in the +annals of modern empiricism. "He is a medicine-monger, probationer of +receipts, and Doctor Epidemic; he is perpetually putting his medicines +upon their trial, and very often finds them GUILTY OF MANSLAUGHTER, but +still they have some trick or other to come off, and avoid burning by +the hand of the hangman. He prints his trials of skill, and challenges +death at so many several weapons; that, though he is sure to be foiled +by every one, he cares not: for, _if he can but get money, he is sure to +get off_; for it is but posting up diseases for poltroons in all the +public places of the town, and daring them to meet him again, and his +credit stands as fair with the rabble, as ever it did. He makes nothing +* * * * * * * * * * *;--but will undertake to cure them and tie one hand +behind him, with so much ease and freedom, that his patients may surfeit +and get drunk as often as they please, and follow their business without +any inconvenience to their health or occasions; and recover with so much +secrecy, that they shall never know how it comes about. He professes "no +cure no pay," as well he may, for if nature does the work, he is paid +for it; if not, he neither wins nor loses; and like a cunning rook lays +his bets so artfully, that, let the chance be what it will, he either +wins or saves. He cheats the rich for their money, and the poor for +charity, and, if either succeed, both are pleased, and he passes for a +very just and conscientious man: for as those that pay nothing ought at +least to speak well of their entertainments, their testimony makes way +for those who are able to pay for both. He finds he has no reputation +among those that know him, and fears he is never like to have, and, +therefore, posts up his bills, to see if he can thrive better amongst +those who know nothing of him. He keeps his post continually, and will +undertake to maintain it against all the plagues of Egypt. He sets up +his trade upon a pillar, or the corner of a street--These are his +warehouses, where all he has is to be seen, and a great deal more; for +he that looks further finds nothing at all." + + +ABSURDITIES OF PARACELSUS, AND VAN HELMONT. + +Although some of the first chemists were men of sense and learning, yet +after that chemistry began to be fashionable and much in vogue, there +were some of its professors, who although men of an uncommon turn of +genius, were as great enthusiasts, both in the chemical and medical +arts, as any other men ever were in religion. They not only pretended to +transmute some of the baser metals into gold, contrary to the nature of +things--and if they could have succeeded in that impossible work, it +would have rendered gold as plentiful, cheap, and less valuable than +iron, because it is less fit for instruments and mechanical uses--but +they also pretended infallibly to cure all diseases, by some of their +new invented chemical machines;--a thing equally as impossible as the +other, and shewed their ignorance of the causes and nature of diseases. +As those who are the most ignorant are generally the greatest boasters, +we find that none of them were more so, than that vain, boasting, +paradoxical enthusiast Paracelsus, who had acquired great riches by +curing a certain disease with a mercurial ointment, the knowledge of +which secret he is said to have stolen from Jacobus Berengarius, of +Caipo, in his travels thither. He was withal so illiterate, that he said +philosophy could be taught in no language but high Dutch; but the true +reason was, that he neither understood philosophy nor any other +language. He also boasted that he was in possession of a nostrum which +would prolong man's life to the age of Methusaleh, though he died +himself at the age of forty-seven. He lived in the fifteenth century. +The cures he wrought were deemed so surprising in that age, that he was +supposed to have recourse to supernatural aid. In a picture of him at +Lumley Castle, he is represented in a close black gown, with both hands +on a great sword, on whose hilt is inscribed the word Azot. This was the +name of his _familiar_ spirit, that he kept imprisoned in the pummel, to +consult on emergent occasions. The circumstance is thus alluded to by +Butler:-- + + Bombastes kept the Devil's Bird + Shut in the pummel of his sword; + And taught him all the cunning pranks, + Of past and future mountebanks. + +Paracelsus was succeeded by his scholar van Helmont, who had much more +learning, but was as great an enthusiast, both in the chemical and +medical arts as his master, and embraced most of his paradoxical +opinions; and, having more technical terms, he frequently used them +rather to dazzle and confound the understandings of his readers, than to +inform their judgments. By thus giving his writings a mystical air of +wisdom, he rendered them obscure, and sometimes unintelligible; +consequently, more easily imposed them upon the public and vulgar, as +sublime and useful truths. He also vainly boasted that he could cure any +fever in four days' time, by sweating the patient with one draught of +his famous nostrum, the _Praecipitatus Diaphoreticus Paracelsi_; and +further adds, "that no man can deserve the name of a physician, who +cannot cure any fever in four days' time." He, however, admits, that he +sometimes added a little theriaca (treacle) and wine to it; which last, +he says, "is not only a great cordial, but as a vehicle, is a proper +messenger to be sent on such an errand, as it knows the road, is well +received wherever it goes, and readily admitted into the most private +apartments of the human body." Hence we believe that wine is not only a +good natured, but an intelligent being; though it sometimes deprives men +of their senses for a time, when they take too much of it: and hence we +see also a specimen of our author's method of reasoning and writing. + +Van Helmont, like his great master, also boasted, that he could cure all +inflammatory and other fevers, and even a pleurisy, without either +bleeding, vomiting, purging, clysters, or blisters; and he quarrelled +so much with the two last, that he calls clysters "a beastly remedy," +and says that blisters were invented by a wicked spirit, whom he calls +Moloz, though Beelzebub might have been as good a name, since Dr. +Baynard wittily observed, that he believed he was only a great +cantharid. And both Helmont and the Doctor were so far right, that +blistering was then, as well as now, much abused; and in truth they are +much oftener applied than is either