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diff --git a/38448.txt b/38448.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d401e5f --- /dev/null +++ b/38448.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11290 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Modern Magic, by Maximilian Schele de Vere + +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: Modern Magic + +Author: Maximilian Schele de Vere + +Release Date: December 30, 2011 [EBook #38448] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MODERN MAGIC *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Cathy Maxam and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + + + MODERN MAGIC. + + BY + + M. SCHELE DE VERE. + + _Non fumum ex fulgore, sed ex fumo dare lucem + Cogitat, ut speciosa dehinc miracula promat._ + + HORACE. + + [Illustration] + + NEW YORK: + G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, + FOURTH AVENUE AND TWENTY-THIRD STREET. + 1873. + + + + + Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1878, by + G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, + In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. + + LANGE, LITTLE & HILLMAN, + PRINTERS, ELECTROTYPERS AND STEREOTYPERS, + 108 TO 114 WOOSTER STREET, N. Y. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The main purpose of our existence on earth--aside from the sacred and +paramount duty of securing our salvation--is undoubtedly to make +ourselves masters of the tangible world around us, as it stands revealed +to our senses, and as it was expressly made subject to our will by the +Creator. We are, however, at the same time, not left without information +about the existence of certain laws and the occurrence of certain +phenomena, which belong to a world not accessible to us by means of our +ordinary senses, and which yet affect seriously our intercourse with +Nature and our personal welfare. This knowledge we obtain sometimes, by +special favor, as direct revelation, and at other times, for reasons as +yet unknown, at the expense of our health and much suffering. By +whatever means it may reach us, it cannot be rejected; to treat it with +ridicule or to decline examining it, would be as unwise as +unprofitable. The least that we can do is to ascertain the precise +nature of these laws, and, after stripping these phenomena of all that +can be proved to be merely incidental or delusive, to compare them with +each other, and to arrange them carefully according to some standard of +classification. The main interest in such a task lies in the discovery +of the grain of truth which is often found concealed in a mass of +rubbish, and which, when thus brought to light, serves to enlarge our +knowledge and to increase our power. The difficulty lies in the absence +of all scientific investigation, and in the innate tendency of man to +give way, wantonly or unconsciously, to mental as well as to sensual +delusion. + +The aim of this little work is, therefore, limited to the gathering of +such facts and phenomena as may serve to throw light upon the nature of +the magic powers with which man is undoubtedly endowed. Its end will be +attained if it succeeds in showing that he actually does possess powers +which are not subject to the general laws of nature, but more or less +independent of space and time, and which yet make themselves known +partly by appeals to the ordinary senses and partly by peculiar +phenomena, the result of their activity. These higher powers, operating +exclusively through the spirit of man, are part of his nature, which has +much in common with that of the Deity, since he was created by God "in +His own image," and the Lord "breathed into his nostrils the breath of +life and man became a living _soul_." This soul is not, as materialists +maintain, merely the sum of all perceptions obtained by the collective +activity of bodily organs--a conclusion which would finally make it the +product of mere material atoms, subject to constant physical and +chemical changes. Even if it were possible--which we deny--to reduce our +whole inner life, including memory, imagination, and reason, to a system +of purely physical laws, and thus to admit its destruction at the moment +of death, there would still remain the _living soul_, coming directly +from the Most High, and destined to continue throughout eternity. This +soul is, hence, independent of time. Nor is it bound by space, except so +far as it can commune with the outer world only by means of the body, +with which it is united in this life. The nature of this union is a +mystery as yet unfathomed, but precisely because it is such a mystery, +we have no right to assume that it is altogether indissoluble during +life; or, that it ceases entirely at the moment of death. There is, on +the contrary, overwhelming evidence that the soul may, at times, act +independently of the body, and the forces developed on such occasions we +have, for the sake of convenience rather than on account of the special +fitness of the term, preferred to call _magic_ powers. + +There is no evidence whatever before us as to the mutual relations of +soul and body after death. Here, necessarily, all must be mere +speculation. Nothing more, therefore, will be claimed for the following +suggestions. When the body becomes unfit to serve any longer as an abode +and an instrument to the soul, the tie which was formed before or at the +moment of birth is gradually loosened. The soul no longer receives +impressions from the outer world such as the body heretofore conveyed to +it, and with this cessation of mutual action ends, also, the community +of sensation. The living soul--in all probability--becomes conscious of +its separation from the dead body and from the world; it continues to +exist, but in loneliness and self-dependence. Its life, however, becomes +only the more active and the more self-conscious as it is no longer +consumed by intercourse with the world, nor disturbed by bodily +disorders and infirmities. The soul recalls with ease all long-forgotten +or much-dimmed sensations. What it feels most deeply at first is, we +may presume, the double grief at being separated from the body, with +which it has so long been closely connected, and at the sins it has +committed during life. This repentance will be naturally all the +heartier, as it is no longer interrupted by sensual impressions. After a +while this grief, like all sorrows, begins to moderate, and the soul +returns to a state of peace: sooner, of course, in the case of persons +who in their earthly life already had secured peace by the only means +revealed to man; later, by those who had given themselves entirely up to +the world and their passions. At the same time the living soul enters +into communion with other souls, retaining, however, its individuality +in sex, character, and temper, and, possibly, proceeds on a course of +gradual purification, till it reaches the desired haven in perfect +reconciliation with God. During this intermediate time there is nothing +known to us which would absolutely forbid the idea that these living +souls continue to maintain some kind of intercourse with the souls of +men on earth, with whom they share all that constitutes their essential +nature, save only the one fact of bondage to the body. Nor is there any +reason why the soul in man should not be able, by its higher powers, to +perceive and to consort with souls detached from mortal bodies, although +this intercourse must needs be limited and imperfect because of the +vast difference between a free soul and one bound to an earthly, sinful +body. For man, when he dies, leaves behind in this world the body, dead +and powerless, a corpse. He continues, however, to live, a soul, with +all the peculiar powers which make up our spiritual organism; that is to +say, the true man, in the higher sense of the word, exists still, though +he dwell in another world. This soul has now no longer earthly organs of +sense to do its bidding, but it still controls nature which was made +subject to its will; it has, moreover, a new set of powers which +represent in the higher world its higher body, and the character of its +new active life will be all the more elevated, as these organs are more +spiritual. Man cannot but continue to develop, to grow, and to ripen, in +the next world as he did in this; his nature and his destiny are alike +incompatible with sudden transitions and with absolute rest. The soul +must become purer and more useful; its organs more subtle and more +powerful, and it is of this life of gradual improvement and purification +that we may occasionally obtain glimpses by that communion which no +doubt still exists between earth-bound souls and souls freed from such +bondage. + +There are, it is well known, many theologians who sternly deny any such +further development of man's spiritual part, and insist upon looking at +this life as the only time of probation accorded to him, at the end of +which immediate and eternal judgment is rendered. Their views are +entitled to the utmost consideration and respect. But different opinions +are entertained by some of their brethren, not less eminent in piety, +profound learning, and critical acumen, and hence at least equally +deserving of being attentively listened to and carefully regarded. So it +is also with the belief in the possibility of holding intercourse with +disembodied spirits. Superficial observers are ready to doubt or to +deny, to sneer haughtily, or to scoff contemptuously. But men of great +eminence have, from time immemorial, treated the question with great +attention and deep interest. Melanchthon wrote: "I have myself seen +ghosts, and know many trustworthy people who affirm that they have not +only seen them, but even carried on conversations with them" (De Anima +Recogn.: Wittemb. 1595, p. 317), and Luther said nearly the same; Calvin +and Knox also expressed similar convictions. A faith which has lasted +through all ages of man's history, and has such supporters, cannot but +have some foundation, and deserves full investigation. Alchemy, with its +visionary hopes, contained, nevertheless, the germ of modern chemistry, +and astrology taught already much that constitutes the astronomy of our +day. The same is, no doubt, the case with Modern Magic, and here, also, +we may safely expect to find that "out of darkness cometh light." + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + I. + WITCHCRAFT 13 + + II. + BLACK AND WHITE MAGIC 43 + + III. + DREAMS 94 + + IV. + VISIONS 116 + + V. + GHOSTS 155 + + VI. + DIVINATION 270 + + VII. + POSSESSION 340 + + VIII. + MAGNETISM 376 + + IX. + MIRACULOUS CURES 429 + + X. + MYSTICISM 448 + + + + +MODERN MAGIC. + + + + +I. + +WITCHCRAFT. + + "Witchcraft is an illegitimate miracle; a miracle is legitimate + witchcraft." + + --JACOB BOEHME. + + +Perhaps in no direction has the human mind ever shown greater weakness +than in the opinions entertained of witchcraft. If Hecate, the oldest +patroness of witches, wandered about at night with a gruesome following, +and frightened lovers at their stealthy meeting, or lonely wanderers on +open heaths and in dark forests, her appearance was at least in keeping +with the whole system of Greek mythology. Tacitus does not frighten us +by telling us that witches used to meet at salt springs (Ann. xiii. 57), +nor the Edda when speaking of the "bearers of witches' kettles," against +whom even the Salic Law warns all good Christians. But when the Council +of Ancyra, in the fifth century, fulminates its edicts against women +riding at night upon weird animals in company with Diana and Herodias, +the strange combination of names and the dread penalties threatened, +make us almost think of witches as of real and most marvelous beings. +And when wise councillors of French Parliaments and gray dignitaries of +the Holy German Empire sit in judgment over a handful of poor old women, +when great English bishops and zealous New England divines condemn +little children to death, because they have made pacts with the Devil, +attended his sabbaths, and bewitched their peaceful neighbors--then we +stand amazed at the delusions, to which the wisest and best among us are +liable. + +Christianity, it is true, shed for a time such a bright light over the +earth, that the works of darkness were abhorred and the power of the +Evil One seemed to be broken, according to the sacred promises that the +seed of woman should bruise the serpent's head. Thus Charlemagne, in his +fierce edict issued after the defeat of the Saxons, ordered that death +should be inflicted on all who after pagan manner gave way to devilish +delusions, and believed that men or women could be witches, persecuted +and killed them; or, even went so far as to consume their flesh and give +it to others for like purposes! But almost at the same time the belief +in the Devil, distinctly maintained in Holy Writ, spread far and wide, +and as early as the fourth century diseases were ascribed not to organic +causes, but to demoniac influences, and the Devil was once more seen +bodily walking to and fro on the earth, accompanied by a host of smaller +demons. It was but rarely that a truly enlightened man dared to combat +the universal superstition. Thus Agobard, archbishop of Lyons, shines +like a bright star on the dark sky of the ninth century by his open +denunciation of all belief in possession, in the control of the weather +or the decision of difficulties by ordeal. For like reasons we ought to +revere the memory of John of Salisbury, who in the twelfth century +declared the stories of nightly assemblies of witches, with all their +attending circumstances, to be mere delusions of poor women and simple +men, who fancied they saw bodily what existed only in their imagination. +The Church hesitated, now requiring her children to believe in a Devil +and demons, and now denouncing all faith in supernatural beings. The +thirteenth century, by Leibnitz called the darkest of all, developed the +worship of the Evil One to its fullest perfection; the writings of St. +Augustine were quoted as confirming the fact that demons and men could +and did intermarry, and the Djinns of the East were mentioned as spirits +who "sought the daughters of men for wives." The first trace of a +witches' dance is found in the records of a fearful Auto-da-fe held in +Toulouse in the year 1353, and about a century later the Dominican monk, +Jaquier, published the first complete work on witches and witchcraft. He +represented them as organised--after the prevailing fashion of the +day--in a regular guild, with apprentices, companions, and masters, who +practised a special art for a definite purpose. It is certainly most +remarkable that the same opinion, in all its details, has been +entertained in this century even, and by one of the most famous German +philosophers, Eschenmayer. While the zeal and madness of +devil-worshippers were growing on one side, persecution became more +violent and cruel on the other side, till the trials of witches assumed +gigantic proportions and the proceedings were carried on according to a +regular method. These trials originated, invariably, with theologians, +and although the system was not begun by the Papal government it +obtained soon the Pope's legal sanction by the famous bull of Innocent +VIII., _Summis desiderantes_, dated December 4, 1484, and decreeing the +relentless persecution of all heretical witches. The far-famed _Malleus +maleficatum_ (Cologne, 1489), written by the two celebrated judges of +witches, Sprenger and Gremper, and full of the most extraordinary views +and statements, reduced the whole to a regular method, and obtained a +vast influence over the minds of that age. The rules and forms it +prescribed were not only observed in almost all parts of Christendom, +but actually retained their force and legality till the end of the +seventeenth century. Nor were these views and practices confined to +Catholic countries; a hundred and fifty years after the Reformation, a +great German jurist and a Protestant, Carpzon, published his _Praxis +Criminalis_, in which precisely the same opinions were taught and the +same measures were prescribed. The Puritans, it is well-known, pursued a +similar plan, and the New World has not been more fortunate in avoiding +these errors than the Old World. A curious feature in the +above-mentioned works is the fact that both abound in expressions of +hatred against the female sex, and still more curious, though +disgraceful in the extreme, that the special animosity shown by judges +of witchcraft against women is solely based upon the weight which they +attached to the purport of the Mosaic inhibition: "Thou shalt not suffer +a _witch_ to live" (Exodus xii. 18). + +These are dark pages in the history of Christendom, blackened by the +smoke of funeral piles and stained with the blood of countless victims +of cruel superstition. For here the peculiarity was that in the majority +of cases not the humble sufferers whose lives were sacrificed, but the +haughty judges were the true criminals. The madness seems to have been +contagious, for Protestant authorities were as bloodthirsty as +Catholics; the Inquisition waged for generations unceasing war against +this new class of heretics among the nations of the Romanic race. +Germany saw great numbers sacrificed in a short space of time, and in +sober England, even, three thousand lost their lives during the Long +Parliament alone, while, according to Barrington, the whole number who +perished amounted to not less than thirty thousand! If only few were +sacrificed in New England, the exception was due more to the sparse +population than to moderation; in South America, on the contrary, the +persecution was carried on with relentless cruelty. And all this +happened while fierce war was raging almost everywhere, so that, while +the sword destroyed the men, the fire consumed the women! Occasionally +most startling contrasts would be exhibited by different governments. In +the North, James I., claiming to be as wise as Solomon, and more learned +than any man in Christendom, imagined that he was persecuted by the Evil +One on account of his great religious zeal, and saw in every Catholic an +instrument of his adversary. His wild fancy was cunningly encouraged by +those who profited by his tyranny, and Catholics were represented as +being, one and all, given up to the Devil, the mass and witchcraft, the +three unholy allies opposed to the Trinity! In the South, the Republic +of Venice, with all its petty tyranny and proverbial political cruelty, +stood almost alone in all Christendom as opposed to persecutions of +wizards and witches, and fought the battle manfully on the side of +enlightenment and Christian charity. The horrors of witch-trials soon +reached a height which makes us blush for humanity. The accused were +tortured till they confessed their guilt, so that they might lose not +only life upon earth, but also hope for eternity. If, under torture, +they declared themselves innocent, but ready to confess their guilt and +to die, they were told that in such a case they would die with a +falsehood on their lips, and thus forfeit salvation. Some of the +sufferers were found to have a stigma on their bodies, a place where the +nerves had been paralysed, and no pain was consequently felt--this was a +sure sign of their being witches, and they were forthwith burnt; if they +had no such stigma, the judge decided that the Devil marked only his +doubtful adherents, and left his trusty followers unmarked! The terror +became so great that in the seventeenth century repentant "witches +abounded, because it had become customary" merely to hang or to +decapitate those who confessed, while all others were burned alive. +Hundreds suffering of painful diseases or succumbing to unbearable +privations, forthwith fancied themselves bewitched, or actually sought +relief from the ills of this life by voluntarily appearing before the +numerous tribunals for the trial of witchcraft. The minds of men were so +thoroughly blinded, that even when husbands testified the impossibility +of their wives having attended the witches' sabbath, because they had +been lying all night by their side in bed, they were told, and quite +ready to believe, that a phantom had taken the place of their absent +wives! In one of the most famous trials five women confessed, after +suffering unspeakable torture, that they had disinterred an infant, the +child of one of their number, and supped upon it with the Devil; the +father of the child persevered till the grave was opened, and behold, +the child's body was there unharmed! But the judges declared it to be a +phantom sent by the Evil One, since the confession of the criminals was +worth more than mere ocular proof, and the women were burnt accordingly. +(Horst. Demonomagie, i. p. 349.) The most signal proof of the absurdity +of all such charges was obtained in our own country. Here the number of +those who complained of being plagued and injured by demoniac agencies +became larger in precise proportion as trials increased and +condemnations succeeded. But when nineteen of the accused had been +executed, and the judges becoming appalled at the daily growing number +of complaints, set some of the prisoners free, and declined to arrest +others, there was suddenly an end of these grievances, no more accounts +of enchantment and witchcraft were heard, and soon the evil disappeared +entirely. + +It was a similar return to reason which at last led in Europe also to a +reaction. The Doge of Venice and the Great Council appealed to the pope, +Leo X., to put a curb upon the intemperate zeal of his ministers, and he +saw himself forced to check the merciless persecution. Occasionally +voices had been raised, already before that public appeal, condemning +such wholesale slaughter; among these were men like Bacon of Verulam, +Reginald Scotus, and, marvel of marvels, two famous Jesuits, Tanner and +Spee. And yet even these merciful and enlightened men never, for a +moment, doubted the genuineness of witchcraft and its fatal effects. +Father Spee, a most learned man, writing against the ceaseless +persecutions of pretended witches, nevertheless declared, in 1631, in +his renowned _Cautio criminalis_, by far the best work written on that +side of the question, that "there are in the world some few wizards and +enchanters, which could not be denied by any body without frivolity and +great ignorance," and even Bayle, while condemning the cruelty of +witches' trials, seriously proposes to punish witches for their +"ill-will." Vaude, the well-known librarian of Cardinal Mazarin, wrote +an able work as an apology of all the great men who had been suspected +of witchcraft, including even Clemens V., Sylvester II., and other +popes, and a renowned Capuchin monk, d'Autun, pursued the same subject +with infinite subtlety of thought and great happiness of diction in his +_L'incredulite savante et la credulite ignorante_. A witch was, however, +still condemned to be burned in 1698, in Germany; fortunately the judge, +a distinguished jurist of the University of Halle, was remonstrated with +by an esteemed colleague, and thus induced to examine himself as well as +the whole grievous subject with unsparing candor. This led him to see +clearly the error involved in trials of witchcraft, and he wrote, in +1701, a most valuable and influential work against the Crime of Magic. +He succeeded, especially, in destroying the enormous prestige heretofore +enjoyed by Del Rio's great work _Disquisitiones magicae_, the favorite +hand-book of judges of all lands, which was even adopted, though from +the pen of a Jesuit, by the Protestants of Germany. In no case, however, +were the personal existence of the Devil, and his activity upon earth, +denied by these writers; on the contrary, it is well known that Luther, +Melanchthon, and even Calvin, continued always to speak of Satan as +having a corporeal existence and as being perceptible to human senses. +The negation contended for applied only to his direct agency in the +physical world; his moral influence was ever readily admitted. Sporadic +cases of witchcraft, and their trial by high courts of justice, have +continued to occur down to our day. Maria Theresa was the first +peremptorily to forbid any further persecutions on account of +_Veneficium_, as it had become the fashion to call the acts of magic by +which men or beasts were said to be injured. There are, however, writers +who maintain, in this century, and in our generation, even, the direct +agency of the Devil in daily life, and see in demoniac sufferings the +punishment of the wicked in this life already. + +The question of how much truth there may have been in this belief in +witchcraft, held by so many nations, and persevered in during so many +centuries, has never yet been fully answered. It is hardly to be +presumed that during this long period all men, even the wisest and +subtlest, should have been completely blinded or utterly demented. Many +historians as well as philosophers have looked upon witchcraft as a mere +creation of the Inquisition. Rome, they argue, was in great danger, she +had no new dogma to proclaim which would give food to inquiring minds, +and increase the prestige of her power; she was growing unpopular in +many countries heretofore considered most faithful and submissive, and +she was engaged in various dangerous conflicts with the secular powers. +In this embarrassment her Inquisitors looked around for some means of +escape, and thought a remedy might be found in this new combination of +the two traditional crimes of heresy and enchantment. Witchcraft, as a +crime, because of the deeds of violence with which it was almost +invariably associated, belonged before the tribunal of the secular +judge; as a sin it was to be punished by the bishop, but as heresy it +fell, according to the custom of the day, to the share of neither judge +nor bishop, but into the hands of the Inquisition. + +The extreme uniformity of witchcraft from the Tagus to the Vistula, and +in New England as in Old England, is adduced as an additional evidence +of its having been "manufactured" by the Inquisition. Nothing is gained, +however, by looking upon it as a mere invention; nor would such an +explanation apply to the wizards and witches who are repeatedly +mentioned and condemned in Holy Writ. Witchcraft was neither purely +artificial, a mere delusion, nor can it be accounted for upon a purely +natural basis. The essential part in it is the magic force, which does +not belong to the natural but to the spiritual part of man. Hence it is +not so very surprising, as many authors have thought it, that thousands +of poor women should have done their best to obtain visions which only +led to imprisonment, torture, and death by fire, while they procured for +them apparently neither comfort nor wealth, but only pain, horror, and +disgrace. For there was mixed up with all this a sensation of pleasure, +vague and wild, though it was in conformity with the rude and coarse +habits of the age. It is the same with the opium eater and hasheesh +smoker, only in a more moderate manner; the delight these pernicious +drugs afford is not seen, but the disease, the suffering, and the +wretched death they produce, are visible enough. The stories of witches' +sabbaths taking place on certain days of the year, arose no doubt from +the fact that the prevailing superstition of the times regarded some +seasons as peculiarly favorable for the ceremony of anointing one's self +with narcotic salves, and this led to a kind of spiritual community on +such nights, which to the poor deluded people appeared as a real meeting +at appointed places. In like manner there was nothing absolutely absurd +or impossible in the idea of a compact with the Devil. Satan presented +himself to the minds of men in those ages as the bodily incarnation of +all that is evil and sinful, and hence when they fancied they made a +league with him, they only aroused the evil principle within themselves +to its fullest energy and activity. It was in fact the selfish, covetous +nature of man, ever in arms against moral laws and the commandments of +God, which in these cases became distinctly visible and presented itself +in the form of a vision. This evil principle, now relieved from all +constraint and able to develop its power against a feebly resisting +soul, would naturally destroy the poor deluded victim, in body and in +spirit. Hence the trials of witchcraft had at least some justification, +however unwise their form and however atrocious their abuses. The +majority of the crimes with which the so-called witches were charged, +were no doubt imaginary; but many of the accused also had taken real +delight in their evil practices and in the grievous injury they had done +to those they hated or envied. Nor must it be forgotten that the age in +which these trials mainly occurred was emphatically an age of +superstition; from the prince on his throne to the clown in his hut, +everybody learnt and practiced some kind of magic; the ablest statesmen +and the subtlest philosophers, the wisest divines and the most learned +physicians, all were more or less adepts of the Black Art, and many +among them became eminently dangerous to their fellow-beings. Others, +ceaselessly meditating and brooding over charms and demoniac influences, +finally came to believe in their own powers of enchantment, and +confessed their guilt, although they had sinned only by volition, +without ever being able really to call forth and command magic powers. +Still others labored under a regular panic and saw witchcraft in the +simplest events as well as in all more unusual phenomena in nature. A +violent tempest, a sudden hailstorm, or an unusual rise in rivers, all +were at once attributed to magic influences, and the authorities urged +and importuned to prevent a recurrence with all its disastrous +consequences by punishing the guilty authors. Has not the same insane +fury been frequently shown in contagious diseases, when the common +people believed their fountains poisoned and their daily bread infected +by Jews or other suspected classes, and promptly took justice into their +own hands? It ought also to be borne in mind, as an apology for the +horrible crimes committed by judges and priests in condemning witches, +that in their eyes the crime was too enormous and the danger too +pressing and universal to admit of delay in investigation, or mercy in +judgment. The severe laws of those semi-barbarous times were immediately +applied and all means considered fair in eliciting the truth. Torture +was by no means limited to trials of witches, for some of the greatest +statesmen and the most exalted divines had alike to endure its terrors. +Moreover no age has been entirely free from similar delusions, although +the form under which they appear and the power by which they may be +supported, differ naturally according to the spirit of the times. +Science alone cannot protect us against fanaticism, if the heart is once +led astray, and fearful crimes have been committed not only in the name +of Liberty but even under the sanction of the Cross. Basil the Great +already restored a slave _ad integrum_, who said he had made a pact with +the Devil, but the first authentic account of such a transaction occurs +in connection with an Imperial officer, Theophilus of Adana, in the days +of Justinian. His bishop had undeservedly humiliated him and thus +aroused in the heart of the naturally meek man intense wrath and a +boundless desire of revenge. While he was in this state of +uncontrollable excitement, a Jew appeared and offered to procure for him +all he wanted, if he would pledge his soul to Satan. The unhappy man +consented, and was at once led to the circus where he saw a great number +of torch-bearers in white robes, the costume of servants of the church, +and Satan seated in the midst of the assembly. He obeyed the order to +renounce Christ and certified his apostacy in a written document. The +next day already the bishop repented of his injustice and restored +Theophilus in his office, whereupon the Jew pointed out to him how +promptly his master had come to his assistance. Still, repentance comes +to Theophilus also, and in a new revelation the Virgin appears to the +despairing man after incessant prayer of forty days and nights--a fit +preparation for such a vision. She directs him to perform certain +atoning ceremonies and promises him restoration to his Christian +privileges, which he finally obtains by finding the certificate of his +apostasy lying on his breast, and then dies in a state of happy relief. +After that similar cases of a league being made with Satan occur quite +frequently in the history of saints and eminent men, till the belief in +its efficacy gradually died out and recent efforts like those recorded +by Goerres (III. p. 620) have proved utterly fruitless. + +Among the magic phenomena connected with witchcraft, none is more +curious than the so-called witches' sabbath, the formal meeting of all +who are in league with Satan, for the purpose of swearing allegiance to +him, to enjoy unholy delights, and to introduce neophytes. That no such +meeting ever really took place, need hardly be stated. The so-called +sabbaths were somnambulistic visions, appearing to poor deluded +creatures while in a state of trance, which they had produced by +narcotic ointments, vile decoctions, or even mere mental effort. For the +most skillful among the witches could cause themselves to fall into the +Witches' Sleep, as they called this trance, whenever they chose; others +had to submit to tedious and often abominable ceremonies. The knowledge +of simples, which was then very general, was of great service to cunning +impostors; thus it was well known that certain herbs, like aconite, +produce in sleep the sensation of flying, and they were, of course, +diligently employed. Hyosciamus and taxus, hypericum and asafoetida were +great favorites, and physicians made experiments with these salves to +try their effect upon the system. Laguna, for instance, physician to +Pope Julius III., once applied an ointment which he had obtained from a +wizard, to a woman, who thereupon fell into a sleep of thirty-six hours' +duration, and upon being aroused, bitterly complained of his cruelty in +tearing her from the embraces of her husband. The Marquis d'Agent tells +us in his _Lettres Juifs_ (i. l. 20), that the celebrated Gassendi +discovered a drug which a shepherd used to take whenever he wished to go +to a witches' assembly. He won the man's confidence, and, pretending to +join him in his journey, persuaded him to swallow the medicine in his +presence. After a few minutes, the shepherd began to stagger like an +intoxicated person, and then fell into profound sleep, during which he +talked wildly. When he roused himself again many hours afterwards, he +congratulated the physician on the good reception he had met at Satan's +court, and recalled with delight the pleasant things they had jointly +seen and enjoyed! The symptoms of the witches' sleep differ, however; +while the latter is, in some cases, deep and unbroken, in other cases +the sleepers become rigid and icy cold, or they are subject to violent +spasms and utter unnatural sounds in abundance. The sleep differs, +moreover, from that of possessed people in the consciousness of bodily +pain which bewitched people retain, while the possessed become +insensible. Invariably the impression is produced that they meet kindred +spirits at some great assembly, but the manner of reaching it differs +greatly. Some go on foot; but as Abaris already rode on a spear given to +him by Apollo (Iamblichus De Vita, Pyth. c. 18), others ride on goats. +In Germany a broomstick, a club, or a distaff, became suitable vehicles, +provided they had been properly anointed. In Scotland and Sweden the +chimney is the favorite road, in other countries no such preference is +shown over doors and windows. The expedition, however joyous it may be, +is always very fatiguing, and when the revellers awake they feel like +people who have been dissipated. The meetings differ in locality +according to size: whole provinces assemble on high, isolated mountains, +among which the Brocken, in the Hartz Mountains, is by far the most +renowned; smaller companies meet near gloomy churches or under dark +trees with wide-spreading branches. + +In the north of Europe the favorite resort is the Blue Mountain, +popularly known as Blokulla, in Sweden, and as Blakalla in Norway, an +isolated rock in the sea between Smoland and Oland, which seems to have +had some association in the minds of the people with the ancient +sea-goddess Blakylle. In Italy the witches loved to assemble under the +famous walnut tree near Benevent, which was already to the Longobards an +object of superstitious veneration, since here, in ancient times, the +old divinities were worshipped, and afterwards the _strighe_ were fond +of meeting. In France they had a favorite resort on the Puy de Dome, +near Clermont, and in Spain on the sands near Seville, where the +_hechizeras_ held their sabbaths. The Hekla, of Iceland, also passes +with the Scandinavians for a great meeting-place of witches, although, +strangely enough, the inhabitants of the island have no such tradition. +It is, however, clear that in all countries where witchcraft prospered, +the favorite places of meeting were always the same as those to which, +in ancient times, the heathens had made pilgrimages in large numbers, in +order to perform their sacrifices, and to enjoy their merry-makings. + +In precisely the same manner the favorite seasons for these ghastly +meetings correspond almost invariably with the times of high festivals +held in heathen days, and hence, they were generally adopted by the +early Christians, with the feast and saints' days of Christendom. Thus +the old Germans observed, when they were still pagans, the first of May +for two reasons: as a day of solemn judgment, and as a season for +rejoicing, during which prince and peasant joined in celebrating the +return of summer with merry songs and gay dances around the May-pole. +The witches were nothing loth to adopt the day for their own festivities +also, and added it to the holidays of St. John the Baptist and St. +Bartholomew, on which, in like manner, anciently the holding of public +courts had brought together large assemblies. The meetings, however, +must always fall upon a Thursday, from a determined, though yet +unexplained association of witchcraft with the old German god of +thunder, Donar, who was worshipped on the Blocksberg, and to whom a goat +was sacrificed--whence also the peculiar fondness of witches for that +animal. The hours of meeting are invariably from eleven o'clock at night +to one or two in the morning. + +The assembly consists, according to circumstances, of a few hundred or +of several thousands, but the female sex always largely prevails. For +this fact the famous text-book of judges of witchcraft, the _Malleus_, +assigned not less than four weighty reasons. Women, it said, are more +apt to be addicted to the fearful crime than men because, in the first +place, they are more credulous; secondly, in their natural weakness they +are more susceptible; thirdly, they are more imprudent and rash, and +hence always ready to consult the Devil, and fourthly and mainly, +_femina_ comes from _fe_, faith and _minus_, less, hence they have less +faith! + +The guests appear generally in their natural form, but at times they are +represented as assuming the shape of various animals; the Devil's +followers having a decided preference for goats and for monkeys, +although the latter is a passion of more recent date. The crowd is +naturally in a state of incessant flowing and ebbing; the constant +coming and going, crowding and pressing admits of not a moment's quiet +and even here it is proven that the wicked have neither rest nor peace. + +Among this crowd flocks are seen, consisting of toads and watched over +by boys and girls; in the centre sits Satan on a stone, draped in weird +majesty, with terrible but indistinct features, and uttering short +commands with an appalling voice of unnatural and unheard of music. A +queen in great splendor may sit by his side, promoted to the throne from +a place among the guests. Countless demons, attending to all kinds of +extraordinary duties, surround their master; or, dash through the crowd +scattering indecent words and gestures in all directions. English +witches meet, also, innumerable kittens on the Sabbath and show the +scars of wounds inflicted by the malicious animals. Every visitor must +pay his homage to the lord of the feast, which is done in an +unmentionable manner; and yet they receive nothing in return--according +to their unanimous confessions--except unfulfilled promises and delusive +presents. Even the dishes on the table are but shams; there is neither +salt nor bread to be found there. They are bound, besides, to pledge +themselves to the performance of a certain number of wicked works, which +are distributed over the week, so that the first days are devoted to +ordinary sins and the last to crimes of special horror. Music of +surpassing weirdness is heard on all sides, and countless couples whirl +about in restless, obscene dances; the couples joining back to back and +trying in vain to see each other's faces. Very often young children are +brought up by their mothers to be presented to the Master; when this is +done, they are set to attend the flocks of toads till the ninth year, +when they are called up by the Queen to abjure their Christian faith and +are regularly enrolled among witches. + +The descriptions of minor details vary, of course according to the +individual dispositions of the accused, whose confessions are invariably +uniform as to the facts stated heretofore. The coarser minds naturally +see nothing but the grossest indecency and the vilest indulgences, while +to more refined minds the apparent occurrences appear in a light of +greater delicacy; they hear sweet music and witness nothing but gentle +affection and brotherly love. But in all cases these witches' sabbaths +become a passion with the poor deluded creatures; they enjoy there a +paradise of delight,--whether they really indulge in sensual pleasure or +surrender mind and will so completely to the unhallowed power that they +cease to wish for anything else, and are plunged in vague, unspeakable +pleasure. And yet not even the simple satisfaction of good looks is +granted them; witches are as ugly as angels are fair; they emit an evil +odor and inspire others with unconquerable repugnance. + +How exclusively all these descriptions of witches' sabbaths have their +origin in the imagination of the deluded women is seen from the fact +that they vary consistently with the prevailing notions of those by whom +they are entertained; with coarse peasants, the meetings are rude feasts +full of obscene enjoyments; with noble knights, they become the rovings +of the wild huntsman, or a hellish court under the guise of a Venus' +mountain; with ascetic monks and nuns, a subterranean convent filled +with vile blasphemies of God and the saints. This only is common to all +such visions, that they are always conceived in a spirit of bitter +antagonism to the Church: all the doctrines not only but also the +ceremonies of the latter are here travestied. The sabbath has its +masses, but the host is desecrated, its holy water obtained from the +lord of the feast; its host and its candles are black, and the _Ite +missa est_ of the dismissing priest is changed into: "Go to the Devil!" +Here, also, confession is required; but, the penitent confesses having +omitted to do evil and being guilty of occasional acts of mercy and +goodness; the penalty imposed is to neglect one or the other of the +twelve commandments. + +When witches were brought to trial, one of the first measures was to +search for special marks which were believed to betray their true +character. These were especially the so-called witches' moles, spots of +the size of a pea, on which for some reason or other the nerves had lost +their sensibility, and where, in consequence, no pain was felt. These +were supposed to have been formed by being punctured, the Evil One +performing the operation with a pin of false gold, with his claws or his +horns. Other evidences were found in the peculiar coloring of the eyes, +which was said to represent the feet of toads; in the absence of tears +when the little gland had been injured, and, above all, in the specific +lightness of the body. In order to ascertain the latter the accused were +bound hand and foot crosswise, tied loosely to a rope, and then, three +times, dropped into the water. If they remained floating their guilt was +established; for either they had been endowed by their Master with +safety from drowning, or the water refused to receive them because they +had abjured their baptism! It need not be added that the executioners +soon found out ways to let their prisoners float or sink as they +chose--for a consideration. + +Witches' trials began in the earliest days of Christianity, for the +Emperor Valens ordered, as we learn from Ammianus Marcellinus, all the +wizards and enchanters to be held to account who had endeavored by +magic art to ascertain his successor. Several thousands were accused of +witchcraft, but the charge was then, as in almost every later age, in +most cases nothing more than a pretext for proceedings against obnoxious +persons. The next monster process, as it began to be called already in +those early days, was the persecution of witches in France under the +Merovingians. The child of Chilperic's wife had died suddenly and under +suspicious circumstances, which led to the imprisonment of a prefect, +Mummolus, whom the queen had long pursued with her hatred. He was +accused of having caused her son's death by his charms, and was +subjected to fearful tortures in company with a number of old women. +Still, he confessed nothing but that the latter had furnished him with +certain drugs and ointments which were to secure to him the favor of the +king and the queen. A later trial of this kind, in which for a time calm +reason made a firm stand against superstition, but finally succumbed +ingloriously, is known as the _Vaudoisie_, and took place in Arras in +1459. It was begun by a Count d'Estampes, but was mainly conducted by a +bishop and some eminent divines of his acquaintance, whose inordinate +zeal and merciless cruelty have secured to the proceedings a peculiarly +painful memory in the annals of the church. A large number of perfectly +innocent men and women were tortured and disgracefully executed, but +fortunately the death of the main persecutor, DuBlois, made a sudden end +to the existence of witchcraft in that province. One of the most +remarkable trials of this kind was caused by a number of little +children, and led to most bloody proceedings. It seems that in the year +1669 several boys and girls in the parish of Mora, one of the most +beautiful parts of the Swedish province of Dalarne, and famous through +the memory of Gustavus Vasa and Gustavus III., were affected by a +nervous fever which left them, after their partial recovery, in a state +of extreme irritability and sensitiveness. They fell into fainting fits +and had convulsions--symptoms which the simple but superstitious +mountaineers gradually began to think inexplicable, and hence to ascribe +to magic influences. The report spread that the poor children were +bewitched, and soon all the usual details of satanic possession were +current. The mountain called Blakulla, in bad repute from of old, was +pointed out as the meeting-place of the witches, where the annual +sabbath was celebrated, and these children were devoted to Satan. Church +and State combined to bring their great power to bear upon the poor +little ones, an enormous number of women, mostly the mothers of the +young people, were involved in the charges, and finally fifty-two of the +latter with fifteen children were publicly executed as witches, while +fifty of the younger were condemned to severe punishment! More than +three hundred unfortunate children under fourteen had made detailed +confessions of the witches' sabbath and the ceremonies attending their +initiation into its mysteries. A similar fearful delusion took hold of +German children in Wuertemberg, when towards the end of the seventeenth +century a large number of little boys and girls, none of whom were older +than ten years, began to state that they were every night fetched away +and carried to the witches' sabbath. Many were all the time fast asleep +and could easily be roused, but a few among them fell regularly into a +trance, during which their little bodies became cold and rigid. A +commission of great judges and experienced divines was sent to the +village to investigate the matter, and found at last that there was no +imposture attempted, but that the poor children firmly believed what +they stated. It became, however, evident that a few among them had +listened to old women's tales about witches, with eager ears, and, with +inflamed imaginations, retailed the account to others, till a deep and +painful nervous excitement took hold of their minds and rapidly spread +through the community. Many of the children were, as was natural at +their age, led by vanity to say that they also had been at the sabbath, +while others were afraid to deny what was so positively stated by their +companions. Fortunately the commission consisted, for once, of sensible +men who took the right view of the matter, ordered a good whipping here +and there, and thus saved the land from the crime of another witches' +trial. + +Our own experiences in New England, at the time when Sir William Phipps +was governor of the colonies, have been forcibly reported by the great +Cotton Mather. Nearly every community had its young men and women who +were addicted to the practices of magic; they loved to perform +enchantments, to consult sieves and turning keys, and thus were +gradually led to attempt more serious and more dangerous practices. In +Salem, men and women of high standing and unimpeached integrity, even +pious members of the church, were suddenly plagued and tortured by +unknown agencies, and at last a little black and yellow demon appeared +to them, accompanied by a number of companions with human faces. These +apparitions presented to them a book which they were summoned to sign or +at least to touch, and if they refused they were fearfully twisted and +turned about, pricked with pins, burnt as if with hot irons, bound hand +and foot with invisible fetters, and carried away to great distances. +Some were left unable to touch food or drink for many days; others, +attempting to defend themselves against the demons, snatched a distaff +or tore a piece of cloth from them, and immediately these proofs of the +real existence of the evil spirits became visible to the eyes of the +bystanders. The magic phenomena attending the disease were of the most +extraordinary character. Several men stated that they had received +poison because they declined to worship Satan, and immediately all the +usual sequences of such treatment appeared, from simple vomiting to most +fearful suffering, till counteracting remedies were employed and began +to take effect. In other cases the sufferers complained of burning rags +being stuffed into their mouths, and although nothing was seen, burnt +places and blisters appeared, and the odor and smoke of smouldering rags +began to fill the room. When they reported that they were branded with +hot irons, the marks showed themselves, suppuration took place, and +scars were formed which never again disappeared during life--and all +these phenomena were watched by the eager eyes of hundreds. The +authorities, of course, took hold of the matter, and many persons of +both sexes and all ages were brought to trial. While they were tortured +they continued to have visions of demoniac beings and possessed men and +women; when they were standing, blindfolded, in court, felt the approach +of those by whom they pretended to be bewitched and plagued, and +urgently prayed to be delivered of their presence. Finally many were +executed, not a few undoubtedly against all justice, but the better +sense of the authorities soon saw the futility, if not the wickedness of +such proceedings, and an end was made promptly, witchcraft disappearing +as soon as persecution relaxed and the sensation subsided. + +Similar trials have nevertheless continued to be held in various parts +of Europe during the whole of the last century, and many innocent lives +have been forfeited to this apparently ineradicable belief in +witchcraft. Even after torture was abandoned in compliance with the +wiser views of our age, long imprisonment with its attending sufferings +and great anxiety as to the issue, proved fully sufficient to extort +voluntary confessions, which were, of course, of no value in themselves, +but served the purpose of keeping alive the popular superstition. In +1728 a specially fearful trial of this kind took place in Hungary, +during which nearly all the disgraceful scenes of mediaeval barbarity +were reenacted, and which ended in a number of cruel executions. The +last witches' trial in Germany took place in 1749, when the +mother-superior of a convent near Wuerzburg, in Bavaria, known as Emma +Renata, was condemned to be burnt, but by the leniency of the +authorities, was allowed to die by decapitation. Switzerland was the +scene of the last of these trials ever held, for with this act of +justice, as it was called by the good people of Glarus, the persecution +ended. + +Even in England, however, the feeling itself seems to have lingered long +after actual trials had ceased. Thus it is well known that the terrible +trial of witches held at Marlboro, under Queen Elizabeth, led to the +establishment of a so-called witches' sermon to be delivered annually at +Huntingdon, and this custom was faithfully observed down to the latter +part of the eighteenth century. Nearly about the same time--in 1743--an +earnest effort was made in Scotland to kindle once more the fire of +fierce persecution. In the month of February of that year, the Associate +Presbytery, in a public document addressed to the Presbytery of the +Seceded Churches, required for certain purposes a solemn acknowledgment +of former sins, and a vow to renounce them forever. Among these sins +that austere body enumerated the "_abolition_ of the death penalty for +witchcraft," since the latter was forbidden in Holy Writ, and the +leniency which had taken the place of the former severity in punishing +this crime, had given an opening to Satan to tempt and actually to +seduce others by means of the same old accursed and dangerous +snares.--(_Edinb. Rev._, Jan. 1847.) + + + + +II. + +BLACK AND WHITE MAGIC. + + "Peace!--the charm's wound up." + + --MACBETH. + + +The most startling of all scenes described in Holy Writ--as far as they +represent incidents in human life--is, no doubt, the mysterious +interview between unfortunate King Saul and the spirit of his former +patron, the prophet Samuel. The poor monarch, abandoned by his friends +and forsaken by his own heart, turns in his utter wretchedness to those +whom he had but shortly before "put out of the land," those godless +people who "had familiar spirits and the wizards." Hard pressed by the +ancient enemy of his people, the Philistine, and unable to obtain an +answer from the great God of his fathers, he stoops to consult a witch, +a woman. It seems that Sedecla, the daughter of the Decemdiabite--for so +Philo calls her according to Des Mousseaux--had escaped by her cunning +from the fate of her weird sisters, and, having a familiar spirit, +foretold the future to curious enquirers at her dwelling in Endor. At +first she is unwilling to incur the penalty threatened in the king's +decree, but when the disguised monarch, with a voice of authority +promises her impunity, she consents to "bring up Samuel." As soon as +the fearful phantom of the dread prophet appears, she becomes +instinctively aware of the true character of her visitor, and, far more +afraid of the power of the living than of the appearance of the +departed, she cries out trembling: "Why hast thou deceived me? Thou art +Saul!" Then follows the appalling scene in which Samuel reproves the +miserable, self-despairing king, and foretells his death and that of his +sons. + +There can be no doubt that we have here before us an instance of genuine +magic. The woman was evidently capable of casting herself into a state +of ecstasy, in which she could at once look back into the past and +forward into the future. Thus she beholds the great prophet, not sent by +God from on high, as the Holy Fathers generally taught, but according to +the then prevailing belief, rising from Sheol, the place of departed +spirits, and then she utters, unconsciously, his own words. For it must +not be overlooked that Samuel makes no revelations, but only repeats his +former warnings. Saul learns absolutely nothing new from him; he only +hears the same threatenings which the prophet had pronounced twice +before, when the reckless king had dared to sacrifice unto God with his +own hand (I. Sam. xiii.), and when he had failed to smite the Amalekite, +as he was bidden. Possessed, as it were, by the spirit of the living +Samuel, the woman speaks as he had spoken in his lifetime, and it is +only when her state of exaltation renders her capable of looking into +the future also, that she assumes the part of a prophetess herself, and +foretells the approaching doom of her royal visitor. + +That the whole dread scene was fore-ordained and could take place only +by the will of the Almighty, alters nothing in the character of the +woman with the familiar spirit. It is a clear case of necromancy, or +conjuring up of the spirits of departed persons, such as has been +practised among men from time immemorial. Among the chosen people of God +persons were found from the beginning of their history who had familiar +spirits, and Moses already fulminates his severest anathemas against +these wizards (Lev. xx. 27). They appear under various aspects, as +charmers, as consulters of familiar spirits, as wizards, or as +necromancers (Deut. xviii. 11); they are charged with passing their +children through the fire, with observing times (astrologers); with +using enchantments; or they are said in a general way to "use +witchcraft" (II. Chron. xxxiii. 6). That other nations were not less +familiar with the art of evoking spirits, we see, for instance, in the +"Odyssey," which mentions numerous cases of such intercourse with +another world, and speaks of necromancers as forming a kind of close +guild. In the "Persius" of AEschylus the spirit of Darius, father of +Xerxes, is called up and foretells all the misfortunes that are to +befall poor Queen Atossa. The greatest among the stern Romans could not +entirely shake off the belief in such magic, in spite of the +matter-of-fact tendencies of the Roman mind, and the vast superiority of +their intelligence. A Cato and a Sylla, a Caesar and a Vespasian, all +admitted, with clear unfailing perception, the small grains of truth +that lay concealed among the mass of rubbish then called magic. Even +Christian theology has never absolutely denied the existence of such +extraordinary powers over the spirits of the departed, although it has +consistently attributed them to diabolic influences. + +In this point lies the main difference between ancient and modern magic. +For the oldest Magi whom we know were the wise men of Persia, called, +from _mah_ (great), Mugh, the great men of the land. They were the +philosophers of their day, and, if we believe the impartial evidence of +Greek writers--not generally apt to overestimate the merits of other +nations--they were possessed of vast and varied information. Their aim +was the loftiest ever conceived by human ambition; it was, in fact, +nothing less than the erection of an intellectual Tower of Babel. They +devoted the labors of a lifetime, and the full, well-trained vigor of +their intelligence to the study of the forces of nature, and the true +character of all created beings. Among the latter they included +disembodied spirits as well as those still bound up with bodies made of +earth, considering with a wisdom and boldness of conception never yet +surpassed, both classes as one and the same eternal creation. The +knowledge thus acquired they were, moreover, not disposed merely to +store away in their memory, or to record in unattractive manuscripts; +they were men of the world as well as philosophers, and looked for +practical results. Here the pagan spirit shone forth unrestrained; the +end and aim of all their restless labors was Power. Their ambition was +to control, by the superior prestige of their knowledge, not only the +mechanical forces of Nature, but also the lesser capacities of other +created beings, and finally Fate itself! Truly a lofty and noble aim if +we view it, as in equity we are bound to do, from their stand-point, as +men possessing, with all the wisdom of the earth, as yet not a particle +of revealed religion. + +It was only at a much later period that a distinction was made between +White Magic and Black Magic. This arose from the error which gradually +overspread the minds of men, that such extraordinary powers--based, +originally, only upon extraordinary knowledge--were not naturally given +to men; but, could only be obtained by the special favor of higher +beings, with whom the owner must needs enter into a perilous league. If +these were benevolent deities, the results obtained by their assistance +were called White Magic; if they were gods of ill-repute, they granted +the power to perform feats of Black Magic, acts of wickedness, and +crimes. Christianity, though it abolished the gods of paganism, +maintained, nevertheless, the belief in extraordinary powers accorded by +supernatural beings, and the same distinction continued to be made. +Pious men and women performed miracles by the aid of angels and saints; +wicked sinners did as much by an unholy league with the Evil One. The +Egyptian charmer, of Apulejus, who declared that no miracle was too +difficult for his art, since he exercised the blind power of deities who +were subject to his will, only expressed what the lazzarone of Naples +feels in our day, when he whips his saint with a bundle of reeds, in +order to compel him to do his bidding. Magicians did not change their +doctrine; they hardly even modified their ceremonies; their allegiance +only was transferred from Jupiter to Jehovah, even as the same column +that once bore the great Thunderer on Olympus, is now crowned by a +statue of Peter Boanerges. Nor has the race of magicians ever entirely +died out; we find enough notices in classic authors, whose evidence is +unimpeachable, to know that the Greeks were apt scholars of the ancient +Magi and transferred the knowledge they had thus obtained and long +jealously guarded, to the priests of Egypt, who in their turn became the +masters of the two mightiest nations on earth. First Moses sat at their +feet till, at the age of forty, he "was learned in all the wisdom of the +Egyptians," and could successfully cope with their "magicians and +sorcerers." Then the land of the Nile fell into the hands of the Romans, +and poverty and neglect drove the wise men of Egypt to seek refuge in +the capital of the world, where they either lived upon the minor arts +and cunning tricks of their false fate, or, being converted to +Christianity, infected the pure faith with their ill-applied knowledge. +Certain portions of true magic survived through all persecutions and +revolutions; some precious secrets were preserved by the philosophers of +later ages and have--if we believe the statements made by trustworthy +writers of every century--ever since continued in the possession of +Freemasons and Rosicrucians; others became mixed up with vile +superstitions and impious practices, and only exist now as the Black Art +of so-called magicians and witches. + +Wherever magic found a fertile soil among the people, it became a +science, handed down from father to son, and such we find it still in +the East Indies and the Orient generally; when it fell into the hands of +skeptics, or weak, feeble-minded men, it degenerated with amazing speed +into imposture and common jugglery. What is evident about magic is the +well-established fact that its ceremonies, forms, and all other +accessories are almost infinite in variety since they are merely +accidental vehicles for the will of man, and real magicians know very +well that the importance of such external aids is not only overrated but +altogether fallacious. The sole purpose of the burning of perfumes, of +imposing ceremonies and awe-inspiring procedures, is to aid in producing +the two conditions which are indispensable for all magic phenomena: the +magician must be excited till his condition is one resembling mental +intoxication or becomes a genuine trance, and the passive subject must +be made susceptible to the control of the superior mind. For it need not +be added, that the latter will all the more readily be affected, the +feebler his will and the more imperfect his mental vision may be by +nature or may have been rendered by training and careful preparation. +Hence it is that the magic table of the dervish; the enchanted drum of +the shaman; the medicine-bag of the Indian are all used for precisely +the same purpose as the ring of Hecate; the divining rod and the magic +wand of the enchanter. Legend and amulet, mummy and wax-figure, herb and +stone, drug and elixir, incense and ointment, are all but the means, +which the strong will of the gifted Master uses in order to influence +and finally to control the weaker mind. Thus powerful perfumes, narcotic +odors, and anaesthetic salves are employed to produce enervation and +often actual and complete loss of self-control; in other cases the +neophyte has to turn round and round within the magic circle, from east +to west, till he becomes giddy and utterly exhausted. It is very curious +to observe how, as far as these preparations go, in the most distant +countries and among the most different forms of society the same means +are employed for the same purpose: the whirling dance of the fanatic +dervish is perfectly analogous to the wild raving of our Indian +medicine-man, who ties himself with a rope to a post and then whirls +around it in fierce fury. Thus, also, the oldest magicians speak with +profound reverence of the powers of a little herb, known to botanists as +_Hypericum perforatum L._, and behold! in the year 1860 a German author +of eminence, Justinus Kerner, still taught seriously, that the leaves +of that plant were the best means to banish evil spirits! Mandrake and +elder have held their own in the false faith of nations from the oldest +times to our day, and even now Germans as well as slaves love to plant +the latter everywhere in their graveyards, as suggestive of the realm of +spirits! + +White Magic, though strictly forbidden by the Church in all ages, seems +nevertheless to have had irresistible attractions for wise and learned +men of every country. This charm it owes to the many elements of truth +which are mixed up with the final error; for it aims at a thorough +understanding of the mysteries of Nature--and so far its purpose is +legitimate and very tempting to superior minds--but only in order to +obtain by such knowledge a power which Holy Writ expressly denies to +man. When it prescribes the study of Nature as being the outer temple of +God and represents all the parts of this vast edifice, from the central +sun of the universe to the minutest living creation, as bound up by a +common sympathy, no objection can be made to its doctrines, and even the +greatest minds may fairly enroll themselves here as its pupils. But when +it ascribes to this sympathy an active power and attributes to secret +names of the Deity, to certain natural products, or to mechanically +regulated combinations of the stars, a peculiar and supernatural effect, +it sinks into contemptible superstition. Hence the constant aim of all +White Magic, the successful summoning of superior spirits for the +purpose of learning from them what is purposely kept concealed from the +mind of man, has never yet been reached. For it is sin, the same sin +that craved to eat from the tree of knowledge. Hence, also, no +beneficial end has ever yet been obtained by the practices of magic, +although wise and learned men of every age have spent their lives and +risked the salvation of their souls in restless efforts to lift the veil +of Isis. + +Black Magic, the Kishuph of the Hebrews, avows openly its purpose of +forming a league with evil spirits in order to attain selfish ends, +which are invariably fatal to others. And yet it is exactly here that we +meet with great numbers of well-authenticated cases of success, which +preclude all doubt and force us to admit the occasional efficiency of +such sinful alliances. The art flourishes naturally best among the +lowest races of mankind, where gross ignorance is allied with blind +faith, and the absence of inspiration leaves the mind in natural +darkness. We cannot help being struck here also with the fact that the +means employed for such purposes have been the same in almost all ages. +Readers of classic writers are familiar with the drum of Cybele--the +Laplanders have from time immemorial had the same drum, on which heaven, +hell, and earth are painted in bright colors, and reproduce in pictorial +writing the letters of the modern spiritualist. A ring is placed upon +the tightly stretched skin, which slight blows with a hammer cause to +vibrate, and according to the apparently erratic motions of the ring +over the varied figures of gods, men, and beasts, the future is +revealed. The consulting savage lies on his knees, and as the pendulum +between our fingers and the pencil of Planchette in our hand write +apparently at haphazard, but in reality under the pressure of our +muscles acting through the unconscious influence of our will, so here +also the beats of the hammer only seem to be fortuitous, but, in +reality, are guided by the ecstatic owner. For already Olaf Magnus +("Hist. Goth." L. 3, ch. 26) tells us that the incessant beating of the +drum, and the wild, exulting singing of the magician for hours before +the actual ceremony begins, cause him to fall into a state of +exaltation, without which he would be unable to see the future. That the +drum is a mere accident in the ceremony was strikingly proved by a +Laplander, who delivered up his instrument of witchcraft to the pious +missionary (Tornaeus) by whom he had been converted, and who soon came +to complain that even without his drum he could not help seeing hidden +things--an assertion which he proved by reciting to the amazed minister +all the minute details of his recent journey. Who can help, while +reading of these savage magicians, recalling the familiar ring and +drumstick in the left hand of the Roman Isis--statues with a drum above +the head, or the rarely missing ring and hammer in the hands of the +Egyptian Isis? It need hardly be added that the Indians of our continent +have practised the art with more or less success from the day of +discovery to our own times. Already Wafer in his "Descr. of the Isthmus +of Darien" (1699) describes how Indian sorcerers, after careful +preparation, were able to inform him of a number of future events, every +one of which came to pass in the succeeding days. The prince of Neu-Wied +again met a famous medicine-man among the Crea Indians, whose prophecies +were readily accepted by the whites even, and of whose power he +witnessed unmistakable evidence. Bonduel, a well-known and generally +perfectly trustworthy writer, affirms, from personal knowledge, that +among the Menomonees the medicine-men not only practise magic, but are +able to produce most astounding results. After beating their drum, +Bonduel used to hear a heavy fall and a faint, inarticulate voice, +whereupon the tent of the charmer though fifteen feet high, rose in the +air and inclined first on one and then on the other side. This was the +time of the interview between the medicine-man and the evil spirit. +Small doll-like figures of men also were used, barely two inches long, +and tied to medicine-bags. They served mainly to inflame women with +loving ardor, and when efficient could drive the poor creatures to +pursue their beloved for days and nights through the wild forests. Other +missionaries also affirm that these medicine-men must have been able to +read the signs and perhaps to feel in advance the effects of the weather +with amazing accuracy, since they frequently engaged to procure storms +for special purposes, and never failed. It is interesting to notice +that according to the unanimous testimony of all writers on Indian +affairs, these medicine-men almost invariably find a violent and +wretched death. + +It is not without interest to recall that the prevailing forms of the +magic of our day, as far as they consist of table-moving, +spirit-rapping, and the like, have their origin among the natives of our +continent. The earliest notice of these strange performances appeared in +the great journal of Augsburg, in Germany (_Allgemeine Zeitung_), where +Andree mentioned their occurrence among Western Indians. Sargent gave us +next a more detailed description of the manner in which many a wigwam or +log-cabin in Iowa became the scene of startling revelations by means of +a clumsy table which hopped merrily about, or a half-drunk, red-skinned +medium, from whose lips fell uncouth words. (Spicer, "Lights and +Sounds," p. 190.) It was only in 1847 that the famous Fox family brought +these phenomena within the pale of civilization: having rented a house +in Hydeville, N. Y., already ill-reputed on account of mysterious +noises, they reduced these knockings to a kind of system, and, by means +of an alphabet, obtained the important information that they were the +work of a "spirit," and that his name was Charles Ray. Margaret Fox +transplanted the rappings to Rochester; Catherine, only twelve years +old, to Auburn, and from these two central places the new Magic spread +rapidly throughout the Union. Opposition and persecutions served, as +they are apt to do, only to increase the interest of the public. A Mrs. +Norman Culver proved, it is true, that rappings could easily be produced +by certain muscular movements of the knee and the ankle, and a committee +of investigation, of which Fenimore Cooper was a member, obtained ample +evidence of such a method being used; but the faith of the believers was +not shaken. The moving of tables, especially, furnished to their minds +new evidence of the actual presence of spirits, and soon circles were +established in nearly all the Northern and Western States, formed by +persons of education without regard to confession, who called themselves +Spiritualists or Spiritists, and their most favored associates Media. A +number of men, whose intelligence and candor were alike unimpeachable, +became members of the new sect, among them a judge, a governor of a +State, and a professor of chemistry. They organized societies and +circles, they published journals and several works of interest and +value, and produced results which more and more strengthened their +convictions. + +The new art met, naturally, with much opposition, especially among the +ministers and members of the different churches. Some of the opponents +laughed at the whole as a clever jugglery, which deserved its great +success on account of the "smartness" of the performers; others +denounced it as a heresy and a crime; the former, of course, saw in it +nothing but the hand of man, while the latter admitted the agency of +spirits, but of spirits from below and not from above. An amusing +feature connected with public opinion on this subject was, that when +trade was prosperous and money abundant, spiritualism also flourished +and found numerous adherents, but when business was slow, or a crisis +took place, all minds turned away from the favorite pastime, and +instinctively joined once more with the pious believers in the +denunciation of the new magic. Thus a kind of antagonism has gradually +arisen between orthodox Christians and enthusiastic spiritualists; the +controversy is carried on with great energy on both sides, and, alas! to +the eye of the general observer, magic is gaining ground every day, at +least its adherents increase steadily in numbers, and even in social +weight. (Tuttle, "Arena of Nature.") Not long ago the National +Convention of Spiritualists, at their great meeting at Rochester, N.Y. +(August, 1868), laid down nineteen fundamental principles of their new +creed; their doctrines are based upon the fact that we are constantly +surrounded by an invisible host of spirits, who desire to help us in +returning once more to the father of all things, the Great Spirit. + +Modern magic met with the same opposition in Europe. The French Academy, +claiming, as usually, to be supreme authority in all matters of science, +declined, nevertheless, to decide the question. Arago, who read the +official report before the august body, closed with the words: "I do not +believe a word of it!" but his colleagues remembered, perhaps, that +their predecessors had once or twice before committed themselves +grievously. Had not the same Academy pronounced against the use of +quinine and vaccination, against lightning-rods and steam-engines? Had +not Reaumur suppressed Peyssonel's "Essay on Corals," because he thought +it was madness to maintain their animal nature; had not his learned +brethren decreed, in 1802, that there were no meteors, although a short +time later two thousand fell in one department alone; and had they not, +more recently still, received the news of ether being useful as an +anaesthetic with scorn and unanimous condemnation? Perhaps they recalled +Dr. Hare's assertion that our own Society for the Advancement of Useful +Knowledge had, in 1855, refused to hear a report on Spiritualism, +preferring to discuss the important question: "Why do roosters always +crow between midnight and one o'clock?" At all events they heard the +report and remained silent. In the same manner Alexander von Humboldt +refused to examine the question. This indifference did not, however, +check the growth of Spiritualism in France, but its followers divided +into two parties: spiritualists, under Rivail, who called himself Allan +Cardec, and spiritists, under Pierard. The former died in 1869, after +having seen his _Livre des Esprits_ reappear in fifteen editions; to +seal his mission, he sent, immediately after his death, his spirit to +inform his eager pupils, who crowded around the dead body of their +leader, of his first impressions in the spirit world. If the style is +the man (_le style c'est l'homme_), no one could doubt that it was his +spirit who spoke. + +Perhaps the most estimable high-priest of this branch of modern magic is +a well known professor of Geneva, Roessinger, a physician of great +renown and much beloved by all who know him. He is, however, a rock of +offense to American spiritualists, because he has ever remained firmly +attached to his religious faith, and admits no spiritual revelations as +genuine which do not entirely harmonize with the doctrines of Christ and +the statements of the Bible. Unfortunately this leads him to believe +that his favorite medium, a young lady enjoying the mystic name of +Libna, speaks under the direct inspiration of God himself! In England +the new magic has not only numerous but also influential adherents, like +Lord Lytton and the Darwinian Wallace; papers like the _Star_ and +journals like the _Cornhill Magazine_, support it with ability, and +names like Home in former years and Newton in our day, who not only +reveal secrets but actually heal the sick, have given a new prestige to +the young science. The works of Howitt and Dr. Ashburner, of Mrs. Morgan +and Mrs. Crossland have treated the subject under various aspects, and +in the year 1871, Crookes, a well-known chemist, investigated the +phenomena of Home's revelations by means of an apparatus specially +devised for the purpose. The result was the conviction that if not +spiritual, they were at least not produced by any power now known to +science.--_Quart. Journ. of Science_, July, 1871. + +In Germany the new magic has been far less popular than elsewhere, but, +in return, it has been there most thoroughly investigated. Men of great +eminence in science and in philosophy have published extensive works on +the subject, which are, however, more remarkable for zeal and industry +than for acute judgment. Gerster in Regensburg claimed to have invented +the Psychography, but Szapary in Paris and Cohnfeld in Berlin discovered +at the same time the curious instrument known to us as Planchette. The +most practical measure taken in Germany for the purpose of ascertaining +the truth was probably the formation of a society for spirit studies, +which met for the first time in Dresden in 1869, and purposes to obtain +an insight into those laws of nature which are reported to make it +possible to hold direct and constant intercourse with the world of +spirits. Here, as in the whole tendency of this branch of magic, we see +the workings not merely of idle curiosity but of that ardent longing +after a knowledge of the future and a certainty of personal eternity, +which dwells in the hearts of all men. + +The phenomena of modern magic were first imperfect rappings against the +wall, the legs of a table or a chair, accompanied by the motion of +tables; then followed spirit-writing by the aid of a psychograph or a +simple pencil, and finally came direct "spirit-writings," drawings by +the media, together with musical and poetical inspirations, the whole +reaching a climax in spirit-photographs. The ringing of bells, the +dancing of detached hands in the air, the raising up of the entire body +of a man, and musical performances without human aid were only +accomplished in a few cases by specially favored individuals. Two facts +alone are fully established in connection with all these phenomena: one, +that some of the latter at least are not produced by the ordinary forces +of nature; and the other, that the performers are generally, and the +medium always, in a more or less complete state of trance. In this +condition they forget themselves, give their mind up entirely into the +hands of others--the media--and candidly believe they see and hear what +they are told by the latter is taking place in their presence. Hence +also the well-established fact that the spirits have never yet revealed +a single secret, nor ever made known to us anything really new. Their +style is invariably the same as that in which ecstatic and +somnambulistic persons are apt to speak. A famous German spiritualist, +Hornung, whose faith was well known, once laid his hands upon his +planchette together with his wife, and then asked if there really was a +world of spirits? To the utter astonishment of all present, the +psychograph replied No! and when questioned again and again, became +troublesome. The fact was simply that the would-be magician's wife did +not believe in spirits, and as hers was the stronger will, the answer +came from her mind and not from her husband's. On the other hand, it +cannot be denied that media--most frequently delicate women of high +nervous sensibility, and almost always leading lives of constant and +wearying excitement--become on such occasions wrought up to a degree +which resembles somnambulism and may really enable them, occasionally, +in a state of clairvoyance, to see what is hidden to others. It is they +who are "vitalized," as they call it, and not the knocking table, or the +writing planchette, and hence arises the necessity of a medium for all +such communications. That there are no spirits at work in these +phenomena requires hardly to be stated; even the most ardent and +enthusiastic adherents of the new magic cannot deny, that no original +revelation concerning the world of spirits has yet been made, but that +all that is told is but an echo of the more or less familiar views of +men. It is far more interesting to notice, with Coleman, the electric +and hygroscopic condition of the atmosphere, which has evidently much to +do with such exhibitions. The visions of hands, arms, and heads, which +move about in the air and may occasionally even be felt, are either mere +hallucinations or real objective appearances, due to a peculiar +condition of the air, and favorably interpreted by the predisposed mind. +Hence, also, our own continent is, for its superior dryness of +atmosphere, much more favorable to the development of such phenomena +than that of Europe. + +Spiritualists in the Old as in the New World are hopeful that the new +magic will produce a new universal religion, and a better social order. +In this direction, however, no substantial success has yet been +obtained. Outsiders had expected that at least an intercourse with +departed spirits might be secured, and thus the immortality of man might +be practically demonstrated. But this also has not yet been done. What +then can we learn from modern magic? Only this: that there are evidently +forces in nature with whose character and precise intent we are not yet +acquainted, and which yet deserve to be studied and carefully analyzed. +Modern magic exhibits certain phenomena in man which are not subject to +the known laws of nature, and thus proves that man possesses certain +powers which he fails or does not know how to exert in ordinary life. +Where these powers appear in consequence of special preparation or an +exceptional condition of mind, they are comparatively worthless, because +they are in such cases merely the result of physical or mental disease, +and we can hope to profit only by powers employed by sound men. But +where these powers become manifest by spontaneous action, apparently as +the result of special endowment, they deserve careful study, and all the +respect due to a new and unknown branch of knowledge. + +Nor must it be overlooked, that, although modern magic as a science is +new, most of the phenomena upon which it is based, were well known to +the oldest nations. The Chinese, who seem to have possessed all the +knowledge of mankind, ages before it could be useful to them, or to +others, and to have lost it as soon as there was a call for it, had, +centuries ago, not only moving tables, but even writing spirits. Their +modern planchette is a small board, which they let float upon the water, +with the legs upward; they rest their hands upon the latter, and watch +the gyrations it makes in the water. Or they hold a small basket with a +camel's-hair brush attached to one end suspended over a table upon which +they have strewn a layer of flour; the brush begins to move through the +flour and to draw characters in it, which they interpret according to +their alphabet. The priests of Buddha in Mongolia, also, have long since +employed moving tables, and for a good purpose, usually to detect +thieves. The lama, who is appealed to for the purpose, sits down before +a small four-legged table, upon which he rests his hands, whilst reading +a book of devotion. After perhaps half an hour, he rises, and as he does +so, holding his hand steadily upon the table, the table also rises and +follows his hand, which he raises till hand and table are both level +with his eyes. Then the priest advances, the table precedes him, and +soon begins to move at such a rate that it seems to fly through the air, +and the lama can hardly follow. Sometimes it falls down upon the very +spot where the stolen goods are hidden; at other times it only indicates +the direction in which they are to be sought for; and not unfrequently +it refuses altogether to move, in which event the priest abandons the +case as hopeless. (_Nord. Biene_, April 27, 1853.) Here also it is +evident that the table is not the controlling agent, but the will of the +lama, whom it obeys by one of those mysterious powers which we call +magic. It is the same force which acts in the divining rod, the +pendulum, and similar phenomena. + +The name of Medium is an American invention, and is based upon the +assumption that only a few favored persons are able to enter into direct +communication with spirits, who may then convey the revelations they +receive to others. They are generally children and young persons, but +among grown men also certain constitutions seem to be better adapted to +such purposes than others. In almost all cases it has been observed, +that the electric condition of the medium is a feature of greatest +importance; the more electricity he possesses, the better is he able to +produce magic phenomena, and when his supply is exhausted by a long +session, his power also ceases. Hence, perhaps, the peculiar +qualification of children; while, on the other hand, the fact that they +not unfrequently are able to answer questions, in languages, of which +they are ignorant, proves that they also do not themselves give the +reply, but only receive it from the questioner, and state it as it +exists in the mind of the latter. Hence, also, the utter absurdity of +so-called spirit paintings, and, still worse, of poetical effusions like +Mr. Harris' "Lyric of the Golden Age," in eleven thousand four hundred +and thirty wretched verses. For what the "circle" does not know +individually or collectively, the medium also is not able to produce. +This truth is made still more evident by the latest phenomena developed +in spiritualistic circles, the so-called trance speaking, which may be +heard occasionally in New York circles, and which requires no +interposition of a medium. For here, also, we are struck by the utter +absence of usefulness in all these revelations; the inspired believers +speak, they recite poetry, but it remains literally _vox et praeterea +nihil_, and we are forcibly reminded of the words of AEschylus, who +already said in his "Agamemnon" (v. 1127), + + "Did ever seers afford delight? + The long practised art of all the seers whom + Ever the gods inspired, revealed + Naught but horrors and a wretched fate." + +Among the media of our day, Home is naturally _facile princeps_. A +Scotchman by birth, he claims that his mother already possessed the gift +of Second Sight, and that in their home near Edinburgh similar +endowments were frequent among their neighbors. At the age of three +years he saw the death of a cousin, who lived in a distant town, and +named the persons who were standing around her couch; he conversed +constantly in his childish way with spirits and heard heavenly music; +his cradle was rocked by invisible hands, and his toys came unaided into +his hands. When ten years old he was taken to an aunt in America, in +whose house he had no sooner been installed than chairs and tables, beds +and utensils, began to move about in wild disorder, till the terrified +lady sent the unlucky boy away. Attending once an exhibition of +table-moving he fell into fits and suddenly became cataleptic; during +the paroxysm he heard a summoning, then the spirits announced the +wrecking of two sailors, the table began to rock as in a storm, the +whistling of the wind through the tackle, the creaking of the vessel, +and the dull, heavy thud of the waves against her bows, all were +distinctly heard, and finally the table was upset, while the spirits +announced the name and the age of the perishing seamen. From that day +Home carefully cultivated his strange gifts, and developed what he +considered a decided talent for reading the future. As a young man he +returned to Europe and soon became famous. Florence was, for a time, the +principal stage of his successes; here he not only summoned the spirits +of the departed, but was raised by invisible powers from the ground and +hovered for some time above the heads of his visitors. The superstitious +Italians finally became excited and threatened him with death, from +which a Count Branichi saved him at great personal peril. In Naples the +spirits suddenly declared their intention to leave him on February 10, +1856, and to remain absent for a whole year; they did so, and during the +interval Home enjoyed better health than ever in his life! In Rome he +became a Catholic, and good Pio Nono himself offered him his crucifix to +kiss, with the words: "That is the only true magic wand!"--unfortunately +this was not Home's view always; at least we find him in 1864 in the +same city in conflict with the papal police, who ordered him to cease +all intercourse "with higher as well as with lower spirits," and finally +compelled him to leave the Eternal City. He then claimed publicly, +what, it must not be forgotten, he had consistently maintained from the +beginning of his marvelous career, that he was the unwilling agent of +higher powers, which affected him at irregular times, independent of his +will, and often contrary to his dearest wishes. It must be added that he +gave the strongest proof of his sincerity by never accepting from the +public pecuniary compensation for the exhibition of peculiar powers. + +His exterior is winning; he is of medium height, light-haired and +light-complexioned, of slender figure; simple and well-bred in his +manners, and of irreproachable morale. The highest circles of society +have always been open to him, and his marriage with a daughter of the +Russian general Stroll has given him wealth and an agreeable position in +the world. As the spirits had predicted, they returned on the 10th of +February, 1857, and announced themselves by repeated gentle +knockings--in other words, Home's former nervous disease returned, and +with it his exceptionable powers. He was then in Paris, and soon excited +the attention of the fair but superstitious Empress, whose favor he +speedily obtained by a revelation concerning the "Empereur de l'avenir," +as the spirits had the gallantry to call her infant son. Napoleon also +began to take an interest in the clever, talented man, whose special +gifts did not prevent him from being a pliant courtier and a cunning +observer. He showed himself grateful for the kindness with which Eugenie +provided for his sister's education by exerting his powers to the +utmost at the Tuileries, and by revealing to the Emperor the secrets he +had skillfully elicited during his spiritual sessions, from statesmen +and generals. At the house of Prince Murat he performed, perhaps, the +most surprising feats he has ever accomplished: seated quietly in his +arm-chair, he caused tables to whirl around, the clocks in two rooms to +stand still or to go at will, all the bells in the house to ring +together or separately, and handkerchiefs to escape irresistibly from +the hands and the pockets of several persons, the Emperor included. Then +the floor seemed to sink, all the doors of the house were slammed to and +opened again, the gaslights became extinct, and when they as suddenly +blazed up again, Home had disappeared without saying good-bye. The +guests left the house quietly and in a state of great and painful +excitement. At another exhibition in Prince Napoleon's house, a renowned +juggler was present by invitation to watch Home, but he declared, soon, +that there was no jugglery, such as he knew, in what he saw, and the +meeting, during which the most startling phenomena were exhibited, ended +by Home's falling into a state of fearful catalepsy. Perhaps nothing can +speak more clearly of the deep interest felt in the modern magician by +the highest in the land, than the fact that more than once private +sessions were held at the Tuileries, at which, besides himself, the +Emperor and the Empress, only one person was allowed to be present, the +Duke of Montebello. It is said, though not by Home himself, that at one +of these meetings the sad fate of the Empire was clearly predicted, and +even the time of the Emperor's death ascertained. One achievement of +modern magic in which Home is unique, is the raising of his body into +the air; no other person having as yet even attempted the same exploit. +He is lifted up in a horizontal position, sometimes only to a short +distance from the floor, but not unfrequently, also, nearly to the +ceiling; on one occasion, in Bordeaux, he remained thus suspended in the +sight of several persons for five minutes. Another speciality of his, is +the lengthening of his body. According to a statement deserving full +credit ("Human Nature," Dec. 1868), he can, when in a state of trance, +add four inches to his stature! Finally, he has been repeatedly seen +passing in the air out of one window of the room in which his visitors +were assembled, and returning through another window, an exhibition +which almost always ended in the complete exhaustion and apparent +illness of the magician. + +Home himself maintains that he performs no miracles, and is not able to +cause the laws of nature to be suspended for a moment, but that he is +gifted with an exceptional power to employ faculties which he possesses +in common with all his brethren. In him they are active; in the vast +majority of men they lie dormant, because man is no longer conscious of +the full and absolute control over Nature, with which he has been +endowed by the Creator. He adds that it is faith alone, without the aid +of spirits, which enables him to cause mysterious lights to be seen, or +heavy pieces of furniture to move about in the air, and to produce +strange sounds and peculiar visions in the mind of his friends. On the +other hand, when he is lifted up into the air, or enabled to read the +future, and to reveal what absent persons are doing at the moment, he +professes to act as a willingless instrument of spirits, having neither +the power to provoke his ability to perform these feats, nor to lay it +aside at will. Occasionally he professes to be conscious of an electric +current, which he is able to produce at certain times and in a certain +state of mind; this emanation protects his body against influences fatal +to others, and enables him, for instance, to hold live coals in his +hand, and to thrust his whole head into the chimney fire. This "certain +state of mind," as he calls it, is simply a state of trance. Hence the +extremely variable nature of his performances, and his great reluctance +to appear as a magician at the request of others. Nor is he himself +always quite sure of his own condition; thus, in the winter of 1870, +when he wished to exhibit some of the simplest phenomena in the presence +of a number of savants in St. Petersburg, he failed so completely in +every effort, that the committee reported him virtually, though not in +terms, an impostor. The same happened to him at a first examination held +by Mr. Crookes, a well-known professor of chemistry, in company with +Messrs. Cox and Huggins; they did not abandon their purpose, however, +and at the next meeting, when certain antipathic spectators were no +longer present, Home displayed the most remarkable phenomena. The +committee came to the conclusion that he was enabled to perform these +feats by means of a new "psychic force," which it was all-important for +men of science to investigate thoroughly. + +The number of men and women who possess similar endowments, though +generally in an inferior degree only, is very great, especially in the +United States. Only one feature is common to them all--the state of +trance in which they are enabled to produce such startling phenomena--in +all other respects they differ widely, both as to the nature of their +performances and as to their credibility. For, from the first appearance +of media in spiritualistic circles, in fact, probably already in the +exhibitions of the Fox family, delusion and willful deception have been +mixed up with actual magic. Tables have been moved by clever +legerdemain; spirit rappings have been produced by cunning efforts of +muscles and sinews; ventriloquists have used their art to cause +extraordinary noises in the air, and Pepper's famous ghosts have shown +the facility with which the eye may be deceived and the other senses be +taken captive. The most successful deception was practised by the +so-called Davenport Brothers, whose well-known exhibitions excited +universal interest, as long as the impression lasted that they were the +work of invisible spirits, while they became even more popular and +attractive when their true nature had been discovered, on account of the +exquisite skill with which these juggling tricks were performed. + +The masters of physical science have amply proved that table-moving is a +simple mechanical art. Faraday and Babinet already called attention to +the fact that the smallest muscles of the human body can produce great +effects, when judiciously employed, and cited, among other instances, +the so-called Electric Girl, exhibited in Paris, who hurled a chair on +which she had been sitting, by muscular power alone, to a great +distance. The same feat, it is well-known, has been repeatedly +accomplished by other persons also. Like muscular efforts are made--no +doubt often quite unconsciously--by persons whose will acts +energetically, and when several men co-operate the force of vibrations +produced in a kind of rhythmical tact, becomes truly astounding. We need +only remember, that the rolling of a heavily laden cart in the streets +may shake a vast, well-built edifice from roof to cellar, and that the +regular tramp of a detachment of men has more than once caused +suspension bridges, of great and well-tried strength, to break and to +bury hundreds of men under their ruins. Thus a few children and delicate +women alone can, by an hour's steady work and undivided attention, move +tables of such weight that a number of strong men can lift them only +with difficulty. The only really new force which has ever appeared in +this branch of modern magic is the Od of Baron Reichenbach; its +presence and efficacy cannot be denied, although the manner in which it +operates is still a mystery. In the summer of 1861 the German baron +found himself in a company of table-movers at the house of Lord William +Cowper, the son-in-law of Lord Palmerston. To prove his faith he crept +under the heavy dining-table, resting with his full weight on one of the +three solid feet and grasping the other two firmly with his hands. The +wood began to emit low, electric sounds, then came louder noises as when +furniture cracks in extremely dry weather, and finally the table began +to move. Reichenbach did his best to prevent the movement, but the table +rushed down the room, dragging the unlucky baron with it, to the intense +amusement of all the persons present. The German savant maintains that +this power, possessed only by the privileged few who are peculiarly +sensitive, emanates from the tips of the fingers, becomes luminous in +the dark, and acts like a lever upon all obstacles that come in its way. +As the existence of Od is established beyond all doubt, and its effects +are admitted by all who have studied the subject, we are forced to look +upon it as at least one of the mysterious elements of modern magic. + +The Od is, as far as we know, a magnetic force; for as soon as certain +persons are magnetized they become conscious of peculiar sensations, +heat or cold, headache or other pains, and, if predisposed, of a +startling increase of power in all their senses. They see lights of +every kind, can distinguish even minute objects in a dark room, and +behold beautiful white flames upon the poles of magnets. Reichenbach +obtained, as he believed, two remarkable results from these first +phenomena. He concluded that polar lights, aurora boreales, etc., were +identical with the magnetic light of the earth, and he discovered that +sensitive, sickly persons, who were peculiarly susceptible to magnetic +influences, ought to lie with the head to the north, and the feet to the +south in order to obtain refreshing sleep. The next step was an effort +to identify the Od with animal magnetism; Reichenbach found that +cataleptic patients who perceived the presence of magnets with exquisite +accuracy, and followed them like mesmerized persons, were affected alike +by his own hands or those of other perfectly sound, but strongly +magnetic men. He could attract such unfortunate persons by his +outstretched fingers, and force them to follow him in a state of +unconsciousness wherever he led them. According to his theory, the two +sides of man are of opposite electric nature and a magnetic current +passes continually from one side to the other; sensitive persons though +blind-folded, know perfectly well on which side they approach others. + +Gradually Baron Reichenbach extended the range of his experiments, +employing for that purpose, besides his own daughter, especially a Miss +Nowotny, a sad sufferer from cataleptic attacks. She was able to +distinguish, by the sensations which were excited in her whole system, +more than six hundred chemicals, and arranged them, under his guidance, +according to their electro-chemical force. Another sick woman, Miss +Maiss, felt a cool wind whenever certain substances were brought near +her, and by these and similar efforts in which the baron was aided by +many friends, he ascertained the fact, that there is in nature a force +which passes through all substances, the human body included, and is +inherent in the whole material world. This force he calls the Od. Like +electricity and magnetism, this Od is a polar force, and here also +opposite poles attract, like poles repel each other. The whole subject, +although as yet only in its infancy, is well deserving of careful study +and thorough investigation. + +The manifestations of so-called spirits have naturally excited much +attention, and given rise to the bitterest attacks. In England, +especially, the learned world is all on one side and the Spiritualists +all on the other; nor do they hesitate to say very bitter things of each +other. The _Saturday Review_, more forcibly than courteously, speaks of +American spiritualists thus: "If this is the spirit world, and if this +is spiritual intelligence, and if all the spirits can do, is to whisk +about in dark rooms, and pinch people's legs under the table, and play +'Home, Sweet Home,' on the accordeon, and kiss folks in the dark, and +paint baby pictures, and write such sentimental, namby-pamby as Mr. +Coleman copies out from their dictation--it is much better to be a +respectable pig and accept annihilation than to be cursed with such an +immortality as this." To which the _Spiritual Magazine_ (Jan., 1862), +does not hesitate to reply. "We shall not eat breakfast bacon for some +time, for fear of getting a slice of the editor of the _Saturday +Review_, in his self-sought appropriate metempsychosis." It must be +borne in mind, however, that spiritualists everywhere appeal to their +own reason as the highest tribunal before which such questions can be +decided, and to the laws of nature, because as they say, they are +identical with the laws of practical reason. They believe, as a body, +neither in angels nor in demons. Their spirits are simply the purified +souls of departed men. Protestant theologians, who admit of no +purgatory, see in these exhibitions nothing but the deeds of Satan. +Catholic divines, on the other hand, and Protestant mystics, who, like +the German, Schubert, believe that there exist what they curiously +enough call a "more peaceful infernal spirit," ascribe them to the +agency of evil spirits. In the great majority of cases, however, the +spirits have clearly shown themselves nothing else but the product of +the media. The latter, invariably either of diseased mind by nature or +over-excited for the occasion, believe they see and hear manifestations +in the outer world, which in reality exist only in their own +consciousness. A Catholic medium is thus visited by spirits from heaven +and hell, while the Protestant medium never meets souls from purgatory. +Nothing has ever been revealed concerning the future state of man, that +was not already well known upon earth. Most diverting are the +jealousies of great spirits, of Solomon and Socrates, Moses and +Plato--when the media happen to be jealous of each other! A somewhat +satirical writer on the subject explains even the fact that spirits so +often contradict each other and say vile things of sacred subjects, by +the inner wickedness of the media, which comes to light on such +occasions, while they carefully conceal it in ordinary life! If these +spirits are really the creations of the inner magic life, of which we +are just learning to know the first elementary signs, then the powers +which are hidden within us may well terrify us as they appear in such +exhibitions, while we will not be surprised at the manner in which many +an ordinary mortal appears here as a poet or a prophet--if not as a +wicked demon. Nor must it be overlooked that our memory holds vast +treasures of knowledge of which we are utterly unconscious until, under +certain circumstances, one or the other fact suddenly reappears before +our mind's eye. The very fact that we can, by a great effort and +continued appeals to our memory, recall at last what was apparently +utterly forgotten, proves the presence of such knowledge. A state of +intense excitement, of fever or of trance, is peculiarly favorable to +the recovery of such hidden treasures, and there can be no doubt that +many a medium honestly believes to receive a new revelation, when only +old, long forgotten facts return to his consciousness. Generally +however, we repeat, nothing is in the spirit that is not in the medium. +The American spiritualist conjures up only his own countrymen, and +occasionally some world-renowned heroes like Napoleon or Caesar, +Shakespeare or Schiller, while the cosmopolitan German receives visits +from men of all countries. Finally it must be borne in mind that, +according to an old proverb, we are ever ready to believe what we wish +to see or hear, and hence the amazing credulity of the majority of +spiritualists. Even skeptics are not free from the influence of this +tendency. When Dr. Bell, the eminent physician of Somerville, Mass., +investigated these phenomena of modern magic, many years ago, he +promptly noticed that the spirits never gave information which was not +already in the possession of one or the other person present. Only in a +few cases he acknowledged with his usual candor, and at once, at the +meeting itself, that a true answer was returned. But when he examined, +after his return home, these few exceptional revelations, he discovered +that he had been mistaken, and that these answers had been after all as +illusory as the others. + +There can be no doubt therefore, that modern magic, as far as it +consists in table-moving and spirit-rapping, with their usual +accompaniments, is neither the work of mechanical jugglery exclusively, +nor, on the other hand, the result of revelations made by spirits. In +the mass of accumulated evidence there remain however, after sifting it +carefully, many facts which cannot be explained according to the +ordinary course of nature. The power which produces these phenomena +must be classified with other well-known powers given to man under +exceptional circumstances, such as the safety of somnambulists in +dangerous places; the cures performed by faith, and the strange +exhibitions made by diseased persons, suffering of catalepsy and similar +affections. If men, under the influence of mesmerism, in a state of +ecstatic fervor, or under the pressure of strong and long-continued +excitement, show powers which are not possessed by man naturally, then +modern magic also may well be admitted as one of the means by which such +extraordinary, and as yet unexplored forces are brought to light. All +that can be reasonably asked of those who so peremptorily challenge our +admiration, and demand our respect for the new science, is that it shall +be proved to be useful to man, and this proof is, as yet, altogether +wanting. + +In Mexico the preparation for acts of magic seems to have been downright +intoxication; at least we learn from Acosta, in his _Hist. nat. y moral +de los Indias_ (lv.), that the priests, before sacrificing, inhaled +powerful perfumes, rubbed themselves with ointments made of venomous +animals, tobacco and hempseed, and finally drank chica mixed with +various drugs. Thus they reached a state of exaltation in which they not +only butchered numbers of human beings in cold blood, and lost all fear +of wild beasts, but were also able to reveal what was happening at a +great distance, or even future events. We find similar practices, also, +nearer home. The Indians of Martha's Vineyard had, before they were +converted, their skillful magicians, who stood in league with evil +spirits, and as pawaws discovered stolen things, injured men at a +distance, and clearly foretold the coming of the whites. The pious +Brainert gives us full accounts of some of the converted Delawares, who, +after baptism, felt the evil spirit depart from them, and lost the power +of magic. One, a great and wicked magician, deplored bitterly his former +condition, when he was a slave of the evil one, and became, in the good +missionary's words: "an humble, devout, hearty, and loving Christian." +It is more difficult to explain the magic of the so-called Archbishop +Beissel, the head of the brotherhood at Ephrata, in Pennsylvania, who, +according to contemporary authorities "oppressed by his magic the father +and steward of the convent, Eckerling, to such a degree, that he left +his brethren and sought refuge in a hermit's hut in the forest!" The +spirits of departed brethren and sisters returned to the refectory at +this bishop's bidding; they partook of bread and meat, and even +conversed with their successors. There can be no doubt that Beissel, +abundantly and exceptionally gifted, possessed the power to put his +unhappy subordinates, already exhausted by asceticism of every kind, +into a state of ecstasy, in which they sincerely believed they saw these +spirits, and were subjected to magic influences. That such power has by +no means entirely departed from our continent, may be seen in the +atrocities perpetrated at the command of the negroes' Obee, of which +well-authenticated records abound in Florida and Louisiana, as well as +in Cuba. + +The Indo-Germanic race has known and practised black magic from time +immemorial, and the Vendidad already explains it as an act which +Ahriman, the Evil Spirit, brought forth when overshadowed by death. In +Egypt it flourished for ages, and has never become entirely extinct. +Jannes and Jambres, who led the priests in their opposition to Moses (2. +Tim. iii. 8), have their successors in our day, and the very miracles +performed by these ancient charmers have been witnessed again and again +by modern travelers. Holy Writ abounds with instances of every kind of +magic; it speaks of astrology, and prophesying from arrows, from the +entrails of animals, and from dreams; but, strangely enough, the +charming of serpents and the evil eye are not mentioned, if we except +Balaam. The Kabbalah, on the contrary, speaks more than once of the evil +eye (ain hara), and all the southern nations of Europe, as well as the +Slavic races, fear its weird power. + +The eye is, however, by no means employed only to work evil; by the side +of their _mal occhio_ the Italians have another gift, called +_attrativa_, which enables man, apparently by the force of his eye only, +to draw to himself all whom he wishes to attract. The well-known Saint +Filippo Neri thus not only won all whom he wished to gain over, by +looking at them, but even dogs left their beloved masters and followed +him everywhere. Cotton Mather tells us in his "Magnolia" that quakers +frequently by the eye only--though often, also, by anointing or +breathing upon them--compelled others to accompany them, to join their +communion, and to be in all things obedient to their bidding. Tom Case, +himself a quaker, certainly possessed the power of overwhelming those at +whom he looked fixedly for a while, to such a degree that they fell down +as if struck with epilepsy; once, at least, he turned even a mad bull, +by the force of his eye, till it approached him humbly and licked his +hand like a pet dog. Even in our own age Goethe has admitted the power +of certain men to attract others by the strength of their will, and +mentions an instance in which he himself, ardently wishing to see his +beloved one, forced her unconsciously to come and meet him halfway. +(Eckermann, iii. 201.) + +It avails nothing to stigmatize a faith so deeply rooted and so +universal as mere superstition. Among the mass of errors which in the +course of ages have accumulated around the creed, the little grain of +truth, the indubitable power of man's mind to act through the eye, ought +not to be overlooked. + +It is the same with the magic known as such to the two great nations of +antiquity. If the Greeks saw in Plato the son of Apollo, who came to his +mother Perictione in the shape of a serpent, and in Alexander the Great +the son of Jupiter Ammon, they probably intended merely to pay the same +compliment to their countrymen which modern nations convey by calling +their rulers Kings and Kaisers "by the Grace of God." But the +consistency with which higher beings came to visit earth-born man in the +shape of favored animals, is more than an accident. The sons of God came +to see the daughters of men, though it is not said in what form they +appeared, and the suggestion that they were the "giants upon the earth," +mentioned in Holy Writ, is not supported; but exactly as the gods came +from Olympus in the shape of bulls and rams, so the evil spirits of the +Middle Ages appeared in the shape of rams and cats. A curious instance +of the mixture of truth and falsehood appears in this connection. It is +well-known that the Italians of the South look upon Virgil as one of the +greatest magicians that ever lived, and ascribe to his tomb even now +supernatural power. The poet himself had, of course, nothing whatever to +do with magic; but his reputation as a magician arose from the fact +that, next to the Bible, his verses became, at an early period, a +favorite means of consulting the future. _Sortes Virgilianae_, the lines +which upon accidentally opening the volume first met the eye, were a +leading feature of the art known as stichomania. + +The story of the greatest magician mentioned in the New Testament has +been thoroughly examined, and the main features, at least, are well +established. Simon Magus was a magician in the sense in which the +ancients used that term; but he possessed evidently, in addition, all +the powers claimed by better spiritualists, like Home in our day. A +native of Gitton, a small village of Samaria, he had early manifested +superior intellectual gifts, accompanied by an almost marvelous control +over the minds of others. By the aid of the former he produced a lofty +gnostic system, which crumbled, however, to pieces as soon as it came +into contact with the inspired system of Christianity. His influence +over others led him, in the arrogance which is inherent to natural man, +to consider himself as the Great Divine Power, which appeared in +different forms as Father, Son, and Spirit. He professed to be able to +make himself invisible and to pass, unimpeded, through solid +substances--precisely as was done in later ages by Saint Dominic and +other saints (Goerres. Mystic, ii. 576)--to bind and to loosen others as +well as himself at will; to open prison doors and to cause trees to grow +out of the bare ground. Before utterly rejecting his pretensions as mere +lies and tricks, we must bear in mind two facts: first, that modern +jugglers in India perform these very tricks in a manner as yet +unexplained, and secondly, that he, in all probability, possessed merely +the power of exciting others to a high state of exaltation, in which +they candidly believed they saw all these things. At all events, his +magic deeds were identical with the miracles of later saints, and as +these are enthroned in shrine and statue in Rome, so the Eternal City +erected to Simon Magus, also, a statue, and proclaimed him a god in the +days of Claudius! Another celebrated magician of the same race, was +Sedechias (Goerres. Mystic, iv. ii. 71), who lived in the days of Saint +Louis, and who, once, in order to convince the skeptics of his day of +the real existence of spirits, such as the Kabbalah admits, ordered them +to appear in human form before the eyes of the monarch. Instantly the +whole plain around the king's tent was alive with a vast army; long rows +of bright-colored tents dotted the lowlands, and on the slopes around +were encamped countless troops; whilst mounted squadrons appeared in the +air, performing marvelous evolutions. This was probably the first +instance of those airy hosts, which have ever since been seen in various +countries. + +The Christian era gave to magic phenomena a new and specific character; +what was a miracle in apostolic times remained in the eyes of the +multitude a miracle to our day, when performed by saints of the +church--it became a crime and an abomination when the authors were +laymen, and yet both differed in no single feature. The most remarkable +representative of this dual nature of supernatural performances is, no +doubt, Dr. Faust, whom the great and pious Melanchthon states to have +well known as a native of the little village of Knittlingen, near his +own birth-place, and as a man of dissolute habits, whom the Devil +carried off in person. His motto, which has been discovered under a +portrait of his (Hauber's "Bibl. Mag."), was characteristic of his +faith: _Omne bonum et perfectum a Deo, imperfectum a diabolo_. His vast +learning, his great power over the elements, and the popular story of +his pact with the Evil One, made him a hero among the Germans, of whose +national tendencies he was then the typical representative. +Unfortunately, however, nearly every Christian land has had its own +Faust; such was, for instance, in Spain the famous Dr. Toralba, who +lived in the sixteenth century, and by the aid of a servile demon read +the future, healed the sick, traveled through the air, and even when he +fell into the hands of the Inquisition, obtained his release through the +Great Admiral of Castile. Gilles de Laval, who was publicly burnt in +1440, and Lady Fowlis, of Scotland, are parallel cases. + +One of the most absurd ceremonies belonging to black magic, was the +well-known Taigheirm, of the Scotch Highlands, a demoniac sacrifice +evidently handed down from pagan times. The so-called magician procured +a large number of black cats, and devoted them, with solemn +incantations, and while burning offensive incense of various kinds, to +the evil spirits. Then the poor victims were spitted and slowly roasted +over a fire of coals, one after the other, but so that not a second's +pause occurred between the death of one and the sufferings of the next. +This horridly absurd sacrifice had to be continued for three days and +nights, during which the magician was not allowed to take any food or +drink. The consequence was, that if he did not drop down exhausted and +perish miserably, he became fearfully excited, and finally saw demons in +the shape of black cats who granted him all he desired (Horst. +"Deuteroscopia," ii. 184). It need hardly be added that in the state of +clairvoyance which he had reached, he only asked for what he well knew +was going to happen, and that all the fearful visions of hellish spirits +existed only in his overwrought imagination. But it will surprise many +to learn that such "taigheirms" were held as late as the last century, +and that a place is still shown on the island of Mull, where Allan +Maclean with his assistant, Lachlain Maclean, sacrificed black cats for +four days and nights in succession. The elder of the two passed for a +kind of high-priest and chief magician with the superstitious islanders; +the other was a young unmarried man of fine appearance, and more than +ordinary intelligence. Both survived the fearful ceremony, but sank +utterly exhausted to the ground, unable to obtain the revelation which +they had expected; nevertheless they retained the gift of second sight +for their lives. + +It must not be imagined, finally, that the summoning of spirits is a +lost art; even in our day men are found who are willing to call the +departed from their resting-place, and to exhibit them to the eyes of +living men. The best explanation of this branch of magic was once given +by a learned professor, whom the Prince Elector of Brandenburg, +Frederick II., sent for from Halle, in order to learn from him how +spirits could be summoned. The savant declared that nothing was easier, +and supported his assertion by a number of actual performances. First +the spectator was prepared by strong beverages, such as the Egyptian +sorcerers already used to employ on similar occasions, and by the +burning of incense. Soon he fell into a kind of half-sleep, in which he +could still understand what was said, but no longer reflect upon the +sense of the words; gradually his brain became so disturbed, and his +imagination so highly excited, that he pictured to himself images +corresponding to the words which he heard, and called them up before his +mind's eye as realities. The magician, protected against the effects of +the incense by a sponge filled with an alcoholic mixture, then began to +converse with his visitor, and tried to learn from him all he could +concerning the person the latter wished to see, his shape, his clothes, +etc. Finally the victim was conducted into a dark room, where he was +suddenly asked by a stern, imperious voice: "Do you not see that woman +in white?" (or whatever the person might be,) and at once his +over-excited imagination led him to think that he really beheld what he +expected or wished to see. This was allowed to go on till he sank down +exhausted, or actually fainted away. When he recovered his +consciousness, he naturally recollected but imperfectly what he had seen +while in a state of great excitement, and his memory, impaired by the +intermediate utter exhaustion and fainting, failed to recall the small +errors or minute inaccuracies of his vision. All that was left of the +whole proceeding was a terrifying impression on his mind that he had +really seen the spirits of departed friends. + +Such skillful manoeuvres were more than once employed for sinister +purposes. Thus it is a well-known historical fact that the men who +obtained control over King Frederick William II., after his ascension to +the throne, and held it for a time by the visions which they showed him, +employed means like these to summon the spirits he wished to see. The +master in this branch of black magic was undoubtedly Joseph Balsamo, the +Count Cagliostro of French history. He was neither a magician in the +true sense of the word, nor even a religious enthusiast, but merely an +accomplished juggler and swindler, who had acquired, by natural +endowment, patient study, and consummate art, a great power over the +minds of others. He played upon the imagination of men as upon a +familiar instrument, and the greatest philosophers were as easily +victimized by him as the most clear-sighted women, in spite of the +natural instinct which generally protects the latter against such +imposition. His secret--as far as the summoning of the spirits of the +departed is concerned--has died with him, but that enlightened, +conscientious men candidly believed they had been shown disembodied +spirits, is too well established by memories of French and Dutch writers +to be doubted. In the meetings of his "lodges of Egyptian Freemasons" +he, as Grand Cophtha, or those whom he had qualified by breathing upon +them, employed a boy or a girl, frequently called up at haphazard from +the street, but at other times carefully prepared for the purpose, to +look into the hand or a basin of water. The poor child was, however, +first made half-unconscious, being anointed with the "oil of wisdom," no +doubt an intoxicating compound, and after numerous ceremonies, carried +into a recess called the Tabernacle, and ordered to look into the hand +or a basin of water. After the assembly had prayed for some time, the +"Dove," as they called the child, was asked what he saw. Ordinarily he +beheld first an angel or a priest--probably the image of Cagliostro +himself in his sacerdotal robes--but frequently also monkeys, the +offspring of a skeptical imagination. Then followed more or less +interesting revelations, some utterly absurd, others of real interest, +and at times actual predictions of future events. Cagliostro himself, +during his last trial before the Inquisition of Rome, while readily +confessing a large number of impostures, stoutly maintained the +genuineness of these communications and insisted that they were the +effects of a special power granted by God. His assertion has some value, +as the shrewd man knew very well how much more he was likely to gain by +a prompt avowal than by such a denial; his wife, also, although his +accomplice in former years, and now by no means disposed to spare her +quasi-husband, always stated that this was a true mystery which she had +never been able to fathom. If we add to these considerations the fact +that numerous masters of lodges, even in Holland and England, obtained +the same results, and that they cannot all have been impostors or +deluded victims, there remains enough in these well-established +phenomena to ascribe them to a mysterious, magic power. (_Compendio +della vita, etc. di G. Balsamo_, Roma, 1791.) It is in fact quite +evident that the unfortunate juggler possessed in a very rare degree a +power akin to that practised by a Mesmer, a Home, and other men of that +class, without having the sense to understand its true nature or the +ambition to employ it for other than the lowest selfish purposes. Trials +of magicians, who have conjured up the dead and compelled them to reveal +the future, are still taking place every now and then; in the year 1850 +not less than four men, together with their associates, were accused of +this crime in enlightened Germany, and the proceedings in one case, +which occurred in Munich, created no small sensation. + +Black magic, therefore, must also be looked upon as by no means a mere +illusion, much less as the work of evil spirits. The results it obtains +at times are the work of man himself, and exist only within his own +conscience. But if man can produce such marvelous effects, which lie +apparently beyond the range of the material world, how much more must +the Creator and Preserver of all things be able to call forth events +which transcend--to our mind--the limits of the tangible world. Such +occurrences, when they have a higher moral or religious purpose in view, +we call Miracles, and they remain incomprehensible for all whose +knowledge is confined to the physical world. Above the laws of nature +there rules the Divine Will, which can do what Nature cannot do, and +which we can only begin to understand when we bear in mind the fact that +by the side of the visible order of the world or above it, there exist +spiritual laws as well as spiritual beings. In a miracle, powers are +rendered active which ordinarily remain inactive, but which exist none +the less permanently in the world. Hence all great thinkers have readily +admitted the existence of miracles: a Locke and a Leibnitz as well as, +more recently, a Stahl and a Schopenhauer. Locke, in his "Discourse of +Miracles," goes so far as to call them the very credentials of a +messenger sent from God, and asserts that Moses and Christ have alike +authenticated the truth and the divine character of their revelations by +miracles. Even their possible continuance is believed in by those who +hope that men will ever continue among us who "have tasted the good word +of God and _the powers of the world to come_." (Hebrews vi. 5.) + + + + +III. + +DREAMS. + + "To sleep--perchance to dream." + + --HAMLET. + + +Of the two parts of our being, one, spiritual and heaven-born, is always +active, the other, the bodily, earth-born part, requires frequent and +regular rest in sleep. During this time of repose, however, the mind +also ceases apparently its operations, merely, however, because it has +no longer servants at its command, who are willing and able to give +expression to its activity. When the senses are asleep the mind is +deprived of the usual means of communication with the outer world; but +this does not necessarily condemn it to inaction. On the contrary, it +has often been maintained that the mind is most active and capable of +the highest achievements when released from its usual bondage to the +senses. Already AEschylus in his "Eumenides" says: + + The mind of sleepers acts more cunningly; + The glare of day conceals the fate of men. + +It seems, however, as if the intermediate state between the full +activity of wakeful life and the complete repose of the senses in sound +sleep, is most favorable to the development of such magic phenomena as +occur in dreams. The fact that the susceptibility of the mind is at +that time peculiarly great is intimately connected with the statement +recorded in Holy Writ, that God frequently revealed His will to men in +dreams. If we admit the antiquity of the book of Job, we see there the +earliest known announcement of this connection. "In a dream, in a vision +of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the +bed; then He openeth the ears of men and sealeth their instruction" +(xxxiii. 15). Next we are told that "God came to Abimelech in a dream by +night" (Gen. xx. 3), and from that time we hear of similar revelations +made by night in dreams throughout the whole history of the chosen +people. Frequently, however, the dreams are called visions. Thus Balaam +prophesied: "He hath said, which heard the words of God and knew the +knowledge of the Most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty, +falling into a trance, but having his eyes open." Daniel had his secret +"revealed in a night vision," but such favor was denied to Saul, for +"the Lord answered him not, neither by dream nor by Urim, nor by +prophets." To Solomon, on the contrary, "the Lord appeared in a dream by +night" many times; Joel was promised that "old men should dream dreams +and young men shall see visions," a pledge quoted by St. Peter as having +been amply fulfilled in his day (Acts ii. 17). For dreams did not lose +their importance at the coming of Christ. To his reputed father "the +Angel of the Lord appeared in a dream," bidding him to take Mary to his +wife; again he was warned in a dream "not to return to Herod," and the +Lord spake "to Paul in the night by a vision" more than once, as he was +by a dream also sent to Macedonia. + +What in these and similar cases is accepted as divine inspiration, is in +secular history generally looked upon as mysterious, magic revelation; +but the phenomena remain the same in all instances, and those appearing +in dreams are identical with the symptoms exhibited in revelations +occurring during the day, when the favored recipient is wide awake. +Clairvoyance by night differs in no way from clairvoyance during the +day; a state of ecstasy, a trance, is necessary in either case. That +prophetic dreams generally remain unknown--outside of Holy Writ--must be +ascribed to the fact that they leave no recollection behind, unless they +are continued into a state of half-sleep, from which a sudden awakening +takes place; and soon then they are invariably clothed in some allegoric +form, and become liable to be erroneously or, at least, imperfectly +interpreted. Thus dreams, like trances, often prefigure death under the +form of a journey, and represent the dying man as an uprooted tree, a +withered flower, or a drowning swimmer. The early Christians, foreseeing +martyrdom, very frequently received in dreams an intimation of their +impending fate under such symbolic forms, and, what was quite peculiar +to their visions was that they often extended to the pagan jailors and +keepers, whose minds had been excited by witnessing the sufferings and +the constancy of their victims, and who, in many cases, became, in +consequence of these dreams, converts to the new faith. The facility, +however, with which such symbols can be misunderstood, has been as fatal +to dreams in the estimation of most men, as the inaccurate manner in +which the real revelation is often presented to the still half-sleeping +mind. Hence the popular belief that dreams "go by contraries," as vulgar +slang expresses it. This faith is based upon the well-established fact +that a genuine dream, in the act of impressing itself upon memory, often +suffers not only mutilation but actual reversion. Thus Rogers saw, in a +dream, Hikey, a small, weak man, murder a powerful giant, Caulfield--in +the actual encounter, which he had really foreseen, the latter killed +his puny antagonist. It is, therefore, as dangerous to "believe in +dreams," as to deny their value altogether and to ascribe all +realizations of dreams, with, Macnish, to mere accident. ("Sleep," p. +81.) Men of cool judgment and clear mind have at all times been found on +the side of believers, and even our great Franklin, with his eminently +practical mind and well-known aversion to every kind of superstition, +firmly trusted in views which he believed to have come to him in dreams. + +Antiquity believed in dreams, not only as means by which the Gods +revealed their will, but as special favors accorded to fortunate men. +Thus we are told that once two men were traveling together from Arcadia +to Megara; when they reached the city, one of the two remained at an +inn, while the other went to stay with a a friend. Both, wearied by the +journey, retired to rest; but the traveler who was at a private house +dreamt in the night that his friend urged him to come to his assistance, +as the innkeeper was about to murder him. Terrified by the vivid dream, +he jumped up; but, upon reflection, he concluded that the whole was but +an idle fancy, and lay down again. Thereupon the dream was repeated; but +this time his friend added, that it was too late to come to his aid now, +as he had been murdered, and his body would in the morning be carried +out of the city, concealed under a load of manure. This second dream +made such an impression upon the Arcadian that he went at an early hour +to the city gate, and to his amazement soon saw a wagon loaded with +manure approaching the place where he stood. He stopped the driver and +asked him what he had hidden in his wagon? The man fled, trembling; the +body of the murdered friend was found, and the treacherous innkeeper +paid with his life for his crime. (Cicero, _De divin._) + +One of the oldest of well-authenticated dreams in Christian times, +revealed to St. Basil the death of Julian the Apostate. It seemed to him +in his sleep that he saw the martyr Mercurius receive from God the order +to kill the tyrant, and after a short time return and say: "O Lord, +Julian is killed as Thou hast commanded!" The saint was so firmly +convinced of having received a direct revelation from heaven, that he +immediately made the news known to the people, and thus gained new honor +when the official information at last arrived. (_Vita S. Basil._, etc., +p. 692.) Here, also, the deep-seated hatred of the Christian priest +against the Emperor, who dared to renew the worship of the ancient gods +of the Pagans, no doubt suggested the vivid dream, while, on the other +hand, the transmission of the actual revelation was so imperfect as to +change the real occurrence--Julian's death by a Persian lance--according +to the familiar way of thinking of St. Basil, into his execution at +divine command by a holy martyr. There is no lack of renowned men of all +ages who have had their remarkable dreams, and who have, fortunately for +future investigation, recorded them carefully. Thus Melanchthon tells us +that he was at a convent with a certain Dr. Jonas, when letters reached +him requesting him to convey to his friend the sad news of his +daughter's sudden death. The great reformer was at a loss how to +discharge the painful duty, and driven by an instinctive impulse, asked +Dr. Jonas whether he had ever had any remarkable dreams. The latter +replied that he had dreamt, during the preceding night, of his return +home, and of the joyful welcome he had met from all his family, except +his oldest daughter, who had not appeared. Thereupon Melanchthon told +him that his dream had been true, and that he would never see his +daughter again, as she had been summoned to her eternal home. Petrarch +had a dream which was evidently also the reflex of his thoughts in the +day-time, but accompanied by a direct revelation. He had been, for some +days, very anxious about the health of his patron, a Colonna, who was +Bishop of Lombez, and one night saw himself in a dream walking by his +friend's side, but unable to keep pace with him; the bishop walked +faster and faster, bidding him stay behind, and when the poet insisted +upon following him, he suddenly assumed a death-like appearance, and +said, "No, I will not have you go with me now!" During the same night in +which Petrarch had this dream in Parma, the bishop died at his palace in +Lombez. The well-known Thomas Wotton, also, dreamt a short time before +his death, while residing in Kent, that he saw five persons commit a +robbery at Oxford. On the following day he added a postscript to a +letter which he had written to his son Henry, then a student at that +university, in which he mentioned his dream, and asked if such a robbery +had really taken place. The letter reached the young man on the morning +after the crime had been committed, when town and university were alike +in a state of intense excitement. He made the letter immediately known +to the authorities, who found in the account of the dream so accurate a +description of the robbers, that they were enabled at once to ascertain +who were the guilty persons, and to have them arrested before they could +escape. (Beaumont, p. 223.) The great German poet Gustav Schwab received +the first intimation of the French Revolution in 1848 through a +remarkable dream which his daughter had in the night preceding the 24th +of February. She had been attacked by a malignant fever, and was very +restless and nervously excited; during that night she saw, in her +feverish dreams, the streets of Paris filled with excited crowds, and +was forced to witness the most fearful scenes. When her father came to +her bedside next morning, she gave him a minute description of the +building of barricades, the bloody encounters between the troops and the +citizens, and of a number of sad tragedies which she had seen enacted in +the narrow and dark streets of the great city. The father, though deeply +impressed by the vivid character of the dream, ascribed it to a +reminiscence of the scenes enacted during the Revolution of 1789, and +dismissed the subject, although his child insisted upon the thoroughly +modern character of the buildings, and the costumes and manners of all +she had seen. Great was, therefore, the amazement of the poet and of all +who had heard of the dream, when, several days afterwards, the first +news reached them of the expulsion of the Orleans family, and much +greater still when the papers brought, one by one, descriptions of the +scenes which the feverish dream had enabled the girl to see in minute +detail, and yet with unerring accuracy. It is true that the poet, in +whose biography the dream with all the attending circumstances is +mentioned at full length, had for years anticipated such a revolution, +and often, with a poet's graphic power, conjured up the scenes that +were likely to happen whenever the day of the tempest should arrive. +Thus his daughter's mind had, no doubt, long been filled with images of +this kind, and was in a state peculiarly susceptible for impressions +connected with the subject. There remains, however, the magic phenomenon +that she saw, not a poet's fiction, but actual occurrences with all +their details, and saw them in the very night during which they +happened. In the papers of Sir Robert Peel was found a note concerning +his journey from Antibes to Nice, in 1854. He was on board the steamer +Erculano, which, on the 25th of April, so violently collided with +another steamer, the Sicilia, that it sank immediately, and two-thirds +of the passengers perished. Among those who were rescued were the great +English statesman and the maid of two ladies, the wife and the daughter +of a counselor of a French court of justice at Dijon. The young girl had +had a presentiment of impending evil, but her wish to postpone the +journey had been overruled. The father, also, though knowing nothing of +the precise whereabouts of his beloved ones, had been much troubled in +mind about their safety, and in the very night in which the accident +happened, saw the whole occurrence in a harassing dream. He distinctly +beheld the vessel disappear in the waves, and a number of victims, among +whom were his wife and his child, struggling for life, till they finally +perished. He awoke in a state of great anguish, summoned his servants to +keep him company, and told them what he had dreamt. A few hours later +the telegraph informed him of the accident, and of his own grievous +affliction. (_Journ. de l'ame_, Fevr. 1857, p. 253.) + +While in these dreams events were made known which happened at the same +time, in other dreams the future itself is revealed. Cicero, in his work +on Divination (I. 27, and II. 66), and Valerius Maximus have preserved a +number of such dream-visions, which were famous already in the days of +antiquity; a dream concerning the tyrant Dionysius was especially well +known. + +It seems that a woman, called Himera, found herself in a dream among the +gods on Olympus, and there saw chained to the throne of Jupiter a large +man with red hair and spotted countenance. When she asked the divine +messenger who had carried her to those regions, who that man was, he +told her it was the scourge of Italy and Sicily, a man who, when +unchained, would destroy many cities. She related her dream on the +following morning to her friends, but found no explanation, till several +years afterwards, when Dionysius ascended the throne. She happened to be +in the crowd which had assembled to witness the triumph of the new +monarch, and when she saw the tyrant, she uttered a loud cry, for she +had recognized in him the man in chains under Jupiter's throne. The cry +attracted attention; she was brought before Dionysius, forced to relate +her dream, and sent to be executed. Equally well known was the +remarkable dream which Socrates had a short time before his death. His +sentence had already been passed, but the day for its execution was not +yet made known, when Crito, one of his friends, came to him and informed +him that it would probably be ordered for the next morning. The great +philosopher replied with his usual calmness: "If such is the will of the +gods, be it so; but I do not think it will be to-morrow. I had, just +before you entered, a sweet dream. A woman of transcending beauty, and +dressed in a long white robe, appeared to me, called me by name, and +said, 'In three days you will return to your beloved Phthia' (Socrates' +native place)." He did not die till the third day. + +Alexander the Great came more than once, during his remarkable career, +in peculiar contact with prophetic dreams. He was thus informed of the +coming of Cassander long before he ever saw him, and even of the +influence which the still unknown friend would have on his fate. When +the latter at last appeared at court, Alexander looked at him long and +anxiously, and recognized in him the man he had so often seen in his +dreams. It so happened, however, that before his suspicions assumed a +positive form, a Greek distich was mentioned to him, written to prove +the utter worthlessness of all dreams, and the effect of these lines, +combined with the discovery that Cassander was the son of his beloved +Antipater, induced him to lay aside all apprehensions. Nevertheless, his +friend subsequently poisoned him in cold blood. Not less famous was the +dream which warned Caius Gracchus of his own sad fate. He saw in his +sleep the shadow of his brother Tiberius, and heard him announce in a +clear voice, that Caius also would share his tragic end, and be murdered +like himself in the Capitol. The great Roman frequently related this +dream, and the historian Coelius records that he heard it repeated +during Gracchus' life-time. It is well known that the latter afterwards +became a tribune, and was killed while he held that office, in the same +manner as his brother. Cicero also had his warning dream. He was +escaping from his enemies, who had driven him out of Rome, and seeking +safety in his Antium villa. Here he dreamt, one night, that, as he was +wandering through a waste, deserted country, the Consul Marius met him, +accompanied by the usual retinue, and adorned with all the insignia of +his rank, and asked him why he was so melancholy, and why he had fled +from Rome. When he had answered the question, Marius took him by his +right hand, and summoning his chief officer to his side, ordered him to +carry the great orator to the temple of Jupiter, built by Marius +himself, while he assured Cicero he would there meet with new hopes. It +was afterwards ascertained that at the very hour of the dream, the +Senate had been discussing in the temple of Jupiter the speedy return of +Cicero. It would have been well for the great Caesar, also, if he had +deigned to listen to the warning voice of dreams, for in the night +before his murder, his wife, Calphurnia, saw him, in a dream, fall +wounded and copiously bleeding into her arms, and there end his life. +She told him of her dream, and on her knees besought him not to go out +on that day; but Caesar, fearing he might be suspected of giving undue +weight to a woman's dreams, made light of her fears, went to the Senate, +and met his tragic fate. Among later Romans the Emperor Theodosius was +most strikingly favored by dreams, if we may rely upon the statement of +Ammianus Marcellinus (I. 29). Two courtiers, anxious to ascertain who +should succeed the Emperor Valens on the throne, employed a kind of +magic instrument, resembling the modern psychograph, and succeeded in +deciphering the letters Theod. Their discovery became known to the +jealous emperor, who ordered not only Theodorus, his second secretary of +state, to be executed, but with him a large number of eminent personages +whose names began with the ominous five letters. For some unknown +reasons, Theodosius, then in Spain, escaped his suspicions, and yet it +was he, who, when Valens fell in the war against the Goths, was summoned +home by the next emperor, Gratianus, to save the empire and assume the +supreme command of the army. When the successful general returned to +Byzantium to make his report to the emperor, he had himself a dream in +which he saw the great Patriarch of Antioch, Meletius, invest him with +the purple, and place the imperial crown upon his head. Gratianus, +struck by the brilliancy of the victory obtained at the moment of +supreme danger, made Theodosius Emperor of the East, and returned to +Rome. During the following year (380) a great council was held in +Constantinople, and here, amid a crowd of assembled dignitaries of the +church, Theodosius instantly recognized the Bishop of Antioch, whom he +had never seen except in his dream. + +It is not generally known that the prediction of future greatness which +Shakespeare causes the three witches to convey to Macbeth, rests on an +historic basis. The announcement came to him, however, probably not at +an actual meeting, but by means of a prophetic dream, which presented to +the ambitious chieftain the appearance of an encounter with unearthly +agents. This presumption is strengthened by the first notice of the +mysterious event, which occurs, it is believed, in "Wyntownis Cronykil," +where Macbeth is reported to have had a vivid dream of three weird +women, who foretold him his fate. Boethius derived his information from +this source, and for unknown reasons added not only Banquo as a witness +of the scene, but described it, also, first of all chroniclers, as an +actual meeting in a forest. + +The report that the discovery of the famous Venus of Milo was due to a +dream, is not improbable, but is as yet without sufficient +authentication. The French Consul, Brest, who was a resident of Milo, +dreamed, it is stated, two nights in succession, that he had caused +diggings to be made at a certain place in the island and that his +efforts had been rewarded by the discovery of a beautiful statue. He +paid no attention to the dream; but it was repeated a third time, and +now so distinctly that he not only saw clearly all the surroundings, +but, also, the traces of a recent fire on the spot that had been pointed +out to him before. When he went on the following day to the place, he +instantly recognized the traces of fire, began his researches, and +discovered not only the Venus, now the glory of the Louvre, but, also, +several other most valuable statues. The well-known dream concerning +Major Andre is open to the same objections, although it is quoted in +good faith by Mrs. Crowe (i., p. 59). We are told that the Rev. Mr. +Cunningham, the poet, saw in a dream a man who was captured by armed +soldiers and hanged on a tree. To his utter consternation, he recognized +on the following day, in Major Andre, who was then for the first time +presented to him, the person he had seen in his dream. The latter was +then just on the point of embarking for America, where he met with his +sad fate. + +A large number of dreams which are looked upon as prophetic, are nothing +more than the result of impressions made on the mind during sleep by +some bodily sensation. A swelling or an inflammation, for instance, is +frequently announced beforehand by pain in the affected part of the +body; the mind receives through the nerves an impression of this pain +and clothes it, during sleep and in a dream, into some familiar garb, +the biting of a serpent, the sting of an insect, or, even, the stab of +a dagger. An occasional coincidence serves to lend prestige to such +simple and perfectly natural dreams. Thus Stilling ("Jenseits," p. 284) +records the well-known story of a young man in Padua, who dreamed one +night that he was bitten by one of the marble lions which stand before +the church of St. Justina. Passing by the place, on the following day, +with some companions, he recalled the dream, and putting his hand into +the mouth of one of the lions, he said, defiantly: "Look at the fierce +lion that bit me last night." But at the same moment he uttered a +piercing cry and drew back his hand in great terror: a scorpion, hid in +the lion's mouth, had stung him, and the poor youth died of the venom. +The German poet Conrad Gessner dreamed, in a similar manner, that a +snake bit him in his left breast; the matter was completely forgotten, +when five days later a slight rising appeared on the spot, which +speedily developed itself into a fatal ulcer, and caused his death in a +short time. + +Far more interesting, and occasionally productive of good results, are +dreams which might be called retrospective, inasmuch as they reveal +events of the past, which stand in some connection with present or +impending necessities. Many of these, no doubt, arise simply from the +recovery of forgotten facts in our memory; others, however, cannot be +thus explained. Justinus tells us of Dido's dream, in which she saw her +departed husband, Sichaeus, who pointed out to her his concealed +treasures and advised her to seek safety in flight. St. Augustine also +has an account of a father who after death appeared to his son and +showed him a receipted account, the loss of which had caused his heir +much anxiety. (_De cura pro mortuis_, ch. xi.) After Dante's death the +thirteenth canto of his Paradise could nowhere be found, and the +apparent loss filled all Italy with grief and sorrow. His son, Pietro +Alighieri, however, saw a long time afterwards, in a dream, his father, +who came to his bedside and told him that the missing papers were +concealed under a certain plank near the window at which he had been in +the habit of writing. It was only when all other researches had proved +vain, that, attention was paid to the dream; but when the plank was +examined the canto was found in the precise place which the dream had +indicated. + +A similar dream of quite recent occurrence was accidentally more +thoroughly authenticated than is generally the case with such events. +The beautiful wife of Baron Alphonse de Rothschild of Paris had lost a +valuable ring while hunting in the woods near her castle of Ferrieres. +It so happened that early associations made the jewel specially dear to +her, and she felt the loss grievously; a reward of fifteen hundred +francs was, therefore, offered at once for its recovery. The night after +the hunt, the daughter of one of the keepers saw in a dream an unknown +man of imposing appearance, who told her to go at daybreak to a certain +crossroad in the forest, where she would find the ring at the foot of a +beech-tree, close to the highway. She awakes, dresses herself at once, +and goes to the place of which she has dreamed; after half an hour's +walk she reaches the crossroads and almost at the same moment sees +something glittering and shining like a firefly, picks it up, and +behold! it is the ring. The girl had not even seen the hunt, nor did she +know anything of the loss of the jewel; the whole occurrence, and the +place where it was lost, all were pointed out to her in her dream. (_Le +Monde Illustre_, Dec. 15, 1860). + +It has already been mentioned that the question has often been mooted +whether the mind was really quite at rest during sleep, or still +operative in dreams. Some authors deny its activity altogether; others +admit a partial activity. The philosopher Kant went so far as to +maintain that perceptions had during sleep were clearer and fuller than +those of the day, because of the perfect rest of the other senses. +Recollection, alone, he added, was missing, because the mind acted in +sleep without the cooperation of the body. + +There are, however, certain facts which seem to prove that the mind +does, at least, not altogether cease its activity while the body is +asleep. How else could we explain the power many persons undoubtedly +possess to awake at a fixed hour, and the success with which, more than +once, great mental efforts have been made during profound sleep? Of the +latter, Tartini's famous sonata is a striking instance. He had +endeavored in vain to finish this great work; inspiration would not +come, and he had abandoned the task in despair. During the night he had +a dream in which he once more tried his best, but in vain; at the moment +of despair, however, the Devil appeared to him and promised to finish +the work in return for his soul. The composer, nothing loath, surrenders +his soul and hears his magnificent work gloriously completed on the +violin. He wakes up in perfect delight, goes to his desk, and at once +writes down his "Devil's Sonata." Even children are known occasionally +to be able to give intelligent answers while fast asleep; the questions, +however, must be in accordance with the current of their thoughts, +otherwise they are apt to be aroused. A case is quoted by Reil of two +soldiers who used, at times, to keep up an uninterrupted conversation +during a whole night, while they were to all appearances fast asleep. A +lady, also, was unable to refuse answers to questions put to her at +night, and had at last to lock herself in carefully whenever she went to +sleep. + +Hence it is that some of the most profound thinkers who have discussed +the subject of dreams, like Descartes and Leibnitz, Jouffroy and Dugald +Stewart, Richard and Carus, with a number of others, assert the +uninterrupted wakefulness of the mind. Some authors believe that the +spiritual part of man needs no sleep, but delights in the comfort of +feeling that the body is in perfect repose, and of forgetting, by these +means, for a time the troubles of daily life, and the responsibilities +of our earthly existence. They base this view upon the fact, that, as +far as we can judge, the mind is, during sleep, independent of the body +and the outer world. Thinking is quite possible during sleep without +dreaming, and certain bodily sensations, even, are correctly perceived, +as when we turn over in our sleep, because lying on one side produces +pain or uneasiness. We not only talk while we are asleep, but laugh or +weep, sigh or groan. A slight noise, a whispered word, affect the course +of our thoughts, and produce new images in our dreams, as certain +affections and even the pressure upon certain organs are sure to produce +invariably the same dreams. Space and time disappear, however, and +naturally, because we can measure them only by the aid of our senses, +and these are, for the time, inactive. Hence Dugald Stewart ascribes the +manner in which a moment's dream often comprises a year, or a whole +lifetime, to the fact that, when we are asleep, the images created by +our imagination appear to be realities, while those which we form when +we are awake are known to us to be mere fictions, and hence not subject +to the laws of time. + +It will not surprise us, therefore, to find that this activity of the +mind, deprived of the usual means of making itself known to others by +gesture, sound, or action, seeks frequently a symbolical utterance, and +this is the grain of truth here also hid under the vast amount of +rubbish, known as the interpretation of dreams. Troubles and +difficulties may thus appear as storms; sorrow and grief as tears; +troubled waters may represent pain, and smooth ice impending danger; a +dry river-bed an approaching famine, and pretty flowers great joy to +come, provided, always, we are disposed to admit a higher class of +prophetic dreams. Such a view is supported by high authority, for since +the days of Aristotle, great writers, divines as well as philosophers, +have endeavored to classify dreams according to their nature and +importance. The great reformer, Melanchthon, in his work on the soul, +divided them into common dreams, void of importance; prophetic dreams, +arising from the individual gifts of the sleeper; divine dreams, +inspired by God either directly or through the agency of angels, and +finally, demoniac dreams, such as the witches' sabbath. One great +difficulty attending all such classification arises, however, from the +well-known fact, already alluded to, that external sensations are by far +the most frequent causes of dreams. Even these have been systematically +arranged by some writers, most successfully, perhaps, in the work of +Maine de Biran, but he overlooks again the numerous cases in which +external noises and similar accidents produce a whole train of thoughts. +Thus Pope dreamed of a Spaniard who impudently entered his library, +ransacked the books on the shelves, and turned a deaf ear to all his +remonstrances. The impression was so forcible that he questioned all his +servants, and investigated the matter thoroughly, till he was finally +forced to acknowledge that the whole transaction was a dream caused by +the fall of a book in his library, which he heard in his sleep. A still +more remarkable case occurred once in a hotel in Dantzic, where not one +person only, but all the guests, without exception, dreamed of the +sudden arrival of a number of travelers, who disturbed the whole house, +and took possession of their rooms with unusual clatter and noise. Not +one had arrived, but during the night a violent storm had arisen, +causing doors to slam and window-shutters to flap against the house, +noises which had aroused in more than fifty people precisely the same +impressions. + + + + +IV. + +VISIONS. + + Concipiendis visionibus quas phantasias vocant. + + --QUINTILIAN. + + +Visions, that is, the perception of apparently tangible objects in the +outer world, which only exist in our imagination, have been known from +time immemorial among all nations on earth. They are, in themselves, +perfectly natural, and can frequently be traced back without difficulty +to bodily affections or a disordered state of the mind, so that many +eminent physicians dispose of them curtly as mere incidental symptoms of +congestion or neuralgia. They may present real men and things, known +beforehand, and now reproduced in such a manner as to appear +objectively; or they may be ideal forms, the product of the moment, and +incompatible with the laws of actual life. Persons who have visions and +know nothing of their true nature, are apt to become intensely excited, +as if they had been transferred into another world. The images they +behold seem to them of supernatural origin, and may inspire them with +lofty thoughts and noble impulses, but only too frequently they disturb +their peace of mind and lead them to crime or despair. + +When visions extend to other senses besides sight, and the peculiar +state of mind by which they are caused affects different parts of the +body at once, they are called hallucinations; most frequent among insane +people, of whom, according to Esquirol, eighty in a hundred are thus +affected, they are generally quite insignificant; while visions through +the eye, are often accompanied by very remarkable magic phenomena. Thus +the visions which great men like Cromwell and Descartes, Byron or +Goethe, record of their own experience, were evidently signs of the +great energy of their mental life, while in others they are as clearly +symptoms of disease. Ascribed by the ancients to divine influence, +Christianity has invariably denounced them--when not indubitably +inspired by God, as in the case of the martyr Stephen and the apostle +St. John--as works of the Devil. At all times they have been +communicated to others, either by contagion or, in rare cases, by the +imposition of hands, as they have been artificially produced. Thus +extreme bodily fatigue and utter prostration after long illness are apt +to cause hallucinations. Albert Smith, for instance, while ascending +Mont Blanc, and feeling utterly exhausted, saw all his surroundings +clearly with his eyes, and yet, at the same time, beheld marvelous +things with the so-called inner sense. A Swiss who, in 1848, during a +severe cold, crossed from Wallis to Kandersteg by the famous Gemmi Pass, +eight thousand feet high, saw on his way a number of men shoveling the +snow from his path, fellow-travelers climbing up on all sides, and +rolling masses of snow which changed into dogs; he heard the blows of +axes and the laughing and singing of distant shepherds, while his road +was utterly deserted, and not a human soul within many miles. His hands +and feet were found frozen when he arrived at last at his quarters for +the night, and ten days later he died from the effects of his exposure. +During the retreat of the French from Russia the poor sufferers, frozen +and famished, were continually tormented by similar hallucinations, +which increased their sufferings at times to such a degree as to lead +them to commit suicide. Another frequent cause of visions is +long-continued fasting combined with more or less ascetic devotion. This +is said to explain why the prophets of the Old Testament were so +vigorously forbidden to indulge in wine or rich fare. Thus Aaron was +told: "Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou nor thy sons with thee, +when ye go into the tabernacle" (Levit. x. 9); Moses remained forty +days, and "neither did eat bread nor drink wine," when he was on Mount +Sinai (Deuter. ix. 9); the Nazarites were ordered not to "drink any +liquor of grapes, nor to eat moist grapes or dried," and even to abstain +from vinegar (Numbers vi. 3), and Daniel and his companions had nothing +but "pulse to eat and water to drink" (Dan. i. 12), in order to prepare +them for receiving "wisdom and knowledge and the understanding of dreams +and visions." + +Narcotics also, and, in our day, most of the anaesthetics can produce +visions and hallucinations, but the result is in all such cases much +less interesting than when they are produced spontaneously. Tobacco and +opium, betel, hasheesh, and coca are the principal means employed; but +Siberia has besides its narcotic mushrooms, Polynesia its ava, New +Granada and the Himalaya the thorn-apple, Florida its emetic apalachine, +and the northern regions of America and Europe have their ledum. The +most effective among these narcotics seems to be the Indian hemp, since +the visions it produces surpass even the marvelous effects of opium, as +has been recently again most graphically described by Bayard Taylor. +Laughing-gas, also, has frequently similar effects, and affords, +besides, the precious privilege of freedom from the painful, often +excruciating consequences of other narcotics. When perfumes are employed +for the express purpose of producing visions, it is difficult to +ascertain how much is due to their influence, and how much to the +over-excited mind of the seer. Benvenuto Cellini describes--though +probably not in the most trustworthy manner--the amazing effect produced +upon himself and a boy by his side, by the perfumes which a priest burnt +in the Coliseum. The whole vast building seemed to him filled with +demons, and the boy saw thousands of threatening men, four huge giants, +and fire bursting out in countless places. The great artist was told, at +the same time, that a great danger was threatening him, and that he +would surely lose his beloved Angelica within the month; both events +occurred as predicted, and thus proved that in this case at least magic +phenomena had accompanied the visions. (_Goethe, B. Cellini_, l. iv. ch. +2.) + +Among other external causes which are apt to produce visions, must be +mentioned violent motions, especially when they are revolving, as is the +case with the Shamans of the Laplanders and the dancing Dervishes of the +East; self-inflicted wounds, such as the priests of Baal caused in order +to excite their power of divination, and long-continued imprisonment, as +illustrated in the well-known cases of Benvenuto Cellini and Silvio +Pellico. The latter was constantly tormented by sighs or suppressed +laughter which he heard in his dungeon; then by invisible hands pulling +at his dress, knocking down his books or trying to put out his light, +till he began seriously to suspect that he might be the victim of +invisible malignant powers. Fortunately all these phenomena disappeared +at break of day, and thus his vigorous mind, supported by true piety, +was enabled to keep his judgment uninjured. + +Diseases of every kind are a fruitful source of visions and some are +rarely without them; but the character of visions differs according to +the nature of the affections. Persons who suffer with the liver have +melancholy, consumptive patients have cheerful visions. Epileptics often +see fearful spectres during their paroxysms, and persons bitten by mad +dogs see the animal that has caused their sufferings. The case of the +bookseller Nicolai in Berlin is well known; the disease of which he +suffered, is not only very common in some parts of Russia, but +productive of precisely the same symptoms. The patients experience first +a sensation of great despondency, followed by a period of profound +melancholy, during which they see themselves surrounded by a number of +persons, with whom they converse and quarrel, half conscious of their +own delusion and yet not able to master it wholly. They are generally +bled, whereupon the images become transparent and shrink into smaller +and smaller space, till they finally disappear entirely. Affections of +the heart and the subsequent unequal distribution of the blood through +the system are apt to produce peculiar sounds, which at times fashion +themselves into loud and harmonious pieces. The excitement usually +attendant upon specially fatal plagues and contagious diseases increases +the tendency which the latter naturally have to cause hallucinations. +During a plague in the reign of Justinian, men were seen walking through +the crowd and touching here and there a person; the latter were at once +attacked by the disease and invariably succumbed. Upon another such +occasion marks and spots appeared on the clothing of those who had +caught the contagion, as if made by invisible hands, the sufferers began +next to see a number of spectres and died in a short time. The same +symptoms have accompanied the cholera in modern times, and more than +once strange, utterly unknown persons were not only seen but heard, as +they were conversing with others; what they said was written down in +many cases, and proved to be predictions of approaching visits of the +dread disease to neighboring houses. A magic power of foresight seems in +these cases to be developed by the extreme excitement or deep anxiety, +but the unconscious clairvoyance assumes the form of persons outside of +their own mental sphere, within which they alone existed. + +By far the most frequent causes of visions are, however, those of +psychical nature, like fixed ideas, intense passions, or deep-rooted +prejudices, and concealed misdeeds. When they are produced by such +causes they have often the appearance of having led to the commission of +great crimes. Thus Julian the Apostate, who had caused the image of his +guardian angel to be put upon all his coins and banners, naturally had +this form deeply impressed upon his mind. In the night before a decisive +battle, he saw, according to Ammianus Marcellinus, this protecting +genius in the act of turning away from him, and this vision made so deep +an impression upon his mind that he interpreted it as an omen of his +impending death. On the following day he fell in battle. The fearful +penalty inflicted upon Charles IX. by his own conscience is well known; +after the massacre of St. Bartholomew he saw, by day and by night, the +forms of his victims around him, till death made an end to his +sufferings. On our own continent, one of the early conquerors gave a +striking instance of the manner in which such visions are produced. He +was one of the adventurers who had reached Darien, and was on the point +of plundering a temple; but, a few days before, an Indian woman had told +him that the treasures it held were guarded by evil spirits, and if he +entered it the earth would open and swallow up the temple and the +conquerors alike. Nothing daunted, he led his men to the attack; but, as +they came in sight, he suddenly saw, in the evening light, how the +colossal building rocked to and fro as in a tempest, and thoroughly +intimidated he rode away with his followers, leaving the temple and its +treasures unharmed. That visions are apt to precede atrocious crimes is +quite natural, since they are in such cases nothing but the product of +the intense excitement under which murders are often committed; but, it +would be absurd to look upon them as motive causes. Ravaillac had +constant visions of angels, saints, and demons, while preparing his mind +for the assassination of Henry IV., and the young student who attempted +the murder of Napoleon at Schoenbrunn repeatedly saw the genius of +Germany, which appeared to him and encouraged him to free his country +from the usurper. Persons who attempt to summon ghosts are very apt to +see them, because their mind is highly wrought up by their proceedings +and they confidently expect to have visions. But some men possess a +similar power without making any special effort or peculiar +preparations, their firm volition sufficing for the purpose. Thus Talma +could at all times force himself to see, in the place of the actual +audience before whom he was acting, an assembly of skeletons, and he is +said never to have acted better than when he gave himself up to this +hallucination. Painters, also, frequently have the power to summon +before their mind's eye the features of those whose portrait they are +painting; Blake, for