necessary or useful. + +Thus these two eminent chemists, and too many of their followers, +frequently imposed their writings upon the unguarded reader, and +themselves upon the vulgar, for men of profound knowledge in the medical +art, and as great adepts in chemistry: and being puffed up with the high +opinion entertained of their new art, or new medicines, and their own +great wisdom, they rejected the philosophical theory of medicine by +Galen and Avicenna, then so much in vogue. They were right in doing +this, and might have done great service to mankind, if they had not set +up their own imaginary chemical theory in its place, which was neither +founded upon observations, nature, nor reason, and had no existence but +in their own vain imaginations. Thus they supposed a malignity which +caused all diseases, as well inflammatory as other fevers, and which was +to be forced out of the body by sweating, with their hot therapeutics; +they, therefore, attacked all fevers with this chemical ammunition, and +attempted to carry them with fire and storm, prescribing the +praecipitatus diaphoreticus and sweating regimen, which must have been +fatal to many, and no doubt would have been so to many more, if van +Helmont had not allowed his patients to dilute the medicine with a thin +diet, which rendered the calorific method less fatal. But, as the +learned Dr. Friend judiciously remarks, if any did escape after that hot +regimen, it was through a fiery trial. + +Thus the chemists, without any rational theory, or regard to nature, and +what she indicated or did;--without duly considering how the morbid +matter, which caused the disease, was to be concocted and fitted to be +carried off by some critical evacuation; or how to assist nature to +bring that crisis on, according to the Hippocratic method;--without +considering the benefit of the rational, cooling, antiphlogistic +practice of the Arabians--they introduced their sudorific regimen +instead; and this regimen was soon after brought into use in England, +and most other countries, where it continued to be the practice for many +years afterwards, as may be seen by the authors of those times, until +the judicious and honest Dr. Sydenham wisely rejected and exploded it, +introducing the rational method of Hippocrates and the cooling regimen +of the Arabians, which he seems rather to have taken _ex ipsa re et +ratione_ from nature and reason, than from the works of the Arabian +physicians, with which he appears not to have been acquainted, as he +never mentions them. + +Van Helmont had several other famous nostrums, with which he pretended +to perform wonders, as quacks have done in all ages, and as some do now: +for empiricism was never more in fashion than at the present day, and +the chemical art has supplied them with many more arcana and nostrums +than the ancients had in all their antidotes and theriacas, etc. since +chemistry was made subservient to medicine. Van Helmont, nevertheless +was a learned man, and acquired a great name and reputation, at least +for some time; but, as neither his theory nor his practice were founded +on nature and reason, nor conformable to them, the more judicious +physicians soon saw their errors, as well as the fallacy of his new +invented chemical terms and unmeaning phrases, which only contained the +shadow and not the substance of the medical science; therefore both his +chemical theory and hot regimen, together with his writings, sunk soon +after his death, into a state of merited oblivion. + +Notwithstanding that the science of chemistry was greatly improved by +these extraordinary men, who invented or discovered many useful +remedies, which they introduced into the practice of medicine in a no +less extraordinary manner, and thereby pointed out the way for others to +follow them; yet we must allow that the more able and learned chemists +have greatly enriched and improved the materia medica since, by making +many curious experiments, and thereby discovering several new and very +efficacious medicines, not only from the semi-metals, mercury and +antimony, and the various chemical preparations from them, but from the +more perfect metals, and some other mineral bodies, as well as from a +great variety of remedies which are prepared both from vegetable and +animal substances, as salts, oils, essences, spirits, tinctures, +elixirs, extracts and many more needless here to be mentioned, but all +of which are known to physicians. For all these we are indebted to the +chemists who first invented and introduced them into practice; although +the use and application, as well as the methods of administering them to +the sick, to cure various other diseases than those they were first used +for, has been greatly improved by several learned and ingenious +physicians. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[142] See Demonologia, by J.S.F. p. 40. + +[143] See Magazine of Natural History, April, 1830. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +MODERN EMPIRICISM. + +In one respect we have but very little occasion to extol our own +enlightened age at the expence of those ages which are so frequently and +justly termed _dark_. We allude to the bold and artful designs of +imposture, and particularly _medical imposture_. Daily are seen +illiterate and audacious empirics sporting with the lives of a credulous +public, that seem obstinately resolved to shut their ears against all +the suggestions of reason and experience. The host of empirics, +mountebanks, and self-dubbed hygeists, which infest the metropolis, and +the tinctures, cordials, pills, balms, and essences, so much extolled by +their retailers, and swallowed by the public, are indeed so many proofs +of the credulity of the age, that to say the least, the march of +intellect has evidently made a _faux-pas_ in this direction. + +The celestial beds, the enchanting magnetic powers introduced into this +country by Messmer, a German quack, and his numerous disciples, the +prevailing indifference to all dietetic precepts, the singular +imposition practised on many females, in persuading them to wear the +inert acromatic belts, the strange infatuation of the opulent in paying +five guineas for a pair of _metallic tractors_, not worth sixpence, the +tables for blood-letting, and other absurdities still inserted in +popular almanacs, (against all the rules of common sense)--all these +yield in nothing to the absurdities and superstitious notions conveyed +through the medium of astrology, dreams, and other