instance, was able actually to finish likenesses +from images he saw sitting in the chair where the real persons had been +seated. + +While visions are quite common, delusions of the other senses are less +frequent. The insane alone hear strange conversations. Hallucinations of +the taste cause patients to enjoy delightful dishes, or to partake of +spoiled meat and other unpalatable viands, which have no existence. +Sweet smells and incense are often perceived, bad odors much less +frequently. The touch is of all senses the least likely to be deceived; +still deranged people occasionally feel a slight touch as a severe blow, +and persons suffering from certain diseases are convinced that ants, +spiders, or other insects are running over their bodies. + +The favorite season of visions is night--mainly the hour about +midnight--and in the whole year, the time of Advent, but also the nights +from Christmas to New Year. This is, of course, not a feature of +supernatural life, but the simple effect of the greater quiet and the +more thoughtful, inward life, which these seasons are apt to bring to +busy men. The reality of our surroundings disappears with the setting +sun, and in deep night we are rendered almost wholly independent of the +influence exercised in the day by friends, family, and even furniture. +All standards of measurement, moreover, disappear, and we lose the +correct estimate of both space and time. Turning our thoughts at such +times with greater energy and perseverance inward, our imagination has +free scope, and countless images appear before our mind's eye which are +not subject to the laws of real life. Darkness, stillness, and solitude, +the three great features of midnight seasons, all favor the full +activity of our fancy, and set criticism at defiance by denying us all +means of comparison with real sounds or sights. At the same time, it is +asserted, that under such circumstances men are also better qualified to +perceive manifestations which, during the _turba_ of daily life, are +carelessly ignored or really imperceptible to the common senses. So long +as the intercourse with the world and its exigencies occupy all our +thoughts, and self-interest makes us look fixedly only at some one great +purpose of life, we are deaf and blind to all that does not clearly +belong to this world. But when these demands are no longer made upon us, +and especially when, as in the time of Advent, our thoughts are somewhat +drawn from earthly natures, and our eyes are lifted heavenward, then we +are enabled to give free scope to our instincts, or, if we prefer the +real name, to the additional sense by which we perceive intangible +things. A comparison has often been drawn between the ability to see +visions and our power to distinguish the stars. In the day, the +brilliancy of the sun so far outshines the latter, that we see not a +single one; at night they step forth, as it were, from the dark, and the +deeper the blackness of the sky, the greater their own brightness. Are +they, on that account, nothing more than creatures of our imagination, +set free by night and darkness? + +As for the favorite places where visions most frequently are seen, it +seems that solitudes have already in ancient times always been looked +upon as special resorts for evil spirits. The deserts of Asia, with +their deep gullies and numerous caves, suggested a population of shy and +weird beings, whom few saw and no one knew fully. Hence the fearful +description of Babylon in her overthrow, when "Their houses shall be +full of doleful creatures, and owls shall dwell there and satyrs shall +dance there." (Isaiah xiii. 21). The New Testament speaks in like manner +of the deserts of Palestine as the abode of evil spirits, and in later +days the Faroe Islands were constantly referred to as peopled with weird +and unearthly beings. The deserts of Africa are full of Djinns, and the +vast plains of the East are peopled with weird apparitions. The +solitudes of Norwegian mountain districts abound with gnomes and +sprites, and waste places everywhere are no sooner abandoned by men than +they are occupied by evil spirits and become the scenes of wild and +gruesome visions. + +Well-authenticated cases of visions are recorded in unbroken succession +from the times of antiquity to our own day, and leave no doubt on the +mind that they are not only of common occurrence among men, but +generally, also, accompanied by magic phenomena of great importance. The +ancients saw, of course, most frequently their gods; the pagans, who had +been converted to Christianity, their former idols threatening them with +dire punishment; and Christians, their saints and martyrs, their angels +and demons. Thus all parties are supported by authorities in no way +peculiar to one faith or another, but common to all humanity; and the +battle is fought, for a time at least, between faith and faith, and +between vision and vision. A famous rhetor, Aristides, who is mentioned +in history as one of the mightiest champions polytheism ever has been +able to raise against triumphant Christianity, saw, in his hours of +exaltation, the great AEsculapius, who gave him directions how to carry +on his warfare. At such times his public addresses became so attractive +that thousands of enthusiastic hearers assembled to hang upon his lips. +The story of the genius of Socrates is well known; Aulus Gellius tells +us how the great sage was seen standing motionless for twenty-four hours +in the same place, before joining the expedition to Potidea, so absorbed +in deep thought that it seemed as if his soul had left the body. Dion, +Plato's most intimate friend, saw a huge Fury enter his house and sweep +it with a broom; a conspiracy broke out, and he was murdered, after +having lost his only son a few days before. (Plutarch's "Life of Dion," +55.) The same Simonides, who according to Valerius Maximus (_De +Somniis_, l. i. ch. 5), had escaped from shipwreck by the timely warning +of a spirit, was once dining at the magnificent house of Skopas at +Cranon, in Thessaly, when a servant entered to inform him that two +gigantic youths were standing at the door and wished to see him +immediately. He went out and found no one there; but, at the same +moment, the roof and the walls of the dining-room fell down, burying all +the guests under the ruins (Phaedrus' Fab., iv. 24). The ancients looked +upon the vision, in both cases, as merely effects of the prophetic power +of the poet, which saved him from immediate death; once in the form of a +spirit and the second time in the form of the Dioscuri. For, as +Simonides had shortly before written a beautiful poem in honor of Castor +and Pollux, his escape and the friendly warning were naturally +attributed to the heroic youths, who constantly appear in history as +protective genii. In Greece they were known to have fought, dressed in +their purple cloaks and seated on snow-white horses, on the side of the +Locri, and to have announced their victory on the same day in Olympia, +and Sparta, in Corinth, and in Athens (Justin, ix. 3). In Rome they were +credited with the victory on the banks of Lake Regillus, and reported to +have, as in Greece, dashed into the city, far ahead of all messengers, +to proclaim the joyful news. During the Macedonian war they met Publius +Vatinius on his way to Rome and informed him that, on the preceding day, +AEmilius Paulus had captured Perseus. Delighted with the news, the +prefect hastens to the Senate; but is discredited and actually sent to +jail on the charge of indulging in idle gossip, unworthy of his high +office. It was only when at last messengers came from the distant army +and confirmed the report of Perseus' captivity, that the unlucky prefect +was set free again and honored with high rewards. + +In other cases the warning genius was seen in visions of different +nature. Thus Hannibal was reported to have traced in his sleep the whole +course and the success of all his plans, by the aid of his genius, who +appeared to him in the shape of a child of marvelous beauty, sent by the +great Jupiter himself to direct his movements, and to make him master of +Italy. The child asked him to follow without turning to look back, but +Hannibal, yielding to the innate tendency to covet forbidden fruit, +looked behind him and saw an immense serpent overthrowing all +impediments in his way. Then came a violent thunderstorm with fierce +lightnings, which rent the strongest walls. Hannibal asked the meaning +of these portents, and was told that the storm signified the total +subjection of Italy, but that he must be silent and leave the rest to +fate. That the vision was not fully realized, was naturally ascribed to +his indiscretion. The genius of the two Consuls, P. Decius and Manlius +Torquatus, assumed, on the contrary, the shape of a huge phantom which +appeared at night in their camp at the foot of Vesuvius, and announced +the decision that one leader must fall in order to make the army +victorious. Upon the strength of this vision the two generals decided +that he whose troops should first show signs of yielding, should seek +death by advancing alone against the Latin army. The legions of Decius, +therefore, no sooner began to fall back, than he threw himself, sword in +hand, upon the enemy, and not only died a glorious death for his +country, but secured a brilliant victory to his brethren. + +At a later period a genius saved the life of Octavian, when he and +Antony were encamped at Philippi, on the eve of the great battle against +Brutus and Cassius. The vision appeared not to himself, however, but to +another person, his own physician, Artorus, who, in a dream, was ordered +to advise his master to appear on the battle-field in spite of his +serious indisposition. Octavian followed the advice and went out, though +he had to be carried by his men in a litter; during his absence the +soldiers of Brutus entered the camp and actually searched his tent, in +which he would have perished inevitably without the timely warning. Of a +very different nature was the vision of Cassius, the lieutenant of +Antony, who, during his flight to Athens, saw at night a huge black +phantom, which informed him that he was his evil spirit. In his terror +he called his servants and inquired what they had seen, but they had +noticed nothing. Thus tranquilized, he fell asleep again, but the +phantom returned once more, and disturbed his mind so painfully that he +remained awake the rest of the night, surrounded by his guards and +slaves. The vision was afterwards interpreted as an omen of his +impending violent death. + +The Emperor Trajan was saved from death during a fearful earthquake by a +man of colossal proportions, who came to lead him out of his palace at +Antioch; and Attila, who, to the surprise of the world, spared Rome and +Italy at the request of Pope Leo the Great, mentioned as the true motive +of his action the appearance of a majestic old man in priestly garments, +who had threatened him, drawing his sword, with instant death if he did +not grant all that the Roman high-priest should demand. + +In other cases, which are as numerous as they are striking, the genius +assumes the shape of a woman. Thus Dio Cassius ("Hist. Rome," l. lv.), +as well as Suetonius ("Claudius," l. i), relate that when Drusus had +ravaged Germany, and was on the point of crossing the Elbe, the +formidable shape of a gigantic woman appeared to him, who waded up to +the middle of the stream and then called out: "Whither, O Drusus? Canst +thou put no limit to thy thirst of conquest? Back! the end of thy deeds +and of thy life is at hand!" History records that Drusus fell back +without apparent reason, and that he died before he reached the banks of +the Rhine. Tacitus tells us, in like manner, a vision which encouraged +Curtius Rufus at the time when he, a gladiator's son, and holding a most +humble position, was accompanying a quaestor on his way to Africa. As he +walked up and down a passage in deep meditation, a woman of unusual +size appeared to him and said: "Thou, O Rufus, shalt be proconsul of +this province!" The young man, perhaps encouraged and supported by a +vision which was the result of his own ambitious dreams, rose rapidly by +his eminent ability, and after he had reached the consulate, really +obtained the province of Africa (Ann., xi. 21). The younger Pliny, who +tells the same story in his admirable letter to Sura on the subject of +magic, adds that the genius appeared a second time to the great +proconsul, but remained silent. The latter saw in this silence a warning +of approaching death, and prepared for his end, which did not fail soon +to close his career. + +It is very striking to see how in these visions also the inner life of +man was invariably clearly and distinctly reflected. The ambitious youth +saw his good fortune personified in the shape of a beautiful woman, +which his excited imagination called Africa, and which he hoped some +time or other to call his own. Brutus, on the contrary, full of +anticipations of evil, and suffering, and perhaps unconsciously, bitter +remorse on account of Caesar's murder, saw his sad fate as a hideous +demon. The army, also, sharing, no doubt, their leader's dark +apprehensions, looked upon the black AEthiopian who entered the camp as +an evil omen. The appointed meeting at Philippi was merely an evidence +of the superior ability of Brutus, who foresaw the probable course of +the war and knew the great strategic importance of the famous town. + +In the same manner a tradition was long cherished in Augsburg of a +fanatic heroine on horseback, who appeared to Attila when he attempted +to cross the river Lech on his way from Italy to Pannonia. She called +out to him: "Back!" and made a deep impression upon his mind. The +picture of the giant woman was long preserved in a Minorite convent in +the city, and was evidently German in features and in costume. It is by +no means impossible that the lofty but superstitious mind of the +ruthless conqueror, after having long busied itself with his approaching +attack upon a mighty, unknown nation, personified to himself in a +momentary trance the genius of that race in the shape of a majestic +woman. + +This was all the more probable as Holy Writ also presents to us a whole +series of mighty women who exercised at times a lasting influence on the +fate of the chosen people, and the world's history abounds with similar +instances. There was Deborah, "a prophetess who judged Israel at that +time," and went to aid in the defeat of Sisera, and there was Huldah, +the prophetess, who warned Josiah, king of Judah. We have the same grand +images in Greek and in Roman history, and German annals mention more +than one Jettha and Velleda. The series of warnings given by the more +tender-hearted sex runs through the annals of modern races from the +oldest times to our own day. One of the latest instances happened to a +king well known for his sneering skepticism and his utter disbelief of +all higher powers. This was Bernadotte, who forsook his benefactor in +order to mount the throne of Sweden, and turned his own sword against +his former master. Long years after the fall of Napoleon, he was on the +point of sending his son Oscar with an army against Norway, and met with +much opposition in the Council of State. Full of impatience and +indignation, he mounted his horse and rode out to cool his heated mind; +as he approached a dark forest near Stockholm, he saw an old woman +sitting by the wayside, whose quaint costume and wild, disheveled hair +attracted his attention. He asked her roughly what she was doing there? +Her reply was: "If Oscar goes into the war which you propose, he will +not strike but receive the first blow." The king was impressed by the +warning and returned, full of thoughts, to his palace; after a sleepless +night he informed the Council of State that he had changed his views, +and would not send the prince to Norway (_La Presse_, May 4, 1844). Even +if we accept the interview with the woman as a mere vision, the effect +of the king's long and anxious preoccupation with an important plan upon +the success of which the security of his throne and the continuation of +his dynasty might depend, the question still remains, why a man of his +tastes and haughty skepticism should have clothed his doubts in words +uttered by an old woman, dressed in fancy costume? + +The number of practical, sensible men who have, even in recent times, +believed themselves under the special care and protection of a genius +or guardian angel, is much larger than is commonly known. The ancients +looked upon a genius as a part of their mythology; and modern +Christians, who cherish this belief, refer to the fact that the Saviour +said of little children: "In heaven their _angels_ do always behold the +face of my Father" (Matt. xviii. 10). These visions--for so they must be +called--vary greatly in different persons. To some men they appear only +when great dangers are threatening or sublime efforts have to be made; +while in others, they assume, by their frequency, a more or less +permanent form, and may even be inherited, becoming tutelary deities of +certain houses, familiar spirits, or specially appointed guardian angels +of the members of a family or single individuals. Hence, the well-known +accounts of the genius of Socrates and the familiar spirits of the +Bible, in ancient times. Hence, also, the almost uninterrupted line of +similar accounts through the Middle Ages down to our own day. Thus, +Campanella stated that whenever he was threatened with misfortune, he +fell into a state half way between waking and sleeping, in which he +heard a voice say: "Campanella! Campanella!" and several other words, +without ever seeing a person. Calignan, Chancelor of Navarre, heard in +Bearn, his name called three times, and then received a warning from the +same voice to leave the town promptly, as the plague was to rage there +fearfully. He obeyed the order, and escaped the ravages of the terrible +disease (Beaumont, "Tractat.," etc., p. 208). The Jesuit Giovanni +Carrera had a protecting genius, whom he frequently consulted in cases +of special difficulty. He became so familiar with him, that he had +himself waked every night for his prayers, but when at times he +hesitated to rise at once, the spirit abandoned him for a time, and +Carrera could only induce him to come back by long-continued praying and +fasting ("Hist. S. J.," iii. p. 177). + +The Bernadottes had a tradition that one of their ancestors had married +a fairy, who remained the good genius of the family, and long since had +predicted that one of that blood would mount a throne. The Bernadotte +who became a king never forgot the prophecy, and was largely influenced +by it, when the Swedish nobles offered him the throne. It is well known +that Napoleon himself either believed, or affected to believe, in a good +genius, who guided his steps and protected him from danger. He appeared, +according to his own statements, sometimes in the shape of a ball of +fire, which he called his "star," or as a man dressed in red, who paid +him occasional visits. General Rapp relates that, in the year 1806, he +once found the Emperor in his room, apparently absorbed in such deep +meditation that he did not notice his entrance, but that, when fairly +aroused, he seized Rapp by the arm and asked him if saw that star? When +the latter replied that he saw nothing, Napoleon continued: "It is my +star; it is standing just above you. It has never forsaken me; I see it +on all important occasions; it orders me to go on, and has always been +a token of success." The story, coming from General Rapp himself, is +quoted here as endorsed by the great historian, Amedee Thierry. + +Des Mousseaux reports the following facts upon the evidence of +trustworthy personal friends. (_La Magie_, etc., p. 366.) A Mme. N., the +daughter of a general, was constantly visited by her mother, who had +died long ago, and received from her frequent information of secret +things, which procured for herself the reputation of being a prophetess. +At one time her mother's spirit warned her to try and prevent her +husband, who would die by suicide, from carrying out his purpose. Every +precaution was taken, and even the knives and forks were removed after +meals; but it so happened that a soldier of the National Guard came into +the house and left his loaded gun in an anteroom. The lady's husband +unfortunately chanced to see it, took it and blew his brains out on the +spot. + +A peculiarly interesting class of visions are those to which great +artists have, at times, owed their greatest triumphs. Here, also, the +line between mere delusion and real magic phenomena is often so faint as +to escape attention. For artists must needs cultivate their imagination +at the expense of other faculties, and naturally live more in an ideal +world than in a real world. Preoccupied as they are, by the nature of +their pursuits, with images of more than earthly beauty, they come +easily to form ideals in their minds, which they endeavor to fix first +upon their memory, and then upon canvas or in marble, on paper or in +rapturous words. Raphael Sanzio had long in vain tried to portray the +Holy Virgin according to a vague ideal in his mind; at last he awoke one +night and saw in the place where his sketch was hanging a bright light, +and in the radiance the Mother of Christ in matchless beauty, and with +supernatural holiness in her features. The vision remained deeply +impressed upon his mind, and was ever after the original of which even +his best Madonnas could only be imperfect copies. Benvenuto Cellini, +when sick unto death, repeatedly saw an old man trying to pull him down +into his boat, but as soon as his faithful servant came and touched him, +the hideous vision disappeared. The artist had evidently a picture of +Charon and his Acherontic boat in his mind, which was thus reproduced in +his feverish dreams. On another occasion, when he had long been in +prison, and in despair contemplated suicide, an "unknown being" suddenly +seized him and hurled him back to a distance of four yards, where he +remained lying for hours half dead. In the following night a "fair +youth" appeared to him and made him bitter reproaches on account of his +sinful purpose. The same youthful genius appeared to him repeatedly when +a great crisis approached in his marvelously adventurous life, and more +than once revealed to him the mysteries of the future. (Goethe's "Benv. +Cell." i. p. 375.) Poor Tasso had fearful hallucinations during the time +when his mind was disordered, but above them all hovered, as it were, +the vision of a glorious Virgin surrounded by a bright light, which +always comforted and probably alone saved him from self-destruction. +Like Raphael, Dannecker also had long tried in vain to find perfect +expression for his ideal of a Christ on the Cross; one night, however, +he also saw the Saviour in a dream, and at once proceeded to form his +model, from which was afterwards copied the well-known statue of +transcendent beauty and power. + +Paganini used to tell with an amusing air of assumed awe and reverence, +that his mother had seen, a few days before his birth, an angel with two +wings and of such dazzling splendor that she could not bear to look at +the apparition. The heavenly messenger invited her to express a wish, +and promised that it should be fulfilled. Thereupon she begged him on +her knees to make her Nicolo a great violinist, and was told that it +should be so. The vision--perhaps nothing more than a vivid form of +earnest desire and fervent prayer--had, no doubt, a serious influence on +the great artist, who was himself strangely susceptible to such +impressions. (_Moniteur_, Sept. 30, 1860.) + +Nothing can here be said, according to the purpose of these sketches, of +the long series of visions vouchsafed to martyrs and saints; their +history belongs to theology. But holy men have, independent of their +religious convictions, often been as famous for their visions as for the +piety of their hearts, and their achievements in the world. Loyola, for +instance, with his faculties perpetually strained to the utmost, and +with his thoughts bent forever upon a grand and holy aim, could not well +fail to rise to a state of psychic excitement which naturally produced +impressive visions. Hence he continually saw strange sights and heard +mysterious voices, the effect now of extreme despondency and now of +restored confidence in God and in himself as the agent of the Most High. +And yet these visions never interfered with the clearness of his +judgment nor with his promptness and energy in acting. Luther, also, one +of the most practical men ever called upon to act and to lead in a great +crisis, had visions; he saw the Devil and held loud discussions with +him; he suffered by his persecutions, and made great efforts to rid +himself of his unwelcome guest, while engaged in his great work, the +translation of the Bible. For he was, after all--and for very great and +good purposes--only a man of his age, imbued with the universal belief +in the personal existence and constant presence of Satan, and felt, at +the same time, that he was engaged in a warfare upon the results of +which depended not only the earthly welfare, but the eternal salvation +of millions. + +It is difficult to say whether Mohammed, who had undoubtedly visions +innumerable, received any aid from his hallucinations in devising his +new faith. Men of science tell us that he suffered of _Hysteria +muscularis_, a disease not uncommon in men as well as in women, which +produces periodical paroxysms and is characterized by an alternate +contraction and expansion of the muscles. When the attack came the +prophet's lips and tongue would begin to vibrate, his eyes turned up, +and the head moved automatically. If the paroxysms were very violent he +fell to the ground, his face turned purple, and he breathed with +difficulty. As he frequently retained his consciousness he pretended +that these symptoms were caused by angels' visits, and each attack was +followed by a new revelation. The disease was the result of his early +lawless life and of the freedom which he claimed, even in later +years--pleading a special dispensation from on high as a divinely +inspired prophet. It is not to be wondered at that the new religion, +springing from such a source, and proclaimed amid the mountains and +steppes of Arabia, which, according to popular belief, are all alive +with djinns and demons, should be largely based upon visions and +hallucinations. + +The important part which visions hold in the history of the various +religions of the earth lies beyond our present purpose; we know, +however, that the records of ancient temples, of prophets, saints, and +martyrs, and of later convents and churches, abound with instances of +such so-called revelations from on high. They have more than once served +at critical times to excite individuals and whole nations to make +sublime efforts. One of the best known cases of the former class is that +of Constantine the Great, who told Eusebius of Caesarea, affirming his +statement with a solemn oath, that he saw in 312, shortly before the +decisive battle at Rome against his formidable adversary Magentius, a +bright cross in the heavens, surrounded by the words: _In hoc signo +vinces_. But this vision stood by no means alone. He himself beheld, +besides, in a dream during the following night, the Saviour, who ordered +him to use in battle henceforth a banner like that which he had seen in +his vision. Nazarius, a pagan, also speaks of a number of marvelous +signs in the heavens seen in Gaul immediately before the emperor's great +victory. Nor can it be doubted that this vision not only inspired +Constantine with new hopes and new courage, enabling him to secure his +triumph, but also induced him, after his success, to avow himself openly +a convert to the faith of Christ. + +The visions of that eminent man Swedenborg are too well known to require +here more than a mere allusion. Beginning his intercourse with the +supernatural world at the ripe age of forty-five, he soon gave himself +up to it systematically, and felt compelled to make his daily +conversations, as well as the revelations he received from time to time, +duly known to the public. Thus he wrote with an evident air of firm +conviction: "I had recently a conference with the Apostle Paul;" and at +another time he assured a Wuertemberg prelate, "I have conferred with St. +Paul for a whole year, especially about the words in Romans iii. 28. +Three times I have conversed with St. John, once with Moses, and a +hundred times with Luther, when the latter confessed that he had taught +_fidem solam_ contrary to the warning of an angel, and that he had +stood alone when renouncing the pope. With angels, finally, I have held +constant intercourse for the last twenty years, and still hold daily +conversations." + +Classic as well as Christian art, is indebted to visions for more than +one signal success. On the other hand, they have as frequently been made +to serve vile purposes, mainly by feeding superstition and supporting +religious tyranny. We need only recall the terrible calamity caused by a +wretched shepherd boy in France, who, in 1213, saw, or pretended to see, +heavenly visions, ordering him to enlist his comrades, and with their +aid, to rescue the Holy Land from the possession of infidels. Thousands +of little children were seized by the contagious excitement, and leaving +their home and their kindred, followed their youthful leader, unchecked +by the authorities, because of the interpretation applied to the words +of Jesus: "Suffer little children to come unto Me!" Not one of them ever +reached Palestine, as all perished long before they had reached even +Southern France. + +It is not exactly a magic phenomenon, but certainly a most startling +feature in visions, that the minds of many men should be able, by their +own volition, to create images and forms so perfectly like those +existing in the world around us, that the same minds are incapable of +distinguishing where hallucination and reality touch each other. This +faculty varies, of course, as much as other endowments: sometimes it +produces nothing but vague, shapeless lights or sounds; in other +persons it is capable of calling up well-defined forms, and of causing +even words to be heard and pain to be inflicted. During severe suffering +in body or soul, it may become a comforter, and in the moment of passing +through the valley of the shadow of death, it is apt to soothe the +anguish, by visions of heavenly bliss, but to an evil conscience it may +also appear as an avenger, by prefiguring impending judgment and +condemnation. It is this influence on the lives of men, and their great +moral importance, which lends to visions--and in a certain degree even +to hallucinations--additional interest, and makes it our duty not to set +them aside as mere idle phantoms, but to try to ascertain their true +nature and final purpose. This is all the more necessary, as in our day +visions are considered purely the offspring of the seer's own mental +activity, a truth abundantly proven by the simple fact that blind or +deaf people are quite as capable of having visions and hallucinations, +as those who have the use of all their senses. + +Thus these magic phenomena have, in an unbroken chain, accompanied +almost all the great men who are known to history, from the earliest +time to our own day. In modern times they have often been successfully +traced to bodily and mental disorders; but this fact diminishes in no +way the interest which they have for the student of magic. The great +Pascal, who was once threatened with instant death by the upsetting of +his carriage, henceforth saw perpetually an abyss by his side, from +which fiery flames issued forth; he could conceal it by simply placing a +chair or a table between it and his eyes. In the case of the English +painter Blake, who had visions of historic personages which appeared to +him in idealized outlines, his periodical aberrations of mind were +accepted as sufficient explanation. The bookseller Nicolai, of Berlin, +on the contrary, who, like Beaumont, saw hundreds of men, women, and +children accompanying him in his walks or visiting him in his chamber, +found his ghostly company dependent on the state of his health. When he +was bled or when leeches were applied, the images grew pale, and +disappeared in part or dissolved entirely. A peculiarity of his case +was, that he never saw visions in the dark, but all his phantasms +appeared in broad daylight, or at night when candles had been brought in +or a large fire was burning in the fireplace. Captain Henry Bell had +been repeatedly urged by a German friend of his, Caspar von Sparr, to +translate the Table-talk of Martin Luther, which, having been suppressed +by an edict of the Emperor Rudolphus, had become very rare, and of which +Sparr had sent him a copy, discovered by himself in a cellar where it +had lain buried for fifty-two years. Captain Bell commenced the work; +but abandoned it after a little while. A few weeks later a white-haired +old man appeared to him at night, pulling his ear and saying: "What! +will you not take time to translate the book? I will give you soon a +place for it and the necessary leisure." Bell was much startled; but +nevertheless neglected the work. A fortnight after the vision he was +arrested and lodged in the gate-house of Westminster, where he remained +for ten years, of which he spent five in the translation of the work. +(Beaumont, "Tractat.," p. 72.) Even religious visions have by no means +ceased in modern times, and more than one remarkable conversion is +ascribed to such agency. We do not speak of so-called miracles like that +of the children of Salette in the department of the Isere, in 1849, or +the recent revelations at Lourdes, and in Southern Alsace, which were +publicly endorsed by leading men of the church, and have furnished rich +material even for political demonstrations. The vision of Major +Gardiner, also, who, just before committing a sinful action, beheld the +Saviour and became a changed man, has been so often published and so +thoroughly discussed that it need not be repeated here. The conversion +of young Ratisbone, in 1843, created at the time an immense sensation. +He was born of Jewish parents, but, like only too many of his race, grew +up to become a freethinker and a scoffer, rejecting all faiths as idle +superstitions. One day he strolled into the church Delle Fratte in Rome, +and while sunk in deep meditation, suddenly beheld a vision of the +Virgin Mary, which made so deep an impression upon him that it changed +the whole tenor of his life. He gave up the great wealth to which he had +fallen heir, he renounced a lovely betrothed, and resolutely turning his +back upon the world, he entered, as a novice, into a Jesuit convent; +thus literally forsaking all in order to follow Christ. + +The magic phenomena accompanying visions, have, among nations of the +Sclavic race, not unfrequently a specially formidable and repellent +character, corresponding, no doubt, with the temperament and turn of +imagination peculiar to that race. The Sclaves are apt to be ridden by +invisible men, till they drop down in a swoon; they are driven by wild +beasts to the graves of criminals, where they behold fearful sights, or +they are forced to mingle with troops of evil spirits roving over the +wide, waste steppes, and they invariably suffer from the sad effects of +such visions, till a premature death relieves them after a few months. +In Wallachia a special vision of the so-called Pickolitch is quite +common, and has, in one case at least, been officially recorded by +military authorities. A poor private soldier, who had already more than +once suffered from visions, was ordered to stand guard in a lonely +mountain pass, and forced by the rules of the service to take his place +there, although he begged hard to be allowed to exchange with a brother +soldier, as he knew he would come to grief. The officer in command, +struck by the earnestness of his prayer, promised to lend him all +possible assistance, and placed a second sentinel for his support close +behind him. At half past ten o'clock the officer and a high civil +functionary saw a dark figure rush by the house in which they were; they +hastened at once to the post, where two shots had fallen in rapid +succession, and found the inner sentinel, the still smoking rifle in +hand, staring fixedly at the place where his comrade had stood, and +utterly unconscious of the approach of his superior. When they reached +the outer post they found the rifle on the ground, shattered to pieces, +and the heavy barrel bent in the shape of a scythe, while the man +himself lay at a considerable distance, groaning with pain, for his +whole body was so severely burnt that he died on the following day. The +survivor stated that a black figure had fallen, as if from heaven, upon +his comrade and torn him to pieces in spite of the two shots he had +fired at it from a short distance, then it had vanished again in an +instant. The matter was duly reported to headquarters, and when an +investigation was ordered, the fact was discovered that a number of +precisely similar occurrences had already been officially recorded. The +vision is, of course, nothing more than a product of the excited +imagination of the mountaineers, who lend the favorite shape of a +"Pickolitch" to the frequent, bizarre-looking masses of fog and mist +which rise in their dark valleys, hover over gullies and abysses, and +driven by a sudden current of wind, fly upward with amazing rapidity, +and thus seem to disappear in an instant. The apprehension of the poor +sentinel, on the other hand, was a kind of clairvoyance produced by the +combined influence of local tradition, the nightly hour and the dark +pass, upon a previously-excited mind, while the vision of the two +officers was a similar magic phenomena, the result of the impressions +made upon them by the instant prayer of the victim, and a hot discussion +about the reality of the "Prikolitch." The sentinel probably saw a weird +shape and fired; the gun burst and killed him outright, setting fire to +his clothes, a supposition strengthened by the statement that the poor +fellow, anticipating a meeting with the spectre, had put a double charge +into his rifle. The accident teaches once more that a mere denial of +facts and a haughty smile at the idea of visions profit us nothing, +while a calm and careful examination of all the circumstances may throw +much light upon their nature, and help, in the course of time, to +extirpate fatal superstitions, like those of the "Prikolitch." + +It is interesting to see how harmless and even pleasant are, in +comparison, the visions of men with well-trained minds and kindly +dispositions. The bookseller Nicolai entertained his phantom-guests, and +was much amused, at times, by their conversation. Macnish ("Sleep," p. +194) tells us the same of Dr. Bostock, who had frequent visions, and of +an elderly lady whom Dr. Alderson treated for gout, and who received +friendly visits from kinsmen and acquaintances with whom she conversed, +but who disappeared instantly when she rang for her maid. Another +patient of Dr. Alderson's, who saw himself in the same manner surrounded +by numbers of persons, even felt the blows which a phantom-carter gave +him with his whip. Although in all these cases the visions disappeared +after energetic bleeding and purging, the phenomena were nevertheless +real as far as they affected the patient, and have in every instance +been fully authenticated and scientifically investigated. The well-known +author, Macnish, himself was frequently a victim of this kind of +self-delusion; he saw during an attack of fever fearful hellish shapes, +forming and dissolving at pleasure, and during one night he beheld a +whole theatre filled with people, among whom he recognized many friends +and acquaintances, while on the stage he saw the famous Ducrow with his +horses. As soon as he opened his eyes the scene disappeared, but the +music continued, for the orchestra played a magnificent march from +Aladdin, and did not cease its magic performance for five hours. The +vision of the eye seems thus to have been under the influence of his +will, but his hearing was beyond his control. + +A very interesting class of visions accompanied by undoubted magic +phenomena, and as frequent in our day as at any previous period, is +formed by those which are the result of climatic and topographic +peculiarities. We have already stated that the peculiar impression made +upon predisposed minds by vast deserts and boundless wastes is +frequently ascribed, by the superstitious dwellers near such localities, +to the influence of evil spirits. Such a vision is the Ragl of Northern +Africa, which occurs either after fatiguing journeys through the dry, +hot desert, in consequence of great nervous excitement, or as one of the +symptoms of typhoid fever in native patients. Seeing and hearing are +alike affected, the other senses only in rare cases. Ordinarily the eye +sees everything immensely magnified or oddly changed; pebbles become +huge blocks of stone, faint tracks in the hot sand change into broad +causeways or ample meadows, and distant shadows appear as animals, +wells, or mountain-dells. If the moon rises the vision increases in size +and distinctness; the scene becomes animated, men pass by, camels follow +each other in long lines, and troops are marching past in battalions. +Then the ear also begins to succumb to the charm; the rustling of dry +leaves becomes the sweet song of numerous birds; the wind changes into +cries of despair, and the noise of falling sand into distant thunder. +The brain remains apparently unaffected, for travelers suffering of the +Ragl are able to make notes and record the symptoms, although the +note-book looks to them like a huge album with costly engravings. There +can be little doubt that the great afflux of blood to the eyes and the +ears is the first cause of these phenomena, but the peculiar nature of +the visions remains still a mystery. One striking peculiarity is their +unvarying identity in men of the same race and culture; Europeans have +their own hallucinations which are not shared by Africans; the former +see churches, houses, and carriages, the latter mosques, tents, and +camels, thus proving here also the fact that these delusions of the +senses are produced in the mind and not in the outer world. Travelers +who suffer from hunger or from the dread effects of the simoon are +naturally more subject to the Ragl than others; the visions generally +appear towards midnight and continue till six or seven o'clock in the +morning, while during the day they are only seen in cases of aggravated +suffering. Another peculiarity is the fact that these visions connect +themselves only with small objects and moderate sounds; the gentle +friction of a vibrating tassel on his camel's neck appeared to the great +explorer Richardson like the clacking of a mill-wheel, but the words +shouted by his companion sounded quite natural. Thus he saw in every +little lichen a green garden spot, but the stars he discerned distinctly +enough to direct his way by them even when suffering most intensely from +the Ragl. + +The Fata Morgana of the so-called Great Desert in Oregon, in which the +waters of the Paducah, Kansas, and Arkansas lose themselves to a great +extent, is a kindred affection. Here also phantoms of every kind are +seen, gigantic horsemen, colossal buildings, and flitting fires; but the +absence of heat makes the visions less frequent and less distinct. The +Indians, however, like the Moors of Africa, dread these apparitions and +ascribe them to evil spirits. These phenomena have besides a special +interest, by proving how constantly in all these questions of modern +magic facts are combined with mere delusions. The flitting fires, to +which we alluded, for instance, are not mere visions, but real and +tangible substances, the effect of gaseous effusions which are quite +frequent on these steppes. So it is also with the local visions peculiar +to mountain regions, like the Little Gray Man of the Grisons in +Switzerland and the gnomes of miners in almost all lands. The dwellers +in Alpine regions acquire--or even inherit, it may be--a peculiar power +of divination with regard to the weather; they feel instinctively, and +without ever giving themselves the trouble of trying to ascertain the +reason, the approach of fogs and mists, so dangerous to the welfare of +their herds and their own safety. This presentiment is clothed by local +traditions and their own vivid imaginations in the familiar shape of +supernatural beings, and what was at first perhaps merely a form of +speech, has gradually become a deep-rooted belief handed down from +father to son. They end by really seeing--with their mind's eye--the +rising mists and drifting fogs in the shape which they have so often +heard mentioned, or give to rising gases, far down in the bowels of the +earth, the form of familiar gnomes. These visions are hence not +altogether produced by the imagination, but have, so to say, a grain of +truth around which the weird form is woven. + +A numerous class of visions, presenting some of the most interesting +phenomena of this branch of magic, must be looked upon as the result of +the innate desire to fathom the mystery of future life. The human heart, +conscious of immortality by nature and assured of it by revelation, +desires ardently to lift the veil which conceals the secrets of the life +to come. Among other means to accomplish this, the promise has often +been exacted of dear friends, that they would, after death, return and +make known their condition in the other world. Such compacts have been +made from time immemorial--but so far their only result has been that +the survivors have believed occasionally that they have received visits +from deceased friends--in other words, that their state of great +excitement and eager expectation has caused them to have visions. It +remains true, after all, that from that bourne no traveler ever returns. +Nevertheless, these visions have a deep interest for the psychologist, +as they are the result of unconscious action, and thus display what +thoughts dwell in our innermost heart concerning the future. + + + + +V. + +GHOSTS. + + "Sunt aliquid manes; letum non omnia finit." + + +There are few subjects, outside of the vexed questions of Theology, on +which eminent men of all nations and ages have held more varied views +than so-called ghosts. The very term has been understood differently by +almost every great writer who has approached the boundary line of this +department of magic. The word which is now commonly used in order to +designate any immaterial being, not made of the earth, earthy, or +perhaps, in a higher sense, the "body spiritual" of St. Paul, was in the +early days of Christianity applied to the visible spirits of deceased +persons only. In the Middle Ages again, when everything weird and +unnatural was unhesitatingly ascribed to diabolic agency, these +phenomena, also, were regarded as nothing else but the Devil's work. +Theologians have added in recent days a new subject of controversy to +this vexed matter. The divines of the seventeenth and eighteenth century +denied, of course, the possibility of a reappearance of the spirits of +the departed, as they were in consistency bound to deny the existence of +a purgatory, and yet, from purgatory alone were these spirits, +according to popular belief, allowed to revisit the earth--heaven and +hell being comparatively closed places. As the people insisted upon +seeing ghosts, however, there remained nothing but to declare them to be +delusions produced for malign purposes by the Evil One himself; and so +decided, not many generations ago, the Consistory of Basle in an appeal +made by a German mystic author, Jung Stilling. And yet it is evident +that a number of eminent thinkers, and not a few of the most skeptic +philosophers even, have believed in the occurrence of such visits by +inmates of Sheol. Hugo Grotius and Puffendorf, whose far-famed worldly +wisdom entitles their views to great respect, Machiavelli and Boccaccio, +Thomasius and even Kant, all have repeatedly admitted the existence of +what we familiarly call ghosts. The great philosopher of Koenigsberg +enters fully into the subject. "Immaterial beings," he says, "including +the souls of men and animals, may exist, though they must be considered +as not filling space but only acting within the limits of space." He +admits the probability that ere long the process will be discovered, by +which the human soul, even in this life, is closely connected with the +immaterial inmates of the world of spirits, a connection which he states +to be operative in both directions, men affecting spirits and spirits +acting upon men, though the latter are unconscious of such impressions +"as long as all is well." In the same manner in which the physical world +is under the control of a law of gravity, he believes the spiritual +world to be ruled by a moral law, which causes a distinction between +good and evil spirits. The same belief is entertained and fully +discussed by French authors of eminence, such as Des Mousseaux, De +Mirville, and others. The Catholic church has never absolutely denied +the doctrine of ghosts, perhaps considering itself bound by the biblical +statement that "the graves were opened and many bodies of the saints +which slept, arose and came out of the graves and went into the holy +city and appeared unto many." (St. Matt. xxvii. 52.) Tertullian, St. +Augustine, and Thomas de Aquinas, all state distinctly, as a dogma, that +the souls of the departed can leave their home, though not at will, but +only by special permission of the Almighty. St. Augustine mentions +saints by whom he was visited, and Thomas de Aquinas speaks even of the +return of accursed inmates of hell, for the purpose of terrifying and +converting criminals in this world. The "Encyclopedia of Catholic +Theology" (iv. p. 489) states that "although the theory of ghosts has +never become a dogma of the Holy Church, it has ever maintained itself, +and existed in the days of Christ, who did not condemn it, when it was +mentioned in his presence." (St. Matt. xiv. 26; St. Luke xxiv. 37.) + +Calmet, the well-known Benedictine Abbot of Senon, in Lorraine, who was +one of the most renowned theological writers of the eighteenth century, +says (i. 17): "Apparitions of ghosts would be more readily understood if +spirits had a body; but the Holy Church has decided that angels, devils +and the spirits of the departed are pure immaterial spirits. Since this +question transcends our mental faculties, we must submit to the judgment +of the Church, which cannot err." Another great theologian, the German +Bengel, on the contrary, assumed that "probably the apparitions of the +departed have a prescribed limit and then cease; they continue probably +as long as all the ties between body and soul are not fully dissolved." +This question of the nature of our existence during the time immediately +following death, is, it is well known, one of the most vexed of our day, +for while most divines of the Protestant Church assume an immediate +decision of our eternal fate, others admit the probability of an +intermediate state, and the Catholic Church has its well-known +probationary state in purgatory. It may as well be stated here at once +that the whole theory of ghosts is admissible only if we assume that +there follows after death a period during which the soul undergoes, not +an immediate rupture, but a slow, gradual separation from its body, +accompanied by a similar gradual adaptation to its new mode of +existence. Whether the spirit, during this time, is still sufficiently +akin to earthy substances to be able to clothe itself into some material +perceptible to the senses of living men, is of comparatively little +importance. The idea of such an "ethereal body" is very old, and has +never ceased to be entertained. Thus, in 1306, already Guido de la +Tones, who died in Verona, appeared during eight days to his wife, his +neighbors, and a number of devout priests, and declared in answer to +their questions that the spirits of the departed possessed the power to +clothe themselves with air, and thus to become perceptible to living +beings. Bayle also, in his article on Spinoza (note 2), advocates the +possibility, at least, of physical effects being produced by agents +whose presence we are not able to perceive by the use of our ordinary +senses. Even so eminently practical a mind as Lessing's was bewildered +by the difficulties surrounding this question, and he declared that +"here his wits were at an end." + +Another great German writer, Goerres, in his "Christian Mystic" (iii. p. +307), not only admits the existence of ghosts, but explains them as "the +higher prototypal form of man freed from the earthy form, the spectrum +relieved of its envelope, which can be present wherever it chooses +within the prescribed limits of its domain." This view is, however, not +supported by the experience of those who believe they have seen ghosts; +for the latter appear only occasionally in a higher, purified form, +resembling ethereal beings, as a mere whitish vapor or a shape formed of +faint light; by far more generally they are seen in the form and even +the costume of their earthy existence. The only evidence of really +supernatural or magic powers accompanying such phenomena consists in the +ineffable dread which is apt to oppress the heart and to cause intense +bodily suffering; in the cold chill which invariably precedes the +apparition, and in the profound and exquisitely painful emotion which is +never again forgotten throughout life. + +As yet, the subject has been so little studied by candid inquiries, that +there are but a few facts which can be mentioned as fully established. +The form and shape under which ghosts appear, are the result of the +imagination of the ghost seer only, whether he beholds angels or devils, +men or animals. If his receptive power is highly developed, he will see +them in their completeness, and discern even the minutest details; weak +persons, on the other hand, perceive nothing more than a faint, luminous +or whitish appearance, mere fragmentary and embryonic visions. These +powers of perception may, however, be improved by practice, and those +who see ghosts frequently, are sure to discover one feature after +another, until the whole form stands clearly and distinctly before their +mind's eye. The ear is generally more susceptible than the eye to the +approach of ghosts, and often warns the mind long before the apparition +becomes visible. The noises heard are apt to be vague and ill defined, +consisting mainly of a low whispering or restless rustling, a strange +moving to and fro, or the blowing of cold air in various directions. +Many sounds, however, are so peculiar, that they are never heard except +in connection with ghosts, and hence, baffle all description. It need +not be added, that the great majority of such sounds also exist only in +the mind of the hearer, but as the latter is, in his state of +excitement, fully persuaded that he hears them, they are to him as real +as if they existed outside of his being. Nor are they always confined to +the ghost seer. On the contrary, the hearing of such sounds is as +contagious as the seeing of such sights; and not only men are thus +affected, and see and hear what others experience, but even the higher +animals, horses and dogs, share in this susceptibility. When ghosts +appear to speak, the voice is almost always engastrimantic, that is, the +ghost seer produces the words himself, in a state of ecstatic +unconsciousness, and probably by a kind of instinctive ventriloquism. To +these phenomena of sight and hearing must be added, thirdly, the +occasional violent moving about of heavy substances. Furniture seems to +change its place, ponderous objects disappear entirely, or the whole +surrounding scene assumes a new order and arrangement. These phenomena, +as far as they really exist, must be ascribed to higher, as yet +unexplained powers, and suggest the view entertained by many writers on +the subject, that disembodied spirits, as they are freed from the +mechanical laws of nature, possess also the power to suspend them in +everything with which they come in contact. The last feature in +ghost-seeing, which is essential, is the cold shudder, the ineffable +dread, which falls upon poor mortal man, at the moment when he is +brought into contact with an unknown world. Already Job said: "Fear came +upon me and trembling, which made all my bones to shake. Then a spirit +passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up" (iv. 14, 15). This +sense of vague, and yet almost intolerable dread, resembles the agony of +the dying man; it is perfectly natural, since the seeing of ghosts, that +is, of disembodied spirits, can only become possible by the more or +less complete suspension of the ordinary life in the flesh. For a +moment, all bodily functions are suspended, the activity of the brain +ceases, and consciousness itself is lost as in a fit of fainting. This +rarely happens without a brief instinctive struggle, and the final +victory of an unseen and unknown power, which deprives the mind of its +habitual mastery over the body, is necessarily accompanied by intense +pain and overwhelming anguish. + +Well-authenticated cases of the appearance of spirits of departed +persons are mentioned in the earliest writings. Valerius Maximus relates +in graphic words the experience of the poet Simonides, who was about to +enter a vessel for the purpose of undertaking a long journey with some +of his friends, when he discovered a dead body lying unburied on the +sea-shore. Shocked by the impiety of the unknown man's friends, he +delayed his departure to give to the corpse a decent funeral. During the +following night, the spirit of this man appeared to him and advised him +not to sail on the next day. He obeys the warning; his friends leave +without him, and perish miserably in a great tempest. Deeply moved by +his sad loss, but equally grateful for his own miraculous escape, he +erected to the memory of his unknown friend a noble monument in verses, +unmatched in beauty and pathos. Phlegon, also, the freedman of the +Emperor Hadrian, has left us in his work, _De Mirabilibus_, one of the +most touching instances of such ghost-seeing; it is the well-known story +of Machates and Philimion, which Goethe reproduced in his "Bride of +Corinth." Nor must we forget the numerous examples of visions in dreams, +by which the Almighty chose to reveal His will to his beloved among the +chosen people--a series of apparitions, which the Church has taken care +to continue during the earlier ages, in almost unbroken succession from +saint to saint. Pagans were converted by such revelations, martyrs were +comforted, the wounded healed, and even an Emperor, Constantine, cured +of leprosy, by the appearance of the two apostles, Peter and Paul. + +The truth, which lies at the bottom of all such appearances, is +probably, that ghostly disturbances are uniformly the acts of men, but +of men who have ceased for a time to be free agents, and who have, for +reasons to be explained presently, acquired exceptional powers. Thus, a +famous jurist, Counselor Hellfeld, in Jena, was one evening on the point +of signing the death warrant of a cavalry soldier. The subject had +deeply agitated his mind for days, and before seizing his pen, he +invoked, as was his custom in such cases, the "aid of the Almighty +through His holy spirit." At that moment--it was an hour before +midnight--he hears heavy blows fall upon his window, which sound as if +the panes were struck with a riding-whip. His clerk also hears the blows +distinctly, and begins to tremble violently. This apparent accident +induces the judge to delay his action; he devotes the next day to a +careful re-perusal of the evidence, and is now led to the conviction +that the crime deserves only a minor punishment. Ere the year has +closed, another criminal is caught, and volunteers the confession that +he was the perpetrator of the crime for which the soldier was punished. +In that solemn moment, it was, of course, only the judge's own mind, +deeply moved and worn out by painful work, which warned him in a +symbolic manner not to be precipitate, and the very fact that the blows +sounded as if they had been produced by a whip proved his unconscious +association of the noise with the cavalry soldier. And yet he and his +clerk believed and solemnly affirmed, that they had heard the mysterious +blows! This dualism, which, as it were, divides man into two beings, one +of whom follows and watches the other, while both are unconscious of +their identity, is the magic element in these phenomena. This +unconsciousness, proving--as in dreams--the inactivity of our reason, +produces the natural effect, that we fancy all ghostly appearances are +foolish, wanton and wicked. The fact is, moreover that they almost +always proceed from a more or less diseased or disturbed mind, and +acquire importance only in so far as it is our duty here also to +eliminate truth from error. Thus only can we hope to counteract their +mischievous tendency, and to prevent still stronger delusions from +obtaining a mastery over weak minds. This is the purpose of a club +formed in London in 1869, the members of which find amusement and useful +employment in investigating all cases of haunted houses and other +ghostly appearances. + +That the belief in ghostly disturbances is not a modern error, we see +from St. Augustine, who already mentions the farm of a certain Hasparius +as disquieted by loud noises till the prayer of a pious priest restored +peace. The Catholic Church has a St. Caesarius, who purified in like +manner the house of the physician Elpidius in Ravenna, which was filled +with evil spirits and only admitted the owner after he had passed +through a shower of stones. Another saint, Hubertus, was himself annoyed +by ghosts in his residence at Camens, and never succeeded in obtaining +peace till he died, in 958. Wicked or interested men take, of course, +but too readily advantage of the credulity of men and employ similar +disturbances for personal purposes; such was the case with the ghosts +that haunted the Council house in Constance and the palace at Woodstock +in Cromwell's time. The case of a scrupulously conscientious Protestant +minister in Germany, which created in 1719 a great excitement throughout +the empire, is well calculated to show the real nature of a number of +such ghostly disturbances. He had been called to the death-bed of a +notorious sinner, a woman, who desired at the last moment to receive the +comforts of religion. Unfortunately he reached her house too late; she +was already unconscious, and died in his presence, as he thought, +unreconciled with her God and with himself, whom she had often insulted +and cursed in life. Deeply disturbed he returned home, and after having +dwelt upon the painful subject with intense anxiety for several days he +began to hear footsteps in his house. Gradually they became more +frequent; then he distinguished them clearly as a woman's step, and at +last they were accompanied by the dragging of a gown. Watches were set, +sand was strewn, dogs were kept in the house--but all in vain; no trace +of man was found, and still the sounds continued. The unhappy man prayed +day and night, and the noise disappeared for a fortnight. When he ceased +praying they returned, louder than ever. He sternly bids the ghost +desist, and behold! the ghost obeys. When he asks if it is a good angel +or a demon, no answer is given; but the question: Art thou the Devil? +finds an immediate reply in rapid steps up and down the house--for the +poor man's mind was filled with the idea that such things can be done +only by the Evil One. At last he summons all his remaining energy and in +a tone of command he orders the ghost to depart and never to reappear. +From that moment all disturbances cease--and very naturally, for the +haunted, disturbed man, had fully recovered the command over himself; +the dualism that produced all the spectral phenomena had ceased, and the +restored mind accomplished its own cure. As these phenomena are thus +produced from within, it appears perfectly natural also that they should +be reported as occurring most frequently in the month of November. +Religious minds and superstitious dispositions have brought this fact +into a quaint connection with the approach of Advent-time, but the cause +is probably purely physical; the dark and dismal month with its dense +fogs emblematic of coming winter predisposes the mind to gloomy thoughts +and renders it less capable of resisting atmospheric influences. + +A very general belief ascribes such disturbances, under the name of +"haunted houses," to the souls of deceased persons who can find no rest +beyond the grave. The series of ghost stories based upon this +supposition begins with the account of Suetonius and continues unbroken +to our day. Then it was the spirit of Caligula, which could not be quiet +so long as his body, which had only been half burned, remained in that +disgraceful condition. Night after night his house and his garden were +visited by strange apparitions, till the palace was destroyed by fire +and the emperor's sisters rendered the last honors to his remains. + +Thus the disposition of modern inquiries to trace back all popular +accounts of great events, all familiar anecdotes and fairy tales, and +even proverbs and maxims, to the ancients, has been fully gratified in +this case also. They were not only known to antiquity, but formed a +staple of popular tales. Thus the younger Pliny tells us one which he +had frequently heard related. At Athens there stood a large, comfortable +mansion, which, however, was ill-reputed. Night after night, it was +said, chains were heard rattling, first at a distance, and then coming +nearer, till a pale, haggard shape was seen approaching, wearing beard +and hair in long dishevelled locks and clanking the chains it bore on +hands and feet. The occupants of the house could not sleep, were +terrified, sickened and died. Thus it came about that the fine building +stood empty, year after year, and was at last offered for sale at a low +price. About that time the philosopher Athenodorus came to Athens and +saw the notice; he had his suspicions aroused by the small sum demanded +for the house, inquired about the causes and rented the house. For he +was a man of courage and meant to fathom the mystery. + +On the evening of the first day he dismissed his servants and remained +alone in the front room, writing and occupying himself, purposely, with +grave and abstract questions, so as to allow no opening for his +imagination. As soon as all was quiet around him the clanking and +rattling of chains begins; but he pays no heed and continues to write. +The noise approaches and enters the room; as he looks up he sees the +well-known weird shape before him. It beckons him, but he demands +patience and writes on as before; then the ghost shakes his chains over +his head and beckons once more imperatively. Now he rises, takes his +lamp, and follows his visitor through the passages into a court-yard, +where the ghost disappears. The philosopher pulls up some grass on the +spot and marks the place. On the following day he appeals to the +authorities to cause the place to be dug up; and when this is done, the +bones of an old man, loaded with heavy chains, are found. From that time +the house was left undisturbed, as if the departed had only desired to +induce some intelligent person to bestow upon him the honors of a +decent burial, which among the ancients were held all-important. +("Letter to Sera," l. vii. 27.) The story told by Lucian +("Philopseudes," xxx.) is almost identical with that of Pliny. Here, +also, a house in Corinth, once belonging to Eubatides, was left +unoccupied, for the same reasons, and began to decay, when the +Pythagorean, Arignotus, determined to ascertain the reality of these +nightly appearances. He goes there after midnight, places his lamp on +the floor, lies down and begins to read. Soon a horrible monster +appears, black as night, and changes from one disgusting beast into +another, till at last it yields to the stern command of the intrepid +philosopher and disappears in a corner of the large room. When day +breaks, workmen are brought in to take up the floor; a skeleton is found +and decently interred, and from that day the house is left to its usual +peace and quiet. ("Epist." l. vii. 27.) Plutarch, also, in his "Life of +Cimon," states that the baths at Chaeronea were haunted by the ghost of +Damon, who had there found his death; the doors were walled up and the +place forsaken, but up to his day no relief had been devised, and +fearful sights and terrible sounds continued to render the place +uninhabitable. + +Nor are Eastern lands unacquainted with this popular belief. Egypt has +its haunted houses in nearly every village, and in Cairo there are a +great number, while in Tunis whole streets were abandoned to ghostly +occupants. In Nankin a great mandarin owned a spacious building which +he could neither occupy himself nor rent to others, because of its evil +reputation. At last the Jesuit Riccius, a missionary, offered to take it +for his order; the fathers moved into it, conquered the ghosts by some +means best known to themselves, and not only obtained a good house but +great prestige with the natives for their triumph over the spirits (C. +Hasart. _Hist. Eccles. Sinica_, p. 4, ch. iii.). + +The same singular belief is not only met with in every age and among the +most enlightened nations, but even in our own century a similar case +occurred and is well authenticated. The Duke Charles Alexander of +Wuertemberg of unholy memory, died at the town of Ludwigsburg, perhaps by +murder. For years afterwards the palace was the scene of most violent +disturbances; even the sentinels, powerful and well-armed men, were +bodily lifted up and thrown across the parapet of the terrace. At other +times the whole building appeared to be filled with people; doors were +opened and closed, lights were seen in the apartments and dim figures +flitted to and fro. Large detachments of troops under the command of +officers, specially selected for the purpose, were ordered to march +through the palace more than once, on such occasions, but never +discovered a trace of human agency (Kerner. _Bilder._ p. 143). Even the +great Frederick of Prussia, a man whose thoroughly skeptical mind might +surely be supposed to have been free from all superstition, was once +forced to admit his inability to explain by natural causes an occurrence +of the kind. A Catholic priest in Silesia lost his cook, who had been +specially dear to him; her ghost--as it was called--continued to haunt +the house, and, most strange of all, not in order to disturb its peace, +but to perform the usual domestic service. The floors were swept, the +fires made, and linen washed, all by invisible hands. Frederick, who +accidentally heard of the matter, ordered a captain and a lieutenant of +his guard to investigate it; they were received by the beating of drums +and then allowed to witness the same household performances. When the +grim old captain broke out in a fearful curse, he received a severe box +on the ears and retreated utterly discomfited. Upon his report to the +king the house was pulled down and a new parsonage erected at some +distance from the place. The occurrence is mentioned in many historical +works and quoted without comment even by the great historian Menzel. +Another striking case of a somewhat different character, was fully +reported to the Colonial Office in London. The scene was a large vault +in the island of Barbadoes, hewn out of the live rock and accessible +only through a huge iron door, fastened in the usual way by strong bolts +and a lock, the key to which was kept at the Government House. During +the year 1819 it was opened four times for purposes of interment, and +each time it was observed that all the coffins in the vault had been +violently thrown about. The Governor, Lord Combermere, went himself, +accompanied by his staff and a number of officers, to examine the place, +and found the vault itself in perfect order and without a trace of +violence. He ordered the door to be closed with cement and placed his +seal upon the latter, an example followed by nearly all the bystanders. +Eight months later, the 28th of April, 1820, he had the vault opened in +the presence of a large company of friends and within sight of a crowd +of several thousands. The cement and the seals were found to be perfect +and uninjured; the sand which had been carefully strewn over the floor +of the vault showed no footmark or sign whatever, but the coffins were +again thrown about in great confusion. One, of such weight that it +required eight men to move it, was found standing upright, and a child's +coffin had been violently dashed against the wall. A carefully drawn up +report with accompanying drawings was sent home, but no explanation has +ever been discovered. Scientific men were disposed to ascribe the +disturbance to earthquakes, but the annals of the island report none +during those years; there remains, however, the possibility that the +examination of the vault was after all imperfect, and that the sea might +have had access to it through some hidden cleft. In that case an +unusually high tide might very well have been the invisible agent. + +Even the Indian of our far West cherishes the same superstitious belief, +and in his lodge on the slopes of the Rocky Mountains, he hears +mysterious knockings. To him they are the kindly warning of a spirit, +whom he calls the Great Bear, which announces some great calamity. + +That certain localities seem to be frequented by ghosts, that is, to be +haunted, with special preference, must be ascribed to the contagious +nature of such mental affections as generally produce these phenomena. +This is, moreover, by no means limited, as is commonly believed, to +Northern regions, where frequent fogs and dense mists, short days and +long nights, together with sombre surroundings and awe-inspiring sounds +in nature, combine to predispose the mind to expect supernatural +appearances. Thus, for instance, fair Suabia, one of the most favored +portions of Germany, sweet and smiling in its fertile plains, and by no +means specially gruesome, even in the most secluded parts of the Black +Forest, teems with haunted localities. Dr. Kerner's home, Weinsberg, +enjoyed ghostly visits almost in every house; the neighborhood was +similarly favored, and even in the open country there are countless +peasants' cottages and noblemen's seats, which are frequented by ghosts. +One of the most attractive estates in Wuertemberg was purchased in 1815 +by a distinguished soldier, whose dauntless courage had caused him to +rise rapidly from grade to grade under the eye of the great Napoleon. +Soon after his arrival his wife was aroused every night by a variety of +mysterious noises, rising from weird, low whinings to terrific +explosions. The colonel also heard them, and tried his best to ascertain +the cause. Night after night, moreover, the great castle clock, which +went perfectly well all day long, struck at wrong hours, and was found +all wrong in the morning. The disturbing powers soon became personal; +for one night, when the colonel, sitting at the supper table, and +hearing the usual sounds, said angrily, "I wish the ghost would make +himself known!" a fearful explosion took place, knocking down the +speaker and bringing all the inmates of the house to the room. Search +was immediately instituted, and the main weight of the great clock was +discovered to be missing. A new weight had to be ordered, and only long +afterwards the old one was found wedged in between two floors above the +clock. Nor were the disturbances confined to the castle: at midnight the +horses in the stable became restless and almost wild, tearing themselves +loose and sweating till they were covered with white foam. One night the +colonel went to the stable, mounted his favorite charger, who had borne +him in the din and roar of many a battle, and awaited the striking of +midnight. Instantly the poor animal began to tremble, then to rear and +kick furiously, until his master, famous as a good horseman, could hold +him in no longer, and was carried around the stable by the maddened +horse so as to imperil his life. After an hour, the poor creatures began +to calm down, but stood trembling in all their limbs; the colonel's own +horse succumbed to the trial and died in the morning. A new stable had +to be built, which remained free from disturbances. + +By far the most remarkable and, strange enough, at the same time the +best authenticated of all accounts of disturbances caused by recently +departed friends is found in a memoir written by the sufferer herself, +and addressed to the famous Baron Grimm under the pseudonym of Mr. Meis. +Through the latter the story reached Goethe, who at once appropriated it +in all its details, and merely changing the name of the principal to +Antonelli, inserted it in his "Conversations of German Emigrants." The +same event is fully related in the "Memoirs of the Margravine of +Anspach" as "a story which at that time created a great sensation in +Paris, and excited universal curiosity." But even greater authority yet +is given to this account by the fact that it was officially recorded in +the police reports of Paris, from which it has been frequently extracted +for publication. Mdlle. Hippolyte Clairon makes substantially the +following statements: "In the year 1743 my youth and my success on the +stage procured for me much attention from young fops and elderly +profligates, among whom, however, I found frequently a few better men. +One of these, who made a deep impression upon me, was a Mr. S., the son +of a merchant from Brittany, about thirty years old, fair of features, +well made, and gifted with some talent for poetry. His conversation and +his manners showed that he had received a superior education, and that +he was accustomed to good society, while his reserve and bashfulness, +which prevented him from allowing his attachment to be seen, made him +all the dearer to me. When I had ascertained his discretion, I permitted +him to visit me, and gave him to understand that he might call himself +my friend. He took this patiently, seeing that I was still free and not +without tender feelings, and hoping that time might inspire me with a +warmer affection. Who knows what might have happened! But I used to +question him closely, both from curiosity and from prudence, and his +candid answers destroyed his prospects; for he confessed that, +dissatisfied with his modest station in life, he had sold his property +in order to live in Paris in better society, and I did not like this. +Men who are ashamed of themselves are not, it seems to me, calculated to +inspire others with respect. Besides, he was of a melancholy and +dissatisfied temper, knowing men too well, as he said, not to despise +and avoid them. He intended to visit no one but myself, and to induce me +also to see no one but him. You may imagine how I disliked such ideas. I +might have been held by garlands, but did not wish to be bound with +chains. From that moment I saw that I must disappoint his hopes, and +gradually withdrew from his society. This caused him a severe illness, +during which I showed him all possible attention. But my steady refusal +to do more for him only deepened the wound, and at the same time the +poor young man had the misfortune of being stripped of nearly all his +property by his faithless brother, to whom he had intrusted the sale of +all he owned, so that he saw himself compelled to accept small sums from +me for the payment of his daily food and the necessary medicines. + +"At last he recovered part of his property, but his health was ruined; +and as I thought I was rendering him a real service by widening the +distance between us, I refused henceforth to receive his letters and his +visits. + +"Thus matters went on for two years and a half, when he died. He had +sent for me, wishing to enjoy the happiness of seeing me once more in +his last moments, but my friends would not allow me to go. He had no one +near him except his servants and an old lady, who had of late been his +only companion. Our lodgings were far apart: his near the +Chaussee-d'Antin, where only a few houses had as yet been built, and +mine near the Abbey of St. Martin. My daily guests were an agent, who +attended to all my professional duties, Mr. Pipelet, well known and +beloved by all who knew him, and Rosely, one of my fellow-comedians, a +kind young man full of wit and talent. We had modest little suppers, but +we were merry and enjoyed ourselves heartily. One evening I had just +been singing several pretty airs which seemed to delight my friends, +when the clock struck eleven, and at the same moment an extremely sharp +cry was heard. Its plaintive sound and long duration amazed everybody; I +fainted away and remained for nearly a quarter of an hour unconscious. + +"My agent was in love with me and so mad with jealousy that when I +recovered, he overwhelmed me with reproaches, and said the signals for +my interview were rather loud. I told him that as I had the right to +receive when and whom I chose, no signals were needed, and this cry had +surely been heart-rending enough to convince him that it announced no +sweet moments. My paleness, my tremor, which lasted for some time, my +tears flowing silently and almost unconsciously, and my urgent request +that somebody would stay up with me during the night, all these signs +convinced him of my innocence. My friends remained with me, discussing +the fearful cry, and determining finally to station guards around the +house. + +"Nevertheless the dread sound was repeated night after night; my +friends, all the neighbors, and even the policemen who were stationed +near us, heard it distinctly; it seemed to be uttered immediately under +my window, where nothing could ever be seen. There was no doubt +entertained as to the person for whom it was intended, for whenever I +supped out, no cry was heard; but frequently after my return, when I +entered my room and inquired about it of my mother and my servants, it +suddenly pierced the air anew. Once the president of the court, at whose +house I had been entertained, proposed to see me home in safety; at the +moment when he wished me good-night at the door, the cry was heard right +between us, and the poor man had to be lifted into his carriage more +dead than alive. + +"Another time my young companion, Rosely, a clever, witty man, who +believed in nothing in heaven or on earth, was riding with me in my +carriage on our way to a friend who lived in a distant part of the city. +We were discussing the fearful torment to which I was exposed, and he, +laughing at me, at last declared he would never believe it unless he +heard it with his own ears, and defied me to summon my lover. I do not +know how I came to yield, but instantly the cry was repeated three +times, and with overwhelming fierceness. When our carriage reached the +house, the servants found us both lying unconscious on the cushions, and +had to summon assistance before we recovered. After this I heard nothing +for several months, and began to hope that all was over. But I was sadly +mistaken. + +"The members of the king's troop of comedians had all been ordered to +appear at Versailles, in honor of the dauphin's marriage, and as we were +to spend three days there, lodgings had been provided. It so happened, +however, that a friend of mine, Mme. Grandval, had been forgotten, and +seeing her trouble, I at last offered her, towards three o'clock in the +morning, to share my room, in which there were two beds. This forced me +to take my maid into my own bed, and as she was in the act of coming, I +said to her: 'Here we are at the end of the world, the weather is +abominable, and the cry would find it hard to follow us here!' At that +moment it resounded close to us; Mme. Grandval jumped up terribly +frightened, and ran through the whole house, waking everybody, and +keeping us all in such a state of excitement that not an eye was closed +the whole night. Seven or eight days later, as I was chatting merrily +with a number of friends, at the striking of the hour, a shot was +heard, coming apparently through my window. We all heard it and saw the +fire, but the pane was not broken. Everybody thought at once of an +attempt to murder me, and some friends hastened instantly to the Chief +of Police. Men were immediately sent to search the houses opposite, and +for several days and nights the street was strictly guarded by a number +of soldiers; my own house was searched from roof to cellar, and friends +came in large companies to assist in watchings: nevertheless, the shot +fell night after night at the same hour, for three months, with +unfailing accuracy. No clue was found and no sign was seen save the +sound of the shot and the sight of the fire. Daily reports of the +occurrence were sent to the headquarters of the police, new measures +were continually devised and applied, but the authorities were baffled +as well as all who tried to fathom the mystery. I became at last quite +accustomed to the disturbance, and was in the habit of speaking of it as +the doing of a _bon diable_, because he contented himself so long a time +with jugglers' tricks; but one night as I had stepped through the open +window out upon a balcony, and was standing there with my agent by my +side, the shot suddenly fell again and knocked us both back into the +room, where we fell down as if dead. When we recovered our +consciousness, we got up, and after some hesitation, confessed to each +other that our ears had been severely boxed, his on the right side and +mine on the left, whereupon we gave way to hearty laughter. The next +night was quiet, but on the following day I was riding with my maid to +a friend's house, where I had been invited to meet some acquaintances. +As we passed through a certain part of the city, I recognized the houses +in the bright moonlight, and said jestingly: 'This looks very much like +the part of town where poor S. used to live.' At the same moment a near +church clock struck eleven, and instantly a shot was fired at us from +one of the buildings, which seemed to pass through our carriage. The +coachman thought we had been attacked by robbers, and whipped his horses +to escape; I knew what it meant, but still felt thoroughly frightened, +and reached the house in a state little suited for social enjoyment. +This was, however, the last time my unfortunate friend used a gun. + +"In place of the firing there came now a loud clapping of hands, with +certain modulations and repetitions. This sound, to which I had become +accustomed on the stage by the kindness of my friends, did not disturb +me as much as my companions. They would station themselves around my +door and under my window; they heard it distinctly, but could not see a +trace of any person. I do not remember how long this continued; but it +was followed by the singing of a sweet, almost heavenly melody, which +began at the upper end of the street and gradually swelled till it +reached my house, where it slowly expired. Then the disturbance ceased +altogether. + +"The only light that was ever thrown upon the mystery came from an old +lady who called on me on the pretext of wishing to see my house which I +had offered for rent. I was very much struck by her venerable appearance +and her evident emotion. I offered her a chair and sat down opposite to +her, but was for some time unable to say a word. At last she seemed to +gather courage and told me that she had long wished to make my +acquaintance, but had not dared to come so long as I was constantly +surrounded by hosts of friends and admirers. At last she had happened to +see my advertisement and availed herself of the opportunity in order to +see me--and to visit my house, which had a deep though melancholy +interest in her eyes. I guessed at once that she was the faithful friend +who alone remained by the bedside of poor S., when he was prostrated by +a fatal disease and refused to see anybody else. For months, she now +told me, he had spoken of nothing save of myself, looking upon me now as +an angel and now as a demon, but utterly unable to keep his thoughts +from dwelling uninterruptedly upon the one subject which filled his mind +and his heart alike. I tried to explain to the old lady how I had fully +appreciated his good qualities and noble impulses, finding it, however, +impossible to fall in with his peculiar views of society and to promise, +as he insisted I should do, to forsake all I loved for the purpose of +living with him in loneliness and complete retirement. I told her, also, +that when he sent for me to see him in his last moments, my friends +prevented my going, and that I felt myself that the sight of his death +under such circumstances would have been dangerous in the extreme to my +peace of mind, besides being utterly useless to the dying man. She +admitted the force of my reasoning, but repeated that my refusal had +hastened his end and deprived him at the last moment of all +self-control. In this state of mind, when a few minutes before eleven, +the servant had entered and assured him in answer to his passionate +inquiry, that no one had come, he had exclaimed: 'The heartless woman! +She shall gain nothing by her cruelty, for I will pursue her after death +as I have pursued her during life!' and with these words on his lips he +had expired." + +The impression produced by this thoroughly authenticated recital is a +strong argument in favor of a continued connection after death of the +human soul with the world in which we live. There was a man whose whole +existence was absorbed by one great and all-pervading passion; it +brought ruin to his body and disabled his mind from correcting the +vagaries of his fancy. He died in this state, with a sense of grievous +wrong and intense thirst of revenge uppermost in his mind. Then follow a +number of magic phenomena, witnessed, for several years, by thousands of +attached friends and curious observers, defying the vigilance of +soldiers and the acuteness of police agents. These disturbances, at +first bearing the stamp of willful annoyance, gradually assume a milder +form, as if expressive of softening indignation; they become weaker and +less frequent, and finally cease altogether, suggestive of the peace +which the poor erring soul had at last found, by infinite mercy and +goodness, when safely entering the desired haven. + +On the other hand--for contrasts meet here as well as elsewhere--these +phenomena have been frequently ascribed to purely physical causes, and +in a number of cases the final explanation has confirmed this +suggestion. A hypochondriac artist, for instance, was nightly disturbed +by a low but furious knocking in his bed, which was heard by others as +well as by himself. He prayed, he caused priests to come to his bedside, +he had masses read in his behalf, but all remained in vain. Then came a +plain, sensible friend, who, half in jest and half in earnest, covered +his big toe with a brass wire which he dipped into an alkaline solution, +and behold, the knockings ceased and never returned! (Dupotel, "Animal +Magn.") In another case a somnambulistic woman frightened herself as +well as others by most violent knockings whenever she was disappointed +or thwarted; her physician, suspecting the cause, finally gave her +antispasmodic remedies, and it soon appeared that in her nervous spasms +the muscles had been vibrating forcibly enough to produce these +disturbances. Since these discoveries it has been found that almost +anybody may produce such knockings--which stand in a suspicious +relationship to spirit-rappings--by exerting certain muscles of the leg; +some men, who have practised this trick for scientific purposes, like +Professor Schiff, of Florence, are able to imitate almost all the +various knockings generally ascribed to ghosts and spirits. The public +performances of Mr. Chauncey Burr, in New York, gave very striking +illustrations of this power, and a Mr. Shadrach Barnes rapped with his +toes to perfection. + +In a large number of cases such phenomena appear in connection with +persons who suffer of some nervous disease, and then the knockings are, +of course, produced unconsciously, and may be accompanied by evidences +of exceptional powers. It need not be added, however, that the two +symptoms are not necessarily of the same nature; generally the +mechanical knockings precede the development of ecstatic visions. A girl +of eleven years, the child of humble Alsatian parents, presented, in +1852, this succession of symptoms very strikingly. The child had a habit +of falling asleep at all hours; at once mysterious knockings began to +perform a dance or a march, and continued daily for more than an hour. +After some time the poor girl began, also, to talk in her sleep, and to +converse with the knocking agent. She would order him to beat a tattoo, +or to play a quickstep, and immediately it was done. The directions of +bystanders, even when not uttered but merely formed earnestly in their +mind, were obeyed in like manner. Finally the child, getting no doubt +worse and unmercifully excited by the crowds of curious people who +thronged the house, began to admonish her audience, and to preach and +pray; during these exhortations no knockings were heard, but she became +clairvoyant and recognized all the persons present, even with her eyes +closed. She fancied that a black man with a red shawl produced the +knockings and delivered the speeches. Her clairvoyance became at last so +striking that her case excited the deepest interest of persons in high +social position, and several physicians examined it with great care. Her +disease was declared to be neurosis coeliaca ("Magicon," v. 274). + +A very peculiar and utterly inexplicable phenomenon belonging to this +class of ghostly appearances is the complete removal of persons by an +unseen power. The idea of such occurrences must have been current among +the Jews, for when "there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire +... and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven" (II. Kings ii. 11), +the sons of the prophets did not at once resign themselves, but sent +fifty strong men to seek him, "lest peradventure the Spirit of the Lord +hath taken him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley" +(v. 16). In the New Testament the same mysterious removal is mentioned +in the case of Philip, after his interview with the Ethiopian, whom he +baptized. "The Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch +saw him no more," and "Philip was found at Azotus" (Acts viii. 39, 40). +What in these cases was done by divine power, is said to be occasionally +the work of an unknown and unseen force. Generally, no doubt, men or +children lose themselves by accident, either when they are already from +illness or other cause in a state of semi-consciousness, or when they +become so bewildered and frightened by the accident itself, that they +fancy they must have been carried away by a mysterious power. The best +authenticated case is reported in Beaumont (p. 65). An Irish steward, +crossing a field, saw in it a large company feasting, and was invited to +join their meal. One of them, however, warned him in a whisper not to +accept anything that should be offered. Upon his refusal to eat, the +table vanished and the men were seen dancing to a merry music. He was +again invited to join, and when he refused, all disappeared, and he +found himself alone. He hurried home thoroughly terrified, and fainted +away in his room. During the night he dreamt--or really saw--that one of +the mysterious company appeared at his bedside and announced to him that +if he dare leave the house on the following day, he would be carried +away. He remained at home till the evening, when, thinking himself safe, +he stepped across the threshold. Instantly his companions saw him, with +a rope around his body, hurried away so fast that they could not follow. +At last they meet a horseman whom they request by signs to arrest the +unhappy victim; he seizes the rope and receives a smart blow, but +rescues the steward. Lord Orrery desired to see the man, and when the +latter presented himself before the earl, he reported that another +nightly visitor had threatened him as before. He was, thereupon, placed +in a large room under the guard of several stout men; a number of +distinguished persons, two bishops among them, went constantly in and +out. In the afternoon he was suddenly lifted into the air; a famous +boxer, Greatrix, who had been specially engaged to guard him, and +another powerful man, seized him by the shoulders, but he was dragged +from their grasp and for some time carried about high above their heads, +till at last he fell into the arms of some of his keepers. During the +night the same apparition stood once more by his bed-side, inviting him +to drink of a gray porridge, which would cure him of all ills and +protect him against further violence. He suffered himself to be +persuaded, when the visitor made himself known as a former friend who +had to attend those mysterious meetings in punishment of the dissolute +life he had led upon earth, and who now wished to save another unhappy +fellow-being from a like sad fate. At the same time he reminded him of +his neglect to pray, and then disappeared. The steward speedily +recovered from his fright, and was no further molested. There can be +little doubt that the man was ill at ease in body and in conscience, and +that this double burden was too heavy to bear for his mind; his thoughts +became disordered, till he felt an apparently external power stronger +than his own will, and thus not only imagined strange visions, but +actually obeyed erratic impulses of his diseased mind, as if they were +acts of violence from without. + +A favorite pastime of these pseudo-ghosts is the throwing of stones at +the buildings or even into the rooms of those whom they wish to annoy. +Good Cotton Mather loved to tell stories of such perverse proceedings, +and states at length the sufferings of George Walton, at Portsmouth, in +1682. Invisible hands threw such a hailstorm of stones against his +house, that the door was burst open, although the inhabitants, when hit +by the stones, only felt a slight touch. Then the stones began to fly +about inside, and to destroy the window-panes from within; when picked +up by some of the witnesses, they proved to be burning hot; they were +marked and placed upon a table, whereupon they commenced to fly about +once more. It is characteristic of the whole proceeding that the only +person really injured by the operation was the owner of the house, a +quaker! The learned author delights also in recitals of children who +were plagued by evil spirits, having forks and knives, pins and sharp +scissors stuck into their backs, and whose food, at the moment when it +was to be carried from the plate to the mouth, flew away, leaving yarn, +ashes, and vile things to reach the palate! At other times the +disturbance assumes a somewhat more dignified form, and appears as the +ringing of bells. Thus Baxter tells us of a house at Colne Priory, in +Essex, where, for a time, every morning at two o'clock a large bell was +heard, while in the parish of Wilcot, a smaller bell waked the vicar +night after night with its tinkling, and yet could not be heard outside +of the dwelling. Physicians know very well how readily the pressure of +blood to certain vessels in the head produces the impression of the +ringing of bells, and experience tells us how easily men are made to +believe that they see or hear what others assure them is seen or heard +by everybody. Even the great John Wesley seems not to have been fully +convinced of the purely natural character of such disturbances, when +they annoyed his venerable father at Epworth Rectory; and Dr. Priestley, +a calm and cautious writer, says of these phenomena: "It is perhaps the +best-authenticated and the best-told story of the kind that is anywhere +extant, on which account, and to exercise the ingenuity of some +speculative person, I thought it not undeserved of being published." It +seems that in 1716 the rectory became the scene of strange disturbances, +which were at first ascribed to one of the minister's enemies, Jeffrey. +The inmates heard an incessant walking about, sighing and groaning, +cackling and crowing; a hand-mill was set whirling around by invisible +hands, and the Amen! with which Wesley's father ended the family prayer +was accompanied by a noise like thunder. Even the faithful watchdog was +disturbed and his instinct overawed, for he sought refuge with men, and +barked furiously, till his excitement rose to a state resembling +madness, he even anticipated the coming of the disturbance, and +announced it by his intense agitation. + +The subject is one of extreme difficulty because of the large number of +cases in which all such disturbances have been clearly traced to the +agency of dissatisfied servants, hidden enemies, or envious neighbors, +whose sole purpose was a desire to drive the occupant from his house, or +to diminish its value. It is characteristic of human nature that the +cunning and the skill displayed on such occasions even by ignorant +servants and awkward rustics are perfectly amazing, a fact which proves +anew the assertion of old divines, that the Devil is vastly better +served than the Lord of Heaven. Even the best authenticated case of such +mysterious disturbances, Kerner's so-called Seeress of Prevorst, is not +entirely free from all suspicion. Mrs. Hauffe, a lady of delicate +health, great nervous irritability, and a mind which was, to say the +least, not too well balanced, became the patient of Dr. Justinus Kerner, +in southern Germany. Besides her mysterious power to reveal unknown +things, to read the future, and to prescribe for herself and others, of +which mention has been made before; she was also pursued by every +variety of strange noises. Plates and glasses, tables and chairs were +violently thrown about in the house in which she lived; a medicine phial +rose slowly into the air and had to be brought back by one of the +bystanders, and an easy-chair was lifted up to the ceiling, but came +down again quite gently. The suffering woman was the only one who knew +the cause of these phenomena; she ascribed them all to a dark spirit, +Belon's companion, who appeared to her as a black column of smoke, with +a hideous head, and whose approach oppressed even some of the +bystanders--especially the patient's sister. He was not content with +disturbing Mrs. Hauffe only, but carried his wantonness even into the +homes of distant friends and kinsmen. A pious minister, who frequently +visited the poor sufferer, was contagiously affected by the ill-fated +atmosphere of her house; night after night he was waked up, by a "bright +spirit," who coughed and sighed and sobbed in his presence, till a +fervent prayer drove him away; if the poor divine, however, prayed only +faintly or entertained doubts in his heart, the spirit mocked him with +increased energy. Later even the minister's wife succumbed, saw the same +luminous appearances and heard the same mysterious noises, till the +whole matter was suddenly brought to an end by an amulet! To this class +of occurrences belongs also the experience of the Rev. Dr. Phelps of +Stratford, Connecticut. One fine day he found, upon returning from +church, that all the doors of his house, which he had carefully locked, +were open and everything in the lower rooms in a state of boundless +confusion. Nothing, however, had been stolen. In the upper story a room +was found to be occupied by eight or ten persons diligently reading in +an open Bible, which each one held close to his face. Upon examination +these readers were discovered to be bundles of clothes carefully and +most cunningly arranged so as to represent living beings. Everything was +cleared away and the room was locked; but in three minutes, the +clothing, which had been put aside, disappeared, and when the door was +opened the same scene was presented. For seven long months the house was +haunted by most extraordinary phenomena; noises of every kind were +heard by day as well as by night; utensils and window-panes were broken +before the eyes of numerous witnesses by invisible hands, and the son of +the house, eleven years old, was bodily lifted up and carried away to +some distance. The most searching inquiry led to no result, until at +last Dr. Phelps, almost in despair, applied to some spiritualists, and +in consequence of the hints he received was enabled to bring the +disturbances to a speedy end (_Rechenberg_, p. 58). + +Stone-throwing seems to be a favorite amusement with Eastern ghosts +also; at least we are told that it is quite frequent in the western part +of the Island of Java, where the Sunda people live amid gigantic +mountains and still active volcanoes. They believe in good and evil +spirits, and are firmly convinced that constant intercourse is kept up +between earth-born men and heavenly beings. The whole Indian Archipelago +is filled with the latter, and hence, the throwing of stones, sand and +gravel, by invisible hands, has a name of its own, it is called +Gundarua. Some thirty years ago, a German happened to be +Assistant-Resident at Sumadang, in the service of the Dutch government. +His wife had taken a fancy to a native child ten years old, who was +allowed to go in and out the house at will. One morning during the +German's absence, the child's white dress was found to be soiled all +over with red betel-juice, and at the moment when her patroness made +this discovery, a stone fell apparently from the ceiling, at her feet. +The same phenomenon was repeated over and over again, till the lady, in +her distress, appealed to a neighboring native sovereign, who promised +his assistance. He sent immediately a large force of armed men, who +surrounded the house and watched the room; nevertheless, the red spots +reappeared and stones fell as before. Towards evening, a Mohammedan +mufti, of high rank, was sent for; but he had scarcely opened his Koran, +to read certain sentences for the purpose of exorcising the demons, when +the sacred book was hurled to one side and the lamp to another. The lady +took the child to the prince's residence to spend the night there, and +no disturbance occurred. But when her husband, for whom swift messengers +had been sent out, returned on the following day, the same trouble +occurred; the child was spit at with betel-juice and stones kept falling +from on high. Soon the report reached the Governor-General at +Breitenzorg, who thereupon sent a man of great military renown, a Major +Michiels, to investigate the matter. Once more the house was surrounded +by an armed force, even the neighboring trees were carefully guarded, +and the major took the little girl upon his knees. In spite of all these +precautions, her dress was soon covered with red spots, and stones flew +about as before. No one, however, was injured. They were gathered up, +proved to be wet or hot, as if just picked up in the road, and at night +filled a huge box. The same process continued, when a huge sheet of +linen had been stretched from wall to wall, so as to form an inner +ceiling under the real ceiling; and now not only stones, but also fruit +from the surrounding trees, freshly gathered, and mortar from the +kitchen fell into the newly formed tent. At the same time the furniture +was repeatedly disturbed, tumblers and wineglasses tossed about, and +marks left on the large mirror as if a moist hand had been passed over +the surface. The marvelous occurrences were duly reported to the home +government, and the king, William II., ordered that no pains should be +spared to clear up the matter. But no explanation was ever obtained; +only the fact was ascertained that similar phenomena had been repeatedly +observed in other parts of the island also, and were considered quite +ordinary occurrences by the natives. Certain families, it may be added, +claim to have inherited from their ancestors the power to make +themselves invisible, a gift which is almost invariably accompanied by +the Gundarua; as these native families gradually die out, the symptoms +of the latter also disappear more and more. There is no doubt that here, +as in the Russian _poganne_ (cursed places which are haunted by ghosts), +the belief in such appearances, bequeathed through long ages from father +to son, has finally obtained a force which renders it equal to reality +itself. Reason is not only biased, but actually held bound; the mind is +wrought up to a state of excitement in which it ceases to see clearly, +and finally visions assume an overwhelming force, which ends in symptoms +of what is called magic. The same law applies, for instance, to the +ancient home of charmers and magicians, the land of the Nile, where +also the studies of the ancient Magi have been assumed by a succession +of learned men, till they were taken up by fanatic Mohammedans, whose +creed arranges invisible beings, angels, demons, and others, in regular +order, and assigns them a home in distinct parts of the universe. It is +not without interest to observe that even Europeans, after a long +residence in the Orient, become deeply imbued with such notions, and men +like Bayle St. John, in his account of magic performances which he +witnessed, do not seem able to remain altogether impartial. + +One of the most remarkable phenomena belonging to this branch of magic +is the appearance of living or recently deceased persons to friends or +supplicants. The peculiarity in this case consists in the constantly +changing character of the appearance: the double--as it is called--is +the vision of the dying man, which appears to others or to his own +senses. The former class of cases was well known in antiquity, for +Pythagoras already had, according to popular report, appeared to +numerous friends before he died. Herodotus and Maximus Tyrius state +both, that Aristaeus sent his spirit into different lands to acquire +knowledge, and Epimenides and Hernestinus, from Claromenae, were +popularly believed to be able to visit, when in a state of ecstasy, all +distant countries, and to return at pleasure. St. Augustine, also, +states ("Sermon," 123) that he, himself, had appeared to two persons who +had known him only by reputation, and advised them to go to Hippons in +order to obtain their health there by the intercession of St. Stephen. +They really went to the place and recovered from their disease. At +another time his form appeared to a famous teacher of eloquence in +Carthage and explained to him several most difficult passages in +Cicero's writings (_De cura pro mortuis_, ch. ii). The saints of the +Catholic church having possessed the gift of being in several places at +once, apparently so very generally, that the miracle has lost its +interest, except where peculiar circumstances seem to suggest the true +explanation. Such was, for instance, the last-mentioned case, recited by +St. Augustine (_De Civ. Dei._ l. 8. ch. 18). Praestantius requested a +philosopher to solve to him some doubts, but received no answer. The +following night, however, when Praestantius lay awake, troubled by his +difficulties, he suddenly saw his learned friend standing by his bedside +and heard from his lips all he desired to know. Upon meeting him next +day, he inquired why he had been unwilling to explain the matter in the +daytime, and thus caused himself the trouble of coming at midnight to +his house. "I never came to your house," was the reply, "but I dreamt +that I did." Here was very evidently a case of magic activity on the +part of the philosopher, whose mind was, in his sleep, busily engaged in +solving the propounded mystery and thus affected not himself only, but +his absent friend likewise. + +The story of Dr. Donne's vision is well known, and deserves all the more +serious attention as his candor was above suspicion, and his judgment +held in the highest esteem. He formed part of an embassy sent to Henry +IV. of France, and had been two days in Paris, thinking constantly and +anxiously of his wife, whom he had left ill in London. Towards noon he +suddenly fell into a kind of trance, and when he recovered his senses +related to his friends that he had seen his beloved wife pass him twice, +as she walked across the room, her hair dishevelled and her child dead +in her arms. When she passed him the second time, she looked sadly into +his face and then disappeared. His fears were aroused to such a degree +by this vision that he immediately dispatched a special messenger to +England, and twelve days later he received the afflicting news that on +that day and at that hour his wife had, after great and protracted +suffering, been delivered of a still-born infant (Beaumont, p. 96). In +Macnish's excellent work on "Sleep," we find (p. 180) the following +account: "A Mr. H. went one day, apparently in the enjoyment of full +health, down the street, when he saw a friend of his, Mr. C., who was +walking before him. He called his name aloud, but the latter pretended +not to hear him, and steadily walked on. H. hastened his steps to +overtake him, but his friend also hurried on, and thus remained at the +same distance from him; thus the two walked for some time, till suddenly +Mr. C. entered a gateway, and when Mr. H. was about to follow, slammed +the door violently in his face. Perfectly amazed at such unusual +conduct, Mr. H. opened the door and looked down the long passage, upon +which it opened, but saw no one. Determined to solve the mystery, he +hurried to his friend's house, and there, to his great astonishment, +learnt that Mr. C. had been confined to his bed for some days. It was +not until several weeks later that the two friends met at the house of a +common acquaintance; Mr. H. told Mr. C. of his adventure, and added +laughingly, that having seen his double, he was afraid Mr. C. would not +live long. These words were received by all with hearty laughter; but +only a few days after this meeting the unfortunate friend was seized +with a violent illness, to which he speedily succumbed." What is most +remarkable, however, is that Mr. H. also followed him, quite +unexpectedly, soon to the grave. Whatever may have been the nature of +the event itself, it cannot be doubted that the minds of both friends +were far more deeply impressed by its mysteriousness than they would +probably have been willing to acknowledge to themselves, and that the +nervous excitement thus produced brought out an illness lurking already +in their system, and rendered it fatal. A very remarkable case was that +of a distinguished diplomat, related by A. Moritz in his "Psychology." +He was lying in bed, sleepless, when he noticed his pet dog becoming +restless, and apparently disturbed to the utmost by a rustling and +whisking about in the room, which he heard but could not explain. +Suddenly a kind of white vapor rose by his bed-side, and gradually +assumed the outline and even the features of his mother; he especially +noticed a purple ribbon in her cap. He jumped out of bed and endeavored +to embrace her, but she fled before him and as suddenly vanished, +leaving a bright glare at the place where she had disappeared. It was +found, afterwards, that at that hour--10 o'clock A. M.--the old lady had +been ill unto death, lying still and almost breathless on her couch; she +had felt the anguish of death in her heart, and had thought so anxiously +of her son and her sister, that her first question when she recovered +was, whether she had not perhaps been visited by the two persons who had +thus occupied her whole mind. It was also ascertained that, contrary to +a life's habit, she had on that day worn a purple ribbon in her +night-cap. A German professor once succeeded in establishing the +connection which undoubtedly exists between the will of certain persons +and their appearance to others. He had only been married a year in 1823, +when he was compelled to leave his wife and to undertake a long and +perilous journey. Once, sitting in a peculiarly sad and dejected mood +alone in a room of his hotel, he longed so ardently for the society of +his wife, that he felt in his heart as if, by a great effort of will, he +should be able to see her. He made the effort, and, behold! he saw her +sitting at her work-table, busily engaged in sewing, and himself, as was +his habit, on a low foot-stool by her side. She tried to conceal her +work from his eyes. A few days later a messenger reached him, sent by +his wife, who was in great consternation and anxiety. On that day she +also had suddenly seen her husband seated by her side, attentively +watching her at work, and continuing there till her father entered the +room, upon which the professor had instantly disappeared. When he +returned to his house he made minute inquiries as to the work he had +seen in the hands of his wife, and this was of such peculiar character +as to exclude all ideas of a mere dream on his part. Here also the +supreme will of the professor must have endowed him for the moment with +exceptional powers, enabling him to make himself visible to his wife, +while the latter, with the ardent love which bound her to her husband, +was at the same moment sympathetically excited, and thus enabled to +second his will, and to behold him as she was accustomed to see him most +frequently. + +Owen in his "Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World," reports fully +a remarkable case here repeated only in outline. Robert Bruce, thirty +years old, served as mate on board a merchant vessel on the line between +Liverpool and St. John in New Brunswick. When the ship was near the +banks he was one day about noon busy calculating the longitude, and +thinking that the captain was in his cabin--the next to his own--he +called out to him: How have you found it? Looking back over his +shoulder, he saw the captain writing busily at his desk, and as he heard +no answer, he went in and repeated his question. To his horror the man +at the desk raised his head and revealed to him the face of an entire +stranger, who regarded him fixedly. In a state of great excitement he +rushed to the upper deck, where he found the captain and told him what +had occurred. Thereupon both went down; there was no one in the cabin, +but on the captain's slate an unknown hand had written these words: +Steer NW.! No effort was spared to solve the mystery; the whole vessel +was searched from end to end, but no stranger was discovered; even the +handwriting of every member of the crew was examined, but nothing found +resembling in the least degree the mysterious warning. After some +hesitation the captain decided, as nothing was likely to be lost by so +doing, to obey the behest and ordered the helmsman to steer northwest. A +few hours later they encountered the wreck of a vessel fastened to an +iceberg, with a large crew and a number of passengers, in expectation of +certain death. When the unfortunate men were brought back by the ship's +boats, Bruce suddenly started in utter amazement, for in one of the +saved men he recognized, by dress and features, the person he had seen +at the captain's desk in the cabin. The stranger was requested to write +down the words: Steer NW.! and when the words were compared with those +still standing on the slate, they were identical! Upon inquiry it turned +out that the shipwrecked man had at noon fallen into a deep sleep, +during which he had seen a ship approaching to their rescue. When he had +been waked half an hour later he had confidently assured his +fellow-sufferers that they would be rescued, describing even the vessel +that was to come to their assistance. Words cannot convey the amazement +of the unfortunate men when they saw, a few hours afterwards, a ship +bear down upon them, which bore all the marks predicted by their +companion, and the latter assured Robert Bruce that everything on board +the vessel appeared to him perfectly familiar. + +Cases in which men have been seen at the same time at two different +places are not less frequent, though here the explanation is much less +easy. A French girl, Emilie Sagee, had even to pay a severe penalty for +such a peculiarity: she was continually met with at various places at +once, and as she could not give a satisfactory excuse for being at one +place when her duties required her to be at another, she was suspected +of sad misconduct. She lived as governess in a boarding-school in +Livonia, and the girls of the institute saw her at the same time sitting +among them and walking below in the garden by the side of a friend, and +not unfrequently two Miss Sagees would be seen standing before the +blackboard, looking exactly alike and performing the same motions, +although one of them only wrote with chalk on the board. Once, while she +was helping a friend to lace her dress behind, the latter looked into +the mirror and to her horror saw two persons standing there, whereupon +she fell down fainting. The poor French girl lost her place not less +than nineteen times on account of her double existence (Owen, +"Footfalls," etc., p. 348). + +Occasionally this "double" appears to others at the same time that it is +seen by the owner himself. Thus the Empress Elizabeth, of Russia, was +seen by a Count O. and the Imperial Guards, seated in full regalia on +her throne, in the throne-room, while she was lying fast asleep in her +bed. The vision was so distinct, and the terror of the beholders so +great, that the Empress was actually waked, and informed of what had +happened, by her lady-in-waiting, who had herself seen the whole scene. +The dauntless Empress did not hesitate for a moment; she dressed hastily +and went to the throne-room; when the doors were thrown open, she saw +herself, as the others had seen her; but so far from being terrified +like her servants, she ordered the guard to fire at the apparition. When +the smoke had passed away, the hall was empty--but the brave Empress +died a few months latter (_Bl. aus Prevost_, V. p. 92). Jung Stilling +mentions another striking illustration. A young lieutenant, full of +health and in high spirits, returns home from a merry meeting with old +friends. As he approaches the house in which he lives, he sees lights in +his room and, to his great terror, himself in the act of being undressed +by his servant; as he stands and gazes in speechless wonder, he sees +himself walk to his bed and lie down. He remains for some time +dumbfounded and standing motionless in the street, till at last a dull, +heavy crash arouses him from his revery. He makes an effort, goes to the +door and rings the bell; his servant, who opens the door, starts back +frightened, and wonders how he could have dressed so quickly and gone +out, as he had but just helped him to undress. When they enter the +bedroom, however, they are both still more amazed, for there they find a +large part of the ceiling on the bed of the officer, which is broken to +pieces by the heavy mortar that had fallen down. The young lieutenant +saw in the warning a direct favor of Providence and lived henceforth so +as to show his gratitude for this almost miraculous escape ("Jenseits," +p. 105). + +Not unfrequently the seeing of a "double" is the result of physical or +mental disease. Persons suffering of catalepsy are especially prone to +see their own forms mixing with strange persons, who people the room in +which they are confined. Insanity, also, very often begins with the +idea, that the patient's own image is constantly by his side, +accompanying him like his shadow wherever he goes, and finally +irritating him beyond endurance. In these cases there is, of course, +nothing at work but a diseased imagination, and with the return of +health the visions also disappear. + +Perhaps the most important branch of this subject is the theory, +cherished by all nations and in all ages, that the dying possess at the +last moment and by a supreme effort, the mysterious power of making +themselves perceptible to friends at a distance. We leave out, here +also, the numerous instances told of saints, because they are generally +claimed by the Catholic Church as miracles. One of the oldest +well-authenticated cases of the kind, occurred at the court of Cosmo +de' Medici, in 1499. In the brilliant circle of eminent men which the +great merchant prince had gathered around him, two philosophers, Michael +Mercatus, papal prothonotary, and Marsilius Ficinus were prominent by +their vast erudition, their common devotion to Platonic philosophy, and +the ardent friendship which bound them to each other. They had solemnly +agreed that he who should die first, should convey to the other some +information about the future state. Ficinus died first, and his friend, +writing early in the morning near a window, suddenly heard a horseman +dashing up to his house, checking his horse and crying out: "Michael! +Michael! nothing is more true than what is said of the life to come!" +Mercatus immediately opened the window and saw his bosom friend riding +at full speed down the road, on his white horse, until he was out of +sight. He returned, full of thought, to his studies; but wrote at once +to inquire about his friend. In due time the answer came, that Ficinus +had died in Florence at the very moment in which Mercatus had seen him +in Rome. Our authority for this remarkable account is the Cardinal +Baronius, who knew Mercatus and heard it from his own lips; but the +dates which he mentions do not correspond with the annals of history. He +places the event in the year 1491, but Michele de' Mercati was papal +prothonotary under Sixtus V. (1585-90) and could, therefore, not have +been the friend of Ficinus, the famous physician and theologian, who +was one of Savonarola's most distinguished adherents. + +Nor can we attach much weight to the old ballads of Roland, which recite +in touching simplicity the anguish of Charlemagne, when he heard from +afar the sound of his champion's horn imploring him to come to his +assistance, although the two armies were at so great a distance from +each other that when the Emperor at last reached the ill-fated valley of +Ronceval, his heroic friend had been dead for some days. Calderon +depicts in like manner, but with the peculiar coloring of the Spanish +devotee, how the dying Eusebio calls his absent friend Alberto to his +bedside, to hear his last confession, and how the latter, obeying the +mysterious summons, hastens there to fulfil his solemn promise. + +A well-known occurrence of this kind is reported by Cotton Mather as +having taken place in New England. On May 2d, 1687, at 5 o'clock A. M., +a young man, called Beacon, then living in Boston, suddenly saw his +brother, whom he had left in London, standing before him in his usual +costume, but with a bleeding wound in his forehead. He told him that he +had been foully murdered by a reprobate, who would soon reach New +England; at the same time he described minutely the appearance of his +murderer, and implored his brother to avenge his death, promising him +his assistance. Towards the end of June official information reached the +colony that the young man had died on May 2d, at 5 o'clock A. M., from +the effects of his wounds. But here, also, several inconsistencies +diminish the value of the account. In the first place, the narrator has +evidently forgotten the difference in time between London and Boston in +America, or he has purposely falsified the report, in order to make it +more impressive. Then the murderer never left his country; although he +was tried for his crime, escaped the penalty of death by the aid of +influential friends. It is, however, possible that he may have had the +intention of seeking safety abroad at the time he committed the murder. + +The apparition of the great Cardinal of Lorraine at the moment of death, +is better authenticated. D'Aubigne tells us (_Hist. Univer._ 1574, p. +719) that the queen Catherine of Medici, was retiring one day, at an +earlier hour than usual, in the presence of the King of Navarre, the +Archbishop of Lyons, and a number of eminent persons, when she suddenly +hid her eyes under her hands and cried piteously for help. She made +great efforts to point out to the bystanders the form of the Cardinal, +whom she saw standing at the foot of her bed and offering her his hand. +She exclaimed repeatedly: "Monsieur le Cardinal, I have nothing to do +with you!" and was in a state of most fearful excitement. At last one of +the courtiers had the wit to go to the Cardinal's house, and soon +returned with the appalling news that the great man had died in that +very hour. To this class of cases belongs also the well-known vision of +Lord Lyttleton, who had been warned that he would die on a certain day, +at midnight, and who did die at the appointed hour, although his +friends had purposely advanced every clock and watch in the house by +half an hour, and he himself had gone to bed with his mind relieved of +all anxiety. Jarvis, in his "Accreditated Ghost Stories," p. 13, relates +the following remarkable case: "When General Stuart was Governor of San +Domingo, in the early part of our war of independence, he was one day +anxiously awaiting a certain Major von Blomberg, who had been expected +for some time. At last he determined to dictate to his secretary a +dispatch to the Home Government on this subject, when steps were heard +outside, and the major himself entered, desiring to confer with the +Governor in private. He said: 'When you return to England, pray go into +Dorsetshire to such and such a farm, where you will find my son, the +fruit of a secret union with Lady Laing. Take care of the poor orphan. +The woman who has reared him has the papers that establish his +legitimacy; they are in a red morocco pocket-book. Open it and make the +best use you can of the papers you will find. You will never see me +again.' Thereupon the major walked away, but nobody else had seen him +come or go, and nobody had opened the house for him. A few days later, +news reached the island that the vessel on which Blomberg had taken +passage, had foundered, and all hands had perished, at the very hour +when the former had appeared to his friend the Governor. It became also +known that the two friends had pledged each other, not only that the +survivor should take care of the children of him who died first, but +also that he should make an effort to appear to him if permitted to do +so. The Governor found everything as it had been told him; he took +charge of his friend's son, who became a _protege_ of Queen Charlotte, +when she heard the remarkable story, and was educated as a companion of +the future George IV." + +Lord Byron tells the following story of Captain Kidd. He was lying one +night in his cabin asleep, when he suddenly felt oppressed by a heavy +weight apparently resting on him; he opened his eyes, and by the feeble +light of a small lamp he fancied he saw his brother, dressed in full +uniform, and leaning across the bed. Under the impression that the whole +is a mere idle delusion of his senses, he turns over and falls asleep +once more. But the sense of oppression returns, and upon opening his +eyes he sees the same image as before. Now he tries to seize it, and to +his amazement touches something wet. This terrifies him, and he calls a +brother officer, but when the latter enters, nothing is to be seen. +After the lapse of several months Captain Kidd received information that +in that same night his brother had been drowned in the Indian Sea. He +himself told the story to Lord Byron, and the latter endorsed its +accuracy (_Monthly Rev._, 1830, p. 229). + +One of the most remarkable interviews of this kind, which continued for +some time, and led to a prolonged and interesting conversation during +which the three senses of sight, hearing, and touch, were alike +engaged, is that which a Mrs. Bargrave had on the 8th of September, +1805. According to an account given by Jarvis ("Accred. Ghost Stories," +Lond., 1823), she was sitting in her house in Canterbury, in a state of +great despondency, when a friend of hers, Miss Veal, who lived at Dover, +and whom she had not seen for two years and a half, entered the room. +The two ladies had formerly been very intimate, and found equal comfort, +during a period of great sorrow, in reading together works treating of +future life and similar subjects. Her friend wore a traveling suit, and +the clocks were striking noon as she entered; Mrs. Bargrave wished to +embrace her, but Miss Veal held a hand before her eyes, stating that she +was unwell and drew back. She then added that she was on the point of +making a long journey, and feeling an irresistible desire to see her +friend once more, she had come to Canterbury. She sat down in an +armchair and began a lengthened conversation, during which she begged +her friend's pardon for having so long neglected her, and gradually +turned to the subject which had been uppermost in Mrs. Bargrave's mind, +the views entertained by various authors of the life after death. She +attempted to console the latter, assuring her that "a moment of future +bliss was ample compensation for all earthly sufferings," and that "if +the eyes of our mind were as open as those of the body, we should see a +number of higher beings ready for our protection." She declined, +however, reading certain verses aloud at her friend's request, "because +holding her head low gave her the headache." She frequently passed her +hand over her face, but at last begged Mrs. Bargrave to write a letter +to her brother, which surprised her friend very much, for in the letter +she wished her brother to distribute certain rings and sums of money +belonging to her among friends and kinsmen. At this time she appeared to +be growing ill again, and Mrs. Bargrave moved close up to her in order +to support her, in doing so she touched her dress and praised the +materials, whereupon Miss Veal told her that it was recently made, but +of a silk which had been cleaned. Then she inquired after Mrs. +Bargrave's daughter, and the latter went to a neighboring house to fetch +her; on her way back she saw Miss Veal at a distance in the street, +which was full of people, as it happened to be market-day, but before +she could overtake her, her friend had turned round a corner and +disappeared. + +Upon inquiry it appeared that Miss Veal, whom she had thus seen, whose +dress she had touched, and with whom she had conversed for nearly two +hours, had died the day before! When the question was discussed with the +relatives of the deceased, it was found that she had communicated +several secrets to her Canterbury friend. The fact that her dress was +made of an old silk-stuff was known to but one person, who had done the +cleaning and made the dress, which she recognized instantly from the +description. She had also acknowledged to Mrs. Bargrave her +indebtedness to a Mr. Breton for an annual pension of ten pounds, a fact +which had been utterly unknown during her lifetime. + +In Germany a number of such cases are reported, and often by men whose +names alone would give authority to their statements. Thus the +philosopher Schopenhauer (_Parerga_, etc., I. p. 277) mentions a sick +servant girl in Frankfort on the Main, who died one night at the Jewish +hospital of the former Free City. Early the next morning her sister and +her niece, who lived several miles from town, appeared at the gate of +the institution to make inquiries about their kinswoman. Both, though +living far apart, had seen her distinctly during the preceding night, +and hence their anxiety. The famous writer E. M. Arndt, also, quotes a +number of striking revelations which were in this manner made to a lady +of his acquaintance. Thus he was once, in 1811, visiting the Island of +Ruegen, in the Baltic, and having been actively engaged all day, was +sitting in an easy-chair, quietly nodding. Suddenly he sees his dear old +aunt Sophie standing before him; on her face her well-known sweet smile, +and in her arms her two little boys, whom he loved like his own. She was +holding them out to him as if she wished to say by this gesture: "Take +care of the little ones!" The next day his brother joined him and +brought him the news that their aunt had died on the preceding evening +at the hour when she had appeared to Arndt. Wieland, even, by no means +given to credit easily accounts of supernatural occurrences, mentions +in his "Euthanasia" a Protestant lady of his acquaintance, whose mind +was frequently filled with extraordinary visions. She was a +somnambulist, and subject to cataleptic attacks. A Benedictine monk, an +old friend of the family, had been ordered to Bellinzona, in +Switzerland, but his correspondence with his friends had never been +interrupted for years. Years after his removal the above-mentioned lady +was taken ill, and at once predicted the day and hour of her death. On +the appointed day she was cheerful and perfectly composed; at a certain +hour, however, she raised herself slightly on her couch, and said with a +sweet smile, "Now it is time for me to go and say good-bye to Father C." +She immediately fell asleep, then awoke again, spoke a few words, and +died. At the same hour the monk was sitting in Bellinzona at his +writing-table, a so-called pandora, a musical instrument, by his side. +Suddenly he hears a noise like an explosion, and looking up startled, +sees a white figure, in whom he at once recognizes his distant friend by +her sweet smile. When he examined his instrument he found the +sounding-board cracked, which, no doubt, had given rise to his hearing +what he considered a "warning voice." The Rev. Mr. Oberlin, well-known +and much revered in Germany, and by no means forgotten in our own +country, where a prosperous college still bears his name, declares in +his memoirs that he had for nine years constant intercourse with his +deceased wife. He saw her for the first time after her death in broad +daylight and when he was wide awake; afterwards the conversations were +carried on partly in the day and partly at night. Other people in the +village in which he lived saw her as well as himself. Nor was it by the +eye only that the pious, excellent man judged of her presence; +frequently, when he extended his hand, he would feel his fingers gently +pressed, as his wife had been in the habit of doing when she passed by +him and would not stop. But there was much bitterness and sorrow also +mixed up with the sweetness of these mysterious relations. The +passionate attachment of husband and wife could ill brook the terrible +barrier that separated them from each other, and often the latter would +look so wretched and express her grief in such heartrending words that +the poor minister was deeply afflicted. The impression produced on his +mind was that her soul, forced for unknown reasons to remain for some +time in an intermediate state, remained warmly attached to earthly +friends and lamented the inability to confer with them after the manner +of men. After nine years the husband's visions suddenly ended and he was +informed in a dream that his wife had been admitted into a higher +heaven, where she enjoyed the promised peace with her Saviour, but could +no longer commune with mortal beings. + +It is well known that even the great reformer, Martin Luther, knew of +several similar cases, and in his "Table Talk" mentions more than one +remarkable instance. + +Another well-known and much discussed occurrence of this kind happened +in the days of Mazarin, and created a great sensation in the highest +circles at Paris. A marquis of Rambouillet and a marquis of Preci, +intimate friends, had agreed to inform each other of their fate after +death. The former was ordered to the army in Flanders, while the other +remained in the capital. Here he was taken ill with a fever, several +weeks after parting with his friend, and as he was one morning towards 6 +o'clock lying in bed awake, the curtains were suddenly drawn aside, and +his friend dressed as usual, booted and spurred, was standing before +him. Overjoyed, he was about to embrace him, but his friend drew back +and said that he had come only to keep his promise after having been +killed in a skirmish the day before, and that Preci also would share his +fate in the first combat in which he should be engaged. The latter +thinks his friend is joking, jumps up and tries to seize him--but he +feels nothing. The vision, however, is still there; Rambouillet even +shows him the fatal wound in his thigh from which the blood seems still +to be flowing. Then only he disappears and Preci remains utterly +overcome; at last he summons his valet, rouses the whole house, and +causes every room and every passage to be searched. No trace, however, +is found, and the whole vision is attributed to his fever. But a few +days later the mail arrives from Flanders, bringing the news that +Rambouillet had really fallen in such a skirmish and died from a wound +in the thigh; the prediction also was fulfilled, for Preci fell +afterwards in his first fight near St. Antoine (Petaval, _Causes +Celebres_, xii. 269). + +The parents of the well-known writer Schubert were exceptionally endowed +with magic powers of this kind. The father once heard, as he thought in +a dream, the voice of his aged mother, who called upon him to come and +visit her in the distant town in which she lived, if he desired to see +her once more before she died. He rejected the idea that this was more +than a common dream; but soon he heard the voice repeating the warning. +Now he jumped up and saw his mother standing before him, extending her +hand and saying: "Christian Gottlob, farewell, and may God bless you; +you will not see me again upon earth," and with these words she +disappeared. Although no one had apprehended such a calamity, she had +actually died at that hour, after expressing in her last moments a most +anxious desire to see her son once more. + +Tangible perceptions of persons dying at a distance are, of course, very +rare. Still, more than one such case is authoritatively stated; among +these, the following: A lawyer in Paris had returned home and walked, in +order to reach his own bedroom, through that of his brother. To his +great astonishment he saw the latter lying in his bed; received, +however, no answer to his questions. Thereupon he walked up to the bed, +touched his brother and found the body icy cold. Of a sudden the form +vanished and the bed was empty. At that instant it flashed through his +mind that he and his brother had promised each other that the one dying +first should, if possible, give a sign to the survivor. When he +recovered from the deep emotion caused by these thoughts, he left the +room and as he opened the door he came across a number of men who bore +the body of his brother, who had been killed by a fall from his horse +(_La Patrie_, Sept. 22, 1857). The Count of Neuilly, also, was warned in +a somewhat similar manner. He was at college and on the point of paying +a visit to his paternal home, when a letter came telling him that his +father was not quite well and that he had better postpone his visit a +few days. Later letters from his mother mentioned nothing to cause him +any uneasiness. But several days afterward, at one o'clock in the +morning, he thought, apparently in a dream, that he saw a pale ghastly +figure rise slowly at the lower end of his bed, extend both arms, +embrace him and then sink slowly down again out of sight. He uttered +heart-rending cries, and fell out of his bed, upsetting a chair and a +table. When his tutor and a man-servant rushed into the room, they found +him lying unconscious on the floor, covered with cold, clammy +perspiration and strangely disfigured. As soon as he was restored to +consciousness, he burst out into tears and assured them that his father +had died and come to take leave of him. In vain did his friends try to +calm his mind, he remained in a state of utter dejection. Three days +later a letter came from his mother, bringing him the sad news, that +his father had died on that night and at the hour in which he had +appeared by his bedside. The unfortunate Count could never entirely get +rid of the overwhelming impression which this occurrence had made on his +mind, and was, to the day of his death, firmly convinced of the reality +of this meeting (_Dix Annees d' emigration._ Paris, 1865). + +We learn from such accounts that there prevails among all men, at all +ages, a carefully repressed, but almost irresistible belief in +supernatural occurrences, and in the close proximity of the spirit +world. This belief is neither to be treated with ridicule nor to be +objected to as unchristian, since it is an abiding witness that men +entertain an ineradicable conviction of the immortality of the soul. No +arguments can ever destroy in the minds of the vast majority of men this +innate and intuitive faith. We may decline to believe with them the +existence of supernatural agencies, as long as no experimental basis is +offered; but we ought, at the same time, to be willing to modify our +incredulity as soon as an accumulation of facts appear to justify us in +so doing. Our age is so completely given up to materialism with its +ceaseless hurry and worry, that we ought to hail with a sense of relief +new powers which require examination, and which offer to our +intellectual faculties an untrodden field of investigation, full of +incidents refreshing to our weary mind, and promising rich additions to +our store of knowledge. + +It can hardly be denied that there is at least a possibility of the +existence of a higher spiritual power within us, which, often slumbering +and altogether unknown, or certainly unobserved during life, becomes +suddenly free to act in the hour of death. This may be brought about by +the fact that at that time the strength of the body is exhausted, and +earthly wants no longer press upon us, while the spiritual part of our +being, largely relieved of its bondage, becomes active in its own +peculiar way, and thus acquires a power which we are disposed to call a +magic power. This power is, of course, not used consciously, for +consciousness presupposes the control over our senses, but it acts by +intuitive impulse. Hence the wide difference existing between the +so-called magic of charmers, enchanters, and conjurors, justly abhorred +and strictly prohibited by divine laws, and the effects of such supreme +efforts made by the soul, which depend upon involuntary action, and are +never made subservient to wicked purposes. + +The results of such exertions are generally impressions made apparently +upon the eye or the ear; but it need not be said that what is seen or +heard in such cases, is merely the effect of a deeply felt sensation in +our soul which seeks an outward expression. If our innermost being is +thus suddenly appealed to, as it were, by the spirit of a dying friend +or companion, his image arises instantaneously before our mind's eye, +and we fancy we see him in bodily form, or our memory recalls the +familiar sounds by which his appearance was wont to be accompanied. +Dying musicians remind distant friends of their former relations by +sweet sounds, and a sailor, wounded to death, appears in his uniform to +relatives at home. The series of sights and sounds by which such +intercourse is established, varies from the simplest and faintest vision +to an apparently clear and distinct perception of well-known forms, and +constitute feeble, hardly perceptible, sighs or sobs to words uttered +aloud, or whole melodies clearly recited. If a living person, by such an +unconscious but all-powerful effort of will, makes himself seen by +others, we call the vision a "double," in German, a "Doppelgaenger;" if +he produces a state of dualism, such as has been mentioned before, and +sees his own self in space before him, we speak of second sight. + +Such efforts are, however, by no means strictly limited to the moment of +dissolution, when soul and body are already in the act of parting. They +occur also in living persons, but almost invariably only in diseased +persons. The exceptions belong to the small number of men in whom great +excitement from without, or a mysterious power of will, cause a state of +ecstasy; they are, in common parlance, "beside themselves." In this +condition, their soul is for the moment freed from the bondage in which +it is held by its earthy companion, and such men become clairvoyants and +prophets, or they are enabled actually to affect other men at a +distance, in various ways. Thus it may very well be, that strange +visions, the hearing of mysterious voices, and especially the most +familiar phenomenon, second sight, are in reality nothing more than +symptoms of a thoroughly diseased system, and this explains very simply +the frequency with which death follows such mysterious occurrences. + +Men have claimed--and proved to the satisfaction of more or less +considerable numbers of friends--that they could at will cause a partial +and momentary parting between their souls and their bodies. Here also +antiquity is our first teacher, if we believe Pliny (_Hist. Nat._ vii. +c. 52), Hermotimus could at his pleasure fall into a trance and then let +his soul proceed from his body to distant places. Upon being aroused, he +reported what he had seen and heard abroad, and his statements were, in +every case, fully confirmed. Cardanus, also, could voluntarily throw +himself into a state of apparent syncope, as he tells us in most graphic +words (_De Res. Var._ v. iii. l. viii. c. 43). The first sensation of +which he was always fully conscious, was a peculiar pain in the head, +which gradually extended downward along the spine, and at last spread +over the extremities--evidently a purely nervous process. Then he felt +as if a "door was opened, and he himself was leaving his body," +whereupon he not only saw persons at a distance, but noticed all that +befell them, and recalled it after he had recovered from the trance. An +old German Abbe Freitheim, of whose remarkable work on _Steganographie_ +(1621), unfortunately only a few sheets have been preserved, claims the +power to commune with absent friends by the mere energy of his will. "I +can," says he, "make known my thoughts to the initiated, at a distance +of many hundred miles, without word, writing or cypher, by any +messenger. The latter cannot betray me, for he knows nothing. If needs +be, I can even dispense with the messenger. If my correspondent should +be buried in the deepest dungeon I could still convey to him my thoughts +as clearly, as fully, and as frequently as might be desirable, and all +this, quite simply, without superstition, without the aid of spirits." + +The famous Agrippa (_De occulta philos., Lugduni_, III. p. 13) quotes +the former writer, and asserts that he also could, by mere effort of +will, in a perfectly simple and natural manner convey his thoughts not +to the initiated only, but to any one, even when his correspondent's +present place of residence should be unknown. The most remarkable, and, +at the same time, the best authenticated case of this kind, is that of a +high German official mentioned in a scientific paper (_Nasse. +Zeitschrift fuer psychische Aerzte_, 1820), and frequently copied into +others. A Counsellor Wesermann claimed to be able to cause distant +friends to dream of any subject he might choose. Whenever he awoke at +night and made a determined effort to produce such an effect, he never +failed, provided the nature of the desired dream was calculated to +startle or deeply excite his friends. His power was tested in this +manner. He engaged to cause a young officer, who was stationed at +Aix-la-Chapelle, nearly fifty miles from his own home, to dream of a +young lady who had died not long ago. It was eleven o'clock at night, +but by some accident the lieutenant was not at home in bed, but at a +friend's country-seat, discussing the French campaign. Suddenly the +colonel, his host, and he himself see at the same time the door open, a +lady enter, salute them sadly, and beckon them to follow her. The two +officers rise and leave the room after her, but once out of doors, the +figure disappears, and when they inquire of the sentinels standing guard +outside, they are told that no one has entered. What made the matter +more striking yet, was the fact that although both men had seen the door +open, this could not really have been so, for the wood had sprung and +the door creaked badly whenever it was opened. The same Wesermann could, +in like manner, cause his friends to see his own person and to hear +secrets which he seemed to whisper into their ears whenever he chose; +but he admitted upon it that his will was not at all times equally +strong, and that, hence, his efforts were not always equally successful. +Cases of similar powers are very numerous. A very curious example was +published in 1852, in a work on "Psychologic Studies" (Schlemmer, p. +59). The author, who was a police agent in the Prussian service, +asserted that persons who apprehended being conducted to gaol with +special anxiety, often made themselves known there in advance, +announcing their arrival by knocks at the gates, opening of doors, or +footsteps heard in the room set aside for examining new comers. One day, +not the writer only, but all the prisoners in the same building, and +even the sentinel at the gate heard distinctly a great disturbance and +the rattling of chains in a cell exclusively appropriated to murderers. +The next day a criminal was brought who had expressed such horror of +this gaol, and made such resistance to the officials who were to carry +him there, that it had become necessary, after a great uproar, to chain +him hands and feet. It is well known that the mother of the great +statesman Canning at one time of her life suffered under most mysterious +though harmless nightly visitations. Her circumstances were such that +she readily accepted the offer of a dwelling which stood unoccupied, +with the exception of the basement, in which a carpenter had his +workshop. At nightfall he and his workmen left the house, carefully +locking the door, but night after night, at twelve o'clock precisely, +work began once more in the abandoned part of the house, as far as the +ear could judge, and the noise made by planing and sawing, cutting and +carving increased, till the fearless old lady slipt down in her stocking +feet and opened the door. Instantly the noise was hushed, and she looked +into the dark deserted room. But as soon as she returned to her chamber +the work began anew, and continued for some time; nor was she the only +one who heard it, but others, the owner of the house included, heard +everything distinctly. + +The following well-authenticated account of a posthumous appearance, is +not without its ludicrous element. A court-preacher in one of the +little Saxon Duchies, appeared once in bands and gowns before his +sovereign, bowing most humbly and reverently. The duke asked what he +desired, but received no answer except another deep reverence. A second +question meets with the same reply, whereupon the divine leaves the +room, descends the stairs and crosses the court-yard, while the prince, +much surprised at his strange conduct, stands at a window and watches +him till he reaches the gates. Then he sends a page after him to try and +ascertain what was the matter with the old gentleman, but the page comes +running back almost beside himself, and reports that the minister had +died a short while before. The prince refuses to believe his report, and +sends a high official, but the latter returns with the same report and +this additional information: The dying man had asked for writing +materials, in order to recommend his widow to his sovereign, but had +hardly commenced writing the letter when death surprised him. The +fragment was brought to the duke and convinced him that his faithful +servant, unable to reach him by letter, and yet nervously anxious to +approach him, had spiritually appeared to him in his most familiar +costume (Daumer, _Mystagog._ I. p. 224). + +Before we regret such statements or treat them with ridicule, it will be +well to remember, that men endowed with an extraordinary power of +controlling certain faculties of body and soul, are by no means rare, +and that the difference between them and those last mentioned, consists +only in the degree. We speak of the power of sight and limit it +ordinarily to a certain distance--and yet a Hottentot, we are told, can +perceive the head of a gazelle in the dry, uniform grass of an African +plain, at the distance of a thousand yards! Many men cannot hear sounds +in nature which are perfectly audible to others, while some persons hear +even certain notes uttered by tiny insects, which escape altogether the +average hearing of man. Patients under treatment by Baron Reichenbach, +saw luminous objects and the appearance of lights hovering above ground, +where neither he nor any of his friends could perceive anything but +utter darkness, and the special gift with which some persons are endowed +to feel, as it were, the presence of water and of metals below the +surface, is well authenticated. Poor Caspar Hauser, bred in darkness and +solitude, felt various and deep impressions upon his whole being during +the first months of his free life, whenever he came in contact with +plants, stones or metals. The latter sent a current through all his +limbs; tobacco fields made him deadly sick, and the vicinity of a +graveyard gave him violent pains in his chest. Persons who were +introduced to him for the first time, sent a cold current through him; +and when they possessed a specially powerful physique, they caused him +abundant perspiration, and often even convulsions. The waves of sound he +felt so much more acutely than others, that he always continued to hear +them with delight, long after the last sound had passed away from the +ears of others. It may be fairly presumed that this extreme +sensitiveness to outward impressions is originally possessed by all men, +but becomes gradually dulled and dimmed by constant repetition; at the +same time it may certainly be preserved in rare privileged cases, or it +may come back again to the body in a diseased or disordered condition, +and at the moment of dissolution. + +Nor is the power occasionally granted to men to control their senses +limited to these; even the spontaneous functions of the body are at +times subject to the will of man. An Englishman, for instance, could at +will modify the beating of his heart (Cheyne, "New Dis.," p. 307), and a +German produced, like a veritable ruminant, the antiperistaltic motions +of the stomach, whenever he chose (Blumenbach, _Phys._ Sec. 294). Other men +have been known who could at any moment cause the familiar "goose-skin," +or perspiration, to appear in any part of the body, and many persons can +move not only the ears--a lost faculty according to Darwin--but even +enlarge or contract the pupil of the eye, after the manner of cats and +parrots. Even the circulation of the blood has been known, in a few rare +cases, to have been subject to the will of men, and the great +philosopher Kant did not hesitate to affirm, supported as he was by his +own experience, that men could, if they were but resolute enough, +master, by a mere effort of the will, not a few of their diseases. + +A striking evidence of the comparative facility with which men thus +exceptionally gifted, may be able to imitate certain magic phenomena, +was once given by an excellent mimic, whom _Richard_ describes in his +_Theorie des Songes_. He could change his features so completely that +they assumed a deathlike appearance; his senses lost gradually their +power of perception, and the vital spirit was seen to withdraw from the +outer world. A slow, quivering motion passed through his whole system +from the feet upward, as if he wished to rise from the ground. After a +while all efforts of the body to remain upright proved fruitless; it +looked as if life had actually begun to leave it already. At this moment +he abandoned his deception and was so utterly exhausted that he heard +and saw but with extreme difficulty. + +In the face of these facts the possibility at least cannot be denied +that certain specially endowed individuals may possess, in health or in +disease, the power to perceive phenomena which appear all the more +marvelous because they are beyond the reach of ordinary powers of +perception. + +In our own day superstition and wanton, or cunningly devised, imposture +have been so largely mixed up with the subject, that a strong and very +natural prejudice has gradually grown up against the belief in ghosts. +Every strange appearance, every mysterious coincidence, that escaped the +most superficial investigation, was forthwith called a ghost. History +records, besides, numerous cases in which the credulity of great men has +been played upon for purposes of policy and statecraft. When the German +Emperor Joseph showed his great fondness of Augustus of +Saxony--afterwards king of Poland--his Austrian counsellors became +alarmed at the possible influence of such intimacy of their sovereign +with a Protestant prince, and determined to break it off. Night after +night, therefore, a fearful vision arose before the German emperor, +rattling its chains and accusing the young prince of grievous heresy. +Augustus, however, known already at that time for his gigantic strength, +asked Joseph's permission to sleep in his room; when the ghost appeared +as usual, the young prince sprang upon him, and feeling his flesh and +blood, threw him bodily out of a window of the second story into a deep +fosse. The unfortunate king of Prussia, Frederick William II., fell soon +after his ascension of the throne into the hands of designing men, who +determined to profit by his great kindness of heart and his tendency to +mysticism, and began to work upon him by supernatural apparitions. One +of the most cunningly devised impostures of the kind was practised upon +King Gustavus III. of Sweden by ambitious noblemen of his court. + +The scene was the ancient Lofoe church in Drotingholm, a favorite +residence of former Swedish monarchs. The king's physician, Iven Hedin, +learnt accidentally from the sexton that his master had been spending +several nights in the building, in company with a few of his courtiers. +Alarmed by this information he persuaded the sexton to let him watch the +proceedings from a secret place in the old steeple of the church. An +opportunity came in the month of August, 1782, and he had scarcely taken +possession of his post when two of the royal secretaries came in, closed +the door, and arranged a curious contrivance in the body of the +building. To his great surprise and amusement the doctor saw them fasten +some horse-hairs to the heavy chandeliers suspended from the lofty +ceiling, and then pin to them masks sewed on to white floating garments. +Finally large quantities of incense were scattered on the floor and set +on fire, while all lights, save a few thin candles, were extinguished. +Then the king was ushered in with five of his courtiers, made to assume +a peculiar, very irksome position, and all were asked to hold naked +swords upon each other's breasts. Thereupon the first comer murmured +certain formulas of conjuration, and performed some ceremonies, when his +companion slowly drew up one of the masks. It was fashioned to resemble +the great Gustavus Adolphus, and in the dimly-lighted church, filled +with dense smoke, it looked to all intents and purposes like a ghost +arising from the vaults underneath. It disappeared as slowly into the +darkness above, and was immediately followed by another mask +representing Adolphus Frederick, and even the physician, who knew the +secret, could not repress a shudder, so admirably was the whole +contrived. Then followed a few flashes of lightning, during which the +horse-hairs were removed, lights were brought in, and the king, deeply +moved and shedding silent tears, escorted from the building. The +faithful physician watched his opportunity, and when a favorable hour +appeared, revealed the secret to his master, and thus, fortunately for +Sweden, defeated a very dangerous and most skillfully-conducted +conspiracy. + +Even ventriloquism has lent its aid to many an historical imposture, as +in the case of Francis I. of France, whose valet, Louis of Brabant, +possessed great skill in that art, and used it unsparingly for his own +benefit and to the advantage of courtiers who employed him for political +purposes. He even persuaded the mother of a beautiful and wealthy young +lady to give him her daughter's hand by imitating the voice of her +former husband, and commanding her to do so in order to release him from +purgatory! + +We fear that to this class of ghostly appearances must also be counted +the almost historical White Lady of the Margraves of Brandenburg. + +Report says that she represents a Countess Kunigunde of Orlamuende, who +lived in the fourteenth century and killed her two children, for which +crime she was executed by order of a Burggrave of Nuremberg. History, +however, knows nothing of such an event, and the White Lady does not +appear till 1486, when she is first seen in the old palace at Baireuth. +This was nothing but a trick of the courtiers; whenever they desired to +leave the dismal town and the uncomfortable building, one of the court +ladies personated the ghost, and occasionally, even two white ladies +were seen at the same time. In 1540 the ghost met with a tragic fate; +it had appeared several times in the castle of Margrave Albert the +warrior, and irritated the prince to such a degree that he at last +seized it one night and hurled it headlong down the long staircase. The +morning dawn revealed his chancellor, Christopher Strass, who had +betrayed his master and now paid with a broken neck for his bold +imposture. After this catastrophe the White Lady was not seen for nearly +a hundred years, when she suddenly reappeared in Baireuth. In the year +1677 the then reigning Margrave of Brandenburg found her one day sitting +in his own chair and was terrified; the next day he rode out, fell from +his horse, and was instantly killed. From this time the White Lady +became a part of the history of the house of Brandenburg, accompanying +the princes to Berlin and making it her duty to forewarn the illustrious +family of any impending calamity. King Frederick I. saw her distinctly, +but other sovereigns discerned only a vague outline and now and then the +nose and eyes, while all the rest was closely veiled. In the old palace +at Baireuth there exist to this day two portraits of the White Lady, one +in white, as she appeared of old, and very beautiful, the other in black +satin, with her hair powdered and dressed after more modern +fashion--there is no likeness between the two faces. The ghost was +evidently a good patriot, for she disturbed French officers who were +quartered there, in the new palace as well as in the old, and as late as +1806 thoroughly frightened a number of generals who had laughed at the +credulity of the Germans. In 1809 General d'Espagne roused his aides in +the depth of night by fearful cries, and when they rushed in he was +found lying in the centre of the room, under the bedstead. He told them +that the White Lady, in a costume of black and white, resembling one of +the portraits, had appeared and threatened to strangle him; in the +struggle she had dragged the bedstead to the middle of the room and +there upset it. The room was thoroughly searched at his command, the +hangings removed from the walls, and the whole floor taken up, but no +trace was found of any opening through which a person might have +entered; the doors had been guarded by sentinels. The general left the +place immediately, looking upon the vision as a warning of impending +evil, and, sure enough, a few days later he found his death upon the +battle-field of Aspern. Even the great Napoleon, whose superstition was +generally thought to be confined to his faith in his "star," would not +lodge in the rooms haunted by the White Lady, and when he reached +Baireuth in 1812, a suite of rooms was prepared for him in another wing +of the palace. It was, however, noticed that even there his night's rest +must have been interrupted, for on the next morning he was remarkably +nervous and out of humor, murmuring repeatedly "_Ce maudit chateau_," +and declaring that he would never again stay at the place. When he +returned to that neighborhood in 1813, he refused to occupy the rooms +that had been prepared for him, and continued his journey far into the +night, rather than remain at Baireuth. The town was, however, forever +relieved of its ill-fame after 1822. It is not without interest that in +the same year the steward of the royal palace died, and report says in +his rooms were found a number of curiosities apparently connected with +the White Lady's costume; if this be so, his ardent patriotism and +fierce hatred of the French might well furnish a cue to some of the more +recent apparitions. The White Lady continued to appear in Berlin, and +the terror she created was not even allayed by repeated discoveries of +most absurd efforts at imposture. Once she turned out to be a white +towel agitated by a strong draught between two windows; at another time +it was a kitchen-maid on an errand of love, and a third time an old cook +taking an airing in the deserted rooms. She appeared once more in the +month of February, 1820, announcing, as many believed, the death of the +reigning monarch, which took place in June; and quite recently (1872) +similar warning was given shortly before the emperor's brother, Prince +Albrecht, died in his palace. + +White ladies are, however, by no means an exclusive privilege of the +house of Brandenburg; Scotland has its ancient legends, skillfully used +in novel, poem and opera, and Italy boasts of a Donna Bianca, at +Colalta, in the Marca Trivigiana, of whom Byron spoke as if he had never +doubted her existence. Ireland has in like manner the Banshee, who warns +with her plaintive voice the descendants of certain old families, +whenever a great calamity threatens one of the members. Curiously +enough she clings to these once powerful but now often wretchedly poor +families, as if pride of descent and attachment to old splendor +prevailed even in the realms of magic. + +Historical ghosts play, nevertheless, a prominent part in all countries. +Lilly, Baxter and Clarendon, all relate the remarkable warnings which +preceded the murder of Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. In this case the +warning was given not to the threatened man, but to an old and faithful +friend, who had already been intimate with the duke's father. He saw the +latter appear to him several nights in succession, urging him to go to +the duke, and after revealing to him certain peculiar circumstances, to +warn him against the plots of his enemies, who threatened his life. +Parker was afraid to appear ridiculous and delayed giving the warning. +But the ghost left him no peace, and at last, in order to decide him, +revealed to him a secret only known to himself and his ill-fated son. +The latter, when his old friend at last summoned courage to deliver the +mysterious message, was at first inclined to laugh at the warning; but +when Parker mentioned the father's secret, he turned pale and declared +only the Evil One could have entrusted it to mortal man. Nevertheless, +he took no steps to rid himself of his traitorous friend and continued +his sad life as before. The father's ghost thereupon appeared once more +to Parker, with deep sadness in his features and holding a knife in his +hand, with which, he said, his unfortunate son would be murdered. +Parker, whose own impending death had been predicted at the same time, +once more waited upon the great duke, but again in vain; he was rudely +sent back and requested not to trouble the favorite's peace any more by +his foolish dreams. A few days afterwards Lieutenant Felton assassinated +the duke with precisely such a knife as Parker had seen in his visions. + +A similar occurrence is related of the famous Duchess of Mazarin, the +favorite of Charles II., and Madame de Beauclair, who stood in the same +relation to James II. The two ladies, who were bosom friends, had +pledged their word to each other, that she who died first should appear +to the survivor and inform her of the nature of the future state. The +duchess died; but as no message came from her, her friend denied stoutly +and persistently the immortality of the soul. But many years later, when +the promise was long forgotten, the duchess suddenly was seen one night, +gliding softly through the room and looking sweetly at her friend, +whispering to her: "Beauclair, between twelve and one o'clock to-night +you will be near me." The poor lady died at the appointed hour (Nork. +"Existence of Spirits," p. 260). Less well-authenticated is the account +of a warning given to King George I. shortly before his death, although +it was generally believed throughout England at the time it occurred. +The report was that the Queen, Sophia, repeatedly showed herself to her +husband, beseeching him to break off his intercourse with his beautiful +friend, Lady Horatia. As these requests availed nothing, and the monarch +refused even to believe in the reality of her appearance, she at last +tied a knot in a lace collar, declaring that "if mortal fingers could +untie the knot, the king and Lady Horatia might laugh at her words." The +fair lady tried her best to undo it, but giving it up in despair, she +threw the collar into the fire; the king, highly excited, snatched the +lace from the burning coals, but in so doing, touched with it the light +gauze dress of his companion. In her terror she ran with great swiftness +through room after room, thus fanning the flames into a blaze, and +perished amid excruciating pains. The king, it is well known, died only +two months later. + +A case which created a very great sensation at the time when it +happened, and became generally known through the admirable manner in +which it was narrated by the eloquent Bernardin de St. Pierre (_Journal +de Trevoux_, vol. viii.), was that of the priest Bezuel. When a young +man of 15, and at college, he contracted an intimate friendship with the +son of a royal official, called Desfontaines. The two friends often +spoke of future life, and when parted in 1696, they signed with their +blood a solemn compact, in which they agreed that the first who died +should appear after death to the survivor. They wrote to each other +constantly, and frequently alluded in their letters to the agreement. A +year after their parting, Bezuel happened to be, one day, in the +fields, delivering a message to some workmen, when he suddenly fell down +fainting. As he was in perfect health, he knew not what to think of this +accident, but when it occurred a second and a third time, at the same +hour, on the two following days, he became seriously uneasy. On the last +occasion, however, he fell into a trance, in which he saw nothing around +him, but beheld his friend Desfontaines, who seized him by the arm and +led him some thirty yards aside. The workmen saw him go there, as if +obeying a guardian hand, and converse with an unseen person for three +quarters of an hour. The young man heard here from his friend's lips, +that he had been drowned while bathing in the river Orne on the day and +at the hour when Bezuel had had his first fainting fit, that a companion +had endeavored to save him, but when seized by the foot by the drowning +man, had kicked him on the chest, and thus caused him to sink to the +bottom. Bezuel inquired after all the details and received full answers, +but none to questions about the future life; nevertheless, the +apparition