ludicrous though by +far more imposing and interesting channels. The temple of the gulls is +now thronged with votaries as much as that of superstition formerly was; +human reason is still a slave to the most tyrannical prejudices; and +certainly, there is no ready way to excite general attention and +admiration, than to deal in the mysterious and the marvellous. The +visionary system of Jacob Boehman has latterly been revived in some parts +of Germany. The ghosts and apparitions which had disappeared from the +times of Thomasius and Swedenborg, have again left their graves, to the +great terror of fanaticism. New prophets announce their divine mission, +and, what is worse, find implicit believers! The _inventors_ of _secret_ +medicines are rewarded by patents, and obtain no small celebrity; while +some of the more conscientious, but less fortunate adepts, endeavour to +amuse the public with popular systems of medicine. + +One of the most dazzling and successful inventors in modern times, was +Messmer, who commenced his career of medical knight-errantry at Vienna. +His house was the focus of high life, the rendezvous of the gay, where +the young and opulent were enlivened and entertained with continual +concerts, routs, and illuminations. At a great expence, he imported into +Germany the first _Harmonica_ from this country: he established cabinets +of natural curiosities, and laboured constantly and secretly in his +chemical laboratory; so that he acquired the reputation of being a great +alchemist, a philosopher studiously employed in the most useful and +important researches. In 1766, he first publicly announced the object +and nature of his secret labours:--all his discoveries centered in the +_magnet_, which, according to his hypothesis, was the best and safest +remedy hitherto proposed against all diseases incident to the human +body. + +This declaration of Messmer excited very general attention; the more so +as about the same time he established a hospital in his own house, into +which he admitted a number of patients _gratis_. Such disinterestedness +procured, as might be expected, no small addition to his fame. He was, +besides, fortunate in gaining over many celebrated physicians to his +opinions, who lavished the greatest encomiums on his new art, and were +instrumental in communicating to the public a number of successful +experiments. This seems to have surpassed the expectations of Messmer, +and induced him to extend his original plan further than it is likely he +first intended. We find him soon after assuming a more dogmatical and +mysterious air, when, for the purpose of shining exclusively, he +appeared in the character of a _magician_:--his pride and egotism would +brook neither equal nor competitor. + +The common loadstone, or mineral magnet, which is so well known, did +not appear to him sufficiently important and mysterious--he contrived an +unusual one, to the effect of which he gave the name of '_animal +magnetism_'. After this, he proceeded to a still holder assumption, +everywhere giving it out, that the inconceivable powers of this subtile +fluid were centered in his own person. Now, the mona-drama began; and +Messmer, at once the hero and chorus of the piece, performed his part in +a masterly manner. He placed the most nervous, hysteric, and +hypocondriac patients opposite to him; and by the sole act of stretching +forth his finger, he made them feel the most violent shocks. The effects +of this wonderful power excited universal astonishment; its activity and +penetration being confirmed by unquestionable testimonies, from which it +appeared, that blows similar to those given by a blunt iron, could be +imparted by the operator, while he himself was separated by two doors, +nay, even by thick walls. The very looks of this prince of jugglers had +the power to excite painful cramps and twitches in his credulous and +predisposed patients. + +This wonderful tide of success instigated his indefatigable genius to +bolder attempts, especially as he had no severe criticism to apprehend +from the superstitious multitude. He roundly asserted things of which he +offered not the least shadow of proof; and for the truth of which he had +no other pledge to offer but his own high reputation. At one time he +could communicate his magnetic power to paper, wool, silk, bread, +leather, stones, water, etc., at another he asserted that certain +individuals possessed a greater degree of susceptibility for this power +than others. It must be owned, however, that many of his contemporaries +made it their business to encounter his extravagant pretensions, and +refute his dogmatical assertions with the most convincing arguments. +Yet, he long enjoyed the triumph of being supported by blind followers, +and their increasing number completely overpowered the suffrages of +reason. + +Messmer, at length perceived that in his native country, he should never +be able to reach the point which he had fixed upon, as the termination +of his magnetical career. The Germans began to discredit his pompous +claims; but it was only after repeated failures in some promised cures, +that he found himself under the necessity of seeking protection in +Paris. There he met with a most flattering reception, being caressed, +and in a manner adored by a nation which has always been extravagantly +fond of every new thing, whimsical and mysterious. Messmer well knew how +to turn this natural propensity to the best advantage. He addressed +himself particularly to the weak; to such as wished to be considered men +of profound knowledge, but who, when they were compelled to be silent +from real ignorance, took refuge behind the impenetrable shield of +mystery. The fashionable levity, the irresistible curiosity, and the +peculiar turn of the Parisians, ever solicitous to have something +interesting for conversation, to keep their active imagination in play, +were exactly suited to the genius and talents of the inventor of animal +magnetism. We need not wonder, therefore, if he availed himself of their +moral and physical character, to ensure a ready faith in his doctrines, +and success to his pretended experiments: in fact, he found friends and +admirers wherever he made his appearance. His first advertisement was +couched in the following high-sounding terms: + +"Behold a discovery which promises unspeakable advantages to the human +race, and immortal fame to its author! Behold the dawn of an universal +revolution! A new race of men shall arise, shall overspread the