continued to speak fluently but calmly, and requested Bezuel +to make certain communications to his kinsmen, and to repeat the "seven +penitential psalms," which he ought to have said himself as a penance. +It also mentioned the work in which Desfontaines had been engaged up to +the day of his death, and some names which he had cut in the bark of a +tree near the town in which he lived. Then it disappeared. Bezuel was +not able to carry out his friend's wishes, although the arm by which he +had been seized, reminded him daily of his duty by a severe pain; after +a month, the drowned man appeared twice more, urging his requests, and +saying each time at the end of the interview, "_bis, bis_," just as he +had been accustomed to do when in life. At last the young priest found +the means to do his friend's bidding; the pain in the arm ceased +instantly and his health remained perfect to the end of his life. When +he reached Caen where Desfontaines had perished, he found everything +precisely as he had been told in his visions, and two years afterwards +he discovered by chance even the tree with the names cut in the bark. +The amiable Abbe de St. Pierre does his best to explain the whole +occurrence as a natural series of very simple accidents; there can be, +however, no doubt of the exceptionable character of the leading features +of the event, and the priest, from whose own account the facts are +derived, must evidently in his trance have been endowed with powers of +clairvoyance. + +In the first part of this century a book appeared in Germany which led +to a very general and rather violent discussion of the whole subject. It +was written by a Dr. Woetzel, whose mind had, no doubt, been long +engaged in trying to solve mysteries like that of the future life, since +he had early come in contact with strange phenomena. The father of a +dear friend of his having fainted in consequence of receiving a serious +wound, was very indignant at being roused from the state of perfect +bliss which he had enjoyed during the time. He affirmed that in the +short interval he had visited his brother in Berlin, whom he found +sitting in a bower under a large linden-tree, surrounded by his family +and a few friends, and engaged in drinking coffee. Upon entering the +garden, his brother had risen, advanced towards him and asked him what +had brought him so unexpectedly to Berlin. A few days after the +fainting-fit a letter arrived from that city, inquiring what could have +happened on that day and at that hour, and reciting all that the old +gentleman had reported as having been done during his unconsciousness! +Nor had the latter been seen by his brother only, but quite as +distinctly by the whole company present; his image had, however, +vanished again as soon as his brother had attempted to touch him +(Woetzel, p. 215). From his work we learn that he had begged his wife on +her death-bed to appear to him after death, and she had promised to do +so; but soon after her mind became so uneasy about the probable effects +of her pledge, that her husband released her, and abandoned all thoughts +on the subject. Several weeks later he was sitting in a locked room, +when suddenly a heavy draught of air rushed through it, the light was +nearly blown out, a small window in an alcove sounded as if it were +opened, and in an instant the faint luminous form of his wife was +standing before the amazed widower. She said in a soft, scarcely audible +voice: "Charles, I am immortal; we shall see each other again." Woetzel +jumped up and tried to seize the form, but it vanished like thin mist, +and he felt a strong electric shock. He saw the same vision and heard +the same words repeatedly; his wife appeared as he had last seen her +lying in her coffin; the second time a dog, who had been often petted by +her, wagged his tail and walked caressingly around the apparition. The +book, which appeared in 1804, and gave a full account of all the +phenomena, met with much opposition and contempt; a number of works were +written against it, Wieland ridiculed it in his "Euthanasia," and others +denounced it as a mere repetition of former statements. The author was, +however, not abashed by the storm he had raised; he offered to swear to +the truth of all he had stated before the Great Council of the +University of Leipzig, and published a second work in which he developed +his theory of ghosts with great ability. According to his view, the +spirits of the departed are for some time after death surrounded by a +luminous essence, which may, under peculiarly favorable circumstances, +become visible to human eyes, but which, according to the weakness of +our mind, is generally transformed by the imagination only into the more +familiar form of deceased friends. He insists, besides, upon it that all +he saw and heard was an impression made upon the outer senses only, and +that nothing in the whole occurrence originated in his inner +consciousness. As there was nothing to be gained for him by his +persistent assertions, it seems but fair to give them all the weight +they may deserve, till the whole subject is more fully understood. + +Another remarkable case is that of a Mr. and Mrs. James, at whose house +the Rev. Mr. Mills, a Methodist preacher, was usually entertained when +his duties brought him to their place of residence. One year he found +they had both died since his last visit, but he staid with the orphaned +children, and retired to the same room which he had always occupied. The +adjoining room was the former chamber of the aged couple, and here he +began soon to hear a whispering and moving about, just as he used to +hear it when they were still alive. This recalled to him the reports he +had heard in the town, that the departed had been frequently seen by +their numerous friends and kinsmen. The next day he called upon a plain +but very pious woman, who urged him to share her simple meal with her; +he consented, but what was his amazement when she said to him at the +close of the meal: "Now, Mr. Mills, I have a favor to ask of you. I want +you to preach my funeral sermon next Sunday. I am going to die next +Friday at three o'clock." When the astonished minister asked her to +explain the strange request, she replied that Mr. and Mrs. James had +come to her to tell her that they were ineffably happy, but still bound +by certain ties to the world below. They had added that they had not +died, as people believed, without disposing of their property, but that, +in order to avoid dissensions among their children, they had been +allowed to return and to make the place known where the will was +concealed. They had tried to confer with Mr. Mills, but his timidity had +prevented it; now they had come to her, as the minister was going to +dine that day at her house. Finally they had informed her of her +approaching death on the day she had mentioned. The Methodist minister +looked, aided by the heirs and a legal man, for the will and found it at +the place indicated. Nanny, the poor woman, died on Friday, and her +funeral sermon was preached by him on the following Sunday (Rechenberg, +p. 182). + +A certain Dr. T. Van Velseu published in 1870, in Dutch, a work, called +_Christus Redivivus_, in which he relates a number of very remarkable +appearances of deceased persons, and among these the following: "A +friend of the author's, a man of sound, practical mind, and a declared +enemy of all superstition, lost his mother whom he had most assiduously +nursed for six weeks and who died in full faith in her Redeemer. A few +days later his nephew was to be married in a distant province, but +although no near kinsman of his, except his mother, could be present, +he, the uncle, could not make up his mind so soon after his grievous +loss, to attend a wedding. This decision irritated and wounded his +sister deeply and led to warm discussions, in which other relatives also +took her side, and which threatened to cause a serious breach in the +family. The mourner was deeply afflicted by the scene and at night, +having laid the matter before God, he fell asleep with the thought on +his mind: 'What would your mother think of it?' Suddenly, while yet wide +awake, he heard a voice saying: 'Go!' Although he recognized the voice +instantly, he thought it might be his sister's and drew the bed-curtain +aside, to see who was there. To his amazement he saw his mother's form +standing by his bedside; terrified and bewildered he dropped the +curtain, turned his face to the wall and tried to collect his thoughts, +but at the same time he heard the same voice say once more: 'Go!' He +drew the curtain again and saw his mother as before, looking at him with +deep love and gentle urgency. This excites him so that he can control +himself no longer; he jumps up and tries to seize the form--it draws +back and gradually dissolves before his eye. Now only he recalls how +often he has conversed with his mother about the future life and the +possibility of communication after death; he becomes calm, decides to +attend the wedding and sleeps soundly till the morning. The next day he +finds his heart relieved of a sore burden; he joins his friends at the +wedding and finds, to his infinite delight, that by his presence only a +serious difficulty is avoided and peace is preserved in a numerous and +influential family. In this case the effect of the mind on the +imagination is strikingly illustrated, and although the vision of the +mother may have existed purely in the son's mind, the practical result +was precisely the same as if a spirit had really appeared in tangible +shape so as to be seen by the outward eye." + +In some instances phenomena, like those described, are apparently the +result of a disturbed conscience, and occur, therefore, in frequent +repetition. Already Plutarch, in his "Life of Cimon," tells us that the +Spartan general, Pausanias, had murdered a fair maiden, Cleonice, +because she overthrew a torch in his tent and he imagined himself to be +attacked by assassins. The ghost of the poor girl, whom he had +dishonored in life and so foully killed, appeared to him and threatened +him with such fearful disgrace, that he was terrified and hastened to +Heraclea, where necromancers summoned the spirits of the departed by +their vile arts. They called up Cleonice, at the great commander's +request, and she replied reluctantly, that the curse would not leave him +till he went to Sparta. Pausanias did so and found his death there, the +only way, says the historian of the same name, in which he could ever be +relieved of such fearful guilt. Baxter, also, tells us (p. 30) of a Rev. +Mr. Franklin, whose young son repeatedly saw a lady and received at her +hands quite painful correction. Thus, when he was bound apprentice to a +surgeon, in 1661, and refused to return home upon being ordered to do +so, she appeared to him, and when he resisted her admonitions, +energetically boxed his ears. The poor boy was in bad health and seemed +to suffer so much that at last the surgeon determined to consult his +father, who lived on the island of Ely. On the morning of the day which +he spent travelling, the boy cried out: "Oh, mistress, here's the lady +again!" and at the same time a noise as of a violent blow was heard. +The child hung his head and fell back dead. In the same hour the surgeon +and the boy's father, sitting together in consultation, saw a lady enter +the room, glance at them angrily, walk up and down a few times and +disappear again. + +The fancy that murdered persons reappear in some shape after death for +the purpose of wreaking their vengeance upon their enemies, is very +common among all nations, and has often been vividly embodied in legends +and ballads. The stories of Hamlet and of Don Giovanni are based upon +this belief, and the older chronicles abound with similar cases +belonging to an age when violence was more frequent and justice less +prompt than in our day. Thus we are told in the annals of the famous +castle of Weinsberg in Suabia--justly renowned all over the world for +the rare instance of marital attachment exhibited by its women--that a +steward had wantonly murdered a peasant there. Thereupon disturbances of +various kinds began to make the castle uninhabitable; a black shape was +seen walking about and breathing hot and hateful odors upon all it met, +while the steward became an object of special persecution. The +townspeople at first were skeptic and laughed at his reports, but soon +the black visitor was seen on the ramparts of the town also and created +within the walls the same sensation as up at the castle. The good +citizens at last observed a solemn fast-day and performed a pilgrimage +to a holy shrine at Heilbrum. But all was in vain, and the disturbances +and annoyances increased in frequency and violence, till at last the +unfortunate steward died from vexation and sorrow, when the whole ceased +and peace was restored to town and castle alike (Crusius, "Suabian +Chron." ii. p. 417). + +Another case of this kind is connected with a curious token of gratitude +exhibited by the gratified victim. A president of the Parliament of +Toulouse, returning from Paris towards the end of the seventeenth +century, was compelled by an accident to stop at a poor country tavern. +During the night there appeared to him an old man, pale and bleeding, +who declared that he was the father of the present owner of the house, +that he had been murdered by his own son, cut to pieces, and buried in +the garden. He appealed to the president to investigate the matter and +to avenge his murder. The judge was so forcibly impressed by his vision +that he ordered search to be made, and lo! the body of the murdered man +was found, and the son, thunderstruck by the mysterious revelation, +acknowledged his guilt, was tried, and in course of time died on the +scaffold. But the murdered man was not satisfied yet; he showed himself +once more to the president and asked how he could prove his gratitude? +The latter asked to be informed of the hour of his death, that he might +fitly prepare himself, and was promised that he should know it a week in +advance. Many years afterwards a fierce knocking was heard at the gate +of the president's house in Toulouse; the porter opened but saw no one; +the knocking was repeated, but this time also the servants who had +rushed to the spot found nobody there; when it was heard a third time +they were thoroughly frightened and hastened to inform their master. The +latter went to the door and there saw the well-remembered form of his +nightly visitor, who told him that he would die in eight days. He told +his friends and his family what had happened, but only met with +laughter, as he was in perfect health and nothing seemed more improbable +than his sudden death. But as he sat, on the eighth day, at table with +his family, a book was mentioned which he wished to see, and he got up +to look for it in his library. Instantly a shot is heard; the guests +rush out and find him lying on the floor and weltering in his blood. +Upon inquiry it appeared that a man, desperately in love with the +chamber-maid and jealous of a rival, had mistaken the president for the +latter and murdered him with a pistol (De Segur, _Galerie morale et +politique_, p. 221). + +Among the numerous accounts of visions which seem to have been caused by +an instinctive and perfectly unconscious perception of human remains, +the story of the Rev. Mr. Lindner, in Koenigsberg, is perhaps the best +authenticated, and from the character of the man to whom the revelation +was made, the most trustworthy. It is fully reported by Professor +Ehrmann of Strasburg, in _Kies. Archiv._ x. iii., p. 143. The minister, +a modest, pious man, awoke in the middle of the night, and saw, by the +bright moonlight which was shining into the room, another minister in +gown and bands, standing before his open bible, apparently searching for +some quotation. He had a small child in his arms, and a larger child +stood by his side. After some time spent in speechless astonishment, Mr. +Lindner exclaimed: "All good spirits praise God!" whereupon the stranger +turned round, went up to him and offered three times to shake hands with +him. Mr. Lindner, however, refused to do so, gazing at the same time +intently at his features, and after a while he found himself looking at +the air, for all had disappeared. It was a long time afterwards, when +sauntering through the cloisters of his church, he was suddenly arrested +by a portrait which bore all the features of the minister he had seen on +that night. It was one of his predecessors in office, who had died +nearly fifty years ago in rather bad odor, reports having been current +at the time, as very old men still living testified, that he had had +several illegitimate children, of whose fate nothing was known. But +there was a still further sequel to the minister's strange adventure. In +the course of the next year his study was enlarged, and for that purpose +the huge German stove had to be removed; to the horror of the workmen +and of Mr. Lindner, who was promptly called to the spot, the remains of +several children were found carefully concealed beneath the solid +structure. As there is no reason to suspect self-delusion in the +reverend man, and the vision cannot well be ascribed to any outward +cause, it must be presumed that his sensitive nature was painfully +affected by the skeletons in his immediate neighborhood, and that this +unconscious feeling, acting through his imagination, gave form and shape +to the impressions made upon his nerves. + +In another case the principal person was a candidate of divinity, +Billing, well known as being of a highly sensitive disposition and given +to hallucinations; the extreme suffering which the presence of human +remains caused to his whole system had been previously already observed. +The great German fabulist, Pfeffel, a blind man, once took Billing's arm +and went with him into the garden to take an airing. The poet noticed +that when they came to a certain place, the young man hesitated and his +arm trembled as if it had received an electric shock. When he was asked +what was the matter, he replied, "Oh, nothing!" But upon passing over +the spot a second time, the same tremor made itself felt. Pressed by +Pfeffel, the young man at last acknowledged that he experienced at that +spot the sensation which the presence of a corpse always produced in +him, and offered to go there with the poet at night in order to prove to +him the correctness of his feelings. When the two friends went to the +garden after dark, Billing perceived at once a faint glimmer of light +above the spot. He stopped at a distance of about ten yards, and after a +while declared that he saw a female figure hovering above the place, +about five feet high, with the right arm across her bosom and the left +hand hanging down by her side. When the poet advanced and stood on the +fatal spot, the young man affirmed that the image was on his right or +his left, before or behind him, and when Pfeffel struck around him with +his cane, it produced the effect as if he were cutting through a flame +which instantly reunited. The same phenomena were witnessed a second +time by a number of Pfeffel's relations. Several days afterwards, while +the young man was absent, the poet caused the place in the garden to be +dug up, and at a depth of several feet, beneath a layer of lime, a human +skeleton was discovered. It was removed, the hole filled up, and all +smoothed over again. After Billing's return the poet took him once more +into the garden, and this time the young man walked over the fatal spot +without experiencing the slightest sensation (_Kieser, Archiv._, etc., +p. 326). + +It was this remarkable experience which led Baron Reichenbach to verify +it by leading one of his sensitive patients, a Miss Reichel, at night to +the great cemetery of Vienna. As soon as she reached the place she +perceived everywhere a sea of flames, brightest over the new graves, +weaker over others, and quite faint here and there. In a few cases these +lights reached a height of nearly four feet, but generally they had more +the appearance of luminous mists, so that her hand, held over the place +where she saw one, seemed to be enveloped in a cloud of fire. She was in +no way troubled by the phenomena, which she had often previously +observed, and Baron Reichenbach thought he saw in them a confirmation of +his theory about the Od-light. There can be, however, little doubt that +the luminous appearance, perceptible though it be only to unusually +sensitive persons, is the result of chemical decomposition, which has a +peculiar influence over these persons. + +Hence, no doubt, the numerous accounts of will-o'-the-wisps and ghostly +lights seen in graveyards; the frightened beholder is nearly always +laughed at or heartily abused, and more than one poor child has fallen a +victim to the absurd theory of "curing it of foolish fears." There can +be no doubt that light does appear flickering above churchyards, and +that there is something more than mere idle superstition in the +"corpse-candles" of the Welsh and in the "elf-candles" of the Scotch, +which are seen, with foreboding weight, in the house of sickness, +betokening near dissolution. At the same time, it is well known that +living persons also have, under certain circumstances, given out light, +and especially from their head. The cases of Moses, whose face shone +with unbearable brightness, and of the martyr Stephen, are familiar to +all, and the halo with which artists surround the heads of saints bears +eloquent evidence of the universal and deeply-rooted belief. But science +also has fully established the fact that light appears as a real and +unmistakable luminous efflux from the human body, alike in health and +in mortal sickness. By far the most common case of such emission of +light is the emission of sparks from the hair when combed. Before and +during the electrical "dust-storms" in India, this phenomenon is of +frequent occurrence in the hair of both sexes. In dry weather, and when +the hair also is dry, and especially immediately before thunderstorms, +the same sparks are seen in all countries. Dr. Phipson mentions the case +of a relative of his, "whose hair (exactly one yard and a quarter long), +when combed somewhat rapidly with a black gutta-percha comb, emits +sheets of light upward of a foot in length," the light being "composed +of hundreds of small electric sparks, the snapping noise of which is +distinctly heard." + +But electric light is sometimes given off by the human body itself, not +merely from the hair. A memorable instance of this phenomenon is +recorded by Dr. Kane in the journal of his last voyage to the Polar +regions. He and a companion, Petersen, had gone to sleep in a hut during +intense cold, and on awaking in the night, found, to their horror, that +their lamp--their only hope--had gone out. Petersen tried in vain to get +light from a pocket-pistol, and then Kane resolved to take the pistol +himself. "It was so intensely dark," he says, "that I had to grope for +it, and in so doing, I touched his hand. At that instant the pistol--in +Petersen's hand--became distinctly visible. A pale bluish light, +slightly tremulous, but not broken, covered the metallic parts of it. +The stock, too, was distinctly visible as if by reflected light, and to +the amazement of both of us, also the thumb and two fingers with which +Petersen was holding it--the creases, wrinkles and circuit of nails +being clearly defined upon the skin. As I took the pistol my hand became +illuminated also." This luminous and doubtless electric phenomenon took +place in highly exceptional circumstances, and is the only case recorded +in recent times. But a far more remarkable phenomenon of a similar kind +is mentioned by Bartholin, who gives an account of a lady in Italy, whom +he rightly styles _mulier splendens_, whose body became +phosphorescent--or rather shone with electric radiations--when slightly +rubbed with a piece of dry linen. In this case the luminosity appears to +have been normal, certainly very frequent under ordinary circumstances, +and the fact is well attested. Mr. B. H. Patterson mentions in the +journal _Belgravia_ (Oct., 1872), that he saw the flannel with which he +had rubbed his body, emit blue sparks, while at the same time he heard a +"crackling" sound. These facts prove that the human body even in +ordinary life, is capable of giving out luminous undulations, while +science teaches us that they appear quite frequently in disease. Here +again, Dr. Phipson mentions several cases as the result of his reading. +One of these is that of a woman in Milan, during whose illness a +so-called phosphoric light glimmered about her bed. Another remarkable +case is recorded by Dr. Marsh, in a volume on the "Evolution of Light +from the Human Subject," and reads thus: "About an hour and a half +before my sister's death, we were struck by luminous appearances +proceeding from her head in a diagonal direction. She was at the time in +a half-recumbent position, and perfectly tranquil. The light was pale as +the moon, but quite evident to mamma, myself, and sisters, who were +watching over her at the time. One of us at first thought it was +lightning, till shortly afterwards we perceived a sort of tremulous +glimmer playing around the head of the bed, and then, recollecting that +we had read something of a similar nature having been observed previous +to dissolution, we had candles brought into the room, fearing that our +dear sister would perceive the luminosity, and that it might disturb the +tranquillity of her last moments." + +The other case relates to an Irish peasant, and is recorded from +personal observation by Dr. Donovan, in the _Dublin Medical Press_, in +1870, as follows: "I was sent to see Harrington in December. He had been +under the care of my predecessor, and had been entered as a phthisical +patient. He was under my care for about five years, and I had +discontinued my visits, when the report became general that mysterious +lights were seen every night in his cabin. The subject attracted a great +deal of attention. I determined to submit the matter to the ordeal of my +own senses, and for this purpose I visited the cabin for fourteen +nights. On three nights only I witnessed anything unusual. Once I +perceived a luminous fog resembling the aurora borealis; and twice I saw +scintillations like the sparkling phosphorescence exhibited by +sea-infusoria. From the close scrutiny I made, I can with certainty say, +that no imposition was either employed or attempted." + +The only explanation ever offered by competent authority of the luminous +radiations from persons in disease, ascribes them to an efflux or escape +of the nerve-force, which is known to be kindred in its nature to +electricity, transmuting itself into luminosity as it leaves the body. +The Seeress of Prevorst reported that she saw the nerves as shining +threads, and even from the eyes of some persons rays of light seemed to +her to flash continually. Other somnambulists also, as well as +mesmerized persons, have seen the hair of persons shine with a multitude +of sparks, while the breath of their mouth appeared as a faint luminous +mist. + +The same luminosity is, finally, perceived at times in graveyards, and +would, no doubt, have led to careful investigation more frequently, if +observers had not so often been suspected of superstitious +apprehensions. In the case of Baron Reichenbach's patients, however, no +such difficulty was to be feared; they saw invariably light, bluish +flames hovering over many graves, and what made the phenomena more +striking still, was the fact that these moving lights were only seen on +recent graves, as if naturally dependent upon the process of +decomposition. If we connect this with our experience of luminosity seen +in decaying vegetables, in spoiled meat, and in diseased persons, we +shall be prepared to believe that even so-called ghost stories, in which +mysterious lights play a prominent part, are by no means necessarily +without foundation. + +Cases in which deceased persons have made themselves known to survivors, +or have produced, by some as yet unexplained agency, an impression upon +them through other senses than the sight, are very rare. Occasionally, +however, the hearing is thus affected, and sweet music is heard, in +token, as it were, of the continued intercourse between the dead and the +living. One instance may serve as an illustration. + +The Countess A. had all her life been remarkable for the strange delight +she took in clocks; not a room in her castle but had its large or small +clock, and all these she insisted upon winding up herself at the proper +time. Her favorite, however, was a very curious and most costly clock in +her sitting-room, which had the form of a Gothic church, and displayed +in the steeple a small dial, behind which the works were concealed; at +the full hour a hymn was played by a kind of music-box attached to the +mechanism. She allowed no one to touch this clock, and used to sit +before it, as the hand approached the hour, waiting for the hymn to be +heard. At last she was taken ill and confined for seven weeks, during +which the clock could not be wound up, and then she died. For special +reasons the interment had to take place on the evening of the next day, +and, as the castle was far from any town, the preparations took so much +time that it was nearly midnight before the body could be moved from the +bedroom to the drawing-room, where the usual ceremonies were to be +performed. The transfer was accomplished under the superintendence of +her husband, who followed the coffin, and in the presence of a large +number of friends and dependents, while the minister led the sad +cortege. At the moment when the coffin approached the favorite clock, it +suddenly began to strike; but instead of twelve, it gave out thirteen +strokes, and then followed the melody of a well-known hymn: + + "Let us with boldness now proceed + On the dark path to a new life." + +The minister, who happened to have been sitting a little while before by +the count's side, just beneath the clock, and had mournfully noticed its +silence after so many years, was thunderstruck, and could not recover +his self-control for some time. The count, on the contrary, saw in the +accident a solemn warning from on high, and henceforth laid aside the +frivolity which he had so far shown in his life as well as in his +principles ("Evening Post" [Germ.], 1840. No. 187). + +There are finally certain phenomena belonging to this part of magic, +which have been very generally attributed to an agency in which natural +forces and supernatural beings held a nearly equal share. They suggest +the interesting but difficult question, whether visions and ecstasy can +extend to large numbers of men at once? And yet without some such +supposition the armies in the clouds, the wild huntsman of the Ardennes, +and like appearances cannot well be explained. Here also no little +weight must be attached to ancient superstitions which have become, as +it were, a part of a nation's faith. Thus all Northern Germany has from +the earliest days been familiar with the idea of the great Woden ranging +through its dark forests, at the head of the Walkyries and the heroes +fallen in battle, while his wolves and his raven followed him on his +nightly course. When Christianity changed the old gods of the German +race into devils and demons, Woden became very naturally the wild +huntsman, who was now escorted by men of violence, bloody tyrants, and +criminals, often grievously mutilated or altogether headless. There can +be little doubt but that these visions also rested upon some natural +substructure: exceptional atmospheric disturbances, hurricanes coming +from afar and crashing through mighty forests, or even the modest tramp +of a band of poachers heard afar off, under favorable circumstances by +timid ears. The very fact that the favorite time for such phenomena is +the winter solstice favors this supposition. They are, however, by no +means limited to seasons and days, for as late as 1842 a number of +wheat-cutters left in a panic the field in which they were engaged, +because they believed they heard Frau Holle with her hellish company, +and saw Faithful Eckhard, as he walked steadily before the procession, +warning all he met to stand aside and escape from the fatal sight. An +occurrence of the kind, which took place in 1857, was fortunately fully +explained by careful observers: the cause was an immense flock of wild +geese, whose strange cries resembled in a surprising manner the barking +of a pack of hounds during a hunt. Another occurrence during the night +of January 30, 1849, threw the whole neighborhood of Basle in +Switzerland into painful consternation. The air was suddenly filled with +a multitude of whining voices, whose agony pierced the hearts of all who +heard them; men and beasts seemed to be suffering unutterable anguish, +and to be driven with furious speed from the mountain-side into a valley +near Magden; here all ended in an instant amid rolling thunder and +fearful flashes of lightning. A fierce storm arising in distant clefts +and crevices, and carrying possibly fragments of rock, ice, and moraine +along with it, seems here to have been the determining cause. + +Another class of phenomena of this kind relates to the great battles +that have at times decided the fate of the world. Thus Pausanias already +tells us ("Attica," 32), and so do other historians of Greece, how the +Plain of Marathon resounded for nearly four centuries every year with +the clash of arms and the cries of soldiers. It was evidently the deep +and lasting impression made upon a highly sensitive nation, which here +was bequeathed from generation to generation, and on the day of the +battle, when all was excitement, resulted in the perception of sounds +which had no real existence. Events of such colossal proportions, which +determine in a few hours the fate of great nations, leave naturally a +powerful impress upon contemporaries not only, but also upon the +children of that race. Such was, among others, the fearful battle on the +Catalaunian Fields, in which the Visi-Goths and Aetius conquered Attila, +and one hundred and sixty-two thousand warriors were slain. It was at +the time reported that the intense bitterness and exasperation of the +armies continued even after the battle, and that for three days the +spirits of the fallen were contending with each other with unabated +fury. The report grew into a legend, till a firm belief was established +that the battle was fought year after year on the memorable day, and +that any visitor might behold the passionate spirits as they rose from +their graves, armed with their ancient weapons and filled with +undiminished fury. One by one the soldiers of the two armies, it was +said, leave their lowly graves, rise high into the air, and engage in +deadly but silent strife, till they vanish in the clouds. It is well +known how successfully the great German painter, Kaulbach, has +reproduced the vision in his magnificent fresco of the "Hunnenschlacht." +In other countries these ghostly visions assume different forms. Thus +the neighborhood of Kerope, in Livonia, is in like manner renowned for a +long series of fearful butcheries during the wars between the German +knights and the Muscovites. There also, night after night, the shadowy +battle is fought over again; but the clashing of arms and the hoarse +war-cries are distinctly heard, and the pious traveler hastens away from +the blood-soaked plains, uttering his prayers for the souls of the +slain. In the Highlands of Scotland also, and on the adjoining islands, +most weird and gruesome sights have been watched by young and old in +every generation. The dark, dismal atmosphere of those regions, the +dense fogs and impenetrable mists, now rising from the sea, and now +descending from the mountains, and the fierce, inclement climate, have +all combined for ages to predispose the mind for the perception of such +strange and mysterious phenomena. Nearly every clan and every family has +its own particular ghost, and besides these the whole nation claims a +number of common visions and prophetic spirits, whose harps and wild +songs are heard faintly and fearfully sounding on high. A friend of Mr. +Martin, the author of a work on "Second Sight," used to recite several +stanzas belonging to such a prophetic song, which he had heard himself +on a sad November day, as it came to him through the drooping clouds and +sweeping mists from the summit of a lonely mountain. At funerals also, +wonderful voices were heard high in the air, as they accompanied the +chanting of the people below, with a music not born upon earth, and +filling the heart with strange but sweet sadness. Nearly the same +visions are seen and the same songs are heard in Sweden and Norway, +proving conclusively that like climatic influences produce also a +similar magic life, in individuals not only, but in whole nations. For +even if we are disposed to look upon these phenomena as merely strange +appearances of clouds and mists, accompanied by the howling and +whistling of the wind and the tumbling down of rocks and gravel, there +remains the uniformity with which thousands of every generation +interpret these sights and sounds into weird visions and solemn +chantings. + +It is, however, not quite so evident why the peculiar class of visions +which is often erroneously called second sight--the beholding of a +"double"--should be almost entirely confined to these same northern +regions. It is, of course, not unknown to other lands also, and even +Holy Writ seems to justify the presumption that the idea of a "double" +was familiar to the people of Palestine. For the poor damsel Rhoda, who +"for gladness" did not open the door at which Peter knocked, after he +had been miraculously liberated, but ran to announce his presence to the +friends who were assembled at the house of Mark's brother, was first +called mad, and then told: "It is his angel" (Acts xii. 13). They +evidently meant, not that it was the spirit of their deceased friend, +since they would have been made aware of his death, but a phantom +representing his living body. But the number of authentic cases of +persons who have seen their own form, is vastly greater at the North +than anywhere else. The Celtic superstition of the "fetch," as the +appearance of a person's "double" is there called, is too well known to +require explanation. But the vision itself is one of the most +interesting in the study of magic, since it exhibits most strikingly the +great power which the human soul may, under peculiar circumstances, +gain and exercise over its own self, leading to complete self-delusion. + +A case in which this strange abdication of all self-control led to most +desirable consequences, is mentioned by Dr. Mayo. A young man recently +from Oxford once saw a friend of his enter the room in which he was +dining with some companions. The new comer, just returning from hunting, +seemed to them to look unusually pale and was evidently in a state of +great excitement. After much urging he at last confessed that he had +been seriously disturbed in mind by a man who had kept him close company +all the way home. This stranger, on horseback like himself, had been his +exact image, down to a new bridle, his own invention, which he had tried +that day for the first time. He fancied that this "double" was his own +ghost and an omen of his impending death. His friends advised him to +confer with the head of his college; this was done, and the latter gave +him much good advice, adding the hope that the warning would not be +allowed to pass unimproved. It is certain that the apparition made so +strong an impression upon the young man as to lead to his entire +reformation, at least for a time. + +It is claimed by many writers that there are persons who continually +have visions, because they live in constant communication with spirits, +although in all cases they have to pay a fearful penalty for this sad +privilege. They are invariably diseased people, mostly women, who fall +into trances, have cataleptic attacks, or suffer of even more painful +maladies, and during the time of their affliction behold and converse +with the inmates of another world. The most renowned of these seers was +a Mrs. Hauffe, who has become well known to the reading world through +Dr. J. Kerner's famous work, "The Seeress of Prevorst." A peculiar +feature in her case was the fact that the visions she had were +invariably announced to bystanders by peculiar sounds, heard by all who +were present. The forms assumed by her mysterious visitors varied almost +infinitely; now it was a man in a brown gown, and now a woman in white. +Often, when the spirits appeared in the open air, and she tried to +escape from them by running, she was bodily lifted up and hurried along +so fast that her companions could not keep pace with her. It was only +later in life that she fell as a patient into the hands of Dr. Kerner, +who was quite distinguished as a poet, and had a great renown as a +physician for insane people of a special class. His house at Weinsberg +in Wuertemberg, was filled to overflowing with persons of all classes of +society, from the highest to the lowest, and all had visions. Nor was +the doctor himself excluded; he also was a seer, and has given in the +above-mentioned book a full and most interesting account of the diseases +in connection with which magic phenomena are most frequently observed. +By the aid of careful observation of actual facts, and using such +revelations vouchsafed to him and others as he believed fully +trustworthy, he formed a regular theory of visions. First of all he +admits that the privilege of communing with spirits is a grievous +affliction, and that all of his more thoughtful patients continually +prayed to be delivered of the burden. It is evident from all he states +that not only the body, but the mind also suffers--and in many cases +suffers unto destruction--under the effects of such exceptional powers; +that in fact the lines of separation between this life and another life +can never be crossed with impunity. His most interesting patient, Mrs. +Hauffe, presents the usual mixture of mere fanciful imagery with +occasional flashes of truth; her genuine revelations were marvelous, and +can only be explained upon the ground of real magic; but with them are +mixed up the most absurd theories and the most startling contradictions. +She insisted, however, upon the fact that only those spirits could +commune with mortal man who were detained in the middle realm--between +heaven and hell--the spirits of men who were in this life unable, though +not unwilling, to believe that "God could forgive their sins for the +sake of Christ's death." She was often tried by Dr. Kerner and others; +she was told that certain still living persons had died, and asked to +summon their spirits, but she was never misled. There can be no doubt +that the poor woman was sincere in her statements; but she was +apparently unable to distinguish between real visions in a trance and +the mere offspring of her imagination. That her peculiarities were +closely connected with her bodily condition is, moreover, proved by the +fact that her whole family suffered in similar manner and enjoyed +similar powers; a brother and a sister, as well as her young son, all +had visions and heard mysterious noises. The latter were, in fact, +perceptible to all the inmates of the strange house; even the great +skeptic, Dr. Strausz, who once visited it, heard "long, fearful +groanings" close to his amiable hostess, who had fallen asleep on her +sofa. Nor were the ghosts content with disturbing the patients and their +excellent physician; they made themselves known to their friends and +neighbors, also, and even the good minister in the little town had much +to suffer from nightly knockings and strange utterances. + +Dr. Kerner himself heard many spirits, but saw only one, and that only +as "a grayish pillar;" on the other hand he witnessed countless +mysterious phenomena which occurred in his patients' bedrooms. Now he +beheld Mrs. Hauffe's boots pulled off by invisible hands, while she +herself was lying almost inanimate, in a trance, on her bed, and now he +heard her reveal secrets which, upon writing to utterly unknown persons +at a great distance, proved to be correctly stated. What makes a +thorough investigation of all these phenomena peculiarly difficult, is +the fact that Dr. Kerner's house became an asylum for somnambulists as +well as for real patients, and that by this mixture the scientific value +of his observations, as regards their psychological interest, is +seriously impaired. He himself was a sincere believer in magic +phenomena; almost all of his friends and neighbors, from the humblest +peasant to the most cultivated men of science, believed in him and his +statements, and there can be no doubt that astonishing revelations were +made and extraordinary powers became manifest in his house. But here, +also, the difficulty of separating the few grains of truth from the +great mass of willful, as well as of unconscious delusion, is almost +overwhelming, and our final judgment must be held in suspense, till more +light has been thrown on the subject. Dr. Kerner's son, who succeeded +his father at his death in 1862, still keeps up the remarkable +establishment at Weinsberg; but exclusively for the cure of certain +diseases by magnetism. + + + + +VI. + +DIVINATION. + + "There shall not be found among you any one that useth divination." + + --DEUT. xviii. 9. + + +The usual activity of our mind is limited to the perception of the world +around us, and its life, as far as the power of our senses reaches; it +must, therefore, necessarily be confined within the limits of space and +time. There are, however, specially favored men among us who profess an +additional power, or even ordinary men may be thus endowed under +peculiar circumstances, as when they are under the influence of nervous +affections, trances, or even merely in an unusual state of excitement. +Then they are no longer subject to the usual laws of distance in space, +or remoteness in time; they perceive as immediately present what lies +beyond the reach of others, and the magic power by which this is +accomplished is called Divination. This vision is never quite clear, nor +always complete or correct, for even such exceptionable powers are in +all cases more or less subject to the imperfections of our nature; +habitual notions, an ill-executed imagination, and often a disordered +state of the system, all interfere with its perfect success. These +imperfections, moreover, not only affect the value of such magic +perceptions, but obscure the genuine features by a number of false +statements and of erroneous impressions, which quite legitimately excite +a strong prejudice against the whole subject. Hence, especially, the +rigor of the Church against divination in every form; it has ever +ascribed the errors mixed up with the true parts of such revelations to +the direct influence of the Evil One. The difficulty, however, arises +that such magic powers have nothing at all to do with the question of +morality; the saint and the criminal may possess them alike, since they +are elements of our common nature, hidden in the vast majority of cases, +and coming into view and into life only in rare exceptional instances. + +Divination, as freed from the ordinary limits of our perceptions, +appears either as clairvoyance, when things are seen which are beyond +the range of natural vision, or as prophecy, when the boundary lines of +time are overstepped. The latter appears again in its weakest form as a +mere anticipation of things to come, or rises to perfection in the +actual foretelling of future events. It is sad enough to learn from the +experience of all nations that the occurrences thus foreseen are almost +invariably great misfortunes, yet our surprise will cease if we remember +that the tragic in life exercises by far the greatest influence on our +mind, and excites it far beyond all other events. Nor must we overlook +the marvelous unanimity with which such magic powers are admitted to +exist in Man by all nations on earth. The explanation, also, is +invariably the same, namely, that Man possessed originally the command +over space and time as well as God himself, but that when sin came into +the world and affected his earth-born body, this power was lost, and +preserved only to appear in exceptional and invariably most painful +cases. So thought the ancients even long before revelation had spoken. +They believed that Man had had a previous god-like existence before +appearing upon earth, where he was condemned to expiate the sins of his +former life, while his immortal and divine soul was chained to a +perishing earthy body. Plato, Plutarch, and Pythagoras, Cicero (in his +book _De Divinatione_), and even Porphyrius, all admit without +hesitation the power of divination, and speak of its special vigor in +the moments preceding death. Melanchthon ascribed warning dreams to the +prophetic power of the human soul. Brierre de Boismont also is forced to +admit that not all cases of clairvoyance and prophesying are the results +of hallucination by diseased persons; he speaks, on the contrary, and in +spite of his bitter skepticism, of instances in which the increased +powers of perception are the effect of "supernatural intuition." + +One of the most prolific sources of error in Divination has ever been +the variety of means employed for the purpose of causing the preparatory +state of trance. It is well known in our day that the mind may be most +strangely affected by innumerable agencies which are apparently purely +mechanical, and often utterly absurd. Such are an intent gazing at +highly-polished surfaces of metal, or into the bright inside of a gold +cup, at the shining sides of a crystal, or the varying hues of a glass +globe; now vessels filled with pure water, and now ink poured into the +hand of a child, answer the same purpose. Fortune-telling from the lines +of the hand or the chance combinations of playing-cards are, in this +aspect, on a par with the prophecies of astrologers drawn from the +constellations in the heavens. It need hardly be added that this almost +infinite variety of more or less absurd measures has nothing at all to +do with the awaking of magic power, and continues in use only from the +prestige which some of the means, like the cup of Joseph and the mirror +of Varro, derive from their antiquity. Their sole purpose is uniformly +to withdraw the seer's attention from all outward objects, and to make +him, by steadily gazing at one and the same object, concentrate his +thoughts and feelings exclusively upon his own self. Experience has +taught that such efforts, long continued, result finally in utter loss +of feeling, in unconsciousness, and frequently even in catalepsy. It is +generally only under such peculiarly painful circumstances that the +unusual powers of our being can become visible and begin to operate. +While these results may be obtained, as recent experiments have proved, +even by mere continued squinting, barbarous nations employ the most +violent means for the same purpose--the whirling of dervishes, the +drumming and dancing of northern shamans, the deafening music of the +Moors, are all means of the same kind to excite the rude and fierce +nature of savages to a state of excessive excitement. In all cases, +however, we must notice the comparative sterility of such divination, +and the penalty which has to be paid for most meagre results by injuries +inflicted upon the body, and by troubles caused in the mind, which, if +they do not become fatal to life, are invariably so to happiness and +peace. That the sad privilege may have to be paid for with life itself, +we learn already from Plutarch's account of a priestess who became so +furious while prophesying, that not only the strangers but the priests +themselves fled in dismay, while she herself expired a few hours later +(II. p. 438). + +The state in which all forms of divination are most apt to show +themselves is by theologians called _ecstasis_, when it is caused by +means specially employed for the purpose and appears as a literally +"being beside one's self"; by its side they speak of _raptus_, when the +abnormal state suddenly begins during an act of ordinary life, such as +walking, working, or even praying. The distinction is of no value as to +the nature of the magic powers themselves, which are in all cases the +same; it refers exclusively to the outer form. + +One of the simplest methods is the Deasil-walking of the Scotch +Highlanders: the seer walks rapidly three times, with the sun, around +the person whose future is to be foretold, and thus produces a trance, +in which his magic powers become available. Walter Scott's "Chronicles +of the Canongate" gives a full account of this ceremony. Robin Oig's +aunt performs the ceremony, and then warns him in great terror, that she +has seen a bloody dagger in his hand, stained with English blood, and +beseeches him to stay at home. He disregards the omen, kills the same +night an Englishman, a cattle-dealer, and pays for the crime with his +life. + +In the East, on the contrary, the usual form is to employ a young boy, +taken at haphazard from the street, and to force him to gaze intently at +Indian ink poured into the hollow of the hand, at molten lead, wax +poured into cold water, the paten of a priest or a shining sword, with +which several men have been killed. General readers will recall the +famous boy of Cairo, who saw thus, in the dark, glittering surface of +ink, the great Nelson--curiously enough as in a mirror, for he reported +the image to be without the left arm and to wear the left sleeve across +the breast, while the great admiral had lost his right arm and wore the +right sleeve suspended. Burke, in his amusing "Anecdotes of the +Aristocracy," etc. (I. p. 124), relates how the "magician" Magraubin in +Alexandria appeared with a ten-year-old Coptic boy before the officers +of H. M's. ship _Vanguard_. After burning much incense and uttering many +unintelligible formulas he rolled a paper in the shape of a cornucopia, +filled it with ink, and bade the boy tell them what he saw. As usual, he +saw first a broom sweeping, and was thoroughly frightened. When a young +midshipman asked him to inquire what would be his fate, he described +instantly a sailor with gold on the shoulders, fighting against Indians +till he fell dead; then came friends and buried him under a tree on a +hill. The midshipman, Croker, returned home, abandoned the sea, and +became a landowner in one of the midland counties of England, where he +often laughed at the absurd prediction. Long years afterwards, however, +when there was a sudden want of seamen, he was recalled into service and +sent on a long cruise. He rose to become a captain, and while in command +of a frigate fell, upon the island of Tongataboo, in a skirmish with the +natives, whereupon he was interred there under a lofty palm-tree which +stood on a commanding eminence. The same author repeats (I. p. 357) the +well-known story of Lady Eleanor Campbell, which is in substance as +follows: + +Poor Lady Primrose, a daughter of the second Earl of Loudoun, had for +years endured the saddest lot that can befall a noble woman: she had +been bound by marriage to a husband whose dissolute habits and untamable +passions inspired her with fear, while his short love for her had long +since turned into bitter hatred. At last he formed the resolution to rid +himself forever of his wife, whose very piety and gentleness were a +standing reproof to his villainy. By a rare piece of good luck she was +awake when he came from his deep potations, a bare sword in his hand, +and ready to kill her; she saw him in the mirror before which she +happened to be sitting, and escaped by jumping from a window and +hastening to her husband's own mother. After this attempt at her life +he disappeared, no one knew whither, but the poor lady, forsaken and yet +not a widow, could not prevent her thoughts from dwelling, by day and by +night, year after year, upon the image of her unfortunate husband and +his probable fate in foreign lands. It was, therefore, not without a +pardonable interest that she heard, one winter, people talk of a +foreigner who had suddenly appeared in Canongate and created a great +sensation throughout Edinburgh by his success in showing to inquiring +visitors what their absent friends were doing. Her intense anxiety about +her husband and her natural desire to ascertain whether she was still a +wife or already a widow, combined to tempt her to call on the magician; +she went, therefore, with a friend, both disguised in the tartans and +plaids of their maids. Before they reached the obscure alley to which +they had been directed, they lost their way, and were standing helpless, +exposed to the cold, stormy weather, when suddenly a deep voice said to +them: "You are mistaken, ladies, this is not your way!" "How so?" asked +Lady Primrose, addressing a tall, gentlemanly looking man, with a stern +face of deep olive color, in which a pair of black eyes shone like +stars, and dressed in an elegant but foreign-looking costume. The answer +came promptly: "You are mistaken in your way, because it lies yonder, +and in your disguise, because it does not conceal you from him who can +lift the veil of the Future!" Then followed a short conversation in +which the stranger made himself known as the magician whom they were +about to visit, and, by some words whispered into the lady's ear, as a +man who not only recognized her as Lady Primrose, but who also was +perfectly well acquainted with all the intimate details of her history. +Amazed and not a little frightened, the two ladies accepted his +courteous invitation to follow him, entered the house, and were shown +into a simply furnished room, where the stranger begged them to wait for +him, till all was ready for the ceremony by which alone he could satisfy +their curiosity. After a short pause he reappeared in the traditional +costume of a magician, a long tunic of black velvet which left his +breast, arms, and hands free, and requested Lady Primrose to follow him +into the adjoining room. After some little hesitation she left her +companion and entered the room, which was perfectly plain, offering +nothing to attract the eye save the dark curtains before the windows, an +old-fashioned arm-chair, and a kind of altar of black marble, over which +a large and beautiful mirror was suspended. Before the latter stood a +small oven, in which some unknown substance burnt with a blue light, +which alone feebly lighted up the room. The visitor was requested to sit +down, to invoke help from above, and to abstain from uttering a sound, +if she valued her life and that of the magician. After some simple but +apparently most important ceremonies, the magician threw a pinch of red +powder upon the flame, which instantly changed into bright crimson, +while a few plaintive sounds were heard and red clouds seemed to rise +before the mirror, broken at short intervals by vivid flashes of +lightning. As the mist dispersed the glass exhibited to the lady's +astonished eye the interior of a church, first in vague outlines +undulating as passing clouds seemed to set them in motion, but soon +distinctly and clear in the minutest details. Then a priest appeared +with his acolytes at the altar, and a wedding party was seen standing +before him, among whom Lady Primrose soon recognized her faithless +husband. Before she could recover from her painful surprise she saw a +stranger hastily entering the church, wrapped in his cloak; at the +moment when the priest, who had been performing the usual ceremony, was +about to join the hands of the couple before him, the unknown dropped +his cloak and rushed forward. Lady Primrose saw it was her own brother, +who drew his sword and attacked her husband; suddenly a thrust was made +by the latter which threatened to be fatal, and the poor lady cried out: +"Great God, they will kill my brother!" She had no sooner uttered these +words than the whole scene in the mirror became dim and blurred, the +clouds rose again and formed dense masses, and soon the glass resumed +its ordinary brightness and the flame its faint blue color. The +magician, apparently much excited, informed the lady that all was over, +and that they had escaped a most fearful danger, incurred by her +imprudence in speaking. He would accept no reward, stating that he had +merely wished to oblige her, but would not have dared do so much, if he +had foreseen the peril to which they had both been exposed. Lady +Primrose, accompanied by her friend, reached home in a state of extreme +excitement, but immediately wrote down the hour and the day of her +strange adventure, with a full account of all she had seen in the magic +mirror. The paper thus drawn up she sealed in the presence of her +companion and hid it in a secret drawer. Not long afterwards her brother +returned from the Continent, but for some time refused to speak at all +of her husband; it was only after being long and urgently pressed by the +poor lady, that he consented to tell her, how he had heard of Lord +Primrose's intention to marry a very wealthy lady in Amsterdam, how by +mere chance he had entered the church where the marriage ceremony was to +be performed, and how he had come out just in time to prevent his +brother-in-law from committing bigamy. They had fought for a few minutes +without doing each other any injury, and after being separated, he had +remained, while Lord Primrose had disappeared, no one knew whither. Upon +comparing dates and circumstances, it appeared that the mirror had +presented the scene faithfully in all its details; but the ceremony had +taken place in the morning, the visit to the magician at night, so that +the latter had, after all, only revealed an event already completed. +There remains, however, the difficulty of accounting for the means by +which in those days--about 1700--an event in Amsterdam could possibly +have been known in Edinburgh, the night of the same day on which it +occurred. + +In France, under Louis XIV., a glass of water was most frequently used +as a mirror in which to read the future. The Duke of St. Simon reports +that the Duke of Orleans was thus informed that he would one day become +Regent of France. The Abbe Choisy mentions a remarkable occurrence which +took place at the house of the Countess of Soissons, a niece of the +great Cardinal Mazarin. Her husband was lying sick in the province of +Champagne, and she was anxious to know whether she ought to undertake +the long and perilous journey to him or not; in this dilemma a friend +offered to send for a diviner, who should tell her the issue of her +husband's illness. He brought her a little girl, five years old, who, in +the presence of a number of distinguished persons of both sexes, began, +under the nobleman's direction, to tell what she saw in a glass of +water. When she began by saying that the water looked as if it were +troubled, the poor lady was so frightened that her friend suggested he +would ask the spirit to show the child not her husband himself, but a +white horse, if the Count was dead, and a tiger if he was alive. Then he +asked the girl what she saw now? "Ah!" she cried out at once, "what a +pretty white horse!" The company, however, refused to be content with +one trial; five times in succession the test was altered, and in such a +manner that the little child could not possibly be aware of the choice, +but in each case the answer was unfavorable to the absent Count. It +appeared, afterwards, that he had really died a day or two before the +consultation. One of the most striking cases of such exceptional +endowment was a Frenchman, Cahagnet, who in his work, _Lumiere des +Morts_ (Paris, 1851), claimed to see remote objects and persons. He used +to make a mental effort, upon which his eyes became fixed and he saw +objects at a great distance, reading the title and discerning the +precise shape of books in public libraries, or watching absent friends +engaged in unusual occupations! This state of clairvoyance, however, +never lasted more than sixty seconds, nor could he ever see the same +object twice--limitations of his endowment which secured for him greater +credit than he would have otherwise possessed. Occasionally he would +assist the effort he had to make by fixedly gazing at some shining +object, such as a small flaw in a mirror or a glass. Another restraint +under which he labored, and which yet increased the faith of others, +consisted in this, that such sights as presented themselves +spontaneously to him proved invariably to be true, while the visions +which he purposely evoked were not unfrequently unfounded in fact. + +Among recent magicians of this class, a Parisian, Edmond, is perhaps the +most generally known. He is a man without education, who leads a life of +asceticism, and is said to equal the famous Lennormand in his ability to +guess the future by gazing intently at certain cards. The latter, +although not free from the charge of charlatanism, possessed +undoubtedly the most extraordinary talent of divining the thoughts of +those who came to consult her, and an almost marvelous tact in +connecting the knowledge thus obtained with the events of the day. She +began her career already as a young girl at a convent-school, where her +playmates asked her laughing who would be the next abbess, and she +mentioned an entirely unknown lady from Picardy as the one that would be +appointed by the king. Contrary to all expectations the favorite +candidates were put aside, and the unknown lady appointed, although +eighteen months elapsed before her prophecy was fulfilled. As early as +1789 she predicted the overthrow of the French government, and during +the Revolution her reputation was such that the first men of the land +came to consult her. The unfortunate princess Lamballe and Mirabeau, +Mme. de Stael and the king himself, all appeared in her stately +apartments. Her efforts to save the queen, to whose prison she managed +to obtain access, were unsuccessful; but when her aristocratic +connections caused her to be imprisoned herself, even the noble and +virtuous Mme. Tallien sought her society. The new dynasty, whose members +were almost without exception more or less superstitious, as it is the +nature of all Corsicans, consulted her frequently; the great Napoleon +came to her in 1793, when he was disgusted with France, and on the point +of leaving the country; he sent for her a second time in 1801 to confer +with her at Malmaison, and the fair Josephine actually conceived for +her a deep and lasting attachment. Afterwards, however, she became as +obnoxious to the Emperor as his inveterate enemy, Mme. de Stael; she was +repeatedly sent to prison because she predicted failures, as in the case +of the projected invasion of England, or because she revealed the secret +plans of Napoleon. The Emperor Alexander of Russia also consulted her in +1818, and of the Prussian king, Frederick William III., it is at least +reported that he visited her incognito. After the year 1830 she appeared +but rarely in her character as a diviner; she had become old and rich, +and did not perhaps wish to risk her world-wide reputation by too +numerous revelations. She maintained, however, for the rest of her life +the most intimate relations with many eminent men in France, and when +she died, in 1843, seventy-one years old, leaving to her nephew a very +large fortune, her gorgeous funeral was attended by a host of +distinguished personages, including even men of such character as +Guizot. And yet she also had not disdained to use the most absurd and +apparently childish means in order to produce the state of ecstasy in +which she alone could divine: playing-cards fancifully arranged, the +white of an egg, the sediment of coffee, or the lines in the hand of her +visitors. At the same time, however, she used the information which she +casually picked up or purposely obtained from her great friends with +infinite cunning and matchless tact, so that the better informed often +asked her laughingly if her familiar spirit Ariel was not also known as +Talleyrand, David, or Geoffroy? The charlatanism which often and most +justly rendered her proceedings suspicious to sober men, was in fact +part of her system; she knew perfectly well the old doctrine, _mundus +vult decipi_, and did not hesitate to flatter the fondness of all +Frenchmen for a theatrical _mise en scene_. + +Dryden's famous horoscope of his younger son Charles was probably +nothing more than one of those rare but striking coincidences of which +the laws of probability give us the exact value. He loved the study of +astrology and never omitted to calculate the nativity of his children as +soon as they were born. In the case of Charles he discovered that great +dangers would threaten him in his eighth, twenty-third, and thirty-third +or forty-third year; and sure enough those years produced serious +troubles. On his eighth birthday he was buried under a falling wall; on +the twenty-third he fell in Rome from an old tower, and on his +thirty-third he was drowned in the Thames. + +Divination by means of bones--generally the shoulder bones of rams--is +quite common among the Mongols and Tongoose, and the custom seems to +have remained unchanged through centuries. For Purchas already quotes +from the "Journal" of the Minorite monk Guillaume de Rubruguis, written +in 1255, a description of the manner in which the Great Khan of Mongolia +tried to ascertain the result of any great enterprise which he might +contemplate. Three shoulder bones of rams were brought to him, which he +held for some time in his hands, while deeply meditating on the subject; +then he threw them into the fire. After they were burnt black they were +again laid before him and examined; if they had cracked lengthways the +omen was favorable, if crossways the enterprise was abandoned. Almost +identically the same process is described by the great traveler Pallas, +who witnessed it repeatedly and obtained very startling communications +from the Mongol priests. But here also violent dancing, narcotic +perfumes, and wild cries had to aid in producing a trance. The +Laplanders have, perhaps, the most striking magic powers which seem to +be above suspicion. At least we are assured by every traveler who has +spent some time among them, from Caspar Peucer ("Commentaries," etc., +Wittebergae, 1580, p. 132) down to the tourists of our days ("Six Months +in Lapland," 1870), that they not only see persons at the greatest +distance, but furnish minute details as to their occupation or +surroundings. After having invoked the aid of his gods the magician +falls down like a dead man and remains in a state of trance for +twenty-four hours, during which foreigners are always warned to have him +carefully guarded, "lest the demons should carry him off." During this +time the seer maintains that his "soul opens the gates of the body and +moves about freely wherever it chooses to go." When he returns to +consciousness he describes accurately and minutely the persons about +whom he has promised to give information. In the East Indies it is well +known clairvoyance has existed from time immemorial, and the kind of +trance which consists in utter oblivion of actual life and perfect +abstraction of thought from this world is there carried out to +perfection. The faithful believer sits or lies down in any position he +may happen to prefer for the moment, fixes his eyes intently upon the +point of his nose, mutters the word One, and finally beholds God with an +inner sense, in the form of a white brilliant light of ineffable +splendor. Some of these ascetics pass from a simple trance to a state of +catalepsy, in which their bodies become insensible to pain--but this +kind of _ecstasis_ is not accompanied by divination. + +Another branch of divination conquers the difficulty which distance in +space opposes to our ordinary perceptions. In all such cases it is of +course not our hearing or smelling which suddenly becomes miraculously +powerful, but another magic power, which causes impressions on the +mind like those produced by the eye and the ear. The oldest +well-authenticated instance of magic hearing is probably that of +Hyrcanus, the high-priest of the Jews, who while burning incense in the +temple, heard a voice saying: "Now Antiochus has been slain by thy +sons." The news was immediately proclaimed to the people, and some time +afterward messengers came announcing that Antiochus had thus perished as +he approached Samaria, which he desired to relieve from the besieging +army under the sons of Hyrcanus (Josephus, "Antiq." lxiii. ch. 19). A +still more striking instance is also reported by a trustworthy author +(Theophylactos Simocata, l. viii. ch. 13). A man in Alexandria, Egypt, +saw, as he returned home about midnight, the statues before the great +temple moved aside from their seats, and heard them call out to him that +the Emperor had been slain by Phocas (602). Thoroughly frightened he +hastened to the authorities, reporting his adventure; he was carried +before Peter, the Viceroy of Egypt, and ordered to keep silence. Nine +days later, however, the official news came that the Emperor had been +murdered. It is evident that the knowledge of the event came to him in +some mysterious way, and for an unknown purpose; but that what he saw +and heard, was purely the work of his imagination, which became the +vehicle of the revelation. + +There exists a long, almost unbroken series of similar phenomena through +the entire course of modern history, of which but a few can here find +space. Richelieu tells us in his _Memoires_ ("Coll. Michaud--Poryoulat," +2d series, vii. p. 23), that the _Prevost des Marechaux_ of the city of +Pithiviers was one night engaged in playing cards in his house, when he +suddenly hesitated, fell into a deep musing, and then, turning to his +companions, said solemnly: "The king has just been murdered!" These +words made a deep impression upon all the members of the assembly, which +afterward changed into genuine terror, when it became known that on that +same evening, at the same hour of four o'clock, P. M., Henry IV. had +really been murdered. Nor was this a solitary case, for on the same day +a girl of fourteen, living near the city of Orleans, had asked her +father, Simonne, what a king was? Upon his replying that it was the man +who commanded all Frenchmen, she had exclaimed: "Great God, I have this +moment heard somebody tell me that he was murdered!" It seems that the +minds of men were just then everywhere deeply interested in the fate of +the king, and hence their readiness to anticipate an event which was no +doubt very generally apprehended; even from abroad numerous letters had +been received announcing his death beforehand. In the two cases +mentioned this excitement had risen to divination. The author of the +famous _Zauber Bibliothek_, Horst, mentions (i. p. 285) that his father, +a well-known missionary, was once traveling in company with the renowned +Hebrew scholar Wiedemann, while a third companion, ordinarily engaged +with them in converting Jews, was out at sea. It was a fine, bright day; +no rain or wind visible even at a distance. Wiedemann had walked for +some time in deep silence, apparently engaged in praying, when suddenly +he stopped and said: "Monsieur Horst, take your diary and write down, +that our companion is at this moment exposed to great peril by water. +The storm will last till night and the danger will be fearful; but the +Lord will mercifully preserve him and the vessel, and no lives will be +lost. Write it down carefully, so that when our friend returns, we may +jointly thank God for His great mercy." The missionary did so, and when +the three friends were united once more their diaries were compared, +and it appeared that the statement had been exact in all its details. + +Clairvoyance, as far as it implies the seeing of persons or the +witnessing of events at a great distance, is counted among the most +frequent gifts of early saints, and St. Augustine mentions a number of +remarkable cases. Not only absent friends and their fate were thus +beheld by privileged Christians, but even the souls of departing saints +were seen as they were borne to heaven by angelic hosts. The same +exceptional gifts were apparently granted to the early Jesuit fathers; +thus Xavier once saw distinctly a whole naval expedition sailing against +the pirates of Malacca and defeating them in a great naval battle. He +had himself caused the fleet to be sent from Sumatra, and remained +during the whole time in a trance. He had fallen down unconscious at the +foot of the altar, where he had been fervently praying for a long time, +and during his unconsciousness he saw not only a general image of what +was occurring at a distance of 200 Portuguese leagues, but every detail, +so that upon recovering from the trance he could announce to his +brethren the good news of a great victory, of the loss of only three +lives, and of the very day and hour on which the official report would +be received (Orlandini, l. vii. ch. 84). Queen Margaret, not always +reliable, still seems to state well-known facts only, when she tells us +in her famous _Memoires_ (Paris, 1658) the visions of her mother, the +great Queen Catherine de Medici. The latter was lying dangerously ill +at Metz, and King Charles, a sister, and another brother of Margaret of +Valois, the Duke of Lorraine, and a number of eminent persons of both +sexes, were assembled around what was believed to be her death-bed. She +was delirious, and suddenly cried out: "Just see how they run! my son is +victorious. Great God! raise him up, he has fallen! Do you see the +Prince of Conde there? He is dead." Everybody thought she was delirious, +but on the next evening a messenger came bringing the news of the battle +of Jarnac, and as he mentioned the main events, she calmly turned to her +children, saying: "Ah! I knew; I saw it all yesterday!" It seems as if +in times of great and general expectation, when bloody battles are +fought, and the destiny of empires hangs in the scales, the minds of the +masses become so painfully excited that the most sensitive among them +fall into a kind of trance, and then perceive, by magic powers of +divination, what is taking place at great distances. This +over-excitement is, moreover, not unknown to men of the highest +character and the greatest erudition. Calvin, whose stern, clear-sighted +judgment abhorred all superstition, nevertheless once saw a battle +between Catholics and Protestants with all its details. Swedenborg, +whose religious enthusiasm never interfered with his scrupulous candor, +saw more than once with his mind's eye events occurring at a distance of +hundreds of miles. His vision of the great fire at Stockholm is too well +authenticated to admit of doubt. Not less reliable are the accounts of +another vision he had at Amsterdam in the presence of a large company. +While engaged in animated conversation, he suddenly changed countenance +and became silent; the persons near him saw that he was under the +influence of some strong impression. After a few moments he seemed to +recover, and overwhelmed with questions, he at last reluctantly said: +"In this hour the Emperor Peter IV. of Russia has suffered death in his +prison!" It was ascertained afterwards that the unfortunate sovereign +had died on that day and in the manner indicated. + +Among modern seers the most remarkable was probably the well-known poet, +Emile Deschamps, who published in 1838 interesting accounts of his own +experiences. When he was only eight years old it was decided that he +should leave Paris and be sent to Orleans; this troubled him sorely, and +in his great grief he found some little comfort in setting his lively +fancy to work and to imagine what the new city would be like. When he +reached Orleans he was extremely surprised to recognize the streets, the +shops, and even the names on the sign-boards, everything was exactly as +he had seen it in his day-dreams. While he was yet there he saw his +mother, whom he had left in Paris, in a dream rising gently heavenwards +with a palm-branch in her hand, and heard her voice, very faint but +silvery, call to him, "Emile, Emile, my son!" She had died in the same +night, uttering these words with her departing breath. Later in life he +often heard strange but enchanting music while in a state of partial +ecstasis; he saw distant events, and, among others, distinctly described +a barricade, the defenders of the adjoining house, and certain events +connected with the fight at that spot, as they had happened in Paris on +the same day (_Le Concile de la libre pensee_, i. p. 183). + +A still higher power of divination enables men to read in the faces and +forms of others, even of totally unknown persons, not only the leading +traits of their character, but even the nature of their former lives. +There can be no doubt that every important event in our life leaves a +more or less perceptible trace behind, which the acute and experienced +observer may learn to read with tolerable distinctness and accuracy. It +is well known how the study of the human face enables us thus to discern +one secret after another, and how really great men have possessed the +power to judge of the capacity of generals or statesmen to serve them, +by natural instinct and without any effort. We say of specially endowed +men of this class, that they "can read the souls of men," and what is +most interesting is the well-established fact that the purer the mind +and the freer from selfishness and conceit, the greater this power to +feel, as it were, the character of others. Hence the superiority of +women in this respect; hence, especially, the unfailing instinct of +children, which enables them instantly to distinguish affected love from +real love, and makes them shrink often painfully from contact with evil +men. + +When this power reaches in older men a high degree of perfection, it +enters within the limits of magic, and in this form was well known to +the ancients. The Neo-Platonic Plotinus is reported by Porphyrius to +have been almost marvelously endowed with such divining powers; he +revealed to his pupils the past and the future events of their lives +alike, and once charged the author himself with cherishing thoughts of +suicide, when no one else suspected such a purpose. In like manner, we +are told, Ancus Naevius, the famous augur of the first Tarquins, could +read all he desired to know in the faces of others. The saints of the +church were naturally as richly endowed, and from Filipo Neri to Xavier +nearly all possessed this peculiar gift of divination. But other men, +also, and by no means always those most abundantly endowed with mental +superiority, have frequently a peculiar talent of this kind. Thus the +well-known writer Zschokke, the author of the admirable work, "Hours of +Devotion," gives in his autobiographical work, _Selbstschau_, a full +account of his peculiar gifts as a seer, which contains the following +principal facts: At the moment when an utter stranger was first +introduced to him, he saw a picture of his whole previous life rising +gradually before his mind's eye, resembling somewhat a long dream, but +clear and closely connected. During this time he would, contrary to his +general custom, lose sight of the visitor's face and no longer hear his +voice. He used to treat these involuntary revelations at first as mere +idle fancies, till one day he was led by a kind of sportive impulse to +tell his family the secret history of a seamstress who had just left the +room, and whom he had never seen before. It was soon ascertained that +all he had stated was perfectly true, though known only to very few +persons. From that time he treated these visions more seriously, taking +pains to repeat them in a number of cases to the persons whom they +concerned, and to his own great amazement they turned out in every case +to be perfectly accurate. The author adds one case of peculiarly +striking nature: "One day," he says, "I reached the town of Waldshut, +accompanied by two young foresters, who are still alive. It was dusk, +and tired by our walk we entered an inn called The Grapevine. We took +our supper at the public table in company with numerous guests, who +happened to be laughing at the oddities and the simplicity of the Swiss, +their faith in Mesmer, in Lavater's 'System of the Physiognomy,' etc. +One of my companions, hurt in his national pride, asked me to make a +reply, especially with regard to a young man sitting opposite to us, +whose pretentious airs and merciless laughter had been peculiarly +offensive. It so happened that, a few moments before, the main events in +the life of this person had passed before my mind's eye. I turned to him +and asked him if he would answer me candidly upon being told the most +secret parts of his life by a man who was so complete a stranger to him +as I was? That, I added, would certainly go even beyond Lavater's power +to read faces. He promised to confess it openly, if I stated facts. +Thereupon I related all I had seen in my mind, and informed thus the +whole company at table of the young man's history, the events of his +life at school, his petty sins, and at last a robbery which he had +committed by pilfering his employer's strong-box. I described the empty +room with its whitewashed walls and brown door, near which on the right +hand, a small black money-box had been standing on a table, and other +details. As long as I spoke there reigned a deathlike silence in the +room, which was only interrupted by my asking the young man, from time +to time, if all I said was not true. He admitted everything, although +evidently in a state of utter consternation, and at last, deeply touched +by his candor, I offered him my hand across the table and closed my +recital." + +This popular writer, a man of unblemished character, who died in 1850, +regretted by a whole nation, makes this account of his own prophetic +power still more interesting by adding that he met at least once in his +life another man similarly endowed. "I once encountered," he says, +"while travelling with two of my sons, an old Tyrolese, a peddler of +oranges and lemons, in a small inn half concealed in one of the narrow +passes of the Jura Mountains. He fixed his eyes for some time upon my +face, and then entered into conversation with me, stating that he knew +me, although I did not know him, and then began, to the intense delight +of the peasants who sat around us and of my children, to chat about +myself and my past life. How the old man had acquired his strange +knowledge he could not explain to himself or to others, but he evidently +valued it highly, while my sons were not a little astonished to discover +that other men possessed the same gift which they had only known to +exist in their father." + +It must not be forgotten that the human eye has, beyond question, often +a power which far transcends the ordinary purposes of sight, and +approaches the boundaries of magic. There is probably no one who cannot +recall scenes in which the soothing and cheering expression of gentle +eyes has acted like healing balm on wounded hearts; or others, in which +glances of fury and hatred have caused genuine terror and frightened the +conscience. History records a number of instances, from the glance of +the Saviour, which made Peter go out and weep bitterly, to the piercing +eye of a well-known English judge, which made criminals of every rank in +society feel as if their very hearts lay open to the divining eye of a +master. This peculiar and almost irresistible power of the eye has not +inaptly been traced back to the gorgon head of antiquity--a frightful +image from Hades with a dread glance of the eye, as it is called by +Homer (Il. viii. 349; Odyss. xi. 633). The same fearful expression, +chilling the blood and almost arresting the beating of the heart, is +frequently mentioned in modern accounts of visions. Thus the Demon of +Tedworth recorded by Glanvil ("Sadd. Triumph." 