earth, +to embellish it by their virtues, and render it fertile by their +industry. Neither vice nor ignorance, shall stop their active career; +they will know our calamities only from the records of history. The +prolonged duration of their life will enable them to plan and accomplish +the most laudable undertakings. The tranquil, the innocent +gratifications of that primeval age will be restored, wherein man +laboured without toil, lived without sorrow, and expired without a +groan! Mothers will no longer be subject to pain and danger during their +pregnancy and child-birth: their progeny will be more robust and brave; +the now rugged and difficult path of education will be rendered smooth +and easy; and hereditary complaints and diseases will be for ever +banished from the future auspicious race. Fathers rejoicing to see their +posterity of the fourth and fifth generations, will only drop like fruit +fully ripe, at the extreme point of age! Animals and plants, no less +susceptible of the magnetic power than man, will be exempt from the +reproach of barrenness and the ravages of distemper. The flocks in the +fields, and the plants in the gardens, will be more vigorous and +nourishing, and the trees will bear more beautiful and grateful fruits. +The human race, once endowed with this elementary power, will probably +rise to still more sublime and astonishing effects of nature: who indeed +is able to pronounce, with certainty, how far this salutary influence +may extend?" + +"What splendid promises! What rich prospects! Messmer, the greatest of +philosophers, the most virtuous of men, the physician of mankind, +charitably opens his arms to all his fellow-mortals, who stand in need +of comfort and assistance. No wonder that the cause of magnetism, under +such a zealous apostle, rapidly gained ground, and obtained every day +large additions to the number of its converts. To the gay, the nervous, +and the dissipated of all ranks and ages, it held out the most +flattering promises. Men of the first respectability interested +themselves in behalf of this new philosophy; they anticipated in idea, +the more happy and more vigorous race which would proceed, as it were, +by enchantment, from the wonderful impulsive powers of animal magnetism. +The French were so far seduced by these flattering appearances, as to +offer the German adventurer _thirty thousand livres_ for the +communication of his secret art. He appears, however, to have understood +his own interest better than thus to dispose of his hypothetical +property, which, upon a more accurate investigation might be objected +to, as consisting of unfair articles of purchase. He consequently +returned the following answer to the credulous French ministers: + +"That Dr. M. considered his art of too great importance, and the abuses +it might lead to, too dangerous for him at present to make it public; +that he must therefore reserve to himself the time of its publication, +and mode of introducing it to general use and observation--that he would +first take proper measures to initiate or prepare the minds of men, by +exciting in them a susceptibility of this great power; and that he would +then undertake to communicate his secret gradually, which he meant to do +without hope of reward." + +Messmer, too politic to part with his secret for so small a premium, had +a better prospect in view; and his apparent disinterestedness and +hesitation served only to sound an over-curious public, to allure more +victims to his delusive practices, and to retain them more firmly in +their implicit belief. Soon after this he was easily prevailed upon to +institute a private society, into which none were admitted, but such as +bound themselves by a vow to perpetual secrecy. These pupils he agreed +to instruct in his important mysteries, on condition of each paying him +_one hundred louis_. In the course of six months, having had not less +than three hundred such pupils, he realized a fortune of _thirty +thousand louis_. + +It appears, however, that the disciples of Messmer did not adhere to +their engagement: we find them separating gradually from their +professor, and establishing schools for the propagation of his system, +with a view, no doubt, to reimburse themselves for the expenses of their +own initiation into the magnetising art. But few of them having +understood the terms and mysterious doctrines of their foreign master, +every new adept exerted himself to excel his fellow-labourers, in +additional explanations and inventions: others, who did not possess, or +could not spare the sum of one hundred louis, were industriously +employed in attempts to discover the secret, by their own ingenuity; and +thus arose a great variety of magnetical sects. At length, however, +Messmer's authority became suspected; his pecuniary acquisitions were +now notorious, and our _humane and disinterested philosopher_ was +assailed with critical and satirical animadversions from every quarter. +The fertility of his process for medical purposes, as well as the bad +consequences it might procure in a moral point of view, soon became +topics of common conversation, and ultimately even excited the +apprehensions of government. One dangerous effect of magnetical +associations was, that young voluptuaries began to employ this art, to +promote their libidinous and destructive designs. + +Matters having assumed this serious aspect, the French government, much +to its credit, deputed four respectable and unprejudiced men, to whom +were afterwards added four others of great learning and abilities, to +inquire into, and appreciate the merits of the new discovery of animal +magnetism. These philosophers, among whom we find the illustrious names +of Franklin and Lavoisier, recognised, indeed, very surprising and +unexpected phenomena in the physical state of magnetized individuals; +but they gave it as their opinion, that the powers of imagination, and +not animal magnetism, had produced these effects. Sensible of the +superior influence, which the imagination can exert on the human body, +when it is effectually wrought upon, they perceived, after a number of +experiments and facts frequently repeated, that _contact_, or touch, +_imagination, imitation_, and _excited sensibility_, were the real and +sole causes of these phenomena, which had so much confounded the +illiterate, the credulous, and the enthusiastic; that this boasted +magnetic element had no real existence in nature, consequently that +Messmer himself was either an arrant impostor, or a deluded fanatic. + +Meantime, this magnetic mystery had made no small progress in Germany. A +number of periodical and other publications vindicated its claims to +public favour and attention; and some literary men, who had rendered +themselves justly celebrated by their former writings, now stepped +forward as bold and eager champions in support of this mystical +doctrine. The ingenious Lavater undertook long journies for the +propagation of magnetism and somnambulism:[144] and what, manipulations +and other absurdities were not practised on hysterical young ladies in +the city of Bremen? It is farther worthy of notice, that an eminent +physician of that place, in a recent publication, does not scruple to +rank magnetism among medical remedies! It must, nevertheless, be +confessed, that the great body of the learned, throughout Germany, have +endeavoured, by strong and impartial criticism, to oppose and refute +animal magnetism, considered as a medical system. And how should it be +otherwise, since it is highly ridiculous to imagine that violent +agitations, spasms, convulsions, etc. which are obviously symptoms of a +diseased state of body, and which must increase rather than diminish the +disposition to nervous diseases, can be the means of improving the +constitution and ultimately of prolonging human life? Every attentive +person must have observed, that too frequent intercourse between nervous +and hypochondriac patients is infectious; and if this be the case, +public assemblies, for exhibiting magnetised individuals, can neither be +safe nor proper. It is no small proof of the good sense of the people of +this country, though they have at different times fallen into nearly +similar delusions, that the professors of animal magnetism did not long +maintain their ground; they were soon exposed to public ridicule on the +stage, and shortly became annihilated in their own absurdities. + +Other plans for the prolongation of life, little less absurd than +animal magnetism, which have, like every other imposture, "fretted their +hour," deserve to be noticed. The French and Germans have long stood +pre-eminent in the empirical world, though the merit of ingenious and +more plausible emanations of genius may fairly be attributed to the +latter. Animal magnetism; physiognomy, a rational though fallacious +science; phrenology, a doctrine abounding with many singular +manifestions, and possessing claims not to be put down by mere force of +prejudice, are all of German origin. + +The Count St. Germain, a Frenchman, realized large sums, by vending an +artificial tea, chiefly composed of yellow saunders, senna leaves, and +fennel seed, which was puffed off under the specious appellation of _Tea +for prolonging life_; which, at that time, was swallowed with such +voracity all over the continent, that few could subsist without it. Its +celebrity was of short duration, and none ever lived long enough to +realize its effects. + +The Chevalier d'Ailhoud, another brazen-faced adventurer, presented the +world with a powder, which met with so large and rapid a sale, that he +soon accumulated money enough to purchase a whole county. This famous +powder, however, instead of adding to the means of securing a long and +healthy life, is well known to produce constant indisposition, and at +length to cause a most miserable death; being composed of certain drugs +of a poisonous nature, though slow in their operation. + +Count Cagliostro, styled the luminary of modern impostors and +debauchees, prepared a very common stomach elixir, which was sold at a +most exorbitant price under the name of "_balm of life_" It was +pretended, with the most unparalleled effrontery, that, by the use of +this medicine, the count had lived above 200 years, and that he was +rendered invulnerable against every species of poison. These bold +assertions could not fail to excite very general attention. During his +residence at Strasburg, while descanting, in a large and respectable +company, on the virtues of his antidote, his pride met with a very +mortifying check. A physician who was present, and who had taken part in +the conversation, quitting the room privately, went to an apothecary's +shop, and ordering two pills of equal size to be made, agreeably to his +directions, suddenly appeared again before the count, and thus addressed +him:--"Here, my worthy count, are two pills; the one contains a mortal +poison, the other is perfectly innocent; choose one of these and swallow +it, and I engage to take that which you leave. This will be considered +as a decisive proof of your medical skill, and enable the public to +ascertain the efficacy of your extolled elixir." The count took the +alarm, made a number of apologies, but could not be prevailed upon to +touch the pills. The physician swallowed both immediately, and proved by +his apothecary, that they might be taken with perfect safety, being only +made of common bread. Notwithstanding the shame of this detection, +Cagliostro still retained numerous advocates by circulating unfounded +reports, and concealing his real character by a variety of tricks. + +The inspired father Gassner, of Bavaria, ascribed all diseases, +lameness, palsy, etc, to diabolical agency, contending from the history +of Job, Saul, and others recorded in sacred writ, that Satan, as the +grand enemy of mankind, has a power to embitter and shorten our lives by +diseases. Vast numbers of credulous and weak-minded people flocked to +this fanatic, with a view of obtaining relief which he never had the +means to administer. Multitudes of patients, afflicted with nervous and +hypochondriacal complaints, besieged him daily; being all stimulated by +a wild imagination, eager to view and acknowledge the works of Satan! +Men eminent for their literary attainments, even the natural +philosophers of Bavaria, were hurried away by the stream, and completely +blinded by sanctified imposture. + +It is no less astonishing than true, that so late as 1794, a Count Thun, +at Leipzig, pretended to perform miraculous cures on gouty, +hypochondriacal, and hysterical patients, merely by the imposition of +his sacred hands. He could not however raise a great number of disciples +in a place that abounds with so many sceptics and unbelievers. + +The commencement of the nineteenth century has been equally pregnant +with imposture. The delusions of Joanna Southcoat are too fresh in the +recollections of our readers to require notice here; yet, strange to +say, this fanatical old woman had