4th ed. p. 270), +consisted of the vague outlines of a human face, in which only two +bright, piercing eyes could be distinguished. In other cases, a faint +vapor, barely recalling a human shape, arises before the beholder, and +above it are seen the same terrible eyes + + "Sent from the palace of Ais by fearful Persephoneia." + +Magic divination in point of time includes the class of generally very +vague and indefinite perceptions, which we call presentiments. These +are, unfortunately, so universally mixed up with impressions produced +after the occurrence--_vaticinium post eventum_--that their value as +interesting phenomena of magic is seriously impaired. There remains, +however, in a number of cases, enough that is free from all spurious +admixture, to admit of being examined seriously. The ancients not only +believed in this kind of foresight, but ascribed it with Pythagoras to +revelations made by friendly spirits; in Holy Writ it rises almost +invariably, under direct inspiration from on high, to genuine prophecy. +It reveals not only the fate of the seer, but also that of others, and +even of whole nations; the details vary, of course, according to the +prevailing spirit of the times. + +When Narses was ruling over Italy, a young shepherd in the service of +Valerianus, a lawyer, was seized by the plague and fell into syncope. He +recovered for a time, and then declared that he had been carried to +heaven, where he had heard the names of all who in his master's house +should die of the plague, adding that Valerianus himself would escape. +After his death everything occurred as he had predicted. An English +minister, Mr. Dodd, one night felt an irresistible impulse to visit a +friend of his who lived at some distance. He walked to his house, found +the family asleep, but the father still awake and ready to open the door +to his late visitor. The latter, very much embarrassed, thought it best +to state the matter candidly, and confessed that he came for no +ostensible purpose, and really did not know himself what made him do so. +"But God knew it," was the answer, "for here is the rope with which I +was just about to hang myself." It may well be presumed that the Rev. +Mr. Dodd had some apprehensions of the state of mind of his friend; but +that he should have felt prompted to call upon him just at that hour, +was certainly not a mere accident. + +The family of the great Goethe was singularly endowed with this power of +presentiment. The poet's grandfather predicted both a great +conflagration and the unexpected arrival of the German Emperor, and a +dream informed him beforehand of his election as alderman and then as +mayor of his native city. His mother's sister saw hidden things in her +dreams. His grandmother once entered her daughter's chamber long after +midnight in a state of great and painful excitement; she had heard in +her own room a noise like the rustling of papers, and then deep sighs, +and after a while a cold breath had struck her. Some time after this +event a stranger was announced, and when he appeared before her holding +a crumbled paper in his hand, she had barely strength enough to keep +from fainting. When she recovered, her visitor stated that in the night +of her vision a dear friend of hers, lying on his deathbed, had asked +for paper in order to impart to her an important secret; before he could +write, however, he had been seized by the death-struggle, and after +crumpling up the paper and uttering two deep sighs he had expired. An +indistinct scrawl was all that could be seen; still the stranger had +thought it best to bring the paper. The secret concerned his now +orphaned child, a girl whom Goethe's grandparents thereupon took home +and cared for affectionately (_Goethe's Briefwechsel_, 3d ed., II. p. +268). + +Bourrienne tells us in his _Memoires_ several instances of remarkable +forebodings on the part of Napoleon's first wife, Josephine. Her mind +was probably, by her education and the peculiar surroundings in which +she passed her childhood, predisposed to receive vivid impressions of +this kind, and to observe them with great care and deep interest. Thus +she almost invariably predicted the failure of such of her husband's +enterprises as proved unsuccessful. After Bonaparte had moved into the +Tuileries on the 18th Brumaire, she saw, while sitting in the room of +poor Marie Antoinette, the shadow of the unfortunate queen rise from the +floor, pass gently through the apartment, and vanish through the window. +She fainted, and from that day predicted her own sad fate. On another +occasion the spirit of her first husband, Beauharnais, appeared before +her with a gesture of solemn warning; she immediately turned to +Napoleon, exclaiming: "Awake, awake, you are threatened by a great +danger!" There seemed to be, for some days, no ground for apprehension, +but so strong were her fears that she secretly sent for the minister of +police and entreated him to take special measures for the safety of the +First Consul. At eight o'clock of the evening of the same day the latter +left the Tuileries on his way to the opera; a terrible explosion was +heard in the Rue St. Nicaise, where conspirators attempted to blow up +the dictator, and he narrowly escaped with his life. Josephine at once +hastened to his side, and after having most tenderly cared for the +wounded, embraced Napoleon in public with tears streaming down her face, +and implored him hereafter to listen more attentively to her warnings. +Napoleon, however, though superstitious enough firmly to believe in what +he called his "star," and even to see it shining in the heavens when no +one else beheld it, never would admit the value of his wife's +forebodings. + +Presentiments of this kind are most frequently felt before death, and it +is now almost universally believed that the impending dissolution of the +body relieves the spirit in many cases fully enough from its bondage to +endow it with a clear and distinct anticipation of the coming event. A +large number of historical personages have thus been enabled to predict +the day, and many even the hour of their own death. The Connetable de +Bourbon, who was besieging Rome, addressed, according to Brantome (_Vies +des gr. capitaines_, ch. 28), on the day of the final assault, his +troops, and told them he would certainly fall before the Eternal City, +but without regret if they but proved victorious. Henry IV. of France, +felt his death coming, according to the unanimous evidence of Sully, +L'Etoile, and Bassompierre, and said, before he entered his coach on the +fatal day: "My friend, I would rather not go out to-day; I know I shall +meet with misfortune." On the 16th of May, 1813, four days before the +battle of Bautzen, two of Napoleon's great officers, the Duke of Vicenza +and Marshal Duroc, were in attendance at Dresden while the emperor was +holding a protracted conference with the Austrian ambassador. The clock +was striking midnight, when suddenly Duroc seized his companion by the +arm and with frightfully altered features, looking intently at him, said +in trembling tones: "My friend, this lasts too long; we shall all of us +perish, and he last of all. A secret voice tells me that I shall never +see France again." It is well known that on the day of the battle a +cannon-ball which had already killed General Kirchner, wounded Duroc +also mortally, and when he lay on his deathbed he once more turned to +the Duke of Vicenza and reminded him of the words he had spoken in +Dresden. + +The trustworthy author of "Eight Months in Japan," N. Luehdorf, tells us +(p. 158) a remarkable instance of unconscious foreboding on the part of +a common sailor. The American barque _Greta_ was in 1855 chartered to +carry a great number of Russians, who had been shipwrecked on board the +frigate _Diana_ during an earthquake at Simoda to the Russian port of +Ayan. A sailor on board was very ill, and shortly before his death told +his comrades that he would soon die, but that he was rather glad of it, +as they would all be captured by the English, with whom Russia was then +at war. The report of his prediction reached the captain's cabin, but +all the officers agreed that such an event was next to impossible; a +dense fog was making the ship perfectly invisible, and no English fleet +had as yet appeared in the Sea of Okhotsk, where the Russians had +neither vessels nor forts to tempt the British. The whole force of +England in those waters was at that moment engaged in blockading the +Russian fleet in the Bay of Castris in the Gulf of Tartary. Nevertheless +it so chanced that a British steamer, the corvette _Barracouta_, hove in +sight on the 1st of August and captured the vessel, making the Russians +prisoners of war. + + +SECOND SIGHT. + +A special kind of divination, which has at times been evidenced in +certain parts of Europe, and is not unknown to our North-western +Indians, consists in the perception of contemporaneous or future events, +during a brief trance. Generally the seer looks with painfully raised +eyelids, fixedly into space, evidently utterly unconscious of all around +him, and engaged in watching a distant occurrence. A peculiar feature of +this phenomenon, familiar to all readers as second sight, is the +exclusion of religious or supernatural matters; the visions are always +strictly limited to events of daily life: deaths and births, battles and +skirmishes, baptisms and weddings. The actors in these scenes are often +personally unknown to the seer, and the transactions are as frequently +beheld in symbols as in reality. A man who is to die a violent death, +may be seen with a rope around his neck or headless, with a dagger +plunged into his breast, or sinking into the water up to his neck; the +sick man who is to expire in his bed, will appear wrapped up in his +winding sheet, in which case his person is more or less completely +concealed as his death is nearer or farther off. A friend or a messenger +coming from a great distance, is seen as a faint shadow, and a murderer +or a thief, as a wolf or a fox. Another peculiar feature of second sight +is the fact that the same visions are very frequently beheld by several +persons, although the latter may live far apart and have nothing in +common with each other. The phenomena are sporadic in Germany and +Switzerland, in the Dauphine and the Cevennes; they occur in larger +numbers and are often hereditary in certain families, in Denmark, the +Scotch Highlands and the Faroe Islands. In Gaelic, the persons thus +gifted are called Taishatrim, seers of shadows, or Phissichin, +possessing knowledge beforehand. Hence, they have been most thoroughly +studied in those countries, and Mr. Martin has gathered all that could +be learnt of second sight in the Shetlands, in a work of great +interest. Here the phenomena are not unfrequently accompanied by magic +hearing also, as when funerals are seen in visions, and at the same time +the chants of the bystanders and even the words of the preacher are +distinctly heard. The most marked form of this feature is the taisk or +wraith, a cry uttered by a person who is soon to die, and heard by the +seer. The dwellers on those remote islands are also in the habit of +smelling an odor of fish, often weeks and months before the latter +appear in their waters. A special kind of divination exists in Wales and +on the Isle of Man, where the approaching death of friends is revealed +by so-called body lights, caulawillan cyrth. + +The entirely unselfish character of second sight must not be overlooked, +as far as it increases in a high degree the value of such phenomena and +adds to their authenticity. In the great majority of cases the persons +and events seen under such circumstances are of no interest to the seer; +they are frequently utterly strange and unknown to him, and hence find +no sympathy in his heart. It appears as if, by some unknown and hence +magic process, a window was opened for the soul to look out and behold +whatever may happen to be presented to the inner vision; this image is +then transferred to the outer eye, and the seer's imagination makes him +believe that he sees in reality what is revealed to him by this +mysterious process. Hence also the facts that the persons gifted with +second sight, so far from laboring under diseases of any kind, are +almost without exception simple, frugal men, free from chronic +affections, and perfect strangers to hysterics, spasms, or nervous +sufferings. Insanity and suicide are as unknown to them as drunkenness, +and no case of selfish interest or willful imposture has ever been +recorded in connection with second sight. This does not imply, however, +that efforts have not been made by others to profit by the strange gifts +of such persons; but even the career of the famous Duncan Campbell, a +deaf and dumb Scot, who, in the beginning of the last century, created +an immense sensation in London, only proved anew the well-known +disinterestedness of these seers. In many instances the gift of second +sight is treated with indifference, and hardly noticed. Such was the +case with Lord Nelson, who is reported to have exhibited the gift of a +kind of second sight, at least in two well-authenticated cases, related +by Sir Thomas Hardy to Admiral Dundas, and quoted by Dr. Mayo, as he had +the account from the latter. Captain Hardy heard Nelson order the +commander of a frigate to shake out all sails to sail towards a certain +place where he would in all probability meet the French fleet, and as +soon as he had made it out, to run into a certain port and there to wait +for Nelson's arrival. When the officer had left the cabin, Nelson turned +to Hardy, saying: "He will go to the West Indies; he will see the +French; he will make the port I told him to make, but he will not wait +for me--he will sail for England." The commander actually did so. In +this case, however, Nelson may possibly have only given a striking +evidence of his power to read the character of men, and to draw his +conclusions as to their probable action. In the following instance his +knowledge appeared, on the contrary, as a magic phenomenon. It was +shortly before the battle of Trafalgar, when an English frigate was made +out at such a distance that her position could not be accurately +ascertained. Suddenly Nelson turned to Hardy, who was standing by his +side, and said: "The frigate has sighted the French." Hardy had nothing +to say in reply. "She sights the French; she will fire presently." In an +instant the low sound of a signal-shot was heard afar off! + +In other cases the curious gift is borne with great impatience, and +becomes a source of intense suffering. This is certainly very pardonable +in men who read impending death in the features of others, and hence are +continually subject to heart-rending impressions. Sometimes the moribund +appears as if he had been lying in his grave already for several days, +at other times he is seen wrapped up in his shroud or in the act of +expiring. In some parts of Germany the approaching death of a neighbor +is announced by the appearance of Death itself, not in the familiar +mythological form, but as a white, luminous appearance, which either +stops before the house of the person who is to die soon, or actually +enters it and places itself by the side of the latter. Occasionally the +image is seen to fill the seat or to walk in a procession in the place +of a man as yet in perfect health, who nevertheless soon falls a victim +to some disease or sudden attack. + +Second sight is, like all similar magic phenomena, frequently mentioned +in the writings of the ancients. Homer mentions a case in his "Odyssey" +(xx. v. 351). Apollonius of Tyana was delivering an oration at Ephesus, +when he suddenly stopped in the middle of a sentence and beheld in a +vision the Emperor Domitian at Rome, in the act of succumbing to his +murderers. He fell into a kind of trance, his eyes became fixed, and he +exclaimed in an unnatural voice: "Down with the tyrant!" (_Vita Apoll. +Zenobis Anolo interprete._ Paris, 1555, l. viii. p. 562.) Henry IV., +when still Prince of Navarre, saw on the eve of St. Bartholomew several +drops of blood falling upon the green cloth of the card-table at which +he was seated in company with several courtiers; the latter beheld the +fearful and ominous sight as well as he himself. German writings abound +with instances of men having seen their own funeral several days before +their death, and in many instances the warning is reported to have had a +most salutary effect in causing them to repent of their sins and to +prepare for the impending summons. One of the most remarkable instances +is that of a distinguished professor of divinity, Dr. Lysius, in +Koenigsberg. He had inherited special magic powers through many +generations from an early ancestor, who saw a funeral of very peculiar +nature, with all the attending circumstances, long before it actually +took place. He himself had his first revelation when, lying in bed +awake, he saw suddenly his chamber quite light, and something like a +man's shadow pass him, while on his mind, not on his ear, fell the +words: _Umbra matris tuae_. Although his mother had just written to him +that she was in unusually good health and spirits, she had died that +very night. On another occasion he astonished his friends by telling +them what a superb new building he had seen erected in Koenigsberg, +giving all the details of church and school-room to a little gate in a +narrow alley. Many years afterwards such a building was really erected +there, and he himself called to occupy part of it, when that little gate +became his favorite entrance. Although he had many such visions, and his +wife, succumbing to the contagious influence of magic powers, also +foresaw more than one important event, he sternly refused to attach any +weight to his own forebodings or those of other persons. Thus a poor +woman, possessing the gift of second sight, once came to some members of +his family and told them she had seen seven funerals leave his house; +when this was reported to him, he denounced the superstition as +unchristian, and forbade its being mentioned again in his presence. But, +although there was not a sick person in the house at the time, and even +the older members of the family were unusually hale and hearty, in a few +weeks every one in the house was dangerously ill, the head of the family +alone excepted, and as three only escaped, the seven deaths which had +been foreseen actually took place. + +The annals of Swedish history (Arndt, _Schwed. Gesch._ p. 317) record a +remarkable case of this kind. The scene was the old castle of Gripsholm, +near Stockholm, a place full of terrible reminiscences, and more than +once made famous by strange mysteries. A great state dinner given to a +prince of Baden, had just ended, when one of the guests, Count Froelich, +suddenly gazed fixedly at the great door of the dining-hall, and when he +regained his composure, declared he had just seen their princely guest +walk in, wearing a different uniform from that in which he was actually +dressed, as he sat in the place of honor. It was, however, a custom of +the prince's to wear one costume one day and another the next day, and +thus to change regularly; Count Froelich had seen him in that which he +would accordingly wear the next day. The impression was beginning to +wear away, and the accident was nearly forgotten, when suddenly a great +disturbance was heard without, servants came running in, women were +heard crying, and even the officers on guard were seriously disturbed. +The report was that "King Eric's ghost" had been seen. On the following +day the Prince of Baden was thrown from his carriage and instantly +killed; his body was brought back to Gripsholm. + +Here also we meet again with the exceptional powers granted to Goethe. +He had just parted with one of his many loves, the fair daughter of the +minister of Drusenheim, Friederike, and was riding in deep thought upon +the footpath, when he suddenly saw, "not with the eyes of the body, but +of the spirit," his own self in a new light gray coat, laced with gold, +riding towards him. When he made an effort to shake off the impression, +the vision disappeared. "It is strange, however," he tells us himself, +"that I found myself eight years later riding on that same road, in +order to see Friederike once more, and was then dressed, by accident and +not from choice, in the costume of which I had dreamt" (_Aus Meinem +Leben_, iii. p. 84). A kindred spirit, Sir Humphry Davy, had once a +vision, which strangely enough was fulfilled more than once. In his +attractive work ("Consolations in Travel," p. 63), he relates how he +saw, when suffering of jail fever, the image of a beautiful woman, with +whom he soon entered into a most interesting conversation. He was at the +time warmly attached to a lady, but the vision represented a girl with +brown hair, blue eyes and blooming complexion, while his lady-love was +pale and had dark eyes and dark hair. His mysterious visitor came +frequently, as long as he was really sick, but as his strength returned, +her visits became rarer, and at last ceased altogether. He forgot it +entirely; but ten years later he suddenly met in Illyria, a girl of +about fourteen or fifteen years, who strikingly resembled the image he +had seen, and now recalled in all its details. Another ten years passed, +and the great chemist met once more in traveling, a person who as +strikingly resembled his first vision, and became indebted to her tender +care and kindness for the preservation of his life. + +In some parts of the world this gift of second sight assumes very +peculiar forms. In Africa, for instance, and especially in the countries +adjoining the Sahara, men and women are found who possess alike the +power of seeing coming events beforehand. More than once European +travelers have been hospitably received by natives who had been warned +of their coming. Richardson tells us in his graphic account of his +"Mission to Central Africa," that his arrival had thus been announced to +the chief and the people of Tintalus in these words: "A caravan of +Englishmen is on the way from Tripoli, to come to you." The seer was an +old negro-woman, a reputed witch, who had a great reputation for +anticipating events. In the Isle of France--we learn from James Prior in +his "Voyage in the Indian Seas"--there are many men who can see vessels +at a distance of several hundred miles. One of them described accurately +and minutely the wreck of a ship on the coast of Madagascar, from whence +it was to bring provisions. A woman expecting her lover on board another +ship, inquired of one of these seers if he could give her any comfort: +he replied promptly that the vessel was only three days' sail from the +island, and that her friend was then engaged in washing his linen. The +ship arrived at the appointed time, and the man corroborated the seer's +statement. The great navigator relates even more surprising feats +accomplished by the director of signals, Faillafe, who saw vessels +distinctly at a distance of from sixty to one hundred sea miles. Their +image appeared to him on the horizon in the shape of a light brown +cloud with faint outlines, but yet distinctly enough to enable him to +distinguish the size of the vessel, the nature of its rigging, and the +direction in which it was sailing. + +Second hearing seems to be limited to the eastern part of Scotland, +where it occurs occasionally in whole families. Mrs. Crowe mentions, for +instance, a man and his wife in Berwickshire, who were both aroused at +night by a loud cry which they at once recognized as peculiar to their +son. It appeared afterwards that he had perished at sea in that night +and at the same hour when the cry was heard (I. p. 161). In another case +a man in Perthshire was waked by his wife, who told him that no doubt +their son had been drowned, for she had distinctly heard the splash as +he fell into the water, and had been aroused by the noise. Here also the +foreboding proved true: the man had fallen from the yardarm, and +disappeared before a boat could be lowered, although his fall had been +heard by all aboard. + +It must finally be mentioned that second sight has been noticed not in +men only, but even in animals. Horses especially seem to be extremely +sensitive to all magic influences, and accounts of their peculiar +conduct under trying circumstances are both numerous and perfectly well +authenticated. Thus a minister in Lindholm, the Rev. Mr. Hansen, owned a +perfectly gentle and good-natured horse, which all of a sudden refused +to stand still in his stable, began to tremble and give all signs of +great fear, and finally kicked and reared so wildly that he had to be +removed. As soon as he was placed in another stable he calmed down and +became perfectly quiet. It was at last discovered that a person endowed +with second sight had ascribed the strange behavior of the horse to the +fact that a coffin was being made before his open stable, and that the +horse could not bear the sight. The man was laughed at, but not long +after the minister's wife died, and for some special reasons the coffin +was actually made in full view of the former stable of the horse (Kies. +_Arch._ viii. p. 111). Dogs also have been reported in almost +innumerable cases to have set up a most painful howling before the +approaching death of inmates of a house where they were kept. + +In England and in Germany especially, they are considered capable of +seeing supernatural beings. When they are seen to cower down of a +sudden, and to press close to the feet of their masters, trembling often +in all their limbs, and looking up most piteously, as if for help, +popular belief says: "All is not right with the dog," or "He sees more +than men can see." The memory of Balaam's ass rises instinctively in our +mind, and we feel that this part of creation, which groaneth with us for +salvation, and which was included among those for whose sake the Lord +spared Nineveh, may see what is concealed from our eyes. Samuel Wesley +tells us expressly how a dog, specially bought for the purpose of +frightening away the evil-disposed men who were at first suspected of +causing the nightly disturbances at the parsonage, barked but once the +first night, and after that exhibited, upon the recurrence of those +noises, quite as much terror as the children. + +Nor are dogs and horses the only animals considered capable of +perceiving by a special instinct of their own the working of +supernatural agencies. During a series of mysterious disturbances in a +German village, the chickens fled in terror from the garden, and the +cattle refused to enter the enclosure, when the appearances were seen. +Swiss herdsmen have a number of stories concerning "feyed" places in the +Alps, to which neither caress nor compulsion can induce their herds to +go, even when pasture is rare everywhere else, and rich grass seems to +tempt them to come to the abhorred meadows. Storks have been known to +have abandoned the rooftree on which for years they had built their +nest, and in every case the forsaken house was burnt during the summer. +This and other peculiarities of sagacious animals have been especially +noticed in Denmark, where all animals are called _synsk_, seers, when +they are believed to possess the gift of second sight. + + +ORACLES AND PROPHECIES. + +The highest degree of divination is the actual foretelling of events +which are yet to happen. The immediate causes which awaken the gift are +of the most varied character, and often very curious. Thus a young +Florentine, Gasparo, who had been wounded by an arrow, and could not be +relieved, began in his fearful suffering to pray incessantly, day and +night; this excited him to such a degree that he finally foretold not +only the name of his visitors, but also the hour at which they would +come, and finally the day of his complete recovery; he also knew, by the +same instinct, that later in life he would go to Rome and die there. +When the iron point was at last removed from his wound, his health began +to improve, and at once his prophetic gift left him and never returned. +He went, however, to Rome, and really died in the Eternal City +(Colquhoun, p. 333). The priests of Apollo, at Colophon, intoxicated +themselves with the water of his fountain, which was as famous for +bestowing the gift of prophecy as AEsculapius' well at Pergamus and the +springs near his temple at Pellena. In other temples vapors were inhaled +by the prophetic priests. In the prophet-schools of the Israelites music +seems to have played a prominent part, for Samuel told Saul he would +meet at the hill of Gad "a company of prophets coming down from the high +place with a psaltery and a tabret and a pipe before them." The Jews +possessed, however, also other means to aid in divining: Joseph had his +cup, a custom still prevalent in the East; and the High Priest, before +entering into the Holiest, put on the Thummim with its six dark jewels +and the Urim with its six light-colored jewels, whereupon the brilliant +sparkling of the precious stones and the rich fumes of incense combined +with the awful sense of the presence of Jehovah in predisposing his +mind to receive revelations from on high. The false prophets of Baal, on +the contrary, tried to produce like effects by bloody means: "They cut +themselves with knives and lancets till the blood gushed out upon them," +and then they prophesied. It has already been mentioned that in India +the glance was fixed upon the navel, until the divine light began to +shine before the mind's eye--in other words, until a trance is induced, +and visions begin to appear. The changes which immediately precede +dissolution seem, finally, to be most favorable to a development of +prophetic powers. Already Aretaeus, the Cappadocian, said that the mind +of many dying persons was perfectly clear, penetrating and prophetic, +and mentions a number of cases in which the dying had begun to converse +with the dead, or foretold the fate of those who stood by their bedside. +Thus Homer also makes dying Hector warn Achilles of his approaching end, +and Calanus, when in the act of ascending the funeral pile, replies to +Alexander's question if he had any request to make: "No, I have nothing +to ask, for I shall see you the day after to-morrow!" And on that day +the young conqueror died. + +Suetonius reports that the Emperor Augustus was passing away almost +imperceptibly, when he suddenly shuddered and said that forty youths +were carrying him off. It so happened that when the end came, forty men +of his body-guard were ordered to raise and convey the body to another +room in the palace. There are a few cases known in which apparently +dying persons, after delivering such prophecies, have recovered and +retained the exceptional gift during the remainder of their lives, but +these instances are rare and require confirmation. + +As all magic phenomena are liable to be mixed up with delusion and +imposture, so divination of this kind also has been frequently imitated +for personal or political purposes. The ancient oracles already gave +frequently answers full of irony and sly humor. The story of King +Alexander of Epirus is well known, who was warned by the oracle at +Dodona to keep away from the Acherusian waters, and then perished in the +river Acheros, in Italy. Thus Henry IV. of England had been told that he +would die at Jerusalem; he thought only of Palestine, but met his death +unconsciously in a room belonging to the Abbey of Westminster, which +bore the name of the holy city. In Spain, Ferdinand the Catholic +received warning that he would die at Madrigal, and hence carefully +avoided the city of that name; but when his last illness overtook him at +an obscure little town, he found that it was called Madrigaola, or +Little Madrigal. The historian Mariana (_Hist. de rebus Hisp._, l. xxii. +chap. 66) also mentions the despair of the famous favorite Don Alvarez +de Luna, whom an astrologer had warned against Cadahalso, a village near +Toledo; the unfortunate man died on the scaffold which is also called +cadahalso. In France it was the fate of the superstitious queen, +Catherine de Medici, to experience a similar mortification: the famous +Nostradamus had predicted that she would die in St. Germain, and she +carefully avoided that palace; but when her last end came, she found +herself sinking helpless into the arms of a courtier called St. Germain. + +Nor is there any want of false prophecies from the time when Jeremiah +complained that "a wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the +land; the people prophesy falsely" (Jer. v. 30), to the great money +crisis in 1857, which filled the land with predictions of the +approaching end. Periods of great political or religious excitement +invariably produce a few genuine and a host of spurious prophets, which +represent the sad forebodings filling the mind of a distressed nation +and avail themselves of the credulity of all great sufferers. Some of +the most absurd prophecies have nevertheless caused a perfect panic, +extending in some cases throughout whole countries. Thus in 1578 a +famous astrologer, the father of all weather prophecies in our almanacs, +predicted that in the month of February, 1524, when three planets should +enter at once the constellation of the fishes, a second deluge would +destroy the earth. The report reached the Emperor Charles V., who +submitted the matter to his Spanish theologians and astrologers. They +investigated it with solemn gravity and found it very formidable; from +Spain the panic spread through the whole of Europe. When February came +thousands left their houses and sought refuge on mountain and hill-top; +others hoped to escape on board ships, and a rich president at Toulouse +actually built himself a second ark. When the deluge did not take place, +divines and diviners were by no means abashed; they declared that God +had this time also taken pity upon sinful men in consideration of the +fervent prayer of the faithful, as he had done before in the case of +Nineveh. The fear of the last judgment has at all times so filled the +minds of men as to make them readily believe a prediction of the +approaching end of the world, an event which, it is well known, the +apostles, Martin Luther, and certain modern divines, have persistently +thought immediately impending. Sects have arisen at various epochs who +have looked forward to the second Advent with a sincerity of conviction +of which they gave striking and even most fearful evidence. The +Millerites of the Union have more than once predicted the coming of +Christ, and in anticipation of the near Advent, disposed of their +property, assumed the white robes in which they were to ascend to +heaven, and even mounted into the topmost branches of trees to shorten +the journey. In Switzerland a young woman of Berne became so excited by +the coming of judgment, which she fixed upon the next Easter day, that +she prophesied daily, gathered a number of followers around her, and +actually had her own grandfather strangled in order to save his soul +before the approaching Advent. (Stilling, "Jenseits," p. 117.) + +Not unfrequently prophecies are apparently delivered by intermediate +agents, angels, demons or peculiarly marked persons. It was no doubt an +effect of the deep and continued excitement felt by Caius Cassius, that +his mind was filled with the image of murdered Caesar, and hence he could +very easily fancy he saw his victim in his purple cloak, horse and rider +of gigantic proportions, suddenly appear in the din of the battle at +Philippi, riding down upon him with wild passion. It is well known that +the impression was strong enough to make him, who had never yet turned +his back upon the enemy, seek safety in flight, and cry out: "What more +do you want if murder does not finish you?" (Valer. Max. I. 8.) + +It must lastly be borne in mind, that prophecies have not remained as +sterile as other magical phenomena. Already Herder mentions the +advantages of ancient oracles. He says (_Ideen zur Phil. d. Geschichte_, +iii. p. 211): "Many a tyrant and criminal was publicly marked by the +divine voice (of oracles), when it foretold their fate; in like manner +it has saved many an innocent person, given good advice to the helpless, +lent divine authority to noble institutions, made known works of art, +and sanctioned great moral truths as well as wholesome maxims of state +policy." It need hardly be added that the prophets of Israel were the +main upholders of the religious life as well as of the morality of the +chosen people; while the priests remained stationary in their views, and +contented themselves with performing the ceremonial service of the +temple, the prophets preserved the true faith, and furthered its +gradually widening revelation. In their case, however, divination was so +clearly the result of divine inspiration, that their prophecies can +hardly be classed among magic phenomena. The ground which they have in +common with merely human forebodings and divinings, is the state of +trance in which alone prophets seem to have foretold the future, whether +we believe this ecstatic condition to have been caused by music, +long-protracted prayer or the direct agency of the Holy Spirit. + +This ecstasy was in the case of almost all the oracles of antiquity +brought on by inhaling certain gases which rose from the soil and +produced often most fearful symptoms in the unfortunate persons employed +for the purpose. At the same time they were rarely free from an addition +of artifice, as the priests not only filled the mind of the pythoness +beforehand with thoughts suggested by their own wisdom and political +experience, but the latter also frequently employed her skill as a +ventriloquist, in order to increase the force of her revelations. Hence +the fact, that almost all the Greek oracles proceeded from deep caves, +in which, as at Dodona and Delphi, carbonic gas was developed in +abundance; hence, also, the name of _ventriloqua vates_, which was +commonly given to the Delphi Pythia. The oldest of these oracles, that +at Dodona, foretold events for nearly two thousand years, and even +survived the almost universal destruction of such institutions at the +time of Christ; it did not actually cease till the third century, when +an Illyrian robber cut down the sacred tree. The oracle of Zeus +Trophonius in Boeotia spoke through the patients who were brought to the +caves, where they became somnambulists, had visions and answered the +questions of the priests while they were in this condition. The Romans +also had their somnambulist prophets from the earliest days, and +whenever the state was in danger, the Sibylline books were consulted. +Christianity made an end to all such divination in Italy as in Greece. +It is strange that the vast scheme of Egyptian superstition shows us no +oracles whatever; but among the Germans prophets were all the more +numerous. They foretold war or peace, success or failure, and exercised +a powerful influence on all affairs. One of the older prophetesses, +Veleda, who lived in an isolated tower, and allowed herself to be but +rarely consulted, was held in high esteem even by the Romans. The Celts +had in like manner prophet-Druids, some of whom became well known to the +Romans, and are reported to have foretold the fate of the emperors +Aurelian, Diocletian and Severus. + +We have the authority of Josephus for the continuance of prophetic power +in Israel even after the coming of Christ. He tells us of Jesus, the son +of Ananus, who ran for seven years and five months through the streets +of Jerusalem, proclaiming the coming ruin, and, while crying out "Woe is +me!" was struck and instantly killed by a stone from one of the siege +engines of the Romans. (Jos., l. vi. c. 31.) Josephus himself passes +for a prophet, having predicted the fall of the city of Jotapata +forty-seven days in advance, his own captivity, and the imperial dignity +of Vespasian as well as of Titus. Of northern prophets, Merlin is +probably the most widely known; he was a Celtic bard, called Myrdhin, +and his poems, written in the seventh century, were looked upon as +accurate descriptions of many subsequent events, such as the exploits of +Joan of Arc. In the sixteenth century Nostradamus took his place, whose +prophetic verses, _Vraies Centuries et Propheties_, are to this day +current among the people, and now and then reappear in leading journals. +He had been a professor of medicine in the University of Montpellier, +and died in 1566, enjoying a world-wide reputation as an astrologer. His +brief and often enigmatical verses have never lost their hold on +credulous minds, and a few striking instances have, even in our century, +largely revived his credit. Such was, for instance, the stanza (No. 10): + + _Un empereur naitre pres d'Italie, + Qui a l'empire sera vendu tres cher; + Diront avec quels gens il se rallie, + Qu'on trouvera moins prince que boucher,_ + +which was naturally applied to the great Napoleon and his marshals. + +Another northern prophet, whose predictions are still quoted, was the +Archbishop of Armagh, Malachias, who, in 1130, foretold the fate of all +coming popes; as in almost all similar cases, here also the accidental +coincidences have been carefully noted and pompously proclaimed, while +the many unfulfilled prophecies have been as studiously concealed. It is +curious, however, that he distinctly predicted the fate of Pius VI., +whom he spoke of as "_Vir apostolicus moriens in exilo_" (he died, 1799, +an exile, in Valence), and that he characterized Pius IX. as "Crux de +Cruce." St. Bridget of Sweden had the satisfaction of seeing her +prophecies approved of by the Council of Basle; they were translated +subsequently into almost every living language, and are still held in +high esteem by thousands in every part of Europe. The most prominent +name among English prophets is probably that of Archbishop Usher, who +predicted Cromwell's fate, and many events in England and Ireland, the +result, no doubt, of great sagacity and a remarkable power of +combination, but exceeding in many instances the ordinary measure of +human wisdom. An entirely different prophet was Rice Evans (Jortin, +"Rem. on Eccles. Hist.," p. 377), who, fixing his eye upon the hollow of +his hand, saw there images of Lord Fairfax, Cromwell, and four other +crowned heads appearing one after another; thus, it is said, he +predicted the Protectorate and the reign of the four sovereigns of the +house of Stuart. Jane Leade, a most extraordinary and mysterious person, +founded in 1697, when she had reached the age of seventy-four, her +so-called Philadelphian Society, a prominent member of which was the +famous Pordage, formerly a minister and then a physician. This very vain +woman maintained that she was inspired in the same manner as St. John +in Patmos, and that she was compelled by the power of the Holy Spirit to +foretell the future. In spite of her erroneous announcement of the near +Millennium, she foretold many minor events with great accuracy, and was +highly esteemed as a prophet. Dr. Pordage had mainly visions of the +future world, which were all characterized by a great purity of heart +and wildness of imagination. Swedenborg also had many prophetic visions, +but their fulfillment belongs exclusively to future life, and their +genuineness, firmly believed by the numerous and enlightened members of +the New Church, cannot be proved to others in this world. + +One of the most remarkable cases of modern prophesying which has been +officially recorded, is connected with the death of Pope Ganganelli. The +latter heard that a number of persons in various parts of Italy had +predicted that he would soon end his life by a violent death. He +attached sufficient importance to these reports to hand the matter over +to a special commission previously appointed to examine grave charges +which had been brought against the Jesuits, perhaps suspecting that the +Order of Jesus was not unconnected with those predictions. Among the +persons who were thereupon arrested was a simple, ignorant peasant-girl, +Beatrice Rensi, who told the gendarme very calmly: "Ganganelli has me +arrested, Braschi will set me free," implying that the latter would be +the next pope. The priest at Valentano, who was arrested on the same +day (12th of May, 1774), exclaimed quite joyously: "What happens to me +now has been predicted three times already; take these papers and see +what my daughter (the Rensi) has foretold." Upon examination it appears +that the girl had fixed the pope's day upon the day of equinoxes, in the +month of September; she announced that he would proclaim a year of +absolution, but not live to see it; that none of the faithful would kiss +his foot, nor would they take him, as usual, to the Church of St. Peter. +At the same time she spoke of a fierce inward struggle through which the +Holy Father would have to pass before his death. Soon after these +predictions were made officially known to the pope, the bull against the +order of Jesuits was laid before him; the immense importance of such a +decree, and the evident dangers with which it was fraught, caused him +great concern, and when he one night rose from his bed to affix his +signature, and, frightened by some considerations, threw away the pen +only to take it up at last and sign the paper, he suddenly recalled the +prophecy of the peasant-girl. He drove at once to a great prelate in +Rome, who had formerly been the girl's confessor, and inquired of him +about her character; the priest testified to her purity, her unimpeached +honesty, and her simplicity, adding that in his opinion she was +evidently favored by heaven with special and very extraordinary powers. +Ganganelli was made furious by this suggestion, and insisted upon it +that his commission should declare all these predictions wicked lies, +the inspirations of the Devil, and condemn the sixty-two persons who had +been arrested to pay the extreme penalty in the Castle of St. Angelo on +the 1st of October. In the meantime, however, his health began to +suffer, and his mind was more and more deeply affected. Beatrice Rensi +had been imprisoned in a convent at Montefiascone; on the 22d of +September she told the prioress that prayers might be held for the soul +of the Holy Father; the latter informed the bishop of the place, and +soon the whole town was in an uproar. Late in the afternoon couriers +brought the news that Ganganelli had suddenly died at eight o'clock in +the morning; the body began to putrefy so promptly that the usual +ceremonies of kissing the pope's feet and the transfer to St. Peter's +became impossible! The most curious effects of the girl's predictions +appeared however, when the Conclave was held to elect a successor. Many +Cardinals were extremely anxious that Braschi should not be elected, +lest this should be interpreted as a confirmation of the prediction, and +hence as the work of the Evil One; others again looked upon the girl's +words as an indication from on high; they carried the day. Braschi was +really chosen, and ascended the throne as Pius VI. The commission, +however, continued the work of investigation, and finally acquitted the +Jesuits of the charge of collusion; Beatrice Rensi's predictions were +declared to be supernatural, but suggested by the Father of Lies, the +accused were all set free. The Bishop of Montefiascone, Maury, reported +officially in 1804 that the girl had received a pension from Rome until +the French invasion, then she left the convent in which she had +peacefully and quietly lived so long, and was not heard of again. + +The famous predictions of Jacques Cazotte, a man of high literary renown +and the greatest respectability, were witnessed by persons of +unimpeachable character and have been repeatedly mentioned as authentic +by eminent writers. Laharpe--not the tutor of the Russian Emperor +Alexander--reports them fully in his _OEuvres choisies_, etc. (i. p. +62); so do Boulard, in his _Encycl. des gens du Monde_, and William +Burt, who was present when they were made, in his "Observations on the +Curiosities of Nature." It is well known that Cazotte had joined the +sect of Martinists, and among these enthusiasts increased his natural +sensitiveness and his religious fervor. With a mind thus predisposed to +receive strong impressions from outside, and filled with fearful +apprehensions of the future, it was no wonder that he should fall +suddenly into a trance and thus be enabled by extraordinary magical +influences to predict the horrors of the Revolution, the sad fate of the +king and the queen, and his own tragic end. + +The report of his predictions as made by Jean de Laharpe, who only died +in 1823, and with his well-established character and high social +standing vouched for the genuineness of his experience, is substantially +as follows: He had been invited, in 1788, to meet at the palace of the +Duchess de Gramont some of the most remarkable personages of the day, +and found himself seated by the side of Malesherbes. He noticed at a +corner of the table Cazotte, apparently in a deep fit of musing, from +which he was only roused by the frequent toasts, in which he was forced +to join. When at last the guests seemed to be overflowing with fervent +praises of modern philosophy and its brilliant victory over old +religious superstitions, Cazotte suddenly rose and in a solemn tone of +voice and with features agitated with deep emotion said to them: +"Gentlemen, you may rejoice, for you will all see that great and +imposing revolution, which you so much desire. You, M. Condorcet, will +expire lying on the floor of a subterranean prison. You, M. N., will die +of poison; you, M. N., will perish by the executioner's hand on the +scaffold." They cried out: "Who on earth has made you think of prisons, +poison, and the executioner? What have these things to do with +philosophy and the reign of reason, which we anticipate and on which you +but just now congratulated us?" "That is exactly what I say," replied +Cazotte, "in the name of philosophy, of reason, of humanity, and of +freedom, all these things will be done, which I have foretold, and they +will happen precisely when reason alone will reign and have its +temples." "Certainly," replied Chamfort, "you will not be one of the +priests." "Not I," answered the latter, "but you, M. de Chamfort, will +be one of them and deserve to be one; you will cut your veins in +twenty-two places with your razor, and yet die only several months +after that desperate operation. You, M. Vicque d'Azyr, will not open +your veins, because the gout in your hands will prevent it, but you will +get another person to open them six times for you the same day, and you +will die in the night succeeding. You, M. Nicolai, will die on the +scaffold, and you, M. Bailly, and you, M. Malesherbes." "God be +thanked," exclaimed M. Richer, "it seems M. Cazotte only deals with +members of the Academy." But Cazotte replied instantly: "You also, M. +Richer, will die on the scaffold, and they who sentence you, and others +like you, will be nevertheless philosophers." "And when is all this +going to happen?" asked several guests. "Within at most six years from +to-day," was the reply. Laharpe now asked: "And about me you say +nothing, Cazotte?" The latter replied: "In you, sir, a great miracle +will be done; you will be converted and become a good Christian." These +words relieved the company, and all broke out into merry laughter. Now +the Duchess of Gramont also took courage, and said: "We women are +fortunately better off than men, revolutions do not mind us." "Your sex, +ladies," answered Cazotte, "will not protect you this time, and however +careful you may be not to be mixed up with politics, you will be treated +exactly like the men. You also, Duchess, with many ladies before and +after you, will have to mount the scaffold, and more than that, they +will carry you there on the hangman's cart, with your hands bound behind +your back." The duchess, perhaps looking upon the whole as a jest, +said, smiling: "Well, I think I shall at least have a coach lined with +black." "No, no," replied Cazotte, "the hangman's cart will be your last +carriage, and even greater ladies than you will have to ride in it." +"Surely not princesses of the royal blood?" asked the duchess. "Still +greater ones," answered Cazotte. "But they will not deny us a +confessor?" she continued. "Yes," replied the other, "only the greatest +of all who will be executed will have one." "But what will become of +you, M. Cazotte?" asked the guests, who began at last to feel thoroughly +uncomfortable. "My fate," was the reply, "will be the fate of the man +who called out, Woe! over Jerusalem, before the last siege, and Woe! +over himself, while a stone, thrown by the enemy, ended his life." With +these words Cazotte bowed and withdrew from the room. However much of +the details may have been subsequently added to the prediction, the fact +of such a prophecy has never yet been impugned, and William Burt, who +was a witness of the scene, emphatically endorses the account. + +Even the stern Calvinists have had their religious prophets, among whom +Du Serre is probably the most interesting. He established himself in +1686 in the Dauphine, but extended his operations soon into the +Cevennes, and thus prepared the great uprising of Protestants there in +1688, which led to fearful war and general devastation. Special gifts of +prophecy were accorded to a few generally uneducated persons; but in +these they appeared very strikingly, so that, for instance, many young +girls belonging to the lowest classes of society, and entirely +unlettered, were not only able to foretell coming events, but also to +preach with great eloquence and to interpret Holy Writ. These phenomena +became numerous enough to induce the _camisards_, as the rebellious +Protestants of the Cevennes were called, finally to form a regular +system of inspiration. They spoke of four degrees of ecstasis: the first +indication, the inspiring breath, the prediction, and the gifts; the +last was the highest. The spirit of prophecy could be communicated by an +inspired person to others; this was generally done by a kiss. Even +children of three and four years were enabled to foretell the future, +and persevered, although they were often severely punished by their +parents, whom the authorities held responsible for their misconduct, as +it was called. (_Theatre Sacre des Cevennes_, p. 66.) + +Nor has this gift of prophesying been noticed only in men of our own +faith and our race. + +An author whose trustworthiness cannot be doubted for a moment, Jones +Forbes, gives in his "Oriental Memoirs" (London, 1803), an instance of +the prophesying power of East Indian magicians, which is as well +authenticated as remarkable. A Mr. Hodges had accidentally made the +acquaintance of a young Brahmin, who, although unknown to the English +residents, was famous among the natives for his great gifts. They became +fast friends, and the Indian never ceased to urge Hodges to remain +strictly in the path of duty, as by so doing he was sure to reach the +highest honors. In order to enforce his advice he predicted that he +would rise from the post he then occupied as Resident in Bombay to +higher places, till he would finally be appointed governor. The +prediction was often discussed among Hodges' friends, and when fortune +favored him and he really obtained unusually rapid preferment, he began +to rely more than ever on the Indian's prediction. But suddenly a severe +blow shattered all his hopes. A rival of his, Spencer, was appointed +governor, and Hodges, very indignant at what he considered an act of +unbearable injustice, wrote a sharp and disrespectful letter to the +Governor and Council of the Company. The result was his dismissal from +the service and the order to return to Europe. Before embarking he sent +once more for his friend, who was then living at one of the sacred +places, and when he came informed him of the sad turn in his affairs and +reproached him with his false predictions. The Indian, however, was in +no way disconcerted, but assured Hodges that although his adversary had +put his foot on the threshold, he would never enter the palace, but that +he, Hodges, would, in spite of appearances, most surely reach the high +post which he had promised him years ago. These assurances produced no +great effect, and Hodges was on the point of going on board the ship +that was to carry him to Europe, when another vessel sailed into the +harbor, having accomplished the voyage out in a most unusually short +time, and brought new orders from England. The Court of Directors had +disapproved of Spencer's conduct as Governor of Bengal, revoked his +appointment, dismissed him from service, and ordered Hodges to be +installed as Governor of Bombay! From that day the Brahmin obtained +daily more influence over the mind of his English friend, and the latter +undertook nothing without having first consulted the strangely gifted +native. It became, however, soon a matter of general remark, that the +Brahmin could never be persuaded to refer in his predictions to the time +beyond the year 1771, as he had never promised Hodges another post of +honor than that which he now occupied. The explanation of his silence +came but too soon, for in the night of the 22d of February, 1772, Hodges +died suddenly, and thus ended his brilliant career, verifying his +friend's prophecy in every detail. + + +THE DIVINING ROD. + +The relations in which some men stand to Nature are sometimes so close +as to enable them to make discoveries which are impossible to others. +This is, for instance, the case with persons who feel the presence of +waters or of metals. The former have, from time immemorial, generally +used a wand, the so-called divining rod, which, according to Pliny, was +already known to the ancient Etruscans as a means for the discovery of +hidden springs. An Italian author, Amoretti, who has given special +attention to this subject, states that at least every fifth man is +susceptible to the influence of water and metals, but this is evidently +an overestimate. In recent times many persons have been known to possess +this gift of discovering hidden springs or subterranean masses of water, +and these have but rarely employed an instrument. Catharine Beutler, of +Thurgovia, in Switzerland, and Anna Maria Brugger of the same place, +were both so seriously affected by the presence of water that they fell +into violent nervous excitement when they happened to cross places +beneath which larger quantities were concealed, and became perfectly +exhausted. In France a class of men, called _sourciers_, have for ages +possessed this instinctive power of perceiving the presence of water, +and others, like the famous Abbe Paramelle, have cultivated the natural +gift till they were finally enabled, by a mere cursory examination of a +landscape, to ascertain whether large masses of water were hidden +anywhere, and to indicate the precise spots where they might be found. + +Why water and metals should almost always go hand in hand in connection +with this peculiar gift, is not quite clear; but the staff of Hermes, +having probably the form of the divining rod, was always represented as +giving the command over the treasures of the earth, and the Orphic Hymn +(v. 527) calls it, hence, the golden rod, producing wealth and +happiness. On the other hand, the _Aquae Virgo_, the nymph of springs, +had also a divining rod in her hand, and Numa, inspired by a water +nymph, established the worship of waters in connection with that of the +dead. For here, also, riches and death seem to have entered into a +strange alliance. Del Rio, in his _Disquisitiones magicae_, mentions thus +the Zahuri of Spain, the lynx-eyed, as he translates the name, who were +able on Wednesdays and Saturdays to discover all the veins of metals or +of water beneath the surface, all hidden treasures, and corpses in their +coffins. There is at least one instance recorded where a person +possessed the power to see even more than the Zahuris. This was a +Portuguese lady, Pedegache, who first attracted attention by being able +to discover subterranean springs and their connections, a gift which +brought her great honors after she had informed the king of all the +various supplies of water which were hidden near a palace which he was +about to build. Shafts were sunk according to her directions, and not +only water was found, but also the various soils and stones which she +had foretold would have to be pierced. She also seems to have cultivated +her talent, for we hear of her next being able to discover treasures, +even valuable antique statues, in the interior of houses, and finally +she reached such a degree of intuition, that she saw the inner parts of +the human body, and pointed out their diseases and defects. + +Savoy seems to be a specially favorable region for the development of +this peculiar gift, for if in Cornwall one out of every forty men is +believed to possess it, in Savoy the divining rod is in the hands of +nearly every one. But what marks the talent in this case as peculiar is +that it is by no means limited to the discovery of water, but extends to +other things likewise. A very wealthy family, called Collomb, living in +Cessens, boasted of more than one member who was able, by the aid of the +rod and with bandaged eyes, to discover not only pieces of money, but +even needles, evidently cases of personal susceptibility to the presence +of metals, aided by electric currents. Once, at least, the gift was made +useful. A number of bags filled with wheat had been stolen from a +neighboring house, and the police were unable to discover the +hiding-place. At the request of his friends one of the Collombs +undertook the search with the aid of the divining rod; he soon found the +window through which the bags had been handed out; he then followed the +track along the banks of the river Cheran, and asserted that the thief +had crossed to the other side. At that time nothing more was discovered; +but soon afterwards a miller living across the river was suspected, the +bags were found, and the culprit sent to the galleys. (_Revue +Savoisienne_, April 15, 1852.) Dr. Mayo mentions, mainly upon the +authority of George Fairholm, a number of instances in which persons +belonging to all classes of society have exhibited the same gift, but +ascribes its efficacy to the presence of currents of Od. + +The divining rod, originally a twig of willow or hazel, is often made of +metal, and the impression prevails that in such cases an electric +current, arising from the subterranean water or metals, enters the +diviner's body by the feet, passes through him, and finally affects the +two branches of the rod, which represent opposite poles. It is certain +that when the electric current is interrupted, the power of the divining +rod is suspended. Dr. Mayo tells us of a lady of his acquaintance in +Southampton, who at his request used a divining rod of copper and iron +wire, made after the fashion of the usual hazel rod; it answered the +purpose fully, but when the ends touched by her hands were covered with +sealing-wax, it became useless; as soon as she put her fingers in +contact with the unprotected wire, the power instantly returned. This +certainly seemed to be strong evidence of the existence of an electric +current. Nevertheless, many believe that the divining rod acts in all +cases simply as an extension of the arms, and thus serves to make the +vibrations of the muscles more distinct. It is by this theory they +explain the fact which has caused serious trouble to careful inquirers +like Count Tristan and Dr. Mayo, that the gift of using the divining rod +varies with the state of health in the individuals in whom it has been +discovered. + + + + +VII. + +POSSESSION. + + "Thereupon St. Theophilus made a pact with the Devil." + + --ACTA, S. S., 4 February. + + +Many forms of insanity, it is well known, are accompanied by the fixed +idea that the sufferer is continually associated with another being, a +friend or an enemy, a man, an animal, or a mere shadow. Somnambulists, +also, not unfrequently fancy that they obtain their exceptional +knowledge of hidden things, not by intuition or instinct, but through +the agency of a medium, whom they look upon as an angel or a demon. +There is, however, a third class of cases, far more formidable than +either of those mentioned, in which the mind is disturbed, and magic +phenomena are produced by an agency apparently entirely independent of +the patient himself. Such are possession, vampirism and +zoanthropy--three frightful forms of human suffering, which are +fortunately very rare, being limited to certain localities in space, to +a few short periods in time, and to men of the lowest grade only. + +Possession is that appalling state of mind which makes the patient +believe that he is in the power of a foreign evil being, which has for +the time full control over his body. This power it abuses by plaguing +the body in every imaginable way, by distorting the features till they +assume a scornful, diabolical expression, and above all, by causing the +sufferer to give utterance to cynical remarks and horrible blasphemy. +All these phenomena are based upon the division of the patient's +individuality, which cannot be remedied by any effort of his own, and +which makes him look upon the evil principle in his nature as something +outside of himself, and no longer under his control. The phenomena which +accompany possession are too fearful in their nature, and yet at the +same time too exceptional to keep us altogether and easily from +believing, as many thoughtful and even pious men have thought, that in +these cases a real demon takes possession of the afflicted. The bitter +hatred against religion, which is always a symptom of possession, would +naturally tend to enforce such a presumption. The possessed know not +only their own sins, but also those of the bystanders, and use this +knowledge with unsparing bitterness and cruel scorn; at the same time +they feel the superiority of others with whom they may come in contact, +as the demoniacs of the Bible never failed to recognize in Christ the +Son of God. From the numerous cases of modern possession which have been +investigated, we derive the following information as to its real nature. +Possession is invariably a kind of insanity, which is accompanied by +exceptional powers, producing magic phenomena; it is also invariably +preceded by some grave disorder or dangerous disease. The former may be +of purely mental nature, for violent coercion of will, sudden and +subversive nervous shocks or long-continued enforcement of a hateful +mode of life, are apt to produce the sad effect. Hence its frequent +occurrence in monasteries, orphan asylums and similar institutions, +where this kind of insanity is, moreover, liable to become epidemic. At +other times the cause is a trivial one, and then a peculiar +predisposition must be presumed which only needed a decisive act to +bring the disturbed mind to its extremity. But possession is not merely +an affection of the mind, it is also always a disease of the body, which +in the bewildered and disordered imagination of the patient becomes +personified in the shape of a demon; hence the graver the disease, the +fiercer the demon. As sickness worries the patient, robs him of his +appetite and makes all he used to like distasteful to him, so the demon +also suffers no enjoyment; interferes with every pleasure, and +consistently rages especially against religion, which alone could give +consolation in such cases. The outbursts of rage in demoniacs, when +efforts are made to exorcise or convert them, even although nothing but +prayers may be attempted, is ascribed to an instinctive repugnance of +the sufferers for means which they feel to be utterly inappropriate to +their case--very much as if men, mad with hunger, were to be fed with +moral axioms. Possession is finally sometimes limited to parts of the +body; as when a demoniac is spoken of who was dumb (Matt. ix. 32), and +another who was blind and dumb (Matt. xii. 22). In other cases the body +is endowed with supernatural strength, and four or five powerful men +have been known to be scarcely able to hold a frail girl of fifteen. + +A peculiar feature in possession is, that during the most violent +attacks of apparent fury, accompanied by hideous cries and frightful +contortions, the pulse is not quickened and the physical strength of the +patient does not seem in the least diminished. The disease, however, +naturally affects his whole system and exhausts it in time. The +possessed man, who unlike somnambulists retains, during the paroxysms, +full control over all his senses, never speaks of the demon that +possesses him, but the demon speaks of him as of a third person, and at +the same time of himself, a feature which powerfully contributes to the +popular belief of actual demons dwelling in these unfortunate persons. +And yet, after the paroxysm is over, the poor sufferer knows nothing of +the horrible things he has done, and of the fearful words he has +uttered; if he is told what has occurred, he is terribly shocked, and +bitterly repents his misdoings. + +The paroxysms are twofold: in the body they appear as violent +convulsions accompanied by a contraction of the throat and the _globulus +hystericus_; saliva forms in abundance, black, coal-like lumps are +thrown up and the breath is hot and ill-smelling. In this mental form +they appear as a raging of the demon against the possessed and against +religion--in fact a struggle of the patient with himself and his former +convictions. Occasionally the good principle within him assumes, in +contradistinction to the demon who personifies the evil principle, the +form of a guardian angel, who comforts the poor sufferer as he is tossed +to and fro like a ship in a tempest, and promises him assistance. Nor is +the demon always alone; there may be, as Holy Writ teaches, seven, +thousands, or their name may be "Legions," for these visionary beings +are only so many representatives of certain evil principles at work in +the soul of the possessed. Some patients have been enabled to trace this +connection and to discover that each symptom of their disease was thus +personified by a separate demon to whom in their paroxysms they ascribed +the infliction: Lucifer caused pricking and stinging pains, Anzian +tearing and scratching, Junian convulsions of limbs, etc. The fearful +suffering which demoniacs have to undergo and the still more harassing +conflicts in their soul drive them frequently to despair and engender +thoughts of suicide. During these paroxysms the struggle between light +and darkness, heaven and hell, eternal bliss and damnation, angel and +devil, is carried on with such energy and dramatic truthfulness that +those who witness it are apt to become deeply excited and often suffer +not a little from the violent transitions from sympathy to horror and +from heartfelt pity to unspeakable disgust. As soon as the dualism in +the soul relaxes, and with it the disease becomes milder, the demon also +grows more quiet; a happy moment of rest ensues, which the exorciser +calls the period of conversion; and when this has once taken place the +patient is no longer able to distinguish the demon as apart from +himself, the contradistinction exists no more, and he is reconciled to +his true self. + +There is no instance known in which an intelligent, well-educated person +has become possessed; the terrible misfortune falls exclusively upon +rude and coarse natures, a fact which explains the coarseness and +rudeness of so-called demons. Medicinal remedies are seldom of much +avail, as the disease has already reached a stage in which the mind is +at least as much affected as the body. Exorcising has frequently been +successful, but only indirectly, through the firm faith which the +sufferer still holds in his innermost heart. The great dogma that Christ +has come into this world to destroy the works of the Evil One, has +probably been inculcated into his mind from childhood up, and can now +begin once more, after long obscuration, to exercise its supreme power. +The cure depends, however, not only on the presence of such faith, but +rather on the supremacy which the idea of Christ's power gains over the +idea of the devil's power. Hence the symptoms of possession not +unfrequently cease under a fervent invocation of the Saviour, if the +exorciser is able by his superior energy of will to create in the +patient a firm faith in the power of the holy name. This expulsion of +the demon is, of course, nothing more than the abandonment of the +struggle by the evil principle in the sufferer's soul, by which the good +impulses become once more dominant, and a healthy, natural state of +mind and body is restored. + +It must, however, not be overlooked that the views of possession have +changed essentially in different nations and ages. At the time of +Christ's coming the belief in actual possession, the dwelling of real +demons in the body of human beings, was universal, and to this belief +the language of Holy Writ naturally adapts its records of miracles. + +The Kabbalah as well as the Talmud contain full accounts of a kingdom of +hell, opposed to the heavenly kingdom, with Smaal as head of all +satanism or evil spirits, defying Jehovah. The latter are allowed to +dwell upon earth side by side with the sons of Adam, and occasionally to +possess them and to live in their souls as in a home of their own. In +other cases it was the spirit of a deceased person which, condemned for +sins committed during life to wander about as a demon, received +permission to enter the soul of a living being. The New Testament +mentions at least seven cases of possession, from the woman whose +suffering was simply ascribed to the Devil's agency, to Mary Magdalene +who was relieved of seven demons, and the Gadarene, who had a "legion" +of devils. The Catholic Church also has always taught the existence of +evil spirits; doctrinal works, however, mention only one, Diabolus or +Satanas. Although the Church adheres consistently to the theory of +actual possession, it teaches that demons cannot wholly take possession +of a human soul, but only force it to obedience or accept voluntary +submission. Hence their power over the body also never becomes absolute, +but is always shared with the soul of the sufferer. Among Protestants +many orthodox believers look upon possession as a mere delusion +practised by the Evil One; others admit its existence, but attribute it +to the souls of deceased persons and not to demons. This was the +doctrine of the ancient Greeks, who, like the Romans, seem to have known +but a few rare cases of possession, which they ascribed to departed +spirits. Thus Philostratus, in his life of Apollonius (l. iii. ch. 38), +mentions a young man who was for two years possessed by a demon +pretending to be the spirit of a soldier killed in battle. Nearly all +nations on earth have records of possession. Thus cases occurring in +China and Japan and in the Indies are attributed to the influence of +certain deities, as the Hindoos know neither a hell nor a devil. Early +travelers, like Blom and Rochefort, report, in like manner, that in some +of the islands of the Caribbean Sea evil spirits are believed to obtain +at times possession of women and then to enable them to foretell the +future. According to Ellis the inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands were +much plagued by evil spirits dwelling in some of their brethren. + +It was only towards the latter part of the last century that possession +was found to be nothing more than a peculiar disease arising from the +combination of an unsound mind with an unsound body. This discovery was +first made by Farmer in England, and by Semler in Germany; since that +time the symptoms of the character of the affection have been very +generally studied and thoroughly investigated. + +Thus it has been discovered that similar phenomena are occasionally +observed in typhus and nervous fevers. First the patients fancy they +feel somebody breathing by their side, or blowing cold air upon their +head; after long unconsciousness they are apt to imagine that they are +double, and have been known to hesitate where to carry the spoon +containing their medicine. In still more marked cases, persons who have +suffered from the effects of some great calamity, and have thus been +brought to the verge of the grave, have even acted two different +individualities, of which one was pious and the other impious, or one +speaking the patient's native tongue and the other a foreign language. +As they recovered and as the return of health brought back bodily and +mental strength, this dualism also ceased to be exhibited during the +paroxysm, and finally disappeared altogether. + +Possession is generally announced some time beforehand by premonitory +symptoms, but the first cause is not always easily ascertained. When we +are told that certain cases have originated in a hastily spoken word, a +fierce curse or an outburst of passion, we only learn thus what was the +first occasion on which the malady has been noticed, but not what was +the first cause. This lies almost invariably in moral corruption; the +lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of the heart are +by far the most frequent sources of the frightful disease. Occasionally +a very great and sudden grief, like the unexpected death of a beloved +person, or too great familiarity with evil thoughts in books or in +conversation, produce the same effect--in fact all the various causes +which result in insanity may produce also possession. Nor must serious +bodily injuries be forgotten. A student of the University of Halle +considered himself possessed, and the case puzzled experienced +physicians for some time, till it was ascertained that he had received a +violent blow upon the head, which required trepanning. Before the +operation could be undertaken, however, matter began to ooze out from +the ear, and he suddenly was relieved from the paroxysms and all +thoughts of possession. Convents are naturally very frequently scenes of +possession--the inmates are either troubled by bitter remorse for sins +which have led them to seek refuge in a holy place, where they cannot +find peace, or they succumb to the rigor of severe discipline and are +unable to endure the constant privation of food or sleep. The sin +against the Holy Ghost, which unfortunate persons have imputed to +themselves, has produced many a case of possession. When the mind is +thus predisposed by great anguish of soul or a long-continued inward +struggle, the most trifling incident suffices in determining the +outbreak of the disease. One patient became possessed because his wife +told him to go to the Devil, and another because he had in jest +exorcised a demon in a playmate; now a man curses himself in a moment of +passion, and then a boy drinks hastily a glass of cold water when +overheated, and both fall victims to the disease. + +The magic phenomena accompanying possession are by far the most +remarkable within the whole range of modern magic, but a number of the +more striking are frequently identical with those seen in religious +ecstasy. Demoniacs also exhibit the traces of injuries inflicted by +demons, as saints show the stigmas, and their wounds heal as little as +those of stigmatized persons. They share in like manner with religious +enthusiasts paroxysms during which they remain suspended in the air, fly +up to the ceiling or are carried to great distances without touching the +ground. The strength of the possessed is amazing. A monk, known in +ecclesiastical history as Brother Rafael of Rimini, could not be bound +by any ropes or chains; as soon as he was left alone he broke the +strongest fetters, raced up the roof of the church, ran along the +topmost ridge, and was often found sitting on the great bell, to which +no one else had ever been able to gain access. At last the demons led +him to the top of the steeple itself and were about to hurl him down, as +he said; the abbot and his monks and an immense crowd of people +assembled below, and besought him to invoke the aid of their patron +saint so as to save body and soul. It does not appear by what miraculous +influence a change was wrought in the poor man; but he did raise his +voice, which had not been heard to address a saint for many years, and +instantly his mind returned, he found his way down to the church and was +cured. + +The most frequent symptom in possession is a strong antipathy against +everything connected with religion; the holy names of God and Christ, +the presence of priests, the singing of hymns and the reciting of +prayers, excite intense pain, and provoke outbursts of fury. Even young +children manifest this aversion, especially when they have previously +been forced to attend church, and to engage in devotional exercises +against their inclination. Hence it is, also, that paroxysms are most +frequent at the regular hours of divine service, or break forth suddenly +at the sight of a procession or the hearing of ringing bells. The +symptom itself arises naturally from the imaginary conflict between a +good and an evil principle, the latter being continually in arms against +anything that threatens to crush its own power. All the other symptoms +of this fearful disease occur, also, in St. Vitus' dance, in catalepsy, +and even in ordinary trances; only they appear more marked, and make a +greater impression upon bystanders, because they are apparently caused +by a foreign agent, the possessing demon, and not by the patient +himself. As the digestive organs are in all such cases sympathetically +excited, and seriously affected, a desire for unnatural food is very +frequent; the coarsest victuals are preferred; unwholesome, and even +injurious substances are eagerly devoured; and medicines as well as +strengthening food are vehemently rejected. The sufferer is apt to +interpret this as a new plague, his demon refusing him his legitimate +sustenance, and compelling him to feed like an animal. + +One of the most remarkable historical cases of apparent possession +accompanied by magic phenomena, was that of Mirabeau's grandmother. +Married when quite young to the old marquis, she tried after his death +to protect herself against the temptations of the world, and of her own +heart, by ascetic devotion. In her eighty-third year, she was attacked +by gout which affected her brain, and she became insane, in a manner +which according to the views of her days was called possession. It was +found necessary to shut her up in a bare room with a pallet of straw, +where no one dared enter but her valet, a man seventy years old, with +whom she had fallen in love! For, strange as it may appear, her fearful +affliction restored to her the charms of youth; she, who had been +reduced to a skeleton by old age and unceasing devotion, suddenly +regained the plumpness of her early years, her complexion became fair +and rosy, her eyes bright and even, her hair began to grow out once +more. But, alas! her tongue, also, had changed; once afraid to utter a +word that could be misinterpreted, the unruly member now sent forth +speeches of incredible licentiousness, and overwhelmed the old servant +with terms of endearment and coarse allusions. At the same time the +retired ascetic became a violent blasphemer, and would allow no one to +enter her chamber who had not first denied God, threatening to kill him +with her own hands if he refused. For four long years the unfortunate +lady endured her fearful affliction, till death relieved her of her +sufferings--but the student of history traces to her more than one of +the startling features in the character of her grandson, the Mirabeau of +the Revolution. (Buelau, _Geh. Gesch._, xii.) + +Relief is generally possible only when a powerful hold has been obtained +upon the mind of the patient; after that appropriate remedies may be +applied, and the body will be restored to its natural healthy condition. +In a few cases remarkable incidents have produced a cure, such as the +sudden clanking of chains, or a peculiarly fervent and impressive +prayer. Even a night's sound sleep, induced by utter exhaustion, has had +the happiest effect. + +It seems as if, the train of thoughts once forcibly interrupted, a +return to reason and an abandonment of fixed ideas become possible. Even +a specially violent paroxysm may be salutary; probably by means of the +severe struggle and extreme excitement which it is apt to produce. Many +patients, under such circumstances, fall prostrate on the ground, losing +their consciousness, and awake after a while as from a dream, without +being able to remember what has happened. In other cases the +hallucination continues to the last moment, and leads the patient to +imagine that the demon leaves him in the shape of a black shadow, a +bird, or an insect. Such recoveries are almost invariably accompanied +by violent efforts to discard foreign matters, which have been lodged in +the system, and largely contributed to produce the disease. Exorcism +has, of course, no direct effect: even when the power to "cast out +devils" (Mark xvi. 17) is given, it is not said by what means the +casting out is to be accomplished, except that it must be done in the +Saviour's name. The formalities, carefully regulated and prescribed by +many decrees of the Church since the third century, do no good except so +far as they re-awaken faith, impart hope, and free the mind from +distressing doubts. Ignatius Loyola never cured possessed persons +otherwise than by prayer. As early as the sixteenth century a case is +recorded clearly illustrating the true nature of exorcism. A demon was, +after many fruitless attempts, at last driven out by a particle of the +cross of our Saviour, but in departing he declared in a loud voice that +he knew full well the nature of the piece of wood; it was cut from a +gallows and not from the true cross, nevertheless he was forced to go +because the exorcist willed it so, and the patient believed in his +power. The same rule applies to cures achieved by relics; not that these +had any effect, but in the long-cherished faith of the possessed, that +they might and could wield such power over evil spirits. + +The main point is here also the energy of will in the exorciser, and +that this special gift is by no means confined to men was strikingly +illustrated by a famous lady, the wife of a Marquis de la Croix, who was +a Spanish general and Viceroy of Galicia. In her youth a matchless +beauty with almost perfect classical features, she retained an imposing +carriage and bewitching grace throughout a long life, and even in old +age commanded the admiration of all who came in contact with her, not +only by the superiority of her mind but also by the beauty of her eyes +and the charming expression of her features. After the death of her +husband she had much to endure from neglect in the great world, from +sickness and from poverty, doubly hard to bear because standing in +painful contrast to the splendor of her former life. The effects of a +violent attack of sickness produced at last a partial disturbance of her +mind, which showed itself in visions and the power to drive demons from +the possessed. Her theory was that as the sins of men caused their +diseases, and as the Devil was the cause of all sins, sickness was +invariably produced by demoniac agency; she distinguished, however, +between sufferers who had voluntarily given themselves up to sin, and +thus to the service of the Devil, and those who had unawares fallen into +his hands. Her practice was simple and safe: she employed nothing but +fervent prayer and the imposition of hands, which she had moistened with +holy water or oil. In the course of time she found her way to Paris, and +there met, amid many skeptics, also with countless believers, some of +whom belonged not only to the highest classes of society, but