her adherents and disciples; many of +them, in other respects, were keen and sensible men; nor has the +delusion altogether evaporated, though the sect is by no means powerful +or strong; the first impressions are still retained by her half frantic +and ridiculous devotees, who are only to be met with among the very +lowest and illiterate orders of society. + +The farce of the convert of Newhall, near Chelmsford, is of still more +recent date. Here we have a miracle performed by the holy Prince +Hohenlohe, at a distance of at least three hundred miles from the +presence of his patient. Hearing of the wonderful cures performed by +this prince, one of the nuns in the above convent, who had been +afflicted for a considerable length of time with a swelling and +inflammation extending from the ball of the thumb along the fore arm, +and up as high as the armpit, wrote to Prince Hohenlohe--having +previously been attended by the most eminent practitioners in London +without any apparent benefit--to relieve her from her sufferings. This +he willingly undertook to do, but accompanied his consent with an +injunction that she should offer up her prayers on a certain day (May 3, +1824,) held in reverence by the catholics, and at a certain hour, +promising that he would be at his devotions at the same time. All this, +the afflicted nun attended to; immediately after her prayers, she +experienced a tingling sensation along the arm, and from that instant +the cure rapidly advanced until the diseased limb became as sound as the +other. + +The days of priestcraft and superstition, it was hoped, had been fast +fleeting away before the luminous rays of science, even in those +countries where religious juggling had been most fostered and practised. +But for any man in this country to believe that such a miracle can be +wrought by human agency, is of itself an awfully convincing proof that +he is ignorant of the Scriptures, and that his own mind is likely to +become a prey to the wildest chimeras. Prince Hohenlohe's notoriety +however as a worker of miracles was not confined to Newhall. His mighty +prowess extended to the emerald isle; and several cures were performed +at as great, or even at a greater distance, than that wrought at +Newhall, and merely at the sound of his orisons. We hear of no miracles +being wrought by, or upon protestants; consequently we leave them to the +gloom of the cloister, whence they emanated, and where only they can be +of use in a cause which requires the aid of stratagem to support it. + +A taste for the marvellous seems to be natural to man in every stage of +society, and at almost every period of life; it cannot, therefore, be +much a matter of astonishment, that, from the earliest ages of the +world, persons have been found, who, more idle and more ingenious than +others, have availed themselves of this propensity, to obtain an easy +livelihood by levying contributions on the curiosity of the public. +Whether this taste is to be considered as a proof of the weakness of our +judgment, or of innate inquisitiveness, which stimulates us to enlarge +the sphere of our knowledge, must be left to the decision of +metaphysicians; it is sufficient for our present purpose to know that it +gave rise to a numerous class of impostors in the shape of quacks, +mountebanks, poison-swallowers, fire-eaters, and pill-mongers. + +There is another class of adepts, such as sleight of hand performers, +slack rope dancers, teachers of animals to perform extraordinary tricks; +in short, those persons who delude the senses, and practise harmless +deceptions on spectators, included under the common appellation of +jugglers. If these arts served no other purpose than that of mere +amusement, they yet merit a certain degree of encouragement, as +affording at once a cheap and innocent diversion; jugglers of this class +frequently exhibit instructive experiments in natural philosophy, +chemistry, and mechanics: thus the solar microscope was invented from an +instrument to reflect shadows, with which a savoyard amused a German +populace; and the celebrated Sir Richard Arkwright is said to have +conceived the idea of the spinning machines, which have so largely +contributed to the prosperity of the cotton manufactories in this +country, from a toy which he purchased for his child from an itinerant +showman. These deceptions have, besides, acted as an agreeable and most +powerful antidote to superstition, and to that popular belief in +miracles, conjuration, sorcery, and witchcraft, which preyed upon the +minds of our ancestors; and the effects of shadows, electricity, +mirrors, and the magnet, once formidable instruments in the hands of +interested persons, for keeping the vulgar in awe, have been stripped of +their terrors, and are no longer frightful in their most terrific forms. + + +ON THE TRANSFUSION OP BLOOD FROM ONE ANIMAL TO ANOTHER. + +At a time when the shortness of human life was imputed to a distempered +state of the blood; when all diseases were ascribed to this cause, +without attending to the whole of what relates to the moral and physical +nature of man, a conclusion was easily formed, that a radical removal of +the corrupted blood, and a complete renovation of the entire mass by +substitution was both practicable and effectual. The speculative mind +of man was not at a loss to devise expedients, to effect this desirable +purpose; and undoubtedly one of the boldest, most extraordinary, and +most ingenious attempts ever made to lengthen the period of human life +was made at this time. We allude here to the famous scheme of +_transfusion_, or of introducing the blood of one animal into that of +another. This curious discovery is attributed to Andreas Libavius, +professor of medicine and chemistry in the university of Halle, who, in +the year 1615, publicly recommended experimental essays to ascertain the +fact. + +Libavius was an honest and spirited opposer of the Theosophic system, +founded by the bombastic Paracelsus, and supported by a numerous tribe +of credulous and frantic followers. Although he was not totally exempt +from the follies of that age, since he believed in the transmutation of +metals, and suggested to his pupils the wonderful power of potable gold, +yet he distinguished rational alchemy from the fanatical systems then in +repute, and zealously defended the former against the disciples of +Galen, as well as those of Paracelsus. He made a number of important +discoveries in chemistry, and was unquestionably the first professor in +Germany who gave chemical lectures, upon pure principles of affinity, +unconnected with the extravagant notions of the theosophists. + +The first experiments relative to the transfusion of the blood, appear +to have been made, and that with great propriety, on the lower animals. +The blood of the young, healthy and vigorous, was transferred into the +old and infirm, by means of a delicate tube, placed in a vein opened for +that purpose. The effect of this operation was surprising and important: +aged and decrepit animals were soon observed to become more lively, and +to move with greater ease and rapidity. By the indefatigable exertions +of Lower, in England, of Dennis in France, and of Moulz, Hoffman, and +others in Germany, this artificial mode of renovating the life and +spirits was successfully continued, and even brought to some degree of +perfection. + +The vein usually opened in the arm of a patient was resorted to for the +purpose of transfusion; into this a small tube was placed in a +perpendicular direction; the same vein was then opened in a healthy +individual, but more frequently in an animal, into which another tube +was forced in a reclining direction; both small tubes were then slid +into one another, and in that position the delicate art of transfusion +was safely performed. When the operation was completed, the vein was +tied up in the same manner as on blood-letting. Sometimes a quantity of +blood was drawn from the patient, previously to the experiment taking +place. As few persons, however, were to be found, that would agree to +part with their blood to others, recourse was generally had to animals, +and most frequently to the calf, the lamb, and the stag. These being +laid upon a table, and tied so as to be unable to move, the operation +was performed in the manner before described. In some instances, the +good effects of these experiments were evident and promising, while they +excited the greatest hopes of the future improvement and progress of +this new art. But the unceasing abuses practised by bold and inexpert +adventurers, together with the great number of cases, which proved +unsuccessful, induced the different governments of Europe to put an +entire stop to the practice, by the strictest prohibitions. And, indeed, +while the constitutions and mode of living among men differ so +materially as they now do, this is, and ever must remain, an extremely +hazardous and equivocal, if not a desperate remedy. The blood of every +individual is of a peculiar nature, and congenial with that of the body +only to which it belongs, and in which it is generated. Hence our hope +of prolonging human life, by artificial evacuations and injections, must +necessarily be disappointed. It must not, however, be supposed, that +these, and similar pursuits during the ages of which we treat, as well +as those which succeeded, were solely or chiefly followed by mere +adventurers and fanatics. The greatest geniuses of those times employed +their wits with the most learned and eminent men, who deemed it an +object by no means below their consideration. + +The method of supplying good for unsound teeth, though long laid aside, +in consequence of the danger with which the practice was attended, by +the communication of disease from an unhealthy to a healthy person, was +at one time as much the rage as the transfusion of blood. This practice, +notwithstanding the objections which stand opposed to it, might, +nevertheless, be adopted with success on many occasions, could persons +enjoying a sound and wholesome state of body be found to answer the +demand, however unnatural it may appear. A few untoward cases soon +raised the hue and cry against the continuance of the practice, as in +the transfusion of blood, though the latter has recently been attempted +in the case of an individual exhausted by excessive hermorrage with a +success which answered the expectation. There is little doubt that both +the transfusion of blood, and engrafting or transplanting of teeth, are +capable, with judgment and discrimination, of being made subservient in +a variety of cases; though the chances of general success militate +against these experiments; for it is the unalterable plan of nature to +proceed gradually in her operations; all outrage and extravagance being +at variance with her established laws. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[144] The art of exciting sleep in persons under the influence of animal +magnetism, with a view to obtain or rather extort during this artificial +sleep, their verbal declarations and directions for curing the diseases +of both body and mind. Such, indeed, was the rage for propagating this +mystical nonsense, that even the pulpit was occasionally resorted to, in +order to make, not fair penitents, but fair proselytes. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +THE ROSICRUCIANS OR THEOSOPHISTS. + +This remarkable sect was founded upon the doctrines of Paracelsus, +during the latter part of the sixteenth, and the beginning of the +seventeenth centuries. The society was known by the name of the +Rosencrucians or Rosecrucians; and as it has not been without its +followers and propagators in different shapes, even to the present time, +we shall here present the reader with a concise account of the origin +and tenets of that fanatical sect. + +The first intimation of the existence of this order we find announced to +the world in a book published in the German language, in the year 1614, +with the following title, "_The universal and general Reformation of the +world, together with an account of the famous fraternity of the +Rosencrucians_." The work contains an intimation, that the members of +the society had been secretly engaged for a century preceding, and that +they had come to the knowledge of many great and important secrets, +which, if communicated to the world, would promote the happiness of man. + +An adventurer of the name of Christian Rosenkreuz is said to have +founded this order, in the fourteenth century after having been +previously initiated in the sublime wisdom of the east, during his +travels in Egypt and Fez. From what we are enabled to learn from this +work, the intention of the founder and the final aim of the society, +appear to have been the accumulation of wealth and treasures, by means +of secrets known only to the members; and by a proper distribution of +these treasures among princes and potentates, to promote the grand +scheme of the society, by producing "a general