even to +the sect of Free-thinkers, then prominent in the French capital. Such +were Marshal Richelieu, Count Schomberg, an intimate of the famous +circle-meeting at Baron Holbach's house, and even the illustrious +Buffon. When she was engaged in exorcising, her imposing stature, her +imperious eye and commanding voice aided her at least as much as her +perfect faith and striking humility, so that her patients, after a short +demur, willingly looked upon her as a saint who might, if she but chose, +perform miracles. With such a disposition obedience was no longer +difficult, and the remarkable lady healed all manners of diseases, from +modest toothache to rabid madness. Even when she was unsuccessful, as +frequently happened, she won all hearts by her marvelous gentleness and +humble piety. Thus, when a possessed man was brought to her in the +presence of an illustrious company, and all her efforts and prayers were +fruitless, she placed herself bravely between the enraged man and her +friends whom he threatened to attack. He began to foam at the mouth, and +amid fearful convulsions and dread imprecations, broke out into a long +series of terrible accusations against the poor lady, charging her with +all her real and a host of imaginary sins, till she could hardly stand +up any longer. She listened, however, with her arms folded over her +bosom and her eyes raised to heaven, and when the madman at last sank +exhausted to the ground, she fell upon her knees and said to the +bystanders: "Gentlemen, you see here a punishment ordained by God for +the sins of my youth. I deserve this humiliation in your presence, and I +would endure it before all Paris if I could thus make atonement for my +misdeeds." (_Mem. du Baron de Gleichen_, p. 149.) + +One of the most fearful features of possession is its tendency to spread +like contagion over whole communities. Many such cases are recorded in +history. The monks of the Convent of Quercy were thus attacked in 1491, +and suffered, from the oldest to the youngest, during four months, +incredible afflictions. They ran like dogs through the fields, climbed +upon trees, imitated the howling of wild beasts, spoke in unknown +tongues, and foretold, at the same time, future events. (Goerres, iv. +II.) In the year 1566 a similar malady broke out in the Orphan House at +Amsterdam, and seventy poor children became possessed. They also climbed +up the walls and on the roofs, swallowed hairs, needles, and pieces of +glass and iron, and distorted their features and their limbs in a +fearful manner. What, however, made the greatest impression upon the +good citizens of the town were the magic phenomena connected with their +disease. They spoke to the overseer and even to the chief magistrate of +their secret affairs, made known plots hatched against the Protestants +and foretold events which happened soon after. In a convent of nuns at +Yssel in the Netherlands, a single nun, Maria de Sains, caused one of +the most fearful calamities among her sisters that has ever been known. +Naturally a woman of superior mind, but carried away by evil passions, +she finally succumbed to the struggle between the latter and the strict +rules of her retreat; she began to accuse herself of horrible crimes +and excesses. The whole country was amazed, for she had passed for a +great saint, and now, of a sudden, she confessed that she had murdered +numberless little children, disinterred corpses, and carried poor girls +to the meeting of witches. All these misdeeds, which existed only in her +disordered imagination, she ascribed to the agency of a demon, by whom +she was possessed, and before many weeks had passed, every nun and lay +sister in the ill-fated convent was possessed in precisely the same +manner! + +One of the most recent cases of possession is reported by Bishop Laurent +of Luxemburg, in a pamphlet on the subject. In the year 1843 a woman, +thirty-four years old, was brought to him who had been possessed since +her fifteenth year, and who exhibited the remarkable phenomenon that in +her sound moments she spoke no other language but the patois of her +native place, while in her paroxysms she used Latin, French, and German +at will. When the good bishop threatened the demon, the latter attacked +him in return, troubling him with nightly visits and suggesting to him +sinful doubts of the existence of God and the efficacy of Christ's +sacrifice. This fact shows how easily such disturbances of mind can be +transferred to others, when disease or mental struggles have prepared a +way. Fortunately the bishop first mastered his own doubts, and, thus +strengthened, obtained the same mastery over the possessed woman. He +commanded the demon to come out of her, whereupon she fell into +convulsions, speaking in a disguised tone of voice; but after a while +drew herself up, and now her face was once more free from anguish, and +"angel-like." Another bishop, who had been requested to exorcise +possessed persons in Morzine, in the Chablais, was not so successful. At +this place, in 1837, a little girl, nine years old, in consequence of a +great fright, fell into a deathlike sleep, which returned daily, and +lasted about fifteen minutes. A month later, another girl, eleven years +old, was attacked in the same way, and soon the number of afflicted +persons rose to twenty, all girls under twenty years. After a while they +declared that they were possessed by demons, and ran wild through the +fields, climbed to the top of lofty trees, and fell into violent +convulsions. In vain did the local priest and his vicar attempt to +arrest the evil; the girls laughed them to scorn. When the civil +authorities interfered, they were met with insults and blows; the guilty +were fined, but the number steadily increased, and now grown women also +were found in the crowd. At last the official reports reached Paris, and +the minister sent the chief superintendent of insane asylums to the +village. He immediately distributed all the affected among the adjoining +towns and hamlets, to break off the association, and sent the priest and +his vicar to their superior, the bishop of Annecy. A few only of the +women recovered, several died and one man also succumbed; others, when +they returned to Morzine, relapsed, and in 1864 the malady began to +spread once more so fearfully that the bishop of Annecy himself came to +exorcise the possessed. Seventy of them were brought to the church, +where the most fearful scenes took place; howling and yelling filled the +sacred building, seven or eight powerful men scarcely succeeded in +bringing one possessed child to the altar, and when there, the demoniacs +broke out in horrible blasphemies. The bishop, exhausted by the intense +excitement, and suffering from serious contusions inflicted upon him by +the unfortunate women, had to leave the place, unable to obtain any +results. Even as late as 1869 two demons were solemnly exorcised upon an +order from the bishop of Strasbourg, and with the consent of the prefect +of the department. The ceremony took place in the Chapel of St. George, +in the presence of the lady-abbesses, under the direction of the +Vicar-General of the diocese, assisted by other dignitaries and the +Superior of the Jesuits. The two boys who were to be relieved had long +been plagued with fearful visions and publicly given evidence of being +possessed, for "twenty or thirty times they had been led into a public +square in the presence of large crowds, and there they had pulled +feathers out of a horrible monster which they saw above them in a +threatening attitude; these feathers they had handed to the bystanders, +who found that when they were burnt they left no ashes." When the two +children were brought to the house of the Sisters of Charity, they +became clairvoyant, and revealed to the good ladies, although they had +never seen them before, their family relations, their antecedents and +many secrets. They also spoke in unknown tongues, and exhibited all the +ordinary phenomena of possession. The official report containing these +statements, and closing with their restoration to health and reason, is +so far trustworthy as it is signed by several hundred persons, among +whom the government authorities, officers, professors and teachers are +not wanting. + +There can be little doubt that the dancing mania which broke out +repeatedly in various parts of the continent of Europe, was a kind of +possession. The facts are recorded in history; the explanation only is +left as a matter of discussion. In 1374, when a new and magnificent +church was to be consecrated, in Liege, large numbers of people came +from North Germany; "men and women, possessed by demons, half naked, +wreaths on their heads, and holding each other's hands, performed +shameless dances in the streets, the churches, and houses." When they +fell down exhausted they had spasms, and convulsions; at their own +request, friends came and pressed violently upon their chests, till they +grew better. Their number soon reached thousands, and other thousands +joined them in Holland and Brabant, although the priests frequently +succeeded in exorcising them--whenever their mind was still sound enough +to recall their early reverence for holy men and their faith in holy +things. Some time before, the good people of Perugia had taken it into +their heads that their sins required expiation, and had begun to +scourge themselves publicly in the most cruel manner. The Romans were +infected soon after, and copied their example; from thence the contagion +spread, and soon all over Italy men, women, and children were seen +inflicting upon themselves fearful punishment in order to drive out the +evil spirits by whom they fancied themselves possessed. Noble and +humble, rich and poor, old and young, all joined the crowds which in the +daytime filled squares and streets, and at night, under the guidance of +priests, marched with waving banners, and blazing torches, in vast +armies through the land. Nor can we shut our eyes to the fact that the +Jumpers and Jerkers of the Methodist Church present to us instances of +the same mental disorder, caused by over-excitement, which in earlier +days was called possession, and that, hence, these aberrations, also, +infinitely varied as they are, according to the temper of men and the +habits of the locality in which they occur, must be numbered among the +phenomena of modern magic. + + +VAMPIRISM. + +Occasionally possession is not attributed to demons, but to deceased men +who come by night from their graves, and suck the blood of their +victims, whereupon the latter begin to decline and finally die a +miserable death, while the buried man lives and thrives upon his +ill-gotten food. This is vampirism, the name being derived from the once +universal belief that there existed vampires, huge bats, who, whilst +fanning sleeping men with their soft wings, feasted upon their life's +blood and only left them when they had turned into corpses. Popular +credulity added a number of horrid details to the general outline, and +believed that the wretched victims of vampirism became themselves after +death vampires, and thus forever continued the fearful curse. It was +long thought that vampirism was known only to the nations of the Slavic +race, but recent researches have discovered traces of it in the East +Indies, and in Europe among the Magyars. Even the Sanscrit already +appears to have had a term of its own for the vampires--Pysachas, +"hostile beings, eager for the flesh and blood of living men, who +gratify their cruel lust mainly at the expense of women when they are +asleep, drunk, or insane." + +Careful writers like Calmet and others have, it is true, always +maintained that, while the existence of vampirism cannot be denied, the +phenomena attending it are in all cases the creations of diseased minds +only. On the other hand, it is a well-established fact that the bodies +of so-called vampires, when exhumed, have been found free from +corruption, while in all the corpses around them decomposition had long +since begun. In the face of such facts vampirism cannot be dismissed as +simply the product of heated and over-excited imaginations, although it +must be admitted that its true nature is still to all intents and +purposes a profound mystery. According to popular belief the unusual +preservation of the corpses indicates that death has not yet obtained +full dominion over the bodies, and that hence the soul has not yet +departed to its eternal home. A kind of lower organic life, it is said, +continues, and as long as this lasts, the soul wanders about, as in a +dream, among the familiar scenes of its earthly life and makes itself +known to the friends of its former existence. The life thus extended +requires blood in order to sustain itself, and hence the minds of those +who come in magic contact with the soul of a vampire, become filled with +sanguinary thoughts, which present themselves to their imagination as +the desire to suck blood and thus lead to the actual performance. The +fact that vampirism is epidemic, like many similar mental diseases, has +led to the belief that the living are brought into close connection with +the dead and are infected by them, while in reality there is no bond +between them but a common misfortune. Nor must it be forgotten that in +this disease, as in the plague, the mere thought of being seized often +suffices to cause death without any warning symptoms, and hence the +great number of deaths in localities where vampirism has been thought to +prevail. For very few of those who are attacked succeed in escaping, and +if they survive they retain for life the marks left by their wounds. The +penalty, moreover, is not always undeserved; vampirism rarely if ever +attacks men of pure hearts and sober minds; it is found, on the +contrary, exclusively among semi-barbarous nations and only in persons +of rude, savage, and sinful disposition. + +Traces of vampirism have been discovered in the most distant parts of +the earth, and often without apparent connection. The "Bruholaks" of +Greece, genuine vampires whose appearance was ascribed to the direct +influence of the Evil One, may possibly have been imported by the +numerous immigrants of Slavic origin (Huet, _Pensees Diverses_, Paris, +1722), but in Finland also the belief is, according to Castren, almost +universal, that the spirits of the departed have the power to vex and +torment persons in their sleep, and to afflict them with sorrow and +disease. In the Sunda and Molucca islands genuine vampirism is well +known, and the Dyaks of Borneo also believe in an evil spirit who sucks +the blood of living persons till they expire. + +Poland and Western Russia have, however, been for two centuries the +stage on which most of these dread tragedies have occurred. Men and +women were reported to have been seen in broad daylight sucking the +blood of men and beasts, while in other cases dogs and even wolves were +suspected of being upires or vampires, as blood-suckers are called in +most Slavic dialects. The terror grew as these reports found their way +into newspapers and journals, till fear drove men and women to resort to +the familiar remedy of mixing blood with the meal used for their bread; +they escaped not by any healing powers inherent in the horrid mixture, +but thanks to the faith they had in the efficacy of the prescription and +the moral courage exhibited in its application. To prevent the spreading +of the epidemic the bodies of the vampires were disinterred, and when +found bleeding, were decapitated or impaled or burned in public. In some +parts of Hungary the disease appeared in the shape of a white spectre +which pursued the patients; they declined visibly and died in a week or +a fortnight. It was mainly in this country that physicians attending the +disinterment of suspected bodies noticed the presence of more or less +considerable quantities of blood, which was still fluid and actually +caused the cheeks to look reddish. Some of the witnesses even thought +they noticed an effort to breathe, faint pulsations, and a slight change +of features; these were, however, evidently nothing more than the +effects of currents of air which accompanied the opening of the coffin. +It was here also that animals were first believed to have been attacked +by vampires; cows were found early in the morning bleeding profusely +from a wound at the neck, and horses standing in their stalls trembling, +covered with white foam, and so thoroughly terrified as to become unfit +for use. + +Another period of excitement due to accounts of vampirism comprised the +middle of last century, when all Europe was deeply agitated on the +subject. The Emperor of Germany and other monarchs appointed committees +of learned men to investigate the matter; theologians and skeptics, +philosophers and physicians, took up the discussion, and hundreds of +volumes were published on the mysterious question, but no satisfactory +result was ever obtained. Many declared the whole a fable or merely the +effect of diseased imaginations, others looked upon it as a malignant +and epidemic disease, and not a few as the unmistakable work of the +devil. Learned men searched the writings of antiquity, and soon found +more traces of the fearful disease than they had expected. They +discovered that in Thessaly, Epirus, and some parts of the Pieria, men +were reported by ancient writers as wandering about at night and tearing +all whom they met to pieces. The Lamiae of the Greeks and the Strigae of +the Romans evidently belonged to the same category, while the later +Tympanites of the Greeks were persons who had died while under the ban +of the church and were therefore doomed to become vampires. The Slavic +population of Moravia and Bohemia was in those days especially rich in +instances of vampirism, and so many occurred in Hungary that the Emperor +Charles IV. intrusted the investigation of the matter to a prince of +Wuertemberg, before whom a number of cases were fully authenticated. Men +who had died years before, were seen to return to their former homes, +some in the daytime, some at night, and the following morning those whom +they had visited were found dead and weltering in their blood. In a +single village seventeen persons died thus within three months, and in +many instances, when bodies were disinterred, they were found looking +quite alive. At this time the Sorbonne at Paris also took up the +subject, but came to no conclusion, save that they disapproved of the +practice of disinterring bodies, "because vampires, as cataleptics, +might be restored to life by bleeding or magnetic treatment," according +to the opinion of the learned Dr. Pierard. (_Revue Spirit._, iv.) + +Here we come at last to the grain of truth around which this mass of +popular superstition has gradually accumulated, and the ignorance of +which has caused hundreds of innocent human beings to die a miserable +death. There can be no doubt that cases of "suspended animation" or +apparent death have alone given rise to the whole series of fearful +tales of vampirism. The very words of a recital belonging to the times, +and to the districts where vampirism was prevalent, prove the force of +this supposition. Erasmus Francisci states that, in the duchy of Krain, +a man was buried and then suspected of being a vampire. When disinterred +his face was found rosy, and his features moved as if they attempted to +smile; even his lips opened as if gasping for air. A crucifix was held +before his eyes and a priest called out with a loud voice: "Peace! This +is Jesus Christ who has rescued thy soul from the torment of hell, and +suffered death for thee!" The sound seemed to penetrate to his ear, and +slowly a few tears began to trickle down his cheeks. After a short +prayer for his poor soul, his head was ordered to be cut off; a +suppressed cry was heard, the body turned over as if still alive, and +when the head was severed a quantity of blood ran into the grave. It was +as clear a case of a living man who had been buried before death as has +ever been authenticated. Nor are such cases as rare as is popularly +believed. High authorities assure us that, for instance, after +imperfect poisoning, in several kinds of suffocation, and in cases of +new-born children who become suddenly chilled, a state of body is +produced which presents all the symptoms of complete suspension of the +functions of life. Such apparent death is, according to the same high +medical authority, a period of complete rest, based upon a suspension of +the activity of the heart, the lungs, and all spontaneous functions, +extending frequently to the sense of touch, and the intellect even. At +the same time the natural heat of the body sinks until it seems to have +disappeared altogether. The duration of this exceptional state is +uncertain, at times the patient awakes suddenly, and in full possession +of all his faculties; in other cases external means have to be employed +to restore life. Among many well-authenticated cases of this kind, two +of special interest are mentioned by Dr. Mayo. Cardinal Espinosa, the +minister of Philip II. of Spain, died after a short period of suffering. +His rank required that he should be embalmed, and his body was opened +for the purpose. At the moment when lung and heart were laid open to +view, the surgeon observed that the latter was still beating, and the +Cardinal, awaking, had actually strength enough to seize with his hand +the knife of the operator. The other case is that of a well-known French +writer, the Abbe Prevost, who fell down dead in the forest of Chantilly. +His apparently lifeless body was found, and carried to a priest's house +in the neighborhood. The surgeon ascribed his death to apoplexy; but +the authorities ordered a kind of coroner's inquest, and the body was +opened. During the operation the Abbe suddenly uttered a cry of +anguish--but it was too late! + +If a certain number of such cases of apparent death has really given +rise to the faith in vampirism, then it is equally possible to suppose, +that this kind of trance--for which there may exist a special +predisposition in one or the other race--may become at times epidemic. +Persons of peculiar nervousness will be ready to be affected, and a +locality in which this has occurred may soon obtain an unenviable +reputation. Even where the epidemic does not appear in full force, a +disturbed state of the nervous system will be apt to lead to dreams by +night, and to gossip in the daytime, on the fatally attractive subject, +and the patient will soon dream, or really imagine, that a person who +has died of the disease has appeared to him by night, and drawn his +strength from him, or, in his excited fancy, sucked his life's blood. By +such means even the popular way of speaking of nocturnal visits made by +the "vampire's ghost" is not so entirely unfounded as would appear at +first sight, and the superstition is easily shown to be not altogether +absurd, but to be based upon a small substructure of actual truth. + +It is remarkable, however, that the Germanic race has never furnished +any instances of vampirism, although their ancient faith in a Walhalla, +where their departed heroes feast sumptuously, and their custom to place +food in the graves of their friends would have seemed most likely to +reconcile them to the idea that men continue to live in their graves. + +How sadly persistent, on the other hand, such superstitions are among +the lower races, and in specially ignorant communities, may be gathered +from the fact that, as late as 1861, two corpses were disinterred by the +peasants of a village of Galicia, and decapitated. The people believed +them to be vampires, and to have caused a long-protracted spell of bad +weather! + + +ZOANTHROPY. + +Even more fearful yet than vampirism is the disease, very common already +in the days of antiquity, which makes men think that they have changed +into beasts, and then act as such, according to the logic of insanity. +Petronius is probably the first to mention, in his "Feast of +Trimalchio," a case of lycanthropy, when Niceros relates how someone who +was journeying with him threw off his garments, changed into a wolf and +ran away into the forest. When he returned home, his account continues, +he found that a wolf had fallen upon his flock, but had been wounded by +a servant in the neck with a lance. Thereupon he goes to inquire after +his fellow-traveler, and finds him sick in bed with a physician by his +side, who binds up an ugly wound in his neck. The well-known writer took +this episode from the Arcadians, a rude nation of shepherds, whose +flocks were frequently attacked by wolves, and among whom stories of men +changed into wild beasts, were quite current. Nor must we forget, among +historic personages, the daughter of King Proetus of Argos, who believed +herself changed into a cow; and of Nebuchadnezzar, who according to his +own touching account "was driven from meat, did eat grass as oxen, and +his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like +eagle's feathers, and his nails like bird's claws." (Daniel iv. 33.) The +early days of Christianity are naturally full of incidents of this kind, +but what is remarkable, zoanthropy was then already treated as a mere +delusion. The holy man Macarius once saw a large procession approaching +his hermitage in Egypt; it was headed by a number of persons who led a +large and imposing-looking woman by a bridle, and followed by a crowd of +people of all ages. When they came near they told his disciples that the +woman had been changed into a mare, and had thus remained for three days +and nights without food--would the saint pray over her and restore her +to her natural condition? The delusion was so forcibly contagious that +the disciples also forthwith saw a mare, and not a woman, and refused to +admit the animal to the presence of the hermit! Fortunately the latter +had retained his self-control; he rebuked his followers, saying: "You +are the real beasts, that imagine you see something which does not +exist. This woman has not been changed, but your eyes are deluded." Then +he poured holy water over her, and at once everybody saw her once more +in her natural shape. He dismissed her and her escort with the words: +"Go more frequently to church and take the holy sacrament; then you +will escape such fearful punishment." + +During the Middle Ages a similar disease existed in many parts of +Europe; men were changed into dogs or wolves, sometimes as a divine +punishment for great crimes, at other times in consequence of a delusion +produced by Satan. Such unfortunate men walked on all fours, attacked +men and beasts, but especially children, killed and devoured them. They +actually terrified many people into believing as confidently in this +delusion as they believed in it themselves! For this is one of the +specially fearful magic phenomena of zoanthropy that it is apt to +produce in healthy persons the same delusion as in the sufferer. Many +cases also are recorded of persons lying in deep sleep, produced by +narcotic ointments, who, seeing visions, fancied that they were acting +like wolves. In the year 1598 such a disease raged as an epidemic in the +Jura mountains, till the French Parliament determined to make an end of +it by treating all the afflicted either as insane or as persons +possessed by the devil and therefore deserving instant death. Among +Slavic nations and the Magyars lycanthropy is so closely connected with +vampirism that it is not always easy to draw the line between the two +diseases. There can be no doubt, however, that it is merely a variety of +possession, arising from the same unhappy state in which dualism is +developed in the soul, and two wills contend with each other for +superiority to the grievous injury of mind and body. The only +distinctive feature is this, that in lycanthropy not only the functions +of the brains but also those of the skin are disordered, and hence an +impression arises that the latter is hairy and shaggy after the manner +of wild beasts. + +The German Waehrwolf (were-wolf or man-wolf) is the same as the +lycanthropos of the Scythians and Greeks and the _versipellis_ of the +Romans; he was in German mythology connected with Woden. Hence, +probably, the readiness with which the disease during the Middle Ages +took hold of the minds of Germans; but at that period nearly all the +nations of Europe firmly believed in the reality of such changes. + +As late even as the beginning of the sixteenth century cases of this +kind occurred in France, where the possessed were known as +_loups-garoux_. A young man of Besancon was thus brought before the +Councilor of State, _De l'Ancre_, at Bordeaux, and accused of roving +like a wild animal through the neighboring forests. He confessed readily +that he was a huntsman in the service of his invisible master, the +devil, who had changed him into a wolf and forced him to range by the +side of another more powerful wolf through the country. The poor fellow +shared the usual fate of his fellow-sufferers, who were either subjected +to a sharp treatment of exorcism or simply executed as heretical +criminals. + +In our day lycanthropy is almost entirely limited to Servia and +Wallachia, Volhynia and White Russia. There, however, the disease breaks +out frequently anew, and popular belief knows a variety of means by +which a man may be changed into a wolf; the animal differs, however, +from a genuine wolf in his docked tail and his marked preference for the +blood of young children. + +In Abyssinia there exists, according to Pearce, a belief that men are +occasionally changed into hyenas--the wolves of that country--but this +sad privilege is limited to workers in clay and iron, called Booda among +the Amharas, who wear a gold earring of special form as a distinction +from other inferior castes. + +It will thus be seen that, like all other varieties of possession, +zoanthropy also is simply a kind of insanity, and our amusement at the +marvelous conduct of werewolves will vanish, if we recall the entire +change produced in man by the loss of reason. In that sad condition he +endures fatigue, cold or heat, and hunger as no healthy man ever can +learn to do; he does not mind the severest castigation, for his body is +almost insensible, it ceases to be susceptible to contagious diseases +and requires, in sickness, double or treble doses of medicine. If we +once know the precise nature of an insane person's hallucination, his +actions will be apt to appear quite consistent, and thus lycanthropy +also not only produces the fine connection of a change into a wolf, but +causes the sufferer to conduct himself in all his ways like the animal +which he represents. + + + + +VIII. + +MAGNETISM. + + "Great is the power of the hand." + + --ST. AUGUSTINE, _Op._, iv. 487. + + +Mesmer, who was the first to make the anaesthetic effects of certain +passages of the hand over the bodies of patients known to the public, +sought originally to explain them by the agency of electricity; but as +early as 1773 he ascribed them to magnetism. From that day he employed +magnets, and by passing them over the affected parts of his patients, he +performed remarkable cures for many years in the city of Vienna. He +looked upon the magnet as the physician, which cured the patient in the +same way in which it attracted iron. Soon after, however, he became +acquainted with the famous Father Gassner, of Ratisbon, who had obtained +precisely the same results, without a magnet, by simple manipulations, +and, henceforth, he also treated his patients with the hand only; but he +retained the old name, looking now upon himself, and others who were +endowed in the same manner, as possessing the powers of a strong magnet. +In the meantime one of his pupils, the Marquis de Puysegur, had quite +accidentally discovered the peculiar nature of somnambulism, and with +rare foresight profited by the moments of clear consciousness which at +times interrupted the trance, in order to learn from his patients +themselves the means of curing their diseases. He had from that moment +devoted all the leisure of his life to the study of these singular but +most beneficial phenomena, employing only the simplest manipulations in +place of the more exciting means used by Mesmer, and doing an immense +amount of good by his judicious cures. + +Mesmer, in the course of time, adopted the better method of his former +pupil, and now his system was complete. He used magnetism for purely +practical purposes: he cured diseases by throwing well-qualified persons +into the peculiar sleep produced by magnetizing them, and availed +himself of the effects of this half-sleep upon their varied +constitutions, for his curative purposes. At the same time, however, he +ascribed the influence which he claimed to have over persons whom he had +thus magnetized, to a most delicate, all-pervading medium; this, he +maintained, was the sole cause of motion, light, heat, and life itself +in the universe, and this he stated he was communicating by his process +of magnetizing in a sufficient degree to his patients to produce +startling but invariably beneficial results. It is well known how his +removal from Vienna, where he had begun his remarkable career, to Paris, +increased in almost equal proportions the number of enthusiastic +admirers, and of bitter adversaries. In spite of an unfavorable judgment +rendered by a committee of the Academy in 1784, his new doctrines +spread rapidly through all the provinces; so-called Harmonic Societies +were formed in almost every town, and numerous institutions sprang up +founded upon the new system of magnetizing patients. It is curious that +of the nine members of that committee, among whom Franklin was not the +least renowned, only one, the great savant Jussieu, refused to sign the +report "because it was founded upon a few isolated facts," and sent in a +separate memoir, in which he described animal heat as the universal +agent of life. Equally curious objections were made by others; thus in +another report of the Academy, the king was requested to prohibit the +practice of magnetism, because it was "dangerous to the morals of the +people," and in the great hospital of the Charite, magnetic treatment +was forbidden, because "the new system had caused for a long time warm +discussions between the best informed men of science!" Urged by repeated +petitions, the Academy appointed, in 1825, a second committee to +investigate the matter, which finally reported a firm conviction of the +genuineness and efficacy of magnetism, and recommended a further +examination of this important branch of psychology and natural science. +A permanent committee was thereupon directed to take charge of the +matter, before which a very large number of important facts were +authenticated; but in 1840, and subsequently, once more, unfavorable +reports were laid before the august body and adopted by small +majorities. + +In England magnetism met with fierce and violent opposition, the faculty +being no little incensed by this new and unexpected competitor for fees +and reputation. Dr. Elliotson, a professor in the University of London, +and director of a large hospital, had actually to give up his place, +because of the hostility engendered by his advocacy of the new doctrine. +Afterwards the controversy, though by no means less bitter, was carried +on with more courtesy, and the subject received, on the whole, all the +attention it deserved. Germany alone has legally sanctioned magnetism as +a scientific method within the range of the healing art, and the leading +powers, like Prussia, Austria, and Saxony, have admitted its practice in +public hospitals. Unfortunately, much deception and imposture appeared +from the beginning in company with the numerous genuine cases, and led +many eminent men to become skeptics. The Russian government has limited +the permission to practice by magnetic cure to "well-informed" +physicians; but the Holy Curia, the pope's authority, after admitting +magnetism, first as a well-established fact, has subsequently prohibited +it by a decree of the Inquisition (21st April, 1841) as conducive to +"infidelity and immorality." In spite of all these obstacles, magnetism, +in its various branches of somnambulism and clairvoyance, of mesmerism +and hypnotism, is universally acknowledged as a valuable doctrine, and +has led to the publication of a copious literature. + +Magnetizers claim--and not without some show of reason--that their art +was not unknown to antiquity, and is especially referred to in Holy +Writ. They rest their claim upon the importance which has from time +immemorial been ascribed to the action of the hand as producing visions +and imparting the gift of prophecy. When Elisha was called upon to +predict the issue of the war against Moab, he sent for a minstrel, "and +it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the _hand_ of the Lord +came upon him." (2 Kings iii. 15.) In like manner "the _hand_ of the +Lord was upon Ezekiel" among the captives by the river of Cheber and he +prophesied (Ezekiel i. 3); years after he says again: "The _hand_ of the +Lord was upon me in the evening" (xxxiii. 22), and once more: "the +_hand_ of the Lord was upon me" (xl. 1). It is evident that according to +biblical usage in these cases the manner of acting attributed to God is +described after the usage prevailing among men, and that the "hand upon +men" represented the usual method of causing them to fall into a trance. +But this placing the hand upon a person was by no means confined to +cases of visions; it was employed also in blessings and in sacrifices, +in consecrations and miraculous cures. Daniel felt a hand touching him, +which "set me upon my knees and the palms of my hands" (Dan. x. 10), +while soon after the same hand "strengthened him" (17); and even in the +New Testament a high privilege is expressed by the words: "The _hand_ of +the Lord was with him." (Luke i. 66.) In other cases a finger is +substituted for the hand, as when the magicians of Pharaoh said: "This +is the finger of God" (Exodus viii. 19), and the two tables of testimony +are said to have been "written with the finger of God" (Exodus xxxi. +18); in the same manner Christ said: "If I with the finger of God cast +out devils." (Luke xi. 20.) What makes this reference to finger and hand +in Eastern magic and in biblical language peculiarly interesting is the +fact that neither Greeks nor Romans ever referred in like manner to such +an agency. It is evident that these nations, possessing the ancient +wisdom of the East and the revealed knowledge of the chosen people, were +alone fully acquainted with the power which the hand of man can exercise +under peculiar circumstances, and hence looked upon it in God also, as +the instrument by which visions were caused and miracles performed. +Hence, no doubt, also the mysterious hand, which from time immemorial +has been used as one of the emblems of supreme power, often called the +hand of justice, but evidently emblematic of the "hand of God," which +rests upon the monarch who rules "by the grace of God." Magnetizers +connect all these uses made of the hand with their own method, which +consists almost invariably in certain passes made with the whole hand or +with one or more fingers. + +Whatever may be thought of this connection between the meaning of the +"hand" in biblical language, and the magnetism of our day, there can be +no doubt as to the fact that the ancients were already quite familiar +with the phenomena which have startled our century as something +entirely new. The so-called temple-sleep of the Greeks was almost +identical with modern somnambulism; the only essential difference being +that then the gods of Olympus were seen, and lent their assistance, in +the place of the saints of the Middle Ages, and the mediums of our own +day. Incense, mineral waters, narcotic herbs, and decoctions of +Strychnos or Halicacabum, were, according to Pliny, employed to produce +the peculiar sleep. ("Hist. Nat." l. xxi. ch. 31.) The patients fell +asleep while lying on the skins of recently killed animals in the +Temples of AEsculapius, and other beneficent deities, and in their sleep +had dreams with revelations prescribing the proper remedies. The priests +also, sometimes, dreamt for their visitors--for a consideration--or, at +least, interpreted the dreams of others. Even magnetism by touch was +perfectly familiar to the ancients, as appears from words of Plautus: +"_Quid, si ego illum tractim tangam, ut dormiat?_" (What if I were to +touch him at intervals so that he should fall asleep?) Plutarch even +speaks of magnetizing by touching with the feet, as practised by +Pyrrhus. Other writers discovered that the Sibyls of Rome, as well as +the Druids of the Celts, had been nothing more than well-trained +somnambulists, and ere long distinct traces of similar practices were +found in the annals of the Egyptians also. + +One of the earliest cases, which was thoroughly investigated, and +carefully watched, is reported by Dr. Petetin, of Lyon, in his famous +"Memoir on Catalepsy and Somnambulism." (Lyon, 1787.) His patient was a +lady who had nursed her child with such utter disregard of her own +health that her whole system was undermined. After an attack of most +violent convulsions, accompanied with apparent madness, she suddenly +began to laugh, to utter a number of clever and witty sayings, and +finally broke out into beautiful songs; but a terrible cough with +hemorrhages ended the crisis. Similar attacks occurred with increasing +frequency, during which she could read, with closed eyes, what was +placed in her hand, state hour and minute on a watch by merely touching +the crystal, and mention the contents of the pockets of bystanders. She +stated that she saw these things with varied distinctness; some clearly, +others as through a mist, and still others only by a great effort. The +reporter expresses his belief that the stomach in this case performed +all the functions of the senses, and that the epidermis, with its +network of fine nerves, acted in place of the usual organs. Petetin was +also the first to enter into direct relations with his somnambulist; he +could induce her at will to become clairvoyant, and make himself +understood by her whenever he directed his voice toward the only +sensitive part. Gradually, however, it was discovered that the degree of +close communication (_rapport_) between the two parties depended as +largely on the correspondence of character between them as on the energy +of will in the magnetizer and the power of imagination possessed by the +patient. Deleuse, one of the professors of the _Jardin des Plantes_, in +Paris, gave much attention to the subject, and in his numerous +publications maintained the existence of a magnetic fluid by the side of +the superior power with which some men are endowed, and that both were +employed in influencing others. He was frequently, and violently, +attacked on the score of his convictions, especially after several cases +of cunning deception had become known. For very soon the innate desire +for notoriety led many persons to pretend somnambulism, and skillfully +to imitate the phenomena of clairvoyance, displaying, as is not +unfrequently the case, in these efforts a skill and a perseverance which +would have secured them great success in any legitimate enterprise. A +number of volumes appeared, mostly in Germany, professing to contain +accounts of marvelous cures achieved by magnetism, which upon +examination proved to be altogether fictitious. France, however, +abounded more than any other country with impostors, and every kind of +deception and cheating was carried on there, at the beginning of this +century, under the cloak of mesmerism. Young girls, stimulated by large +rewards, and well trained by hospital surgeons, would submit to brutal +treatment, and profess to reveal, during well-simulated trances, +infallible remedies for grievous diseases. The followers of Mesmer +degraded his art by making it a merry pastime or a lucrative exhibition, +without regard to truthfulness, and without reverence for science. Even +political intriguers, and financial speculators, availed themselves of +the new discovery; precisely as in our day spirit-rapping and kindred +tricks are used. In England, and in the Union, mesmerism fared little +better; especially with us, it soon fell into the hands of quacks and +charlatans who made it a source of profit; at the same time it assumed +various new names, as, electro-biology, hypnotism, and others. + +The idea that somnambulism was the effect of angelic or demoniac +influences was once largely entertained, but has long since given way to +more scientific views. But it cannot be said that the true nature of the +active principle has yet been fully ascertained, and so far the results +of mesmerism must be classed among magic phenomena. What is alone +clearly established is the power which the strong will of the magnetizer +evidently exercises over the patient, and the fact that this energy acts +through the hands as its organs. The patient, on his side, undergoes by +such an exercise of a foreign will a complete change of his +individuality; the action of his brain is modified and he falls into +magnetic sleep. Many intelligent somnambulists have distinctly stated +that they obey the will of their master and not his hands; that +manipulation, in fact, merely serves to communicate this will to their +inner sense. Whether the connection which evidently exists between the +two parties is established merely for moral agencies or by an infinitely +subtle fluid, which may possibly be the Od of Baron Reichenbach--this +question remains as yet undecided. So much only is quite certain that +neither the will alone suffices to produce the magic phenomena of +magnetism, nor heat and electricity, as the physicist Parrot maintained; +as little can electro-magnetism, unaided, be the cause of such results, +though the great Robiano stoutly asserted its power; man is a dualism of +spirit and body, and both must be influenced alike and together, in +order to obtain perfect mastery. The most plausible explanation yet +offered by men of science is, that by the will of the magnetizer his own +nervous and mental system assumes a certain condition which changes that +of the subject into one of opposite polarity, paralyzes some of his +cerebral functions and causes him to fall into a state resembling sleep. +The stronger and healthier man affects the nervous system of a feeble +and less healthy man according to his own more or less strongly marked +individuality, and the spiritual influence naturally develops itself in +the same proportions as the material influence. Hence the thoughts and +feelings, the convictions and the faith of the magnetizer are reflected +upon the mind of his subject. Even Mesmer himself had not yet reached +this point; he was, up to his death, content to ascribe the power of the +magnetizer to the waves of an universal fluid set in motion by the +superior energy of specially endowed persons. According to his doctrine +thoughts were conveyed by means of this mysterious fluid in precisely +the same manner in which light and sound are borne onward on the waves +of the air that surrounds us. They proceed from the brain and the nerves +of one person and reach those of another person in this imperceptible +manner; to dispatch them on their errand, volition is required; to +receive them, willingness and a certain natural predisposition, since +there are men incapable of being reached in this way, as there are +others who are deprived of sight or hearing. As the conveying fluid is +far more subtle than the thinnest air, permeates the whole universe and +bears a close resemblance to the fluid which sets our nerves in motion, +there is no other limit to the effects of volition on the part of the +so-called magnetizer than the strength of his will. If he possesses this +in a sufficiently high degree, he can affect those who are subject to +his superiority even at the greatest distance. Moreover, if his +influence is sufficiently effective the somnambulist acquires new and +heretofore unknown powers; he sees the interior of his own body, +recognizes its defects and diseases, and by a newly-awakened instinct, +perceives what is necessary to restore its perfect order. Such were the +views of Mesmer. + +Besides this theory a number of others have been published from time to +time, by men of science of almost all countries--even modern +philosophers, like the German Schopenhauer, having entered the lists in +defense of their favorite ideas. The most striking view published in +recent times, is found in the works of Count Robiano, a learned abbe and +a brilliantly successful magnetizer. He ascribes all the phenomena of +somnambulism to the purely physical activity of the nerves, and proposes +to call his new physical science neururgy. He identifies the nervous +fluid with galvanism and voltaic electricity, and asserts that by a +galvanic battery all the results can be obtained which mesmerism claims +as its own. He also states that galvanic rings, bracelets, belts and +necklaces cause immediately somnambulism in well-qualified persons, +while carbon held before the nostrils of somnambulists in deep sleep, +awakes them instantly, and at the same time releases limbs held in +cataleptic rigidity. Alabaster, soda, and wax have similar effects, but +less promptly, and the wind from a pair of bellows has equal +power. According to his theory, currents of what he calls the +galvanic-neururgic fluid, are capable of producing all the well-known +symptoms and phenomena of thought from idiocy to genius, and from +unconscious sleep to the highest excitement; the process by which these +results can be obtained is a suspension of the vital equilibrium by +disease, intoxication, abstinence, long-continued fasting and prayer and +the like. If the marvelous fluid is unequally distributed through the +system, catalepsy ensues. The novelty and force of Robiano's doctrines +attracted much attention, but a series of experiments conducted by +eminent men soon proved that galvanism alone produced in no instance +somnambulism, but invariably required the aid of volition, which the +learned Italian in his modesty had probably underrated, if not +altogether overlooked. + +It is a matter more of curiosity than of real interest that the Chinese +have--now for nearly eleven hundred years--believed in an inherent +power possessed by every human being, called yu-yang, which is identical +with an universal yu-yang. According to this view, every person endowed +with the proper ability can dispose of his own yu-yang and diffuse a +portion of it over others, so as to cure their infirmities. The French +missionary Amyot communicated this to Puysegur (_Du Magnetisme Animal_, +Paris, 1807, p. 387), and looked upon the yu-yang as the universal vital +power which produces everything. + +Before we dismiss any such theory--in China or nearer home--with a +supercilious smile, it is well to recall the reception which the first +revelation of electricity in the human body met among our savants. The +doctrine had to pass through the usual three stages of contempt, +controversy and final adoption. John Wesley, more than a hundred years +ago, said of it: "With what vehemence has it been opposed! Sometimes, by +treating it with contempt, as if it were of little or no use; sometimes +by arguments such as they were, and sometimes by such cautions against +its ill effects, as made thousands afraid to meddle with it." Now, every +elementary text-book teaches that all created living bodies are +electric, and that some persons, animals, and plants are so in a very +high degree. To establish this truth poor puss has had to suffer much in +order to give out electric sparks, and the sensitive plant has had to +show how its leaves + + "With quick horror fly the neighboring hand," + +which draws from them the electricity of which it contains more than +other plants. Physicians have learnt that a person who has the small-pox +cannot be electrified, the body being fully charged and refusing to +receive more electricity, while sparks may be drawn from the body of a +patient dying with cholera. Now this once despised power, in the shape +of voltaic electricity, adorns our tables with electro-plate works of +art, carries our thoughts around the globe, blasts rocks, fires cannons +and torpedoes, and even rings the bells of our houses. Now little chain +batteries, that can be carried in the waistcoat pockets, produce +powerful shocks and cure grievous diseases, while tiny bands, which yet +can decompose water in a test-tube, are worn by thousands as a +protection against intense suffering and utter prostration. What in this +case happened to electricity may very well be the fate of the new power +also, which is the true agent in all that we carelessly call magnetism. + +Somnambulism and clairvoyance, by whatever means they may have been +caused, differ in this from dreams and feverish fancies, that the outer +senses are rendered inactive and in their place peculiar inner life +begins to act, while the subject is perfectly conscious. The magic +phenomena differ naturally infinitely according to the varying natures +of the patients. In the majority of cases sleep is the only result of +magnetizing; a few persons become genuine somnambulists and begin to +speak, first very indistinctly, because the organs of speech are +partially locked and the consciousness is not fully aroused. As the +spasms cease, speech becomes freer, and as the mind clears up, the +thoughts also reveal themselves more distinctly. These symptoms are +ordinarily accompanied by others of varying character, from simple heat +in the extremities and painful sobbing to actual syncope. In almost all +such cases, however, the nervous system is suffering from a violent +shock, and this produces spasms of more or less appalling violence. The +temper of the sufferers--for such they are all to some degree--varies +from deep despondency to exulting blissfulness, but is as changeable as +that of children, and resembles but too frequently the capricious and +unintelligible mental condition of insane persons. + +Those who are for the first time thrown into magnetic sleep generally +feel after awaking as if a great change had taken place in them; they +are apt to remain serious, and apparently plunged in deep thought for +several days. If their case is in unskillful hands, nervous disorders +are rarely avoided; phantastic visions may be seen, and convulsions and +more threatening symptoms even may occur. Youth is naturally more +susceptible to the influence of magnetism than riper years; really old +persons have never yet been put to sleep. In like manner women are more +easily controlled than men, and hence more capable of being magnetized +than of magnetizing others. If men appear more frequently in the annals +of this new branch of magic than women, this is due merely to the fact +that men appear naturally, and so far at least voluntarily more +frequently in public statements than women. The latter, moreover, are +very rarely found able to magnetize men, simply because they are less in +the habit of exerting their will for the purpose of influencing others; +the exceptions were mostly so-called masculine women. Over their own +sex, however, they are easily able to obtain full control. + +Among the curious symptoms accompanying the magic phenomena of this +class, the following deserve being mentioned. A distinguished physician, +Dr. Heller, examined the blood corpuscules of a person in magnetic sleep +and found that their shape was essentially modified; they were raised +and pointed so as to bear some resemblance to mulberries; at the same +time they exhibited a vibrating motion. Another symptom frequently +observed in mesmerism are electric shocks, which produce sometimes a +violent trembling in the whole person before the beginning of magnetic +sleep and after it has ceased. As many as four thousand such shocks have +been counted in an hour; they are especially frequent in hysterical +women and then accompanied by severe pain, in men they are of rarer +occurrence. Finally, it appears from a number of well-authenticated +cases that magnetic convulsions are contagious, extending even to +animals. Persons suffering with catalepsy have more than once been +compelled to kill pet cats because the latter suffered in a similar +manner whenever the attacks came, and the same has been noticed in +favorite dogs which were left in the room while magnetic cures were +performed. This is all the more frequently noticed as many magnetizers +look upon convulsions as efforts made by nature to restore the system to +a healthy condition, and hence excite in their patients convulsions +without magnetizing them fully. + +A new doctrine concerning the magic phenomena of magnetism establishes a +special force inherent in all inorganic substances, and calls it +Siderian. This theory is the result of the observation that certain +substances, like water and metal, possess a special power of producing +somnambulism, and at one time a peculiar apparatus, called _baquet_, was +much in use, by means of which several persons, connected with each +other and with a vessel filled with water and pieces of metal, were +rendered clairvoyant. The whole subject has not yet been fully +investigated, and hence the conclusions drawn from isolated cases must +be looked upon as premature. It has, however, been established beyond +doubt that metals have a peculiar power over sensitive persons, in their +natural sleep as well as in the magnetic sleep. Many somnambulists are +painfully affected by gold, others by iron; a very sensitive patient +could, after an instant's touch, distinguish even rare metals like +bismuth and cobalt by the sensations which they produced when laid upon +her heart. Dr. Brunner, when professor of physics in Peru, had a patient +who could not touch iron without falling into convulsions, and was made +clairvoyant by simply taking her physician's pocket-knife in her hand. + +This Siderian or Astral force, so called from a presumed influence +exercised by the heavenly bodies, as well as by all inorganic +substances, admits of no isolation, although it is possessed in varying +degrees by certain metals and minerals. It has no effect even upon the +electrometer or the magnetic needle; its force is radiating, quite +independent of light, but considerably increased by heat. Persons +magnetized by the mysterious force of the _baquet_ have, however, an +astonishing power over the magnetic needle and can make it deflect by +motion, fixed glance, or even mere volition. In _Galignani's Messenger_ +(25th of October, 1851) the case of Prudence Bernard in Paris is +mentioned, who forced the needle to follow the motions of her head. + +Whatever we may think of the value of this theory, it cannot be denied +that the effect which certain physical processes going on in the +atmosphere have on our body and mind alike is very striking and yet +almost entirely unknown. Science is leisurely gathering up facts which +will no doubt in the end furnish us a clue to many phenomena which we +now call magic, or even supernatural. Thus almost every hour of the day +has its peculiarity in connection with Nature: at one hour the +barometer, at another the thermometer reaches its maximum; at other +periods magnetism is at its highest or the air fullest of vapor, and to +these various influences the diseases of men stand in close relation. +When Auroras are seen frequently the atmosphere is found to be +surcharged with electricity; they are intimately connected with gastric +fevers, and according to some physicians, even with typhus and cholera. +It has also been ascertained that the progress of the cholera and the +plague--perhaps also of common influenza--coincides accurately with the +isogonic line; these diseases disappear as soon as the eastward +declination of the magnetic needle ceases. In recent times a +correspondence of the spots in the sun with earth-magnetism has also +been observed. In like manner it has been established that continued +positive electricity of the air, producing ozone in abundance, is apt to +cause catarrhs, inflammations, and rheumatism, while negative +electricity causes nervous fevers and cholera. Even the moon has +recovered some of its former importance in its relations to the human +body, and although the superstitions of past ages with their absurd +exaggerations have long since been abandoned, certain facts remain as +evidences of a connection between the moon and some diseases. Thus the +paroxysms of lunatics, epileptics, and somnambulists are undoubtedly in +correspondence with the phases of the moon; madmen rave most furiously +when the latter is full, and its phases determine with astonishing +regularity the peculiar affections of women, as was triumphantly proven +by the journal kept with admirable fidelity during the long life of Dr. +Constantine Hering of Philadelphia. + +Another name given to these phenomena is the Hypnotism of the English. +(Braid, "Neurohypnology," London, 1843.) This theory is based upon the +fact that sensitive persons can be rendered clairvoyant by looking +fixedly at some small but bright object held close to their face, and by +continuing for some time to fix the mind upon the same object after the +eyelids have closed from sheer weariness. The method of producing this +magnetic sleep, and some of the symptoms peculiar to mesmerized persons, +has since been frequently varied. Dodds makes the patient take a disk of +zinc, upon which a small disk of copper is laid, into his hand, and +regard them fixedly; thus he produces what he calls electro-biology. +Catton, in Manchester, England, prefers a gentle brushing of the +forehead, and by this simple means causes magnetic sleep. Braid's +experiments, in which invariably over-excitement of nerves was followed +by torpor, rigidity, and insensibility, have since been repeated by +eminent physicians with a view to produce anaesthesis during painful +operations. They have met with perfect success; and the removal of the +shining object, fresh air, and slight frictions, sufficed to restore +consciousness. The same results have been obtained in France, where, +according to a report made to the French Academy, in 1859, by the +renowned Dr. Velpeau, persons induced to look at a shining object, held +close between their eyes, began to squint violently, and in a few +moments to fall, utterly unconscious and insensible, into magnetic +sleep. Maury explains the process as one of vertigo, which itself again +is caused by the pressure of blood upon the brain, and adds, that any +powerful impression produced upon the retina may have the same effect. +Hence, no doubt, the _mal occhio_ of the Italians, inherited from the +evil eye of the ancients; hence the often almost marvelous power which +some men have exercised by the mere glance of the eye. The fixed look of +the magnetizer, which attracts the eye of the patient, and holds it, as +it were, spell-bound, has very much the same effect, and when this look +is carefully cultivated it may put others beside themselves--as was the +case with Urbain Graudier, who could, at any time, cause his arms to +fall into a trance by merely fixing his eyes upon them for a few +minutes. + +From all these experiments we gather, once more, that men can, by a +variety of means, which are called magnetism or mesmerism, influence +others who are susceptible, till the latter fall into magnetic sleep, +have cataleptic attacks, or become clairvoyant. It is less certain that, +as many assert, these results are obtained by means of a most subtle, as +yet unknown, fluid, which the magnetizer causes to vibrate in his own +mind, and which passes from him, by means of his hands, into the +patient, where it produces effects corresponding to those felt by the +principal. To accomplish even this, it is absolutely necessary that the +magnetizer should not only possess a higher energy than his patient, but +also stand to him in the relation of the positive pole to the negative. +The extent of success is measurable by the strength of will on one hand, +and the degree of susceptibility on the other; both may be infinitely +varied, from total absence to an overwhelming abundance. Practice, at +least, however, aids the magnetizer effectually, and certain French and +Italian masters have obtained surprising results. The most striking of +these is still the cataleptic state, which they cause at will. +Breathing, pulsation, and digestion continue uninterrupted, but the +muscles are no longer subject to our will; they cease to be active, and +hence the patient remains immovable in any position he may be forced to +assume. + +The general symptoms produced by magnetizing are uniformly the same: as +soon as a sufficient number of passes have been made from the head +downward the patient draws a few deep inhalations, and then follow +increased animal heat and perspiration, the effect of greater activity +of the nerves, while pain ceases and cheerfulness succeeds despondency. +If the passes are continued, these symptoms increase in force, produce +their natural consequences, and, the functions becoming normal, recovery +takes place. Magnetic sleep is frequently preceded by slight +feverishness, convulsive trembling and fainting. The eyelids, half or +entirely closed, begin to tremble, the eyeballs turn upward and inward, +and the pupils become enlarged and insensible to light. The features +change in a striking manner, peculiar to this kind of sleep, and easily +recognized. After several experiments of this kind have been made upon +susceptible persons, the outward sleep begins to be accompanied by an +inner awakening, at first in a half-dreamy state and gradually more +fully, till conversation can be attempted. + +Contrary to the general impression, faith does not seem to be an +essential element of success, at least on the part of the patient, for +infants and very young children have been rendered clairvoyant as well +as grown persons. On the other hand, natural susceptibility is +indispensable, for Deleuse (_Def. du Magnetisme_, p. 156) states that in +his extended practice he found only one out of twenty persons fit to be +magnetized. Of those whom he could influence, only one in twenty could +converse in his sleep, and of five of this class not more than one +became fully clairvoyant. Certain persons, though well endowed, impress +their patients unfavorably, cause a sensation of cold instead of heat in +their system, and produce a feeling of strong aversion. The most +remarkable feature in all these relations, however, is the fact that the +patient not unfrequently affects the magnetizer, and this in the most +extraordinary manner. One physician took into the hand with which he had +touched a dying person, two finches; they immediately sickened and died +a few days later. Another, a physically powerful and perfectly healthy +man, who was treating a patient suffering of _tic douloureux_ by means +of magnetism, became unwell after a few days, and on the seventh day +fell himself a victim to that painful disease, till he had to give up +the treatment. He handed his patient over to a brother physician, who +suffered in the same manner, and actually died in a short time. + +After continued practice has strengthened the magnetizer, his "passes" +often become unnecessary, and he can at last, under favorable +circumstances, produce magnetic sleep by a simple glance or even the +mere unuttered volition. Some physicians had only to say Sleep! and +their patient fell asleep; others were able to move the sleepers from +their beds by a slight touch with the tip of the thumb. One of this +class, after curing a poor boy of catalepsy, retained such perfect +control over him that he only needed to point at him with his finger, or +to let him touch some metal which he had magnetized, in order to make +him fall down as if thunderstruck. The great German writer, known as +Jean Paul, relates of himself that he, "in a large company and by merely +looking at her fixedly, caused a Mrs. K. twice to fall almost asleep and +to make her heart beat and her color go, till S. had to help her." The +Abbe Faria, who seems to have been specially endowed with such power, +would magnetize perfect strangers by suddenly stretching out his hands +and saying in an authoritative tone: Sleep, I will it! He had a +formidable competitor afterwards in Hebert, who played almost at will +with a large number of spectators in his crowded hall, making them +follow him wherever he led, or causing them to fall asleep by simply +making passes over the inside of their hats. In the case of young girls +he produced rigidity of members with great facility, and then caused +them to assume any position he chose; his patients were utterly helpless +and powerless. Dupotet, already mentioned, possessed similar influence +over others; he once magnetized an athletic man of ripe years, by merely +walking around the chair on which he was seated, and forced him to turn +with him by jerks. On another occasion he made a white chalk-mark on the +floor, and then requested a gentleman to put both his feet upon the +spot; while he remained quietly standing by the side of his friends. +After a few minutes the stranger began to shut his eyes, and his body +trembled and swayed to and fro, till it sank so low that the head hung +down to the hips--at last Dupotet loosened the spell by upward passes. +An Italian, Ragazzoni, excited in 1859, no small sensation by his +remarkable success as a magnetizer. Unlike other physicians, he used an +abundance of gestures to accompany the active play of his expressive +features, and yet by merely breathing upon persons he could check their +respiration and the circulation of their blood; in like manner he caused +the chest to swell and paralyzed single limbs or the whole body. He +pushed needles through the hand or the skin of the forehead without +causing a sign of pain; he enabled his patients to guess his thoughts, +and set them walking, running or dancing, although they were in one room +and he in another. When he had paralyzed their senses, burning sulphur +did not affect their smell, nor brilliant light the open pupil; the +ringing of a large bell close to the ear and the firing of a pistol +remained unheard. In fine, he repeated all the experiments already made +by Puysegur with his patient, Victor, but generally without the use of +passes. (Schopenhauer, _Ueber d. Willen in d. Natur._ 1867, p. 102.) +Maury, who has given a most interesting and trustworthy account of +similar cases (_Revue des Deux Mondes_, 1860, t. 25), states in speaking +of General Noizet, that the latter caused him to fall asleep by saying: +"_Dormes!_" Immediately a thick veil fell upon his eyes, he felt weak, +began to perspire, and felt a strong pressure upon the abdomen. A second +experiment, however, was less successful. + +Besides passes, a variety of other means have been employed to produce +magnetic sleep and kindred phenomena. Dr. Bendsea, one of the earlier +practitioners, frequently used metal mirrors or even ordinary +looking-glasses; another Dr. Barth, maintained that by touching or +irritating any part of the outer skull, the underlying portions of the +brains could be excited. By thus pressing upon the organ of love of +children, his patients would at once begin to think of children, and +often caress a cushion. In this theory he is supported by Haddock, who +first discovered that the magnetizer's will could force his patient to +substitute his fancies for the reality, and, for instance, to believe a +handkerchief to be a pet dog or an infant, and an empty glass to be +filled with such liquids as he suggested. The influence in such cases +must, however, be rather ascribed to the fact that the magnetizers were +also phrenologists, than to the presumed organs themselves. + +It must lastly be mentioned that some persons claim to possess the power +to magnetize themselves, and Dupotet, a trustworthy authority in such +matters, supports the assertion. A case is mentioned in the _Journal de +l'ame_ (iv. p. 103), of a man who could hypnotize himself from childhood +up, by merely fixing his eye for some time upon a certain point; in +later years, probably by too frequent excitement of this kind, he was +apt to fall into trances and to see visions. + +The sympathetic relations which by magnetism are established between two +or more persons who are in a state of somnambulism or clairvoyance, is +commonly called _rapport_, although there is no apparent necessity for +preferring a French word. The closest relations exist naturally between +the magnetizer and his subject, and the intensity of the rapport varies, +of course, with the energy of will of the one, and the susceptibility of +the patient of the other. The same rapport exists, however, often +between the patients of the same magnetizer, and may be increased by +merely joining hands, or a strong effort of will on the part of the +physician. It has often been claimed that mesmerism produces +exceptionally by _rapport_ what in twins is the effect of a close +natural resemblance and contemporaneousness of organization. +Clairvoyants endowed with the highest powers which have yet been +observed, thus see not only their own body as if it were transparent, +but can in like manner watch what is going on within the bodies of +others, provided they are brought into _rapport_ with them, and hence +their ability to prescribe for their ailments. Puysegur was probably the +first to discover this peculiarity: he was humming to himself a +favorite air while magnetizing a peasant boy, and suddenly the latter +began to sing the same air with a loud voice. Haddock's patients gave +all the natural signs of pain in different parts of the body, when he +was struck or pinched, while at the very time they were themselves +insensible to pain. Dr. Emelin found that when he held his watch to his +right ear, a female patient of his heard the ticking in her left ear; if +he held it to her own ear she heard nothing. He was, also, not a little +astonished when another patient, in a distant town to which he traveled, +revealed to him a whole series of professional meditations in which he +had been plunged during his journey. And yet such a knowledge of the +magnetizer's thoughts is nothing uncommon in well-qualified subjects who +have been repeatedly magnetized. Mrs. Crowe mentions the case of a +gentleman who was thus treated while he was at Malvern and his physician +at Cheltenham. He was lying in magnetic sleep, when he suddenly sprang +up, clapped his hands together, and broke out into loud laughter. His +physician was written to and replied that on the same day he had been +busy thinking of his patient, when a sudden knock at the door startled +him and made him jump and clap his hands together. He then laughed +heartily at his folly! (I. p. 140.) Dupotet once saw a striking +illustration of the _rapport_ which may exist between two patients of +the same magnetizer, even where the two are unknown to each other. + +He was treating some of his patients in a hospital in St. Petersburg, by +means of magnetism, and found, to his surprise, that whenever he put one +of them to sleep in the upper story, the other in the lower story would +also instantly drop asleep, although she could not possibly be aware of +what was going on upstairs. This happened, moreover, not once, but +repeatedly, and for weeks in succession. If both were asleep when he +came on his daily round, he needed only arouse one to hear the other +awake with a start and utter loud cries. + +Magnetic sleep generally does not begin immediately, but after some +intermediate danger; most frequently ordinary sleep serves as a bridge +leading to magnetic sleep, and yet the two are entirely different +conditions. When at last sleep is induced, various degrees of +exceptional powers are exhibited, which are evidences of an inner sense +that has been awakened, while the outer senses have become inactive. The +patient is, however, utterly unconscious of the fact that his eyes are +closed, and believes he sees through them as when he is awake. When +somnambulists are asked why they keep their eyes shut, they answer: "I +do not know what you mean; I see you perfectly well." The highest +degree, but rarely developed in specially favored persons, consists of +perfect clairvoyance accompanied by a sense of indescribable bliss; in +this state the spiritual and moral features of the patient assume a form +of highest development, visions are beheld, remote and future things are +discerned, and other persons may be influenced, even if they are at a +considerable distance. It is in this condition that persons in magnetic +sleep exhibit in the highest degree the magic phenomena of magnetism. +The latter are generally accompanied by a sensation of intense light, +which at times becomes almost painful, and has to be allayed by the +physician, especially when it threatens to interfere with the +unconscious conversations of the patient. This enjoyment has, however, +to be paid for dearly, for it exhausts the sleeper, and in many +instances it so closely resembles the struggle of the soul when parting +from the body in death, that dissolution seems to be impending. +Somnambulists themselves maintain that such magnetic sleep shortens +their lives by several years, and has to be interrupted in time to +prevent it from becoming fatal. Recollection rarely survives magnetic +sleep, but after awaking, vague and indistinct impulses continue, which +stand in some connection with the incidents of such sleep. A well known +magnetizer, Mouillesaux, once ordered a patient, while sunk in magnetic +sleep, to go on the following day and call on a person whom she did not +like. The promise was given reluctantly, but not mentioned again after +she awoke. To test the matter, the physician went, accompanied by a few +friends, on the next day, to that person's house, and, to their great +surprise, the patient was seen to walk up and down anxiously before the +door, and at last to enter, visibly embarrassed. Mouillesaux at once +followed her and explained the matter; she told him that from the moment +of her rising in the morning she had been haunted by the idea that she +ought to go to this house, till her nervousness had become so painful as +to force her to go on her unwelcome errand. (_Expose des Cures, etc._, +iii. p. 70.) + +The power to perceive things present without the use of the ordinary +organs, and to become aware of events happening at a distance, has been +frequently ascribed to an additional sense, possibly the Common Sense of +Aristotle. Its fainter operations are seen in the almost marvelous power +possessed by bats to fly through minute meshes of silk nets, stretched +out for the purpose, even when deprived of sight, and to find their way +to their nests without a moment's hesitation. Cuvier ascribed this +remarkable power to their exquisitely developed sense of touch, which +would make them aware of an almost imperceptible pressure of the air; +but while this might explain their avoiding walls and trees, it could +not well apply to slender silk threads. Another familiar illustration is +found in the perfectly amazing ability often possessed by blind, or +blind and deaf persons, who distinguish visitors by means neither +granted nor known to their more fortunate brethren. It is generally +believed that in such cases the missing senses are supplied by a +superior development of the remaining senses, but even this assertion +has never yet been fully proved, nor if proved, would it supply a key to +some of the almost marvelous achievements of blind people. + +This new or general sense seems only to awaken in exceptional cases and +under peculiar circumstances. That it never shows itself in healthy life +is due to the simple fact that its power is then obscured by the +unceasing activity of the ordinary senses. A peculiar, and as yet +unexplained feature of this power is the tendency to ascribe its +results, not to the ordinary organs, but by a curious transposition to +some other part of the body, so that persons in magnetic sleep believe, +as the magnetizer may choose, that they see, or smell, or hear by means +of the finger-tips, the pit of the stomach, the forehead, or even the +back of the head. It is true that savants like Alfred Maury (_Revue des +Deux Mondes_, 1860, t. 25) and Dr. Michea ascribe these new powers only +to an increased activity of the senses; but nothing is gained by this +reasoning, as such an astounding increase of the irritability of the +retina or the tympanum is as much of a magic phenomenon as the presumed +new sense. The simple explanation is that it is not the eye which sees +nor the ear which hears, but that images and sound-waves are carried by +these organs to the great nervous centre, where we must look for the +true source of all our perceptions. If in magnetic sleep the same images +and waves can be conveyed by other means, the result will be precisely +the same as if the patient was observing with open eyes and ears. + +A lady treated by Despine thus heard with the palm of her hand and read +by means of the finger-tips, which she passed rapidly over the letters +presented to her in her sleep. At the same time she invariably ascribed +the sensations she experienced to the natural senses; flowers, for +instance, laid down unseen by her, so as barely to touch her fingers, +caused her to draw in air through the nostrils and to exclaim: Ah, how +sweet that is! and if objects were placed against the sole of her foot, +she would often exclaim: "What is that? I cannot see it distinctly." +Somnambulists can, hence, carry on domestic work in the dark with the +same success as in broad daylight, and a patient whose case has been +most carefully investigated, could hem the finest linen handkerchiefs by +holding the needle to her brow, high above her eyes. Thus persons have +seen by means of almost every part of the body, a fact which has led +more than one distinguished physiologist to assume that, under special +circumstances, all the papillae of nerves in the epidermis may become +capable of conveying the sensual perceptions ordinarily assigned only to +certain organs, as the eye or the ear. Even this supposition, however, +would not suffice to explain the ability possessed by some magnetized +persons to see and hear by means of their fingers, even without touching +the objects or when separated from the latter by an intervening wall. + +The highest magic phenomena connected with magnetic sleep consist in the +perception of hidden things and in the influence exercised over persons +at a distance. Only a few of these can be explained by natural laws and +by the increased power of the senses frequently granted to peculiarly +constituted or diseased persons. The senses, on the contrary, cease to +operate, and man, for a time, becomes endowed with a higher power, which +is probably part and portion of his spiritual being, as made after the +image of the Most High, but obscured and rendered inoperative by the +subjection of the soul to the earthborn body. Nor is this power always +under his control; as if to mark its supernatural character, the patient +very often perceives what is perfectly indifferent to himself, and is +forced, almost against his own will, to witness or foresee events, the +bearing of which he cannot discern. Generally, therefore, the importance +of these revelations is of less interest than the manner in which they +are made, which is invariably of the kind we call magic. This is still +further attested by the difficulty, which is almost always felt, of +translating them, as it were, into ordinary language, and hence the many +allegoric and symbolic forms under which they are made known. Future +events are often not seen, but read in a newspaper or heard as recited +by strangers; in other cases they are apparently imparted by the spirits +of deceased persons. A very frequent form is the impression that the +soul leaves the body and, pursuing the track of a person to whom the +magnetizer points, with all the fidelity and marvelous accuracy of a +well-trained dog, finally reaches him and sees him and his surroundings. +Nor is the distance a matter of indifference; like the ordinary senses, +this new sense also seems to have its laws and its limits, and if the +task is too heavy and the distance too great, the perception remains +vague and indefinite. Most important of all is the fact that, unlike +spiritual visions, magnetism never enables the sleeper to go beyond the +limits of our earthly home. On the other hand, time is no more an +obstacle than space, and genuine somnambulists have seen past and future +events as well as distant scenes. Mistakes, however, occur here as with +all our other senses; as healthy persons see amiss or hear amiss, so +magnetic sleepers also are not unfrequently mistaken--errors to which +they are all the more liable as the impressions received by magic powers +have to be translated into the language adapted to ordinary senses. + +Among somnambulists of this class Alexis is one of the best known, and +has left us an account of many experiments in his _Explication du +Sommeil Magnetique_. Alexis was once put into magnetic sleep by a friend +of Dr. Mayo, and then ordered to go to Boppard, on the Rhine, and look +for him; Alexis, after some hesitation, stated that he had found him, +and described--although he had never seen him before--his appearance and +dress, not only, but also the state of mind in which he was at that +moment, all of which proved afterward to be perfectly correct. Alexis +declared that his perceptions varied very much in clearness, and that +his power to see friends at a distance depended largely on the affection +he felt for them. In all instances his magic powers were far inferior to +those of his natural senses, although they never misled him, as the +latter had done occasionally. In the _Bibliotheque du Magnetisme Animal_ +(vii. p. 146), a remarkable case is reported as attested by undoubted +authority. The English consul, Baldwin, was, in 1795, visited by an +Italian improvisatore, who happened to have a small medicine-chest with +him. In the consul's kitchen was a little Arab, a scullion, who suffered +of a harassing cough, and whom his master magnetized in order to cure +him. While in his sleep the boy saw the medicine-chest, of which he had +known nothing before, and selected among the phials one with sugar of +agrimonium, which relieved him of his troubles. The Italian, thereupon, +asked also to be magnetized; fell promptly asleep, and wrote in this +condition, with closed eyes, a poem praising the art of magnetism. +Haddock's famous subject, Emma, actually accomplished once the crucial +test of all magic phenomena--she proved the value of magnetism in a +question of money. In the year 1849 three notes, amounting to L650, had +been deposited in a bank, and disappeared in the most unaccountable +manner. One of the clerks confessed, that although he had received them, +wrapped them up in paper, and placed them with a parcel of other notes, +he had forgotten to enter them regularly in the books. No trace could be +discovered; at last the magnetized subject was consulted, and after some +little time declared that the notes were lying in a certain room, +inserted in a certain panel, which she described so accurately that upon +search being instituted the missing notes were found, and the clerk's +character was cleared. Dr. Barth magnetized, in 1846, a lady who was +filled with anxiety about her husband in America, from whom she had not +heard for a long time. After having been put into magnetic sleep several +times, she once exclaimed: "God be thanked, my poor husband is better. I +am looking over his shoulder and see him write a letter addressed to me, +which will be here in six or seven weeks. He tells me that he has been +ill for three months." Two months afterwards she actually received such +a letter, in which her husband informed her of his three months' +illness, and regretted the pain he had probably caused her by his +protracted