revolution of all +things." In their "confession of faith," there are many bold and +singular dogmas; among others, that the end of the world is at hand; +that a general reformation of men and manners will speedily take place; +that the wicked shall be expelled or subdued, the Jews converted, and +the doctrine of Christ propagated over the whole earth. The +Rosencrucians not only believed that these events must happen, but they +also endeavoured to accelerate them by unremitted exertions. To their +faithful votaries and followers, they promised abundance of celestial +wisdom, unspeakable riches, exemption from disease, an immortal state of +man of ever blooming youth, and above all the _philosopher's stone_. + +Learning and improvement of the mind were, by this order, considered as +superfluous and despised. They found all knowledge in the Bible; this, +however, has been supposed rather a pretext to obviate a charge, which +was brought against them, of not believing in the Christian religion. +The truth is, they imagined themselves superior to divine revelation, +and supposed every useful acquisition, every virtue to be derived from +the influence of the Deity on the soul of man. In this, as well as in +many other respects, they appear to be followers of Paracelsus, whom +they profess to revere as a Messenger of the divinity. Like him, they +pretend to cure all diseases; through _faith_ and the power of the +imagination, to heal the most mortal disorders by a touch, or even by +simply looking at the patient. The universal remedy was likewise a grand +secret of the order, the discovery of which was promised to all its +faithful members. + +It would be unnecessary to enumerate any more of such impious fancies, +if the founder of this still lurking sect, now partly revivified, had +not asserted, with astonishing effrontery, that human life was capable +of prolongation, like a fire kept up by combustible matter, and that he +was in the possession of a secret, which could verify this assertion. It +is evident, however, from the testimony of Libavius, a man of +unquestionable veracity, that this doughty champion in medical +chemistry, or rather alchemy, Paracelsus, notwithstanding his bold +assertions, died as before observed, at Sulzburgh in Germany, in the +Hospital of St. Stephen's in 1541: and that his death was chiefly +occasioned by the singular and desolate mode of life, which he had for a +long time pursued. When a competent knowledge of the economy of the +human frame is wanting, to enable a man to discriminate between internal +and external causes and effects, it will be impossible to ascertain, or +to counteract, the different causes by which our health is deranged. +This evidently was the case with Paracelsus, and many other +life-prolongers who have succeeded him; and should a fortunate +individual ever fix upon a remedy, possessing the power of checking +disease, or lengthening out human existence (an expectation never to be +realized) he will be indebted to chance alone for the discovery. This +has been the case in all ages, and still remains so. + +Remedies, from time to time, have been devised, not merely to serve as +nostrums for all diseases, but also for the pretended purpose of +prolonging life. Those of the latter kind have been applied with a view +to resist or check many operations of nature, which insensibly consume +the vital heat, and other powers of life, such as respiration, muscular +irritation, etc. Thus, from the implicit credulity of some, and the +exuberant imagination of others, observation and experiments, however +incompatible with sound reason and philosophy, have been multiplied, +with the avowed design of establishing proofs, or reputations of this or +that absurd opinion. In this manner have fanaticism and imposture +falsified the plainest truths, or forged the most unfounded and +ridiculous claims; insomuch that one glaring inconsistency has been +employed to combat another, and folly has succeeded folly, till a fund +of materials has been transmitted to posterity, sufficient to form a +concise history on this subject. Men in all ages have set a just value +on life; and in proportion to the means of enjoyment, this value has +been appreciated in a greater or less degree. If the gratification of +the sensual appetite formed the principal object of living, its +prolongation would be to the epicure, as desirable as the prospect of an +existence to be enjoyed beyond the limits of the grave, is to the +moralist and the believer. + +The desire of longevity appears to be inherent in all animated nature, +and particularly in the human race; it is intimately cherished by us, +through the whole duration of our existence, and is frequently supported +and strengthened, not only by justifiable means, but also by various +kinds of collusion. Living in an age when every branch of human +knowledge is reduced to popular systems; when the vigils of reason are +hallowed at the shrine of experiment and observation;--though we behold +in the immense variety of things, the utter uselessness of attempting to +renovate a shattered constitution, or of improving a sound one to last +beyond a certain period; we nevertheless observe that in the +inconceivable waste of elementary particles there prevails the strictest +economy. Nothing is produced in vain, nothing consumed without a cause. +We clearly perceive that all nature is united by indissoluble ties, that +every individual thing exists for the sake of another, and that no one +can subsist without its concomitant. Hence we conclude, that man himself +is not an insulated being, but a necessary link in the great chain, +which connects the universe. Nature is our safest guide, and she will be +so with greater certainty, as we become better acquainted with her +operations, especially with respect to those particulars which more +nearly concern our physical existence. Thus, n source of many and very +extensive advantages will be opened; thus, we shall reach our original +destination--namely, that of living long and in the enjoyment of sound +health, to which, if purity of morals he added, the best hopes may be +entertained of a happy state, in a future world, where its inhabitants +never die. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THAUMATURGIA*** + + +******* This file should be named 10088.txt or 10088.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/0/8/10088 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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