silence. A young lady, magnetized by Robert Napier in his +house in Edinburgh, not only described her parents' house as it appeared +at the moment, but also the home of a Miss B., in New South Wales, where +she had never been. In the garden of the house she saw a gentleman +accompanied by a lady in black, and a dog of light color with dark +spots; upon inquiry it appeared that Colonel B., the father of the young +lady, had at that time actually been in the garden with his wife and his +dog, although some of the minor details proved to have been incorrect. +She also gave a minute and accurate account of the upper stories of +Napier's house, where she had never been; but recognizing everything +only gradually, and correcting the mistakes which she had at first +committed. Thus she spoke of Napier's old aunt as dressed in dark +colors; after a while she exclaimed: "Oh, now I see she is dressed in +white!" It appeared afterward that the old lady had been sitting in a +deep arm-chair, overshadowed by the back of the chair, the gas-light +being behind her; just at that moment, however, Napier's wife had come +up, the aunt had leaned forward to speak to her, and thus being brought +into the light, had revealed her white night-dress. This case is +peculiarly interesting as proving that the perceptions of somnambulists +are dependent upon conditions similar to those which govern the ordinary +senses. (Colquhoun, p. 626.) + +According to such high authorities as Hufeland and others, magnetic +sleep enables persons to see the interior of the bodies of others. He +himself heard one of his female patients, a woman without any knowledge +of anatomy, describe quite accurately the inner structure of the ear, +and of certain other parts of the body. (_Ueber Sympathie_, p. 115.) It +seems to have been well ascertained that she had never had an +opportunity of reading such a description, even if her memory had been +retentive enough to enable her to recall and recite what she had thus +chanced to read. The clairvoyant Alexis once saw through the clothing of +a visitor a scar, and after gazing at it--in his sleep--for a long time, +he came to the conclusion that it was the effect of a dog's bite, and +finally stated all the facts attending the accident of which the scar +was the sole remaining evidence. Even historical predictions made in +magnetic sleep are not wanting. The death of a king of Wuertemberg was +thus foretold by two somnambulists, who were under medical treatment, +and who warned their physicians, well-known and trustworthy +practitioners of good standing, of the approaching event. The king's +death took place without being preceded by any serious illness, and in +the manner minutely predicted by one of the patients; a confirmation +which was all the more striking, as the prediction had been made in the +presence of a number of distinguished men, among whom were a minister of +the kingdom and several divines. Another case is that of the Swedish +king, Gustavus Vasa, who was assassinated in 1792, by Ankarstroem. +Accompanied by his physician, he once called, as Count Haga, upon a +patient treated by Aubry, a pupil of Mesmer. She recognized him +immediately, although plunged in magnetic sleep, told him that he +suffered of oppressions of the chest, the effect of a broken arm, and +foretold him that his life was in danger and that he would be murdered. +The king was deeply impressed, and as his physician expressed doubt and +contempt in his face, he desired that the latter should be put _en +rapport_ with the patient. No sooner was this done than the physician's +eyes fell, he sank into magnetic sleep, and when, after some time, he +was aroused he left the room in great agitation. (A. Gauthier. _Hist. du +Somnamb._, ii. p. 246.) + +An occasional phenomenon of magnetic sleep is the improvement of the +language of patients; this appears not only in the case of well-educated +persons, whose diction assumes often a high poetical form, but far more +strikingly in unlettered and ignorant patients, who suddenly manifest an +unexpected familiarity with the more refined form of their native +tongue, and not unfrequently even with idioms of which they have +previously had no knowledge whatever. All these different symptoms have +been authenticated by numerous and trustworthy witnesses. Humble +peasant-women have used the most elegant forms of their native language; +travelers have unexpectedly recovered the use of idioms once known to +them, but long since forgotten; and, finally, a real gift of languages +has unmistakably enabled patients to use idioms with which they had +previously never come in contact. This phenomenon develops itself +occasionally into poetical improvisations of considerable merit, and the +beautiful music which many hear in magnetic sleep, or just before dying, +as if coming from another world, is, in like manner, nothing but a +product of their own mental exaltation. Thus persons who spoke merely a +local dialect, and were acquainted with no other form of their +mother-tongue, when placed in magnetic sleep would speak the best +English or German, as if their mind, freed from all fetters, resumed +once more the original task of forming the language in accordance with +their heightened capacities. Little children, whose education had +scarcely begun, have been known to recite verses or to compose speeches, +of which they would have been utterly incapable in a healthy state, and +of which they had afterwards no recollection. Macnish mentions a young +girl who, when magnetized, always fell back into Welsh, which she had +spoken as a child, but long since forgotten, and Lausanne mentions one +of his patients, a Creole, who came at the age of five to France, and +late in life, when magnetized, spoke no longer French but the miserable +patois of her early years. A young tanner in England, also, though +utterly uneducated, like the peasant-boy of Puysegur, was able in +magnetic sleep to speak German. Whenever another person, at such a time, +spoke to him in English, his lips began at once to move, and he +translated what he heard into fair German verses. (Morin, _Journ. du +Magn._ 1854, No. 199.) + +It must not be overlooked that the gift of singing and of using poetical +language, often of great beauty, is not unfrequently developed in +fever-patients also, and in insane persons. + +Insensibility to impressions from without is another phenomenon which +magnetic sleep has in common with many other conditions. It is produced +by anaesthetics like chloroform and ether, by utter exhaustion in +consequence of long suffering, as was the case with martyrs and +prisoners subjected to torture, and by excessive loss of blood. But in +magnetic sleep it reaches a higher degree than under other +circumstances; cataleptic patients, and even clairvoyants in moments of +greatest excitement, seem to be in a state in which the nerves cease to +act as conveyers of impressions to the brain. This has often led to +unwarrantable abuse; physicians, under the pretext of scientific +investigation, inflicting severe injuries upon their patients, utterly +unmindful of the fact that, however great the momentary insensibility +may be, the sense of pain returns at the instant of re-awaking. On the +other hand, physicians have taken advantage of this state of +unconsciousness of pain, in order to perform serious operations. + +The first instance of a surgical operation being attempted while the +patient was in mesmeric sleep, was that of Madame Plantin, a lady of +sixty-four years, who suffered of cancer in the breast. A Mr. Chapelain +prepared her by throwing her for several days into a trance by means of +the usual mesmeric passes. She then manifested the ordinary symptoms of +somnambulism, and conversed about the impending danger with perfect +calmness, while she contemplated it, when conscious, with the utmost +horror and apprehension. On the 12th of April, 1824, she was again +thrown into a trance, and the painful and dangerous operation +accomplished in less than a quarter of an hour, while she conversed with +the surgeon, the famous Dr. Ploquet, and showed in her voice, her +breathing, and her pulse not the slightest sign of excitement or pain. +When the wound was bound up, she awoke, but upon hearing what had taken +place, she became so violently excited that the magnetizer had to cause +her once more to fall asleep under his passes. And yet, in spite of this +brilliant success, when Dr. Warren of Boston asked the great surgeon +why he had never repeated the experiment, the latter was forced to +acknowledge that he had not dared do it, "because the prejudice against +mesmerism was so strong in Paris that a repetition would have imperiled +his position and his reputation!" + +Since that time mesmerism has been repeatedly, and almost always +successfully employed as an anaesthetic; Dr. James Esdall, chief surgeon +of the presidency of Calcutta, having reduced the application to a +regular method. Dr. Forbes reports two cases of amputation of the thigh +in magnetic sleep, which were successful, and similar experiments have +been made in England, and in India, with the same happy result. + +It is probably a feature connected with this insensibility that persons +in magnetic sleep can with impunity take unusually large doses of +medicine, which they prescribe for themselves. For magnetic sleep seems +to develop, as we have stated, among other magic phenomena, a peculiar +insight also, into diseases and their remedies. Although diseases may +assume a variety of deceptive forms, the predictions made by magnetic +patients, many months in advance, seldom fail to be verified. This is a +mere matter of instinct, for ignorant persons and young children possess +the gift in equal degree with the best-informed and most experienced +patients. The remedies are almost exclusively so-called simples--a hint +of some value to physicians--but always prescribed with much judgment, +and in a manner evincing rare medical tact. The dose, however, is +generally twice or three times as much as is ordinarily given. Magnetic +patients prescribe as successfully for others, with whom they are placed +_en rapport_, as for themselves, since a state of perfect clairvoyance +enables them to judge of other persons also with perfect accuracy. One +of the most remarkable cases is mentioned by Schopenhauer. ("Parerga," +etc., I. p. 246.) A consumptive patient in Russia directed, in her +magnetic sleep, the attending physician to put her for nine days into a +state of syncope. He did so reluctantly, but during this time her system +seemed to enjoy perfect rest, and by this means she recovered. Haddock, +also, cured several persons at a distance, by following the directions +given to him by a patient of his in her magnetic sleep; he handed her a +lock of hair, or a few written lines, which sufficed to put her _en +rapport_ with the absent sufferers. + +Among the magic phenomena observed in magnetic sleep we must lastly +mention ecstatic elevation in the air, the giving out of peculiar +sounds, and the power to produce extraordinary effects at a distance. +Even common somnambulists, it is well known, seem not to be in the same +degree subject to the laws of gravity as persons in a state of +wakefulness: hence their amazing exploits in walking on roofs, gliding +along narrow cornices, or even running up perpendicular walls. Persons +in magnetic sleep have been known to float on fresh water as well as in +the sea, although they were unable to swim, and sank, if they went into +the water when awake. Dupotel saw one of his patients running along the +side of his room on a small strip of wood which was merely tacked on to +the wall, and could not have supported a small weight. This peculiar +power is all the more fully authenticated as persons have fallen from +great heights, while in magnetic sleep, without suffering any injury; +but if they are aroused, and then fall, they invariably become subject +again to the natural laws, and are often killed. This temporary +suspension of the law of gravity has been compared with similar +phenomena in science. Thus it is well known that a galvanic stream +passing through coils of copper wire will hold an iron needle suspended +within the coils; and an iron ball dropped into a glass tube between two +powerful magnets will in the same manner remain hanging free in the air. +The advocates of this theory reason that if magnetism can suspend the +law of gravity in metals, it is at least possible that it may have a +similar power in the human body. It has, besides, been observed that +certain affections, such as violent nervous fevers, increase the weight +of sufferers considerably, while a state of trance diminishes it even +more strikingly. + +With regard to the magic phenomena of increased intelligence, +Abercrombie mentions the case of a girl who as a child had heard a +relative play the violin with a certain degree of mastery. Later in life +she became his patient, and in her magnetic sleep repeated unconsciously +some of the pieces in tones very pleasing and closely resembling the +notes of a violin. Each paroxysm, however, was succeeded by certain +symptoms of her disease. Some years afterwards she imitated in like +manner the sounds of a piano and the tones of several members of the +family who were fond of singing, in such a manner that each voice could +be readily and distinctly recognized. Another year passed, and she +conversed with a younger companion, whom she fancied she was instructing +on topics of political and religious interest, with surprising ability +and a frequent display of wit. Henceforth she led two different kinds of +life; when awake she was stupid, awkward in her movements, and unable to +appreciate music; in her sleep she became clever and showed amazing +information and great musical talents. At a critical point in her life, +when she was twenty-one years old, a complete change took place in the +poor girl; her conversation in her magnetic sleep lost all its +attractions; she mixed with it improper remarks, and a few months later +she had to be sent to an insane asylum. + +It is only within the present generation that the power possessed by +some men to magnetize animals has been revived, although it was no doubt +fully known to the ancients, and may in part explain the taming of +venomous serpents in the East. The most remarkable case is probably that +of Mr. Jan, director of the Zoological Gardens at Milan, who "charms" +serpents and lizards. In the year 1858 he was requested by a learned +visitor, Professor Eversmann, to allow him to witness some experiments; +he at once seized a lizard (L. viridis) behind the head and looked at +it fixedly for a few moments; the animal lay quiet, then became rigid, +and remained in any position which he chose to make it assume. Upon +making a few passes with his forefinger it closed its eyes at his +command. Mr. Jan discovered his gift accidentally one day when a whole +bagful of lizards (L. ocellata) had escaped from him, and he forced them +by his will and his eye, to return to his keeping. (_Der Zoolog. +Garten._ Frankfort, 1861, p. 58.) A Frenchman, Treseau, exercised the +same power over birds, which he exhibited in 1860 in Paris. He +magnetized them with his hand and his breath, but as nine-tenths of the +poor creatures died before they became inured to such treatment, no +advantage could be derived from his talent. (Des Mousseaux, p. 310.) A +countryman of his, Jacques Pelissier, is reported by the same authority +to have been able to magnetize not only birds, which allowed themselves +to be taken from the trees, but even hares, so that they remained +sitting in their forms and were seized with the hand (p. 302). + + +SOMNAMBULISM. + +It is well known that somnambulism, in the ordinary sense of the word, +designates the state of persons who suffer from an affection which +disturbs their sleep and causes them to perform strange or ordinary +actions, as it may happen, in a state in which they are apparently half +awake and half asleep. This disease is already mentioned in the most +ancient authors, and its symptoms are correctly reported in Aristotle. +(_De Gener. Anim._) He states that the sufferers rise in their sleep, +walk about and converse, that they distinguish objects as if they were +awake, ascend trees, pursue enemies, perform tasks, and then quietly +return to bed. The state of somnambulism seems to be intermediate +between ordinary dreaming and magnetic clairvoyance, and is probably the +effect of a serious disturbance in our physical life, which causes the +brain to act in an unusual and abnormal manner. It has always been +observed at night only, and most frequently at full moon, since the moon +seems to affect somnambulists not merely by her light, but in each of +the different phases in a peculiar manner. The immediate causes of +night-walking are often most trivial; as Muratori, for instance, tells +us of a priest who became a somnambulist whenever he neglected for more +than two months to have his hair cut! Richard (_Theorie des Songes_, p. +288) mentions an analogous case of an old woman whom he knew to be +subject to the same penalty. + +While nightmares oppress us and make apparently all motion impossible, +somnambulism, on the contrary, produces a peculiar facility of +locomotion and an irresistible impulse to mount eminences, favored +either by an actual diminution of specific gravity, or by an increase of +power. This tendency lies again half-way between the sensation of +flying, which is quite common in dreams, and the actual elevation from +the ground and suspension in the air, which occur in extreme cases of +ecstasy. The senses remain during night-walking in a state of +semi-activity; the somnambulist may appear as if fast asleep, seeing and +hearing nothing, so that the loudest noises and even violent shaking do +not rouse him; or he may, like a dreamer, be partly under the influence +of outward impressions. One will rise at night, go to the stable, saddle +his horse and ride into the woods, while another mounts the window-ledge +and performs all the motions of a man on horseback. Many move with +unfailing certainty on perilous paths, and find their way in deepest +darkness; others make blunders and fall, as Professor J. Feller did, who +mistook an open window for a door. By what means they perceive the +nature of their surroundings, is still unexplained; it may be the action +of the ordinary senses, although these seem to be closed, or they may +possess those exceptional faculties which constitute the magic phenomena +connected with somnambulism. Thus Forbes (_Brit. and For. Med. Rev._, +1846) ascribes their power to an increased sensitiveness of the retina, +and mentions the case of Dr. Curry, who suffered from this symptom to +such a degree that he distinguished every object in a completely +darkened room with perfect ease. In somnambulists, however, the eyes are +generally closed or violently turned up; and in the rare cases in which +they are open, they evidently see nothing. It is, besides, well +established that people thus affected have continued to read, to play on +instruments, and even to write after they had fallen sound asleep, and +without ever opening their eyes. The sensitiveness of the retina could +here not avail much. A case is mentioned of a father who rose at night, +took his child from the cradle, and with wide open eyes carried it up +and down the room, seeing nothing, and in such a state of utter +unconsciousness that his wife, walking by his side, could safely draw +all his secrets from him without his becoming aware of the process or +remembering it the next morning. At the age of forty-five he ceased to +walk in his sleep, but, instead, had prophetic dreams which revealed to +him the occurrences of the following day and later future events. +(_Heer, Observ._) Gassendi (_Phys._, l. viii. ch. 8) mentions a young +man, living in Provence, who rose in his sleep, dressed, drew wine in +the cellar, wrote up the accounts, and in the darkest night never +touched objects that were in his way. If he returned quietly to his bed, +he slept well, and strangely enough, recalled everything he had done in +the night; but if he was suddenly aroused in the cellar or in the +street, he was seized with violent trembling and palpitations of the +heart. At times he saw but imperfectly; then he fancied he had risen +before daybreak, and lit a lamp. The _Encyclopedie Methodique_ reports +the case of a young priest who wrote his sermons at night, and with +closed eyes, and then read each page aloud, correcting and improving +what he had written. A sheet of paper held between his eyes and his +manuscript did not disturb him; nor did he become aware of it if the +latter was removed and blank paper was substituted; in this case he +wrote the corrections precisely where they would have been inserted in +the text. Macnish mentions ("On Sleep," p. 148) the curious case of an +innkeeper in Germany, a huge mass of flesh, who fell asleep at all times +and in all places, but who, when this happened while he was playing +cards, nevertheless continued to follow suit, as if he could see what +was led. In 1832, when he was barely 50 years old, he literally fell +asleep, paralysis killing him instantly during one of these attacks of +sleep. The same author mentions somnambulists who in their sleep walked +to the sea-shore and swam for some distance without being waked, and the +case of a Norwegian who during his paroxysms took a boat and rowed +himself about for some time. He was cured of his affection by a tub full +of water, which was so placed that he had to step into it when leaving +his bed. In Scotland a peasant discovered from below the nest of a +sea-mew, which hung at an inaccessible height upon a steep rock; some +weeks afterwards he rose in his sleep, and to the horror of his friends, +who watched him from below, climbed to the place, took the birds, and +safely returned to his cabin. In former ages somnambulists were reported +to have even committed murder in their sleep; a Parisian thus rose, +dressed himself, swam across the Seine, killed his enemy, and returned +the same way without ever awaking; and an Englishman also is reported to +have murdered a boy, in a state of unconsciousness, while laboring +under this affection. Modern science, however, knows nothing of such +extreme cases, and the plea has not yet been used by astute lawyers. + +Simple somnambulism is not unfrequently connected with magnetic +somnambulism, and may occasionally be seen even in trances during +daytime. In such cases persons who walk in their sleep may be questioned +by bystanders, and in their answers prove themselves not unfrequently +able to foretell future events, or to state what is occurring at a +distance; or they perform tasks in their sleep which they would not be +able to accomplish when awake; they compose music, write poetry, and +read works in foreign languages, without possessing the requisite +knowledge and training. A poor basket-weaver in Germany once heard a +sermon which moved him deeply; several weeks later he rose at night, and +repeated the whole sermon from beginning to end; his wife tried in vain +to rouse him, and the next morning he knew nothing of what had happened. +Cases of scholars who, sorely puzzled by difficult problems, gave them +up before retiring, and then, in the night, rose in a state of +somnambulism, and solved them easily, are by no means uncommon. + + + + +IX. + +MIRACULOUS CURES. + + "Spiritus in nobis qui viget, illa facit." + + --CORN. AGRIPPA, Ep. xiv. + + +The uniform and indispensable condition of all miraculous cures, whether +produced by prayer, imposition of hands, penitential castigation, or +magic power, is faith. Physician and patient alike must believe that +disease is the consequence of sin, and accept the literal meaning of the +Saviour's words, when he had cured the impotent man near the pool called +Bethesda, and said: "Behold, thou art made whole: _sin_ no more, lest a +worse thing come unto thee." (St. John v. 14.) Like their great teacher, +all the apostles and saints of the church have ever insisted upon +repentance in the heart before health in body could be accorded. It is +interesting to notice, moreover, that all Oriental sages, the Kabbalists +and later Theosophists, have, without exception, adopted the same view, +however widely they may have differed on other points. In one feature +only some disagreed: they ascribed to evil spirits what others +attributed to sin; but the difference is only nominal, for men, by sin, +enter into communion with evil spirits, and become subject to their +power. Hence the woman "which had a _spirit_ of infirmity eighteen +years" was said to have been "bound by Satan," and when she was healed +she was "loosed from the bond." (Luke xiii. 16.) + +To this common faith must be added on the part of the physician an +energetic will, and in the patient an excited imagination. The history +of all ages teaches, beyond the possibility of doubt, that where these +elements are present results have been obtained which excite the marvel +of men by their astonishing promptness, and their apparent +impossibility. They seem generally to be the result of certain symbolic +but extremely simple acts, such as the imposition of hands--which may +possibly produce a concentration of power--the utterance of a blessing, +or merely a continued, fixed glance. The main point, however, is, of +course, the psychical energy which is here made available by a process +as yet unknown. Prayer is probably the simplest agency, since it +naturally encourages and elevates the innermost heart of man, and fills +him with that perfect hope and confidence which are necessary for his +recovery. This hope is, in the case of miraculous cures performed at the +shrines of saints, materially strengthened by the collective force of +all preceding cures, which tradition has brought to bear upon the mind, +while the senses are powerfully impressed, at the same time, by the +surroundings, and especially the votive offerings testifying to the +reality of former miracles. In the case of relics, where the Church sees +simply miracles, many men believe in a continuing magic power +perceptible only to very sensitive patients; thus the great theologian, +Tholuk, ascribes to the "handkerchiefs or aprons" which were brought +from the body of St. Paul, and drove away diseases and evil spirits +(Acts xix. 12), a special curative power with which they were +impregnated. (_Verm. Schriften_, I. p. 80.) At certain times, when the +mind of a whole people is excited, and hence peculiarly predisposed to +meet powerful impressions from specially gifted and highly privileged +persons, such miraculous cures are, of course, most numerous and most +striking. This was the case, for instance, in the first days of +Christianity, at the time of the Reformation, and during the years which +saw the Order of Jesuits established. There is little to be gained, +therefore, by confining the era of such phenomena to a certain +period--to the days of the apostles, when alone genuine miracles were +performed, as many divines believe, or to the first three centuries +after Christ, during which Tholuk and others still see magic +performances. Magnetic and miraculous cures differ not in their nature, +but only in their first cause, precisely as the trance of somnambulists +is identical with the trance of religious enthusiasts. The difference +lies only in the faith which performs the cure; if it is purely human, +the effect will be only partial, and in most cases ephemeral; if divine +faith and the highest power co-operate, as in genuine miracles, the +effect is instantaneous and permanent. Hence the contrast between the +man who at the Lord's bidding "took up his bed and walked" and the +countless cripples who have thrown aside their crutches at the graves of +saints, only to resume them a day or two afterward, when, with the +excitement, the newly acquired power also had disappeared. But hence, +also, the resemblance between many acts of the early Jesuit Fathers and +those of the apostles; the intense energy of the former, supported by +pure and unwavering faith, produced results which were to all intents +and purposes miraculous. With the death of men like St. Xavier, and the +rise of worldly ambition in the hearts of the Fathers, this power +disappeared, and modern miracles have become a snare and a delusion to +simple-minded believers. + +The faith in such psychical power possessed by a few privileged persons +is as old as the world. Pythagoras performed cures by enchantment; AElius +Aristides, who had consulted learned physicians for ten years in vain, +and Marcus Antoninus, were both cured by incubation. Tacitus tells us +that the Emperor Vespasian restored a blind man's sight by moistening +his eye with saliva, and to a lame man the use of his feet by treading +hard upon him. (Hist. l. iv. c. 8.) Both cures were performed before an +immense crowd in Alexandria, and in both cases the petitioners had +themselves indicated the means by which they were to be restored, the +emperor yielding only very reluctantly to their prayers and the urgent +requests of his courtiers. (Sueton., _Vita Vespas._) Pyrrhus, king of +Epirus, had cured colic and diseases of the kidneys by placing the +patient on his back and touching him with his big toe (Plutarch, _Vita +Pyrrhi_); and hence Vespasian and Hadrian both used the same method! + +The imposition of hands, for the purpose of performing miraculous cures, +has been practised from time immemorial; Chaldees and Brahmins alike +using it in cases of malignant diseases. The kings of England and of +France, and even the counts of Hapsburg in Germany, have ever been +reputed to be able to cure goitres by the touch of their hands, and +hence the complaint was called the "king's evil." The idea seems to have +originated in the high north; King Olave, the saint, being reported by +Snorre Sturleson as having performed the ceremony. From thence, no +doubt, it was carried to England, where Edward the Confessor seems to +have been the first to cure goitres. In France each monarch upon +ascending the throne received at the consecration the secret of the +_modus operandi_ and the sacred formula--for here also the spoken word +went hand in hand with the magic touch. Philip I. was the first and +Charles I. the last monarch who performed the cure publicly, uttering +the ancient phrase: "_Le roi te touche, Dieu te guerisse!_" In a +somewhat similar manner the Saludadores and Ensalmadores of Spain cured, +not goitres and stammering only, as the monarchs we have mentioned, but +almost all the ills to which human flesh is heir, by imposition of +hands, fervent prayer and breathing upon the patient. + +Similar gifts are ascribed to Eastern potentates, and the ruling +dynasty in Persia claims to have inherited the power of healing the sick +from an early ancestor, the holy Sheik Sephy. The great traveler Chardin +saw patients hardly able to crawl dragging themselves to the feet of the +Shah, and beseeching him only to dip the end of his finger into a bowl +of water, and thus to bestow upon it healing power. It will excite +little wonder to learn that those remarkable men who succeeded by the +fire of their eloquence and the power of contagious enthusiasm to array +one world in arms against another, the authors of the Crusades, should +have been able to perform miraculous cures. Peter of Amiens and Bernard +of Clairvaux obtained such a hold on the minds of faithful believers, +that their curse produced spasms and fearful sufferings in the guilty, +while their blessing restored speech to the dumb, and health to the +sick. Here also special power was attributed even to their clothes, and +many remarkable results were obtained by the mere touch. Spain, the home +of fervent ascetic faith, abounds in saints who performed miracles, the +most successful of whom was probably Raimundus Normatus (so called +because not born of woman, but cut from his dead mother's body by +skillful physicians), who cured, during the plague of 1200, great +numbers of men by the sign of the cross. To this class of men belong +also, as mentioned before, the early fathers of the Society of Jesus, +though their powers were as different as their characters. Ignatius +Loyola, who represented the intelligence of the new order, performed few +miraculous cures; Xavier, on the contrary, the man of brilliant fancy, +was successful in a great variety of cases. The first leaders, like +Loinez, Salmeron and Bobadilla, had no magic power at all, but later +successors, like Ochioa Carrera and Kepel, displayed it in a surprising +degree, although Ochioa's gifts were distinctly limited to the healing +of the sick by the imposition of hands. The whole period of this intense +excitement extended only over sixteen years, from 1540 to 1556, after +which the vivid faith, which had alone made the cures possible, +disappeared. It is worth mentioning that the Jesuits themselves and most +of their historians deny that they ever had power to perform miracles, +and ascribe the cures to the faith of the patients alone. St. Xavier, it +is well known, brought the dead to life again, and even if we assume +that they lay only in syncope and had not yet really died, the recovery +is scarcely less striking. The most remarkable of these cases is that of +an only daughter of a Japanese nobleman. Her death stunned the father, a +great lord possessed of immense wealth, to such a degree that his +friends feared for his reason; at last they urged him to apply to the +great missionary for help. He did so; the Jesuit, filled with +compassion, asked a brother priest to join him in prayer, and both fell +upon their knees and prayed with great fervor. Xavier returned to the +pagan with joyous face and bade him take comfort, as his daughter was +alive and well. The nobleman, very unlike the father in Holy Writ, was +indignant, thinking that the holy man either did not believe his child +had died or refused to assist him; but as he went home, a page came +running up to meet him, bringing the welcome message that his daughter +was really alive and well. She told him after his return, that her soul +upon leaving the body had been seized by hideous shapes and dragged +towards an enormous fire, but that suddenly two excellent men had +interposed, rescuing her from their hands, and leading her back to life. +The happy father immediately returned with her to the holy man, and as +soon as his child beheld Xavier and his companion, she fell down at +their feet and declared that they were the friends who had brought her +back from the lower world. Shortly afterwards the father and his whole +family became Christians. (Orlandini, Hist. Soc. Jesu., ix. c. 213.) The +case seems to be very simple, and is one of the most instructive of +modern magic. The girl was not dead, but lay in a cataleptic trance, in +which she had visions of fearful scenes, and transformed the fierce hold +which the disease had on her body into the grasp of hostile powers +trying to obtain possession of her soul. At the same time she became +clairvoyant, and thus saw Xavier and his companion distinctly enough to +recognize them afterwards. The cure was accomplished by the Almighty in +answer to the fervent prayer of two pious men filled with pure faith, +according to the sacred promise: "The effectual, fervent prayer of a +righteous man availeth much." All the more is it to be regretted that +even in those days of genuine piety and rapturous faith, foreign +elements should at once have been mixed up with the true doctrine; for +already Caspar Bersaeus ascribed some of his cures to the Holy Virgin; +and soon the power passed away, when the honor was no longer given to +Him to whom alone it was due. + +From that day the power to perform miraculous cures has been but rarely +and exceptionably granted to a few individuals. Thus Matthias Will, a +German divine of the seventeenth century, was as famous for his +marvelous power over the sick and the possessed as for his fervent +piety, his incessant praying and fasting, and his utter self-abnegation. +Sufferers were brought to him from every part of Christendom, and +hundreds who had been given up by their physicians were healed by his +earnest prayers and the blessing he invoked from on high. His memory +still survives in his home, and an inscription on his tombstone records +his extraordinary powers. (Cath. Encycl., Suppl. I. 1320.) Even the +Jansenists, with all their hostility to certain usages of the Church, +had their famous Abbe Paris, whose grave in the Cemetery of St. Medard +became in 1727 the scene of a number of miraculous cures, fully attested +by legal evidence and amply described by Montgeron, a man whom the Abbe +had in his lifetime changed from a reckless profligate into a truly +pious Christian. (_La verite des miracles_, etc., Paris, 1737.) The +magic phenomena exhibited on this occasion were widely discussed and +great numbers of books and pamphlets written for and against their +genuineness, until the subject became so obscured by party spirit that +it is extremely difficult, in our day, to separate the truth from its +large admixture of unreliable statements. A peculiar feature of these +scenes--admitted in its full extent by adversaries even--was the perfect +insensibility of most of the enthusiasts, the so-called +_Convulsionnaires_. Jansenists by conviction, these men, calm and cool +in their ordinary pursuits, had been so wrought up by religious +excitement that they fell, twenty or more at a time, into violent +convulsions and demanded to be beaten with huge iron-shod clubs in order +to be relieved of an unbearable pressure upon the abdomen. They endured, +in this manner, blows inflicted upon the pit of the stomach which under +ordinary circumstances would have caused grievous if not fatal +consequences. + +The above-mentioned witness, who saw their almost incredible sufferings, +Carre de Montgeron, states that he himself used an iron club ending in a +ball and weighing from twenty to thirty pounds. One of the female +enthusiasts complained that the ordinary blows were not sufficient to +give her relief, whereupon he beat her sixty times with all his +strength. But this also was unavailing, and a large and more powerful +man who was standing near had to take the fearful instrument and with +his strong arms gave her a hundred additional blows! The tension of her +muscles must have been most extraordinary, for she not only bore the +blows, which would have killed a strong person in natural health, but +the wall against which she was leaning actually began to tremble and +totter from the violent concussion. Nor were the blows simply resisted +by the turgescence of the body; the skin itself seemed to have been +modified in a manner unknown in a state of health. Thus one of the +brothers Marion felt nothing of thrusts made by a sharp-pointed knife +against his abdomen and the skin was in no instance injured. To do this +the trance in which he lay must necessarily have induced an entire +change of the organic atoms, and this is one of the most important magic +phenomena connected with this class of visions, which will be discussed +in another place. + +It is well known that the cures performed at the grave of the Abbe Paris +and the terrible scenes enacted there by these _convulsionnaires_ +excited so much attention that at last the king saw himself compelled to +put a stop to the proceedings. After a careful investigation of the +whole matter by men specially appointed for the purpose, the grounds +were guarded, access was prohibited, and the wags of Paris placed at the +entrance the following announcement: + + "_Defense de par le Roy. Defense a Dieu, + De faire miracle en ce lieu!_" + +Ireland had in the seventeenth century her Greatrakes, who, according to +unimpeachable testimony, cured nearly every disease known to man, by his +simple touch--and fervent prayer. + +Valentine Greatrakes, of Waterford, in Ireland, had dreamt, in 1662, +that he possessed the gift to cure goitres by simple imposition of +hands, after the manner of the kings of England and of France. It was, +however, only when the dream was several times repeated that he heeded +it and tried his power on his wife. The success he met with in his first +effort encouraged him to attempt other cases also, and soon his fame +spread so far that he was sent for to come to London and perform some +cures at Whitehall. He was invariably successful, but had much to endure +from the sneers of the courtiers, as he insisted upon curing animals as +well as men. His cures were attested by men of high authority, such as +John Glanville, chaplain to Charles II., Bishop Rust, of Dromor, in +Ireland, several physicians of great eminence, and the famous Robert +Boyle, the president of the Royal Society. According to their uniform +testimony Greatrakes was a simple-hearted, pious man, as far from +imposture as from pretension, who firmly believed that God had entrusted +to him a special power, and succeeded in impressing others with the same +conviction. His method was extremely simple: he placed his hands upon +the affected part, or rubbed it gently for some time, whereupon the +pains, swellings, or ulcers which he wished to cure, first subsided and +then disappeared entirely. It is very remarkable that here also all +seemed to depend on the nature of the faith of the patient, for +according to the measure of faith held by the latter the cure would be +either almost instantaneous or less prompt, and in some cases requiring +several days and many interviews. He was frequently accused of +practising sorcery and witchcraft, but the doctors Faiselow and +Artetius, as well as Boyle, defended him with great energy, while +testifying to the reality of his cures. + +One of the best authenticated, though isolated, cases of this class is +the recovery of a niece of Blaise Pascal, a girl eleven years old. She +was at boarding-school at the famous Port Royal and suffered of a +terrible fistula in the eye, which had caused her great pain for three +years and threatened to destroy the bones of her face. When her +physicians proposed to her to undergo a very painful operation by means +of a red-hot iron, some Jansenists suggested that she should first be +specially prayed for, while at the same time the affected place was +touched with a thorn reported to have formed part of the crown of thorns +of our Saviour. This was done, and on the following day the swelling and +inflammation had disappeared, and the eye recovered. The young girl was +officially examined by a commission consisting of the king's own +physician, Dr. Felix, and three distinguished surgeons; but they +reported that neither art nor nature had accomplished the cure and that +it was exclusively to be ascribed to the direct interposition of the +Almighty. The young lady lived for twenty-five years longer and never +had a return of her affection. Racine described the case at full length, +and so did Arnauld and Pascal, all affirming the genuineness of the +miraculous cure. + +During the latter part of the last century a Father Gassner created a +very great sensation in Germany by means of his marvelous cures and +occasional exorcisms of evil spirits. He did not employ for the latter +purpose the usual ritual of the Catholic Church, but simple imposition +of hands and invocation of the Saviour. Nearly all the patients who were +brought to him he declared to be under the influence of evil spirits, +and divided them into three classes: _circumsessi_, who were only at +times attacked, _obsessi_, or bewitched, and _possessi_, who were really +possessed. When a sick person was brought to him, he first ordered the +evil spirit to show himself and to display all his powers; then he +prayed fervently and commanded the demon, in the name of the Saviour, to +leave his victim. A plain, unpretending man of nearly fifty years, he +appeared dressed in a red stole after the fashion prevailing at that +time in his native land, and wore a cross containing a particle of the +holy cross suspended from a silver chain around his neck. The patient +was placed before him so that the light from the nearest window fell +fully upon his features, and the bystanders, who always crowded the +room, could easily watch all the proceedings. Frequently, he would put +his stole upon the sufferers' head, seize their brow and neck with +outstretched hands, and holding them firmly, utter in a low voice a +fervent prayer. Then, after having given them his cross to kiss, if they +were Catholics, he dismissed them with some plain directions as to +treatment and an earnest admonition to remain steadfast in faith. +Probably the most trustworthy account of this remarkable man and his +truly miraculous cures was published by a learned and eminent +physician, a Dr. Schisel, who called upon the priest with the open +avowal that he came as a skeptic, to watch his proceedings and examine +his method. He became so well convinced of Father Gassner's powers that +he placed himself in his hands as a patient, was cured of gout in an +aggravated form, and excited the utmost indignation of his professional +brethren by candidly avowing his conviction of the sincerity of the +priest and the genuineness of his cures. + +There was, however, one circumstance connected with the exceptional +power of this priest, which was even more striking than his cures. His +will was so marvelously energetic and his control over weaker minds so +perfect that he could at pleasure cause the pulse of his patients to +slacken or to hasten, to make them laugh or cry, sleep or wake, to see +visions, and even to have epileptic attacks. As may be expected, the +majority of his visitors were women and children, but these were +literally helpless instruments in his hands. They not only moved and +acted, but even felt and thought as he bade them do, and in many cases +they were enabled to speak languages while under his influence of which +they were ignorant before and after. At Ratisbon a committee consisting +of two physicians and two priests was directed to examine the priest and +his cures; a professor of anatomy carefully watched the pulse and the +nerves of the patients which were selected at haphazard, and all +confirmed the statements made before; while three other professors, who +had volunteered to aid in the investigation, concurred with him in the +conviction that there was neither collusion nor imposition to be +suspected. The priest, who employed no other means but prayer and the +invocation of God by the patients, was declared to be acting in good +faith, from pure motives, and for the best purposes; his cures were +considered genuine. There was, however, in Father Gassner's case also an +admixture of objectionable elements which must not be overlooked. The +desire for notoriety, which enters largely into all such displays of +extraordinary powers, led many persons who were perfectly sound to +pretend illness, merely for the purpose of becoming, when cured, objects +of public wonder. On the other hand, the good father himself was, no +doubt, by his own unexpected success, led to go farther than he would +otherwise have done in his simplicity and candor. He formed a complete +theory of his own to explain the miracles. According to his view the +first cause of all such diseases as had their origin in "possession," +were the "principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, +and spiritual wickedness in high places," which the apostle mentions as +enemies more formidable than "flesh and blood." (Ephes. vi. 12.) These, +he believed, dwelt in the air, and by disturbing the atmosphere with +evil intent, produced illness in the system and delusions in the mind. +If a number combined, and with the permission of the Almighty poisoned +the air to a large extent, contagious diseases followed as a natural +consequence. Against these demons or "wiles of the devil" (Ephes. vi. +11), he employed the only means sanctioned by Holy Writ--fervent prayer, +and this, of course, could have no effect unless the patient fully +shared his faith. This faith, again, he was enabled to awaken and to +strengthen by the supreme energy of his will, but of course not in all +cases; where his prayer failed to have the desired effect he ascribed +the disease to a direct dispensation from on high, and not to the agency +of evil spirits, or he declared the patient to be wanting in faith. In +like manner he explained relapses as the effects of waning faith. The +startling phenomena, however, which he thought it necessary to call +forth in his patients, before he attempted their restoration, belong to +what must be called the magic of our day. For these symptoms bore no +relation to the affection under which they suffered. Persons afflicted +with sore wounds, stiffened limbs, or sightless eyes, would, at his +bidding, fall into frightful paroxysms, during which the breathing +intermitted, the nose became pointed, the eyes insensible to the touch, +and the whole body rigid and livid. And yet, when the paroxysm ceased at +his word, the patient felt no evil effects, not even fatigue, and all +that had happened was generally instantly forgotten. The case created an +immense sensation throughout Europe, and the great men of his age took +part for or against the poor priest, who was sadly persecuted, and only +now and then found a really able advocate, such as Lavater. The +heaviest penalty he had to bear was the condemnation of his own Church, +which accompanied an order issued by the Emperor Joseph II., +peremptorily forbidding all further attempts. The pope, Pius VII., who +had directed the whole subject to be examined by the well-known +_Congregatio SS. Rituum_, declared in 1777, upon their report, that the +priest's proceedings were heretical and not any longer to be permitted, +and ordered the bishop, under whose jurisdiction he lived, to prevent +any further exercise of his pretended power. All these decrees of papal +councils and these orders of imperial officials could, however, not undo +what the poor priest had already accomplished, and history has taught us +the relative value of investigations held by biased priests, and those +carried out by men of science. We may well doubt the judgment of an +authority which once condemned a Galileo, and even now denounces the +press as a curse; but we have no right to suspect the opinion of men +who, as physicians and scientists, are naturally disposed to reject all +claims of supernatural or even exceptional powers. + +In more recent times a Prince Hohenlohe in Germany claimed to have +performed a number of miraculous cures, beginning with a Princess +Schwarzenberg, whom he commanded "in the name of Christ to be well +again." Many of his patients, however, were only cured for the moment; +when their faith, excited to the utmost, cooled down again, their +infirmities returned; still there remain facts enough in his life to +establish the marvelous power of his strong will, when brought to bear +upon peculiarly receptive imaginations, and aided by earnest prayer. +(Kies., _Archiv._ IX. ii: 311.) + +Sporadic cases of similar powers have of late shown themselves in Paris, +in the interior of Russia, and in Ravenna, but the evidence upon which +the statements in public journals are made is so clearly unreliable that +no important result can be hoped for from their investigation. The +present is hardly an age of faith, and enough has surely been said to +prove that without very great and sincere faith miraculous cures cannot +be performed. + + + + +X. + +MYSTICISM. + + "Credo quia absurdum est." + + --TERTULLIAN. + + +One of the most remarkable classes of magic phenomena, which combines +almost all other known features of trances with the peculiar kind called +stigmatization, is known as Mysticism in the more limited sense of that +word. It bears this name mainly because it designates attempts made to +unite in close communion humanity with divinity, and however imperfect +the success of all these efforts may be, on the whole, it cannot be +denied that in individual cases very startling results have been +obtained. In order to attain their lofty aim, the mystics require an +utter deadening of all human affections and all natural impulses, and a +thorough change of their usual thoughts and feelings. Above all, the +lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of the heart are +to be killed by pain; hence the mystics are quite content to suffer, +chastise the body, deny themselves the simplest enjoyments, and rejoice +in the actual infliction of wounds and mutilations. In return for this +complete deadening of human affections they are filled with an ineffable +love of the divine Saviour, the Bridegroom, and the Holy Virgin, the +Bride, or even of purely abstract, impalpable beings. They enjoy great +inner comforts, and a sense of happiness and peace which transcends all +description. Whatever may, however, have been the direct cause of their +ecstatic condition, disease, asceticism, self-inflicted torments, or +long-continued fervent prayer, this highest bliss is accorded to them +only during the time of trance. Unfortunately this period of happiness +is not only painfully short, but also invariably followed by a powerful +reaction; according to the laws of our nature, supreme excitement must +needs always subside into profound exhaustion, ecstatic bliss into +heartrending despondency, and bright visions of heaven into despairing +views of unpardonable sins and a hopeless future. Hence the fearful +doctrines of the mystics of all ages, which prescribe continuous +self-denial as the only way to reach God, who as yet is not to be found +in the outward world, but only in the inner consciousness of the +believer. If the sinner dare not hope to approach the Holy One, the +repentant believer also is in unceasing danger of losing again what he +has gained by fearful sacrifices. The union between him and his God must +not only be close, but uninterrupted, a doctrine which has led to the +great favor bestowed by mystics upon images derived from earthly love: +to them God is forever the bridegroom, the soul the bride, and the union +between them the true marriage of the faithful. By such training, +skillfully and perseveringly pursued, many persons, especially women, +have succeeded in so completely deadening all physical functions of +their body as to reduce their life, literally, to the mere operations of +sensation and vision. The sufferings produced by these efforts to +suppress all natural vitality, to kill, as it were, the living body, +rendering the senses inactive, while still in the full vigor of their +natural condition, are often not only painful, but actually appalling. A +poor woman, famous for her asceticism and her supernatural visions, +Maria of Agreda, was never able to attend to her devotions in the dark, +without enduring actual agony. Her spiritual light would suddenly become +extinguished, fearful horrors fell upon her soul and caused her +unspeakable anguish, terrible images as of wild beasts and fierce demons +surrounded her, the air was filled with curses and unbearable +blasphemies, and even her body was seized with wild, convulsive +movements and violent spasms. No wonder, therefore, that numbers of +these mystics have lost their reason, and others have fallen victims to +terrible diseases. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that many also +have been eminent examples of self-denial and matchless devotion, or +genuine heroes in combating for their sacred faith and the love of their +brethren. Their very errors were so attractive that the fundamental +mistake was forgotten, and all felt how little, men who act upon mere +ordinary motives, are able to rise to the same height of self-sacrifice. +Nor must it be forgotten, in judging especially the mystics of our days, +that their sincerity can never be doubted: they have always acted, and +still act upon genuine conviction, and in the firm belief that their +work is meritorious, not in the eyes of men, but before the Almighty. +The ascetics of former ages are not so easily understood; they were men +who proposed not only to limit the amenities of life, but to make our +whole earthly existence subservient to purely divine purposes; and thus, +for instance, Francis of Assisi, prescribed absolute poverty as the rule +of his order. The principal magic phenomena accompanying religious +ecstasy are the insensibility of the body to all, even the most violent +injuries, and the perception of matters beyond the reach of our senses +in healthy life. Rigid and long-continued fasting, reduced sleep on a +hard couch, and an utter abstinence from all other thoughts or +sentiments but such as connect themselves directly with a higher life, +never fail to produce the desired effect. By such means the whole nature +of man is finally changed; not only in the legitimate relations existing +between body and mind, but also in those which connect man with nature; +the changes are, therefore, as much physiological as psychical. They +result at last in the acquisition of a power which in the eyes of the +mystics is identical with that promised in Mark xvi. 18. "They shall +take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt +them." Extraordinary as the accounts of the sufferings and the +exceptional powers of mystics appear to us, they are in many instances +too well authenticated to allow any serious doubt. Thus a famous +ascetic, Rosa of Lima, was actually injured by healthy food, but on many +occasions instantaneously strengthened by a mere mouthful of bread +dipped into pure water; Bernard of Clairvaux lived for a considerable +time on beech-leaves boiled in water, and Maria of Oignys once subsisted +for thirty-five days on the holy wafer of the sacrament, which she took +daily. Mystics who, like the latter, derived bodily sustenance as well +as spiritual comfort from the Eucharist, are frequently mentioned in the +annals of the Church. Others, again, succeeded by constant and extreme +excitement to heat their blood to such an extent that they became +insensible to outward cold, even when the frosts of winter became +intolerable to others. The heart itself seems to be affected by such +extreme elation; in Catherine of Siena its violent palpitations and +convulsive jerkings could be both seen and felt, when she was in a state +of ecstasis, and the heart of Filippo Neri was found, after death, to +have been considerably enlarged, and actually to have broken two ribs by +its convulsive spasms. + +Among the rarer but equally well-established magic phenomena of this +class must be counted the temporary suspension of the law of gravity. +Like the Brahmins of India, who have long possessed the power of raising +themselves unaided from the ground and of remaining suspended in the +air, Christian mystics also have been seen, more than once, to hang as +it were unsupported high above the ground. They quote, in support of +their faith in such exceptional powers, the fact that Habakkuk also was +seized by an angel and carried away through the air, while even the +Saviour was taken by the devil to an exceeding high mountain on the top +of the temple, cases in which the laws of gravity must have been +similarly suspended. + +A large number of holy men, among whom were Filippo Neri, Ignatius +Loyola, and the founder of the order of Dominicans, remained thus +suspended in the air for hours and days; one of them, the Carmelite monk +P. Dominicus, in the presence of the king and queen of Spain and their +whole court. (Calmet, p. 153.) There are even cases known in which this +raising of the body has happened to pious persons against their own +desire and to their great and sincere distress, as it attracted public +attention in a most painful degree. To this class of phenomena belongs +also the luminous appearance which seems at times to accompany a high +state of religious excitement. This was already the case with Moses, who +"wist not that the skin of his face shone," and probably of Stephen +also, when those "that sat in council, looking steadfastly on him, saw +his face as it had been the face of an angel." + +The most startling of these phenomena, however, are those known as +stigmatization, when the combined power of fervent, exalted faith and an +over-excited imagination produces actual marks of injuries on the body, +although no such injuries have ever been inflicted. The annals of the +Church abound with instances of women especially who, after long +meditation on the nature and the merits of crucifixion have borne the +marks of nails in hands and feet, an effect which the science of +medicine also admits as possible, inasmuch as similar results are of not +unfrequent occurrence, at least in newborn infants, whose bodies are +marked in consequence of events which had recently made a peculiarly +deep impression upon the mothers. + +Unfortunately mysticism also has not been able to keep its votaries free +from an admixture of imposture. False miracles are known to have +occurred within the Church as well as without it, and credulity has +accepted many a statement that could not have stood the simplest +investigation. It becomes the careful student, therefore, here also to +distinguish with the utmost caution genuine and well-authenticated facts +from reckless or willfully false statements. Even then, however, he +ought not to forget the words of Pascal, who, in speaking of the +apostles said: "I am quite willing to believe stories for whose +truthfulness the witnesses have suffered death." It is even by no means +improbable that the spiritual world may have its changing productions as +well as the material world, and as the organisms of the Silurian period +are impossible in our day, so-called magic results may have been +obtained by certain former generations which lie beyond the power of our +own. No one can with certainty determine, in this direction, what is +possible and what is impossible; the power of man is emphatically a +relative one, and each exploit must, in fairness, be judged with a view +to all the accompanying circumstances. It is as impossible for the men +of our day to erect pyramids such as the old Egyptians built, as it is +for an individual in good health to perform feats of strength of which +he may be capable under the influence of high fever or violent +paroxysms. + +A curious feature in these phenomena is the intimate relation in which +sacred and so-called demoniac influences seem to stand with one another. +The saints are represented as tempted by evil spirits which yet have no +existence except in their own heart, and the possessed, on the other +hand, occasionally have pious impulses and holy thoughts. In the former +case it is the innate sinfulness of the heart which creates images of +demons such as St. Anthony saw in the desert; in the latter case the +guardian angels of men are said to come to their rescue. There are even +instances on record of men who have wantonly given themselves up to the +temporary influence of evil spirits--under the impression that they +could thus please God!--as travelers purposely suffer the evil effects +of opium or hasheesh in order to test their powers. Thus mysticism +finally devised a complete system of angels, saints, and demons, whose +varied forms and peculiarities became familiar to votaries at an early +period of their lives, and filled their minds with images which +afterwards assumed an apparent reality during the state of trance. That +the physical condition enters as a powerful element in all these +phenomena appears clearly from the fact that whenever women are liable +to trances or visions of this kind the latter vary regularly with their +state of health, and in the majority of cases cease at a certain age. +This fact illustrates in a very characteristic manner the mutual +relations between body and soul; the condition of the former is +reflected in the soul by sentiment and image, and the soul in precisely +the same manner impresses itself upon the body. Generally this is +limited to the face, where the features in their expression reproduce +more or less faithfully what is going on within; but in exceptional +cases the psychical events cause certain mechanical or physical changes +in the body which now and then result in actual illness or become even +fatal. Experience proves that if the imagination is stimulated to +excessive activity, it can produce changes in the nature of the +epidermis or even of the mucous membrane, which resemble in everything +the symptoms of genuine diseases. There are men who can, by an energetic +effort of will, cause red spots, resembling inflammation, to appear in +almost every part of the body. In extreme cases this power extends to +the production of syncope, in which they become utterly insensible to +injuries of any kind, lose all power of motion, and even cease to +breathe. St. Augustine mentions a number of such cases. (_De civit. +Dei_, l. xiv. ch. 24.) The remarkable power of Colonel Townshend of +falling into a state of syncope is too well established to admit of any +doubt; he became icy cold and rigid, his heart ceased to beat and his +lungs to breathe; the face turned deadly pale, the features grew sharp +and pointed, and his eyes remained fixed. By an effort of his own will +he could recall himself to life, but one evening, when he tried to +repeat the experiment, after having made it in the morning successfully +in the presence of three physicians, he failed to awake again. It +appeared afterwards that his heart was diseased; he had, however, at the +same time, by careful attention and long practice, obtained almost +perfect control over that organ. (Cheyne, "Engl. Malady," London, 1733, +p. 307.) Indian fakirs have been known to possess a similar power, and +have allowed themselves to be buried in air-tight graves, where they +have been watched at times for forty days, by military guards, and yet +at the expiration of that time have returned to life without apparent +injury. A similar power over less vital organs of the body is by no +means rare; men are constantly found who can at will conceal their +tongue so that even surgeons discover it but with difficulty; others, +like Justinus Kerner, can empty their stomachs of their contents as if +they were pockets, or contract and enlarge the pupils of the eyes at +pleasure. Nor are cases of Indians and negroes rare, who in their +despair have died merely because they willed it so. There can be no +doubt, therefore, that if mere volition can produce such extraordinary +results, still more exceptional effects may be obtained by fervent faith +and an excessive stimulation of the whole nervous system, and much that +appears either incredible or at least in the highest degree marvelous +may find an easy and yet satisfactory explanation. + +Genuine stigmatization, that is, the appearance of the five wounds of +our Saviour, presents itself ordinarily only after many years of +constant meditation of his passion, combined with excessive fasting and +other ascetic self-torment. The first stage is apt to be a vision of +Christ's suffering, accompanied by the offer of a wreath of flowers or a +crown of thorns. If the mystic chooses the former, the result remains +within the limits of the general effects of asceticism; should he, +however, choose the crown of thorns, the stigmas themselves are apt to +appear. This occurs, naturally, only in the very rare cases, where the +mystic possesses that exceptional energy and intense plastic power of +the imagination which are requisite in order to suspend the natural +relations of soul and body. Then the latter, already thoroughly weakened +and exhausted, becomes so susceptible to the influence of the soul, that +it reproduces, spontaneously and unconsciously, the impressions deeply +engraven on the mind, and during the next ecstatic visions the wounds +show themselves suddenly. Their appearance is invariably accompanied by +violent pain, which seems to radiate, in fiery burning darts from the +wounds of the image of Christ. As the minds of mystics differ infinitely +in energy of will and clearness of perception, the stigmas also are seen +more or less distinctly; and their nature varies from mere reddish +points, which become visible on the head, as the effect of a crown of +thorns, to real bleeding wounds. The former are apt to disappear as the +excitement subsides or the will is weakened; the latter, however, are +peculiar in this, that they do not continue to bleed, and yet, also, do +not heal up. In women, only, they are apt to break out again at regular +intervals, for instance, on Fridays, when the mystic excitement again +reaches its highest degree, or at other periods when pressure of blood +seeks an outlet through these new openings. As such a state can continue +only by means of lengthened inflammation, stigmatization is always +accompanied by violent pains and great suffering, especially during the +bleeding. + +The earliest of all cases of stigmatization--of which nearly seventy are +fully authenticated--was that of Francis of Assisi, who, after having +spent years in fervent prayer for permission to share the sufferings of +the Saviour, at last saw a seraph with six wings descend toward him, and +between the wings the form of a crucified person. At the same moment he +felt piercing pains, and when he recovered from his trance he found his +hands and feet, as well as his side, bleeding as from severe wounds, and +strange, dark excrescences, resembling nails, protruding from the wounds +in his extremities. As this was the first case of stigmatization known, +Francis of Assisi was filled with grave doubts concerning the strange +phenomenon, and carefully concealed it from all but his most intimate +friends. Still the wounds were seen and felt by Pope Alexander and a +number of cardinals during his lifetime, and became an object of careful +investigation after his death. (Philalethes' _Divina Comm., Paradiso_, +p. 144.) There is but one other case, as fully authenticated, in which a +man was thus stigmatized; all other trustworthy instances are related of +females. How close the connection is between the will and the appearance +of these phenomena may be seen from one of the best-established cases, +that of Joanna of Burgos, in Spain, who had shed much blood every week +for twenty years in following the recital of the passion of our Saviour. +When she was seventy years old, her superiors prevailed upon her, by +special arguments, to pray fervently for a suspension of her sufferings. +She threw herself down before a crucifix, and remained there a day and a +night in incessant prayer; on the next morning the wounds had closed, +and never again commenced bleeding. Another evidence of this feature +lies in the fact that stigmatization occurs mainly in Italy, the land of +imagination, and in Spain, the land of devotion; in Germany only a few +cases are known, and not one in the North of Europe and in America. + +Among the famous mystics who do not belong as saints or martyrs +exclusively to the Church, stand first and foremost Henry Suso, of the +"Living Heart," and John Ruysbroek, the so-called Doctor Ecstaticus. The +former, who often had trances, and once lay for a long time in syncope, +has left behind him some of the most attractive works ever written by +religious enthusiasts. He lived in the fourteenth century, and when, two +hundred years later, his grave was opened the body was found unchanged, +and fervent admirers believed they perceived pleasing odors emanating +from the remains. The Dutch divine Ruysbroek was even more renowned by +his holy life and admirable writings than by the many marvelous visions +which he enjoyed. The same century produced the most famous preacher +Germany has probably ever seen, John Capistran, who attracted the masses +by the magic power of his individuality and held them spell-bound by his +burning eloquence. A native of Capistrano, in the Abruzzi, where he was +born in 1385, he became first a lawyer, and gained great distinction as +such in Sicily. Unfortunately he was engaged in one of the many petty +wars which at that time distracted Italy; was made a prisoner and cast +with barbaric cruelty into a foul dungeon. Here he devoted himself to +ascetic devotion, and had a vision ordering him to leave the world. When +he regained his liberty, at the age of thirty, he entered the order of +Franciscan monks, and soon became a preacher of world-wide renown. +Traveling through Italy, Hungary, and Germany, he affected his audiences +by his mere appearance, and produced truly amazing changes in the hearts +of thousands. In Vienna he once preached, in the open air, before an +assembly of more than a hundred thousand men; the people listened to him +for hours amid loud weeping and sobbing, and great numbers were +converted, including several hundred Jews. In Bohemia he induced in like +manner eleven thousand Hussites to return to the Catholic Church, among +whom were numerous noblemen and ministers. Similar successes were +obtained in almost every large town of Germany, till he was recalled to +the South, when Germany became indebted to him and to John Corvin for +its deliverance from the Turks and the famous victory of Belgrade in +1456. During his whole career he continued to have ecstatic visions, to +fall into trances of considerable duration, and to behold stigmas on his +body--yet, withal, he remained an eminently practical man, not only +converting many thousands from their religious errors, but turning them +also from vicious habits and criminal pursuits to a life of virtue. At +the same time he rendered signal services to his brethren in mere +worldly matters, now pleading and now fighting for them with an energy +and a success which alone would secure him a name in history. The +ecstatic nature of another mystic, Vincentio Ferrer, produced a singular +effect, which has never been noticed except in biblical history. He was +a native of Valencia, and, knowing no language but the local dialect of +his country, he continued throughout life to preach in his mother +tongue--and yet he was understood by all who heard him! This result was +at least partially explained by the astounding flexibility of his voice, +which at all times adapted itself so completely to his feelings, that +its tones found a responsive echo in every heart. In vain did the pope, +Benedict XIII., offer him first a bishopric and afterwards a cardinal's +hat; the pious monk refused all honors save one, the title of Papal +Missionary, and in this capacity he passed through nearly every land in +Christendom, preaching and exhorting day and night, exciting everywhere +the utmost enthusiasm and converting thousands from their evil ways. His +eloquence and fervor were so great that even learned men and fierce +warriors declared he spoke with the voice of an angel, and criminals of +deepest dye would fall down in the midst of great crowds, confessing +their misdeeds and solemnly vowing repentance and amendment. + +The greatest of all mystics, however, was the before-mentioned Filippo +Neri, a saint of the Catholic Church, whose simple candor and truly +Christian humility have procured for him the esteem and the admiration +of men of all creeds and all ages. Even as a mere child he was already +renowned for his extraordinary gifts as well as for his fervent piety; +while still a layman he had numerous visions and trances, and when in +his thirtieth year he had prayed for days and nights in the Catacombs of +St. Sebastian, his heart became suddenly so enlarged that some of the +intercostal muscles gave way, and a great swelling appeared on the +outside, which remained there throughout life, although without causing +him any pain. His inner fervor was so great as to keep his blood and his +whole system continually at fever heat, and although he lived +exclusively upon bread, herbs, and olives, he never wore warm clothes, +even in the severest winters, always slept with open doors and windows, +and preferred walking about with his breast uncovered. During the last +ten years of his life his body was no longer able to sustain his +ecstatic soul; whenever he attempted to read mass or to preach, his +feelings became so excited that his voice failed him, and he fell into a +trance of several hours' duration. It was in this condition that he was +frequently lifted up, together with the chair on which he sat, to a +height of several feet from the ground. What renders these magic +phenomena peculiarly interesting, is the fact that Filippo Neri not only +attached no special value to them, but actually did his best to conceal +them from the eyes of the world. As soon as they began to show +themselves, he ceased reading mass in the presence of others, and only +allowed his attendant to re-enter his cell when the latter had convinced +himself, by peeping through a narrow opening in the door, that the +trance was over. When others praised his piety and marveled at these +wonders, he invariably smiled and said: "Don't you know that I am +nothing but a fool and a dreamer?" + +He added that he would infinitely rather do works which should prove his +faith than be the recipient of miraculous favors. But his prestige was +so great that whenever he was prevailed upon or thought it his duty to +exert his influence, it was paramount, and secured to him a powerful +control in historical events. Thus it was when Pope Gregory XIV. had +excommunicated King Henry IV., and his successor, Clement VIII., +continued the fearful punishment in spite of all the entreaties of king +and courtiers. Filippo Neri, foreseeing the dangers which were likely to +arise from such measures for the Church, and deeply concerned for the +welfare of the French people, retired to prayer, inviting the pope's +confessor to join him in his devotions. These had been continued for +three days without intermission, when at last the saint fell into a +trance, and upon re-awaking from it, told his companion: "To-day the +pope will send for you to confess him. You will tell him, when his +confession is made: 'Father Filippo has directed me to refuse Your +Holiness absolution, and ever to confess you again till you have +relieved the King of France from excommunication.'" Clement, deeply +moved by this message, summoned immediately the council of cardinals, +and Henry IV. was once more received into the bosom of the Church. In +spite of this great influence, Neri sternly refused all honors and +dignities, even the purple, which was offered to him three times, and +died in 1595, eighty years old, on the day and at the hour which he had +long since foretold. That his visions were accompanied by actual +stigmatization has already been mentioned. + +Our own continent has had but one great mystic, Rosa of Lima, who is +hence known as _primus Americae meridionalis flos_. She had inherited her +peculiar organization from her mother, who had frequently seen visions, +and when the child was three years old, changed her name from Isabel to +Rosa, because she had seen a rose suspended over the face of her +daughter. Much admired on account of her great beauty and rare +sweetness, the young girl refused all offers, and preferred, in spite +of the remonstrances of friends and of brutal ill-treatment on the part +of her brothers, to enter a convent. On her way there, however, she felt +her steps suddenly arrested by superior force, and saw in this +supernatural interruption a hint that she should leave the world even +more completely than she could have done as a nun of the Order of St. +Dominick. She built herself, therefore, a little cell in her father's +garden, and here led a life of ecstatic asceticism, during which she +often remained for days and weeks without food, and became strangely +intimate with birds and insects. Whenever she took the eucharist, she +felt marvelous happiness and fell into trances; in the intervals, +however, she suffered intensely from that depression and utter despair +which in such cases are apt to result from powerful reaction. She died +quite young, exhausted by her ascetic life and continued excitement, and +has ever since been revered as the patron saint of Peru. + + + + +THE END. + + + + +PROF. SCHELE DE VERE'S WORKS. + + +WONDERS OF THE DEEP. + +By M. SCHELE DE VERE, Professor of the University of Virginia. Third +edition, 12mo, cloth, $1.50. Illustrated, cloth, gilt, $2. + + CHIEF CONTENTS. + + Pearls. Corals. Facts and Fables. Mercury. Oysters. Lighthouses. + Odd Fish. Knight in Armor. A Pinch of Salt. A Grain of Sand. The + Earth in Trouble. + + "One of the freshest, most scientific, and at the same time most + popular and delightful books of the kind we have ever read."--_St. + John's Telegraph._ + + "These essays make a valuable addition to the standard literature + of the time. The author, who is one of the profoundest scientists + of the age and one of the most brilliant essayists of the country + has brought from the depths of the ocean vast stores of hidden + knowledge.... The charm of the book is the skillful and yet natural + way in which plain facts have been put. We were attracted toward + them by their freshness, and soon we are following on with intense + interest and enthusiasm. The chapters on "Pearls," "Corals," + "Mercury," and "A Pinch of Salt," and, in fact, nearly all the + others are absorbingly interesting."--_Newark, N. J., Register._ + + +STRAY LEAVES FROM THE BOOK OF NATURE. + +New edition, illustrated. 12mo, cloth, $1.50. + + "The book is peculiarly fascinating."--_Chicago Journal._ + + "The entire work is full of charming description and pleasant + information."--_Courier-Journal, Louisville._ + + "This little book will prove of great service to hundreds of + readers into whose hands it may fall."--_New Haven Palladium._ + + "A better work for the young than half the story books + published."--_Rural New Yorker._ + + +THE ROMANCE OF AMERICAN HISTORY. + +12mo, cloth extra, $1.50. + + CONTENTS. + + Lo! the Poor Indian. The Hidden River. Our First Romance. A Few + Town Names. Kaisers, Kings, and Knights. Lost Towns. Lost Lands. + + "We can only repeat that it is intensely interesting, and full of + instructive matter that every American should make himself familiar + with."--_Toledo Commercial._ + + "In the selection of early historical curiosities the author has + evinced nice taste and tact, and he possesses in an eminent degree + the rare and invaluable art of investing the dry details of history + with a romantic color and hue."--_American Athenaeum._ + + +MODERN MAGIC. + +12mo, cloth. + + CONTENTS. + + Witchcraft. Black and White Magic. Dreams. Visions. Ghosts. + Divination. Possession. Magnetism. Miraculous Cases. Mysticism. + +--> For sale by all Booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price by + +G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, Publishers, + +_4th Ave. and 23d St., New York._ + + + + +IN COURSE OF PUBLICATION. + +Putnam's Elementary and Advanced Science Series, + +_Adapted to the requirements of Students in Science and Art Classes, and +Higher and Middle Class Schools._ + + +ELEMENTARY SERIES. + +_Printed uniformly in 16mo, fully Illustrated, cloth extra, price, 65 +cents each._ + + 1. PRACTICAL PLANE AND SOLID GEOMETRY. By H. Angel, Islington + Science School, London. + + 2. MACHINE CONSTRUCTION AND DRAWING. By E. Tomkins, Queen's + College, Liverpool. + + 3A BUILDING CONSTRUCTION--STONE, BRICK AND SLATE WORK. By R. S. + Burn, C.E., Manchester. + + 3B BUILDING CONSTRUCTION--TIMBER AND IRON WORK. By R. S. Burn, + C.E., Manchester. + + 4. NAVAL ARCHITECTURE--SHIPBUILDING AND LAYING OFF. By S. J. P. + Thearle, F.R.S.N.A., London. + + 5. PURE MATHEMATICS. By Lewis Sergeant, B.A., (Camb.,) London. + + 6. THEORETICAL MECHANICS. By William Rossiter, F.R.A.S., F.C.S., + London. + + 7. APPLIED MECHANICS. By William Rossiter, F.R.A.S., London. + + 8. ACOUSTICS, LIGHT AND HEAT. By William Lees, A.M., Lecturer on + Physics, Edinburgh. + + 9. MAGNETISM AND ELECTRICITY. By John Angell, Senior Science + Master, Grammar School, Manchester. + + 10. INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. By Dr. W. B. Kemshead, F.R.A.S., Dulwich + College, London. + + 11. ORGANIC CHEMISTRY. By W. Marshall Watts, D.Sc., (Lond.,) + Grammar School, Giggleswick. + + 12. GEOLOGY. By. W. S. Davis, LL.D., Derby. + + 13. MINERALOGY. By J. H. Collins, F.G.S., Royal Cornwall + Polytechnic Society, Falmouth. + + 14. ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY. By John Angell, Senior Science Master, + Grammar School, Manchester. + + 15. ZOOLOGY. By M. Harbison, Head-Master Model Schools, Newtonards. + + 16. VEGETABLE ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. By J. H. Balfour, M.D., + Edinburgh University. + + 17. SYSTEMATIC AND ECONOMIC BOTANY. By J. H. Balfour, M.D., + Edinburgh University. + + 19. METALLURGY. By John Mayer, F.C.S., Glasgow. + + 20. NAVIGATION. By Henry Evers, LL.D., Plymouth. + + 21. NAUTICAL ASTRONOMY. By Henry Evers, LL.D. + + 22A STEAM AND THE STEAM ENGINE--LAND AND MARINE. By Henry Evers, + LL.D., Plymouth. + + 22B STEAM AND STEAM ENGINE--LOCOMOTIVE. By Henry Evers, LL.D., + Plymouth. + + 23. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. By John Macturk, F.R.G.S. + + 24. PRACTICAL CHEMISTRY. By John Howard, London. + + 25. ASTRONOMY. By J. J. Plummer, Observatory, Durham. + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: + + +Obvious typographical errors in punctuation and spelling have been +corrected without comment. One example of an obvious typographical error +is on page 109 where the word "utterred" was changed to "uttered" in the +phrase: "... he uttered a piercing cry...." + +In addition to obvious errors the following changes have been made: + + 1. Page 376: The phrase "as early in 1773" was changed to "as early + as 1773". + + 2. Page 119: "cocoa" was changed to "coca" in the phrase, "... + opium, betel, hasheesh, and coca...." + + 3. Page 209: "Aureditated" was changed to "Accredited" to reflect + the correct title of Jarvis' book: "Accredited Ghost Stories". + + 4. Page 211: "Aured." was changed to "Accred." in the phrase, + "Accred. Ghost Stories". + + 5. Page 234: "aids" was changed to "aides" in the phrase, "General + d'Espagne roused his aides...." + + 6. On the ad page, the illustration of a hand symbol has been + replaced with "-->". + +The spelling of most proper names has been left unchanged with the +following exceptions: + + 1. "Goeethe", "Goethe" and "Goethe" has been standardized to + "Goethe". + + 2. Page 109: "Shilling" was changed to "Stilling" (Jung Stilling, + author of "Jenseits" cf. pp. 156, 204, 320). + + 3. Page 235: "Marca Erivigiana" was changed to "Marca Trivigiana". + + 4. Page 260: "Waltyries" was changed to "Walkyries" in the phrase, + "Walkyries and the heroes...." + + 5. Page 376: "Eassner" was changed to "Gassner" (cf. p. 441) in the + phrase, "... famous Father Gassner ... of Ratisbon...." + + 6. Page 402: "Mondez" was changed to "Mondes" in the Journal title, + "Revue des Deux Mondes", (cf. p. 408). + +In other cases, the author's original spelling and use of punctuation +has been left intact. Internal inconsistencies which have been retained +in this transcription as in the original include (but are not limited +to): + + apostacy/ apostasy + pickolitch/ prickolitch + AEthiopian/ Ethiopian + aurora boreales/ aurora borealis + + On page 319: "... Thus in 1578 a famous astrologer, the father of + all weather prophecies in our almanacs, predicted that in the month + of February, 1524...." + + On page 287: the phrase, "... mutters the word One...." has been + retained as printed, but may be intended as "... mutters the word + Om...." + + Item number 18 is missing from the Ad page. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Modern Magic, by Maximilian Schele de Vere + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MODERN MAGIC *** + +***** This file should be named 38448.txt or 38448.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/4/4/38448/ + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Cathy Maxam and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + +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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