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diff --git a/42921-0.txt b/42921-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..babd574 --- /dev/null +++ b/42921-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8010 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42921 *** + +A WORLD OF WONDERS. + + + + + A WORLD OF WONDERS, + WITH + ANECDOTES AND OPINIONS + CONCERNING + POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS. + + + EDITED BY + ALBANY POYNTZ. + + + LONDON: + RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, + Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty. + 1845. + + + + + LONDON: + Printed by Schulze and Co., 13, Poland Street. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +It is surprising, considering the gigantic strides effected by modern +science, how many of the errors and prejudices engendered by the ignorance +of the dark ages remain current in the world in its present days of +enlightenment. Like the winged seeds of certain weeds, their light and +impalpable nature renders them only the more difficult of extirpation. + +A cursory review and refutation of these popular prejudices and vulgar +errors has been attempted in the following Manual. A more scientific +analysis of so spreading a field would have expanded into a Cyclopædia. +But the ancient traditions and modern instances collected in its pages may +afford the reader amusement and instruction for the passing hour, as well +as an incentive to more profound investigations in hours to come. + + LONDON, + NOVEMBER, 1845. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + + CHAPTER I. + LONGEVITY OF ANIMALS 1-10 + + CHAPTER II. + INCOMBUSTIBLE MEN 11-22 + + CHAPTER III. + VENTRILOQUISTS 23-31 + + CHAPTER IV. + POPE JOAN AND THE WANDERING JEW 32-36 + + CHAPTER V. + THE FABLES OF HISTORY 37-45 + + CHAPTER VI. + MELONS AND MONSTERS 46-53 + + CHAPTER VII. + THE JEWS 54-60 + + CHAPTER VIII. + VERBAL DELICACY 61-64 + + CHAPTER IX. + AEROLITES AND MIRACULOUS SHOWERS 65-74 + + CHAPTER X. + NOSTRUMS AND SPECIFICS 75-82 + + CHAPTER XI. + PHYSIOGNOMISTS 83-95 + + CHAPTER XII. + LAST WORDS OF DYING PERSONS 96-98 + + CHAPTER XIII. + THE ANTIPODES--MORNING AND EVENING DEW 99-102 + + CHAPTER XIV. + PERPETUAL LAMPS AND ARCHIMEDES 103-109 + + CHAPTER XV. + THE LYNX AND THE CAMELEON 110-115 + + CHAPTER XVI. + WILD WOMEN 116-118 + + CHAPTER XVII. + SYBILS 119-123 + + CHAPTER XVIII. + FORTUNE-TELLERS AND CHIROMACY 124-130 + + CHAPTER XIX. + ALBERTUS MAGNUS AND NOSTRADAMUS 131-137 + + CHAPTER XX. + LEECHES, SERPENTS, AND THE SONG OF THE DYING SWAN 138-146 + + CHAPTER XXI. + NEGROES 147-160 + + CHAPTER XXII. + FASCINATION; OR, THE ART OF PLEASING 161-170 + + CHAPTER XXIII. + THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE 171-177 + + CHAPTER XXIV. + GIANTS AND DWARFS 178-183 + + CHAPTER XXV. + ASTROLOGY 184-190 + + CHAPTER XXVI. + THE MOON AND LUNAR INFLUENCE 191-193 + + CHAPTER XXVII. + APPARITIONS 194-201 + + CHAPTER XXVIII. + NOBILITY AND TRADE 202-208 + + CHAPTER XXIX. + MERIT AND POPULARITY 209-219 + + CHAPTER XXX. + COMETS 220-223 + + CHAPTER XXXI. + POPULAR ERRORS 224-232 + + CHAPTER XXXII. + DREAMS 233-237 + + CHAPTER XXXIII. + PREJUDICES ATTACHED TO CERTAIN ANIMALS 238-243 + + CHAPTER XXXIV. + CONTENT AND COURTESY 244-248 + + CHAPTER XXXV. + THE DIVINING ROD 249-254 + + CHAPTER XXXVI. + BEES AND ANTS 255-260 + + CHAPTER XXXVII. + PREPOSSESSIONS AND ANTIPATHIES 261-265 + + CHAPTER XXXVIII. + THE INFLUENCE OF BELLS UPON THUNDER STORMS 266-269 + + CHAPTER XXXIX. + SMALL POX AND VACCINATION 270-273 + + CHAPTER XL. + PRECOCIOUS AND CLEVER CHILDREN 274-279 + + CHAPTER XLI. + EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 280-282 + + CHAPTER XLII. + PREJUDICES OF THE FRENCH 283-288 + + CHAPTER XLIII. + MONSTROUS BIRTHS 289-293 + + CHAPTER XLIV. + THE ICHNEUMON AND THE HALCYON 294-295 + + CHAPTER XLV. + SORCERERS AND MAGICIANS 296-300 + + CHAPTER XLVI. + MALE AND FEMALE 301-307 + + CHAPTER XLVII. + MINOR SUPERSTITIONS 308-309 + + CHAPTER XLVIII. + SOMNAMBULISM 310-314 + + CHAPTER XLIX. + A FEW MORE WORDS ABOUT GHOSTS AND VAMPIRES, AND + LOUP-GAROUX 315-344 + + CHAPTER L. + APOCRYPHAL ANIMALS 345-352 + + CHAPTER LI. + PROFESSIONS ESTEEMED INFAMOUS 353-356 + + CHAPTER LII. + SUPERNATURAL HUMAN BEINGS 357-361 + + + + +A WORLD OF WONDERS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +LONGEVITY OF ANIMALS. + + +Most scholars are familiar with the quotation "cervi dicuntur diutissime +vivere," which has rendered proverbial the longevity of the stag. Among +birds, crows and parrots have also been said to attain miraculous length +of days; among fishes, the carp and pike; among reptiles, the tortoise. +But modern investigation has sufficiently proved that the number of +centuries, variously assigned as the natural age of these birds, beasts +and fishes, was, in the first instance, the invention of poets and +fabulists, carelessly adopted as authentic by lovers of the marvellous. + +It is now ascertained that aloes frequently flower three times in a +hundred years, and that three generations of the stag are included +within the same space of time. + +Hesiod, an ancient Greek poet whose works have only partially reached us, +was the first to institute a comparative inquiry into the age of the crow +and the stag. Hesiod assigns eighty-six years as the average span of human +life; yet he asserts that the rook attains eight hundred and sixty-four +years, and the crow thrice as many. Towards the stag, he is still more +liberal; declaring that these animals have been known to attain their +thirty-fifth century. Considering the age we assign to the world itself +when Hesiod flourished in it, no great experience as to the average +existence of so sempiternal an animal could have influenced his opinion. + +According to many ancient writers besides Hesiod, the stag is the longest +lived of animals; and the Egyptians have adopted it as the emblem of +longevity. Pliny relates that one hundred years after the death of +Alexander, several stags were taken in the different forests of Macedonia, +to whose necks that great monarch had, with his own hand, attached +collars. This extension of existence is, however, scarcely worth +recording, in comparison with the instance commemorated by French +historians, of a stag taken in the forest of Senlis, in the year 1037; +having a collar round its neck on which was inscribed, "Cæsar hoc me +donavit." + +A miraculous interpretation was assigned to this inscription, which has +consequently formed the ground-work of a popular error in France. The +"Cæsar" of the legend was admitted, without further examination, to be +Julius Cæsar, thereby allotting ten centuries as the age of the animal; +nay, seventy-seven years more, seeing that Julius Cæsar conquered Gaul +forty-two years before the birth of Christ. Nevertheless since the days of +Julius, the title of Cæsar had been bestowed on a sufficient number of +imperial potentates to explain the inscription on the collar upon more +rational grounds: the Cæsar who had thus adorned the stag being in all +probability its contemporary. But this was too simple an interpretation to +be acceptable to those wonder-seeking times. + +Aristotle decided the age of the stag, not from the showing of poets and +traditions, but from the indications of experiment. Having dissected a +considerable number of these animals, he pronounced their ordinary age to +be was from thirty to thirty-six years. Buffon was of a similar opinion, +which has been adopted by most succeeding naturalists. It has been +established as a law of comparative physiology, that the life of a +mammiferous animal is in proportion to its period of gestation, and the +duration of its growth. The sheep and goat, who bear their young five +months, and whose growth lasts two years, live from eight to ten, The +horse, which is borne ten months, and whose growth requires from five to +six years, lives from thirty to forty. We are, of course, speaking of the +horse in its natural state, uninjured by premature and excessive labour. +When submitted to the hands of man, the noble animal is condemned to +premature old age, by the application of spur and thong before it attains +sufficient strength for the unnatural speed it is compelled to attempt, +and the burthens it is forced to bear. Nor, even under these +circumstances, is it allowed to attain the span of life assigned by +nature; the hand of the knacker being put in request to end its days, the +moment its services cease to be profitable to its master. + +The camel, which is borne ten months, and requires four years for its +bodily development, usually attains the age of fifty. The elephant, +requiring a year's gestation, attains the climax of its growth at thirty, +and lives to a hundred. The gestation of a stag, therefore, being but of +eight months, there is no reason to infer a deviation in its favour from +the laws governing the nature of all other animals of the same genus. + +"The stag," says Buffon, "whose growth requires six years, lives from +thirty to forty. The prodigious age originally ascribed to this animal, is +a groundless invention of the poets, of which Aristotle demonstrated the +absurdity." + +A variety of instances of the miraculous longevity of animals may be found +in the works of the early German naturalists. It is related in the +collection of Voyages and Travels of Malte Brun, on the showing of these +authorities, that the Emperor Frederick II. having been presented with a +singularly fine pike, caused it to be thrown into a pond adjoining his +palace of Kaiserslautern, after affixing to it a collar bearing the +following Greek inscription: "I am the first fish cast into this pond by +the hands of the Emperor Frederick II.; October 5th, 1230." + +After remaining two hundred and sixty years in the pond, the pike was +taken in 1497, and carried to Heidelberg, to be served at the table of the +Elector Philip; when the collar and inscription were subjected to the +examination of the curious. The pike, at that time, weighed three hundred +and fifty pounds, and was nineteen feet in length--a miraculous fish in +every respect; for how are we to suppose that an inscription upon an +elastic collar would otherwise remain legible at the close of several +centuries? This story is evidently one of the marvels that figure so +profusely in the chronicles of old Germany during the middle ages. + +It has, however, often been asserted that aquatic animals are longer-lived +than others, from being cold-blooded, and losing nothing from +transpiration; though, from their peculiar nature, the fact is very +difficult of demonstration. Fordyce made some curious experiments upon the +tenacity of life in fishes; by placing gold fishes in a variety of vessels +filled with water; which, at first, he refreshed every day; then, every +third day, with which refreshment, and without other nourishment, they +lived for fifteen months. He next distilled the water; increased the +proportion of air in the vessels; and closed the apertures, so that no +insect could possibly penetrate. Nevertheless, the fish lived as before, +and were in good condition. + +The experimentalist now decided that the decomposition of the air afforded +them sufficient nutriment; by this theory invalidating the proverb 'that +it is impossible to live on air.' + +Without impugning the authenticity of these experiments, or the easy +sustenance of fishes, we may be permitted to observe that a variety of +circumstances are unfavourable to the fact of their miraculous longevity. +In the first place, their organization, especially that of the carp which +is supposed to be one of the longest-lived of fishes, is peculiarly +delicate; and the muscular effort to move in an element eight hundred +times heavier than atmospheric air, must be apt to exhaust the energies of +life. Such are the suggestions of common sense; too often unavailing +against the marvels of tradition, accepted by the credulity of mankind. + +The Parisians delight in boasting of the age of the venerable carp in the +reservoirs at Fontainebleau and Chantilly; the former especially, as +contemporary with Francis I. Other credulous persons declare that there +exist gigantic carp many centuries old, in the water beneath the Cathedral +of Strasbourg--a fact easily asserted because impossible to disprove. + +With respect to the tame old carp at Fontainebleau, which come to the +surface of the water to be fed by every visitor to that curious old +palace, the only grounds for asserting their great age is the inconclusive +fact, that there were tame old grey carp in the moat of Fontainebleau in +the reign of Francis I., as at the present time. But who is to prove that +they are identical? There were also troops and courtiers at Fontainebleau +at both epochs, whom it would be just as reasonable to assert were the +same persons. The only difference is that the generations of men are +visibly renewed; while the carp in the old moat slip away unnoticed, and +are succeeded by a younger fry. + +The longevity of certain species of the feathered kind has been just as +much exaggerated as that of the stag and the carp. Willoughby states in +his work on Ornithology, that a friend of his possessed a gander eighty +years of age; which in the end became so ferocious that they were forced +to kill it, in consequence of the havock it committed in the barn-yard. +He also talks of a swan three centuries old; and several celebrated +parrots are said to have attained from one hundred to one hundred and +fifty years. + +The experiments of able naturalists afford the best answer to such +statements. According to the best established authorities, pigeons, fowls, +and ducks, live, in a natural state, from ten to twelve years. Magpies, +crows, and jays, evince symptoms of caducity at the same age. Professor +Hufeland, of Jena, who has devoted considerable time and attention to the +study of the duration of life, assures us that the great eagle, and other +birds of the larger kind, such as the pelican and ostrich, are very +long-lived and of vigorous constitution. Specimens of the eagle tribe have +been known, however, to survive in a menagerie upwards of a hundred years. + +Hufeland relates that a Mr. Selwand, of London, received in 1793, from the +Cape of Good Hope, a falcon wearing a golden collar inscribed "To His +Majesty, King James of England, 1610." The bird was supposed to have +belonged to James I., and having escaped from its keepers, in order to +avoid recapture, to have traversed Europe and Africa, to end its days in a +state of nature among the Hottentots! Destiny, however, was not to be +defied; and the prisoner was recaptured in its old age, and sent back to +England. This incident probably originated in a hoax upon the credulity +of Mr. Selwand, practised by one of his colonial correspondents. Moreover, +Hufeland, after publishing his conviction of the prodigious longevity of +the eagle tribe, was himself very likely to become the object of one of +those mystifications, for which the supporters of new theories are +considered fair game. + +Credulity is unfortunately a weakness common to the human race; and a +tendency to exaggeration is scarcely less universal. Between the two +failings, monstrous stories obtain circulation; and as it is easier to +assent than examine, the world becomes overrun with errors and prejudices. +A curious anecdote related from mouth to mouth, becomes exaggerated into a +miracle. Thus, as regards the longevity of parrots, a bird of this species +which happens to survive three generations of the same family, though the +period may not exceed thirty years, is talked of in the circle of their +acquaintance as a Nestor or Methuselah; till, at last, from exaggeration +to exaggeration, its age becomes converted into a miracle. No one, +however, can personally attest the age of a parrot beyond fifty or sixty +years. All the rest must be hearsay. + +Among curious examples of longevity in animals, the dog of Ulysses is +cited, by many ancient authors, for the intelligence displayed in his +recognition of his master after twenty years' absence. A mule, which +lived to the age of ninety years, at Athens, has also been frequently +cited. + +The historian, Mézéray, relates, on the authority of Flodard, that Loup +Asnard, Duke of Aquitaine, on coming to do homage to Raoul, King of +France, about the beginning of the tenth century, appeared before the +monarch mounted on a horse a hundred years old. Such exceptions, however, +even if authentic, tend no more to prove the longevity of dogs, horses or +mules, than the incontestible fact that certain men, even in modern times, +have survived to the age of a century and a half, tend to establish that +period as the span of human existence. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +INCOMBUSTIBLE MEN. + + +There are instances in which it may be fairly said that seeing is not +believing. In the case of a variety of persons who have exhibited +themselves, in different times and countries, as endowed with the natural +power of resistance to fire, the frightful feats displayed serve only to +convince the spectator, that the incombustibility of the exhibitants is +but a skilful effort of legerdemain. + +It may be observed that the persons who pretend to this miraculous +faculty, seldom expose themselves to the hazard of the investigations of +the scientific world. For the exhibition of their exploits, they usually +prefer small towns to great cities. In former days, incombustible men +assumed, in Spain, the name of _saludores_; and most of those who have +since exhibited in public their insensibility to fire, are descendants or +imitators of these Spanish mountebanks. The _saludores_, however, +pretended to a power of curing all sorts of diseases by means of their +saliva; whereas, the incombustible individuals who have figured in France +and Germany, pretend only to handle fire with impunity, to swallow boiling +oil, walk upon glowing embers, or even among flames; all which exploits +they accomplish with perfect self-possession. So long as two hundred years +ago, however, the _saludores_ were recognised as impostors. Leonard Vain +relates a story of one of them, who, having pretended to the faculty of +sustaining the heat of a kindled oven, was forced by the populace into +one, without sufficient preparation; on opening which, at the close of an +hour, the man was found to be calcined. A somewhat severe mode of +punishing imposture! + +This example, however, did not serve to extinguish the race; and in 1806, +a man who called himself the miraculous Spaniard, opened an exhibition in +Paris, where he renewed all the skilful marvels of his predecessors, by +walking barefooted on red hot iron, drawing heated bars across his arms, +face and tongue, dipping his hands in molten lead, and swallowing, as if +with zest, a glass of boiling oil. This exhibition, to which the idlers of +the French capital resorted, produced a careful examination into the +precedents of antiquity for similar instances of incombustibility. + +Some cited the well-known lines of Virgil, with reference to the +exhibitions of the priests of Apollo, on Mount Soracte, where they walked +unhurt, in presence of the worshippers of their divinity, upon burning +embers. Others quoted the equally doubtful authority of Pliny; who relates +the same fact, adding that the privilege of incombustibility was +hereditary in a specific family; a fact the more remarkable, because all +the modern jugglers in this branch of the black art, pretend to descend +from St. Catherine. + +Varro, less credulous than Pliny, expressly states that the priests of the +Temple of Soracte possessed the secret of a composition which rendered +them fire-proof. + +Long after Varro, Strabo related that the votaries of the goddess Feronia +obtained, as the price of their devotions, the faculty of walking unhurt +over burning piles; and that the exhibition of this miraculous power +before her altars, attracted numerous spectators. + +"The worship of the goddess Feronia," says Strabo, "is much in vogue; her +temple being remarkable as the site of a miracle. Those persons whose +prayers the goddess deigns to propitiate, are enabled to defy the most +ardent flames. This miracle is renewed at her annual festival." + +It is also related that, not far from the city of Thyane, the birth-place +of Apollonius, there was a celebrated temple dedicated to Diana Persica; +the virgins devoted wherein to the worship of the goddess of Chastity, +possessed the power and privilege of treading unhurt upon burning embers. +A confirmation of these wonders is to be found in Aristotle and Apuleius. + +When the visitors of the miraculous Spaniard had satisfied themselves, +that antiquity supplied a variety of examples in substantiation of the +power to which he pretended, modern history was searched for further +attestation; when it appeared that Ambrose Paré and Cardan, depose to +having seen mountebanks so inured to the effects of molten lead and +boiling oil, that they were able to wash their faces and hands, unhurt, +with those terrible materials. Delrio, Delancre, and Bodin, advance many +curious facts of a similar nature. + +Had these incombustible individuals existed in the days when trial by +ordeal was still a form of law; or, rather, had the Art of Chemistry +attained at that period the power of hardening the human skin into +resistance of fire, the secret would have been invaluable. + +In those barbarous ages, a culprit sentenced to the fiery ordeal of +walking upon heated ploughshares, or plunging his limbs into boiling oil, +was tacitly condemned to death. We may infer, however, that Kings, Queens, +and Dignitaries of the Church were of a less combustible nature than +humbler mortals; for when these were forced to submit to the terrible +ordeal of fire, it was observed that they escaped unsinged; while serfs +and beggars, burnt like tinder: an understanding with the cruel +executioners of these savage laws, being essential to establish the +innocence of an accused person. + +It would appear as though a sinister influence had always attached itself +to the ill-fated See of Autun; for one of the first instances on record of +the ordeal of fire being applied to a member of the hierarchy, was that of +Simplicius, Bishop of Autun, who, after submitting to it in his life-time, +was canonized after death. Two later Bishops of Autun--the Abbé Roquette, +said to be the original of the Tartuffe of Molière, and the Prince de +Talleyrand, one of the most remarkable personages of modern times, have +certainly not experienced the same posthumous distinction. + +Simplicius, being a married man, when called to the honours of the See of +Autun, repudiated his wife, to whom he was tenderly attached. He was, +nevertheless, accused of retaining her conjugally in his palace after his +promotion to the mitre; in disproof of which, he submitted, and caused his +beloved wife to submit to the fiery ordeal in presence of a vast +congregation; when, both having escaped unhurt, Simplicius was eventually +promoted to the honour of the Calendar. + +St. Brie, the successor of St. Martin in the See of Tours, was also +accused of having become a father, to the discredit of his episcopal +functions; a charge he is said to have defeated by bestowing powers of +speech upon the infant, thereby enabling it to name its real father. In +addition to this exculpation, he submitted to the fiery ordeal; and having +gathered up his robe, and filled it with burning embers, proceeded in this +guise to the tomb of his predecessor, St. Martin, without experiencing the +slightest injury. It is not added in the legend, whether the garments of +the Bishop were also uninjured. + +One of the most celebrated trials by fire on record, is that of +Thuitberge, wife of Lothaire, King of France. Having been accused of more +than becoming intimacy with the young Prince, her brother, and condemned +to the ordeal, she had the good fortune to find a champion willing to +undertake it in her behalf. These champions or proxies were tantamount to +the special pleaders of the present day, being mostly hired by fee or +reward for the purpose. The champion of Thuitberge managed to establish +her innocence, by plunging his arm without injury into a cauldron of +boiling water; after which, Lothaire was compelled to admit the injustice +of his accusation, and retain her as his wife. Even at that epoch, +however, mistrust had arisen on this score; and certain servitors of the +King openly insinuated the existence of chemical compositions, by the +application of which a man might fortify his flesh against the action of +boiling fluids. Appeal from the decision of an ordeal was, however, +decided to be impossible. + +A celebrated Father of the Oratoire, the Père Lebrun, published a recipe +purporting to insure impunity against fire; consisting of equal parts of +alcohol, sulphur, ammonia, essence of rosemary, and onion juice. At the +moment Père Lebrun was devoting himself to experiments on the mysteries of +incombustibles, an English practician, named Richardson, was amazing the +world of science by the performance of prodigies. This person contrived to +walk upon burning embers, to place burning sulphur upon his hand, then +transferring it to his tongue, allow it to consume away without apparent +injury. He also allowed a piece of meat, or an oyster, to be cooked upon +his tongue; the fire for the purpose being kept up in a live coal by a +pair of bellows. He was also able to grasp a red hot bar of iron, and even +seize it between his teeth; to swallow molten glass and a mixture of +burning pitch and sulphur, so that the flames burst from his mouth as from +that of a furnace; just as common mountebanks emit fire from their mouths +by means of a coal wrapt in tow, which has been previously steeped in +spirits of wine. + +These experiments attracted so much attention, that scientific men +considered them deserving notice; and in 1677, Dodart, of the French +Academy of Sciences, addressed a letter on the subject to the Journal de +Science, proving that such phenomena might be achieved by time, address, +and perseverance, without the intervention of chemical agency. The +ordinary hardening of the hands and feet by labour and exercise, certainly +induce a belief that perseverance in the same means might be made to +produce absolute callosity. + +It is well known, that bakers are remarkable for the muscularity of their +arms and slightness of their legs; while dancers have usually slender arms +and muscular legs. The difference of exercise, necessitated by their +several professions, producing diverse development of limb. On the other +hand, there is no need to compare the sole of the foot of a lady who +seldom goes out, unless in a carriage, or treads on any other material +than luxurious carpets, with that of a peasant who goes bare-footed on the +flinty road, without inconvenience, to be assured that the same degree of +boiling water which could be sustained by the latter without +inconvenience, would blister the delicate epidermis of the former. + +Dodart observes that, in the ordinary circumstances of life, some people +are able to swallow their food much hotter than others; and that, as +regards the experiments of Richardson, charcoal loses its heat the moment +it is extinguished, and is easily extinguished by means of the human +saliva. It is a common trick of jugglers to put lighted tapers into their +mouths; and in the attempts made by Richardson to cook a piece of meat +upon his tongue, the slice was made so to envelop the ember, as to secure +his mouth from contact with the fire; while the bellows used during the +process, on pretence of keeping up the flame, were on the contrary, +intended to cool the mouth. As to the mixtures of boiling wax, pitch and +sulphur, Dodart states their temperature to have been such, that he could +hold his finger in them two seconds without pain. It is well known that +the workmen in the foundries are so inured to heat, as to touch, without +injury, metals in a state of fusion; frequently plunging their hands into +molten lead, in order to recover articles of value. Moreover, as regards +any ignited substance placed in the mouth, it naturally becomes +extinguished the moment the lips are reclosed; the gas from the human +lungs tending especially to that purpose. + +About the year 1774, there lived at the foundry of Laune, a man who could +walk unharmed over bars of red-hot iron, and hold burning coals in his +hands. The skin of this man was observed to emit a sort of unctuous +transpiration, which served as his preservative. + +These facts suffice to prove that the miraculous Spaniard, who affected +preternatural incombustibility, had no need of magic for the working of +his wonders. For another case, equally remarkable, we are indebted to +Sementini, an eminent Professor of Chemistry at Naples. + +A Sicilian, named Lionetti, came to that city for the purpose of +exhibiting feats of incombustibility; and soon excited public astonishment +by his power of drawing a red-hot plate of iron over his hair without +singeing it, on which he afterwards stamped with his naked feet. He also +drew rods of red-hot iron through his mouth, swallowed boiling oil, dipped +his fingers in molten lead, and dropped some on his tongue. He fearlessly +exposed his face to the flames of burning oil; poured sulphuric or +muriatic acid upon lighted embers, and imbibed the fumes; ending by +allowing a thick gold pin to be thrust deep into his flesh. + +The Neapolitans were as much enchanted by the feats of Lionetti as the +Parisian with those of the incombustible Spaniard. But at Naples, +Sementini, who was on the watch, perceived that, at the moment the +fire-proof man applied the heated materials to his skin, there escaped a +whitish vapour. Instead of swallowing a glass of boiling oil, according to +his announcement, he introduced only a quarter of a spoonful into his +mouth, and a few drops of molten lead upon his tongue, which was covered +with a white fur, like the secretion perceptible in cases of fever. When +he took the hot iron between his teeth, symptoms of suppressed pain were +perceptible; and the edges of his teeth were evidently charred by previous +performances of a similar description. From these appearances, Sementini +inferred that Lionetti made use of certain preparations which secured him +against the influence of heat, by hardening the epidermis; and that his +skin having become callous from use, was in itself able to resist, to a +certain degree, the action of fire. These conclusions, which concur with +those made by Dodart, in the case of Richardson, were verified by personal +observation and careful experiment. + +After many fruitless attempts to discover the chemical agents used by the +Incombustibles, the persevering Sementini found that by frequent frictions +of sulphuric acid, he was able to inure his flesh to the contact of +red-hot iron; and we are bound to admire the patience and courage of those +who, for the benefit of scientific discovery, attempt experiments of so +powerful and perilous a nature. To have exposed a fallacy in matters of +science, is equal to the discovery of a fact; and the extirpation of a +single error or false conclusion from the popular mind, is an act +deserving of gratitude. + +Sementini found that by bathing the parts thus deprived of their usual +sensitiveness with a solution of alum, their former sensibility to heat +was restored; and one day, happening to smear with soap the parts he had +re-softened in this manner with alum, he found, to his great surprise, +that they became hardened anew against the action of heat. The +experimentalist instantly applied to his tongue a preparation of soap, and +found that it enabled him to defy the contact of iron heated to a white +heat. To neutralize the faculty thus acquired, he had only to sprinkle his +tongue with sugar; a new application of soap serving at any moment to +render it fire-proof. + +By these experiments, in various countries, the pretension to a +supernatural power of incombustibility has been reduced to its true level. +The Priests of Soracte, the Virgins of Diana, the Champion of Queen +Thuitberge, and the Bishop of Autun, were doubtless adepts in the art of +the miraculous Spaniard; and according to the recipe of Sementini, a man +may be enabled to defy the element of fire as successfully as an expert +swimmer overmasters that of water, or an experienced aëronaut of air. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +VENTRILOQUISTS. + + +Ventriloquists are a better order of jugglers than the Incombustibles. The +feats of the latter are doubtless more surprising--the former, far more +amusing. To behold a man expose himself to even the semblance of a cruel +torture, affords a disgusting species of excitement; and such exhibitions +as those we have described, the feat of swallowing naked swords, or the +favourite practice of placing in contact with half-tamed beasts of prey a +human being who submits to the risk for the sake of a scanty remuneration, +is an order of public entertainment that does little honour to the taste +of the listless spectator. + +To witness feats of ventriloquism, on the contrary, is a diverting and +harmless pastime; though, had Messieurs Comte and Alexandre exhibited +their marvellous powers in the olden time, there is some probability that +they might have been exposed to jeopardy as sorcerers and magicians, or +to exorcism, as possessed of devils. + +Ventriloquism derives its name from an error of the ancients. So far from +being effected through the body, the mouth is the sole instrument of the +art or faculty we call ventriloquism. The first inference formed on this +subject was by the Greeks, who conceived the oracles of the Pythoness to +consist of the emanation of the soul from the viscera; and as the lips of +ventriloquists assumed the same form in the exercise of their art as those +of the Pythoness during her pretended inspirations, they ascribed the +effort to the same region of the body. + +Archbishop Eustatius, in treating of the Witch of Endor, attributes the +exploits of the magician Ob, in invoking the shade of Samuel, and +obtaining a reply from the apparition, to a devil, or the power of +ventriloquism. In the Book of the Septanti, the Witch of Endor is +described as a ventriloquist. + +Father Delrio, as an interpreter of the opinion of the ancients, and Henri +Boguet, the great legist, declared from the bench, that all persons +endowed with a natural power of ventriloquism, had hoarse, harsh voices, +and that the spirit by which they were possessed, must be dislodged by +exorcism. + +In the earlier days of ventriloquism, from the Witch of Endor downwards, +the art appears to have been almost peculiar to the female sex; though in +our own times professed only by males. In the fifteenth century, Rolande +du Vernois, accused of the exercise of ventriloquism, was condemned and +burnt as a witch; and about the middle of the sixteenth, the inhabitants +of Lisbon were amazed by the feats of a woman named Cecilia, who possessed +the art of causing her voice to issue from her elbow, foot, or any other +part of her body. In exhibiting this apparently preternatural power, she +pretended to have an invisible colleague, named Pierre Jean, with whom she +appeared to hold conversations; an exploit that exposed her to a charge of +witchcraft. She was tried for magic, and exiled to the Island of St. +Thomas, in remission of a sentence to be burnt alive. + +In the same century, a little old woman who had very much the air of a +witch, and whose voice appeared to issue from the centre of her body, made +her appearance in Italy, where she was arraigned for sorcery; but her +further history is unrecorded. + +A female ventriloquist, named Barbara Jacobi, narrowly escaped being burnt +at the stake in 1685, at Haarlem, where she was an inmate of the public +hospital. The curious daily resorted thither to hear her hold a dialogue +with an imaginary personage with whom she conversed as if concealed behind +the curtains of her bed. This individual, whom she called Joachim, and to +whom she addressed a thousand ludicrous questions, which he answered in +the same familiar strain, was for some time supposed to be a confederate. +But when the bystanders attempted to search for him behind the curtains, +his voice instantly reproached them with their curiosity from the opposite +corner of the room. As Barbara Jacobi had contrived to make herself +familiar with all the gossip of the city of Haarlem, the revelations of +the pretended familiar were such as to cause considerable embarrassment to +those who beset her with impertinent questions. + +The celebrated Thiémet used to exhibit at Paris a scene of a similar +nature, afterwards copied in London in the Monopolylogues of Matthews. +Having concealed himself in a sentry-box, which occupied the centre of his +small stage, the distant sound of a horn became audible; then, the cry of +a pack of hounds gradually approaching; during the intervals of which, a +miller and his wife were heard familiarly conversing in bed concerning +their household affairs. In the midst of their conversation, a knock was +heard; and a strange noise became audible from without, entreating the +miller to rise and show the way through the forest to a young Baron, who +had lost the track of the hounds. The miller promised compliance; when an +altercation ensued between him and his wife; the former wishing to rise, +the latter preventing him with a declaration that she had not courage to +be left alone in the mill. At length, the miller gets the better; and, +having risen, is about to put on his clothes, when the sobs and cries of +his abandoned spouse determine him to return to bed; and the scene used to +terminate with a loud exclamation on the part of the lady when the cold +knees of the miller apprized her of his return. This somewhat too familiar +exhibition used to elicit roars of laughter from the most fashionable +audiences; nor, till Thiémet issued from his sentry-box, could they be +prevailed upon to believe that he had been alone. + +Ventriloquism is, in truth, the working of a curious problem in acoustics; +the art resulting from a careful computation of distances and effects in +the science of sound. The resources afforded by such an art to the +priesthood of antiquity, who were thus enabled to create an oracle +wherever they thought proper, may easily be understood. When exercised +with dexterity, it was no wonder that the bewildered populace should +exclaim, like the Sybil of Cumæ, "Deus! ecce Deus!" Dodona and Delphos are +now generally believed to have been simply the scene of a clever +exhibition of ventriloquism. Fontenelle, and the learned Benedictine, Dom +Calmet, have both written extensively on the subject; the latter, more +especially, labouring to prove that a variety of marvels related by +Lucian, Philostratus, Iamblicus, and other eminent authors, are easily +explained by ventriloquism. + +Many French historians attribute to the same origin the apostrophe of the +pretended Spectre in the Forest of Mans, which so terrified the feeble +Charles VI., as to deprive him of reason. Such was the opinion of the Abbé +de la Chapelle; who, in 1772, published a volume on ventriloquism, in +which, among other examples, he cites the wonderful faculty of a grocer +named St. Gilles, residing at St. Germain en Laye; who, when visited by +the Abbé, made his voice appear to issue from every part of the house. St. +Gilles appears to have been a facetious personage as well as a skilful +ventriloquist; for as he was one day walking in the forest of St. Germain, +with a rich Prebendary, celebrated for his avarice and clerical abuses, a +voice was heard to reproach him with his pluralities and covetousness, +threatening to bury him under the ruins of his prebendal house, unless he +reformed the errors of his ways. The grocer being careful to assume an +appearance of the same terror that paralyzed his companion, the priest +regarded this interposition as the voice of his good angel; and instantly +proceeding to the nearest church, dropped the whole contents of his purse +into the poor's box; and on his return to Paris, devoted the remainder of +his days to repentance and good works. + +On another occasion, St. Gilles exercised his art in restoring family +peace to a young couple. The husband who had abandoned a young and lovely +wife, having accompanied him into the depths of the forest of St. Germain +for a morning walk, was also addressed by a supernatural voice, +threatening him with eternal punishment unless he renounced his dissolute +habits, and returned to the bosom of domestic life; a stratagem which +produced the happiest results. + +One of the most skilful proficients in the art, appears to have been a +Baron von Mengen, a German nobleman, as celebrated at Vienna, as St. +Gilles in France. The Baron never appeared in society without carrying a +doll in his pockets, with which he used to hold imaginary conversations. +An English traveller, amazed by the wit and wisdom of the doll, became at +length so excited by curiosity, as to insinuate his hand into the Baron's +pocket, in the hope of discovering his secret; when the doll instantly +shrieked aloud, and bitterly reproached the Englishman for his breach of +decorum. The amazement of the abashed foreigner increasing, the Baron +produced his doll, and explained the nature of the mystery. + +Philippe, a favourite actor of the Théâtre des Variétés, on his marriage +with Mademoiselle Volnais, the actress, proceeded with her into Lorraine +to visit an estate they had purchased; when the tenants having thought +proper to favour them with a magnificent reception, in the course of the +day, the bridegroom, deserting his place of honour, strolled out among the +revellers. While he appeared to be only conversing in a grave manner with +the Mayor of the place, to the dismay of the simple villagers, strange +voices were heard to issue from tuns of wine, reproaching them with their +excesses; and from wheelbarrows, reproving them for their idleness. The +whole village fancied itself bewitched; while Philippe enjoyed, for the +first time of his life, on his own account, a talent he had so often +exercised for the amusement of others. + +Comte, the best ventriloquist now extant, has performed a thousand similar +exploits. When on his travels in Belgium, he caused the voice of Margaret +of Austria, to issue from her tomb in the Church of Bron, addressing a +reprimand to the verger. At Rheims, he was nearly the cause of +depopulating the quarter of St. Nicholas, by causing voices to issue from +a variety of graves in the church-yard; while at Nevers, he revived the +miracle of Balaam, by enabling an overladen ass to reproach its master +with his cruelty. + +Another time, Monsieur Comte, when travelling by night in a diligence, the +travellers of which had fallen asleep, roused them from their slumbers by +a confusion of voices of robbers at the windows, calling aloud upon the +postillions to stop. The greatest consternation prevailed; when Monsieur +Comte offered to negociate for them with the robbers, and become the +depositary of their purses for the purpose. Having alighted from the +carriage for this object, he was heard conversing in the dark road with a +variety of voices, breathing the most frightful threats; and the +travellers considered themselves fortunate in being allowed to purchase +their lives by the cession of all they had about them. When daylight +broke, their adroit fellow-traveller restored their property; the mere +mention of his name sufficing to explain the nature of the jest which had +produced their alarm. + +On another occasion, he preserved the statues and carvings of a village +church from mutilation, by causing a voice to issue from the altar, +commanding the forbearance of the rustic population. He was, however, very +near falling a victim to the marvels of his art, at Fribourg; where the +populace, asserting him to be a sorcerer, fell upon him, and would have +thrown him into a heated oven to be consumed, but for the intervention of +the authorities. + +Nevertheless, in defiance of these well-known facts, ventriloquism still +appears miraculous to the vulgar. Thirty years ago, the learned Abbé Fiard +wrote a treatise to prove that the ancients were justified in their belief +that it proceeded from spiritual possession. Fortunately, the great +majority are content to accept it as a fertile source of recreation, +without troubling themselves concerning the origin of the faculty. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +POPE JOAN AND THE WANDERING JEW. + + +In the history of the world a variety of imaginary personages have found a +place, whom it has become difficult to dislodge. Created in the first +instance by the blunders of some careless writer, or by the sickly fancy +of some unsound judgment, they are adopted by popular favour, tricked up +according to its caprices, and committed to the hands of tradition to +mislead the opinions of posterity. The pretensions of a false Demetrius, a +false Dauphin, a false Heraclius, a Lambert Simnel, or a Perkin Warbeck, +are more easily disproved and set aside than those of the mere shadows +which flit over the surface of history; too impalpable to be seized upon +and compelled to render an account of themselves. + +Among these phantoms are Pope Joan, and the Wandering Jew; of whom every +one has heard something, though nothing to the purpose. Yet these +imaginary personages are too closely connected with the mysteries of our +faith to be otherwise than generally interesting. + +For how many years did the legend of the Wandering Jew, the porter of +Pilate, condemned to roam the earth till the second coming of Christ, and +having his necessities provided for by five-pence, which remained +inexhaustibly in his purse, obtain favour with the world--perpetually +renewed and brightened by the inventive hand of genius! Even now, though +no longer an article of belief among the enlightened classes, his story +obtains sufficient credit with the vulgar to merit a certain degree of +examination. + +The first writer who signalized the existence of the Wandering Jew, was +Matthew Paris, an English chronicler of the thirteenth century; who was +perhaps ignorant that he was only renewing a fable of the Greeks; Suidas +having recorded that a Greek named Pasès possessed a miraculous piece of +money, which as often as he expended it returned again into his pocket. + +Some inventors have too much modesty to pretend to originality. So it was +with Matthew Paris; who affected to have learned the legend of the +Wandering Jew from an Armenian Bishop, who spent some time in England. +This eastern dignitary, he asserts, had actually seen and conversed with +the Wandering Jew, whose name he stated to be Cartophilax; that he was +porter to the tribunal to which Jesus was conveyed by the Roman soldiers; +and had familiarly known the Virgin Mary and the Apostles. All the +romantic incidents of his story which have passed into an article of +popular faith, were first related by Matthew Paris. + +But may there not have been some allegorical or concealed sense connected +with the first creation of the Wandering Jew? At this period, Jews were +objects of universal persecution, and often publicly burnt. Is it not +likely enough that Matthew Paris intended to typify the whole persecuted +and wandering people of the Jews in the person of Cartophilax; or, may he +not have purposed to afford a means of safety and impunity to any Jew who +saw fit to take up the character? + +For thirteen centuries, then--as for eighteen, now--the Jewish people had +been driven from place to place, tracked like a beast of prey, and +subjected to every species of ignominy. Their destiny, in short, was a +mere extended exemplification of the fortunes of the Wandering Jew. May +not, moreover, the eternal five-pence have been intended to show, that +wherever he finds himself, a Jew can never be long in want of money? +Montesquieu only expresses the general opinion on this subject, in saying, +"Wherever you find gold, you will find a Jew." + +This theory will probably be regarded as more apocryphal than the +existence of Cartophilax! Nevertheless we would rather pin our faith on a +fanciful interpretation, than admit that a writer of so much moment to the +History of the World as the famous Matthew Paris, could voluntarily shake +the stability of his Chronicles by the wanton fabrication of such a +miracle. + +The invention of Pope Joan is still more easily accounted for; as +originating in the desire of the Reformed Church to expose to contempt the +honour of the See of Rome. No contemporary writer so much as alludes to +her existence; nor till sixty years after the period assigned as that of +her adventures, do we find the monk Radulphus relating the scandalous +chronicle of her pretended pontificate. A story of this description once +set afloat, will never want for commentators; and a variety of other +writers instantly seized upon it, improving the details at leisure. + +Seldom, however, has an imposture been adopted by such grave judgments, or +promulgated by such authoritative voices, as that of Pope Joan. But the +fact is that party spirit, or rather sectarian spirit, blinded the eyes of +these abettors of fraud. At the moment of the grand schism originating the +Reformed Church, the partizans of the new Faith seized upon the old wife's +tale of Pope Joan, and converted it into a serious argument against the +infallibility of Rome. + +"You boast of the assistance of divine grace, you pretend to the +inspiration of the Holy Ghost," said they to the Catholics; "that it +directs your councils and suggests your elections. How came it, then, that +with so omniscient a counsellor, you were deluded into promoting a woman +to the Papal See?--The single name of Pope Joan ought to suffice to attest +the incompetency of your Church!" + +The history of this pretended personage has been too often related, and is +of too gross a nature to deserve recital. Even the historians who have +been most serious in its attestation, disagree in the leading incidents; +some of them naming the female Pope Agnes, some Joan, and some Gilberta. +Voltaire, who was little prone to defend the purity of the See of Rome, +utterly discredits her existence; and in all Protestant countries, where +the fable was first called into existence, the name of Pope Joan is cited +only as a matter of jest and derision. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE FABLES OF HISTORY. + + +It is surprising how many of the facts of history have been reduced into +fictions by the careful investigations of modern enlightenment. For +centuries, it was established as an undeniable enormity of the empire, +that the Emperor Justinian put out the eyes of Belisarius. Tragedies, +operas and romances, were grounded upon this cruel incident; and the arts +have lent their aid to the perpetuation of a popular error. + +Let us examine the real state of the case. In 563, a conspiracy was +discovered against the Emperor Justinian; and the conspirators were +arrested on the eve of executing their criminal design. Certain of his +favourites, envious of the great name of Belisarius, suborned false +witnesses, whose testimony made it appear that he was included in the +plot; upon which, Justinian indulged in the bitterest reproaches against +his perfidy. Belisarius, strong in his sense of innocence, and the +consciousness of the great services he had rendered to the empire, +disdained to justify himself; and Justinian, weak, versatile, and +mistrustful, influenced by a paltry pusillanimity, caused him to be +stripped of his offices, made prisoner in his house, and deprived of all +attendants or companions. + +This state of things continued for the space of seven months; when the +innocence of Belisarius was, by the intervention of others, brought to +light; and he was at once restored to his former honours and the +confidence of his master. So far from being deprived of sight, and guided +about by a youth, as our imaginations have been misled into depicting him +by a variety of artists and men of letters, Belisarius died at an advanced +age in the full enjoyment of his senses. + +The two first authors who thought proper to load the memory of Justinian +with the odium of having put out the eyes of Belisarius, were Crinitus and +Raphael Mafféi, both belonging to the sixteenth century. No anterior +writer makes the smallest allusion to this act of barbarity; which, had it +been authentic, could scarcely have been buried in obscurity for a period +of ten centuries. The event which probably gave rise to so monstrous a +supposition was, the disgrace of Carpocratian; who, after being the chief +favourite of Justinian, was driven into exile in Egypt, and compelled to +beg his bread on the highways. But even in this instance, the fallen man +was not deprived of sight. + +One day, a village priest who was preaching in France, on the instability +of riches and the misfortunes of the great, perceiving his simple flock to +be melted into tears by the pathetic nature of his recital, comforted them +by adding, "Nevertheless, my brethren, take comfort, for, after all, these +traditions may be greatly exaggerated." It were as well, perhaps, if +historians were equally candid, more especially the one who first treated +of the cruel fortunes of Belisarius. + +This great man had, in truth, no need of factitious enhancements to secure +the sympathies of the sixteenth century; the nobleness of his character +having fully equalled the greatness of his exploits. As the conqueror of +the Goths, he sustained the fortunes of the empire; sacrificing himself +for his master, and refusing a crown when the throne was easily +accessible. After he had achieved the conquest of Italy, the jealousy of +Justinian recalled him from his command. Yet when the fortunes of his +country stood a second time in need of his sword, he did not hesitate to +lay down his resentment, and take up arms for its defence. + +A far more authentic instance of undeserved misfortune is the case of +Oedipus, who, born the heir of the throne, was secretly removed from the +palace in consequence of a prediction that he would become the murderer +of his father. To avoid the accomplishment of the oracle, the infant was +about to be destroyed; the servant, to whom the task was assigned, having +literally pierced his feet, and suspended him to the branches of a tree; +when unfortunately a shepherd, taking pity on the tortured babe, relieved +him and conveyed him to the Court of the Queen of Corinth, by whom, being +childless, he was reared as her son. At eighteen years of age, an oracle +enjoined him to go in search of his parents; and on his travels, having +killed a man by whom he was insulted, the victim proved to be his father. + +Oedipus arrives at Thebes. A riddle is proposed to him, the sense of which +he is so unfortunate as to guess; and having by this feat rid the country +of the Sphinx, he receives the promised reward in the hand of the Queen of +Thebes, who, in process of time, proves to be the mother of her young +husband. In consequence of this parricide and incest, a frightful +pestilence afflicts Thebes; and Oedipus in despair, puts out his own eyes, +banishes himself from his native country, and is followed into exile by +his daughter Antigone, who officiates as his guide. + +Such misfortunes naturally inspired the minds of the heathens with a +belief in the doctrine of fatality--a blind interpretation of events which +also served to induce a belief in the marvellous, and confirm half the +preposterous superstitions perpetuated by the weakness of the human race. + +Nothing can be more groundless, by the way, than our vain assertion of +being the only created beings who "contemplate Heaven with brow erect." +Not only do we share this distinction with the ourang-outangs, but with a +variety of birds, such as the crane and the ostrich; which, on this point, +are better qualified than ourselves, seeing that instead of the upper +eyelid falling, the lower eyelid rises over the eye; thus leaving them +more at liberty to raise their eyes to Heaven. + +False pretensions and vulgar errors of this kind abound in the world:--as +for instance, the belief that the pelican pierces her bosom to feed her +little ones with her blood--that the scent of bean-flowers produces +delirium--that the mole is blind--that the dove is a model of gentleness +and conjugal fidelity; and how often are the questions still mooted +whether Hannibal really worked a passage through the Alps with +vinegar--whether the coffin of Mahomet be really suspended at Mecca +between two loadstones--whether shooting stars be fragments of shattered +planets, or souls progressing from purgatory--whether beasts of prey are +afraid of fire; and whether human nature have ever exhibited affinities +with the brute creation in the form of fauns, dryads, satyrs, or +centaurs. + +The fable of the centaurs explains itself naturally enough by the wonder +created in the world by the first man hardy enough to reduce the horse to +a state of submission, and convert it into a domestic animal. We know that +a man on horseback has been regarded as a complex animal by many savage +nations; just as the Peruvians, when attacked by the artillery of Pizarro, +believed their invaders to be Gods, seeing that thunder was at their +disposal. + +As to fauns and satyrs, which probably consisted of shepherds whose lower +extremities were clad in goat skins, Herodotus declares that a whole +nation of them existed among the mountains of Scythia. Plutarch relates +that, in the time of Sylla, a faun was caught at Nymphea near Apollonia, +which was brought as a present to the Dictator. The creature could utter +no articulate sound,--its voice consisting of a noise between the cry of a +goat and the neighing of a horse; but exhibited social qualities, and was +much addicted to female society. This was probably some deaf and dumb +idiot, left by unnatural parents to perish in infancy, and miraculously +preserved; as in the case of Peter, the Wild Boy, found during the last +century in the forests of Westphalia, and maintained at the cost of the +King of England to a good old age. A similar specimen of degraded humanity +was exhibited at Paris under the name of the Savage of Aveyron; and the +historical fable of Valentine and Orson was probably founded on some +similar circumstance. + +According to Philostratus, a satyr was taken in Ethiopia of so mild and +gentle a disposition, as to have been easily tamed; and that certain of +the simeous tribes, such, for instance, as the ourang-outang called the +Wild Man of the Woods, should have been considered a satyr by both Greeks +and Romans, on a first inspection seems natural enough. St. Jerome, in his +life of St. Anthony, asserts that he encountered a satyr in the desart, +and that they conversed and breakfasted together. + +We should have thought these holy personages more in danger of an +encounter with wild beasts; concerning which peril, a passing remark may +be made, that the idea of frightening them away by fire is a popular +prejudice. Tavernier relates that some soldiers having lighted a great +fire to preserve themselves from the damp, in a forest of Africa, were set +upon by a lion, and that one of the men was greatly injured by this +midnight intruder, which was luckily shot dead by one of his comrades. + +As regards the popular opinion concerning the tomb of Mahomet, it is now +proved to be at Medina instead of Mecca, where the belief of many +centuries assigned it a place; but so far from being suspended in the air +by a loadstone, the coffin lies on the ground surrounded by an iron +balustrade. A learned Jesuit, by dint of many patient experiments, +ascertained the possibility of sustaining a human body in the air by the +power of the loadstone. But the quantity employed only served to realize +the miracle for the space of two seconds. On the discovery of the singular +properties of the loadstone, as affecting the polarization of the needle, +the vulgar naturally began to endow it with miraculous powers. In 1765, +the Journal Encyclopédique published an Essay attributing to the loadstone +the power of curing the tooth-ache; the person afflicted being required to +turn his face towards the North Pole, and touch the aching tooth with the +southern point of a magnetic needle. The system was pursued for a time by +a variety of quack dentists, but soon fell to the ground. + +With respect to shooting stars, philosophy remains undecided as to their +origin. But vulgar superstition clings to the belief that any wish formed +during the transit of one of these luminous bodies will be accomplished. +This idea probably purported in the first instance to demonstrate the +transitory nature of human wishes, as exemplified in the momentary glimpse +of the meteor. Some philosophers attribute shooting stars to the encounter +of the electric fluid with inflammable molecules in the atmosphere. +Descartes asserts that they are terrestrial particles which, meeting in +the air the second element, take fire and fall back to earth; leaving +where they fall a viscous matter. The truth is that they have never been +known to fall back upon the earth. Monsieur Biot has hazarded a conjecture +that they may be fragments of comets, falling with immense rapidity +through the realms of space. + +If this point of popular prejudice remain unremoved, nothing can be more +certain than that the mole possesses organs of vision--though small; and +that the fable of the maternal tenderness of the pelican, originated in +the flexible pouch in which she deposits the fish she collects for her own +food, and that of her young. The proverbial fidelity of the dove to her +mate has been equally disproved by naturalists; no person having ever kept +a pair of doves without noticing that they are birds of a peculiarly +irascible and quarrelsome nature. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +MELONS AND MONSTERS. + + +It might form an important matter of inquiry for naturalists, whether the +fruits appropriated by Providence to certain climates, do not become +unwholsome when transferred to others by the intervention of art. Certain +it is, that in various countries of the South, melons constitute an +article of national food; whereas, in the North, they pass for one of the +most pernicious productions of the vegetable kingdom; being the first +article of food interdicted during the prevalence of the cholera. + +The origin of the melon, however, appears very uncertain. Far from being +indigenous in Italy, it was asserted by the Roman naturalists to have been +brought from Africa by Metellus; while others believe it to have been +derived from their earlier Asiatic conquests. Scipio is said by some to +have first introduced it into Rome. From whatever source derived, the +gardeners of Greece and Rome made the culture of the melon a subject of +especial study. Pliny spoke of the delicacy and flavour of the fruit as +well as of its indigestibility. It may be observed, however, that in the +more ancient bas-reliefs and frescoes of fruit found in Herculaneum, the +melon does not appear. + +The modern arts of horticulture have added innumerable varieties of the +melon to the round and oblong species known to the Romans; and Godoy, the +Prince of Peace, devoted himself in Spain to the improvement of this +favourite fruit. It is a mistake, however, to suppose that the fine kind +called the Cantalupe, reached us from that country; the name being derived +from the village of Cantalupi near Rome, famous for the cultivation of its +melons. In Spain and France, the melon is eaten with roast meat, at +dinner; in England and Russia, it is eaten with sugar at dessert. By many +people the crudeness is qualified with pepper and ginger; but the Bavarian +mother of the Regent, Duke of Orleans, provoked much criticism in Paris by +powdering her slice of melon with Spanish snuff, according to the custom +in some parts of Germany. + +A strange object of luxury in the same country consists in snails. A large +white species of snail, much cultivated at Ulm, is sent to various parts +of Germany. One of the popular errors concerning these snails, is the +opinion that when decapitated the body will produce a new head. +Spallanzani and Voltaire tried the experiment on innumerable snails, and +attest that a head was really reproduced. It is well known that the body +of a fly will exist some time after being deprived of its head; and that, +on crushing the shell of a snail, the creature is able to repair, by +degrees, its shattered dwelling. But in spite of the authority of +Spallanzani and Voltaire, we have no faith in the power of reproduction of +a second head. Valmont de Bomare, after decapitating fifteen hundred, +decided that the opinion was erroneous; and, unwilling to suppose that two +such great authorities had imposed on public credulity, concludes that in +their reluctance to the task, they merely cut off the nose and ears of the +sensitive snails without effecting a positive decapitation. A fact untrue +of the snail, however, has been proved as regards several varieties of +polypi, which are able to reproduce themselves from fragments of a +dismembered polypus. There is one species of polypus susceptible of being +completely turned inside out, like a glove, without injury to the vital +power! + +Turenne, who wrote a Treatise on the nature of snails, may be called the +Attila of the species, since he admits having decapitated thousands and +thousands. He even affects compunction on the subject, after the example +of the Greek physician, Herophilus, who dissected seven hundred bodies in +illustration of his anatomical lectures in the theatre of Alexandria. +Turenne asserts that, if Valmont de Bomare and Adanson found no renovation +of head in the snails they decapitated, it was because they failed to +supply their victims with the food which snails are organized to imbibe +through the pores of their bodies by crawling over vegetable matter, even +when deprived of their heads. He declares that a period of two years is +indispensable for the reproduction of a head. + +The discoveries of modern navigators have unquestionably added to our +menageries a vast variety of animals unknown to the ancients, or known +only by hearsay, and esteemed apocryphal. But, on the other hand, various +animals with which the ancients pretended to be familiar have wholly +disappeared; such as sphinxes and griffins, the phoenix, the salamander, +the unicorn, besides many-headed serpents and dragons, which we now +abandon to the emblazonment of heraldry. + +The most famous dragons of antiquity were those which drew through the air +the car of Medea. The philosophic Possidonius--who made war so valiantly +against the gout, which he maintains to be no evil--speaks of a dragon +which covered an acre of ground; and could swallow a knight on horseback +with as much ease as the whale did Jonas. This was, however, an +insignificant reptile compared with the one discovered in India by St. +Maximus, Archbishop of Tyre, which covered five acres of ground. + +Both in sacred and profane history, dragons have honourable mention. +Cadmus is related to have destroyed a dragon; the garden of the Hesperides +was guarded by a dragon; St. George triumphed over a dragon; and the +Dragon of Wantley has become proverbial in English song. St. Augustin, +Bishop of Hippona, speaks with authority of the existence of dragons; +describing them as winged serpents which conceal themselves in caverns +during the day-time, though they occasionally venture forth and rise into +the air. From this it was inferred, by early naturalists, that the dragon +of the ancients was one of the larger serpent tribes, having a +cartilaginous substance similar to the wings of the bat, or flying-fish, +attached to its body. + +Suetonius declares that the Emperor Tiberius possessed a pet dragon, which +was completely tame and used to eat out of his hand; probably an iguano, +the sort of lizard which forms a luxurious object of food in the West +Indies; and which, though perfectly harmless, has a frightful appearance. +Crinitus records that, in the time of the Emperor Maurice, there was an +inundation of the Tiber, which left behind it, on the land, an enormous +dragon. The same writer mentions that the Emperor Augustus kept a +prodigious dragon in his palace, which he used to lead about with a +string. A constellation serves to attest the existence of the dragon of +Lernia. + +The tame dragon of the imperial palace was probably a tame boa-constrictor +similar to the one formerly kept in the library of the late Sir Joseph +Banks. + +Various are the records in ancient authors of prodigious serpents. Pliny +declares that, in Africa, the army of Regulus was kept in check by an +enormous serpent; a statement confirmed by Aulus Gellius and other +historians, and admitted by Rollin and Bossuet in their Histoire +universelle, and Histoire ancienne. Follard refutes it in his Commentary +on Polybius; conceiving the fact of a serpent of one hundred and twenty +feet keeping at bay a large army and its engines of war to be an insult to +the prowess of the Roman warriors. The following is the opinion the +celebrated Lacépède on this subject. + +"Travellers who have penetrated into the interior of Africa," says he, +"give an account of prodigious serpents, who advance among the bushes and +towering reeds of some vast jungle, like a huge beam suddenly endowed with +motion. Herds of gazelles and other timid animals take flight on their +approach; nor can iron penetrate the skin of the monster, which is, +indeed, appalling when extended to its utmost length, and ravenous after +food. The only chance of its extermination is by setting fire to the +nearest bushes of the jungle; and thus raising, as it were, a rampart of +fire between you and the gigantic reptile. + +"Such, probably, was the serpent which arrested the progress of the Roman +army on the coast of Africa. To compute its length at one hundred and +twenty feet, after Pliny, would probably be an exaggeration; but the Roman +naturalist adds that its skin remained some time suspended, as a trophy, +in a temple in Rome. Unless we deny all authenticity to history, +therefore, we are bound to believe in the existence of a prodigious +serpent, which when irritated by hunger, was known to attack the Roman +soldiers; and against which, in the sequel, they had successful recourse +to their engines of war." + +In the same manner, a distorted account may hereafter reach posterity of +the death of Chuny, the famous elephant, which so long inhabited a +menagerie in London; until becoming rabid from the effect of high feeding +and long confinement, a party of military was called in to despatch the +infuriated animal by a discharge of musketry, which was with some +difficulty effected. + +To attest the authenticity of the serpent of the time of Regulus, Pliny +expressly adds that the tradition is the more credible, because, in former +times, the serpents called boas, frequently found in Italy, were of such +prodigious size that, during the reign of the Emperor Claudius, so large +a one was found on the Vatican hill, that after its destruction, a child +was exhibited entire in its stomach. For many centuries, no boas have been +found in Italy; though naturalists accord in asserting them to have +existed there in the olden time; just as the kingdom of England, now +wholly free from the larger beasts of prey, was formerly overrun with +wolves. + +St. Isidore of Seville discredits the existence of the Lernian hydra; +inferring from its name that hydra only implied some torrent or lake which +Hercules effectually confined within banks; thus giving rise to the +tradition of his having crushed it with his club. The traditionary +monster, called a gargouille, said to have lived near Rouen, and to have +swallowed a prodigious number of victims, is now admitted to have been +simply a whirlpool in the Seine, destroyed by an alteration in the banks +effected by St. Romain, when Bishop of that See. The anniversary of this +event, regarded as the deliverance of the city from a monster, was +celebrated at Rouen till the period of the first Revolution; a prisoner +being annually delivered by the city on the Festival of St. Romain in +honour of the miracle. The gargouille or whirlpool, of Rouen, was but a +modern edition of the hydra. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE JEWS. + + +We have already alluded incidentally to the Jews. But the children of +Israel have been too long and too perseveringly an object of persecution +to all Christian nations, not to demand a more extended consideration. + +Mankind, in the present age, though scarcely less disposed than of old to +exercise the tyrannical influence of the strong over the weak, appear to +have substituted political for religious animosities; and the war of sects +has been converted into the feuds of parties. The days of the fagot and +the pile are happily at an end; and instead of martyrs, sacrificed in the +name of religion, the victim is forced to exclaim on the scaffold: "Oh, +liberty! in thy name, how many crimes are committed!" The number of human +victims sacrificed to religious intolerance in the various countries of +the world, would, however, afford grounds for a fearful computation. + +The very existence of the Jews may be regarded as among the miracles of +the Christian religion. A wandering nation, without King, without country, +without secular laws, maintained together only by the strength of a common +worship, could never have resisted the persecutions and proscriptions of +centuries, but for the intervention of the chastening hand of God. Even in +the countries where their existence is the happiest, stigmatized by public +detestation, and in highly Catholic nations treated as lepers, as parias, +as infected sheep--condemned to the hardest, and most ignominious +tasks--beaten, spat upon, despoiled, plundered, tortured, massacred--a +prey to the cupidity of the great, and the brutality of the little--such +is the history of the Jews from the days of Titus to the present time. +Nevertheless, they not only subsist, but flourish, in spite of the +universal prejudice against the name; maintaining unchanged, their laws, +customs, usages, and even physiognomy. The abhorrence with which they are +regarded by other nations, has necessitated intermarriages from generation +to generation, which serve to maintain the pure identity of the race. + +The Romans not only detested the Jews for the same motive which produced +their hatred of the Christians, namely--the impossibility of converting +them to the worship of the false Gods of Paganism, but confounded Jews and +Christians together in a common persecution. Yet this equality before the +tribunals and executioners of the Emperors and Pro-Consuls of Rome, never +availed to diminish the mutual hatred subsisting between them. No +amalgamation was possible between them, even amid the flames of a funeral +pile. Nero, on one occasion, attempted to illuminate Rome by means of Jews +steeped in resinous matter, and thus committed to the flames. + +No sooner had the Christians obtained supreme power, than they began, in +their turn, to inflict upon the remnant of Israel all the persecutions +they had themselves sustained at the hands of the Romans. The Jews were +compelled to wear a cap surmounted by horns, to show that they were +pre-destined to eternal punishment; and in a Council held at the Lateran, +at the commencement of the thirteenth century, they were forced to adopt +for robes, stuff of a yellow colour, bearing the representation of a wheel +or rack. During Passion Week, and at Easter, it was lawful to attack them +with any degree of ferocity. In many cities, it was the custom to inflict +corporeal punishment on a Jew publicly, every Good Friday, before the +great door of the Cathedral; in some, a positive crucifixion took place! + +Eight times have the Jews been driven out of France. Dagobert enjoined +them to embrace Christianity, on pain of banishment; Robert the Pious +issued the same edict; Philip Augustus, after crucifying several at Bray +sur Seine, caused all their synagogues to be burned, seized their +possessions, released their creditors, appropriated to himself a fifth of +their substance, and the remainder to landholders of adjoining estates. +Philippe le Bel dismissed them the kingdom, leaving them only the funds +indispensable for the journey. Nevertheless they returned, to be again +exiled by Charles VI. Under Louis XIII, was issued a new edict of +banishment. It was only under Louis XVI, one of the most humane of Kings, +that the Jews were restored to rights of citizenship in France. Nor was +their condition better, at the same epochs, in Great Britain and other +adjacent countries. + +A singular chance directed the attention of Napoleon to the condition of +the Jews. A representation of Racine's "Esther" was given one night at the +Opera for a benefit; and the following morning, Talma happening to +breakfast with the Emperor, the conversation turned on the performance of +the night before. As they were discussing the character of Mardochée, +Champagny, afterwards Duc de Cadore, made his appearance, who was at that +time Minister of the Interior. Napoleon instantly began interrogating him +concerning the position and resources of the Jews in France; and desired +that a report might be drawn up on the subject, and speedily submitted to +him. + +Champagny lost no time in obeying; and the results of this accidental +circumstance was the removal of the civil disabilities of the Jews. + +The prejudice, however, attached for so many years to the remnant of +Israel, is far from extirpated; and though in more than one country of +Europe, the honours of chivalry have been bestowed upon wealthy Jews, +influential in the financial operations of the kingdom, and consequently +in its politics, the popular feeling against them is unchanged. It is even +carried to a most unreasonable degree; and the Jews are reproached with +the very pursuits and professions forced upon their adoption by Christian +persecution. Commercial speculations were of course the sole resource of a +people without country, and without protection; and though we are indebted +to them for the useful financial substitute of bills of exchange, we use +the name of Jew almost synonymously with that of extortioner, without +regard to their commercial importance and utility. + +The emancipation accorded them in France, was given chiefly for +considerations developed ten years before by Monsieur de Clermont +Tonnerre, and other celebrated orators before the National Assembly. + +"The Code of Moses," argued they, "is conceived in a twofold spirit--a +religious, and a legislative. The political laws which it contains, have +ceased to be important--being only applicable to a nation nationally +combined and organized; whereas the Jews are a scattered and wandering +tribe, rather than a nation. The religious laws are a case of conscience; +serving to enlighten the spirit, and guide the social morality of the +children of Israel. From the period of the destruction of the Temple, the +Jews have politically ceased to exist; and these religious laws may be +said to operate in France, upon Frenchmen of the Jewish persuasion; in +Poland, upon Poles of the Jewish persuasion; in Germany, upon Germans of +the Jewish persuasion, and so forth." + +Upon this showing, civil rights were conceded to them in France, on +condition of their contributing their quota to the maintenance of the laws +and Government of the country in which they were naturalized. + +Till this epoch, a prejudice had prevailed in France that it was an +article of faith and duty among the Jews, to deceive and defraud a +Christian whenever it lay in their power; and that they were bound, from +the moment of their birth, by the Jewish law, to a strong animosity +towards us Christian people. Horrible rumours have been revived, at +different times, in different countries, of secret sacrifices of the Jews, +in which the blood of a Christian was a necessary component. + +These questions were openly met and discussed in a manly and temperate +manner, in the great Sanhedrim, composed of the highest and most +enlightened Jewish authorities; when a peremptory denial was established +to all these injurious charges. Prejudices nearly as absurd, and quite as +groundless formerly existed in England against the Catholics; the removal +of their civil disabilities being equally the result of the progress of +public enlightenment. + +As regards the question of usury so often imputed to the Jews, experience +has proved of late years, that the most notorious extortioners of this +description are of the Christian faith; and it is a question of ethics to +inquire whether there be greater turpitude in openly demanding an interest +of thirty per cent for a loan of money, or in obtaining the same profit by +sale or barter of commodities. A considerable number of tradesmen who +pride themselves upon their strict integrity, require a much higher ratio +of profit than the per centage of the money-lending Jews; nor is it +necessary to remind the reader that some of the most eminent bankers in +Europe, renowned equally for their probity and liberality, are of the +Jewish persuasion. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +VERBAL DELICACY. + + +There are certain words which appear to offend public delicacy more than +the very objects they designate; till it might almost be inferred that all +the sensitiveness of human nature had concentrated itself in the ear. The +study of ancient and modern languages will attest the truth of this +assertion; for many things are to be learned in a vocabulary besides the +idiom it pretends to teach. + +The stern Romans, for instance, who affected so stoical a disregard of +death, would not allow the word to be pronounced in their presence; though +the lives of their children was by the law placed at their mercy. Their +sense of delicacy would have been offended had it been mentioned before +them that such a one was "dead." It was necessary to say, "he hath lived." +In the noble defence of Milo, by Cicero, he dared not qualify by the +appropriate word the act of assassination committed by the slaves of his +client; but declared by periphrasis that under these circumstances, "the +slaves of Milo did what it became them to do." + +To the title of King, the Romans had vowed an eternal hatred, created by +the traditionary opprobrium of the Tarquins, and their contempt of the +innumerable Kings subjected to their arms, and dragged behind their +triumphal cars. But when Cæsar proclaimed himself Emperor, and assumed a +more sovereign power than the history of nations had as yet recorded, the +Roman people applauded the kingly office presented to them under any other +than the name abhorred. The same circumstance occurred in France at the +commencement of the present century. The French, after devoting themselves +to the extermination of Kings, hailed with delight the coronation of an +Emperor; though to proclaim himself "King" would have ensured the +premature downfall of Napoleon. + +Of late years, the ears of the world have become more than ever chaste and +refined; and certain words freely used by Shakspeare, in presence of the +Court of the Virgin Queen, and by Molière, in presence of that of the most +dignified of European monarchs, are now utterly proscribed, and expunged +from the modern stage. The fluctuations of opinion on these points, are +highly diverting. Dean Swift relates that, in his early days, the word +"whiskers" could not be mentioned in a lady's presence; a fact we should +be inclined to class among the ingenious fictions of the Dean of St. +Patrick; but that at the present day, that rational nation, the Americans, +have not courage to pronounce the word leg, even in talking of the limb of +a table or of a partridge. The false delicacy of the English takes refuge +in a foreign language. All such articles of dress or furniture as are held +of a nature unmentionable to ears polite, are named in French; as if the +word _chemise_ were a less explicit designation of an indispensable under +garment than the matter of fact word shift! All this is contemptible +hyprocrisy, and a silly compromise with common sense. Such an abbreviation +as crim. con. conveys fully as indelicate an allusion as the same words +written and pronounced in full. + +The author of the School for Scandal objected to so great a variety of +words as coarse and indelicate from female lips, that there sometimes +existed a difficulty in narrating to him the ordinary events of life. + +On the other hand, it is surprising how much may be effected by a change +of name with those whose ears are more impressionable than their +understanding. The French had signified pretty loudly at the revolution +their national opposition to a conscription, and to the _droits réunis_. +Against these exercises of administrative tyranny, they were prepared to +break into rebellion. Instead, however, of arguing with their pertinacity, +the Government wisely applauded it; substituting for a conscription, the +recruiting system, and for the _droits réunis_ the _contributions +indirectes_. We should be glad if any one would point out to us what was +changed in these two important departments of public service, besides the +name? This paltering, in a double sense, reminds us of the story of a +Frenchman, who was examining a library with persons more enlightened than +himself. "Ah! there are the works of my friend, Cicero," cried he. +"_Cicéron, c'est le même que Marc-Tulle._" + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +AEROLITES AND MIRACULOUS SHOWERS. + + +The fall of aërolites, often termed by the vulgar a shower of stones, is +either more frequent than in days of yore, or attracts more general +attention. + +The record of similar phenomena has, however, been handed down to us by +the ancients; for we are told of a shower of stones which, in the days of +Tullus Hostilius, fell upon the city immediately after the ruin of Alba. + +"While the Senate was occupied in its deliberations," says Livy, "a shower +of stones fell from Heaven upon the Alban Mount. The Prince, astonished at +the report of such a phenomenon, sent to ascertain the truth, and found +that a shower of pebbles had really fallen, similar to hailstones." + +Before the time of the Romans, the Greeks had witnessed similar phenomena. +In the Thracian Chersonesus there fell a huge greyish stone, which excited +the greatest consternation. + +A stone existed in Rome known as the stone of the Mother of the Gods, +which had originally fallen from the sky, like that of the Thracian +Chersonesus. It fell at Pessinuntum, in Phrygia, where the priests held it +in great veneration. The oracle at Rome having given out that the fortunes +of the Republic were secure if it could possess itself of this inestimable +treasure, the Senate sent an embassy into Phrygia by Scipio Nasica, who +enlarged upon the ties existing between the Phrygians and Romans through +Æneas; and skilfully setting forth the power of Rome and the protection +she was able to concede to the Pessinuntians, the priests gave up the +sacred stone. It was immediately carried in procession to Rome, exposed to +public view, and an annual festival instituted in its honour. + +A similar stone, which stood near the Temple of Delphos, was equally +venerated, and endowed with a still more marvellous origin; being supposed +to issue from the belly of Saturn, the God of the stone eaters. Tradition +recorded that Saturn, having swallowed it, and found it difficult of +digestion, threw it up again, when it fell in Greece. Upon this point, +Pausanias and Nonnus concur with the tradition. + +In the sixteenth century, a descent of stones took place on Mount Lebanon, +accompanied by a luminous globe. Various other instances might be cited +from the ancients; but these may suffice to establish proof of identity +between the modern and ancient phenomena. In most instances, they have +been supposed to be of divine origin and of ominous nature. Damascius +mentions that a physician of his day, named Eusebius, carried one about +his person, which conduced greatly to the relief of his patients. + +In the sixteenth century, it is stated that there fell near the Adda, in +Italy, nearly twelve hundred stones, one of which weighed one hundred, and +another sixty pounds. True is it that Cardan makes the assertion, which is +therefore doubtful. But Gassendi, who is deserving of credit, states that +on the 27th of November, 1627, with a clear atmosphere, at ten A.M., he +saw a luminous stone, about four feet in diameter, descend from Heaven +upon Mount Vaisian. It was enveloped in a luminous circle of various +colours, and passed at a hundred paces from two men, who estimated its +elevation at thirty-six feet. It gave out a hissing noise like a rocket, +accompanied with a smell of sulphur, and fell two hundred feet from the +spectators, plunging itself three feet into the soil. It was of a metallic +hue, and weighed fifty-four pounds; and is still to be seen at Aix, in +Provence. The largest ever known, fell at Ensisheim, in Alsace, in 1492; +its weight being near three hundred pounds. In the Abbé Richard's Natural +History of the Air, there is a description of a fall of stones which +took place in 1768, in Maine; from which we extract the following passage: + +"During a hurricane that took place near the Château of Lucé, in the +Province of Maine, a clap of thunder was heard, followed by a noise +similar to the roar of a wild beast; which was audible for many leagues +round. Some persons in the parish of Périgné thought they perceived a +dense body fall with great velocity into a meadow near the high road to +Mans; and on hurrying to the spot, found the stone imbedded in the ground. +At first, it was hot; but soon cooling, they were enabled to examine it at +leisure. It weighed seven pounds and a half, and was in form triangular; +or rather it had three protuberances, of which the one plunged in the +earth was grey, and the two others black. A fragment being submitted to +the examination of the Royal Academy of Sciences, for analysis, they +pronounced it neither to originate in thunder, nor to have fallen from the +skies, nor to be composed of mineral particles fused by the action of the +electric fluid; but a species of pyrites, giving out a smell of sulphur +during its solution. One hundred grains of this substance yielded, upon +analysis, eight grains and a half of sulphur, thirty-six of iron, and +fifty-five and a half of vitrifiable earth." The evidence of science, +however, seldom reaches the ear of the vulgar; and it would be difficult +to persuade the populace that aërolites do not fall from the sky. + +Aristotle, in mentioning the stone that fell in Thrace, rejects the idea +of its coming from the heavens; and Pliny confesses that most naturalists +are of the same opinion. This was a step towards the extinction of a +popular error. Fréret denies the existence of atmospheric stones, and +declares them to be volcanic emissions driven by the force of the winds. +He supposes Mount Albano to have been formerly a volcano; and that the +stones that fell must have issued from a re-opening of the crater. +Falconet, the sculptor, wrote a volume to prove that Pliny was in error +concerning atmospheric stones. While the learned world was thus at +variance, the multitude was justified in asserting them to fall from the +moon, since men of science were unable to prove the contrary. + +On the 26th of April, 1803, there fell a vast number of atmospheric stones +at Aigle, in the department of Orne. The peasants of the place, thinking +it was the end of the world, fell on their knees invoking divine mercy; +and even their betters shared their alarm. This phenomenon happened most +opportunely, as the world of science, both in Paris and London, was just +then discussing similar occurrences which had taken place in India and +Provence; and after most diligent inquiry, the Institute resolved to +despatch one of its members to the spot. Monsieur Biot, an enthusiast in +the cause of science, arrived on the spot on the 16th of July, and +collected the following facts. + +"About one o'clock, P.M., the sky being calm, with only a few greyish +clouds above the horizon, which did not diminish the fineness of the +weather, a luminous globe was seen, from Caen, from Pont Audemer, from the +vicinity of Alençon, Falaise, and Verneuil, rushing with great velocity +through the atmosphere; and immediately afterwards, a violent explosion +was heard at Aigle and thirty leagues round; lasting six minutes, and +resembling a discharge of artillery followed by that of musketry, and +terminating as with a roll of drums. + +"A small cloud of rectangular form seemed to have been the origin of all +this terrible noise; the broader side of which was towards the west. It +appeared to be motionless throughout the phenomenon; vapours being emitted +after each discharge. The cloud was very high in the air. The inhabitants +of two villages, situated a league asunder, perceived it as if exactly +suspended above their heads. A hissing noise, similar to a stone hurled +from a sling, was heard wherever it hovered; and at the same time, +numerous solid bodies fell, which being collected, proved to be meteoric +stones. + +"When tested, they were found to contain sulphur, iron in the metallic +state, magnesia and nickel; which, in the mineral kingdom have no +analogy." + +Monsieur Biot also stated that the direction of the meteor was precisely +that of the magnetic meridian; an important remark, as a guide for future +observations. The great point gained in this inquiry, is that the highest +order of science, agreeing with the earliest professors, adopts what by +progressive science was denied. + +The fact of showers of stones being established, all that remains to be +proved is their origin. Some still assert that they fall from the moon; +others attribute them to volcanos. Neither fact can be proved; and the +descent of aërolites at present remains a mystery. + +One phenomenon often succeeds another; and shortly after the fall of +stones at Aigle, a shower of peas took place in Spain, and the kingdom of +Leon. This last phenomenon occurred in the month of May of the same year; +and, in Spain, fifteen quintals of an unknown seed were collected after a +violent storm; being round in form, white in colour, less than peas in +size, and resembling no known seed. They seemed, however, to belong to the +leguminous family of plants. Cavanilla, the botanist, analized them +without being able to determine their class. These productions, at least, +could neither be supposed to come from the moon, nor to have a volcanic +origin. Some of the seeds were sown in the Botanic Garden of Madrid, but +without result. This is, however, by no means a solitary instance of a +miraculous shower. + +Pliny, Livy, Solinus, and Julius Obsequius have recorded showers of blood, +milk, wool, money, and pieces of flesh! Those authors make frequent +mention of such occurrences; dupes, no doubt, to the traditions of the +ancients. Lamothe Levayer, however, surpasses them all, and mentions the +fall of a man from the sky. Unless from a balloon, or the scaffolding of +some lofty building, we must be permitted to doubt; though he may, +perhaps, allude to some individual carried up by the force of a whirlwind; +for in the autumn of 1812, on the road to Genoa, a mule was raised up by +the wind, sustained during thirty seconds in the air, then disappeared in +a ravine, where it probably perished. + +If we deny the existence of showers of blood, we must admit that there +have been phenomena such as to justify impostors in propagating such +delusions. During the Siege of Genoa, in 1774, there fell a red rain upon +the suburb of San Pietro d'Arena, which caused much consternation among +the inhabitants; the wind having carried up a quantity of red earth, which +proved the cause of general alarm. A similar phenomenon took place, near +Hermanstadt, in Transylvania. + +"On the 17th of May, 1810," says a German journal, "there was a rain of +blood which lasted a quarter of an hour, accompanied by a violent storm, +and gusts of wind towards the south-west. Being collected on the spot by a +physician, and submitted to the chemical tests of sulphurated nitrous, +muriatic acid, acetate of lead, lime water, mercury, and saponaceous +spirit, it exhibited neither precipitation, nor loss of colour. Tested +with a solution of alum and fixed alkali, the precipitate induced a belief +that the colouring matter of this strange rain pertained to the vegetable +kingdom. + +To elucidate the mystery of the rain at Hermanstadt, it sufficed to +inquire in what point was the wind. For on examining the localities in the +southwesterly direction, the hills proved to be clothed with fir, in +bloom, and the rain of blood was instantly explained. For in the North of +Europe rains of a reddish yellow, impregnated with the bloom of the fir, +constantly occur. + +In 1608, the walls of Aix in Provence were covered with red spots, which +the people conceived to be blood. But Peiresc, a man of profound science, +undeceived them by proving them to be the spots left by a species of +butterfly on emerging from its crysalis; the number having been immense +that year at Aix. + +Till balloons and other aërial carriages are used as engines of warfare, +we despair of having to record an authentic shower of blood, or any other +than common place hail, rain, and snow. There is an instance of a shower +of money, or rather of false coinage, mentioned by Dion Cassius; who +states that a certain rain turned copper white, assigning to it the hue of +silver, which lasted for three days. This is far from miraculous; as it +requires only a portion of volatilized mercury to mingle with the rain, as +in the instance of the fir bloom, to produce such an effect. + +Showers of milk are explained by cretaceous matter carried into the air by +whirlwinds. The shreds of human flesh we read of are the red fragments +vomited by volcanoes; while showers of wool consist of the down of certain +trees, such as willows and osiers. Showers of cinders are of course the +result of volcanic eruption. The wind conveys them a prodigious distance; +for when Herculaneum and Pompeii were imbedded in lava, the ashes fell at +Rome, and even in Africa. + +About a century ago, the deck of a vessel sailing from Marseilles to +Martinique was covered with ashes some inches deep, which were known to +proceed from an earthquake in the Island of St. Vincent. No other cause +could be assigned, though the vessel was one hundred leagues from the +island. The velocity of a cannon-ball or shell has been calculated; but +that of the wind, like the origin of the meteoric stones, remains a +problem. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +NOSTRUMS AND SPECIFICS. + + +The title of "Talisman" might be fairly prefixed to this chapter; but we +will content ourselves with the word nostrum. Considering the number of +these specifics, and the blind confidence of the world in their efficacy, +the credulous must be surprised at the ailments which still afflict +humanity. Previous to the introduction of quinine, the ague was supposed +to be cured by dipping in three holy waters, in three different churches, +on the same Sunday; a difficult remedy for people residing where there is +only one church! A variety of charms for the ague are still in popular +use. + +Unsuccessful gamesters used formerly to make a knot in their linen; of +late years they have contented themselves with changing their chair as a +remedy against ill-luck. As a security against cowardice, it was once only +necessary to wear a pin plucked from the winding sheet of a corpse. To +insure a prosperous accouchement to your wife, you had but to tie her +girdle to a bell and ring it three times. To get rid of warts, you were to +fold up in a rag as many peas as you had warts, and throw them upon the +high road; when the unlucky person who picked them up became your +substitute. In the present day, to cure a tooth-ache, you go to your +dentist. In the olden time you would have solicited alms in honour of St. +Lawrence, and been relieved without cost or pain. + +The greater number of these charms or remedies were not resorted to by the +multitude alone, but recommended by Paracelsus and Albertus Magnus. In the +treaty on superstitions by the learned Curé, Thiers, these remedies are +recorded; being about as effective as the talismans of the ancients, +including the famed Palladium of Troy. + +Rome had faith in celestial bucklers, and the stone of the Mother of the +Gods. Virgil was skilled in the composition of talismans; a brazen fly +attributed to him attained more celebrity in his time than the immortal +"Georgics." This fly being suspended from one of the gates of Naples, the +charm proved so effective, that not a fly entered that city for a space of +eight years. A trumpet held by a statue, also invented by Virgil, +possessed the power of laying the dust in his garden! + +Gregory of Tours mentions that the city of Paris was secured from rats, +snakes, and fires, during a long period by means of a rat, a snake, and +dormouse of brass, which were destroyed by the Vandals. Pliny suggests +that Milo of Crotona was indebted for his prodigious strength to a +talisman, as we know that of Samson to have lain in his hair. The Egyptian +warriors wore figures of scarabs, in order to fortify their courage; and +Dr. Hufeland informs us that a German army having been defeated by the +French in the olden time, talismans were found upon the bodies of the dead +and wounded. + +Among the first talismans was that mentioned by Suidas as worn by the +Kings of Egypt to endow them with the love of justice. Pericles was proud +of wearing a talisman presented to him by the Grecian ladies. Macrobus +relates that the victors in the public games used to procure themselves +little boxes, in which mathematicians had inclosed preservatives against +envy; while Thiers informs us that an illustrious astrologer invented a +talisman for intercepting the approach of flies to a house; when to his +horror, no sooner was it suspended, than a fly, more daring than the rest, +deposed a contemptuous mark of disregard upon the charm. The absurdity of +these inventions, it is needless to assert; but let us consider the +subject of the ancient talismans simply as subjects only of curiosity. + +Talismans were cast in metal melted under the influence of a +constellation communicating some specific virtue. Amulets, talismans of a +secondary order, but equally efficacious, were formed of plants, figures +designed on ivory, metals, or precious stones. Such designs were called +"_gamahez_"--whence the word "_cameo_;"--and were preservatives against +fever, rheumatism, gout, tooth-ache, paralysis, apoplexy, cold, and other +diseases. The Platonists were great champions of amulets and talismans. +Gaffard wrote a treatise in assertion of their efficacy, and to defend +them against the imputation of magic. Not many years ago, the ladies of +Paris used to wear iron rings, manufactured by the celebrated locksmith, +Georget, which, like the galvanic rings now in fashion, were considered a +guarantee against the headache. A few uneradicated roots of popular +prejudice will always remain to produce a new crop. + +How were simple mortals to suppose themselves in error when following such +examples as Cato, Varro, and Julius Cæsar? The two first conceived that no +evil could overtake them so long as they made use of certain mysterious +words; and Cæsar, after falling out of his chariot, would not resume his +place till he had recited certain words to which he attributed the virtue +of warding off falls. + +Father Thiers relates that, in his time, the Benedictines of Germany and +France pretended to possess medals which protected them and their cattle +from accidents, sorcery, and witchcraft. According to his version, about +the year 1647, there was a vigorous crusade against sorcery, and many +magicians were executed. At Straubing, several declared, when legally +examined, that their maledictions were of no effect upon either the cattle +or inhabitants of the Castle of Nattemberg, in which were deposited +certain medals of St. Benedict, of which they gave the precise +description. A certain number of initials were inscribed upon them, which +being filled up with Latin words, signified "Divine cross, guide my steps, +banish Satan, cease to tempt me, I know thy poisons, and will eschew +them." No sooner did the monks hear of this discovery than they began +casting medals of a peculiar kind, which soon abounded in Germany. + +The French Benedictines became equally zealous; and having struck a +similar medal, published that it contained a charm against witchcraft and +disease, and was a guarantee against all ailings of man or beast; the +former requiring only to carry them in their pockets, the latter suspended +bell-fashion from their necks. + +Father Thiers so far from accrediting the efficacy of these medals, +declares that the French Benedictines ought to be too enlightened to +encourage such absurdities. But whether in good or bad faith, certain it +is that they made a speculation of trading with the medals. Thiers also +treats as impostors the curers of burns, and preventers of fire, who +pretend to disregard the danger of fire arms. According to a popular +tradition, a burn was cured by saying: "Fire lose thy heat, as Judas did +his colour when he betrayed the Lord." A chimney on fire was extinguished +by making three crosses upon the chimney-piece. Any fire was quickly +subdued by throwing an egg into the flames, which had been laid on the +Thursday, or Friday of Holy Week, during the celebration of divine +service. No fire arms availed against a person repeating thrice, "Malatus +dives fulgiter regissa," or wearing a band with a mystical inscription, +every letter being separated by a cross. The learned father declares such +practices to be absurd, and relates the following anecdote. + +"An old woman of Louvain, who had an affection of the eyes was assured she +had only to pronounce a few mysterious words to be cured. She instantly +addressed a young scholar of the University, offering to present him with +a new coat if he would write the words she dictated to him. The youth +consented, and seemed to write as she dictated. But on delivering to her +the sealed document, he enjoined her not to open it till she was cured, on +which she presented him the new coat and withdrew. Shortly afterwards, +her eyes being recovered, she confided her secret to a neighbour suffering +from the same affliction; who taking the mysterious paper into her care, +received the same benefit. Enchanted by their good fortune, they +determined to know the secret, and broke the seal of the document; which +was found to contain the following phrase, which the youth had maliciously +inserted. 'May the devil tear out thine eyes, old witch, and fill up the +sockets with burning embers.'" + +In the beginning of the last century, there were individuals who professed +to have a powder which extinguished fire. This was contained in a barrel, +and thrown into the flames. The barrel was in fact double, the external +one being full of water, the internal charged with gunpowder sufficient to +cause an explosion; and the water so dispersed, of course, extinguished +the fire, if inconsiderable. Had the authors of this invention not kept it +secret, we might have respected them; for though it produced no great +result, an idea though only half conceived may be the forerunner of more +important discoveries. Attempts have been made of late years to guarantee +thatched roofs against fire, by impregnating them with a preparation of +which we know not the composition. The success, though not complete, +should not be discouraged; for repeated experiments may be finally +successful. Flowers of sulphur are often employed for the extinction of +fires in chimnies, possessing properties which render the action of fire +less intense. + +However absurd the miraculous virtues attributed to talismans and amulets, +in some cases, the security they inspire may be of use to those who have +faith in their power. Imagination counts for something in the moral +organisation of man; and through the constant action and reaction of the +one on the other, the body may be at times advantageously soothed by the +serenity conferred on the mind through the influence of the fancy. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +PHYSIOGNOMISTS. + + +The world and its inhabitants are still exposed to a variety of grievous +afflictions and visitations in spite of the infallible nostrums for +preventing them, in general use; which appears surprising when we consider +the number of able scientific men constantly devoted to the study of our +physical nature, and the plausible novel theories which they every now and +then unfold to the world. Let those who devote themselves to the study of +physiological science persevere in their researches; which if not valuable +to others are at least amusing to themselves. According to the Abbé +Cottin's line, + + "The pleasure is to learn and not to know." + +Between the successive systems of Lavater and Gall, we give the decided +preference to the latter; the studies and experiments upon which are +founded on principles equally applicable to all human beings, whatever +their condition, sex, age, or habits; whether belonging to an +uncultivated or civilised state; while all other systems for promoting the +knowledge of human character, gravitate in a sphere more or less +exceptional; so that the application could never become general. An +eminent magistrate used to pretend that he could capitally convict a man +by a sight of his handwriting; and many people affect to pronounce upon +the shades and variations of human character on a similar indication. + +Considering the number of persons ignorant of the calligraphic art, we +almost prefer the system of the barber of Picard, who needed only to shave +a man to judge of his disposition! + +All the inferential systems that now command our attention were subjects +of contemplation to the ancients. Human physiognomy, above all, must have +ever presented a subject of powerful interest. It is a daily object of +reflection to all men, though unperceived by ourselves. A countenance +pleases or displeases us at first sight; yet we know not whether it be +beauty that charms, or the want of it that repels us. A face which charms +one man, disgusts another. Such a person is said to have a happy +countenance, such another, an unhappy one, on which the former may be +felicitated, the latter pitied; but it is most unfair to deduce from such +evidence the existence of good qualities in the one, or vices and defects +in the other. Such, however, is the elementary study of Physiognomy, and +such the delusion which our antipathies often create. + +Dimension and proportion first attracted the attention of the +philosophers. Aristotle compares a man whose head possesses extraordinary +volume to an owl; while Albertus Magnus looks upon him as an idiot; and +the physician, Porta, significantly informs us that Vitellius had an +immense head. If, on the contrary, a man possess a cerebrum of the usual +circumference, but exceeding by a little the volume of ordinary heads, the +same authors regard him as a man of superior intelligence, endowed with a +noble soul, a brilliant and fertile imagination; and, as an example, +adduce the head of Plato which exceeded in proportion the remainder of his +body. Alexander the Great had a small head, compared even with his person, +which as is well known was diminutive. + +The quality and colour of the hair was likewise a subject of speculative +theory for the ancients. Lank hair was considered indicative of +pusillanimity and cowardice; yet the head of Napoleon was guiltless of a +curl! Frizzly hair was thought an indication of coarseness and clumsiness. +The hair most in esteem, was that terminating in ringlets. Dares, the +historian, states that Achilles and Ajax Telamon had curling locks; such +also was the hair of Cymon, the Athenian. As to the Emperor Augustus, +nature had favoured him with such redundant looks, that no hair-dresser +in Rome could produce the like. Auburn or light brown hair was thought the +most distinguished, as portending intelligence, industry, a peaceful +disposition, as well as great susceptibility to the tender passion. Castor +and Pollux had brown hair; so also had Menelaus. Black hair does not +appear to have been esteemed by the Romans; but red was an object of +aversion. Ages before the time of Judas, red hair was thought a mark of +reprobation, both in the case of Typhon, who deprived his brother of the +sceptre of Egypt, and Nebuchednezzar who acquired it in expiation of his +atrocities. Even the donkey tribe suffered from this ill-omened +visitation, according to the proverb of "wicked as a red ass." Asses of +that colour were held in such detestation among the Copths, that every +year they sacrificed one by hurling it from a high wall. + +Next in importance to the hair, were the ears; the size and shape of which +harmless cartilages, supplied important conjectures. According to +Aristotle, large ears are indicative of imbecility; while small ones +announce madness. Ears which are flat, point out the rustic and brutal +man. Those of the fairest promise, are firm and of middling size. Happy +the man who boasts of square ears; a sure indication of sublimity of soul +and purity of life. Such, according to Suetonius, were the ears of the +Emperor Augustus. + +Having considered the conformation of the head, the colour and quality of +the hair, and the shape of the ears, let us treat of the complexion; of +which the most unfavourable is the yellow, livid, or leaden, like those of +Caligula, Attila, and the most notorious tyrants of the olden time. The +eyes should neither be too large nor too little; the first announcing +laziness, like those of the ox. Such were the eyes of Domitian, the +vainest, most inert, and cowardly of men. Upon this point, Aristotle is at +complete variance with Homer; who is so enraptured with large eyes, that, +in order to define the beauty of those of Juno, he names her _Boopis_ or +"ox-eyed." Neither large nor small eyes afford proof of intellect; and no +person who is not afflicted with squinting has any right to complain. + +It is usual to consider large eyes the finest, a prejudice so universal, +that it is commonly said, "She is ugly, certainly; but then she has such +fine eyes!"--or, "She is a pretty woman; but her eyes are too small." +Whereas neither form nor dimension constitutes the beauty or influence of +eyes; but rather their expression. The colour of eyes is a mere matter of +taste; though Aristotle asserts that persons gifted with almond shaped +blue eyes, are frank and intelligent; with brown, clever and good; with +green, courageous and enterprising. As to black eyes, Aristotle pronounces +them to be the sure prognostics of timidity and pusillanimity. Red eyes +are indicative of bad temper. The gossips of France have quite as good a +theory as that of Aristotle; viz: that "Les yeux bleus vont aux cieux; les +yeux gris, en Paradis; les yeux noirs, en purgatoire, les yeux verts, en +enfer!" + +Bushy eyebrows are indicative of a brutal obstinate and impious character; +long eyebrows, of arrogance, and insolence; spare eyebrows, of effeminacy +and cowardice. But if they are thick, flexible, and parallel, you may rely +on a sound judgment and superior wisdom. Such are ever the brows of +Jupiter; attesting the theory of Aristotle. + +The question of noses occupies a prominent place in theories of the human +physiognomy. The flat nose is indicative of a propensity to pleasure and +luxury; the pointed, of ill-temper and frivolity; a deviation from the +straight line, of a disposition to malice and repartee. Since the days of +Aristotle, this opinion has been permanent; a crooked nose, being the +attribute of a satirical mind. The owner of a diminutive nose, is usually +cunning and dissimulating; of a large nose, imprudent and discourteous. + +Let us here observe, that if there be one feature in the human face more +characteristic than another, it is the nose. Examine the head of a +skeleton which exhibits trace of human features, save the nasal bone; +which though prominent, is an integral part of the cerebral globe. Now if +the brain be the seat of intelligence, may not the nose be influenced by +its propinquity to the brain? Humbly submitting this question to the +consideration of science, we proceed to consider the theories of other +speculators. + +Amongst Europeans, the Italians rank first for beauty of nose; the Dutch, +for the excessive ugliness of that feature. The English nose is apt to be +thick and cartilaginous; that of the Jews, somewhat crooked. In France, +almost every man of genius has had a well-formed nose. Short and flat +noses, so censured by Aristotle, still rank low in the science of +physiognomy. Socrates, however, was a singular instance of a hideous nose. +Boerhaave and Gibbon possessed one of the same disagreeable form. + +The mouth attracted the notice of the ancients as much as the nose. A +moderate mouth was, in their estimation, a symbol of courage, capacity, +and nobleness of heart. The indication indeed was infallible when +accompanied with a square and well-formed chin, an expansive forehead, and +firm and rosy cheeks. The Greeks did not confine their observations to the +head and face in forming a judgment of the moral and intellectual +faculties; but regarded every component part of the human frame. Since, +however, we are more discreetly clothed than the Greeks, we decline +following their researches. The eyelids, nails, moles, and even teeth, +were taken into consideration: more especially the latter, as indicative +of the workings of the mind. If authentic, the science of physiognomy +would be universally studied, for how useful would it be to detect the +good or evil qualities of man or woman by a glance at their faces! As it +stands at present, however, many false inferences would be made. For +instance, we are told that well shaped blue eyes, portend intelligence and +frankness; qualities incompatible with a sound nose. But if found +together, as is often the case, what is to be decided between two positive +contradictions, the nose rendering impossible the virtues promised by the +eyes? The indications of the mouth and eyebrows may be equally at +variance; and physiognomy presents a tissue of similar contradictions. + +Having established the fallacy of the physiognomical system, we must +nevertheless render homage to the sagacity of Lavater, to his ingenious +and fascinating system, and conscientious enthusiasm for an art which he +has enriched with much valuable observations, and endeavoured to elevate +into a science. Lavater was sincerely devoted to his art, which +predominated over every other idea, and exalted his imagination to such a +degree, that he became rather the poet than the disciple of physiognomy. +Gifted with a highly impressionable nature, the countenances of certain +persons used to haunt his memory; and in early life, he made such +striking inferences from certain physiognomies, that he was induced to +persist in his studies. + +"My first attempts," said he, "were pitiful. Required to furnish a +discourse to the Society of Sciences at Zurich, I decided upon the theme +of physiognomy, and composed it with heedlessness and precipitation. + +"I was censured, praised, and laughed at; and could not refrain from +smiling, well aware how much of this was undeserved. At this moment, my +physiognomical convictions are so strong that I decide upon certain faces +with as absolute a certainty as of my existence." + +The sincerity of Lavater is undeniable. But even had we his convictions, +we should hesitate to decide in favour of the infallibility or +applicability of his system; which is more the result of a peculiar +personal sagacity, constantly on the watch, than the efficacy of the art. +A man may be born a physiognomist. But to become one by mere force of +study, is next to impossible. + +Zopirus was doubtless a great physiognomist. One day, on entering the +school of Socrates, he pronounced, at a glance, a man who was present to +be extremely vicious; and his conjecture was correct. But such sweeping +applications of the art of physiognomy would sanction calumny, by allowing +the accidents of nature to be made a test of character; when the +influence of religion, reason, or education might have successfully +subdued them. Were such a verdict held good, a fatal impediment would be +placed against all moral improvement. Refinement of intellect is often +connected with a coarse exterior; and the most prepossessing physiognomy +with the grossest violations of decency. "A pretty woman deficient in +sense," says Madame de Staël, "is a flower without fragrance;" and how +many scentless flowers of this kind are to be met with in society!--The +face of the esteemed La Fontaine was that of an idiot. Jean Jacques +Rousseau was remarkable for a stupid serenity of countenance, wholly at +variance with the impetuous and volcanic nature of his mind. The face of +Fénélon was devoid of all expression. I have heard of two brothers, one +possessing a charming countenance, and yet a rascal; the other, a +villainous face, yet a perfectly honest man. Moreover, our features are +constantly varying; and if our moral and intellectual faculties are to be +inferred from these changes, how are we to establish or follow up any +fixed principle, amid such a labyrinth of confusion? A system based upon +the general development of the brain is far more rational; because the +lobes of the brain are born with us, and if time develop them, it is in +manifest proportions. + +We admit, therefore, the talents of certain individuals for pronouncing +upon the characters of men, according to their physiognomy; and that they +may, by constant practice, enhance this personal aptitude. Individuals +educated for a diplomatic career, ought not to neglect this study, +proficiency in which is essential to their success. To divine, yet never +be divined; to read the physiognomy of others, while your own is devoid of +expression, formed one of the grand secrets of Monsieur de Talleyrand. +Most people who converse with a multiplicity of persons become +physiognomists; and if mistaken in their judgments, are less often so than +those who have intercourse with few. But the civilized man is so different +from the being pure from the hands of his Creator, that any system +comprising confusedly the state of nature and of civilization must +necessarily be fallacious. + +Study Lavater, therefore, and practice his art as a recreation among +friends; but make no serious conclusions drawn from physiognomical rules, +which abound in contradictions. + +Let us now proceed to point out the similitudes of feature betwixt certain +men and certain animals. Though we were created after the image of God, +many theorists establish physiognomical analogies between man and the +animal race. These speculators pretend that every human being had his +correspondent beast in this world; just as every good Christian has his +patron among the elect of Paradise. Charles Lebrun, the favourite painter +of Louis XIV, was a zealous adherent to this theory. Before his time, +Porta had devoted his attention to this ancient supposition; and +congratulated himself upon having detected a likeness between the face of +a setter and that of the divine Plato; an idea which prompted further +speculation. That a painter continually watching nature under every aspect +should be allured by such a theory, in which his practised eye has +compared and approximated objects, and detected similitudes unintelligible +to the vulgar, cannot be surprising. A mere hint, or trace suffices him +for the composition of a face, just as Cuvier recomposed the Mastodon by +merely seeing one of the bones. + +After profound studies, Charles Lebrun concluded that every human face had +features more or less correspondant with those of the various animal +species. His opinion rested upon a diagram, uniting a quantity of designs +with an explanatory text. The designs still exist, but the text is not +forthcoming; though something is known of it by means of one of his pupils +who survived him. Lebrun could distinguish by a glance at an animal's +head, whether it were carnivorous, or herbivorous, timid, or bold, +peaceful, or ferocious. To the bump on the higher part of the nose, he +assigned the locality of courage. To ascertain this endowment, either in +man or animals, therefore, you had only to cast an eye on the nose. "All +men of eminence," said he, "have well proportioned noses, of which the +aquiline has ever been esteemed the most distinguished; probably from its +similitude to the beak of the king of the air--the eagle. The Persians +esteemed the aquiline nose so highly, that supreme power was inaccessible +without it. Cyrus, Artaxerxes, and every monarch who ever swayed the +eastern world, boasted of this mark of distinction. + +Like all new theories, the paradoxes of Lebrun commanded much attention, +presenting a subject of inexhaustible controversy, as coming within the +scope of every one's observation. According to the system of Lebrun, the +Great Condé enjoyed the distinction of possessing the most heroic nose in +the kingdom, which, of course, brought the system into credit. Examine the +designs of Lebrun. The analogy between certain men and animals there +portrayed, is most striking. But the skill of a clever artist contrives +and exaggerates resemblances, like the wit of the caricaturist, whose +monstrosities, however absurd, often exhibit a remarkable degree of +likeness. + +As regards mere physical analogy, nothing can be cleverer than the works +of Grandville, whose animals seem to emulate our absurdities, habits, and +manners. But Lebrun and his disciples looked upon the thing seriously; +instituting pernicious deductions from certain accidents of form, and +tending to approximate enlightened man to the brute creation. The +materialism thus inculcated, would lead to the most serious moral +results. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +LAST WORDS OF DYING PERSONS. + + +Are the last words of the dying to be considered prophetic? Is a +supernatural intelligence vouchsafed to the last efforts of expiring +nature? Examples are cited in substantiation of this belief; but the +subject is one demanding the most serious consideration. Napoleon was of +opinion that Hannibal was the greatest warrior of antiquity; founding his +opinion upon the fact that the Roman historians, in describing his +character, must have rather disparaged than aggrandised the great enemy of +Rome. This luminous appreciation acquires to be constantly kept in view. +Every historian is more or less biassed with regard to the personages he +describes. He relates events after their accomplishment, and occasionally +miraculous incidents to enhance the value of his recital. + +The words spoken on death-beds may have been accidentally realized; as +often occurs to the prophesies of the living. But this does not confer +the gift of prophecy upon every death-bed. + +Ferdinand IV., King of Castille, having been cited by one of his victims +to appear in the presence of God; died on the thirtieth day. But the most +remarkable summons of this nature was that made by Jacques Molay, Grand +Master of the Templars, to Philip le Bel and Clement V., to appear in the +presence of God forty days before the end of the year. At the time +specified, Clement was carried to the tomb; but Philip did not follow him +until a year later, 1314, the martyrdom of the Templars having taken place +in 1312. It is true that Ferdinand IV. condemned to death the Brothers +Carvajal, unjustly accused of the murder of a Spanish gentleman; and that +their citation to the King in their dying moments was accomplished to a +day. But the health of the monarch was, at the time of their condemnation, +much impaired by the excesses of the table; so that his approaching end +seemed certain. As we observed respecting talismans, some imaginations are +worked upon by encouragement, while others are affected in the contrary +sense; and it needed no miracle for the menace of the Carvajals to hasten +the end of the King of Castille. + +Sometimes a careless word or sentence acquires, by accident, a semblance +of importance. At the death of Louis XV., all France recalled to mind the +words the Bishop of Senez had pronounced before him: "In forty days, +Nineveh shall be destroyed." Louis XV. died on the fortieth day, and the +Bishop was thought a prophet; a mere figure of eloquence having become +metamorphosed into a prediction. + +Much such a prophecy was uttered in the Church of Notre Dame, by a priest +named Beauregard, some years previous to the Revolution. "Thy temples +Lord," said he, "shall be thrown down and pillaged, thy name blasphemed, +thy rites proscribed. Great God! what do I hear! The holy canticles with +which these vaults once echoed, are drowned by profane and lascivious +songs; and the infamous divinities of paganism usurp the place of God, the +Creator, sitting on the throne of the Holy of Holies, and receiving the +sacred incense of our altars." + +These words became remarkable when realized at the Revolution. But when +they were uttered, the Revolution was already impending. Beauregard, +endowed with a zealous and vehement nature, touched upon the probable +consequence of a philosophy which he contemplated with horror; thus +becoming an unconscious refutation of the proverb, that "No man is a +prophet in his own country." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE ANTIPODES--MORNING AND EVENING DEW. + + +It is a gratifying thing when popular prejudices are overcome by the +progress of public enlightenment. The existence of the antipodes was +formerly disbelieved. Before the spherical form of our globe was +ascertained, how was it possible to suppose that there existed human +beings under our feet standing with their head downwards? + +Till the Newtonian theory was developed, it seemed impossible but that +persons so placed must fall into the realms of endless space. There is a +general disposition in human nature to believe all that is impossible as +well as to doubt every thing that really exists; and such was the +incredulity of the world with regard to the antipodes. + +The ancients, who admitted many absurdities, denied the existence of the +antipodes. The Fathers of the Church followed in their steps; some indeed +pronounced it heresy to hold such a belief. St. Augustin expressly says, +"Take heed lest thou believe such a fable." In his treatise on the Acts +of the Apostles, there is an argument remarkable enough, considering that +the rotundity of the earth was then unknown. "Faith teaches us, that all +men are from Adam. But if there were other men under the earth, they could +not be of Adam. How could they have found their way to the antipodes? Not +by land, for the antipodes are cut off from our hemisphere by boundless +seas. Not by sea; for the most experienced pilot would not dare launch his +vessel in such boundless space. It is, therefore, evident that the +doctrine of the antipodes is false and heretical." Time and experience +have taught us the folly of deciding upon topics exceeding our +comprehension. Yet, perhaps, even now we deny a host of truths, which at +some time may give us an insight into futurity. In great as well as +trifling things, every day brings its tribute to the cause of truth. The +antipodes are admitted to exist. The earth revolves round the sun, though +once supposed to be stationary in its place in the heavens; while the dew, +which our ancestors believed to descend from heaven, is known to be an +emanation from the earth." + +Such an error was pardonable enough. The dews are often made use of in +Holy Writ as a term of comparison; and the mercy of the Lord is implored +to descend upon his people like the dews from heaven. After many +experiments in elucidation of the origin of dew, a scientific observer +obtained the following results. + +Having placed some plants under glass bells, he examined them the +following morning, and finding them to be covered with dew like those left +in the air, he cut shreds of flannel; and placing them at graduated +heights, found that those nearest the earth were first wet, and that the +dew gradually rose towards the highest. Upon weighing the shreds, he found +those below to be the most saturated. Lastly, upon examining plants grown +in green-houses, he felt convinced that they also imbibed abundant dew. +These experiments excited attention; and Muschembroek, the author, had +many imitators. Among others, Dufay, who placed a double ladder thirty-two +feet high, in the centre of a garden, suspending tablets of glass at +different altitudes; so that each was equally exposed to the action of the +atmosphere. He remained at the foot of the ladder to watch the progress of +the phenomenon, and found that the tablets nearest the earth were the +first moist, and that the humidity ascended gradually to the highest. +Several other men of science repeated the same experiment with similar +results. + +The problem was thus solved, and proof obtained that dew ascended from the +earth. To the joy, however, of some, a doubt presented itself. By renewed +experiments it was found that this dew from the earth did not equally +affect all bodies, and was partial in its bearing. For instance, it +appeared to avoid gold, silver, metal, and polished marbles; while it +adhered to glass, oily and resinous substances. + +Place a gold or plated vessel under a crystal vase in a garden during the +night, and in the morning you will find the edges perfectly dry, while the +crystal vase will be wet. The cause of this difference is not accounted +for. Reaumur supposes, but does not affirm, that the golden vessel, +containing more caloric than the crystal, repels the dew, while the latter +attracts it. + +In confirmation of this supposition, Reaumur proposed the following +experiment. Place a china cup upon a stone within a hot-bed; and further +on, and beyond the influence of the hot-bed, another cup of similar form, +substance, and diameter; this will be charged with dew, the other will +remain dry. In explanation of this difference, it may be imagined that the +phenomenon of which they sought the solution, originated in electricity; +an opinion, however, which has no influence over the main discovery that +dews arise from the ground, instead of falling from the skies, as asserted +by the mythology of the ancients, and the tropes of Scripture. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +PERPETUAL LAMPS AND ARCHIMEDES. + + +Stability is not the characteristic of man or his works. The discovery of +perpetual motion has long been the object of our ambition; the sole +approach to which appears to be our futile perseverance in the pursuit. +Let us be content, therefore, with aspiring to duration, a sufficient +triumph for perishable man; and be it noted that this quality, though +impressed by human art upon inert matter, such as the Pyramids of Egypt, +is incompatible with the mutability of our social institutions. + +The word perpetual has been too often and too easily applied. The +marvellous is too often substituted for the true, just as great vices are +more widely apparent than great virtues. Who has not heard, for instance, +of perpetual lamps, miraculous as the Wonderful Lamp of the Arabian Tales! + +The Pagan priesthood originated these fabulous sepulchral lights; and +those of our own faith who had the weakness to adopt their deception, +endangered our confidence by recourse to unworthy trickeries. Pausanias +mentions a lamp of massive gold, consecrated by Callimachus, and endowed +with such properties as to endure a year without deterioration. Another is +said to have existed in a temple in England. Pope Gelasius affirms, in the +acts of St. Sylvester, that in the Baptistery of Rome, there was a lamp +which had burned without intermission since the reign of Constantine, +viz., half a century. That the dark ages should have admitted such marvels +is not surprising. But one of the illuminati of the sixteenth century, +Fortunio Liceti, composed a treaty concerning the existence of such lamps, +asserting that, upon opening the tomb of the giant Pallas, a lamp was +found which had been burning since the times of the pious Æneas. Another +was stated to have been found in the tomb of Tullia, during the +Pontificate of Paulinus, about fifteen centuries and a half after its +construction. In the reign of Justinian, a portrait of our Saviour was +discovered at Edessa with a lamp unrenovated from the period of the +Christian era, that is, during a period of five centuries. Fortunio cites +a vast number of similar examples; from which he infers that the Romans +possessed the secret of making inextinguishable lamps. His conviction +upon the subject is such, that he attempts to explain the possibility by +a theory that the combustion of the smoke produced fresh oil for the +nourishment of the lamp. This must surely have been the far-famed oil of +the Phoenix. + +It is scarcely worth while to controvert such absurdities; the fable of +perpetual lamps having faded before the dawning light of reason. Is it, +however, to be credited, that the genius of Descartes did not secure him +against this vulgar error? The views of that great man on the subject +deserve to be quoted as a proof of the aberrations to which superior minds +are subject. "After considering the fire produced by gunpowder," says +Descartes, "which is the most transitory in existence, let us inquire +whether there can exist a flame, enduring without the aid of fresh matter +for its support, like those found in the tombs of the ancients shut up for +centuries. I will not vouch for the truth of their existence; but think it +possible that in a vault so close that the air could never be disturbed, +the parts of the oil transformed into smoke, and from smoke into soot, +might, by sub-formation, arch themselves over the flame so as to protect +it from the air, and render it so weak as to lose the power of consuming +either oil or wick, so long as there should remain a shred unburnt by +which means the primary element existent in the flame and identified with +the little self-formed vault, might revolve therein like a little star. +It necessarily follows that the second element became expelled on all +sides, while trying to penetrate the pores still remaining in the little +dome; and the flame which remained feeble while the place was closed, +brightened the moment it was opened, and the external air admitted. The +surrounding smoke dispersed, the flame recovers its vigour for a moment, +and then expires. Such lamps, in fact, become perpetual, only from having +exhausted their oil." + +This statement is extracted from the Fourth Book of the Principles of +Philosophy of Descartes. In spite of the respect due to his name, we see +in it only a tissue of verbosity exhibiting science at a nonplus, and +advocating a groundless theory. But such a chimera on the part of so +eminent a man, ought to afford consolation to second-rate capacities, as a +proof that no one is exempt from delusions. + +From Descartes, let us turn to Archimedes, who conferred ten-fold power +upon the arm of man by arming it with the lever; and with becoming +deference avow our want of faith in the mirror by the burning reflections +of which he managed to destroy the Roman galleys! + +"Combustible bodies," observes Descartes, "cannot be ignited by means of +mirrors unless comprehended in the necessary focus. Geometry shows us that +the distance of a focus of a concave mirror is equal to the half of its +sphere; that is, if the mirror have been set from a sphere of a radius of +one foot, the distance of the focus will be of six inches. A sphere having +a radius of one foot, gives, therefore, but a focus of six inches, so that +to establish a focus at two hundred feet, would require a sphere with a +radius of four hundred feet, or eight hundred in diameter! Besides, how +could Archimedes procure such a mirror, when the art of casting mirrors +was unknown, and the manufacture of glass in its infancy? That it was a +metallic mirror is difficult to conceive. Such were the solutions +attempted of an insoluble problem. Doubtful anecdotes are so often and so +boldly adopted by the authors of antiquity, that we may regard as +unsubstantiated all facts upon which they are silent. Neither Livy, +Diodorus, nor Polybius mention the mirror of Archimedes; so that the +invention is probably modern, and most likely a fable of the sixteenth +century, prolific in inventions and amplifications. The press, then in its +infancy, delighted in the propagation of marvels and fallacies attributed +by their imbecile authors to the ancients, so as to assign them some +semblance of truth. Among such inventions was the mirror of Archimedes. + +Gallienus, indeed, mentions the burning of the fleet by Archimedes; but is +mute on the subject of the mirror, which he could scarcely have omitted, +had the fact been genuine. Tzetzes and Zoronas are the first who mention +it; the former in the following words: + +"When the Roman galleys were within arrow-shot, Archimedes caused an +hexagonal mirror to be made, and other smaller ones, each having +twenty-four angles, which were placed at a proportionate distance, and +could be worked by their hinges and certain metallic blades; their +position being such that the rays of the sun reflected upon their surface, +produced a fire which destroyed the Roman galleys, though at the distance +of a bow-shot." + +The author does not condescend to give his authority; relying for the +evidence of his authenticity upon his confederate, Zoronas, who relates +that, at the Siege of Constantinople, under the reign of Anastasius, +Probus burnt the enemy's fleet by means of brazen mirrors. He states that +the invention was not new, but belonged to Archimedes, who, as testified +by Dion, used them at the Siege of Syracuse by Marcellus. + +The mutual confederacy of a couple of mountebanks is as easily understood +as it would be susceptible of annihilation; did not such men as Kirchen +and Buffon become sureties, not for what Archimedes has done, but for what +he was capable of effecting. Previous to Descartes, the former had +asserted the possibility of igniting combustible matter at a great +distance by means of small plane mirrors, which could be managed so that +the rays might be directed upon any given object. This was simply a +theory; but Buffon decided upon making the experiment, the result of which +is well known. He caused to be constructed one hundred and sixty-eight +little mirrors six inches by eight, and directing their rays towards a +point, succeeded in igniting a body at a considerable distance. By this he +discovered a new principle, viz: that the action of the solar rays +reflected is in direct ratio of the diameter of the focus; proving, +moreover, that by multiplying the mirrors, an indefinite line of +combustion might be established. + +Can we infer, however, from these experiments of Buffon, that Archimedes +actually destroyed the Roman galleys? We think not; considering the +silence of the Roman writers on the subject, and the progress of science +in the time of Buffon, with reference to its discoveries in the time of +the Siege of Syracuse by Marcellus. Whether this mirror existed or not, +however, Archimedes must be admitted to be one of the greatest geniuses +the World of Science ever produced. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE LYNX AND THE CAMELEON. + + +The title of this chapter seems to promise a fable rather than a +dissertation; and a very amusing one might be grounded on the attributes +of the two animals, considering the perspicacity affected by poor +short-sighted mortals, and the mutability of colour of so many a human +mind. It is not, however, as emblems that we are about to treat of the +lynx and the cameleon. + +The lynx figures extensively in the poetry of the ancients. Not only do +they attribute miraculous properties to the eyes of the animal, as being +able to see through walls, but Pliny assures us that the excrements of the +lynx were transformed into amber, rubies, and carbuncles. The nature or +habits of this animal were so delicate, however, that its secretions were +as difficult to discover as those of cats; in consequence of which much +treasure was lost! They might as well have asserted at once, that jewels +found in mines were the produce of antediluvian lynxes. They proceeded, +however, to attribute the optical powers of the lynx to a variety of +individuals; nor have modern writers hesitated to follow their example. + +Valerius Maximus, Varro, and even Cicero, speak with ecstasies of the +powers of vision of the Sicilian, Strabo; who, from Cape Lilyboeum could +descry Carthage, and count the vessels sailing out of the port; the +distance being forty-five leagues! These worthies forgot, that even had +the sight of Strabo been still more powerful, the intermediary obstacles +caused by the rotundity of the globe must have circumvented his view. +Cæsar is said to have seen from Gaul all that passed in a port in Britain; +probably by a figure of speech purporting that he knew all that passed in +conquered countries, just as the eye of Napoleon was said to survey at +once his whole empire. + +About the year 1725, the marvellous history of a Portuguese woman set the +whole world of science into confusion, as will be found by referring to +the Mercure de France. This female was said to possess the gift of +discovering treasures. Without any other aid than the keen penetration of +her eyes, she was able to distinguish the different strata of earth, and +pronounce unerringly upon the utmost distances at a single glance. Her eye +penetrated through every substance, even the human body; and she could +discern the mechanism, and circulation of all animal fluids, and detect +latent diseases; although less skilful than the animal magnetiser, she did +not affect to point out infallible remedies. Ladies could learn from her +the sex of their forthcoming progeny. In short, her triumphs were +universal. + +The King of Portugal, greatly at a loss for water in his newly built +palace, consulted her; and after a glance at the spot, she pointed out an +abundant spring, upon which his Majesty rewarded her with a pension, the +Order of Christ, and a patent of nobility. + +In the exercise of her miraculous powers, certain preliminaries were +indispensable. She was obliged to observe a rigid fast; indigestion, or +the most trifling derangement of the stomach, suspending the marvellous +powers of her visual organs. + +The men of science of the day were of course confounded by such prodigies. +But instead of questioning the woman, they consulted the works of their +predecessors; not forgetting the inevitable Aristotle. By dint of much +research, they found a letter from Huygens asserting that there was a +prisoner of war at Antwerp, who could see through stuffs of the thickest +texture provided they were not red. The wonderful man was cited in +confirmation of the wonderful woman, and vice versâ. + +The Antwerp lynx, meanwhile, had attained considerable credit, from the +fact of two ladies visiting him in person, upon which he burst into +immoderate laughter. On the cause of his mirth being inquired into, he +stated that one of them had on no under garment, the truth of which +statement caused the ladies to take a hasty departure, in the dread of +revelations still more indiscreet. + +In the beginning of the present century there lived a physician at Lyons, +who seriously asserted that one of his patients had the power of reading +letters, though sealed. This was evidently a device to obtain notoriety, +and fill his purse at the expense of a credulous public. For what, in +fact, can be more grossly absurd than the assertion that either human +eyes, or those of the lynx possess the faculty of reading through opaque +bodies? Many attempts have been recently made by the upholders of +Magnetism to exhibit similar impositions. + +From the lynx we proceed to the cameleon; hoping to exonerate this much +defamed animal from the imputations of mutability so long lavished upon +its nature. Instead of being adopted as the symbol of fickleness, the +cameleon ought, in fact, to become the emblem of frankness and truth, +betraying in its changes of hue every impression of which it is +susceptible. + +The ancients denied the existence of the cameleon, treating it as an ideal +animal devoid of natural colour. They conceded to it, on the other hand, +a radiant body, and the faculty of existing without food. Such were the +opinions of Pliny, Aristotle, and Oelian. But Daubenton and Lacépède +devoted serious attention to the nature of the cameleon; and the scrutiny +of science has served to rectify a popular error. + +Cameleons have been brought alive to France, and a pair is now living in +the Zoological Gardens of England. But till lately, they were known in +Europe only through the preparations of our Museums of Natural History. +This singular animal belongs to the lizard tribe, and is found in hot +climates. Its length is from thirteen to fourteen inches; of which the +tail counts for half. The head is surmounted by a kind of cartilaginous +pyramid inclining backwards. The mouth is so formed as scarcely to afford +a view of its disproportionably large swallow. For some time too, the +cameleon passed for being devoid of hearing; but Camper has established +that it possesses that faculty, though in a limited degree. The organs of +sight on the other hand, are so acute as to exceed by far those of the +lynx. It can turn its eyes in every direction; moves with deliberate +dignity, and feeds on insects. But is not entitled to the encomiums of the +ancients with respect to sobriety; though it can fast for a period +exceeding a year. Of a pacific nature, it has numerous enemies; and being +timid to excess, its endless variations of hue are perceptible through a +very transparent skin. Heat and light influence the changes of its +colours; which vary between yellow, red, black, green, and white. + +Mademoiselle de Scudery possessed a pair of cameleons, from observations +upon which, it was seen that adjacent colours produced no effect upon +them; other colours than those near them often manifesting themselves on +the body. Bichat supposed that the mutations of the cameleon proceeded +from the quantity of air contained in the arterial blood; an opinion the +better founded, that this animal is able to fill itself with air and +discharge it at will. When asleep, or cold, or dead, the hue of the +cameleon is white. Such is the exact truth concerning two animals which +poets and historians have invested with fabulous properties; and to which +mankind have often been assimilated--by analogies now admitted to be +groundless. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +WILD WOMEN. + + +No age has been exempt from popular delusions; but there are certain +prejudices peculiar to certain localities. One of the characteristic +superstitions of Germany subsisted so lately as the middle of the last +century, as may be seen by a tradition of the date of 1753. + +"At that time," said the peasants of Grödich, "it was not uncommon to see +wild women issue from the Wunderburg, and approach the youths and maidens +attending their herds near the cavern of Glanegg, whom they asked for +bread. Sometimes, they would come out to glean in the fields; leaving the +mountain betimes, and at nightfall returning to their haunts without even +sharing the meals of their fellow-gleaners. + +One day, a little boy mounted upon a cart-horse, approached the +Wunderburg, when the wild women rushed forward, and would have carried +him off. The father, however, ran up and protected him. Unaware of the +mysteries connected with that awful mountain, he demanded what they meant +by attempting to carry off his son; to which the savages replied: 'that +among them he would be better taken care of, and that no harm should +happen to him in their abode.' But the father held fast his child, and the +women went weeping away." + +Another time these wild women entered Kügelstadt, a village beautifully +situated upon the same mountain, and carried off a boy watching a herd. At +the end of a year he returned, dressed in green, and sat on the trunk of a +tree at the foot of the mountain.[1] The woodsmen and his parents went the +next day in search of him, but in vain; nor was the youth ever beheld +again. A wild woman from the mountain went towards the village of Anif, +about half a league from Wunderburg, where she hollowed out a place of +shelter in the earth. + + [1] The reader will be struck by the affinity between this Legend, and + the Ettrick Shepherd's beautiful tale of "Kilmeny," taken from a + Highland tradition. + +Her hair was of great length and beauty falling to her feet, and proved +highly attractive to a peasant who chanced to encounter her, and who at +length ventured to make an avowal of his passion. The wild woman inquired +whether he were married; and the peasant not daring to own the truth, +answered in the negative. + +Shortly afterwards, his wife, terrified by his absence from home, came in +search of him; but instead of upbraiding him with his infidelity, fled in +dismay at the sight of the lady of the beautiful locks. The mysterious +woman now upbraided him with his want of veracity; assuring him that had +his wife testified the smallest jealousy, she would have killed him on the +spot. Bidding him be more faithful in future to the marriage tie, she +bestowed a bag of money upon him, and was never again seen in the +neighbourhood of Grölich. + +This story was treated as a jest by several French writers of the last +century. Yet the age, so severe upon the credulity of the simple peasants +of Wunderburg, believed in the devices of Cagliostro and the miracles of +Mesmer! The extremes of science and ignorance may consequently be said to +meet in the bewildering mazes of superstition. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +SYBILS. + + +The existence of one or more Sybils in the ancient world has been +distinctly proved. Classic authors are unanimous upon the subject. Suidas +tells us that there were fourteen; Varro, ten. Oelian asserts that there +were only four; while Martinus Capella reduces them to two. + +Dr. Petit, however, the author of the Essay "De Sybilla," reduces them to +one. Let us grant that the Sybil of Cumæ was the only authentic Sybil, +whether originating in Ionia, Syria, or Campania. Let us even establish +that her name was Demo, according to Pausanias, though Virgil declares +that she was called Deiphobe, and was the daughter of Glaucus. Suidas +calls his fourteen by the common name of Eriphile; Aristotle styles the +Sybil, Malanchrenes. After due consideration of these names, certain +writers unanimously adopted that of Amalthea. Be it our business to +inquire into the question upon the only reasonable grounds, namely, in a +symbolical sense. A man had need to belong to Rome or Greece to entertain +a due respect for the subject; where the existence of supernatural beings +placed by the Gods between heaven and earth, and predominating over Kings +and their subjects, was regarded as a blessing. In those times, such +creations had a salutary influence of which we cannot now appreciate the +value. The ancient social institutions, of so many centuries past, are +scarcely to be understood from books; since those by which we are actually +surrounded are not altogether comprehensible. + +Great was the veneration conceded to the Sybils in Greece and Rome; in +proof of which we need only cite the Sybilline volume--to discredit which +in the olden time, would have been a matter of danger. + +It is known to all that a venerable Sybil came to Tarquin, and offered to +sell him nine volumes of her prophecies, when her price being taxed as +exorbitant, she threw three volumes into the fire, still requiring the +same price for the remaining six. Still denied her price by Tarquin, three +more of the books shared the same fate; and on her adhering to her +original demand for the remaining three; Tarquin assembled the Augurs, who +advised the purchase, and the monarch was forced to submit to the terms of +the Sybil. + +From that moment, the Sybilline leaves became objects of veneration. They +were made over to the custody of the priests, and consulted upon +occasions of importance after a decree of the Senate. These volumes were +destroyed in the conflagration of the Capitol, eighty-three years before +Christ; a severe calamity to the Romans, who looked upon the Sybilline +books as a sacred charta. It is remarkable, that after the destruction of +these volumes, the Republic gradually declined, and fell under the yoke of +the Emperors. + +Immense as was the loss of the volumes, considering their influence over +the minds of the people, the Augurs and Senate hoped to replace the loss. +Zealous missionaries were sent to all the cities of Europe, Asia and +Africa, which affected to possess Sybilline verses; and more than two +thousand were brought back. But we are to conclude they were far from +genuine, as the Sybilline oracles declined in credit. Augustus suppressed +many of the verses, and the rest were burned by Stilicon, father-in-law of +the Emperor Honorius. + +In all countries of the ancient world, Virgins were objects of worship; +and even as connected with Pagan idolatries, there is something beautiful +and touching in the homage paid to virginal purity, more particularly in +contrast with the ferocity of manners of the early Romans. The most abject +corruption respected the worship of virginity. No virgin could be +immolated by the Romans; and Octavia was reduced to infamy ere she could +be lawfully sacrificed to the vengeance of Nero. The Sybils were sacred +virgins, which accounted for the veneration paid to them and their +oracles. St. Jerome expressly states that the gift of prophecy was +bestowed upon them in honour of their purity. As to the Sybil of Cumæ, she +was said to have rejected the advances of Apollo himself, though the God +offered to endow her with eternal youth and beauty; to which she preferred +the infirmities of mortal decrepitude in order to live and die in +chastity. + +As society is now constituted, nothing founded on error, or the frauds +usually called pious, can be termed justifiable. Tarquin and the Augurs +probably understood the inauthenticity of the Sybilline books; but it was +their cue to create a deep veneration for them, and assign a divine origin +to the laws, which in those days might not otherwise have been respected +by the people. + +In the time of Cicero, the Romans had learned to blush for their own +credulity; and in the following centuries, were confounded at seeing the +Fathers of the Christian Church return indirectly to ideas long fallen +into desuetude. St. Ambrose, however, denounced such doctrines; declaring +to the early Christians who were disposed to seek in the Sybilline books +exposition of their faith, that they were the idle production of fanatical +women. + +The Sybils of old were apparently prophetesses after the manner of Joanna +Southcote and Madame Krudener in the present century. The Sybilline +books, as existent in the days of St. Ambrose, teemed with frauds and +anachronisms, proving the ignorance of their authors, as much as the +credulity of those who believed in them. The events of the Christian +dispensation are as clearly announced in them as in the Holy Writ. The +personages are even mentioned by their proper names. Isaiah wrote: "A +virgin shall conceive." The Sybil is made to say, "The Virgin Mary shall +conceive, and shall bring forth Jesus in a stable in Bethlehem." The Sybil +also announces the Baptism of the Messiah in the Jordan; the coming of the +Holy Ghost under the form of a dove; the circumstances of the Passion; and +the preaching of the Gospel by the Apostles. She pretends to have +witnessed events long after the coming of the Messiah; relates the second +conflagration of the Temple of Vesta, which took place one hundred and +seventy years after Jesus Christ, in the reign of Commodus, and affects to +have been in Noah's Ark; yet is so ignorant of the Holy Writings, that she +supposes Noah to have sojourned therein only forty and one days; while +Moses states him to have been an entire year. She also places Mount Ararat +in Phrygia instead of Armenia. + +Such was the value of the last edition of the Sybilline volumes; +conceived, no doubt, with good intentions; but, as articles of faith, +little better than a fiction. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +FORTUNE-TELLERS AND CHIROMANCY. + + +Of the numerous family of impostors, composed of mountebanks, gypsies, +chiromancers, fortune-tellers, and sorcerers; the gypsies date from the +fifteenth century, and were first seen in Bohemia, in strange garbs, with +swarthy faces, and pretending to great proficiency in the art of +soothsaying. + +They made their appearance in Paris, 1442; proclaiming themselves to be +pilgrims wandering in expiation of their sin. Among them, were a Duke, a +Count, and ten Cavaliers. The remainder, one hundred and twenty in number +were on foot. These strangers were lodged at the Holy Chapel, to which the +Parisians flocked to obtain a view of them. They had sallow complexions +and black frizzly hair, and spoke an unknown tongue. The females who +accompanied them, devoted themselves to fortune-telling. + +The Bishop of Paris eventually excommunicated them, and had them expelled +the city; a persecution which served to create an interest in their +favour; and returning to Paris, they multiplied both in that city and in +other parts of France to such a degree that, in 1560, the States of +Orleans found it necessary to rid the kingdom of them; and subject them to +the pain of the gallies if they dare return. Treated with merciless +severity, they gradually disappeared; taking refuge in Germany, Hungary, +England, and the banks of the Danube; where they have remained ever since. + +Gypsies are known by different names, according to the countries they +inhabit; and constitute a wandering tribe in all the civilized states of +Europe, still retaining their pristine habits and customs. + +Public curiosity has long been directed towards the origin of the gypsies. +Theologians first traced them to Cain on the following grounds: when by +the murder of his brother, the elder born of Adam had brought upon himself +the supreme malediction, a mark was set upon him to secure his +recognition, at that time mankind were white. The Almighty is supposed to +have changed the complexion of Cain, that all men might know him. The +gypsies, therefore, who exhibit such remarkable complexions, and lead such +vagabond lives, had every appearance of being a proscribed race; and the +progeny of the first murderer. Other theologians make the gypsies descend +from Shem, the son of Noah, or Cham, the inventor of magic; for the +gypsies pretend to be magicians, and to descend from Cham. Father Delrio +asserts their sorcery to be so effective, that if you give them a piece of +money, the others in your purse invariably take flight to join their +fellow. + +The gypsies, uncertain of their origin, suppose themselves to have been +expelled from Egypt, and condemned to wander the world for having refused +hospitality to Joseph and the Holy Virgin, when they took refuge on the +banks of the Nile. But even in Egypt, the gypsies are declared to be of +foreign origin; so that the problem has still to be decided. + +These people ground their predictions upon an inspection of the palm of +the hand. Juvenal distinctly alludes to female drawers of horoscopes. +"Such a woman," said he, "exhibits her hand and forehead to the diviner." + +The chiromantic principle has much analogy with those of judiciary +astrology; and Aristotle cites chiromancy as a positive science. +Chiromancers divide the hand into several regions, each presided by a +planet. The thumb belongs to Venus, the index to Jupiter, the middle +finger to Saturn, the annulary to the Sun, the auricular to Mercury, the +centre of the hand to Mars, the remainder to the Moon. The direction of +the line of life is still undecided by chiromancers; some placing it +between the thumb and index, traversing the centre of the palm; while the +Hebrew cabalists make it diverge in a quarter of a circle from the middle +of the wrist to the first joint of the index. To denote long life, this +line should be deeply defined; when feeble and superficial, it implies a +limited existence, (even if the person so qualified should have survived +his eightieth year!) + +The triangle in the palm of the hand is consecrated to Mars; the three +lines of which it is formed being regarded by chiromancers as most +important, and comprehending the united indications of mind and body. The +hepatic line proceeds from the liver, and forms one of the large sides of +the triangle. When deeply indicated, it is characteristic of an exalted +soul and magnanimous character; but accompanied by a propensity to anger +and despondency. The mediana, which forms the base of the triangle, +implies frankness, sprightliness, and the love of pleasure. Should the +thumb and its root be furrowed with numerous lines, crossing at right +angles, or forming ellipses, stars, and repeated circles, you are favoured +by Venus; but should you possess the ring of Gyges, beware of her wrath. +This name implies the circular line of the thumb, and indicates an +infamous death. Adrian Sicler declares in 1639, a notorious villain who +met his fate on the wheel had this awful sign on the first phalanx. + +Between chiromancers and fortune-tellers with cards, the sole difference +consists in the means employed; and if you watch the sleight of hand of +the latter, instead of listening to their chattering, you will be amazed +by their dexterity. + +Card-conjurors are mere upstarts by comparison with chiromancers, who were +consulted by Augustus in the zenith of his power. Their art cannot have +existed previous to the days of Charles VI., for whose diversion cards +were invented. + +The miserable personal plight of these foreshowers of the future, is +singularly at variance with their reputation. How many of them grovel in +filthy retreats; where for the smallest sum, they dispense their promises +of fame and fortune. It is lamentable to think how many dupes such +impostors still command. Fortune-tellers captivate the confidence of the +vulgar, by predicting circumstances of frequent and common-place +occurrence, with the certainty of occasionally hitting home. Should one of +these by accident make a fortunate guess, his fame is established. But +their extortions are unimportant compared with the debasement of faculties +apparent in those who consult them; whom they disgust with their useful +callings by fostering hopes of impossible eventualities; or keep weak +minds in a state of terror for the mere guerdon of a piece of silver. + +There are examples of people being so awe-struck by the predictions of +jugglers, as to fall their victim. A person has been known to die at +forty, merely because that term of life was assigned him by a +fortune-teller. A slight illness having brought to mind the fatal +prediction at the appointed period, cerebral fever ensued which ended in +death. Such a fact is mentioned by Dr. Bruhier in his work upon the +Caprices of the Imagination. + +Though evil is said never to exist without corresponding good, it would be +difficult to point out a compensation for the mischiefs of fortune-tellers +and card-conjurors. Their predictions have often proved fatal in private +life, and they have exercised their evil influence by urging Princes to +acts of cruelty. The Emperor Valens having incensed his subjects by his +tyrannies, certain of them, meditating his overthrow, consulted a +soothsayer, who predicted future events by means of a cock. A circle being +described with the letters of the alphabet around it, a grain of corn was +dropped on each, and a cock placed in the centre. The letters from which +he pecked the corn were immediately taken up and a horoscope grounded upon +them; and the cock having, in the present instance, pecked up grains from +letters T. H. E. O. D., the conspirators concluded that the empire ought +to belong to Theodore, the Secretary of Valens, a man of merit, and +generally esteemed. + +The crown was offered to him, which he was rash enough to accept; but the +plot being discovered, he and his accomplices were executed. Not satisfied +with this act of vengeance, Valens banished all those whose names began by +the letters selected by the cock. But this did not prevent Theodosius the +Great from being his successor. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +ALBERTUS MAGNUS AND NOSTRADAMUS. + + +In the year 1248, the Emperor William of Holland arrived at Cologne on the +anniversary of the festival of the Epiphany; when Albertus the Great, +invited him and his whole Court to a banquet in a garden near the Convent +of the Preaching Friars. The Emperor accepted the offer: but on the +appointed day, there was a great fall of snow; and the Emperor and his +Court were much disconcerted by the invitation. + +But though inclined to avoid exposure to such inclemency of weather, they +adhered to their engagement and proceeded to the scene of the +entertainment, where they found the tables spread, but the trees and turf +covered with snow. The guests were of course indignant at so absurd an +arrangement; but Albertus had contrived that no one could go out of the +garden, by placing at every entrance guards of imposing stature. The +Emperor and Princes having seated themselves, the dishes were placed on +the table; when the day became gradually fine, and the snow disappearing +as if by enchantment, the shrubs and flowers recovered their verdure and +perfume; while the trees suddenly presented fruits in luscious maturity, +with innumerable birds perched upon their branches warbling heart-stirring +music. + +The heat increasing, the guests were forced to throw off their outward +garb; but no one could conjecture whence or by whom the dishes of the +feast were produced; the menials who served them being strangers, richly +attired, and of the most courteous deportment. The feast being at an end, +servitors and birds vanished; the turf lost its verdure, the flowers their +odour; and the snow re-appeared as if in the gloom of winter. The outward +garments of the guests were, of course, resumed; and all persons repaired +to a vast hall, where a good fire was blazing. + +The Emperor, gratified with this wonderful entertainment, endowed the +convent of which Albertus was a member with a valuable estate; expressing +great esteem for the skill and dexterity of his entertainer. + +Such is the monkish legend; nor is it worth while to contest such +absurdities, no one being weak enough to believe seriously in tales of +enchantment worthy only to figure in the pages of a romance. + +Many such marvels are recorded of Albertus, entitling us to believe him a +sorcerer, and the ally of Satan. But he is known to have been, like Friar +Bacon, one of the most enlightened men of the thirteenth century; and it +often happens, that in order to enhance the fame of illustrious persons, +their biographers have resource to exaggerations that deteriorate their +well-won fame. Such was the case with Nostradamus; who, in spite of +himself, was made a prophet. The real name of Nostradamus, was Michael of +Notre-Dame, but a custom prevailed in his time of latinizing names; and +Nostradamus was one of the high-sounding titles likely to ensure +popularity. Among the French, it enjoyed equal fame with that of Matthew +Länsberg among the Germans. + +The family of Nostradamus was of Jewish extraction, and proclaimed itself +descended from Issachar; a personage reputed to have been profoundly +versed in chronological science. Michael was born, December 14, 1503, at +twelve precisely, in the village of St. Remi, in Provence. He studied at +Avignon, where he distinguished himself in rhetoric; then proceeded to +Montpellier for the study of medicine. Having attained the degree of +Doctor at twenty-six, an unusual occurrence, he was considered the +successor of Hippocrates and Galen; but disdaining all earthly vocations, +he devoted himself to astrology, and mysterious speculations upon the +future. + +Nostradamus first published his Ephemeris, proclaiming agricultural +epochs, eclipses, phases of the moon, the returns of the season, and the +variations of atmosphere; and predicted the approach of epidemics, the +progress of governments, the births and marriages of the great; peace, +war, land, and sea fights, and many other things, which, as a matter of +course, must be realized in some part or other of the world. His +predictions were so fortunate, that he was soon acknowledged to be a +prophet; every one seeking to benefit by his vast enlightenment. The wily +man, aware that speculation upon popular prejudices is a sure road to +fortune, and seeing the love of the marvellous predominate, soon laid +aside his almanack, and gave full play to his fecund imagination as a +soothsayer. + +Had Nostradamus been only a man of profound science, he would have pined +in obscurity; but as affording diversion for the Court of France, his fame +soon prevailed throughout Europe. When his predictions first appeared, in +1555, they had such success, that Henry II. and Catherine de Medicis +invited him to Paris. + +Enriched by their munificence, he returned to his vocation in Provence; +and four years later, the Duke of Savoy and Marguerite of France, on their +way to Nice, visited Nostradamus at Salon. The Duchess being _enceinte_, +the Duke desired to know the probable sex of the issue; a tolerable safe +order of prediction as the chances of verification are even. In this case, +he foretold a son who afterwards became the greatest Captain in +Europe--Charles Emanuel, Duke of Savoy. + +The system of Nostradamus was partly original; but grafted upon several +others. He not only consulted the stars to cast a nativity, but the form +and features of the party. The Governor of Henry IV. wishing to have the +horoscope of his youthful master, applied to him, when he demanded to see +the royal youth naked. Henry at first resisted, thinking it a trick, and +that they perhaps meant to castigate him unjustly; but finally consented, +and after the examination, it was predicted that he would become King of +France, and enjoy a long reign. + +These facts are avouched by the biographers of Nostradamus; who, though he +predicted the future to others, was unable to foresee his approaching end. +He died in July 1566, aged sixty-two; but his fame survived him, and his +tomb became a kind of shrine, being inscribed with testimonials to his +profound science and miraculous qualities. Louis XIII. visited it in 1622, +and Louis XIV. in 1660. + +Like most men possessed of high renown, who profit by the credulity of +their contemporaries, he had a host of fanatical adulators. Among them, +none more enthusiastically devoted than a man named Chavigny, who +abandoned every thing to follow the fortune of the prophet, and received +his last sigh. Chavigny became the interpreter and eulogist of his great +master, as he had been the depository of his secrets. He even ventured +upon some posthumous predictions. + +Inconsolable for the loss of his illustrious master, Chavigny abandoned +Provence, and settled at Lyons; where he solaced his regrets by reflecting +upon the predictions and discoveries of the great astrologer. He commented +upon three hundred stanzas of the great work of Nostradamus, the result of +thirty years' study; and published the first part of the "French Janus," +or rather, a partial explanation of his prophecies. In this curious work, +Chavigny collated, compared and approximated the stanzas bearing reference +to the events of his own century; and composed a chronological table, so +remarkable for order and method, as to impose upon superficial minds. So +singularly happy are some of the stanzas of Nostradamus, and their +associations with history are so striking, that the renowned Doctor might +almost pass for having been inspired. Such, at least, is the opinion of +many who have strictly examined the work. + +In 1695, one Guinaud, one of the royal pages and a zealous supporter of +Nostradamus, proposed to reconcile the prophecies of Nostradamus with +history, from the time of Henry II. till that of Louis XIV. Presuming upon +his genius for exposition, he undertook to prove that nothing could be +clearer and less mysterious than the predictions of his favourite +astrologer. + +In support of this opinion, he applies the following lines to the massacre +of St. Bartholomew: + + Le gros airain qui les heures ordonne; + Sur le trépas du tyran cassera; + Fleurs plainte et cris, eau glace, pain ne donne, + V.S.C. Paix, l'armée passera. + +The explanation of Guinaud is, perhaps, more striking than the lines of +Nostradamus. The "_gros airain_," he declares to be the little bell of the +palaces. In the "_trépas du tyran_," he foresees the death of Coligny; and +in the initials "_V.S.C._," he finds an unaccountable indication of Philip +II. and Charles V. + +The other analogies were equally far-fetched; and, as is not unusually the +case, the absurdity of the annotation was visited upon the original work. + +The prophesies of Nostradamus, like those of Merlin, are now nothing more +than a literary curiosity. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +LEECHES, SERPENTS, AND THE SONG OF THE DYING SWAN. + + +In the conclusions of naturalists there is much to respect. But we must +beware of false inferences. + +For instance, no one will deny that swallows skim the surface of the earth +on the approach of a storm. But it is simply because insects then swarm in +the lower regions of the atmosphere. The swallows seek their prey where +instinct teaches them that it is most abundant; not because a peculiar +sympathy warns them of the coming storm. Swans, ducks, goslings, also, +indicate hot weather by plunging oftener than usual, because the +temperature being oppressive, they seek a fresher one under the water. + +In the list of meteorological animals, leeches hold a prominent place. An +English physician pretends that they are lively when the sky is clear and +serene, and raise their heads above water to breathe the pure air. But if +the sky be gloomy and clouded, they conceal themselves in the mud, and +are evidently agitated at the approach of storms. The following are the +observations of Dr. Vitet, in his "Treaty on Medical Leeches." + +"Close up a quantity of leeches in jars of equal size containing the same +water, and expose them together to the open air. Never will you see +identity of action. In one jar, they are at the surface, in another at the +bottom, while in another they will be completely out of the water sticking +to the cover. Again, you will see all the leeches of the same jar in all +these different positions; some adhering by their tails from the borders +of the jar, others balancing themselves with the most perfect regularity. +It follows, therefore, that leeches are devoid of meteorological +susceptibility." + +Had not Dr. Vitet made his experiments on so large a scale, a single +leech, well-watched, would always have been said to announce changes of +weather and temperature. In the case of the Rana Arboria, or tree-frog, +which is sometimes confined in a glass jar to form a sort of living +weather-glass, it may be noticed that, when two frogs of the same species +are kept in the same glass, one is sure to be found at the top of the +ladder and one at the bottom, proving how little such indications are to +be depended upon. + +To leeches is attributed another peculiarity, equally groundless; the +faculty, namely, of ridding us of our corrupt blood, while they respect +the pure; a fact disproved by daily experience. + +According to a popular prejudice in many countries, snakes and vipers will +creep down the throats of persons imprudent enough to sleep in the open +fields with their mouths open; and strange things are related on this +subject, especially in Germany. + +About fifty years ago, the German newspapers announced that in Styria a +young girl being asleep with her mouth open, a viper made its way into her +throat. She was not aware of the fact; but a few days afterwards began to +experience an insupportable irritation. On a subsequent day, the viper +reappeared by the channel it had penetrated, hissing and raising itself on +its tail as if overjoyed at its emancipation; and immediately afterwards, +the girl vomited a quantity of viper's eggs. This anecdote so charmed the +French journalists, that they republished it in various directions, +neither suspecting that they were renewing a fable of the Greeks, nor +inquiring whether vipers were oviparous. + +The adventures of the Styrian girl was nearly forgotten, when a French +surgeon gave a fresh version of it in the following shape: + +"In the month of June, 1806, a child of four years old having fallen +asleep on the bank of the Canal de L'Ourcq with her mouth open, a snake +crept in and passed into her stomach, where it remained for nineteen days; +at the expiration of which, the child accidentally drank a glass of white +wine, when forth came the snake in the presence of her whole family!" +Witnesses were found to attest the fact; and the medical man who attended +the child, asserted the reptile to have been eighteen inches long! Dr. +Masson, surgeon to the civil Hospitals of Paris, made a report upon the +subject to the Faculty of Medicine, attributing the attraction of the +snake to the child having fed upon bread and milk, the predilection of +those reptiles for that sustenance being well known. + +Before we return to the above subject, we may as well inquire whether the +predilection of snakes for milk be really true. The French peasants agree +in this opinion with Pliny, Aldovrandus and Gesner. Yet all are wrong. +Snakes are furnished with numerous little teeth at the extremity of their +mouths, that their prey may not escape; so that if they sucked the cows as +asserted by the peasants, their teeth must become inextricably entangled +in the udder. The diminution of the milk in the dairies of the French +provinces, is nevertheless often most conveniently ascribed to the +interposition of snakes, innocent at least of this species of mischief. + +We must, therefore, conclude that Dr. Masson's little patient was not the +victim of the passion of the snake in question for milk. Is it credible, +however, that a snake eighteen inches long could introduce itself into the +mouth of a sleeping child without awaking it, or creep down the æsophagus +and into the stomach without being perceived? The marvellous snake was +probably nothing more than a worm such as is frequently ejected from the +mouths of children. + +Snakes, vipers, and serpents have always been leading features in fable, +and, at times, in history. Without alluding to the serpent-tempter, we +have the serpent of Aaron, which also serves as the attribute of +Esculapius, and ornaments the Caduceus of Mercury. We have the serpent +Python, and those which entwined themselves round the Laocoon and his +sons; the serpent concealed under the flowers, whose sting caused the +death of Eurydice; and finally, the asp of Cleopatra. But upon such +matters, the moderns have gone far beyond the ancients. If, for instance, +the asp which bit the bosom of Cleopatra had pertained to the species +which Father Charleroix saw at Paraguay, it might have been the rival of +Anthony; for the Padre expressly asserts that serpents are ever on the +watch to carry off females in the forests of that province. These may be +considered rivals to the Great Sea Serpent of the Americans. + +Bertholin, the learned Swedish doctor, relates strange anecdotes of +lizards, toads and frogs; stating that a woman, thirty years of age, being +thirsty, drank plentifully of water at a pond. At the end of a few months, +she experienced singular movements in her stomach, as if something were +crawling up and down; and alarmed by the sensation, consulted a medical +man, who prescribed a dose of orvietan in a decoction of fumitary. Shortly +afterwards, the irritation of the stomach increasing, she vomited three +toads and two young lizards, after which, she became more at ease. In the +spring following, however, her irritation of the stomach was renewed; and +aloes and bezoar being administered, she vomited three female frogs, +followed the next day by their numerous progeny. In the month of January +following, she vomited five more living frogs, and in the course of seven +years, ejected as many as eighty. Dr. Bertholin protests that he heard +them croak in her stomach! The utter incompatibility of the nature of +these reptiles with the temperature of the human stomach, renders denial +of the truth of this scientific anecdote almost superfluous. + +The Journal des Débats, then called the Journal de l'Empire, published the +following circumstances as having taken place at Joinville, in the +Department of the Meuse. + +"Marie Ragot, a widow, having complained for two years of a distaste for +food, and suffered from internal cramps. + +"These symptoms were at first attributed to an aneurism of the viscera; +but were soon found to proceed from some strange substance in the stomach. +After two months, Marie Ragot ejected from her mouth a living reptile in +the presence of many; who, on seeing it creep away, in the hurry of the +moment, inconsiderately crushed it. This reptile belonging to the lizard +class, was thin and long, its colour light grey, brown on the back, and +dark yellow under the belly. It had four small legs, each having +nail-tipped feelers, a triangular head, rather obtuse at the nose, bent, a +short tail and filiform at the extremity. This is all we have been able to +learn, the witnesses having stupidly destroyed the reptile. Ragot died +soon afterwards, and it remains undecided whether her death was caused by +the reptile remaining so long in her stomach. The lizard we have described +was doubtless the grey common wall lizard. It is supposed to have crept +into her mouth when asleep." + +While occupied by consideration of the marvels of physiological history, +we must not omit to mention the song of the Dying Swan; formerly applied +as a standard of composition for the highest pitch which melody could +attain, and as typical of the last strains emanating from the soul of the +poet. Virgil, Fénélon and Shakspeare, are known as the Swan of Mantua, +the Swan of Cambray, and Swan of Avon. Pliny, whose propensity for handing +down popular fallacies we have already noticed, says, in treating of the +gift of song conceded to swans by the poets: "The doleful strain +attributed to the swan, at the moment of death, is a prejudice disproved +by experience." Modern observation confirms his opinion that the song of +the swan is a mere metaphor. To urge this matter further would be +equivalent to pleading after judgment; had not Dr. Bertholin, who attended +the woman of the eighty frogs, endeavoured to revive the idea of the +ancients; quoting the declaration of one of his friends, Grégoire +Wilhelmi, that having seen one of a flight of swans expire, the others +hastened to its aid, giving forth harmonious sounds, as if singing the +funeral dirge of their departed companion. + +This story is evidently a romantic fiction. But if the domestic swan be +mute, it is not so with the wild one, which is guilty of the most +discordant noises, instead of the fabulous harmony so long attributed to +it. The Abbé Arnaud carefully observed two wild swans which sought refuge +on the waters of Chantilly, more particularly, as regarded their cries. +Buffon notices that they have a shrill, piercing shriek, far from +agreeable, and are quite insensible to the sound of music. + +The song of the swan, therefore, must be admitted to be as much a creation +of the poets as the song of the syrens which, according to Homer, +attracted the vessel of Ulysses. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +NEGROES. + + +Two important questions present themselves with regard to negroes: first, +the lawfulness or expediency of slavery; and secondly, the comparative +equality of the whites and blacks. The History of the World teaches us +that slavery is independent of colour, and existed every where of old, +under every form of Government. But the abolition of slavery was the work +of the Christian religion, of which it is one of the noblest mercies; and +let us never forget the saying of Montesquieu, "that it is our business to +prove the negroes less than men, lest they prove us to be less than +Christians." + +The celebrated Abbé Grégoire was one of the most zealous and persevering +advocates of the negroes. So enthusiastic was he in their cause, that he +might have been supposed to have undertaken it as a reproach to their +white brethren. + +With regard to the question of innate equality between the two races, we +cannot conceive a more apt illustration than that made by a Creole child, +on hearing at his father's table, a discussion upon negroes, a subject on +which most colonists differ entirely from the Abbé Grégoire. + +In the course of dessert, a gentleman, who had been loudest in +opprobriating the negroes, desired to be helped to grapes. The child +pertinaciously insisted on giving him white grapes instead of the black, +to which he had pointed. "One kind is as good as the other," said the +gentleman, "the only difference is in the colour of the skin." "And why +then," cried the child, "do you persist in refusing the same concession to +the poor negroes?" + +The scholiasts have written much which has tended only to render more +obscure the origin of the negro race; some deriving it from Cain, and +attributing its blackness to Divine wrath after the murder of Abel; others +from Shem, the son of Noah, which is the opinion of Dr. Hanneman, as is +seen in his Latin Treatise upon the colour of "the Descendants of Shem." +The learned German quotes numerous proofs of the culpable conduct of Shem +towards his father; adding that Shem had long practised the art of magic, +and being unable to transport into the ark all his works of witchcraft and +magic, had them engraved upon brass and stone, so as to find them after +the deluge. Hanneman cites the authority of Luther, who formally asserts +that the skin of Shem was blackened as a punishment for his irreverence; +and quotes a passage from the learned Ulricius, who in his treaty De +Tacticis, established that the sons of Ham had white skins, those of +Japhet a brownish complexion, while those of Shem were black as ebony. + +The anatomist, Meiners, adopting the theory of the facial angle, excluded +the negroes from the human race, and placed them in the family of apes and +ourang-outangs. + +According to the Abbé Grégoire, all black skinned races descend from the +Ethiopian. He founds his opinion upon the works of Herodotus, +Theophrastes, Pausanias, Athenoeus, Eusebius, Heliodorus, Josephus, Pliny, +and Terence; all of whom, in speaking of negroes, call them Ethiopians. As +regards their origin, all we know is, that the Ethiopians are from the +interior of Africa, and that their ancestors had short and woolly hair, +black skins, and thick lips. + +How are we to conciliate these pretensions with the assertions of +Diodorus, the Sicilian, supported by those of the learned Hearne? Some +affirm, on the other hand, that the Egyptians descend direct from the +Ethiopians; the pure Egyptian race existing only in the Copts, who have +woolly hair, round heads, flattened noses, and protruding cheek-bones. +Similar signs certainly characterize both negroes and Ethiopians. Egypt +was the cradle of civilization, and if inhabited by the Ethiopian race, +with the negroes originated sciences, arts, and institutions. In that +case, the problem of equality of intelligence becomes painfully solved; +and if we now possess a vast superiority of intellect over the negroes, we +owe it to their ancestors, who were our masters in almost every branch of +polite knowledge. + +With regard to colour, Virgil has said, "nimium ne crede colori." Dr. +Beddoes, moreover, completely overcame the difficulty; for by frequently +immersing the hand of a negro in a solution of muriatic acid, he rendered +it as white as ivory. In these speculative times, we should not be much +surprised to see a company established for washing the black population +white. This might furnish matter for reflection to Mr. Williams, of +Vermont, who in his History of that State, requires four thousand years +for effecting the transition from black to white, through the sole +influence of climate. + +Meiners, as we have seen, classes the negroes in the monkey tribe. How are +we to reconcile this sacrilegious classification with the dogmas of the +church, which canonize two blacks, viz. St. Elesbaan, patron of the +Portuguese and Spaniards, and the Queen of Sheba, the wife of Solomon? +Another great writer affirms, that black was the original colour of the +human race; and that the white race is in a state of degeneration. +Monsieur de Pauw shows the question of the negroes in another light, +refusing them an aptitude for civilization equal to the whites; but +attributing their colour to the scorching heat of the sun, which, by +wasting the brain, diminishes the faculties and organs of intelligence +that distinguish Europeans. Dr. Gall goes further, and pronounces the +negroes to be wholly deficient in the organs of music and mathematics. + +We cannot, however, expect to find the organ of music prominent in the +organization of man in a state of nature. As to the organ of mathematics, +were the negroes completely deficient in this, Meiners would be correct in +his assimilation; for the higher order of mathematics is not here implied, +but the simplest acts of calculation. No operation of the mind, however, +is possible without the aid of a certain kind of calculation. Moreover, +experience tends to confute the system of Dr. Gall. It is well known that +in Africa, there are nations far advanced in civilization; a false kind of +civilization, perhaps, and tainted with barbarism. They have no opera, for +instance, nor a jockey club, nor the excitement of breaking their necks at +steeple-chases. But they have cities, tribunals, laws, judges, +institutions, and armies; they declare war and make peace; discuss the +interests of the State, raise taxes, and regulate the public expenditure. +Denyan, who resided thirteen years in the kingdom of Juida, was astonished +by their wonderful policy; affirming that their diplomatists were capable +of competing with the most wary European cabinets. + +The Daccas, who occupy the fertile point of Cape Verd, are organized into +a Republic, under directors, lieutenants, and a hierarchy, analagous to +the different States existing in Europe. Bornou is governed by a monarchy; +but the throne is both hereditary and elective at the death of the +reigning Prince. His successors being selected from among his children +without respect to primogeniture. The most worthy is nominated to reign. +The funeral discourse is a panegyric or a censure, according to the tenor +of the reign of the deceased. + +This is stronger evidence of civilization than to possess a tenor equal to +Rubini, or a dancer comparable with Taglioni. + +The cities of Africa are not mere encampments. The capital of the Foulans +has seven thousand inhabitants. Mungo Park mentions that they are fond of +instruction, and read the books permitted by the Mahomedan religion with +great assiduity. In his expedition to the interior of Africa, this +celebrated traveller expresses his surprise at meeting with so much +unexpected magnificence. The city of Sego had thirty thousand inhabitants; +her population being less than those of Jenna, Timbuctoo, and Haussa. + +Barrow extols the character and pleasing manners of the Boushouannas. +Their capital, Litah, has from twelve to fifteen thousand souls; ruled by +a patriarchal government. The chief executes the will of the people, +emanating from a council composed of elders. Is such a council +characteristic of barbarism? Or a proof that the moral organization of the +negroes is inferior to that of the whites? + +Judging from the narratives of travellers, the maritime populations are +generally inferior to those of the interior. If this opinion be well +founded, there is every reason to infer that the circumstance arises from +the access of Europeans being less frequent with the interior than the +littoral. Often have we to deplore the demoralization we have conveyed to +distant countries. Is it just, therefore, to speak of the brutal barbarity +of the negroes, when all we see of it is partly our own work? + +If we proceed from nations to individuals, a whole catalogue of eminent +black men and mulattos presents itself. The name of Henry Diaz, demands a +prominent place on the list. From a common slave, he became Colonel of a +Portuguese regiment, which by his able tactics and daring courage often +defeated experienced Generals. In an engagement, in which, overpowered by +numbers, he perceived some troops on the point of giving way, he rushed +among them exclaiming: "Are these the brave companions of Henry Diaz?" On +hearing which, his men returned to the charge, and drove the enemy from +the field. In 1645, in the heat of battle, a ball penetrated his left hand +which he was about to have amputated, when he exclaimed: "Every finger of +my right hand shall learn to grasp the sword!" + +The famous St. George was a mulatto. His skill in fencing won him an +European reputation, and no one could surpass him in the art of +equitation. Moreover, Dr. Gall would have been forced to admit his +prodigious talent for music. Fifty years ago, the compositions of St. +George were eminently the fashion in the Parisian drawing-rooms. + +The republican armies boasted among the bravest of the brave, General +Alexander Dumas, who, though a mulatto, was surnamed by his companions in +arms, the Horatius Cocles of the Tyrol. Before Lille, accompanied only by +four of his men, he attacked a post of fifty Austrians, of whom he killed +six, and made sixteen prisoners. With the Army of the Alps, he scaled +Mount St. Bernard, stormed a redoubt, and turned the guns against the +enemy. He was the father of the French dramatist, Alexander Dumas, who has +immolated as many victims in his dramas, as his father destroyed in the +enemies of his country. + +Job-Ben-Solomon, son of the Mahomedan King of Banda, on the Gambia, was +taken prisoner in 1750, conducted to America, and sold as a slave. He had +a superior order of mind, understood Arabic, and was distinguished for his +talents. He enjoyed the friendship of Sir Hans Sloane, for whom he +translated several Arabic manuscripts; and was treated with distinction by +the Court of London, till the African Company had him reconducted to his +States. At the death of his father, he assumed the sceptre, and after +being the slave of Europeans, became the idol of his subjects. The history +of Job-Ben-Solomon presents a victorious argument against the prejudice +concerning negroes, for in him there existed not only courage but +intellect. A son of the King of Nimbana, who was educated in England, died +soon after his return to his native land; but during his stay in England, +he manifested great proofs of ability. He cultivated several sciences with +success, learnt several languages, and read the Bible in the original. + +Ramsay, who passed twenty years of his life among the negroes, mentions +their impressive eloquence when excited, as well as their talent for +mimicry and acting, in which they were not inferior to some of the best +performers then known in England. In Africa, they have various national +musical instruments, of which sixteen are stringed; without counting their +famous balafon, resembling the once famed spinet. Vocal music is as +familiar to them as instrumental; and their composers have been known to +produce melodies replete with grace. We may here quote Gossec, whose +opinion on the subject of music is preferable to that of Dr. Gall, as +being one of the greatest musical composers of his time; and in his famous +opera of the "Camp de Grand Pré," he introduced a negro melody from St. +Domingo, which met with immense success. The Abbé Grégoire also speaks of +certain itinerant negro minstrels, who sang, played, and narrated like the +minstrels of old. + +The negro race, therefore, have produced both heroes and artists, as well +as figured with distinction in the sciences. Derrham, once a slave at +Philadelphia, was made over to a physician, who employed him in the +compounding of his medicines. But soon ambition laid hold of the soul of +the slave, he acquired French, English, Spanish, and Latin; and perfected +himself in the hygienic and therapeutic sciences with such success, that, +in 1788, he was esteemed the most eminent practitioner in New Orleans, and +consulted from all parts of America. + +Another negro, named Amo, claims attention as distinguished in the annals +of science. A native of Guinea, he was brought to Amsterdam in 1707, and +presented to the Duke Augustus of Wolfenbüttel, who sent him to study at +Halle and Wittenberg. After distinguishing himself at both those +Universities, he publicly sustained a thesis upon the rights of the +negroes, "de Jure Manorum." Amo was versed in astronomy; spoke Latin, +Greek, Hebrew French, Dutch, and German, there were, indeed, few better +linguists. Some years ago, a Swedish professor having addressed one of our +academies in Latin, the different members, perplexed by their +insufficient acquaintance with that tongue, sent in great haste for one +of their absent members, the only one qualified to answer the learned +foreigner. This was the late Andrieux; but had the negro, Amo, been in the +way, he might have supplied his place. Amo was not only a man of universal +information, but had the art of imparting it to others. Differing from his +white colleagues, he preferred instructing his scholars to the ambition of +acquiring personal renown. His lectures, from the able manner in which he +combined the advantages of the ancient and modern systems, attracted +numerous auditors. He was invested with a diploma in 1744; the first +instance of a negro arriving at that distinction. Amo left a Dissertation +upon Sensation considered as distinct from the Soul, and present to the +body. Frederick the Great, who then reigned in Prussia, conferred the +dignity of Councillor of State upon Amo. But these honours, unprecedented +for a man of his colour, did not dazzle him so as to render him insensible +to the land of his birth. Pining for his native air, he resolved, after +the death of his patron, the Duke of Brunswick, to return, after thirty +years' absence, to his birth-place, Axim, on the Gold Coast; nor was +anything further heard of him in Europe after his departure for that +obscure place. + +Buffon, who was the contemporary of Amo, did not distinguish himself by +his definition of the negro race. "Negroes," said he, "are tall, fat, +well-made, but devoid of mind and genius." The great naturalist looked no +deeper than the epidermis, and was greatly mistaken in asserting negroes +to be tall and fat; as in general their stature scarcely equals our own. + +Father Charleroy, goes farther than Buffon, by stating that, the negroes +of Guinea have but limited capacities, some being quite imbecile, and few +being able to count beyond three; that they possess no memory, the past +being as unknown to them as the future. "On the other hand," he observes, +"they are docile, simple, humane, credulous, superstitious." This +definition of Father Charleroy may apply to a certain number of negroes; +but it also applies to a certain number of whites. Buffon maintains that +the negroes colonized at Sierra Leone had only the occupations of women, +and a disgust for all useful employment. Their dwellings he states to be +miserable hovels; declaring that they prefer sterile and wild spots to +beautiful valleys clothed with trees, and watered by the clearest streams. +Their roads, he adds, are twice as long as necessary; yet they always +follow the beaten track, insensible to the waste of time, which they never +calculate. M. Descourtils, who resided at St. Domingo, and closely +observed the negroes, declares them to be ignorant, superstitious, and +barbarous; their music being detestable and unmeaning. But though such +asseverations may be founded to a certain degree on fact--after having +shown the difference that exists between the maritime and fluvial tribes +of Africa, and those settled in the interior--we are inclined to inquire +whether the negroes of America, more particularly those of St. Domingo, +ought to be selected as the standard of the negro race? Are not +disabilities attributed to colour which are, in truth, caused by slavery? +Had not the Spartan Helots the same skin as Agis and Epaminondas? Yet what +could be more marked than their distinction of nature? Would it even be +fair to judge the inhabitants of Paris and London by the swarms of footmen +in those cities? + +Nevertheless, we are bound to agree with the most experienced +physiologists, that, independent of colour, independent of cerebral +conformation, independent of facial angularity, the most perfect specimens +of the human race are to be found in the temperate regions. The History of +the World bears out the fact; and upon this point, the best intentions of +philanthropy fall to the ground. Religion and humanity call aloud for the +abolition of slavery; while the massacres of St. Domingo prove the +necessity of its being prudent and progressive. At some still remote +period, posterity will probably abjure the prejudice of the white race +against the blacks. But this great revolution of popular feeling will not +be effected without long-established previous proof on the part of the +negro population, that the blessings of freedom have brought forth all the +fruits anticipated by the advocates of abolition. To decide upon their +equality of nature, in their present unequal condition, would be rash and +premature. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +FASCINATION; OR, THE ART OF PLEASING. + + +No individual of the human race, but at the bottom of his heart is +ambitious to please! But the charm is not more unequal in distribution +than the means are various. So various, indeed, and so uncertain, that in +our attempts to please we frequently produce the contrary effect. + +This universal propensity has given rise to absurd prejudices and +ridiculous efforts; and to a thousand arts, and trickeries, affording an +amusing subject for consideration. + +The desire of pleasing tended greatly to enhance, in the earlier stages of +society, the reputation and influence of sorcerers, fairies, and +supernatural beings; whose power was often invoked to increase the +personal attractions of their votaries. The wild efforts of Medea to +secure the affections of her faithless Jason are sufficiently known. Love +potions and philtres were a favourite resource of the ancients, never +weary of consulting sorcerers and enchantresses concerning their aptitude +to please. Virgil, Ovid, Tibullus, Propertius, all allude to the love +charms which could be procured at the hands of different magicians. Ovid, +who has so poetically described the delicate mysteries of the art of love, +laughs, it is true, at these incentives. + +"Had magicians," says he, "the power of inflaming lovers' hearts, would +Circe have allowed Ulysses to abandon her?" + +Horace accuses Canidia of killing children for the purpose of composing +love-potions; ignorant, apparently, that animal substances were +inadmissible in their composition. Vervain and rue, with a few other +mystic plants, gathered by the light of the moon, formed their chief +ingredients. According to some, a sovereign charm consists of _enula +campana_, or St. John's wort, plucked on the eve of that Saint, before +sunrise, ambergris, and other substances, of which the virtue would be +forfeited unless superscribed with the word "Scheva." + +One of the most ingenious authors of antiquity, Apuleius, has given, in +his work of the Golden Ass, a recipe for a love-charm composed of +different fishes; the claws of crayfish, crabs, and oyster shells. He was +accused of having tried its influence in obtaining the affections of his +wife to induce her to make a will in his favour. This recipe is the only +one of the kind not limited to the vegetable kingdom. + +Pudentilla, a rich dowager, who had been a widow for fifteen years, chose +for her future husband, the young, handsome, and clever Apuleius, who, +according to the account of the "Golden Ass," pleaded his cause as follows +before the tribunal. + +"I am accused," said he, "of sorcery, because Pudentilla espoused me after +fifteen years of widowhood. But would it not be better to inquire why she +consented to remain a widow so long? In support of the accusation of +magic, you say that I instructed fishermen to bring me fish for unlawful +purposes. Ought I to have employed a lawyer, a blacksmith, or a +bird-catcher? I am accused of collecting vermiculated oysters, striped +cockle-shells, and sea crayfish. But when Aristotle, Democritus, +Theophrastus, and other naturalists made collections of Natural History, +did you infer that it was for the confection of love-charms? A child +accidentally fell down, in my presence, on my return home, and I am +accused of sorcery! For the future, then, I presume I shall be bound to +hold in leading strings all the children that approach me; and to prevent +all little girls from stumbling, I must pick up the stones in the street, +and do away with the threshold of my door, lest any one make a false step +in entering my house. Pudentilla, it seems, informed her neighbours that +I was a magician. She might have seen fit to call me a Consul; but would +that have elevated me to the consular dignity?" + +Having pleaded his own cause in this vein of pleasantry, the judges +acquitted Apuleius, seeing clearly that so amiable and graceful a man +needed no love-charm for the conquest of the old widow. + +In those times, sovereigns as well as subjects were in the habit of +purchasing love-charms! According to Suetonius, Cesonia administered a +potion to her husband, Caligula, which increased both his madness and his +cruelty. The death of the poet Lucretius was caused by a similar potion +administered by his mistress, Lucilia. Eusebius mentions a Governor of +Egypt, who died from the same cause, and there are innumerable instances +of these potent decoctions producing insanity, as well as fatal +enfeeblement of body. Ovid furnishes the true recipe for love: "Ut ameris, +amabilis esto!" "To be loved, be amiable!" But such a charm being out of +the reach of many, it seems easier to purchase cosmetics at the perfumers, +which are about as effective in the creation of the tender passion as the +magic potions of darker ages. + +A pretension to youthful habits and appearance at an advanced period of +life, is perhaps one of the most effectual methods of becoming distasteful +and ridiculous. + +Still, however, a suitable attention to the care and variations of the +toilet, proves a great enhancement to beauty in its civilized state; nor +can there be a more vulgar error than the dictum of the poet, proclaiming: + + "Beauty unadorned, adorned the most." + +In the female bosom, the love of dress is an instinctive passion. Look at +two children of the same age, a girl and a boy; the one will be seen to +delight in feats of strength and agility; the other, as if in evidence of +the desire of pleasing instinctive in the opposite sex, is sure to prefer +a doll, a ribbon, or a pretty frock, in place of the drum or gun chosen by +the boy. Both have intuitively adopted their different vocations. Both are +ambitious to conquer by means suitable to their several sexes. + +What prodigies of art have been effected in France in consequence of the +love of dress generated in the fair sex by a desire to please; from the +period when the fair Gauls attired themselves in a sheep-skin fastened at +the throat with a thorn; but were not the less coquettish for this +enforced simplicity. + +At that period, their notions of coquetry consisted in having fanciful +designs tattooed upon their persons; and instead of pearls and diamonds, +by way of adornment, cockle-shells were suspended from their ears. Their +sole cosmetic consisted in unguents, which we now abhor as characteristic +of the Hottentots. + +Can the present inhabitants of Paris be really descended from these +savages? At that time all the elegance and refinement of dress, arising +from the desire to please, were concentrated in Rome; nor have modern +times raised the fair Parisians to a similar state of refinement. Juvenal +relates that it was thought indecent by the Roman ladies to spit or make +use of a handkerchief in public; and at Athens, the fair sex never +presumed to leave their chambers when suffering from a cold. What would +they have thought of the disgusting habits of the Parisian belles, who +contaminate their handkerchiefs by taking snuff, and yet ornament them +with embroideries!--But the ladies of the antique world scrupulously +avoided all that could provoke disgust--an essential preliminary in the +art of pleasing. + +In the early age of the Republic, the most refined cleanliness +distinguished the habits of the fair Romans. Under the Cæsars, and after +the conquest of the East, a taste for luxury, perfumes, and futilities of +all kinds was first indulged; while the sumptuous prodigality of the table +surpassed all precedent. The science of cosmetics then attained +perfection; and there appeared no limit to their coquetry. + +Pliny states that the Roman ladies, in order to make their skin white, +made use of a juice expressed from the seeds of the wild grape;--while +minium, white lead and chalk, filled up their wrinkles, and effaced +unseemly spots. + +"Tabula," said Martial, "is afraid of the rain; and Sabilla of the sun; +the one alarmed for the solution of her complexion, the other lest the +heat should evaporate the roses of her cheeks." + +Ovid has transmitted to us a recipe for a paste to secure whiteness of +skin, consisting of barley flour and lentils, eggs, hartshorn, narcissus +bulbs, gum, and honey. + +Poppæa invented a paste, which was moulded like a mask upon the face, to +be worn in the house. This mask was called at Rome the husband's face, +because it was only taken off for the suitor. When Poppæa travelled, she +was followed by a troop of donkeys, whose milk she used for her toilet; +and in the baths of the Roman palaces, the most unlimited luxury +prevailed. The ladies were served by numerous slaves, each having +particular attributions. One superintended the hair; another the +eye-brows; another the hands, which were dyed with pink; another, the +face; while the rest were devoted to the care of the wardrobe and jewels. + +These customs, handed down both by historians and poets, had solely for +their object the desire to please; among women, the most ungovernable of +all desires, and exceeding even the love of command. To please, however, +is a preliminary to authority. + +In modern times, the cosmetic art has become a branch of the sciences, and +forms a considerable source of industry and revenue. The walls of our +towns are covered with announcements of miraculous discoveries, pastes and +capillary oils, odoriferous waters,--all and each being efficacious and +infallible. Red hair may be transformed into beautiful black +tresses;--baldness may be made to give place to flowing locks; and all +these oils, pastes, and masks, which periodically change their name, are +in fact the same villanous cosmetics which never yet restored elasticity +to a withered skin, converted black to white, or bestowed curls upon a +bald pate. Art is great, but Time far greater; nor are the ravages of +years to be concealed. In divers of these preparations of lead, bismuth +and tin, the sulphurated and phosphoric properties produce the most +injurious effects. In others, the calcareous and aluminous substances +obstruct the pores of the skin, and by hardening it, annihilate its +elasticity. Minium, coral, and vegetable powders, are not less pernicious; +their corroding action augmenting, instead of diminishing the ailments of +the teeth and gums. + +These salutary observations were made long before our time; and it has +been as often observed that for the preservation of the complexion, +innocuous substances should be employed such as milk, honey, cucumber, or +melon-juice, mallow-water, and above all, that best of cosmetics, fresh +water, which is within the reach of all, and wants no alluring aid of +Chinese engravings on gilded bottles to recommend its miraculous +properties. + +The increased use of baths has fortunately rendered this cosmetic a matter +of universal adoption; and nothing is more likely to confer softness of +skin. + +Anne of Austria, the mother of Louis XIV., had so fine a skin, that no +linen could be found sufficiently delicate for her use, which caused +Cardinal Mazarin to observe that in another world, her eternal punishment +would consist in sleeping in coarse sheets. All the cold cream in the +world would not have effected a change in the susceptible epidermis of +Anne of Austria; and we repeat that cosmetics are both useless and +dangerous. + +Not even the consummate art of Jezebel availed to repair the irretrievable +ravages of time. Young girls of redundant health have been known to +swallow acids to counteract corpulency; after succeeding in which, they +die prematurely of pulmonary affections. An equally fatal result of the +desire to please is produced by over-lacing. Ladies desirous to conceal +their obesity had far better rely upon a well-chosen dress than upon this +injurious expedient. On the other hand, a tight shoe only exhibits more +prominently a foot of large dimensions. Nothing is more erroneous than +the proverb, "that people must suffer in order to look well." To be +graceful, the movements of the body should be unrestrained. + +We have already pointed out the distinction between the art of pleasing, +and the desire of pleasing. The desire is common to all, the art limited +to a few; and they who charm most are those who please naturally and +without effort. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE. + + +How was the world ever brought to believe that students, in rags, +possessed the power of producing gold, when the misery of their personal +condition was so apparent? How could individuals, in the enjoyment of +competence, ever be tempted to own themselves in the pursuit of chimerical +opulence? How could an enlightened century give birth to so monstrous a +delusion? + +The alchemists, though not comprised among sorcerers, and requiring a +separate notice, rivalled them in the pretence to magic; for their volumes +abound in recipes for raising the dead, universal elixirs, the +regeneration of old people, the transformation of the ugly into the +beautiful, and even the creation of men and animals, without other aid +than that of a few cinders and herbs! + +Such miracles, however, were insignificant compared with the science of +producing gold; which, according to some was known to Job. The +philosopher's stone is said, by certain legends, to have been the origin +of his fortune; and his poverty to have been occasioned by its loss. These +alchemists do not explain how he came to forfeit the scientific powers +which had originally produced the stone; such details being beneath the +notice of the grand science. + +The philosopher's stone was, on the contrary, a creation of the fourteenth +century, and much accredited among the scientific men of that day. Raymond +Lully, Nicholas Flamel, Arnaud de Villeneuve, Paracelsus, and several +others, were initiated into the secret. Nicholas Flamel was a celebrated +alchemist, and having acquired an immense fortune, it was attributed to +the philosopher's stone, which of course stimulated the cupidity of the +proselytes of alchemy. Eager was their pursuit of a study which was to +endow them with boundless wealth; and these lunatics found coadjutors in +persons of weak and credulous mind, while wiser men diverted themselves by +sustaining their hopes, and affecting conviction of their success. Such +was Van Helmont, who published his belief in the existence of the +philosopher's stone, protesting that he had seen it, and tasted it; that +with a grain, he had produced several marks of pure gold. + +The ardour with which conjectural sciences are adopted, proves a serious +injury to positive science. Many learned men asserted the possibility of +the transmutation of metals; among others, the famous Pica of Mirandola. +Alchemists, however, were not unanimous concerning the principles of the +art. Some placed its origin in Heaven, and looked upon the rays of the sun +as its primitive source; the quintessence of which was called, in their +gibberish, the powder of projection. Others maintained that its elements +existed throughout every department of nature, constituting the active +principle of the universe. Some ascribed the principle to the metals +themselves. Mercury presented itself to them as the agent for producing +silver, according to the properties we have already described with +reference to miraculous showers. According to them, mercury had only to be +condensed, its mobility fixed, and its different parts coagulated, to +create silver. But by far the greater number indulged in still wider +speculations. Most of those who attempted the pursuit were brought to want +and wretchedness; and one of them observed, in his last moments, that he +could not imagine a bitterer curse to bequeath than the love of alchemy! + +All, however, were not martyrs to the art. Many of its advocates +perambulated the world, finding dupes in Princes, Kings and Emperors, who +paid dearly for their imaginary discoveries. These mountebanks were the +only real possessors of the philosopher's stone. After the treaty of +Westphalia, in 1648, the Emperor Ferdinand was convinced that he had +converted half a pound of mercury into gold by means of a philosophical +tincture; and in commemoration of the event, had a medal struck, bearing +the effigy of a youth with a face like a sun, shooting forth rays. On the +reverse was inscribed, "Glory to God for deigning to impart to his humble +creatures a portion of his infinite power." + +The mountebank to whom this transmutation was attributed, by name +Richthausen, was created a Baron; and repeated his experiments before the +Elector of Mayence and many other Sovereigns. His name was long celebrated +in Germany; but his end is unknown. It is well known that Cardinal de +Richelieu witnessed several experiments in pursuit of the philosopher's +stone, generously rewarding the operator. This may have been an expedient +of his Eminence in order to secure the services of these adroit +individuals; who, admitted into the bosom of illustrious families, became +a source of useful information. Voltaire relates that he saw one, Damusi, +Marquis of Conventiglio, handsomely remunerated by certain rich noblemen, +after producing, in their presence, two or three crowns of gold. + +No one has written more to the purpose on the subject of alchemists, than +Fontenelle. "Nothing but the blindness induced by avidity," says he, +"could induce the belief that a man, possessing the power of making gold, +must receive gold from another, before he can exhibit his art. How can +such a person stand in need of money? Nevertheless, these mountebanks, by +their fanatical conduct, mysterious language, and exorbitant promises, far +from rendering themselves objects of suspicion, acquire the utmost +influence. Without deciding upon the impractibility of making gold, +experience teaches us that the extreme difficulty of the operation must +render it unavailable in practice, if not in theory. But supposing that by +the means of a sulphur of gold, completely separated from other +principles, the point were gained by applying it to silver, so as to +produce a mass of gold of the same weight and volume, what would be the +result beyond a curious experiment effected at an enormous cost?" + +In this appreciation of alchemy, Fontenelle expresses himself with the +scrupulousness worthy the philosopher who said that he would not have +opened his hand had it been full of truth. In this instance he opens it +partially, admitting an experimental possibility which he knew did not +exist. + +Not only Kings and Emperors, but even the populace, delighting in the +marvellous, believed in the existence of the philosopher's stone; choosing +to attribute several sudden accumulations of wealth to this mysterious +source. Raymond Lullé had become rich by farming the duty imposed by +Edward III. upon the exportation of wool from England to Flanders. Arnaud +de Villeneuve, an eminent physician and chemist, effected cures by +specifics only known to himself, which were highly requited. Nicholas +Flamel enriched himself by seizing the ledgers of the Jews when expelled +from France; their creditors preferring a settlement with him, to paying +their liabilities into the exchequer; in return for which, he effaced +their names from the registers. + +These mountebanks are now known to have made use of a hollow cane, the +extremity being plugged with wax, by introducing which into the crucible, +on pretext of stirring up the different matters, as the wax melted the +gold fell out, and the miracle appeared to be accomplished. + +Others had their crucibles lined with a substance which yielded to the +action of the fire, when the gold concealed behind it appeared. These +clumsy tricks of legerdemain succeeded for several centuries; but +credulity flits round error, as the moth is attracted by the flame of the +taper, and is at length annihilated. + +In the beginning of the last century, a well-known Princess was the victim +of an absurd fraud. Being famed for her humanity, a wounded soldier +knocked at the door of her palace, and solicited hospitality. Having been +nobly received, on recovering from his wounds, he desired to offer some +acknowledgment of gratitude previous to his departure. This man pretended +to be possessed of three reeds, which, being placed in a crucible, +converted mercury into gold. These reeds he pretended to have discovered +in a ruined Abbey in Wurzbourg; a fact which he disinterestedly +communicated to the Princess; who, in return, loaded him with marks of +munificence. When, however, her Highness proceeded to apprize the Bishop +of Wurzbourg of the treasure concealed in his diocese, no such Abbey as +the one described by the crafty soldier was found to be in existence. This +kind of philosophers' stone is not a new invention, and there is little +chance of the secret being lost. + +There are still many persons engaged in the decomposition and +transmutation of metals;--viz: the coiners of base money. Even the Academy +of Sciences of Paris has still one member devoted to the miracles of the +crucible--Baron Cagnard de la Tour; who has made many wonderful +experiments on the nature and reproduction of diamonds. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +GIANTS AND DWARFS. + + +"Have dwarfs and giants ever really existed?" + +"Only so long as no traveller penetrated the countries they were supposed +to inhabit," would be the reasonable reply. For since the globe has been +explored in all directions, and tourists are compelled to be more measured +in their narratives, travellers' wonders are greatly diminished. + +A belief in the existence of nations of giants and dwarfs was, however, +long entertained; one of the many errors bequeathed to us by antiquity, +and adopted by modern credulity. + +The ancients had their Titans and Cyclops; of whom Polyphemus, the most +towering, was three hundred feet high; while we moderns, more moderate, +allow only ten feet to the Patagonian. From the period the Magellan +regions became better known, their proportions were still further reduced; +and we now allow only an average of seven feet. Credulity, distance, and +the love of the marvellous, tend greatly to the exaggeration of such +allotments. + +The Bible, like mythology, has its giants; but in most cases, they are +exceptional; and it is undeniable that nature often digresses, and +produces individuals differing in stature from the ordinary standard of +mankind. + +Most people have heard of Bébé, the famous dwarf of the King of Poland, +who came to Paris in the early part of the Consulate; and of Friand, the +giant, whose height exceeded seven feet two inches. But these two were +exceptions, not the types of a race. Excepting the Greenlanders, +Laplanders, and Samoyedes, there is little variation of stature among the +different populations of the globe, certainly not more than a tenth. As +regards the inhabitants of the arctic regions, we must bear in mind that +their stunted proportions are in harmony with the rigid, and unkindly +nature of their climates; in proof of which may be cited the similarity of +climate between Lapland and certain vallies of the frozen regions of +Switzerland. A similar influence is manifest in the inhabitants of the two +localities; the peasants of the Valais, afflicted with the goitre, having +more analogy with the Laplanders than with the fine population of +Switzerland. + +There are few phenomenal races, though many individuals; just as the +monstrous fruits grown for horticultural prizes cannot be regarded as fair +samples of a species. It would be as rational to cite, by way of example, +the fabulous creations of Rabelais and Swift, the giant Gargantua, and the +nation of Lilliputians. + +Polyphemus and his Cyclops are real, as they exist in the pages of Homer +and Virgil; but ideal the moment Flasellus asserts that the remains of +Polyphemus were found in Sicily, near Mount Eripana, of which he gives the +following account. + +"The giant was seated with his left hand resting on the mast of a ship +terminated like a club, and carrying fifteen hundred weight of lead. It +crumbled into dust upon being touched, except part of his skull; which +would have contained several bushels of corn. Three teeth of which the +least weighed one hundred ounces, and a thigh bone, one hundred and twenty +feet long, were still perfect." Between Homer, and Virgil, and Thomas +Flasellus there is all the difference of ingenious fiction and the +grossest imposture produceable in prose. + +In former days, the head of Adam was believed to have out-topped the +atmosphere, and that he touched the Arctic Pole with one hand, and the +Antarctic with the other; one of the hyperbolical exaggerations of the +rabbinical Scriptures. After Adam, the rabbins rank Og, the King of Basan, +to whom Holy Writ assigns thirteen or fourteen feet, while the rabbinical +writings declare that the stature of Og was such that the waters of the +deluge only came up to his knee. In the war against the Israelites, he +hurled a mountain against the enemy; but as he held it above his head, God +decreed that the ants should excavate it, so that it fell about his neck +like a collar. Moses, who was six ells high, profiting by the +circumstance, grasped a formidable axe, and making a spring of his own +height, could only strike the giant on the instep. The King, however, +fell, and encumbered by the mountain, was put to death. + +Polyphemus, and all other giants might have danced upon the palm of King +Og; and the thigh of the Cyclops would scarcely have furnished him a +toothpick. The Jewish rabbins affirm that the thigh bone of Og, the King +of Basan, was about twelve leagues long. They do not, however, give the +precise measure. + +Pomponius Mela, the most incredible of the authors of antiquity, states +that certain of the Indian tribes were of such exceeding stature, that +they mounted their elephants as we do our horses. Father Rhetel, a +Capuchin friar, saw at Thessalonica the bones of a giant ninety-six feet +long; the skull of which could contain twenty-four bushels of corn. +Herodotus states that the shoe of Perseus measured three feet. The wise +Plutarch, himself adopted the history of the giant Antæus, related by +that illustrious liar Gabirius. According to some historians, King +Tentradus was twenty-five feet high; Goliath was nine feet four inches; +the Emperor Maximin was more than eight; and the Elector of Brandenbourg, +Joachim, had at his Court a man named Michael, who was about eight feet +high. The height of Goliath, Maximin and Michael were mere instances of +the caprices of nature. + +The early legends of stupendous giants arose from the fact, that the +fossil remains of antediluvial animals were originally ascribed to the +human race; whereas, geologists have never found, either in calcareous or +granitical formations, any bones of the human species which could have +preceded the deluge. + +Having dismissed the giants, let us consider the dwarfs, concerning whom +our conclusions are the same:--that they are exceptions to the general +rule. Nay, the impossibility of establishing a race has been proved by a +German Princess, who having married and settled several couples of dwarfs, +failed in securing a diminutive progeny. + +The existence of pygmies is the sole question concerning the dwarfish +species requiring attention; but though so long credited by the ancients, +it is now looked upon as fabulous. Aristotle, the evangelist of science, +affirms that pygmies were not fabulous; and placed them near the source of +the Nile, in a country created purposely for them, in which the nature of +every thing was proportionate. Some authors have pronounced the pygmies to +have been twenty-eight inches high; but Juvenal only allows them a foot. +These ideal dwarfs must have been about the size of the young American, +popularly known under the name of General Tom Thumb. + +The pygmies are said to have been courageous and enterprising; dexterous +with the bow, and, according to Pliny, hewed down with an axe the corn, +which to them was in about the proportions of the oaks of Dodona. + +The most valorous exploit attempted by the pygmies was the siege of +Hercules. Pliny relates, that one day the son of Alcmena having fallen +asleep in the country of the pygmies, their King assembling his troops, +led a division against his right arm, surrounded his left, then at the +head of his troops charged the head, leaving the remainder of the army to +capture the feet. On awaking, Hercules spread out his cloak, and made the +whole army of pygmies prisoners. This is a pretty fable, and may have +originated the Lilliputians of the Dean of St. Patrick's. But we have no +hesitation in affirming, that though the words giants and pygmies may +serve as terms of comparison, they have no prototypes among the nations of +the earth. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +ASTROLOGY. + + +Among the most popular delusions of mankind, in earlier ages, were the +deductions drawn from the stars, under the name of astrology; a science so +long sustained by men of superior intellect, as to justify the credulity +of the ignorant. Hippocrates consulted the moon before he administered +medicine to his patients. Horace, Virgil, Richelieu, Mazarin, believed in +judicial astrology. Some attributed the honour of this discovery to +Abraham, others to Zoroaster; while the Greeks claim it for one of the +seven Sages of Greeks, Chilo of Lacedemonia, who professed to have +discovered in the heavens the germ and principle of our various +temperaments. + +The Romans adopted these astrological superstitions; and since that +period, both the study of the moon and stars, with the view to +prognostication, has proved a profitable pursuit. Petronius and the poet +Manilius assured their contemporaries that a child born under Aquarius, +could not fail to prefer fountains and cascades. But they forgot that +Aquarius was known long before the invention of fountains. Astrology was +then in its infancy, but like a youth improved by his travels, it acquired +strength and consistency among the Arabs. + +Long before the Arabs, however, the great Hermes had asserted: "As men +have seven apertures in the head, and there exist seven planets, it must +be inferred that every planet presides over one of these apertures in the +human head." The following is the manner in which Hermes disposed of them. +He made Jupiter and Saturn preside over the ears; Mars and Venus the +nostrils; the Sun and Moon represented the eyes; and Mercury had the care +of the mouth. New planets, however, have since been discovered; and in all +conscience, the disciples of Hermes ought to have made proportionate holes +in the head in support of his doctrines. + +Proceeding from the physical to the moral world, they established seven +presidencies; Venus over love, Mercury over eloquence, Saturn over grief, +the Sun over glory, and the Moon over domestic economy. + +After this ingenious arrangement, they assigned to every colour its +peculiar star. Blue belonged to Jupiter, yellow to the Sun, green to +Venus, red to Mars, probably from his sanguinary influence, white to the +Moon, black to Saturn, while Mercury presided over the different shadings +of all the colours. After the theory ensued the application, which was +nearly as follows: + +"Place a child in the centre of a circle, upon the circumference of which +the stars are disposed as at the moment of his conception, or birth. Their +influences concentrate upon him, and confer on him a fixed and unalterable +destiny. He will be virtuous or vicious, prosperous, or unfortunate in +this world, according to the configuration of the planets." + +According to the moral character of the stars, the Sun is benevolent and +auspicious; Saturn, dull, morose, and cold; the Moon moist and melancholy; +Jupiter, temperate, and his influences kindly; Mars, dry and fervent; +Venus prolific and affable; Mercury, inconstant and variable. + +Astrologers assigned twelve houses to the zodiac, appropriated to the +different planets. The first was consecrated to life and the body; from +whence emanates the white, black, and copper coloured races, giants, +dwarfs, albinos, idiots, and men of genius. The second house is devoted to +the interests of society in general; and in the third house, family +affairs between relatives of different degrees, excepting testamentary +dispositions, to which they devoted a fourth house. To pass from grave to +gay, enter the fifth house, where all is mirth, pleasure, and infantine +pastimes. Lackies and sempstresses occupy the sixth house, but they have +but little repose if the wall between it and the next house be not +tolerably thick; being inhabited by beautiful women, envy, hatred, and +malice. The eighth house of the zodiac is the cemetery; the ninth, the +head-quarters of voyages, missions, and processions; whilst the tenth is +the resort of the highest society, the nobility and dignitaries of state. +The eleventh house is destined for the prosperous, who pass their lives in +the delights of wit and friendship. The twelfth differs from the +preceding, being devoted to the groans of the wretched in their dungeons, +and the haunt of treason and shame. In building these zodiacal houses, the +representative form of certain Governments had not been anticipated, or a +better balance of power might have been effected. + +Such were the chimeras of antiquity, as handed down to modern times. +Plutarch relied so much on the efficacy of the stars, that he prevented +the Lacedemonians from going into battle before the full moon; and Cæsar +and Pompey frequently consulted the astrologers. The Emperor Augustus, +born under the sign Capricorn, had a medal struck in honour of his natal +star. Caracalla had the horoscope drawn of all those he employed; while +his policy, favour, and misgivings were uniformly decided by the stars. +When the horoscope of any influential person augured ill, Caracalla had +him put to death;--a fine triumph for astrology! + +Phrenology has now usurped the throne of astrology; and were sovereigns or +judges to form their judgments after the theory of Dr. Gall, they would +save themselves a world of trouble. + +The reign of Catherine de Medicis was the triumph of astrology in France. +Not a high-born dame but had her _Baron_, a name assigned to the family +astrologer, who was as much a matter of course as, in other times, a +family confessor. + +The astrological rage subsided during the reign of Louis XIV; but +disappeared only under the Regency. Voltaire, writes in 1757, when he was +sixty, that in his youth, the last adepts of astrology, Count +Boulainvilliers and the Italian Calonna, foretold his end at thirty years +of age. Voltaire remarks, "I have done them by thirty years!"--to which +the sequel added upwards of twenty more. + +When the Europeans first penetrated the vast regions of Asia, astrology +was found to be much in vogue in Persia and China. In the latter country, +the Emperor, on his accession, has his horoscope drawn. The Japanese +consult the stars previous to undertaking any enterprise. If they succeed, +they thank their stars; if they fail, they resign themselves to their +irresistible influence. + +Astrology had its hero, a Cato or Vatel, in the astrologer Cardan; who, +having predicted his death to the day and the hour, and failed in his +calculations, killed himself for the credit of science! A more judicious +prediction was that of the astrologer to Louis XI.; his master, who having +inquired of him the hour of his own death: "Two after that of your +Majesty!" replied he; and the oracle became a safeguard over his days. + +Human pride often stimulates the influence of superstition. Napoleon once +pointed out his star to Cardinal Fesch, who could not make it out. "It is +lost upon you," said the Emperor, "but I see it plainly enough!" Napoleon +affected reliance upon an influence which was known to be auspicious to +his fortunes. Had the Cardinal, in return, pretended to similar +distinction, he would probably have answered as Jean Jacques Rousseau did +to a shopkeeper, who complained of his stars. "How, Sir, do such people as +you pretend to have stars?" Were astrologers in general, like Cardan, +content to exercise their art upon themselves, we should not oppose their +proceedings. But their predictions have been known to produce a panic +throughout an entire population. For instance, a German mathematician, +named Stoffler, whose audacity was only equalled by the credulity of his +proselytes, predicted, towards the end of the fifteenth century, another +Deluge for the month of February, 1524. "How was it possible," he argued, +"to escape from the calamity, when at that particular period Mars and +Pisces, Saturn and Jupiter were to be in conjunction." Upon the eve of +this awful event, in various countries of Europe, carpenters could +scarcely be found in sufficient numbers to build the arks in preparation. + +Not a drop of rain, however, fell during the dreaded month of February, +and Stoffler became an object of general ridicule. Far, however, from +feeling himself defeated or acknowledging his error, he professed to have +made a mistake in the date; and predicted the end of the world for 1588. + +These predictions, alarming only to women and children, have been +frequently renewed by others. About the middle of the same century, the +Jews were one day seen waiting at their windows, expecting the arrival of +their Messiah; an Israelite, named Avenar, having announced his coming. +Cardan predicted a long and glorious reign to Edward VI, King of England; +who nevertheless died in his sixteenth year! + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +THE MOON AND LUNAR INFLUENCE. + + +From the stars in general to the moon in particular, there is but a step; +nor will we separate the midnight luminary from the company in which we +usually find her. Lovers and poets have from time immemorial found solace +in her beams; while the early philosophers pretended that she swallowed +stones in the manner of the mountebanks, in order to cast them down upon +us in the form of aërolites. This conclusion is as absurd as a thousand +others, of which the moon has been the object. The ingenuousness of the +old lady, who on hearing continually of new moons, inquired anxiously what +became of the old ones, is scarcely more surprising than the complex mass +of commentaries and hypotheses which regard the influence of the orb of +night. + +In former centuries, it was the custom to attribute the decay of public +monuments to the influence of the moon upon the surface of granite and +stone. Naturalists, however, having watched the work of animalculæ among +oysters, madrepores and corals, attributed this to the true cause. In the +year 1666, a physician of Caen remarked upon a stone wall of southern +aspect forming part of the Abbey of the Benedictines, a number of +cavities, into the deep sinuosities of which the hand could be inserted. +Instead of attributing this to the moon, he ascertained that they were +worked by insects whom he found concealed in the cavities. Experiment +opens the safest road to truth; while absurd theories transmitted from +generation to generation, obstruct the steps of a temple already +sufficiently difficult of ascent. + +Thomas Moult, the author of an almanack superior to the general run of +those popular publications, devoted himself to conjectures on the +variations of the weather as influenced by the moon; and consulted the +observations previously made by the Abbé Toaldo, who had noted down the +effect of eleven hundred and six moons upon the weather. He found that +nine hundred and fifty were accompanied by changes of weather; while the +other one hundred and fifty six, produced no effect. The proportion being +as one to six, the chances are that a new moon will produce a change of +weather; the influence being susceptible of increase from various +circumstances, in the proportion of thirty-three to one, when the new moon +is at its perigæum. + +Physicians formerly believed the phases of the moon to influence certain +diseases. Hippocrates and Galen assigned them as the cause of periodical +returns of epilepsy; while people of deranged intellect are vulgarly +styled lunatics. Bertholon observed the paroxysms of a maniac during one +year, and declared them to be aggravated by the full moon. It has been +asserted that among maritime populations, a greater number of deaths +occurred at the ebb than at the flow of the tide. At Brest, Rochefort and +St. Malo, a register was kept for thirty months of the number of deaths, +and the hours at which they took place; when the number was found to be +less at the hours supposed most fatal. The doctrine of Aristotle, which +had still many adherents, was overthrown by experience. + +Dr. Mead, an English physician, wrote a treatise on the influence of the +moon upon the human constitution, which has also fallen into oblivion. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +APPARITIONS. + + +The following anecdote is contained in one of the letters of Pliny, the +younger, which we select from many which figure in the annals of antiquity +as a type reproduced in various forms, with a change of scenery, by an +infinite number of chroniclers. + +"There was at Athens a spacious and convenient house, which was abandoned +because in the dead of night its inhabitants were invariably disturbed by +a clash of iron, and rattling of chains, which appeared to approach +gradually, and afterwards grow fainter and fainter. A spectre at length +appeared, in the shape of an old man with a venerable beard, and his hair +standing on end, with chains on his feet and hands, which he shook +furiously; so that those who had courage to take shelter in the house +passed fearful and sleepless nights. This privation of rest produced +illness, which increasing by constant panic, death often ensued. + +"The philosopher Athenodorus having arrived at Athens, and heard the story +of the deserted house, hired it, and took up his residence. + +"When evening set in, he had his bed put up in the front apartment; and +his tablets, lights, and writing implements placed on the table; after +which, his attendants retired to the rear of the house. Lest his +imagination should conjure up phantoms, he concentrated his whole +attention in writing. + +"At the beginning of the night, a deep silence prevailed. But at a later +hour, he heard the ring of chains, but continued to write on disbelieving +the evidence of his ears. + +"The noise becoming louder, seemed to approach his chamber door; and on +looking up, he beheld the spectre we have described; which seemed to +beckon him with its finger. Athenodorus made sign to his visitor to wait, +and continued his writing. The spectre shook its chains anew in the ears +of the philosopher; who, perceiving it to be still beckoning, rose, took +up the light, and followed it. The phantom walked as if sinking under the +weight of its chains; and on reaching the court-yard vanished, leaving +Athenodorus picking up herbs and leaves to mark the place of its +disappearance. + +"On the following day, he sought the magistrates of the city, and begged +to have the scene of the adventure examined. On due investigation, a +human skeleton, entangled in chains, was found interred on the ominous +spot. The bones were carefully collected, and publicly buried; and after +receiving the sacred rites of the dead, the spectre never again troubled +the repose of the house." + +Pliny does not relate this story as deserving of credence; but offered it +to his contemporaries as an ingenious lesson upon the influence of the +imagination, serving to inculcate the respect due from the living towards +the dead. Honours have been offered to the mortal remains of illustrious +men in all times and countries; and a reverence towards the grave may be +accepted as an indication of civilization. + +Plato affirmed that he saw the souls of the departed flitting about like +shadows; a prejudice we forgive the more readily in the man who first +revealed the existence of the soul, of which, in the name of Socrates, he +consecrated the immortality. + +Pausanias relates that whole armies reappeared after death with their arms +and baggage. + +"Four hundred years after the battle of Marathon," says he, "the neighing +of horses and cries of soldiers were heard upon the scene of action." + +The object of Pausanias was to hold up to the Athenians the example of +their illustrious ancestors by immortalizing the heroic combatants of that +memorable battle. But he no more heard the neighing of horses on the spot, +than Napoleon beheld forty centuries surveying his army from the apex of +the Pyramids, as figurately described in his sublime address to his +troops. + +Unmindful of the moral sense of things, and prone to judge the recitals of +antiquity according to the standard of our own ideas, regardless of the +changes of time, in our efforts to rectify the errors of our predecessors, +we fall into new ones. Due allowance ought to be made for time and place +in perusing such recitals as the following: + +"St. Spiridion, Bishop of Trimitonte, in Egypt, had a daughter, named +Irene, who died a virgin. After her decease, an individual presented +himself and claimed a deposit which had been in her custody, unknown to +her father, which was vainly sought for by St. Spiridion. Proceeding, +however, to his daughter's tomb, he called aloud her name, and demanded +what she had done with the object confided to her? 'You will find it +buried in such a spot!' replied a voice from the tomb; and proceeding to +the place pointed out, the treasure was found." + +St. Martin of Tours, disgusted by the reverence paid in his neighbourhood +to a pretended Saint, proceeded to his tomb, and enjoined him to arise. +The dead man issued from his grave, confessed that he was a robber justly +punished for his crimes, and condemned to eternal punishment. + +To appreciate these two miracles, we must revert to the times of those two +saints, that is, to the reign of superstition; in which the priesthood +officiated with magisterial power, keeping in check, by their moral +influence, the licentiousness of manners, and the perpetration of crime. +Of these Bishops, the one saw fit to defend the reputation of his +daughter, and inculcate the sacred nature of a trust; while the other +chose to exhibit the untenability of an assumed reputation. In both +instances, this was probably accomplished by means to which the +priesthoods of all countries have not disdained to resort; finding them +far more effectual with an unenlightened populace than abstract argument. + +A somewhat similar instance is related by Martinus Polonius, Platinus, and +Pierre Damien, of Pope Benedict IX. This Pontiff, they assure us, not only +rose again from the grave; but in the form of a wild beast, having the +head of an ass, the body of a bear, and the tail of a cat. As he wandered +in the forest, a holy hermit met and conversed with him. + +The truth is that the three authors of this story were Guelphs, and chose +to convert the Ghibeline Pontiff into a monster, by a pretended +apparition. So is it ever with party-writers, who do not disdain to have +recourse to the most absurd and disgraceful means in order to discredit +their opponents. + +As regards the vulgar family of ghosts, there can be little doubt that +such persons as really believe themselves to have been exposed to spectral +visitation, were affected either by some optical delusion, similar to that +of the "Fata Morgana" on the coast of Sicily, or the "mirage" of the +desart; in most cases, produced by the fatigue of over-study, and +infirmity of digestion. Such effects are, also, easily produced by the +interposition of malicious or jocose persons, in the way of +phantasmagoria. + +A celebrated instance of this kind is on record. The wife of the Provost +of Orleans dying in that city, limited by her will to the sum of six +golden crowns the expenses of her funeral; which was to take place at the +Convent of the Cordeliers. Her heirs conformed strictly to her +injunctions; thereby greatly incensing the friars, who determined to be +revenged. + +The Superior of the Convent caused a young monk to be secreted in the +vaults, and instructed him to cry aloud, and utter strange shrieks during +the performance of matins, and if invoked, to give no other answer than by +knocking thrice. The youth faithfully executed his charge; and, at the +moment agreed upon, made a hideous noise; so that the affrighted monks +suspended the sacred office. The officiating priest adjured the disturbed +spirit to tell them what was the matter; when three solemn knocks formed +the only answer, which was repeated three days consecutively. + +The phenomenon was soon bruited abroad by the monks; and on the days of +holy office, the noise was louder than usual; till the faithful deserted +the church in consternation. At length, they had recourse to exorcism; and +when the exorciser conjured the phantom, demanding to know whose was the +soul in torment, and naming in succession the various persons buried in +the church, no answer was returned till they came to the name of the +offending lady, when three loud knocks were distinctly audible. The spirit +was next interrogated whether she were not condemned to eternal punishment +for having secretly embraced the doctrines of Luther; and three, knocks +instantly confirmed the charge. She was next asked whether it would not +assuage her torments if her body were carried out of the Catholic Church +to be more appropriately interred; and three knocks again replied in the +affirmative. The Chapter being convoked, decided upon giving up the lady +to her husband, as being convicted of Lutheranism. But the Provost, +instead of giving credence to the opposition, submitted the case to the +tribunals of Paris, obtaining a special commission from the Chancellor +Duprat for the purpose. The result was the confession of the secreted +friar; whereupon the Superior of the Cordeliers and his confederate were +condemned to fine and imprisonment. + +Such delusions have been frequent from the time the Preaching Friars of +Bordeaux took occasion to relieve souls of purgatory in proportion to the +offerings placed before them, to that of the Convulsionaries, who, at the +commencement of the last century, exhibited their freaks on the site of +the cemetery of St. Médard. + +The most diverting piece of imposition is that related by Erasmus of a +priest, who, finding the fervour of his flock relax to the evident +diminution of his revenues, let loose one night in his burying-ground a +quantity of cray-fish, each having a lighted taper attached to it. The +parishioners instantly repaired to their pastor, who affirmed that these +wandering lights were souls from purgatory in search of masses; a +considerably supply of which was ordered on the spot. Owing, however, to +the carelessness of the priest, a cray-fish, with a piece of taper +adhering to it, was picked up the following day in the church-yard. + +Let those who are disposed to yield credit to ghost stories, visit but +once a good exhibition of Ombres Chinoises, or Fantasmagoria, or the +display of some able ventriloquist; and they will perceive that a good +ghost story is as easy of manufacture as a hat or a pair of gloves. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +NOBILITY AND TRADE. + + +The subject before us is too closely connected with the prejudices of +mankind not to call for consideration. The question is delicate, but we +hazard the argument, though at the risk of giving offence. + +The honours conceded to men of pre-eminent merit, who have rendered +service to their country, or to humanity in general, excite no +dissatisfaction;--the reaction begins with the second generation. +Hereditary nobility is a time-honoured prejudice. The founder of an +illustrious race is entitled to the respect of his contemporaries; but his +descendants become esteemed in proportion to the value attached to their +name. Unless they have conferred on it additional lustre, the inherited +rank exacts little consideration. + +Conquest was the origin of the most ancient nobility, as well as the +foundation of royalty. In France, from Clovis to Philip le Bel, there +were no other races of nobility; but after the reign of the latter, the +Kings of France exercised the right of ennoblement. From a right, nobility +in France became a concession. It is clear, therefore, that the power of +ennoblement, from the time of Philip le Bel, extinguished the illusions +concerning nobility which had previously prevailed. The facile formation +of nobility, the metamorphosis of the serf of yesterday into the baron of +the morrow, undeceived the multitude as to the right divine they had +hitherto attributed to the nobles; and deteriorated the consequence of the +order. From that epoch, illustrious names started forth from the middle +classes to figure at the Courts of Sovereigns; and in each succeeding +reign, we find names issuing from obscurity to cast a halo over the pages +of history. Many such still figure there; and some have added fresh lustre +to the names bequeathed them by their ancestors. + +A King of France one day ennobled all the burghers of Paris; who refused +the honour, conscious that, all being noble, nobility must cease to exist. + +The homage we pay to a great historical name is a justifiable feeling. +Among the ancient privileges of such nobility, one of the finest was that +of defending the country against foreign invasion. Previous to the use of +artillery, our armies were chiefly composed of cavalry. The infantry +became important under Francis I. at the battle of Marignan; after which, +this privilege became of less account. Till then, the defence of the +country was entrusted to its nobility. + +At the first declaration of war, the King convoked the chief vassals of +the crown; who, in their turn, assembled their Barons and Counts, +according to the order of the feudal system,--their vassals, and their +vassals' vassals; all marching under the banners of their chiefs. Many +were reduced to ruin by such expeditions. Montesquieu asserts that fear is +the soul of a despotic government, honour of a monarchical, and virtue of +a republican. Were he now alive, he would perhaps assign money as the +pivot of the representative system. How do things proceed in a citizen +kingdom? Precisely as in feudal times! Upon the first decision of a loan, +Government convenes the whole financial vassalage, confers with the Barons +and Counts of the Stock Exchange, with the puissant lords of speculations, +and humbler knights of stock jobbing. Armed cap-à-pie with the +irresistible credit of the great vassals, after a series of combats of +which the stock-jobbers are the heralds and trumpeters, they defeat the +unfortunate Gauls of the Exchange; while the triumphant Franks risk +nothing in the expedition. There is little exaggeration in this +comparison. It often happens that a mere substitution, and not the +overthrow of a system, takes place. + +Feudalism still exists, not only in the financial world, but among +individuals engaged in the same profession. Now that the law of +constitutional governments has proclaimed the principle of equality, the +thirst for distinction and supremacy has become more prevalent than ever. + +In military and civil communities, a hierarchy is indispensable to exact +respect from the lower towards the higher grades; without which, all +discipline would be impossible. But among men equally free, engaged in the +same calling, and eating the same bread, we can imagine nothing more +absurd than the assumed superiority of the fortunate over the +unprosperous. The insolence of the tradesman in a great way of business +towards the tradesman commencing his career far exceeds the insolence of +the patrician towards the plebeian; and the field officer of a regiment is +often seen to treat his subalterns as though they were footmen. + +That artists and men of letters should mutually treat each other according +to the reputation they may have acquired, is not surprising; seeing that, +in spite of the mercantile nature of modern literary productions, and the +dramatic and literary societies formed for the protection of their +material interests, men of letters, poets, painters, architects, +sculptors, musicians, and even actors, assume in the eyes of the public +precisely the place assigned to each by public favour and success; +standing on the ground of their individual, and not upon their corporate, +merit. + +Nevertheless, in all academies of art, science, and literature, the +principle of equality prevails. The only persons they regard as inferior, +are those who on their deaths will probably succeed to their places. + +Though we have alluded with sneering levity to the Counts and Barons of +Finance, we have no intention of speaking lightly on the subject. Nothing +can be more serious than the substitution of financial supremacy for those +more gloriously earned honours, the extinction of which would strike a +death-blow at civilisation. + +There are several banks in Europe exceeding in wealth and power the +richest citizens of Rome after the conquest of Asia. Independent of steam, +of gigantic undertakings, manufacturing or commercial, there is another +predominating power of the utmost importance; the enormous accumulation of +capital in the hands of a few, not to be lavished like that of the Romans +in patronage of the arts, or acts of beneficence; but doled out in +speculative fractions, often fatal to the interests of honest industry, +and rarely conducing to the interests of the country. + +In feudal times, the extortions of the Barons were undeniable; and +compulsory labour was a humiliating hardship. But upon their return from +the wars, when exacting from their serfs compensation for their shattered +armour, it was at least for the defence of the soil, as well as to face +the enemy again, if necessary, that these benevolences were required. In +countries where the feudal system is yet in force, such as Russia, the +moral existence of the serfs is inferior to that of our manufacturing +workmen; while as regards subsistence, the condition of the serfs is much +less precarious. Like our peasants of old, they enjoy their family ties, +breathe the fresh air, and tread upon their native soil; tilling the land +for the benefit of their Lord, instead of receiving a grudging +remuneration for their labour. + +Having frequently inquired of heads of manufactories, the wages of their +workmen; we have received such evasive answers, as to be reduced to our +own conjectures on the subject. + +Suppose that in a manufactory, one hundred pair of hands be daily +employed, and that the profits be £2000 per annum, it is clear that every +individual produces £20. A mutual convention exists; the master having the +power of dismissing the workman, and the latter of quitting the master; +the former being liable to the disasters of fire or bankruptcy, from which +the workman is exempt. The manufacturer having embarked his capital, has +an unquestionable right to high profits. But all this, is nevertheless +serfdom under another form; and we behold with pity these industrious +beings, breathing the burning and mephitic air prevailing in the +factories. The serf when sick, is cared for by his Lord; but the factory +man is dismissed without ceremony. For in the manufacturing districts, man +counts but as a machine, which if worn out, is replaced by another. + +We can scarcely be surprised, therefore, if the financial and +manufacturing aristocracy,--the strongbox nobility,--assume at the present +day the consequence of the chivalrous nobility of the olden time. It is +but fair, however, to admit that there are generous-minded manufacturers; +just as there were good-hearted Barons among the feudal tyrants. + +Much might be added on this subject; but a further disquisition would only +prolong into a political discussion, what we have only pretended to treat +on the score of vulgar prejudice. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +MERIT AND POPULARITY. + + +What is popularity? By what indications is it known? Who ratifies its +titles? And do those titles, conferred by favoritism, error, influence, +prejudice, interest, or flattery, possess more value or more durability +than the scattered leaves on which the Sybil inscribed her oracles? Is +merit a positive thing or a relative--a matter of conversation, or of +proof? + +What, we say again, is popularity? How is it acquired? How forfeited? Is +it the result of merit, or a capricious out-burst of opinion impersonating +itself so as to enjoy its own homage under the traits of a living statue? + +To these questions, it is difficult to give a definitive and conclusive +reply. Popularity is often the privilege and shield of a fool or rascal; +while genuine merit of a real and indisputable quality seldom secures it +unless from some accidental cause. Those who aspire to popularity care +more for the amount of suffrages, than for their specific worth. They +delight in being the object of popular excitement; and hearing their name +re-echoed, assign their personal qualities as the cause of these +capricious demonstrations. True merit heeds not such fulsome +acclamations;--too well aware that the man who becomes the tool of +popularity, ends in being an object of contempt. + +There are numerous ways of achieving popularity. But we must not forget to +distinguish the difference between the popularity of men, and the +popularity of their productions. Both are variable; being subject to the +influence of events, the vacillations of parties, and of human +inconstancy. Popularity is, however, less fickle as regards the +masterpieces of the mind of man, than as regards individuals whom it +frequently raises to the sky, the better to fling them down into the dust. +A man may sometimes be popular in spite of himself; dragged from his +seclusion, elevated above his natural position only to sink for want of +appropriate support. + +How many examples are to be found in our history, of such ephemeral +popularity; the idol of to-day being proscribed on the morrow of his +ovation! On such occasions, the public resembles a mind obeying by turns +two directly opposite impulsions. In such perplexities, the scales are +rarely held with a steady hand; and when they discover a man to be +deficient in the merit they have gratuitously attributed to him, they +avenge themselves by unnecessarily depreciating that which they have +capriciously overrated. The man who delights in popularity is as much +subjugated as the veriest slave in Rome. He must obey those whom he +desires to command; must adopt measures he wishes to repress; and if for a +moment he venture to pause for the admeasurement of the abyss he is +approaching, is taxed with cowardice and treachery! + +How great was the popularity of the brothers Lameth, when Mirabeau made +the terrible allusion: "And I too could command a triumph. But from the +Capitol to the Tarpeian rock, there is but a step!" How great was the +popularity of that very colossus of eloquence, Mirabeau himself; who died +in the nick of time that he might not survive the public favour which was +rapidly declining. + +What King was ever so popular as Louis XVI.? Yet his popularity had passed +away long before he ascended that throne of revolutions, the scaffold. The +popularity of Henri IV. lasted during his life, and was renewed by his +tragic end; but lay torpid for a century after his death, to be revived by +the genius of Voltaire. Under Louis XIII. and Louis XIV., the name of +Henri IV. was never mentioned; and had not the poem of the Henriade +refreshed the memory of the only King of whom the people are said to keep +holy the recollection; Henri IV., like Louis XII., and other excellent +Kings of France, would have been forgotten. + +After repopularizing Henri IV., Voltaire became in his turn the most +popular man in France, especially in the regions of the social and +intellectual world. Voltaire was the prince of flatterers. He flattered, +at the same time, kings and the people, but reproved as skilfully, so that +he delighted kings by their personal praise, and the people by general +reproaches against kings. + +Voltaire enjoyed immense popularity during his life, and high honours +after death; but in the sequel, he reaped the bitter fruits of the tree of +evil he had planted. All but forgotten during the Revolution, quite so +during the Empire, Voltaire only renewed his popularity at the +Restoration. The official censure issued against the reprinting of his +works, served for a time to restore him to importance. + +Voltaire so completely absorbed the attention of his time, that not one of +the great geniuses moving in the same sphere, arrived at any thing +approaching his popularity. Montesquieu would not compete with him; and +even Jean Jacques Rousseau, in spite of the superiority of his style, +barely acquired popularity. + +In general, popularity attaches rather to political than literary +eminence; inclining towards trivialities, such as songs and epigrams, +rather than to works of merit. A particular style of dress, or a cap of a +particular colour is often necessary to secure popular favour. Yet +popularity among the vulgar is not to be despised, being often the guerdon +of works of genuine merit; more particularly as regards the Fine Arts. +Barrel organs grinding the beautiful airs of our great composers in the +streets, stamp them with a certificate of popularity; while, as regards +pictures, their popularity is often insured by the intervention of some +unskilful engraver. + +Popularity sometimes attaches itself to tyrants; and Caligula and Nero +were more popular in Rome than Germanicus. What mattered the slaughter of +senators and patricians, or the confiscation of their property, so long as +the proceeds afforded food and sports to the people? The populace delight +especially in the downfall of royal favourites; and the overthrow of the +statue of Sejanus, once the idol of Rome, was hailed with shouts of +exultation. We cannot be surprised, however, that the Emperors of Rome +were popular; since Louis XI. of France, and Henry VIII. of England were +popular because they humbled the great, and summoned into their council +men of the lowest origin. + +Cardinal Richelieu completed the work of Louis XI. and destroyed the last +vestiges of feudalism. But in this case, the same course produced a +contrary effect. Richilieu was not popular. So true is it that popularity +knows neither law nor precedent. Louis XIV., though not individually +popular, was honoured for his conquests, so long as he remained +victorious. Louis XV. was popular only twice in his long life; once, when +a false report of his death had prevailed; and once, when he alighted from +his carriage in Paris to kneel before the Holy Sacrament. Popularity +possesses a somewhat loose morality; at times adopting the mistresses of +Kings; such as Gabrielle d'Estrées, Agnes Sorel, and even the infamous +Pompadour and du Barry. + +Of the great men who adorned the reign of Louis XIV., few were popular +during their life-time, with the exception of Molière and Corneille. +Molière, because the power of his genius placed itself between the monarch +and his people, castigating the vices of all classes with equal ridicule; +Corneille, because he excited the heroism of the kingdom by exalting the +Romans. His popularity was, however, less the result of his genius, than +of the envious persecutions of Cardinal Richelieu. + +Racine, Boileau, La Fontaine, acquired only posthumous fame, purely +literary, and likely to last for ever. Men of science are seldom popular; +their devotion to science, and the purity of their calling confining their +renown within certain limits. Those who benefit by the results of their +labours, think of them as lightly as those who enjoy the warmth of the +sun, without bestowing a thought upon its source. Few who use the barrow +and the truck are aware that for these useful inventions they are indebted +to Pascal; and what more popular than certain proverbs and quotations +forming part of every conversation, of which few of us are able to name +the author. + +The Revolution of 1789 was popular, and men of the highest merit shared in +its popularity by their adherence. Mathieu de Montmorency was popular when +the representative of the first Christian Barony sacrificed his titles to +the love of equality. The Bishop of Autun was popular when he presented to +the Constituent Assembly a proposition for applying the revenues of the +church to make good the deficit in the public revenue. The Abbé Sièyes was +popular when he pointed out the rights of man, omitting to speak of his +duties; and no popularity ever exceeded that of Bailly, till the fatal day +of his death upon the scaffold. The taking of the Bastille cannot be +considered a popular act, if the quality and number of the instigators be +taken into account. But the remembrance of the act became popular; and it +was consecrated the following year by the first federation solemnized in +the Champ de Mars. + +Never were there two more striking examples of the changes of public +opinion, than Rienzi at Rome, and Marat at Paris. The same populace which +dragged the remains of the former through the mud, afterwards assisted to +place his relics in the Pantheon dedicated to the illustrious men of the +country. + +In like manner, Cromwell, whose memory was for more than a century +infamous in England, is about to obtain a statue in the National Senate. + +Robespierre forfeited his popularity the moment he attempted to check the +effusion of blood of the victims; when the good cause of 1789 had become +sanguinary and frantic. Danton was more popular than Barrère. The +Girondins were popular with the people; the Mountagre faction with the +populace. It is remarkable, that in those times, every new administration +of Government was hailed by the acclamations of the people: who were just +as sure to rejoice at its downfall. So has it been in every great crisis +in France. In public exigencies, promises are made, incapable of +realization; every successive Government having shrunk from innovation and +reform, when it came to the moment of fulfilment. After the first +Revolution, popularity attended their military successes; but deserted the +vacillating policy of the Directory, and followed the banner of conquest +to Italy, under which the genius of Napoleon first shone forth; saluting +its victorious General on his return to Paris, accompanying him into +Egypt; and on his second return, raising him to sovereign power. + +From the 18th Brumaire, till the year 1812, popularity adhered constantly +to a single victorious standard. At the murder of the Duke D'Enghien, +popular enthusiasm underwent a certain degree of modification, and +partially adopted the Empress Josephine as the palladium of the imperial +fortunes; to which vulgar credulity and subsequent events seemed to lend +authenticity. The popularity of the Emperor declined after his divorce. + +In our examination of the influence of events upon the French people, we +have only twice found them manifest, at the same moment, exultation and +sorrow. Their indignation at the Emperor's cruel usage of Josephine, +vanished before the cradle of the King of Rome, and France was unanimous +in its gratulations on the birth of the imperial infant. The other event +is of later date. The day after the assassination of the Duke de Berry, +the gloom was universal. Some were horror-struck at the murder, some +deeply attached to the Prince and his family; while many were astonished +to find a mortal man where they had hitherto only discerned a Prince. +Nevertheless, the partizans of the imperial cause regarded the event as +the removal of an obstacle. + +Popularity escorted Charles X. from St. Cloud to Paris upon proceeding +there to take possession of his throne, and restore the liberty of the +press, which was destined some day to reverse it. It also attached itself +to the gates of the Palais Royal as the residence of the Orleans family; +but merely to mark a growing aversion to the Tuileries; a negative triumph +like that of an opposition united only by a common enmity to the powers +that be. + +In England, a similar transition was visible when the once popular Prince +of Wales, adopted by the people in opposition to the Court of the reigning +sovereign, became, as Prince Regent, an object of public dislike! + +Among the heroes and victims of popularity may be numbered La Fayette. For +half a century did he wrestle with the fluctuations of public favour. When +at the head of the Urban Guard, which subsequently assumed the name of the +National Guard, La Fayette was at the zenith of his glory. The colour of +his very horse became popular; and every one adopted his method of +dressing his hair. Popularity becoming negligent of her idol, the scowls +of the Court served to revive it; but falling into disgrace with the +Legislative Assembly, it was again at fault. Thus ended the first act of +the drama of La Fayette's popularity. + +Madame de Staël pronounced him to be an obstacle to his adversaries, +rather than an aid to his friends. The public soon lost sight of the man +so long the toy of its caprices. Shut up in the prison of Olmütz, he owed +his deliverance to the Conqueror of Italy, and returned to France +unnoticed; he afterwards offended the First Consul by presuming to offer +lessons to him upon the art of Government, and till the Restoration lived +in complete seclusion. + +A trip to the United States, in securing whose Independence he had +distinguished himself in early life, served to stir up the smouldering +embers of his popularity, which he left no means unattempted to increase; +and at the Revolution of July, popularity assigned to La Fayette the +honours of a new triumph; restoring to him the command of the National +Guard. + +The rapidity with which his name fell into oblivion on his decease, proves +that these apparitions of departed popularity--these reflections of an +earlier favour--are rarely permanent; and that to attain the honours of +history, a more solid merit is required than that which secures the +ephemeral sunshine of Popularity. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +COMETS. + + +Comets played a leading part among the omens of the olden time; and the +appearance of one in the heavens was the signal for popular panic. The +unlooked for appearance of a comet became a godsend to the astrologers. + +The credit of omens, however, was on the decline from the time when Cato +declared that it was impossible for two augurs to meet without a smile; +and for the Romans, the discredit of presages and omens was an important +matter, nature and all her works furnishing them with indications from +which auguries might be elicited. The omens of which they stood most in +awe were invariably connected with the left side. Thunder audible from the +left, or even the croaking of a frog to the left, filled them with such +consternation, that they instantly propitiated the Gods by an offering. +The sudden appearance of a mouse, determined Fabius Maximus to abdicate +the dictatorship; and the Consul Flaminius renounced a command of cavalry +in consequence of the same sinister omen. Great events certainly proceeded +in those centuries from the smallest causes. But in all this, the +self-love and vanity of the human race were chiefly apparent, the ancients +being convinced that even in the most insignificant details of their +lives, the Gods were actively interested. + +Hannibal rose superior to this weakness. Having advised Prusias to give +battle to the Romans, it is related that the King of Bithynia declined, +alleging that the entrails of the victims suggested a contrary conclusion. + +"You prefer then," said the Carthaginian hero, "the advice of a sheep's +liver to that of the head of a veteran General?--I pity you!" + +Ancient history affords only too many instances of similar superstition; +from the sacred fowls which were consulted only in imminent dangers, to +the deformed children flung into the Tiber, lest they should bring down +evil on the republic. The practice of the ancient Germans, by the way, of +plunging new-born infants into the Danube to render them robust, is more +easily explained; since being necessarily fatal to weakly children, the +qualities of the healthy ones who survived were readily attributable to +the immersion. + +The absurd prejudices connected with the appearance of comets, are about +equally deserving of attention. Madame de Sévigné writes upon this +subject in her usual lively style. + +"We are visited by a comet," says she, in one of her letters to her +daughter, "which is the finest of its kind, and possesses one of the most +splendid tails ever beheld in the heavens. All our great personages are +terrified; conceiving that Providence, having nothing better to do than +watch over their paltry comings and goings, has decreed their downfall, +and sent an intimation of it to the world by means of this comet." +Cardinal Mazarin was just then given over by his physicians, and those +about him saw fit to flatter his vanity by pretending that the Almighty +had signalized his last moments by a prodigy. Having mentioned to him that +a terrible comet was announcing the great event which struck panic into +the world, he had strength of mind to jest upon their vile adulation, +assuring them that the comet "did him a great deal too much honour." It +would be well, were all men to judge as wisely; for human pride must be +blind indeed, to suppose that the stars have no other duty in their +spheres than to regulate the affairs of mortals. + +A celebrated Spanish author has written concerning comets with even less +reverence than Madame de Sévigné. + +"Comets," said he, "are the very braggarts of the sky. They have been +aptly used as engines for the intimidation of Sovereigns, who have less +to fear upon the face of the earth than other men. Still, it is scarcely +necessary that the celestial bodies should derange themselves to appal +them, so long as they have the ambition of neighbouring Princes, the +insubordination of their subjects, and the numerous plagues of government +to hold them in subjection." + +The same writer attacks the influence of comets in terms less reverential +than those of the learned dissertations of Bayle; for he pretends that the +earth is too small a planet to attract so vast a meteor. As regards their +influence in the necrology of Kings, he proves that the average life of +royal personages equals the average life of peasants; without requiring +the aid of a comet to announce their natural dissolution. + +Various interpretations have been affixed at different times to the +appearance of comets. Thus, the one that appeared at Rome, shortly after +the death of Julius Cæsar, was regarded as a glorification of the deceased +Emperor; and in 1811, on the appearance of the comet which has given its +name to the year, as, "l'année de la comète,"--(the wines made from grapes +grown under its fervid influence being sold under the name of Comet +wines)--an attempt was made to convert it into an homage to the glory of +the Emperor Napoleon! + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +POPULAR ERRORS. + + +A popular error of the most fatal kind was the idea formerly prevalent +that a drowned person, being overpowered by the quantity of water he had +swallowed, was susceptible of restoration by suspending him with the head +downwards, so as to force him to disgorge it. More persons owed their +death to this stupid operation, than to the suspended respiration it was +intended to restore. It is only during the present century that the +experiments of the faculty all over the world have pointed out that the +only course to pursue with persons taken insensible out of the water, is +to restore circulation by warmth and friction of the extremities; and +respiration, by the introduction of air into the lungs. + +An equally strange legislative abuse connected with this subject, +prevailed in Paris till within the last few years. A reward of twelve +francs, or ten shillings was given to any person who saved another from +drowning by extricating his body from the Seine, while a reward of +six-and-thirty francs, or three times as much, was given to the person who +rescued a dead body from the water! This was evidently conceived in the +hygienic interests of a city, where the river water is in such extensive +use for baths and drinking; but it was in point of fact offering a premium +for murder: the morality of navigatory populations being in most countries +at a low ebb. + +Another French delusion fatal to human preservation, is the idea that the +person who cuts down the body of another found hanging, legally involves +himself in an accusation of murder; and nothing can be more injudicious +than the harshness with which the proceedings of an inquest are often +pursued; as if to justify the poltroonery of those whose first impulse on +discovering a body is to go in search of witnesses of the circumstances +attending the discovery, instead of lending immediate aid. + +A more innocent, but not less groundless popular prejudice is, that which +attaches itself to that most useful of domestic animals, the ass--the +war-horse of the poor. In all countries, this sure-footed and faithful +animal is adopted as an emblem of stupidity, from the patience with which +it submits to punishment and endures privation. A pair of ass's ears is +inflicted upon a child in reproof of his duncehood; and through life we +hear every blockhead of our acquaintance called an ass. Whereas the ass +is a beast of great intelligence; and we often owe our safety to its sure +and unerring foot beside the perilous precipice, where the steps of the +man of science would have faltered. + +The Fathers of the Church, and the Disciples of the Sorbonne, persuaded of +the universal influence of the Christian faith, believed the dark cross on +the back of the ass to date only from the day on which our Saviour made +his entry into Jerusalem. The ass of the desart was an animal of great +price. Pliny mentions that the Senator Arius paid for one the sum of four +hundred thousand sesterces. Naturalists have frequently remarked the +extraordinary dimensions of an ass's heart, which is thought an indication +of courage; and it is the custom of the peasantry of some countries to +make their children wear a piece of ass's skin about their person. The +ass's skin is peculiarly valuable, both for the manufacture of +writing-tablets and drums; which may be the reason why a dead ass is so +rarely seen. It is too valuable to be left on the highway. In many places, +the ass serves as a barometer. If he roll in the dust, fine weather may be +expected; but if he erect his ears, rain is certain. Why should not +animals experience the same atmospheric influences as man? Are we not +light-hearted in the sunshine, and depressed in a heavy atmosphere. + +Louis XI., of France, was a great patron of the ass. His astrologers +having failed in their predictions concerning the weather, he dismissed +them, and substituted an ass in their place, as being more weather-wise. +Certain physicians consider the emanations from the ass's body to possess +beneficial medical properties; while, in former days, the blood of the +bull was considered poisonous. + +The credulous Plutarch declared that Themistocles poisoned himself with +bullock's blood, upon the authority of the priests of Egina, who are also +cited by Pliny; and this same bullock's blood, esteemed poisonous, was +also considered a moral purification;--sins being expiated by the +sprinkling of the human body with the blood of the bull. On solemn +occasions, when the criminal was a man of wealth and distinction, so that +a bull was dedicated to his use, the blood was made to fall in a +perforated vessel, and the criminal standing beneath, received the sacred +aspersion upon his face and attire. The Emperor Julian submitted to this +act of expiation. Bullock's blood is now known to be as innocuous as that +of other animals; and is extensively used in more than one manufacture. + +During the Middle Ages, ground glass was supposed to act as an infallible +poison; and was long known by the name of "Succession Powder." Montfleury +speaks of it in one of his comedies. One of the personages, showing a +packet of it, observes: "Here is the making of many an heir!" + +Portal, and several other French physicians, have asserted in their works, +that ground glass is fatal to the swallower; and it is frequently used by +the poor as ratsbane, mixed up with the compositions intended for the +extermination of vermin. Jugglers were the first to controvert this error, +by publicly swallowing it with impunity, a feat which Dr. Franck having +witnessed, he immediately experimentalized on himself, and published the +results as conclusive against the received opinion. + +About the year 1810, a physician of Caen, named Sauvage, confirmed the +opinion of Franck. A young lady under his care swallowed a quantity of +powdered glass for the purpose of self-destruction without experiencing +the least injury; upon which Sauvage tried experiments on various animals, +administering ground glass to cats, dogs, and rats, on opening the bodies +of which, he could not detect the smallest effect. Many similar +experiments produced the same results. Dr. Cayol, in presence of his +colleagues, swallowed a quantity of irregular fragments of glass. So, +also, did Sauvage, without producing the smallest derangement of the +digestive organs. + +It is worthy of remark, that mountebanks often clear the way for the +march of science; a proof that the most trivial observations may be the +origin of the grandest results. Some students of Oxford, on visiting +Newton, found him blowing bubbles from a straw, and considered the +occupation childish. The philosopher was studying the theory of light. + +Since we have alluded to mountebanks, let us devote a few more words to +them. Jugglers have been known to swallow, not only pounded glass, but +stones and knife blades. A celebrated Spaniard, accused by the +Inquisition, proved his innocence by swallowing fiery coals without +injury; and the savage found in the woods at Aveyron, devoured all sorts +of fowls with their feathers. But these exploits will not bear comparison +with those of the Molucca savage, of whom we read an account in a volume +entitled: "The Testament of Jerome Sharp," printed in 1786. + +"I entered," says the narrator, "with one of my friends, and found a man +resembling an ourang-outang crouched upon a stool in the manner of a +tailor. His complexion announced a distant climate, and his keeper stated +that he found him in the island of Molucca. His body was bare to the hips, +having a chain round the waist, seven or eight feet long, was fastened to +a pillar, and permitted him to circulate out of the reach of the +spectators. His looks and gesticulations were frightful. His jaws never +ceased snapping, except when sending forth discordant cries, which were +said to be indicative of hunger. He swallowed flints when thrown to him, +but preferred raw meat, which he rushed behind his pillar to devour. He +groaned fearfully during his repast, and continued groaning until fully +satiated. When unable to procure more meat, he would swallow stones with +frightful avidity; which, upon examination of those which he accidentally +dropped, proved to be partly dissolved by the acrid quality of his saliva. +In jumping about, the undigested stones were heard rattling in his +stomach." + +The men of science quickly set to work to account for these feats, so +completely at variance with the laws of nature. But before they had hit +upon a theory, the pretended Molucca savage proved to be a peasant from +the neighbourhood of Besançon, who chose to turn to account his natural +deformities. When staining his face for the purpose, in the dread of +hurting his eyes, he left the eyelids unstained, which completely puzzled +the naturalists. By a clever sleight of hand, the raw meat was left behind +the pillar, and cooked meat substituted in its place. Some asserted his +passion for eating behind the pillar to be a proof of his savage origin; +most polite persons, and more especially Kings, being addicted to feeding +in public. The stones swallowed by the pretended savage were taken from a +vessel left purposely in the room full of them; small round stones, +encrusted with plaster, which afterwards gave them the appearance of +having been masticated in the mouth. Before the discovery of all this, the +impostor had contrived to reap a plentiful harvest. + +Some time afterwards, a woman was exhibited near the Louvre, who devoured +flints and slate with the utmost avidity. But the scientific world, +forewarned by its former credulity, took no note of her peculiarities of +appetite. + +It is recorded in the Gazette of Health, that the Abbé Monnier, of St. +Jean d'Angély, used in his youth to grind between his teeth fragments of +stone for recreation, and even in his declining age, continued the custom. +He would swallow a spoonfull during the day, and did not consider his +dinner complete without them. He was always pale and emaciated, which was +attributed to his singular diet. But his brother, who did not feed upon +stones, was precisely of the same temperament and appearance. The Abbé +lived till the age of ninety-eight. Diseased persons have been known to +devour without injury, earth, stones, chalk, and plaster; and an eminent +physician used to eat small lumps of plaster-of-Paris, as others swallow +sugar-plums. + +In the anatomical inquiries of Menelaus Winsemius, a Dutch physician, he +relates that in his time, a peasant of Friesland was in the habit of +swallowing flints, wood, glass, and live fish. In Wurtemberg, there was +also a miller, who for money would swallow birds, mice, lizards, +caterpillars, or fragments of glass and stone. He one day swallowed an +inkstandish, with all its appurtenances. These feats were publicly +attested by the Senate of Wurtemberg; after which, the man lived nineteen +years, subsisting upon twelve pounds of food per diem. There is scarcely a +fair throughout Europe at which such feats are not exhibited on a minor +scale. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +DREAMS. + + +In modern times, dreams have become a gratuitous affair; but in the time +of lotteries they possessed the greatest value with the votaries of Blind +Fortune. At the French offices, a register was kept of lucky numbers, +whose prizes were the result of dreams. Not a day passed but the office +keepers were applied to for numbers, the combination of which was foretold +by dreams. + +However great the weakness of those who put undue faith in such omens, it +must be admitted that the wanderings of the mind during sleep have been +productive of marvellous results. But just as the slightest opinions of +Montaigne are the result of the minutest self-study, a person desirous to +ascertain the real importance of a dream ought to consider what was the +state of health, disposition, mind and feeling of the dreamers. Many +dreams constitute a mere continuation of the occupations of the day. +Others arise from our habitual strain of mind. During illness or fever, +the mind, and consequently the dreams by which it is perplexed, assume an +exalted and unnatural tone. + +Authors have been known to compose during their sleep. Voltaire declares +that he composed his verses to Monsieur Touron while asleep; and on +returning from a ball, what young dancer does not fancy during the night, +that the violins of the orchestra are still ringing in his ears? +Hippocrates was so persuaded of the analogy of dreams with our physical +condition, that he points out specifics against evil dreaming. If the +stars turn pale in your dreams, you are to run in a circle; if the moon, +you must run in a straight line; if the sun, you must run both in a +straight line and a circle to avoid a repetition of the evil omen. + +By these prescriptions, he prevailed upon the lazy Athenians to assist +their bad digestion by the effect of exercise, so as to procure a calm and +gentle sleep. + +Pliny, the younger, mentions the following fact: "One of my slaves, who +was sleeping with his companions in the place usually allotted to them, +dreamed that two men, dressed in white, entered through the window, and +having shaven their heads, departed by the way they came. The following +morning he was found shaved, and his hair scattered on the ground." This +was probably some waggish trick practised on him by his companions when in +a state of intoxication. + +Valerius Maximus, on the authority of Cicero, relates a remarkable dream: + +"Two fellow-travellers arrived at Megara; the one putting up at an hotel, +the other at the house of a friend. Scarcely had the former fallen asleep, +when he saw his companion imploring him to come to his aid, as his host +was attempting to murder him. The impression was so strong as to wake him; +when, finding it a delusion, he went to sleep again. Once more, his friend +appeared, announcing the accomplishment of the crime, and that his +assassin had concealed his body under the dunghill, to which he begged his +companion to repair betimes, before they had time to remove it out of the +city. Overawed by so awful a vision, the friend rose forthwith, and +proceeding to the scene of the murder, found a carter and his cart about +to quit the court. On insisting to examine the load, the carter fled; when +the body was extricated from the dung, the whole affair discovered, and +the host condemned to death." + +This Greek story is related on the authority of Cicero, who was never at +Megara, and consequently knew the fact by hearsay. Had Cicero asserted +that he witnessed the affair, the story would have been difficult to +believe; as it is, posterity is absolved from the smallest credence. + +There lived at Marseilles, a bigoted woman, who passed her days at church, +and dreamt every night that she was transformed into a lamp: a dream she +chose to verify; for, on the day of her death, a silver lamp was +suspended, at her cost, in the choir of the church in which she was wont +to follow her devotions. + +Dreams are the peculiar province of the poet. Æneas, to justify his +abandonment of Dido, cites the commands of his father, who appears to him +every night. What more beautiful, except perhaps the dream of Athalia, +than the dream of Æneas, in which Hector presents himself to the son of +Anchises, pale and ghastly, as after he had become a victim to the +vengeance of Achilles? In the Greek plays, and the French tragedies +imitated from the Greek, dreams form a prominent feature. The family of +Atrides were great dreamers:--Atreus, Agamemnon, Orestes, and Egisthus, +the son of Atreus, had all remarkable dreams. + +In Lemercier's tragedy of "Agamemnon," Egisthus relates that which is +evidently the result of a dream;--but he will not admit it to be a dream, +declaring that he "did not sleep." + +The impressions of dreams are often so vivid that we confound in our +memory real facts with the visions of sleep. Hence, no doubt, the popular +expression of "You must have dreamt that!" + +The existence of dreams must be coeval with the human race. By the +ancients, the Gods were thought to preside over them. The dreams of +Pharaoh made the fortune of Joseph; and Artemidorus acquired a great +reputation under the Antonines, by interpreting dreams. According to him, +to dream of being weighed down by a mountain, portended proscription; and +to dream of death, meant marriage. To dream that you are deprived of +sight, intimates that you are about to lose one of your children. +Artemidorus interpreted dreams in the same manner as the celebrated +Mademoiselle Lenormand, or as Mrs. Williams, so well-known in London at +the commencement of the present century. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +OF PREJUDICES ATTACHED TO CERTAIN ANIMALS. + + +Innumerable are the auguries which the remnants of ancient superstition +have attached to certain animals. To meet a flock of sheep, is considered +a lucky omen. To overtake one when proceeding to the house of a friend, +determines many people to turn back as indicative of an inhospitable +reception. + +Two magpies are sure forerunners of good news; but a single one is +supposed to foreshow tidings of the death of a friend. + +Spiders are of evil omen; though the mischief they convey is attributed, +in Scotland, solely to the family of Bruce. There is a French proverb +which says, "Arraignée du soir--espoir," as if the hour of the day +influenced the nature of the omen. Lalande, the astronomer, is known to +have been fond of eating spiders. Yet the insect is an object of +repugnance to most people; and is, in some species, venomous. + +Of all reptiles, the toad is the most universally detested; as if gifted +with a magnetism of repulsion. The Abbé Rousseau asserts in his Treatise +on Natural History, that the sight of a toad has been known to produce +convulsions and death. "Having enclosed one of these reptiles," says he, +"in a glass jar, I stood watching it; when the creature rose on its hinder +legs, fixing its red and inflamed eyes upon me, till I became so faint and +depressed, as to be on the point swooning. A cold dew rose upon my face, +such as announces the approach of death." This was probably the result of +fear alone. Two living beings cannot long stare fixedly at each other +without one giving way. The power of the visual organ is very great; and +the stronger controls the weaker. As the pointer arrests the partridge, +the eye of Marius arrested the arm of the Cimber sent to assassinate him; +and by fixing his eye upon a troublesome dog, Talma could always prevent +its barking. The toad is a disgusting animal, but not a noxious animal. It +destroys many insects injurious to the beauty of our flower-gardens, and +plumpness of our esculents; while for sobriety, it has no competitor. +Toads have been found imbedded in blocks of marble and trunks of trees, +deprived of all chance of external air or nutriment. + +The lizard, which is nearly as unseemly to look on as the toad, has long +been deemed the friend of man; and the vulgar had formerly a superstition +that a piece of lizard's tail worn on the person secured good fortune. + +Lizards are sociably disposed, and fond of the human voice. They are said +by travellers in Surinam and Cayenne, to awake a sleeping person on the +approach of the rattlesnake. Alarmed at the approach of a snake, they have +probably been known to cross the face of some man lying asleep; and have +thus given rise to a popular fallacy. But if lizards be not the +benefactors of the human race, at least they do us no harm; a quality that +might be advantageously transferred to many of our own species. + +Pliny maintains that oysters grow fat or thin according to the phases of +the moon; while most modern oyster-eaters attribute the change to certain +months rather than certain weeks of the year. It is an equally erroneous +supposition that milk promotes the digestion of oysters; which may be +proved by trying to dissolve them in hot or cold milk. The prejudice that +they are out of season when no R figures in the name of the month, +originated in the difficulty of transferring them fresh from the coast to +the capital during the months of May, June, July, and August. By the +sea-side, they will be found good at all seasons of the year. + +In ancient times, the appearance of an owl in the day-time was esteemed a +prodigy; and the Romans used to rush to the temples, offering incense to +the Gods! Pliny considers the apparition of an owl an omen of sterility; +and an omelet made of owl's eggs was a sovereign specific against ebriety. +Among villagers, the shriek of the owl is still dreaded as a summons to +the other world. Yet this bird was favoured by dedication to the Goddess +of Wisdom, though ungifted with the powers of divination ascribed by the +Greeks to the vulture. According to the ancients, the vulture possessed +such olfactory powers, that it could foreshow the death of a person three +days previous to his decease. + +It may be observed, that all the animals to which particular superstitions +are attached, were known to the ancients; whereas those discovered during +the latter ages are free from imputation of supernatural power. + +The wild beasts of all climates make man their prey; but none kill him by +a look, as was said of the basilisk. Among the ancients, Aristotle, Pliny, +and Galen, persisted in the foregoing opinion; and among modern +propagators of errors, the German Athazen, and the Italian Vitello. If +Rome, the superb, crouched before an owl, a basilisk compelled Alexander +to raise the siege of an Asiatic city. Taking the besieged under its +protection, a basilisk, esconced betwixt two stones on the ramparts, +repulsed, without moving, two hundred Macedonians who were rash enough to +attack it. Sir Thomas Brown suggests the possibility, that the poison of +the basilisk may be so intense and subtle, as to be darted forth by means +of its visual organ. + +The venomous bite of the viper has given rise to a variety of popular +prejudices. The tooth of St. Amable was once the only specific; to which +succeeded a faith in the antidote of Maltese earth. Meanwhile the utmost +efforts of the faculty remain fruitless against the bite of the +rattle-snake, of the cobra di manilla, and several other of the more +venomous species. The quality of their venom is supposed to remain +unimpaired by the death of the reptiles; and instances are cited of +individuals having died of handling them, even after being preserved in +spirits of wine. The venom is deposited in two vesicles on either side the +head, above the muscle of the upper jaw, the remainder of its body being +completely innocuous; so that, in former days, viper broth was frequently +prescribed in pulmonary complaints. The venom of the viper becomes less +intense as it advances in age. + +It used to be believed, that the saliva of man was fatal to vipers, as +their venom to ourselves; an opinion maintained by Aristotle, Galen, +Varro, Pliny, and Figuier, the surgeon. The latter asserts that he killed +a viper by the effect of his own saliva. The experiments by Redi, the +learned physician of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and many others, proved +the absurdity of the idea. + +Benvenuto Cellini declares, in his Memoirs, that he saw a salamander in +the midst of his own fire; probably a lizard, inadvertantly brought from +the country among the logs of wood. No one has yet pleaded guilty to +having seen a phoenix, though for ages, a popular superstition attached to +this fabulous bird. The unicorn also continues to be placed among the +apocryphal animals, with the great sea-serpent of the American coast. + +The bite of the tarentula spider was long said to produce involuntary +dancing; simply because the persons bitten, on applying to the local +practitioners of the healing art, were instantly ordered to dance the +_pizzica_, the rapid Sicilian dance of the provinces where the tarentula +abounds, in order to promote circulation and neutralize the effects of the +poison. Whole villages used to assemble to witness the result, and +whenever the patient expired of the bite of the reptile, he was said to +have danced himself to death. Such is the origin of the Neapolitan +superstition of the tarentula. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +CONTENT AND COURTESY. + + +The first ambition of mankind is to be happy. To the brute creation, and +to man in a state of nature, happiness consists in sensual gratification. +To this, succeeds the factitious happiness of civilization; whence the +origin of a variety of popular errors and prejudices. From the days of +Horace to our own, people have been prone to envy those who pursue any +career but their own. But if the soldier envy the position of the +civilian, and _vice versâ_, it is clear that the ambition of being what +one is not, arises from the fact that every one is acquainted with the +drawback on his own profession, and only appreciates the advantages of +that to which he does not belong. La Fontaine never imagined anything more +true, or more charming, than the fable of the cobbler entreating the +financier to restore him his song and peaceful sleep, in exchange for the +hundred crowns he had bestowed upon him. Every one has heard the Persian +apologue of the Sophi, to whom, in a fit of acute suffering, the sole +remedy prescribed was the shirt of a happy man; a treasure difficult to +discover either in Court or city; till at length a ragged wretch was found +in the suburbs of Ispahan, who admitted himself to be perfectly happy; but +alas! he had not a shirt to his back; and the cure of the Sophi was not +more advanced than before. + +History has its lessons on this head as well as fiction. The Comte de +Ségur relates in his Memoirs, that previous to the Revolution, the Duke de +Lauraguais wrote to him as follows: + +"Congratulate me, my dear Ségur. Thanks be to Heaven, I am completely +ruined! I have nothing left, but am delivered from the importunities of my +creditors." + +Towards the termination of his career, this witty nobleman subsided into +voluntary habits of simplicity, differing strangely from his past +splendours. Never, however, had he been happier!--His peace of mind was +from within; superior to all incidents of birth, position, and fortune. + +It requires to have inhabited the various stories of the social edifice, +to be able to judge man under the various aspects resulting from fortune +and station. Happiness has little to do with either; fortune and +misfortune have alike their evil influences. Covetousness is as insatiable +as ambition. In proportion as people scale the ladder of opulence, they +discover others richer than themselves to excite their envy; and vanity +pervades every rank of society, marring the quietude of the human mind. +The laurels of Miltiades gave umbrage to Themistocles; and Cæsar declared +that he would rather be the first of a village, than second in Rome. A +wiser man was the shepherd who said: "Were I a King, I would keep my sheep +on horseback." + +The ceremonies of politeness, when carried to excess, are a source of +public inconvenience. The custom of addressing a lady bare-headed, as was +the case in France a century ago, when Louis XIV., even in a shower, +refused to put on his hat in the presence of females, was the cause of +many a serious indisposition. The custom of appearing bare-headed in +church is also dangerous to many; and, so far unreasonable, that men are +unable to appear in hats, while it would be accounted singular for a woman +to appear there without a bonnet. Can any reasonable motive be assigned +for such a distinction? + +Again, what is the origin of the ridicule attached to a person who is +left-handed? It is clear that some are born with an instinctive facility +in the use of the right hand--some of the left. Yet mothers punish their +children for using the left hand, as an act of awkwardness. The preference +given to the use of the right hand, though existing from the times of +antiquity, is not the less ridiculous. + +In Holy Writ, the right hand is made an instrument of benediction; which +probably conferred a superiority over the left. Theologians also contend +that the Son of God sat on the right of the heavenly throne. The Romans +conceded such superiority to the right hand, that when at table, they lay +on the left side that the right hand might be free. Aristotle maintained +that the pre-eminence of the right hand proceeded from the same +conformation by which the cray-fish have the right claw larger than the +left. Politeness in these days requires we should place the person we wish +to distinguish, on the right. The indiscriminate use of both hands is the +best lesson to teach a child:--indifference to the distinction bestowed by +the assignment of a place on either, the best lesson to be practised by +adolescence. + +Parisians consider it a lesson of politeness to their young children to +kiss their right hand before receiving any thing presented to them. The +left hand is, however, devoted to the wedding-ring. This is not a +Christian custom; but prevailed among the Assyrians, Medes, Egyptians, +Babylonians, and most of the people of antiquity. + +Many people object to uttering the word farewell in parting from a friend, +influenced by a prejudice that a fatality attaches to the word. Whence the +French mode of taking leave with "_sans adieu_!" + +The compliments formerly paid to a person sneezing are now happily +abandoned; having arisen in those early days of civilization when +epidemics were so far more frequent and fatal than now. It was the custom, +in most European countries, to say "God bless you," to the person who +sneezed, lest it should be symptomatic of the commencement of an illness. + +Sneezing has been the object of a variety of ridiculous prejudices. +Aristotle pronounces sneezing to be a gift from the Gods, and to be +honoured as a thing of holiness, and a sign of good health. Hippocrates +agrees with Aristotle, and pronounces it a great relief to parturient +women. The Rabbins assert that Adam sneezed after his fall; and that in +the primitive times, sneezing was a sure prognostic of death; and remained +so till the patriarch Jacob obtained from God that it should no longer be +the forerunner of dissolution. It is fortunate this change took place +previous to the use of snuff; or the snuffbox would have been accounted +fatal as that of Pandora. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +THE DIVINING ROD. + + +The superstition of the divining rod prevailed only a century and a half +ago. The following story concerning it, is too curious to be omitted. In +the year 1692, a vintner of Lyons and his wife were murdered in their +cellar, their assassins making away with their money. All attempts to +discover the culprits were vain, till a simple Dauphinese peasant, named +Jacques Aymar, boasted that, with the aid of a simple hazel twig, he could +discern the assassins. Having visited the scene of the murder, rod in +hand, it became agitated; and on following its indications till he reached +the right bank of the Rhone, Aymar entered the house of a gardener, where +three bottles stood on the table; when, lo! the rod instantly intimated +that the bottles had been emptied by the assassins! Two children of the +house owned that three ill-looking men had been there; on which Aymar +began to obtain some credit. Traces of three men were found imprinted on +the sand by the river-side; and, persuaded that they had embarked, Aymar +followed them, inquiring as he proceeded, and detecting the spots where +they had halted, to the astonishment of those who accompanied him. + +At the Sablon, the rod becoming agitated, Aymar announced that the +assassins were evidently in the camp; and his divining rod led him as far +as the gate of the prison of Beaucaire; which being opened, twelve of the +fifteen prisoners confined were brought before him. But the divining rod +was motionless till the approach of a certain humpbacked prisoner, who +declared his utter ignorance of the crime committed at Lyons. On the +indications of the rod, however, the hunchback being conducted to the +gardener's house was recognised as having been one of the party. At length +he confessed his guilt; protesting, however, that he was an involuntary +spectator, and did not participate in the murder. Having furnished Aymar +with information concerning the direction the assassins had taken, he +traced their steps to an inn at Toulon, where they had dined the previous +evening. On finding that the culprits had put to sea, he also embarked and +followed the course of their boat to its landing-place. But on reaching +the frontier, all further trace of them was lost. + +This wonderful story afforded a topic of discussion to the whole kingdom. +So many persons bore testimony to the truth of the story, that it was +impossible to doubt it; the more so, that Aymar followed it up with +exploits equally wonderful. He detected several thieves, as well as the +places where they had concealed their booty; and as a test of his powers, +the lady of the chief officer of police possessed herself, by stealth, of +the purse of one of her friends, and begged him to come to her and detect +the thief. Aymar instantly declared that they were amusing themselves at +his expense. + +The Prince de Condé, who, far from being superstitious, had greater faith +in his Field-Marshal's baton than the divining rod, could not resist his +curiosity to witness the feats of Aymar, and sent for him to Paris. As +soon as he recovered the fatigues of his journey, he was conducted to a +bureau, from which something of considerable value had disappeared; but +whether or not the magnificence of the place annihilated the power of the +divining rod, the charm was gone! Holes were dug in various parts of the +garden, in which were deposited gold, copper, stones, and other +substances. But the rod failed to point out the hidden treasure. In the +interim, a pair of silver candlesticks having been stolen from +Mademoiselle de Condé, Aymar's rod pointed out a goldsmith's shop, the +master of which being accused, was highly indignant. Thirty-six livres +were forwarded, however, the following morning as the price of the +objects; and it was supposed that Aymar had resorted to this expedient, +with the view of re-establishing his reputation. But it was all in vain! +The divining rod had lost its reputation, and Jacques Aymar was pronounced +to be an impostor. + +At his own request, however, he accompanied the King's advocate to a +street in which a murder had been committed; and the result being +unsatisfactory, Aymar was considered either a mountebank, or a man +following, with new pretensions, the old trade of recovering for reward +the stolen goods, in the abstraction of which he had participated. + +Science becomes dangerous in the hands of empirics, as weapons in the +hands of children. About forty years ago, a German doctor revived the +marvels of the divining rod, grounding his system upon the phenomena of +galvanism. But the philosophy of Volta disdained such an association. +Pleasantly exposed to ridicule in the admirable pages of the antiquary, it +is now estimated as on a par with the charm once supposed to be inherent +in the rope by which a human being had suffered the sentence of the law. +It is still proverbial with the vulgar, that any singularly lucky person +"carries a bit of hangman's rope in his pocket." + +Uninquiring incredulity is as great a proof of weakness as over +credulousness. The following instance of that incomprehensible foresight +which flashes upon the brain of certain individuals, under the name of +presentiment, passed under the notice of Gratien de Sémur. + +Madame de Saulce, the wife of a rich planter of St. Domingo, was residing +in France about the time of the Revolution. Her husband occasionally +visited his native country, leaving his lady at Paris, who was a woman of +sense and piety, by no means of a nervous temperament. During the last +voyage of her husband, being engaged at cards at an evening party, she +suddenly uttered a shriek, and sunk on her chair, exclaiming, "Monsieur +Saulce is dead!" Her friends crowding about her, attempted to tranquillize +her by their remonstrances, till by degrees she recovered her reason. So +powerful, however, had been the sensation or presentiment, that she had no +peace till she obtained news of her husband. + +A favourable letter arrived; but, alas! the date was anterior to that of +her vision. And soon afterwards, one of the friends present at the scene +of Madame de Saulce's ejaculation, received a communication from a +stranger in St. Domingo, requesting him to communicate to that lady the +distressing news of her husband's decease. Monsieur de Saulce had been +assassinated by his negroes, on the very day and hour of her fatal +presentiment. The event occurred in the presence of at least twenty +persons; and till the day of her death, the widow remained a prey to +sorrow mingled with awe and consternation. + +In the Memoirs of the great Sully will be found the record of the +presentiments of assassination, which oppressed the mind of Henry IV. "The +King," says he, "had the strongest presentiment of his dreadful destiny. +As the moment of his coronation approached, his alarm and consternation +increased; and in answer to my remonstrance, he exclaimed: 'In spite of +all you can urge, this ceremony is most distasteful to me. My heart +assures me that some misfortune will be the result.' After uttering these +desponding words, he sank back, overcome by gloomy anticipations; and +remained tapping the case of his spectacles, absorbed in gloomy reverie." + +The presentiment of Henri IV. of his approaching assassination, is +confirmed by the testimony of L'Etoile and Bassompierre, who, in their +Memoirs, relate the same particulars; and the fact is as historically +established as the evil dream of Calphurnia, and the denunciation of the +soothsayer to Julius Cæsar, on a parallel occasion. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +BEES AND ANTS. + + +Dull must be the blockhead, who could reproach La Fontaine with ignorance +of Natural History, and pronounce the fable of the "Ant and the +Grasshopper" bad, because the fabulist has not shown himself a rigid +naturalist. The great fault charged against La Fontaine, by the critics, +is having made the grasshopper sing. Its cry is considered by most people +far from melodious. + +The bee possesses a thousand poetical associations derived from our early +conversancy with the Georgics. From the remotest periods of antiquity, +bees have been recognised as attached to monarchical government, though +not to the Salique law. A hive has been compared to the palace of a +Czarina of Muscovy. + +The queen bee reigns over hundreds of male subjects with the despotism of +a Sultan; with the additional privilege of peopling her own dominions. +When the queen is on the point of increasing her numerous subjects, the +females invade the seraglio of their sovereign, and with their stings +exterminate all the male admirers of her majesty. The fecundity of a queen +is such, that she can produce sixty thousand of her species annually. The +males are easily recognized, being the sleekest and best formed of the +hive; and all its labours are carried on by them. To gather honey, and +bring back every day to the common exchequer the fruits of the plunder, +separate the honey from the wax, and with the latter construct their cell, +distil the honey, and die, constitute the duties of the bee. + +It has been asserted that the queen bee has no sting, which is an error. +Another error prevails, that after a bee has stung, it dies, leaving its +sting in the wound. Some one probably crushed a bee, and found the sting +in his finger, from which isolated fact a general conclusion has been +made. + +Réaumur applied himself to the study of bees; not, however, so devoutly as +the philosopher, Aristomachus, who consecrated fifty-eight years to it; or +the philosopher, Hytiscus, who conceived so great a passion for bees, that +he retired into the Desart, the better to observe them. He simply cleared +the way of errors, and discountenanced old traditions; but all was +conjecture with regard to bees, till the invention of glass hives; when +the government of those interesting insects became no longer a secret. +The devotion of the working bees to their queen is now well-known. When in +danger, or the hive is attacked, they rush to her aid; and even form a +mass to conceal her, and die in her defence. + +Réaumur relates the following anecdote of which he was a witness. A queen +bee, and some of her attendants were apparently drowned in a brook. He +took them out of the water, and found that neither the queen bee, nor her +attendants were quite dead. Réaumur exposed them to a gentle heat, by +which they were revived. The plebeian bees recovered first. The moment +they saw signs of animation in their queen, they approached her, and +bestowed upon her all the care in their power, licking and rubbing her; +and when the queen had acquired sufficient force to move, they hummed +aloud, as if in triumph! + +It has been thought that bees were prejudicial to the fructification of +plants, by robbing them of their pollen. This is not only an error, but +naturalists worthy of faith, are of opinion that their movement in a +blossom tends to sprinkle the pollen, and promote fecundity. + +Bees are of twofold service to the human race, by furnishing us with the +most refined means of lighting our houses, and of brightening our +furniture; to say nothing of their aromatic honey, surpassing the +sweetness of sugar. + +Little is known of the republics or monarchies of ants; or indeed of their +precise form of government. From the most remote period, however, it has +been the custom to represent the ant as the symbol of industry. + +The industrious habits of the ant cannot be questioned; but their much +vaunted foresight, as described by Boileau, and Addison's Spectator, is +now recognized as fabulous. + +According to naturalists, the ant is not without a certain analogy with +the bee; seeing that they have not one queen to each swarm, but a certain +number of queens for the reproduction of the species; there being +productive and unproductive ants. The working class is of a neutral sex. +The female ant deposits an egg, whence proceeds a worm, which becomes the +ant. As architects, also, to ants must be assigned the precedence over +bees; their cellular formations resulting from instinct, and not from +calculation. In the stupendous ant-hills so frequently seen in forests, +what a series of galleries, dormitories, corridors, and magazines is +contained; so that the numerous occupants find ample means of circulation. +But the ant cannot pretend to the gratitude of man in the same degree as +the bee. + +The following is a curious and well-attested fact. After the death of the +illustrious Lagrange, Parseval Deschênes, his coadjutor in his scientific +pursuits, who announced the coming of Pallas ten years previous to the +discovery of that planet--renounced his mathematical researches; and from +long habits of study acquired fresh occupation for his mind. + +While spending the summer with his friend, M. d'Aubusson de la Feuillade, +in the course of one of his rambles in the woods, he found an immense +ant-hill, and immediately resolved to make ants his study. He went every +day early enough to the ant-hill to see the first ant issue forth; and +followed it from the moment of its departure to that of its return. + +"About four o'clock in the afternoon," says he, "I saw my own particular +ant arrive heavily laden at the foot of the diminutive mountain; and, +finding it impossible to carry its burthen up the hill, deposit it and +look around for a confederate. None being at hand, it set forth again; and +about fifteen steps on its progress I saw my ant meet another equally +loaded. Both halted, and seemed to hold council; after which, they +proceeded together to the foot of the ant-hill. Then began the most +interesting scene I ever witnessed. The second ant disembarrassed itself +of its burthen; and, having provided themselves with a blade of grass, +they slipped it under the overweighted load, and, by their united efforts, +conveyed it over the hillock, and entered their respective cells! + +"After abandoning the study of mathematics as too abstruse," observes +Parseval, "I found the lever of Archimedes in use in an ant-hill." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + +PREPOSSESSIONS AND ANTIPATHIES. + + +Undue prepossession against or in favour of some object, is as much to be +guarded against as any other irrational prejudices. + +It is not uncommon to hear people reply when some particular dish is +offered to them: "Thank you, I have never eaten any, and nothing could +persuade me to touch it." Such a prepossession scarcely would be +pardonable in women or children. + +An anecdote is related in the life of Talma, which has lately formed the +subject of a drama. + +A poor strolling player, universally rejected, arrived, at his wits' end, +in a city where the illustrious actor was expected. A bright idea flashed +across his mind to personate Talma; as whom he accordingly announced +himself. The authorities of the town hastened to offer him their homage. +The theatre was crowded, and all the world enraptured with his +performance. In the midst of his popularity, the real Talma arrived; but +foreseeing that a prepossession once established in favour of the imitator +was not likely to be easily reversed, departed without making himself +known. The chances were that he might have been hissed. + +It is difficult to comprehend the use of the flatteries of painters to +Princes and Princesses about to be married by proxy. The portraits being +exchanged, the betrothed receive a first strong impression, and form their +opinions accordingly. A favourable prepossession is conceived; and in +place of an agreeable and expressive countenance, a frightful reality is +often rendered more frightful by disappointment. + +With regard to literary predilections, the works of an unknown author, +however meritorious, often lie mildewed on the shelf, while some trash, +protected by a favourite name, becomes popular. The admirable leading +articles of Benjamin Constant produced no effect till he signed them with +his well-known name, when their merit was instantly recognised. When +Michael Angelo first exhibited the productions of his chisel, they were +treated as far inferior to the sculptures of the ancient world. In the +seclusion of his studio, and unknown to any one, he accordingly set to +work on a statue of Cupid; of which he broke off the arm, and concealed +the mutilated statue in the midst of the excavations making by the Pope. +When the statue was discovered, all Rome fell into ecstasies; pronouncing +it to be the work of Phidias or Praxiteles. Michael Angelo immediately +produced the mutilated arm, and his former critics became rebuked into +silence. + +At the time when the rage for Italian music excluded every other +composition from the stage, and the great French composers had fallen in +public estimation, Méhul avenged himself much in the manner of Michael +Angelo. Zealous in the cause of French music, he composed the opera of the +Irato, the words by the ingenious Hoffmann; who, to render the illusion +complete, made the libretto as incomprehensible as possible. The opera was +rehearsed in secret, though fifty persons were engaged in it; and it was +circulated in the world, that the forthcoming opera was a mere pasticcio, +borrowed from the operas recently in vogue in Italy. + +When the curtain rose, the overture was enthusiastically applauded. Still +more so, the different airs executed by Ellevion, Martin, and the +excellent company of the Comic Opera. The theatre was crowded with +enthusiastic admirers of Italian music, whose applause was vehement; one +person declaring that the music was by Fioravanti, and that he had heard +it at Naples; another, that it was by Cimarosa. At the end of the opera, +it was announced to be by Méhul, when the amateurs of the Italian school +were confounded. + +Teniers also exposed the unjust prejudices of his countrymen; who, +underrating his paintings, they sold far short of their value. Having +previously published a report of his death and burial, he instructed his +wife to assume widow's weeds; and, after a certain time, to announce the +sale of the paintings of her deceased husband. The stratagem succeeded, +his very detractors enhancing the value of his works. Teniers afterwards +returned to his native country, and resumed his labours, which were never +afterwards disparaged. + +When a History of France by Pigault Le Brun was announced, it was +pronounced to be detestable long before it appeared; solely because +Pigault Lebrun was the author of a variety of amusing novels. The famous +physician Portal turned to good account the prejudice that prevails in +Paris in favour of fashion. Established in the capital, he was some time +without obtaining practice. At length, he devoted all his means to the +purchase of a beautiful equipage, and sent it every day to stand before +the doors of illustrious patients. Of course the numerous inquirers after +the invalid, could not fail to remark the beautiful equipage of the +physician in every quarter of the town; and the Marchioness immediately +determined to try the physician of the Duchess, and _vice versâ_; till in +a short time, Portal received applications from all quarters, calling in +his advice to the noblest sufferers of the capital. Endowed with a +distinguished appearance, elegant manners, and considerable powers of +conversation, he became the indispensable attendant of all fashionable +invalids; and thus, founded a reputation to which he subsequently proved +himself entitled. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +THE INFLUENCE OF BELLS UPON THUNDER STORMS. + + +Science has long demonstrated the folly of ringing church bells during a +storm. The vibration of the air, produced by the movement of a bell, was +formerly supposed to disperse the fluid; which, on the contrary, it +attracts. For these fifty years past, the civic authorities have compelled +the bell-ringers to be silent during a storm. In former ages, when the +priests caused the bells to be rung during a storm, it was an act of piety +and not a physical experiment. Scientific men, on the contrary, have been +justified in declaring the vibration caused by the sound of a church bell +upon a cloud charged with electricity to be injurious, from the fact that +ringers have been struck dead by the electric fluid during the discharge +of their functions. But though bells are no longer rung during a storm, +the fluid falls just as often upon church steeples. It is, however, as +well to forbid the ringing of bells during a storm, for the simple reason +that to ring the bells, the ringer must be in the tower, where he is in +greater danger than elsewhere. Steeples are often surmounted by an iron +cross, or weathercock, which attracts the fluid. + +It is only lately we have made any proficiency in electrical science. +Franklin, who at the same moment brought fire from heaven and wrested the +sceptre from the potentates of the earth, was the inventor of the +conductor, which has probably preserved many monuments from destruction. +In the reign of Louis XIV, sailors were in the habit of affixing a pointed +sword to the summit of the mast, most likely acting under the experience +and impression which produced the conductor. A learned priest, the Abbé +Thiers, who died in 1703, in enumerating the superstitious practices of +his time, mentions the custom of affixing a pointed sword to a mast during +storms. The good old priest saw in it only a kind of superstition; while +the discovery of Franklin commanded the admiration of the world. It is not +unlikely that from the bosom of vulgar superstitions, science might +extract many a valuable discovery. + +In a late number of the Almanack of the Board of Longitude, Monsieur Arago +published a curious theory upon thunder, citing many interesting facts; +the only means of conferring popularity on knowledge, which, in its +severer garb, is too often banished to the lecture-room. The influence of +storms upon animate as well as inanimate bodies, is incontestable; for +which of us has not felt or witnessed the effects? Previous to the +approach of the storm, the depression of the air is perceptible upon our +limbs and spirits; and on beholding the dejected, languid, and uneasy +demeanour of the animal species, it might be supposed that so powerful a +sensation would be more oppressive to ourselves, were it not restrained by +reason. A similar sensation is experienced in a far higher degree, +previous to the shock of an earthquake. + +With the first drops of rain of a thunder storm, however, we experience +relief. Both animal and vegetable substances become decomposed during a +storm. Objects formed of goat or sheep-skin give out a nauseous smell. +White paper and other substances have been known to become covered with +spots of various hues. Oxen killed by lightning are unfit for use, so +nauseous and black is the flesh. Dairy-maids place a nail under the +vessels containing the milk, to prevent it turning, as well as under a hen +which is sitting. Remote approaches towards the conductor! + +Of the phenomena which signalize storms, nothing is more remarkable than +the repugnance of the electric fluid for silk. The steel ornaments of a +purse have been known to become twisted by the fluid, while the silk +remained uninjured. A covering of silk is accordingly the surest +preservative. But it is a curious fact that to none of the insect species +is a thunder-storm more fatal than to the silk-worm; as the silk-growers +know to their cost. + +The protective power of the laurel is now known to be fabulous; the laurel +tree being as much a conductor as any other. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + +SMALL POX AND VACCINATION. + + +If any thing could excuse the exercise of arbitrary power on the part of a +Government, it would surely be in the act of compelling parents to +vaccinate their children; but the aversion to vaccination being still only +too common among certain classes of the people. Yet surely the law which +punishes parents for ill-usage of their children, might be extended to +punish their leaving these helpless creatures exposed to the infection of +pain and disfigurement? Jenner is decidedly one of the greatest +benefactors of the human race; for the vast increase of population in the +different countries of Europe is ascribed, by many political economists, +to the safeguard of vaccination, which has preserved more lives since its +introduction, than the terrible wars of the present century have +destroyed. + +In England, this admirable discovery was far more readily adopted than in +France; where, however versatile in fashions and governments, any +improvement tending to benefit the human race is slowly and cautiously +accepted. In the reign of Louis XIV, the introduction of yeast in the +making of bread met with general opposition; and it required the +interference of the legislature to secure its adoption. The introduction +of bark and emetics was also attended with violent opposition; and +inoculation introduced from Turkey into Western Europe by Lady Mary +Wortley Montague, found great difficulty in establishing itself in France. + +It was not, however, surprising that parents should hesitate about giving +their children a loathsome disease; before it became certified by long +experience that the virulence of the disorder was considerably lessened by +preparation; so as to secure a mother against the terrible self-reproaches +arising from the loss of a child under the inoculated malady. + +In England, more particularly in the county of Gloucester, from time +immemorial cows were subject to a contagious disease, which infected the +hands of the milkmaids, who were observed never to suffer from the +small-pox. This surmise being confirmed by experiment, Dr. Jenner +established himself in the county of Gloucester; where, by inoculating +people with vaccine matter, he secured them against the small-pox. + +So far from turning his discovery to pecuniary account, as most others +would have done, Jenner nobly proclaimed it to mankind, calling upon all +philantrophists to share his triumph. + +The Duke de Rochefauld-Liancourt having witnessed the effects of +vaccination in England, introduced it into France, and did more for its +propagation than the slow deliberations of the Parisian Schools of +Medicine. Dr. Pinel, however, tried experiments at the Hospital of the +Salpétrière, with perfect success; while Dr. Aubert was despatched by +Government to England to report upon the subject. The result was +favourable. Matter was imported from England in the month of May, 1800, +when thirty-eight children were vaccinated at the Hospital of La Pitié; +and commissions were instantly instituted throughout France. Jenner had, +however, his opponents. In London, it was denounced from the pulpit, as an +infringement on the dispensation of Providence; and in France, Doctors +Vaume, Chapon and others pronounced vaccination to be injurious to the +human constitution, and capable of reducing man to the condition of a +brute, by the introduction of animal virus into the blood. As if we +resembled a calf or sheep the more for having swallowed a mutton chop or +veal cutlet. + +With a few rare exceptions, vaccination has proved a security against the +small-pox, and the practice ought consequently to become universal. But +old women are still to be found with instances of children who have died +of convulsions after vaccination; as if that were the origin of their +illness and death. + +Among the lower orders, a prejudice prevails that an inferior kind of +vaccine matter is provided for them; and whenever their children exhibit +symptoms of disease or deformity, they comfort their self-love by +attributing it to the influence of vaccination. "Such maladies were +unknown in their families, till the madness of introducing matter from the +body of a stranger into that of their child conveyed also the germs of +disease." + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + +PRECOCIOUS AND CLEVER CHILDREN. + + +It is a common observation respecting children, "that such or such a child +is too clever to live;" and though abundance of precocious children have +grown up, and into very ordinary men, it stands to reason that the +premature development of any particular quality in an extraordinary +degree, must exhaust the subject upon whom it operates. Gardeners thin the +superfluous shoots on trees, that those remaining may attain their perfect +growth. It would be difficult, perhaps, to pursue this system with +children who manifest supernaturally precocious capacities. But when such +cases present themselves, the vanity of parents often serves to forward an +evil result. The parents of children of genius usually stimulate instead +of checking the impulses requiring restraint; thus increasing the already +existing exhaustion. Proud of their infantine prodigy, which, in humble +life, becomes the object of some abominable speculation, nothing can be +more lamentable than the exhibition of these interesting little beings, +carried about from place to place, obtaining a notoriety of the most +injurious nature, and often let out for hire to some able speculator. The +exhibitionist, bent upon realising the largest profit in the shortest +time, and, reckless as to the source, having attained his end, cares not +whether the child perish in misery; and the laws, so severe upon the poor +hucksters in our streets, unprovided with a licence, sanction these +homicidal speculations! + +Baillet mentions one hundred and sixty-three children endowed with +extraordinary talents, among whom few arrived at an advanced age. The two +sons of Quintilian, so vaunted by their father, did not reach their tenth +year. Hermogenes, who at the age of fifteen, taught rhetoric to Marcus +Aurelius, who triumphed over the most celebrated rhetoricians of Greece, +did not die, but at twenty-four, lost his faculties and forgot all he had +previously acquired. Pica di Mirandola died at thirty-two; Johannes +Secundus at twenty-five; having at the age of fifteen composed admirable +Greek and Latin verses, and become profoundly versed in jurisprudence and +letters. Pascal, whose genius developed itself at ten years old, did not +attain the third of a century. + +In 1791, a child was born at Lubeck, named Henri Heinekem, whose +precocity was miraculous. At ten months of age, he spoke distinctly; at +twelve, learnt the Pentateuch by rote, and at fourteen months, was +perfectly acquainted with the Old and New Testaments. At two years of age, +he was as familiar with Ancient History as the most erudite authors of +antiquity. Sanson and Danville only could compete with him in geographical +knowledge; Cicero would have thought him an "alter ego," on hearing him +converse in Latin; and in modern languages, he was equally proficient. +This wonderful child was unfortunately carried off in his fourth year. +According to a popular proverb--"the sword wore out the sheath." + +The American family of the Davisons, whose Memoirs have been recently +before the public, afford two melancholy instances in point. Nevertheless, +the duty of every created being is to give the most ample development to +the predispositions conferred on him by his Creator; and this is certainly +to be accomplished without injury to the human frame. The mission of woman +is the perpetuation of the human race; and the statistical table of all +countries demonstrate that fruitful women have been remarkable for their +longevity. On the other hand, the tables of Blair and others prove that +unmarried women, whether spinsters or nuns, are shorter lived than +matrons. As regards the influence of an excessive exercise of the +intellect on the life of man, we can quote many instances of longevity +among the most eminent of ancient or modern times. + +Hippocrates, the greatest physician the world has ever seen, died at the +age of one hundred and nine, in the island of Cos, his native country. +Galen, the most illustrious of his successors, reached the age of one +hundred and four. The three sages of Greece, Solon, Thales, and Pittacus, +lived for a century. The gay Democritus outlived them by two years. Zeno +wanted only two years of a century when he died. Diogenes ten years more; +and Plato died at the age of ninety-four, when the eagle of Jupiter is +said to have borne his soul to Heaven. Xenophon, the illustrious warrior +and historian, lived ninety years. Polemon and Epicharmus ninety-seven; +Lycurgus eighty-five; Sophocles more than a hundred. Gorgias entered his +hundred and eighth year; and Asclepiades, the physician, lived a century +and a half. Juvenal lived a hundred years; Pacuvius and Varro but one year +less. Carneades died at ninety; Galileo at sixty-eight; Cassini at +ninety-eight; and Newton at eighty-five. In the last century, Fontenelle +expired in his ninety-ninth year; Buffon in his eighty-first; Voltaire in +his eighty-fourth. In the present century, Prince Talleyrand, Goethe, +Rogers, and Niemcewicz are remarkable instances. The Cardinal du Belloy +lived nearly a century; and Marshal Moncey lately terminated a glorious +career at eighty-five. + +Voltaire, though not a juvenile prodigy, was still young when he achieved +his brilliant reputation. At seventeen, he wrote the poem of La Ligue, +which afterwards became the Henriade; and at nineteen, produced the +tragedy of Oedipus. His constitution was then far from strong; and his +correspondence attests his frequent sufferings. No man, perhaps, ever made +a larger demand on his faculties. Yet his head may be said to have +survived the other members of his body, the extremities of which were long +insensible; his body reduced to a skeleton, his stomach rejecting all +sustenance, while to the last moment, his spirit gave proofs of wit and +genius. Among the precocious children who survived to maturity, though of +weakly health, were Alexander Pope and Dr. Johnson, both of whom may be +said to have "lisped in numbers." + +Liceti, the son of a Genoese physician, came into the world only a few +inches long, and it was thought impossible he could live. His father, +however, gave him the name of Fortunio, a singular selection, considering +the circumstances of the event, and placed him in an oven of even +temperature, under the care of an attentive nurse; and in the course of a +few months, Fortunio Liceti differed in nothing from children born in the +usual manner. The early years of this child passed much as that of +others, except that he evinced signs of superior intelligence. At +nineteen, he wrote a "Treatise on the Soul;" and in the course of a life +of seventy-nine years, embellished the literature of his country with +eighty works, bearing the stamp of great erudition. + +Marshal Richelieu was a child of untimely birth; and so delicate in frame, +as to be considered impossible to rear, though carefully wrapped in +cotton. Yet he lived to the age of eighty-five! Without intending to set +up Richelieu as a first-rate man, or defend his licentiousness, we cannot +deny him a prominent place among the distinguished Frenchmen of the last +century; being as much the representative of the tone and manners of the +great world, as Voltaire of the wit, or Mirabeau of the eloquence of the +country. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI. + +EDUCATION OF CHILDREN. + + +Neither the illustrious preceptor of Alexander, nor the amiable preceptor +of the Duke of Burgundy, nor all the professors of the universities of +England and France, ever effected so much in the way of education, as that +unrecognised president of all universities and public +schools--Example!--From the hour of their birth, children begin to +imitate. Their first words are mimicries of what they hear pronounced +before them. Hence the origin of different idioms and enunciations. +Montaigne made Latin the mother tongue of his son, by surrounding him with +persons who spoke no other language, and even a nurse who spoke Latin. + +The intellect of children expands long before they have the power of +expressing their ideas. Physicians have affirmed that children have been +known to die of jealousy, before they were old enough to express their +sensations. Excessive notice of another child, or seeming neglect of +themselves, has been found to induce a state of languor, and hasten their +end. Young children suffer doubly in illness, from the incapability of +expressing their pain. + +Their language being formed upon our own, and their conduct framed upon +our own, the duty of placing desirable examples before them is +sufficiently evident; yet we frequently punish them for faults of which +the first lesson was given by ourselves. In many conditions of life, +however, parents are forced to delegate to other hands the care of their +progeny. The labouring poor, for instance, cannot constantly watch over +them. While the rich wantonly confide their infants to the care of menial +hands, the poor trust them to any which God is pleased to send to their +aid. It is even more essential to avoid giving bad examples to children +than to offer them good. Yet how often are family dissensions and +recriminations exposed to their observation! A man and wife living ill +together, who so far forget themselves as to quarrel before their +children, create a preference and partizanship which must diminish the +respect equally due to both parents. In humbler life, abusive language +often ends with blows; and what must be the effect of such scenes on the +tender mind of infancy? + +The presence of children on such occasions, when proved before the +magistracy, ought to be considered an aggravation of the offence against +the law. Fathers and mothers by upbraiding each other in presence of their +children, often beget impressions which all their future representations +are unable to eradicate; and of what avail to the comfort of parents the +brilliant accomplishments and attractive manners of their children, if a +son have been taught to disparage his father, or a daughter to think ill +of her mother! Often do children so young as to appear deficient in +observation, receive vague but indelible impressions, afterwards recalled +by a retrospective view; when the past appears clear and free from the +vapours which veiled it from our earlier comprehension. + +Among the lower orders, if a poor man be laborious, his son is usually the +same. But the son of a father who ill-uses the mother, is pretty sure to +turn out an idler and a dunce in childhood, and, in riper years, a +ruffian. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII. + +PREJUDICES OF THE FRENCH. + + +The prevailing weakness of the French, collectively and individually, is +to esteem themselves the type and model of perfection; the standard by +which the universe ought to be regulated. An Italian author once asserted +that the face of man was not made after that of God; but that the face of +the Creator was to be imagined after that of man. The French consider all +that resembles them, right: all that differs from them, wrong. This +prejudice entitles foreigners to laugh at them, whether justly or not. The +word "_fat_" appears to have been exclusively invented for the nation. +Vain, presumptuous, haughty, disdainful men are to be found in all +countries; but _fatuité_ is the peculiar attribute of Frenchmen; nor does +any other language possess an equivalent term. + +The French, unhesitatingly, pronounce themselves the most polished nation +of the universe; and Paris, the capital of the civilized world,--the city +of arts, sciences, elegance of manners, and refinement. In Paris only, +does genius receive due homage,--merit, encouragement,--or the mind its +full development. But the temple they have erected to their national +vanity, has begun to totter upon its flimsy foundation. + +Notwithstanding their assumed pre-eminence, no nation is more prone to +imitate the customs, usages, fashions, and forms of government of others. +Just as the Romans placed the Gods of their defeated enemies in their +Pantheon, the French, under Napoleon, brought back the customs of foreign +nations. + +For twelve centuries, the French possessed a system of government of their +own; but they decided, at length, to adopt that of the English. A +Revolution having occurred in England, and a King been beheaded in London, +an analogous event appeared indispensable; and a King of France, +consequently, ended his reign on the scaffold. In early times, one +legislative chamber was considered sufficient; but as there existed two in +England, their national vanity could not rest till gratified by a similar +number. In all this, there is little to support the vaunted superiority of +the French. + +Till the close of the last century, the French wore what is still termed, +on the continent, the French costume, or _habit Français_, with bags and +swords, which in England we call a court-dress. But the English having +laid aside these inconvenient appendages in favour of hunting and riding +coats, the latter were quickly adopted by the Parisians under the name of +_redingotte_. + +The Lord Cadogan of Marlborough's time, having found it convenient to +double up his queue, and bind it with a bow of black ribbon, the whole +French army adopted the fashion; and his Lordship's name became +immortalized in France by "_les perruques à la Cadogan_." + +The strong horses of Normandy required an easy but somewhat solid kind of +saddle, the form of which had prevailed from the time of Louis XIV. But +the English using a lighter and smaller kind, it was adopted in +preference; and certain moral philosophers who proceeded to England to +study the laws, manners, and system of government, having remarked in +addition that the English treated their horses as Alcibiades did his dog, +the horses on the other side the channel were forthwith anglicised by the +abbreviation of their tails. + +On the arrival of the Bourbons and the English in France, in 1814, the +long waists and cottage-bonnets of the ladies were made the ground-work of +innumerable caricatures. Yet a few years afterwards, generally they were +adopted! This Anglomania has been as much a matter of reproach to the +French for centuries past; as, in England, the preference of the English +ladies for French goods and manufactures. A serious source of discussion +between Napoleon and Josephine was her rage for English fashions. + +In the early part of the Revolution, the Duke of Orleans made frequent +excursions to England; in one of which he purchased a sword hilt of steel, +the execution of which was admirable. On his return to Paris, he exhibited +it to a celebrated steel worker, challenging him to produce its equal; on +which, taking up the hilt, the man pointed out his own name to the Prince, +as the manufacturer of the article, which had been exported to London. + +During the brilliant campaigns of Field-Marshal Suwarow, the form of his +hat and boots was copied by the military men of France; and when Bolivar +and Murillo were ascertained to wear hats of different dimensions, the +French partizans of the two chiefs assumed on one part, broad-brimmed +Spanish hats, on the other, a narrower shape. + +When the Russians came to Paris at the Restoration, another change took +place. Instead of the boots worn to protect the legs from the mud, the +wide trowsers of the Russians made to cover their boots, in consideration +of the bitterness of their climate, were instantly adopted by the nation +which pronounces itself the arbiter of Europe in matters of taste. The +padded chests of the Russian uniforms, also worn as a defence against the +weather, were imitated in defiance of climate and common sense. + +Previous to the arrival of the Russians in Paris, smoking was limited to +the operative classes, and soldiers who had fought in the German campaign. +But from the moment the Russians began to smoke in the open street, the +capital so famed for elegance, became polluted with the smell of tobacco. +A modern man of fashion can no more dispense with his cigar-case than +Bayard with his sword; and in imitation of the Spanish women, the +fashionable Parisian ladies, known by the name of _lionnes_, have taken to +smoking. + +In order to mark their estimation of the Swedes, when they elected to be +their Prince, Bernadotte, who is a Frenchman, they thought to do them the +highest honour by calling them the French of the north. Two noblemen, the +one an aide-de-camp of Napoleon, the other of the Emperor Alexander, +having made acquaintance at Tilsit, the former observed, with the +intention of paying a compliment: "You might really be taken for a +Frenchman!" to which the Russian, indignant at his rudeness, replied: +"Depend upon it you could never pass for a Russian!" + +It is a favourite vaunt of the braggarts of France, that their children +are born soldiers. "Stamp upon the soil of France, and myriads of warriors +will start up!" says one of their popular writers. + +In answer to this boast, observe the results of the drawing for the +conscription, when the most trifling bodily defects are put forth to +secure exemption from military service!--Nothing can exceed the despair of +those who draw what is called "a bad number;" though a military career +presents nearly the same advantages to a working man as any other to which +he may devote himself. + +The self-sufficiency of the nation stands perpetually self-convicted; and +it is now proverbial in Europe to "be as great a boaster as a Frenchman." + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. + +MONSTROUS BIRTHS. + + +The attachment existing betwixt animals of different kinds is an undoubted +fact. Dogs have been known to take kittens under their protection during +the absence, or after the death of the parent cat. Most people who have +been at the Jardin des Plantes, must have noticed the affection evinced by +the lion for the little dog that shares his cage. Two horses and an ass +having fed from the same rack during a period of fourteen years, on the +death of the ass, his two companions refused food and died. These +inclinations are probably the result of the familiarity with mankind +produced by domestication, which destroys their natural instincts. + +Parrots, starlings, jays, and magpies, do not talk in their wild state; +nor would a dog, or squirrel, of its free will, have turned a wheel. + +In a Norman farm, so singular an affection subsisted between a hen and a +cat attached to the barn-yard, that the cat was frequently seen sitting +upon the nest during the absence of her friend; and the eggs thus hatched +produced a hybrid race of fowl and cat--a fact certified by an eminent +Norman naturalist, Dr. Vimond, at the close of the last century. Towards +the beginning of the present, there was exhibited in the Rue St. Honoré, a +mastiff bitch having a litter of two puppies and two cats, which she had +brought into the world at a birth. + +The ancients frequently speak of monstrous progeny. Besides the famous +Minotaur of Crete, Pliny relates that a Roman lady, named Alcippa, +produced a young elephant, and that a female slave brought forth a +serpent. Julius Obsequens describes two Italian women, who, in the middle +of the fifteenth century, produced on the same day, the one a cat, the +other a dog. In such instances, dogs and cats seem to enjoy the +preference. A Swiss woman, however, is asserted to have produced a hare; a +Thuringian, a toad. Bayle speaks of a mare which produced a calf; and of a +woman, who became the mother of a black cat, which was burnt by command of +the Holy Inquisition in the belief that it was the offspring of the devil. +These marvels have been chiefly attested by monks and physicians; but +there is scarcely an instance in which any distinguished naturalist has +been able to confirm the fact. + +During the thirteenth century, in three different places, at Wittenberg, +Misnia, and Villefranche, children were born without heads. They died upon +coming into the world; but not without having exhibited symptoms of life. + +Carpi, the anatomist, mentions a child born in 1729, in whose head was +found nothing but clear water without a vestige of brain. On the other +hand, children have come into the world with a double volume of brain. In +1684, a woman gave birth to twins, of which the first-born survived only a +few hours, while the second exhibited a double head, having four eyes, two +noses, two tongues, but only two ears. + +The annals of anatomy furnish many such instances; and the cases of the +Siamese twins, and of the unfortunate sisters of Sgöny, are too well known +to need description. But if all the instances on record were +recapitulated, these blunders of nature are but as a grain of sand +compared with the regularity of her productions through an infinity of +ages. + +The idea of individuals having a double sex, created probably by Plato in +the fable of the Androgyne, the most ingenious fiction bequeathed to us by +antiquity, was for ages supposed to have its foundation in fact; and every +now and then, the irregularities of a Chevalier d'Eon revive the chimera, +to which anatomists oppose a decided negative. The beautiful statue of the +Florentine hermaphrodite at the Louvre is as much a chimerical being as a +sphinx. + +The Memoirs of the Chevalier d'Eon, published in America, declare one of +the most illustrious dynasties of modern Europe to be his descendents; an +assertion easily disproved by a comparison of the date of his visit to +Russia with that of the birth of the Emperor Paul. + +The Albinos were formerly considered a distinct race. They were sought in +the olden time as favourite appendages to the Courts of African and +Asiatic monarchs. Pliny places them in Albania, probably from the +similitude of name; but does not state that they constituted a nation. His +description of them, however, perfectly agrees with those of modern times; +having white hair, and eyes which he describes as resembling those of a +partridge. The Albinos are, in truth, an exceptional race; and their +peculiarities are seldom found to be hereditary. + +The morbid longings of women during pregnancy afford many remarkable +facts. Goulard relates, that in the neighbourhood of Andernach, on the +Rhine, a woman experienced such a longing for the flesh of her husband, +that she murdered him, ate one half of the body and salted the other; +when her appetite being appeased, she confessed the deed to two friends of +her husband. + +In the Helvetic Chronicles it is related, that in the time of Martin IV., +an illustrious lady of Rome, an object of affection to the supreme head of +the Church, gave birth to a son having the semblance of a wild beast; +which monstrous production was ascribed to the passion of his Holiness for +paintings of animals, numbers of which ornamented his palace, till the +continual view of such objects influenced the mind and body of his fair +inmate. + +A black child is generally believed to have been born to Marie Thérèse, +the wife of Louis XIV., in consequence of a little negro page in her +service having started from a hiding-place, and stumbled over her dress +early in her pregnancy. This child was educated at the Convent of Moret, +near Fontainebleau, where she took the veil, and where, till the epoch of +the Revolution, her portrait was shown. + +Mallebranche has assigned the greatest scope of imagination to women under +such circumstances. He mentions one, who having been present at the +breaking of a criminal on the wheel, gave birth to a child whose limbs +were broken at the exact places where those of the criminal were +fractured. Scarcely an anatomical museum but contains monstrous +productions. The question unsolved is the influence of the imagination of +the mother in producing these aberrations of nature. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. + +THE ICHNEUMON AND THE HALCYON. + + +Buffon assumes that the Ichneumon has been brought to a state of +domesticity. But he probably generalized from a single instance. The Pacha +of Egypt has a tame lion; and many other instances might be cited. But the +lion cannot be regarded as reduced to a domestic animal. + +According to Pliny, the ichneumon was an object of veneration among the +Egyptians. So also was the crocodile; these two determined enemies being +equally objects of adoration. By the ancients, the ichneumon was said to +watch the moment of the crocodile's sleep; when, finding the monster's +jaws open, it instantly crept in, and having devoured the bowels, made its +way out by the way it entered. + +Denon has given us the following account of the ichneumon in his Travels +in Egypt. + +"The ichneumon is seen lying upon the reeds of the Nile, in the +neighbourhood of the villages, to which it repairs in search of poultry +and eggs. The supposed antagonism of the ichneumon and crocodile, the one +eating the eggs of the other, and the former creeping down the throat of +the latter, is pure invention. These two animals do not dwell in the same +regions. Crocodiles are not known in Lower, nor ichneumons in Upper Egypt; +so that there can be no grounds for the prejudice which has existed twenty +centuries:--for Pliny, himself, probably handed down a tradition! + +The fable of the halcyon is so charming, that it ought to have been +founded on fact. But Ovid was a better poet than naturalist. + +To the power of tranquillizing the tempest, the halcyon was supposed to +add the gift of foretelling good or bad weather. By degrees, writers of +fiction endowed its feathers with the power of rendering silk proof +against the sting of insects, of yielding wealth and harmony, and +conferring grace and beauty on the wearers. The halcyon deposits its eggs +on the sea-shore, on the banks of lakes and rivers; and its breeding +season is that when the air is most calm and serene; but its power of +controlling the elements is wholly fabulous. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV. + +SORCERERS AND MAGICIANS. + + +In the works of St. Augustin, we are informed that there existed in his +time in Italy, women possessed of the power attributed by the poets to +Circe, who transformed men into beasts of burthen, and compelled them to +bear their baggage. St. Augustin mentions that a priest named Præstantius +unfortunately meeting one of those women, was changed into a mule, and +compelled to bear a trunk on his back; and that it was only when she had +no further occasion for his services, he was allowed to resume his gown +and band. + +Are we to infer from this passage, that one of the greatest minds that +ever enlightened the Church believed in this species of transformation? +Certainly not! The works of St. Augustin are not to be literally +interpreted. + +The hyperbole simply implies that there are in Italy women whose charms +are so powerful, and whose allurements so dangerous, that men who give way +to their influence, ceasing to be men, are reduced to the condition of +brutes, and exercise the most degrading labour. As to the priest +Præstantius, his name contains the key to the mystery; and he was probably +one of the minor Canons of the Church converted into a slave to do the +errands of some attractive dame. + +This version of the passage of St. Augustin, so often cited for twelve +centuries by the believers in magic, was simply an exhortation against +female seduction to the laity and clergy of his time. It has proved, +however, no small advantage to mountebanks to be backed by the authority +of the illustrious name of St. Augustin! + +The annals of the Jesuits abound in terrible histories of atonement made +at the stake for imputed sorcery. The following instance is related by Dom +Calmet. Charles IV., Duke of Lorraine, had in his service a +valet-de-chambre, named Desbordes, who was accused of having hastened, by +the art of sorcery, the death of the Princess Mary of Lorraine, mother to +the Duke. + +"Charles IV. conceived suspicions against Desbordes, from the period of +his having furnished a grand banquet given by the Duke to a hunting party +at a moment's notice: Desbordes having made no other preparatives than to +open a chest, having three trays, upon which were three courses ready +prepared. During another hunting party, Desbordes reanimated three +criminals suspended from a gibbet, and commanded them to make obeisance to +the Duke; having done which, he bade them hang themselves again. Another +time, he made the figures in a piece of tapestry come down and join in the +dance. Charles IV., alarmed at these supernatural feats, eventually +brought Desbordes to trial; and he was condemned and executed as a +magician for mere acts of sleight of hand. + +The real cause of his condemnation was the enmity of the court-physicians +of Lorraine; whom he had irritated by the disappointment of their +predictions touching the death of the Princess Mary; for had his judges +really believed in his power of restoring the dead to life, their sentence +of execution would have been absurd. + +The most learned men of times famed for their learning have sometimes +condescended to confirm these popular errors. Baronius affirms the bridge +of the Spiritus Sanctus, in Rome, to have been erected by a glance from +the eye of a child of twelve years old, named Benezet; and his assertion +is founded upon five Papal bulls. + +Paulus Jovius, a man of unquestionable erudition, confirms the popular +legend concerning the black dog of Cornelius Agrippa; stating that, when +on his death-bed at Lyons, he uttered dreadful imprecations against his +faithful attendant, who was supposed by the vulgar to be a familiar spirit +disguised under the form of a cur; saying, "Away with thee wretched beast, +through whom I am lost to all eternity!" On which the dog precipitated +itself into the Saône, and appeared no more. Unfortunately for the +historian, Agrippa died at Grenoble, and not at Lyons, so that the Saône +is rather far fetched. But those who believe in familiar spirits are apt +to be loose in their notions of geography. + +The work of James I., upon Demonology, is one of the most curious records +of the superstition of his time, of which the feats of Nicholas Hopkins, +the witch-finder, afford so cruel an evidence. The royal author would, +perhaps, have been better employed in seeing a more enlightened education +bestowed upon his ill-advised son, than in perpetuating his own credulity. + +The Memoirs of the Cardinal de Richelieu admit his belief in witchcraft. +In his time, it was an advantage to a Minister of State to have at his +disposal accusations of a mysterious crime, where disculpation was next to +impossible. Urbain Grandier, the priest, who was condemned to death for +allowing the nuns of Loudun to communicate with the devil, was one among +many victims to the darkness of the public mind. + +By the Parliaments of France, hundreds were burnt for witchcraft in the +course of a few months. The shepherds of La Brie alone supplied +innumerable victims; as the supposed authors of all the domestic +misfortunes of the district, the murrain that carried off the cattle, and +the hooping-cough that carried off the children. Like the old women in +Scotland, they were "na canny;" and like them, expiated the prejudice +among faggots and tar-barrels. But though we no longer burn for +witchcraft, the profession is far from extinct; and in the remote +districts of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, there scarcely exists +a country magistrate but has had some charge brought before him implying +the exercise of witchcraft. The horse-shoe is still seen nailed above the +doors of our villages; and fortune-tellers, and spaewives are consulted, +in spite of Sunday schools and the Lancastrian system. Not a day passes, +but the ordeal of the Bible and key, the Sortes virgiliane of the vulgar, +is resorted to in some village of the British empire; but the exorcisms of +the school-master will probably drive both witches and witch-finders from +the land. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI. + +MALE AND FEMALE. + + +When the learned Spaniard, Feijoo, was about to decide upon the +comparative power and merit of the two sexes, he invoked an angel to +descend from Heaven to enlighten his mind; so perplexing did he feel the +arguments on both sides. + +Rousseau, in comparing the sexes, observes, "as I pursue my +investigations, I perceive on all sides affinity--on all sides +discrepancy." + +And long may that discrepancy exist. The merit of woman consists in the +oppositeness of her qualities to those of the male sex. + +To be completely woman, is her perfection; as man is never more perfect +than when most completely man. Sybarites and Amazons are alike at variance +with nature; and Hercules handling the distaff of Omphale could not be +more absurd than Omphale wielding the club of Hercules. + +In heathen times, and even now, in countries uncivilized by Christianity, +the condition of women is of a subordinate and miserable nature. Aristotle +was one of the greatest depreciators of women; regarding them as an +incomplete production, and at variance with the ends of nature. He fancied +that, in a more perfect order of things, only men would be seen on earth. +In the tragedies of Euripides, women are treated with unmeasured contempt; +and his opinions being embraced by the Greeks, were adopted by the early +theologians alluded to by St. Augustin; who pretended that at the day of +judgment, God would reform his work, and the dead of both sexes rise again +of the masculine gender. In the fifth century, it was agitated in council, +whether our Saviour died for women as well as men; nor was it till after +the most violent contestation, decided in the affirmative. Mahomet, the +most violent opponent of the equality of sexes excluded women from +Paradise except in a few favoured instances. + +Chivalry was the first defender of the weaker sex. + +At the beginning of the twelfth century, a doctor, named Amauri, of the +diocese of Chartres, attempted to renew the doctrine of Aristotle +concerning women, declaring them to be imperfect works accidentally +proceeding from the hands of God. The Archbishop of Paris, however, +convened a council, which declared his doctrine to be heretical; and +anathemized Amauri, who having died previous to the decree, his lady was +disinterred, and thrown into the common sewer. This proceeding gave much +satisfaction to the Parisian populace; but was scarcely necessary to +refute the impertinent assertions of Aristotle and his disciple. + +It is unnecessary to dwell upon the criticisms, satires, and diatribes, of +which women have been the objects,--from Juvenal, to Boileau and Pope; and +from Boccaccio and Brantome, to La Fontaine and Byron:--for their +champions are, at least, as numerous as their assailants. Among themselves +Madame de Genlis in France, and Mary Wolstonecroft in England, have fought +a good fight in favour of the equality of the sexes. + +Mallebranche, one of the writers who has most profoundly studied the +question, accords to women a decided superiority in point of sensibility; +but decides them to be equally inferior to the male sex in point of +abstract ideas. Arguing upon the difference of organisation, and +conceiving the brain to be the seat of intellectual operations, he shows +that the brain of women is of a more feeble organization, and less +extended than that of men; and concludes, from the diameter of their head +being less, that their minds must maintain the same proportion. This +opinion is based upon the craniological, or phrenological system. + +Mallebranche agrees with Dr. Gall in the belief that the seat of +intelligence lies essentially in the brain, and that the amount of our +faculties is proportioned to the volume of that organ: that stupid animals +have scarcely any brain, and sagacious animals much; that no animal can +vie in proportion with that of man; and that among men, idiots are +remarkable for deficiency of brain. On this point, the learned and the +ignorant fully coincide;--a fool or idiot, having been always styled a +brainless fellow. + +The Cretins of the Valais, and the Pyrenees, who have very diminutive +heads, are alike devoid of intellect, and suffer from the same affliction. +In the intellectual physiology of Domangeon, he relates, that, of two +maniacs under his care, a young person suddenly bereft of reason had a +head incredibly small; while an old woman, similarly afflicted, had a +brain no larger than that of a child of three years old. + +Experiment has now proved the brain to be the seat of human intelligence. +The celebrated Dr. Richerand, attended a patient whose brain was +accidentally exposed, and anxious to convince himself that the brain was +really the seat of intelligence, he pressed that of his patient with his +hand, when the intellectual powers immediately ceased, and upon +withdrawing his hand, they recovered their faculties. + +Those who still deny the brain to be the seat of intelligence, instance, +in support of their theory, the existence of reason after the ossification +of the brain; and of children, born deficient in spinal marrow. Duverney +exhibited to the Academy of Sciences at Paris, the head of an ox nearly +petrified, notwithstanding which, it had never betrayed the least +uneasiness, or any unusual symptoms. + +It is certain that considerable portions of the brain have been removed +from a living subject, in cases of accident, without prejudice to the +intellectual faculties. But the lobes being double, a portion may be cut +away without affecting its power; as in losing an eye or an ear, the +faculty of seeing and hearing remains. + +All this, however, is a digression from the fact asserted; that the brain +of a woman weighs less by one sixteenth than that of a man! The mean +weight of the brain of a man is estimated at three pounds; and it is found +to be two pounds thirteen ounces in that of a woman, from which it may be +inferred that man is a sixteenth part more intelligent than woman. It may, +however, be argued that this is only accordant with the other comparative +proportions of the human frame. The stature of woman is a sixteenth less +than that of man, and the brain ought surely to be in proportion to the +stature. + +On this point, J. J. Rousseau observes, "A perfect woman and perfect man +ought to be as dissimilar in form and face, as in soul. A well-conditioned +man should not be less than five feet and a half in height, with a +sonorous voice and well-bearded chin." But considering the number of men +who expend many hours a day in adorning and perfuming their persons, and +lounging upon a sofa or beside a work-table, it is not wonderful that +women should be tempted to consider themselves somewhat nearer on a par +with those who renounce the manly attributes of their sex. + +In establishing between man and woman certain relations and differences, +Providence has clearly distinguished the condition of the two sexes. To +the stronger, he assigned rude labour and the tillage of the earth; to the +weaker, domestic duties, and the rearing of progeny. The one has an +out-door, the other an in-door existence; and by the duties of the mother, +the position of the slighter sex is distinctly pointed out. + +It would appear as if the comparative merit of the sexes were influenced +by the effect of climate; the Salique-law still prevailing in several of +the most civilized countries of Europe, in spite of the glorious reigns of +Elizabeth and Anne in England, and Catherine in Russia; and the living +example of three female sovereigns on the throne. But it may be added +that in two of the countries where woman is excluded from the throne, she +exercises in private life fourfold the influence assigned her in England, +Spain, or Portugal, where she is admitted to the privileges of supreme +power. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII. + +MINOR SUPERSTITIONS. + + +One of the most prevalent minor superstitions has its origin in a +religious influence. Friday is regarded as the most unlucky day of the +week, from being that of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. People of all +classes object to commencing an undertaking, or a journey, on Friday; and +the Calabrian brigands forbear to assassinate on that day, however +difficult to postpone the premeditated crime till the following morning. +They feel convinced that a murder committed on a Friday will be overtaken +by the hand of justice. In Paris, the average quantity of new pieces +produced at the different theatres is from a hundred and fifty to two +hundred; and for the last thirty years, not one of these has been produced +for the first time on a Friday. + +Boileau, in one of his Satires, places among the number of human +weaknesses, the superstition which makes + + Twelve grouped together, fear an other one. + +The origin of this sentiment dates from the Last Supper; when, thirteen +being at table, one of them betrayed and another denied his master, and +"went and hanged himself;" and a prejudice has ever since prevailed that +out of every thirteen dipping together in the dish, one must fall a victim +before the end of the year. The probability that one out of every thirteen +may die in the course of the year, exceeds but little the usual chances of +mortality. + +The dislike which many entertain of seeing a knife and fork crossed on a +plate, has also reference to a religious objection as an emblem of the +crucifixion. Yet it sometimes obtains ascendancy over unbelievers. +Frederick the Great disliked seeing a knife and fork crossed so much, that +he never failed to uncross them. Others dislike to see three candles +lighted; an omen borrowed from the ancients, who regarded them as symbolic +of the Fates, the Furies, and the three heads of Cerberus. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII. + +SOMNAMBULISM. + + +"Dreams are the interludes of a busy fancy," say the copybooks; and in +some instances they appear to excite in the body impulses equally active. + +Condillac, the mathematician, when surprised by sleep in the midst of his +abstruse calculations, often found that, on awaking, the solution of a +problem presented itself spontaneously to his mind, as though he had been +working in his sleep. + +But a more familiar instance of somnambulism is that of a deceased +Hampshire Baronet. + +This gentleman was nearly driven to distraction by the fact that, every +night, he went to bed in a shirt, and every morning awoke naked, without +the smallest trace of the missing garment being discovered. + +Hundreds of shirts disappeared in this manner; and as there was no fire in +his room, it was impossible to account for the mystery. The servants +believed their master to be mad; and even he began to fancy himself +bewitched. In this conjuncture, he implored an intimate friend to sleep in +the room with him; and ascertain by what manner of mysterious midnight +visitant his garment was so strangely removed. The friend, accordingly, +took up his station in the haunted chamber; and lo! as the clock struck +one, the unfortunate Baronet, who had previously given audible intimation +of being fast asleep, rose from his bed, rekindled with a match the candle +which had been extinguished, deliberately opened the door, and quitted the +room. His astonished friend followed; saw him open in succession a variety +of doors, pass along several passages, traverse an open court, and +eventually reach the stable-yard; where he divested himself of his shirt, +and disposed of it in an old dung heap, into which he thrust it by means +of a pitch fork. Having finished this extraordinary operation, without +taking the smallest heed of his friend who stood looking on, and plainly +saw that he was walking in his sleep, he returned to the house, carefully +reclosed the doors, re-extinguished the light, and returned to bed; where +the following morning he awoke, as usual, stripped of his shirt! + +The astonished eye-witness of this extraordinary scene, instead of +apprizing the sleep-walker of what had occurred, insisted that the +following night, a companion should sit up with him; choosing to have +additional testimony to the truth of the statement he was about to make; +and the same singular events were renewed, without the slightest change or +deviation. The two witnesses, accordingly, divulged all they had seen to +the Baronet; who, though at first incredulous, became of course convinced, +when, on proceeding to the stable-yard, several dozens of shirts were +discovered; though it was surmised that as many more had been previously +removed by one of the helpers, who probably looked upon the hoard as +stolen goods concealed by some thief. + +A far stranger circumstance has been related by a highly-beneficed member +of the Roman Catholic Church. + +In the College where he was educated was a young Seminarist who habitually +walked in his sleep; and while in a state of somnambulism, used to sit +down to his desk and compose the most eloquent sermons; scrupulously +erasing, effacing, or interlining, whenever an incorrect expression had +fallen from his pen. Though his eyes were apparently fixed upon the paper +when he wrote, it was clear that they exercised no optical functions; for +he wrote just as well when an opaque substance was interposed between them +and the sheet of paper. + +Sometimes, an attempt was made to remove the paper, in the idea that he +would write upon the desk beneath. But it was observed that he instantly +discerned the change; and sought another sheet of paper, as nearly as +possible resembling the former one. At other times, a blank sheet of paper +was substituted by the bystanders for the one on which he had been +writing; in which case, on reading over, as it were, his composition, he +was sure to place the corrections, suggested by the perusal, at precisely +the same intervals they would have occupied in the original sheet of +manuscript. + +This young priest, moreover, was an able musician; and was seen to compose +several pieces of music while in a state of somnambulism; drawing the +lines of the music paper for the purpose with a ruler and pen and ink, and +filling the spaces with his notes with the utmost precision, besides a +careful adaptation of the words, in vocal pieces. + +On one occasion, the somnambulist dreamt that he sprang into a river to +save a drowning child; and, on his bed, was seen to imitate the movements +of swimming. Seizing the pillow, he appeared to snatch it from the waves +and lay it on the shore. The night was intensely cold; and so severely did +he appear affected by the imaginary chill of the river, as to tremble in +every limb; and his state of cold and exhaustion when roused, was so +alarming, that it was judged necessary to administer wine and other +restoratives." + +It would require a volume to relate the wonders of artificial somnambulism +produced by Animal Magnetism, _i. e._ the somnolency produced in certain +organizations by persons constitutionally endowed for the purpose; during +which, some patients become so utterly insensible, that surgical +operations of the most painful nature, such as amputation, have been +performed upon them without their knowledge. Others appear to be +transported into a higher sphere; and in a frame of mind described under +the name of _clairvoyance_, become capable of reading sealed letters and +closed books; of speaking languages of which they are otherwise ignorant, +and indicating the name and nature of misunderstood diseases, as well as +the means of cure; though at the cessation of the state of somnambulism, +all recollection is effaced of the wonders they have performed under its +influence. + +The mysteries of Magnetic Science are at present so imperfectly +understood, and afford so wide a field for scientific argument, that it +would be presumptuous to enter further into the subject in a work +affecting to treat of errors and superstitions. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX. + +A FEW MORE WORDS ABOUT GHOSTS, VAMPIRES, AND LOUP-GAROUX. + + +In the winter of 1758, the sacristan of Polliac expired, after a few +hours' illness, of a fright produced by the sight of a large white rabbit +seated on the grave-stone of a famous poacher recently deceased, as he was +crossing the church-yard at midnight after accompanying the curate to +administer the last sacrament to a dying parishioner. The mind of this +poor fellow, who was a proficient in the ghost stories of the +neighbourhood, was probably deeply impressed by the melancholy scene he +had been witnessing; which, combined with the desperate character and +blasphemous habits of Blaise Rolland, the poacher, induced him to suppose +that the soul of the defunct had undergone transformation, or that Satan +himself was watching over his grave, in the shape of one of the animals +he had so often appropriated to himself. + +The rabbit proved in the sequel to be a tame one escaped from a +neighbouring farm. But in the interim, the poor man had fallen a victim to +his panic! A more rational being would have inquired of himself for what +purpose the Almighty could be supposed to suffer the soul of an obscure +poacher to revisit the earth, when we learn from divine writ His refusal +to permit the appearance of Dives to his brethren, as a superfluous +concession. "If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be +persuaded, though one rose from the dead!" + +Nothing can be more absurd than the functions attributed to ghosts, when +we know that the soul, at the moment of its separation from the body, is +an impalpable, invisible, substance. Yet this spiritual essence, which eye +hath not seen, or ear heard, is supposed to have exercised the power of +dragging chains, undrawing curtains, opening doors, ringing bells, +uttering groans, articulating reproaches; in the face of the Scriptural +Revelation "that the body shall return to the dust, and the spirit unto +GOD who gave it!" + +We find in St. John's Gospel, that the souls of mankind in the different +mansions of the Almighty, receive after death the reward of deeds done in +the body. Is it likely then that they should have leisure or inclination +for revisiting their dreary mansion of clay? + +There is one instinct which we are bound to accord to ghosts; _i. e._ a +wonderful aptitude for the discovery of cowards! In the ghost-stories of +all countries, it is observable that the first impulse of the person +addressed by a spectre is to take to his heels. With the exception of the +lady of the Beresford family, who is said to have sat and talked theology +with her brother, there is no record of a rational conversation between a +disembodied spirit and those of the flesh; for the pretended apparition of +Mrs. Veale, is now known to have been an ingenious bookseller's puff of +the work of Drelincourt on Death. + +In most instances, ghost-stories have their origin in some incident which +no one has been at the pains to investigate. In 1746, the public Theatre +of Anatomy, in Paris, was disturbed by the sudden frenzy of the porter in +care of the dissecting-room; who protested that the spirit of a young man, +whose body had been deposited there the preceding day, after having +committed suicide by throwing himself into the Seine, had appeared to him +in the course of the night, bewailing and lamenting the dreadful +consequences of his crime. + +Bruhier, the learned Professor of Anatomy, aware of the injurious +consequences likely to arise from a report that the theatre was haunted, +examined carefully into the details of the case; when it appeared that +this unfortunate young man, having recovered in the course of the night +from the state of insensibility in which he was deposited in the +dissecting-room, and terrified by the horrible aspect of the spot in which +he found himself, among dead bodies, skeletons and anatomical preparations +faintly illuminated by the light of a lamp, had dragged himself to the +door of the small adjoining room inhabited by the porter, and in faint +accents implored his assistance, and described the agonies of his +situation. + +The porter, roused from his sleep by the appeal of a dead man wrapped in +his winding-sheet, instantly lost his senses; and the doors being locked +upon them, the exhausted young man, whom Providence had thus fruitlessly +restored, sank a victim to cold and exhaustion. His body was discovered +stretched on the floor of the dissecting-room near the porter's door. But +for the judicious investigations of Monsieur Bruhier, this would have been +established as an authentic instance of spectral visitation! + +A similar circumstance occurred in Lancashire some years ago. + +A lady, the wife of a wealthy squire, died after a protracted illness; and +on the evening of her decease, her husband, desirous to pass a solitary +hour by the body, sent the nurse who was watching beside it, out of the +room. Before the expiration of an hour, the bell by which the deceased had +been in the habit of summoning the nurse, rang violently; and the woman, +fancying the unfortunate widower was taken suddenly ill, hurried into the +room. He dismissed her angrily, however, protesting that he had not rung. +Shortly afterwards, the bell was rung a second time; when the woman +observed to one of the servants that she should not attend to the summons, +as the gentleman might again repent having summoned her, and dismiss her +ungraciously. + +"It cannot be my master who is ringing now," replied the footman, "for I +have this moment left him in the drawing-room." + +And while he was still speaking, the bell of the chamber of death rang a +third time--and still more violently than before. + +The nurse was now literally afraid to obey the summons: nor was it till +several of the servants agreed to accompany her, that she could command +sufficient courage. At length, they ventured to open the door, expecting +to discover, within, some terrible spectacle. + +All, however, was perfectly tranquil; the corpse extended upon the bed +under a holland sheet, which was evidently undisturbed. Such, however, was +the agitation of the poor nurse, that nothing would induce her to remain +alone with the body; and one of the housemaids accordingly agreed to +become her companion in the adjoining dressing-room. + +They had not been there many minutes, when the bell again sounded; nor +could there be any mistake on the subject, for the bell-wire passing round +the dressing-room was in motion, and the servants in the offices could +attest the vibration of the bell. The family butler accordingly determined +to support the courage of the terrified women by accompanying them back to +the dressing-room, in which they were to sit with the door open, so as to +command a view of the bed. + +These precautions effectually unravelled the mystery! A string had been +attached to the bell-pull to enable the sick lady to summon her attendants +without changing her position, which, still unremoved, hung down upon the +floor; and a favourite kitten, often admitted into the room to amuse the +invalid, having entered the chamber unobserved, was playing with the +string, which, being entangled in her feet, had produced this general +panic. + +But for the opportune explanation of this trivial incident, the family +mansion would have obtained the notoriety of a haunted house, and probably +been deserted! + +Such was the case with the Crown Inn at Antwerp, where some years ago, a +white spectre, bearing a lamp in one hand and a bunch of keys in the +other, was seen by a variety of travellers passing along a corridor till +it disappeared in a particular chamber. + +Nothing would satisfy the neighbours that an unfortunate traveller had not +been, at some period or other, despatched in that fatal room by one of the +previous landlords of the house; and the Crown gradually obtained the name +of the Haunted Inn, and ceased to be frequented by its old patrons. + +The landlord, finding himself on the brink of ruin, determined to sleep in +the haunted-room with a view of proving the groundlessness of the story; +and caused his ostler to bear him company, on pretence of requiring a +witness to the absurdity of the report; but in reality, from cowardice. At +dead of night, however, just as the two men were composing themselves to +sleep in one bed, leaving another which was in the room untenanted, the +door flew open, and in glided the white spectre! + +Without pausing to ascertain what it might attempt on approaching the +other bed, towards which it directed its course, the two men rushed naked +out of the room; and by the alarm they created, confirmed, more fully than +ever, the evil repute of the house. + +Unable longer to sustain the cost of so unproductive an establishment, +the poor landlord advertised for sale the house in which he and his father +before him were born and bred. But bidders were as scarce as customers; +the inn remaining on sale for nearly a year, during which, from time to +time, the spectre reappeared. + +At length, an officer of the garrison, who had formerly frequented the +house, and recollected the excellent quality of its wine, moved to +compassion in favour of the poor host, undertook to clear up the mystery +by sleeping in the haunted chamber; nothing doubting that the whole was a +trick of some envious neighbour, desirous of deteriorating the value of +the freehold in order to become a purchaser. + +His offer having been gratefully accepted, the Captain took up his +quarters in the fatal room, with a bottle of wine, and a brace of loaded +pistols on the table before him; determined to shoot at whatever object +might enter the doors. + +At the usual hour of midnight, accordingly, when the door flew open and +the white spectre bearing a lamp and a bunch of keys made its appearance, +he seized his weapons of destruction; when, lo! as his finger was on the +point of touching the trigger, what was his panic on perceiving that the +apparition was no other than the daughter of his host, a young and pretty +girl, evidently walking in her sleep! Preserving the strictest silence, he +watched her set down the lamp, place her keys carefully on the +chimney-piece, and retire to the opposite bed, which, as it afterwards +proved, she had often occupied during the life-time of her late mother who +slept in the room. + +No sooner had she thoroughly composed herself, than the officer, after +locking the door of the room, went in search of her father and several +competent witnesses; including the water-bailiff of the district, who had +been one of the loudest in circulating rumours concerning the Haunted Inn. +The poor girl was found quietly asleep in bed; and her terror on waking in +the dreaded chamber, afforded sufficient evidence to all present of the +state of somnambulism in which she had been entranced. + +From that period, the spectre was seen no more; probably because the +landlord's daughter removed shortly afterwards to a home of her own. + +It has frequently occurred, for ill-disposed persons to profit by the +ill-name of a haunted house, as in the case of gangs of coiners and +thieves, who raise such reports in order to secure impunity in their +haunts. The Palace of the Tuileries is said to be haunted by a Red Man, +who regularly appears on the eve of any popular tumult, betiding evil to +the Royal Family of France. And appear he will, to the end of time; for +those who wish to create a political panic, take care that the apparition +shall be periodically renewed. The Palace at Berlin was at one time in +danger of having a Weisse Frau, or White Lady, to match with the Red Man. + +During the reign of Frederick I., one of the Princesses, his daughters, +being dangerously ill, a white spectre was seen to traverse the royal +corridor leading to her apartments; and from that moment, the royal family +gave up all hope of her recovery. The following night, the Princess +expired; and not a soul about the Court doubted that the fatal event had +been announced by the appearance of the White Lady, who, on being +challenged by the guard at the head of the staircase had flitted past like +a shadow. Great difficulty was found in procuring proper attendants to +watch beside the body of her royal highness; when one of the royal +Chaplains requested a sight of the depositions of the soldiers by whom the +spectre had been accosted. + +The mystery was instantly explained. A favourite attendant of the late +Princess, who, from the moment of her death had been confined to her bed +by severe affliction, happened to have mentioned to the Chaplain that, on +quitting her royal highness's room in search of him, about midnight, the +night preceding her mistress's demise, having a white veil thrown over her +head to keep her from the night air, she had been challenged by the +sentinel on guard; which being contrary to etiquette in a spot where her +person was well known, she had not thought proper to reply. On further +investigation, the evidence of the young lady herself was obtained; when +it appeared that the period of her passage in a white night-dress, to and +from the Princess's apartments, corresponded exactly with the apparitions +of the White Lady described by the soldiers a happy relief for those who +were compelled to inhabit that wing of the palace. + +A curious discovery occurred some years ago, at the head-quarters of the +French army on the banks of the Rhine. It appears that rumours became +suddenly prevalent of the repeated appearance of the spectre of the famous +General Marceau, who, was killed at Altenkirchen near Coblentz, in 1796, +and buried in the glacis of that city. He was, nevertheless, seen in his +uniform as a General of Chasseurs, with a drawn sword in his hand, by +several sentries and patroles; and nothing was discussed in Paris but the +nature of the omens to be inferred from this apparition of one of the +bravest officers of the Republic. + +It happened that the French Commandant of the city of Coblentz was a +school-fellow and intimate friend of General Marceau; and either in hopes +of once more beholding one so much beloved, or with a view of detecting +the impostor who had presumed to trifle with his memory, he marched to the +spot pointed out as the usual haunt of the spectre, escorted by a company +of grenadiers. + +Shortly after his arrival, the ghost made its customary appearance, and by +way of military salute, the Commandant ordered his men to "make ready" and +"present!" But ere he could add the fatal word "fire," the ghost was upon +its knees, whining piteously; realizing the officer's shrewd suspicions +that it would prove to be one of the boatmen of the Rhine, who had assumed +this appalling costume in order to pursue his calling unmolested, of +conveying by night to the fortress of Ehrenbreitstein, opposite Coblentz, +(at that moment besieged by the French) the provisions and succours so +vital to the garrison. In the character of Marceau's ghost, accordingly, +he had nightly paraded the glacis; keeping the coast clear from intrusion, +while his boats traversed the river towards the fortress. + +Every one who has travelled in Hungary is familiar with the superstitions +of the Willis, or dancing-brides, and the Vampires, or bodies that +preserve a posthumous life by the suction of blood from human veins. But +the latter superstition has found its way to other countries. A grave +having been accidentally opened in a church-yard in Lorraine, about the +year 1726, the body of a schoolmaster who, in his lifetime, had been +strongly suspected of proficiency in the occult sciences, but who had been +dead nearly half a century, was discovered in his coffin, as plump and +fresh as though still alive; his eyes bright--his air joyous. + +The whole village having crowded to the spot to behold the miracle, +instantly recognised a Vampire in this healthful corpse. Thousands of +anecdotes were instantly cited of children lost in the neighbourhood; who, +though previously supposed to have fallen into the river, or been +destroyed by wolves, had evidently satisfied the dreadful appetites of the +dead schoolmaster! In order to keep him, for the future, quiet and +harmless in his grave, the villagers drove a stake through the body, after +having cut off his head and burnt it on the spot. + +Had they persevered in their search, they would doubtless have found +reason to fear, from the evidence of the adjoining graves, that their own +fathers and mothers were also Vampires. Many soils, particularly those +impregnated with nitre, have the property of preserving bodies by +converting them to a substance resembling spermaceti. Similar discoveries +have been made in several church-yards in England; but luckily without +provoking suspicions so preposterous. + +In the course of a few years, thanks to the progress of national +education, the best authenticated ghost-story going will scarcely find an +auditor. Half of the magic rites and mystic wonders of the olden time have +found able expositors in our own, in the retort and the crucible. We no +longer exorcise a ghost:--we decompose it,--like any other gas. + +The orgies of intemperance used to be a fertile source of apparitions; as +in the case of the female spectre which rebuked the infidelity of Lord +Lyttleton--and the appearance of Lord Lyttleton himself to his friend +Miles Peter Andrews; two _bon vivants_, who were most likely indebted for +their nocturnal visions to an extra bottle of claret, and a broiled bone. + +A clergyman, who had been struggling hard and sacrificing his nights' rest +for a series of months to a new translation of the Prophecies, took it +into his head one night, that three children had entered his room and were +seated at his writing table. As there was nothing alarming in such a +visitation, he continued to write on; and on retiring to bed, at daybreak, +left his young visitors apparently occupying their place. When he woke in +the morning, they had of course disappeared. + +The illusion was, however, so strong, and recurred so often, that his +studies were seriously interrupted; till at last he took the only wise +step ever taken by an inveterate ghost-seer:--he consulted an eminent +physician. + +"You have been overworking yourself," was the judicious reply, "and unless +you have recourse to air and exercise, your nervous system will become +seriously impaired. Such cases are by no means rare among men of studious +habits. In some instances, the spectrum is created by a disorder of the +optic nerve. In yours, I am pretty nearly sure that it arises from +derangement of the stomach. A good dose of calomel, my dear Sir, will lay +all your ghosts in the Red Sea!" + +An ignominious conclusion of a romance, which in some respects resembles +the story of the Lutheran clergyman related in Wraxall's Memoirs! who, on +taking possession of his cure, was awoke early next morning by the spectre +of a pastor in his gown and band, praying beside the desk at the foot of +his bed, and holding a ghastly child by either hand, whom he +recognised--by a likeness suspended in the parish church--as his +predecessor in the living. This occurred in summer time; but at the +beginning of winter, when the stove in his chamber came to be lighted, as +it never used to be in the time of the former pastor, an unpleasant smell +issuing from the chimney caused a search to be instituted; when lo! the +bones of two young children were found among the ashes in the stove. The +incumbent, who had already circulated the report of his ghost story, had +of course the comfort of finding child-murder attributed to his +predecessor. + +The instance of Eugene Aram and 'Dan Clarke's bones' affords strong proof +that those who hide can find; and in the ease in question, there appears +some doubt whether the spectre were the delinquent. + +The subject of ghosts, however, must not be treated with less reverence +than its due. Samuel and the Witch of Endor, and the declaration of the +Evangelist that, during the Passion of our Saviour "the dead were raised +up, and seen by many in the City of Jerusalem," remind us that spectral +visitations are consistent with the records of Holy Writ. But in this +case, as in that of demoniacal possession, the Christian era has produced +a revolution in the pschycological phenomena of nature; the power of the +evil one over the human race being modified so that the dead are no longer +raised up; while the angels of the Lord no longer manifest themselves to +the eyes of mankind, nor do His fallen angels take possession of the +living soul. + +A remarkable story connected with the belief in spectral visitations, is +that of the celebrated Bernhardi of Vienna; who after spending the evening +in a gay carouse with a party of young men of infidel principles, where he +boldly avowed his disbelief in the existence of ghosts, undertook to +proceed, as the bell tolled midnight, to an adjoining church-yard, and +stick into a grave pointed out to him, a fork which was taken from the +supper-table and presented to him for the purpose. + +A considerable wager was to depend upon his execution of the feat; and at +the appointed hour, with a daring deportment Bernhardi quitted the +company, and repaired to the scene of action. It was agreed that he should +return to the supper-table, leaving the fork sticking in the grave so as +to be found on the morrow, in token of his accomplishment of the exploit. + +Ten minutes would have sufficed for his visit to the church-yard. But at +the close of an hour he was still absent; when his companions became +convinced that he had turned coward and sneaked home to bed. They +instantly determined to convict his defection by following him to his +lodgings; but on their arrival, found, with no small consternation, that +he had not made his appearance. + +One of them, more his friend than the rest, really alarmed for his safety, +proposed that they should visit the church-yard, and ascertain, at least, +whether he had accomplished the feat. When lo! extended on the grave lay +the lifeless body of the scoffer; who had burst a blood-vessel and died of +fright. + +Having accidentally pinned down his cloak to the earth in sticking the +fork into the ground, where it still remained, he probably fancied himself +transfixed by the hands of the grisly tenant of the grave he was thus +unpardonably violating, for the sport of a drunken frolic; and thus became +the victim of his unwarrantable sacrilege. Let those who jest upon such +fearful matters, take warning by Bernhardi! + +Another superstition connected with the disembodied spirit, is the belief +that spectres are to be found in the neighbourhood of hidden treasures. + +In barbarous countries, it was the practice to kill a slave on a spot +where treasures were deposited, in order that his soul might watch over +the hoard, and terrify others from the spoil. + +In Ireland, such murders would be gratuitous; for almost every spot +pointed out as having been a depository of treasures, in the olden time, +is said to be haunted by a banshee. + +The same superstition appears to prevail in Germany and the Low Countries. + +Some years ago, a most ridiculous incident, founded upon this prejudice, +came before the inquisition of the Saxon tribunals. + +The Burgomaster of the village of Brummersdorf, being a man of dissolute +propensities, was in the habit of frequenting the public-house of the +place, in order to enjoy with loose companions the irregularities he dared +not attempt in his own house, in the fear of drawing upon himself the +reprehension of his superiors in office. A fellow of the name of +Osterwald, who acted as his clerk, was usually the companion of these +excesses; and many a good bottle of wine formed the cement of the +excellent understanding between them. + +One summer night, as they were seated, according to custom, in the public +room of the inn, considerably the worse for a carouse prolonged after the +decent inhabitants of the village had retired to rest, a stranger entered +the inn demanding a night's lodging; and having approached the table at +which the Burgomaster and his friend were drinking, continued to attract +their attention by uttering profound sighs. + +Provoked by the interruption, the Burgomaster, whose name was Listenbach, +demanded the cause of his affliction; to which the fellow replied that it +was one with which he did not choose to trouble two gentlemen so +distinguished as those he saw before him. + +Tickled by this flattery, Osterwald insisted on an explanation; and, at +length, after much show of caution and mystery, the stranger declared that +being a poor student of the University of Jena, he had been warned by a +dream to repair to the old Castle of Brummersdorf; where he would find a +fertile source of prosperity for his old age. + +"I knew not," said the stranger, "that there existed such a spot as +Brummersdorf on the face of the globe; but on consulting my books of +science, the following morning, I discovered, not only that it possessed +the ruins of an ancient castle, formerly one of the finest in Westphalia, +but that the constellations were favourable to the enterprize." + +"I recommend you then to set off at daybreak for the Castle," said +Osterwald, "which is situated only a few hundred yards' distance, on the +cliff overhanging the village." + +"Alas! I have just returned from thence!" replied the stranger. "I was +expressly enjoined in my dream to visit the spot at the full of the moon." + +"And what success have you met with, my good friend?" demanded Listenbach, +with increasing curiosity. + +"I need not tell you gentlemen, since you appear to be inhabitants of the +place," replied the stranger, "that the old Castle of Brummersdorf is the +depository of a prodigious treasure, the property of the extinct house of +that name." + +"Indeed!" exclaimed his astonished auditors. "That accounts for the edict +issued by Government that the inhabitants should on no account be +permitted to disturb a stone of that ancient monument!" + +"On arriving at the spot," rejoined the stranger, "I made known in a loud +voice the spiritual authority by which my mission was appointed. When lo! +the spirit to whom is delegated the guardianship of the hidden treasure +replied that he was not permitted to divulge the spot where it was buried, +unless adjured by three persons at once; and unless the vault containing +it were opened by a magic key--to be formed of pure gold. But alas! +however tempting the prospect, gentlemen, how is a poor devil like myself +to procure the twenty-one ducats which the spirit asserts to be +indispensable for the casting of the key; or the attendance of two +enterprizing companions willing to share my exploit, and its noble +reward?" + +"Your two companions are before you," exclaimed the boozy Burgomaster, "if +you will accept our company. Let me see what money I have in my purse!" + +Even without paying the reckoning--including a fresh bottle of wine, +called for to drink to the success of their expedition--the purse of the +Burgomaster did not furnish half the necessary sum. Nothing was easier for +him, however, than to despatch his clerk to the strong box of his office; +which, as he was obliging enough to acquaint them, contained nearly a +couple of hundred ducats. + +In as short a time as the condition of his intellects would allow, +Osterwald returned with the requisite sum; and the three companions, after +an inspiriting bumper, took their way towards the ruins of the old +castle.[2] + + [2] The scene of Dousterswivel in the house of the Antiquary, may, + perhaps, owe its origin to the heroes of the Castle of Brummersdorf. + +Having arrived on a platform before the venerable gateway, distinctly +visible by the brilliant light of the moon, the stranger drew from his +pocket a short black stick, with which he traced upon the parched turf a +small circle, adorning it with several mystical devices and symbols. + +"Within this magic circle," said he, addressing his companions who were +overcome, partly by wine and partly by awe, "you must place yourselves, in +order to be secure from the molestation of the evil spirits besetting the +spot; while I proceed to fulfil the conditions of the guardian spirit of +the eastern tower." + +The two drunkards, not a little pleased to be thus secured from an +interview so tremendous, readily complied; and having furnished the +stranger with the purse, took up their position within the circle. For +some time, intense anxiety kept them silent. At length, they ventured to +communicate to each other their opinion, that the interview between the +strange student and the Spirit of the Castle was somewhat long; but being +fortified by their position within the magic circle, weary of standing, +and oppressed by drowsiness, they agreed to stretch their limbs on the +ground. + +Next morning, the village of Brummersdorf was disturbed by the discovery +that in the course of the night the office of the Burgomaster had been +broken into, and its strong box pillaged, the iron safe being left empty +on the floor. A further search was immediately instituted; but no +Burgomaster was to be found; and his clerk being also absent, the +dissolute character of Listenbach and Osterwald caused them to fall under +suspicion of having embezzled and carried off the public funds. + +The testimony of the village landlord, however, soon induced other +surmises; and the constables, by whom the robbery was discovered, having +proceeded at the head of a body of peasants to the ruins of the old +Castle, the hapless Burgomaster and his drunken clerk were discovered +stretched on the ground:--not, as was in the first instance apprehended, +bathed in their gore, but quietly sleeping off the fumes of their carouse! + +The loss of his money was succeeded, of course, by the loss of the place +for which he had shown himself so incompetent. But in the course of the +summer, the cunning impostor was arrested; and it was the evidence of the +parties themselves on his trial which gave publicity to the story! + +An amusing anecdote occurs in the Memoirs of the President de Thou; whose +son, also a lawyer of eminence, having been despatched by Government in +1596 to the town of Saumur, on a mission of consequence, was desired to +take up his quarters in the ancient Hôtel-de-Ville, the seat of +Government. + +Having retired to bed with the uneasy feelings usually attendant on +sleeping in a strange place, particularly one of so gloomy and solitary an +aspect, the President was awoke about midnight by the weight of some heavy +burthen suddenly flung upon his chest; and entertained little doubt that +an attempt was about to be made upon his life. Being a man of strength and +courage, he seized the object in his arms, and flung it violently on the +floor; when, by the heavy moans that ensued, he perceived it to be a human +being. + +"Doubtless some thief," was his next reflection, "who was searching under +my bolster during my slumbers for my watch and purse." + +While the President was preparing to jump out of bed, the figure, which +was attired in white, rose feebly from the floor, and by the dim light of +the moon, assumed a somewhat spectral appearance. + +"Who are you?" cried the President, "answer this moment, or I will fell +you to the earth!" + +"Who am I, ignoramus? Who _should_ I be but the Queen of Heaven!" replied +a cracked female voice; while the servant of the President, who slept in +an adjoining room, being now disturbed, rushed in with lights; and with +the aid of the porter of the Hôtel-de-Ville discovered the intruder to be +a poor maniac, accustomed to wander about the streets of Saumur and find +shelter where she could. + +Perceiving the doorway of the private apartments of the Hôtel-de-Ville to +be open, the poor woman had profited by so unusual a circumstance to +secure the best bed-room. On Monsieur de Thou's return to Paris, the King, +who insisted on hearing from his own lips his ridiculous adventure, +complimented him on his presence of mind; admitting that, for his own +part, he stood more in fear of ghosts than of the shot of the enemy. + +Had the servants of Monsieur de Thou encountered this midnight visitant +instead of their master, it is probable that the town of Saumur would have +enjoyed the reputation of having a haunted Hôtel-de-Ville as long as one +stone remained upon another. + +The forest of Ratenau, in Westphalia, passed, during a whole year, for +being haunted by white spectres of the gnome or imp description; who +having accosted, not only the peasants of the neighbourhood, but some of +the servants of the Count returning after nightfall from the neighbouring +market, the road through the forest came to be deserted, and the greatest +consternation prevailed at the Schloss von Ratenau. + +"On my arriving at the Castle from Berlin to spend the summer," said the +Count, in relating the story, "I found the poor people firmly persuaded +that a supernatural race of beings had attained supreme power over a +portion of my estate; and it was vain to attempt to argue them into a more +rational frame of mind. Judge, however, of my surprise, when, on returning +through the forest, a few nights after my arrival, from the house of one +of my neighbours, the carriage stopped suddenly, the horses reared +violently; and the postillion, instead of attempting to keep his saddle, +began roaring aloud, 'The Spirits--The Evil Spirits!' + +"Another minute and the carriage was dashed from the road and overturned +in a ravine; nor was it without much difficulty that I extricated myself, +the postillion having already taken to his heels accompanied his fellow +servants. I confess to you, that, half stunned by the accident, I +experienced some uneasiness at the idea of finding myself alone, at +midnight, with the object which had produced this fearful consternation, +whether robber or impostor; nay, I will not swear that some of the +fantastic tales of Schiller and Goethe did not recur to my mind. + +"Great, therefore, was my satisfaction on emerging from the broken +vehicle, and perceiving two white shapes bounding and gambolling at a +distance among the hoary trunks of the oak trees, to recognize two +handsome white grey-hounds, which I afterwards ascertained to have strayed +from the kennel of the Prince Henry of Prussia, and to have subsisted for +a year on their depredations in the forest of Ratenau!" + +Another adventure occurred on the estate of a nobleman of the same family, +in the Duchy of Brunswick. An attempt was made to rob the village church; +the sacramental plate and poor-box being found one morning in the nave of +the church wrapped in a piece of old sacking, so as to give rise to an +opinion that the thieves must have been disturbed in their sacrilegious +enterprize. Some time afterwards, a gang of burglars having been arrested, +the judge of the neighbouring town charged them, after their conviction of +divers other robberies, with being accessory to the crime in question. + +In a moment, these fellows, who had preserved the most hardened audacity, +fell on their knees, and freely confessed the attempt; adding, that they +had been prevented carrying off their booty by the sudden appearance of +the evil one emerging from the vestry; and as far as the uncertain light +of their dark lantern in that vast area enabled them to judge, in the form +of a horned monster. + +A general laugh instantly arose in court; several of the inhabitants of +the village in question recognizing by this description, a tame stag, the +pet of a former incumbent of the living, which was allowed the run of the +presbytery orchard and church-yard; and which, having most opportunely +sought shelter in the porch on the night in question, had probably +followed the robbers into the church, which they entered by means of false +keys, leaving the doors open for their readier escape. + +It is recorded in the Memoirs of one of the free-thinking circle which +surrounded Baron d'Holbach, in Paris, previous to the Revolution, that +having retired to bed one night after a gay supper, during which this +_coterie_ of sceptics amused themselves with the most blasphemous +conversation, his gay companions, in order to try his courage, introduced +into his bed-room a goat, whose fleece had been steeped in spirits of +wine; which, when set on fire, gave to the unlucky animal an aspect truly +horrific. + +The goat almost equally terrified with its intended victim, instantly ran +to the bed and attempted to extinguish the flames by rubbing itself +against the bed-clothes, which it set on fire; and the young man, having +drunk freely at supper so as to be heavily asleep was with difficulty +extricated from the flames. The goat died of the consequences of this +cruel experiment; and the young man was subject for the remainder of his +life to epileptic fits. + +Many instances are on record of an equally serious termination to these +foolish practical jokes. Witness the well-known story of the young lady, +who, after boasting of her intrepidity, had a skeleton from a neighbouring +surgery brought into her bed-room by her brothers and some young friends +staying in her father's house. On retiring to rest, these cruel jesters +listened anxiously for the shrieks which they hoped would betray her +cowardice, and were greatly disappointed to find her as self-possessed as +she had announced; for instead of screaming, she went quietly to bed. But +alas! next morning, when the servant entered her room, she was found +playing with the skeleton, in a state of complete fatuity!-- + +In the southern provinces of France, there prevails a superstition, +derived probably from the lycanthropy of the ancients, that certain +persons assume at night the form of wolves, and roam the country for prey, +under the name of _loup-garoux_; a fable which gave rise to Perrault's +charming fairy-tale of Little Red Riding Hood. + +In a neighbourhood said to be frequented by one of these devastators, who +was of course no other than a man in wolf's clothing, who, in this assumed +character pillaged the adjacent farms, a _garde champêtre_ or country +constable, who had been several times attacked by the supposed monster, +contrived to lop off his paw with a hatchet; and, on the escape of the +_loup-garou_, found, as he expected, that the furry paw contained a human +hand! All the labourers of the neighbourhood were accordingly visited by +the gendarmes to ascertain, by his mutilation, the identity of the +sheep-stealer. But the delinquent had already fled the country; and the +imputed cause of his flight was confirmed a few years afterwards, by his +re-appearance in another department of France, maimed of his left hand! + +Sometimes, these _loup-garoux_ are madmen, whose insanity has taken this +monomaniacal form; as in the instance of the vintager near Padua, in the +sixteenth century, who was apprehended on a charge of furiously biting his +neighbours on pretence of his lycanthropic propensities. When reminded +that his face was unchanged, while the real _loup-garoux_ have always a +wolfish physiognony, he asserted that he was permitted to wear his +wolf-skin inwards; whereupon the barbarous village tribunal by which he +was tried, ordered his hands to be amputated and skinned, to ascertain the +truth of the assertion! + +Inflammation ensued, and the wretched lunatic died of his wounds!-- + + + + +CHAPTER L. + +APOCRYPHAL ANIMALS. + + +The tarantula is a spider about the size of a nut; the head being +surmounted by two horns charged with venomous matter. It has also antennæ +which become violently agitated at the sight of its prey; with eight legs, +and the same number of eyes, usually of a grey colour, but occasionally +marked with livid spots upon a blueish ground. This variety is considered +the most dangerous. The tarantula is hairy in the body, and lies torpid in +the earth during winter. It revives at the return of spring, when the +inhabitants of the district wear half boots for the protection of their +legs. + +In the month of June which is their breeding season, their venom acquires +more virulence. The part wounded by this animal becomes livid, yellow, or +black; and the victim sinks into despondency, as in cases of hydrophobia. +The following account of the bite of a tarantula is borrowed from the +letters of the physician St. André. + +A Neapolitan soldier who had been bitten by a tarantula, though apparently +cured, suffered from an annual attack of delirium, after which he used to +sink into a state of profound melancholy; his face becoming livid, his +sight obscure, his power of breathing checked, accompanied by sighs and +heavings. Sometimes he fell senseless, and devoid of pulsation; ejecting +blood from his nose and mouth, and apparently dying. Recourse was had to +the influence of music; and the patient began to revive at the sound, his +hands marking the measure, and the feet being similarly affected. Suddenly +rising and laying hold of a bystander, he began to dance with the greatest +agility during an uninterrupted course of four-and-twenty hours. His +strength was supported by administering to him wine, milk, and fresh eggs. +If he appeared to relapse; the music was repeated, on which he resumed his +dancing. This unfortunate being used to fall prostrate if the music +accidentally stopped, and imagine that the tarantula had again stung him. +After a few years he died, in one of these annual attacks of delirium. + +St. André is not the only man of science who attributes awful effects to +the bite of the tarantula. Baglini, a man of considerable eminence, +maintains that not only the bite causes the patient to dance, but that +the insect itself is readily excitable by music. + +The properties attributed to the tarantula, in modern times, are not borne +out by the testimony of the ancients. Dr. Pinel, in his commentaries upon +the works of Baglini, a most eminent authority in the World of Science, +quotes the adverse opinion of another man of acknowledged merit, +Epiphany-Ferdinandi, who declares that many persons of his acquaintance +had been bitten by tarantulas, without experiencing any other +inconvenience than might have occurred from the sting of a wasp. Thus +reduced to the class of a venomous spider, it becomes stripped of its +magic powers as the scorpion ceased to be a salamander, when the ordeal of +burning alcohol was found to be invariably fatal. + +The renown of the salamander is, however, of far more ancient date than +that of the tarantula. Aristotle, Pliny, Oelian, Nicander, all the +illustrious apostles of the marvellous, declare that the salamander lives +in the midst of flames, and exercises such a control over them, that one +salamander was capable of extinguishing the Lemnian forges. In the time of +Henri II., the famous Ambroise Paré, pronounced the salamander to be +incombustible. Others assert that they have seen salamanders extinguish +burning embers by emitting a viscous humour, and Benvenuto Cellini, in his +Memoirs, gives an account of having seen a salamander in the midst of his +fire. The salamander, or rather the newt that bears that name, partakes of +the lizard and frog, being generally from five to six inches in length. +Naturalists admit two kinds, the land and the water salamander. +Maupertius, among many others, submitted both species to the test of fire, +and the result was the same as with any other animal. + +The were-wolves of antiquity, and _loup-garoux_ of the middle ages, +disappeared in the open daylight of modern science. Virgil confers on +Moeris the power of transforming himself into a wolf, Varro Pamponius, +Mela, Strabo, ascribe the same faculty to various individuals skilled in +the art of magic. In the annals of the early French courts of law, there +may be found many instances of condemnation for witchcraft and +transformation into were-wolves for criminal purposes; and more than one +of these wretched victims, probably in a fit of mental aberration, pleaded +guilty to the accusation. + +In 1521, Pierre Burgot and Michael Verdun, confessed before the Parliament +of Besançon, that they had frequently transformed themselves into +were-wolves, and attacked little girls and boys. Half a century later, +the Parliament of Paris condemned to the flames Jacques Rollet for having +transformed himself into a were-wolf, and half devoured a little boy. If +we can believe the account of Job Pincel, Constantinople was so infested +with were-wolves, in the middle of the sixteenth century, that the Sultan +went forth with his guard and exterminated one hundred and fifty, when the +remainder took to flight. + +In a conference of theologians convened by the Emperor Sigismund, +transformation into were-wolves was pronounced a crime, and any assertion +to the contrary was accounted heresy. + +In the same century, domestic goblins or familiars were generally +accredited. In the twelfth century, a goblin domesticated in a small town +of Saxony, was known by the name of Cap-a-Point, and a great favourite +with the inhabitants; for whom he cleared their wood, lit their fires, and +turned their spits. He was, however, of a vindictive temper; and a +turnspit, in one of the kitchens he frequented, having ill-used him, he +strangled him in the night, cut him in pieces, and served him to his +master in a ragout. The goblin, who saved himself by flight, was +anathematized by the clergy as an evil spirit; being, in all probability, +some half idiotic deaf and dumb urchin, like Peter the Wild Boy. + +In the thirteenth century, a house in the Rue d'Enfer in Paris, +subsequently a monastery, was infested by goblins, and in the year 1262, +the King granted the reverend fathers an exemption from taxes, provided +they were able to exorcise these familiar spirits by their prayers and +invocations. Among the last on record were those seen by Monsieur +Berbiginer de Terre Neuve, who lived in the Rue Guénégaud, and left +copious Memoirs of his contentions with these imaginary beings!-- + +While witches, spirits, and salamanders, have disappeared from the surface +of Europe, modern Asia appears to have sustained a far greater loss in the +phoenix, which has ceased to rise from its ashes. + +Many writers, both ancient and modern, have minutely described the +appearance and habits of this fabulous bird; as though an object of +natural history rather than of poetical fiction. + +The phoenix may be regarded as an allegorical type, like most mythological +fables. Among the great writers who appear to have believed in its actual +existence was Tacitus. In the sixth book of his Annals, he affirms that +the phoenix was seen in Egypt under the Consulate of Paulus Fabius, and +Lucius Vitellius; and that its appearance gave rise to much discussion +among the scientific men of Egypt and Greece. Tacitus adds that the +periodical return of the phoenix is an incontestable truth. The scholiast, +Solinus, relates the same facts; adding that the phoenix was taken during +the last year of the eighth century of the foundation of Rome, where it +was exhibited to the public gaze. The event was recorded in the imperial +archives. + +The account given by Tacitus is far more doubtful than that of Solinus. +The Emperor Claudius probably chose that the Romans should see a phoenix +in a certain bird presented to their admiration; and many a modern +sovereign might, by the same means, have created a phoenix. + +The Fathers of the Church profess the same conviction as Tacitus and +Solinus concerning the phoenix. A passage taken from an Epistle to the +Corinthians by St. Clement, in speaking of the resurrection of mankind, +has the following passage: + +"There exists in Arabia, a bird, the only one of its kind, which is called +the phoenix. After living one hundred years, on the eve of death it +embalms itself; and having collected myrrh, incense, and aromatics, forms +a funeral pyre for its own obsequies. When its flesh is decomposed, a worm +is generated, which forms and perfects itself from the remains into a new +phoenix. Having acquired strength to take wing, it carries off the tomb +containing the mortal remains of its parent, and carries it from Arabia to +the city of Heliopolis, in Egypt. Having traversed the air, visible to all +eyes, it places its burthen on the altar of the Sun, and flies away again. +The priests, by consulting their chronicles, have discovered that this +phenomenon is repeated every five hundred years." + +The description of the phoenix by Solinus is as follows:--"This bird is of +the size of an eagle; its head embellished with a cone of feathers; its +neck surrounded with heron-like plumes and dazzling as gold. The remainder +of the body is of a beautiful violet, excepting the tail, which is a +mingled rose and blue." + +Plutarch speaks of the phoenix with as much reverence as if it were an +illustrious man. He states the brain to be an article of delicacy for the +table, though he does not mention having tasted it! The fable of the +phoenix, which is both graceful and ingenious, and has been rendered +available by the poets of the last two thousand years, was probably +invented by the priests of Egypt, the first embalmers of the dead. Another +bird of Arabia--the roc, or condor, has given rise to a thousand Oriental +fables. The Bird of Paradise, which was for centuries supposed to be the +inhabitant of a higher sphere, so rarely was it seen alive, has now been +tamed in an European aviary at Canton. Let us hope that some future +menagerie may obtain a specimen of the phoenix. + + + + +CHAPTER LI. + +PROFESSIONS ESTEEMED INFAMOUS. + + +In the reign of Louis XVIII., an oration was made in the French Chamber of +Deputies, complaining of the vileness of certain parties employed by the +police. The Duc Decazes, then at the head of the administration, replied: +"Point out to me honest men who would undertake the same functions, and I +promise to employ them." + +The infamy attached to spies and common informers is a wholesome +prejudice. In England, the nature of our constitution and political +institutions secures us from the intrusion of such vermin; who were +extensively employed in France by the police of the elder Bourbons and of +Napoleon. In Austria, and, above all, in Russia, no society is secure +against them; and half the Russian travellers dispersed through Europe, +even those bearing illustrious names, are neither more nor less than +spies. The fashionable watering places of the continent are infested by +these individuals, most of whom have solicited from the Emperor the +honourable appointment of travelling spy. + +A vocation which must always convey infamy, and which is more essential to +the well-being of society, is that of public executioner; and +notwithstanding the disgust with which it is contemplated, whenever there +occurs a vacancy in the office, in any country, a host of solicitors +present themselves. + +In Russia, which many pretend to consider a barbarous country, there is no +salaried executioner. So infamous is the office considered, that in the +event of a capital execution, a criminal convicted of a less heinous crime +undertakes it, and thereby gains his pardon. Formerly, in state +executions, the executioner used to be masked, to secure him from the +odium attending his calling. + +In some countries, the stage, or rather the profession of an actor is an +object of violent prejudice. In France actors were denied for several +centuries the rites of Christian burial, and even in the present century +have been made objects of excommunication. England was the first to show a +more liberal example, by the interment of Garrick in Westminster Abbey, +and the intermarriage of the nobility with actresses;--a violent and +pernicious extreme. During the Consulate in France, even on occasion of +state dinners, Mademoiselle Coutat was admitted as the associate of Madame +Bonaparte, as Talma of the First Consul. But on the restoration of the +Bourbons, public opinion resumed in this particular nearly all its former +inveteracy. + +In England, the leading members of the profession, such as the Kembles, +Young, Macready, Charles Kean, whose conduct in private life is as +exemplary as their talents on the stage are distinguished, are received in +society with the same respect conceded to any other order of literary +persons. In France, this honourable position would be untenable; so deeply +rooted are the prejudices of the vulgar. A clever French writer, who was +in his youth an actor, relates the following anecdote:-- + +"Being once engaged in a company of players in a town in the south of +France, he devoted the leisure of his theatrical duties to literary +pursuits. A shoe-maker, whom he employed, an ardent admirer of the +dramatic art, occasionally attempted to engage him in conversation; and +the actor indulged the man's passion for theatricals by presenting him +with tickets of free admission. At the end of some month's acquaintance, +the shoemaker entered the actor's lodgings one morning in the greatest +glee, and informed him that it was his daughter's wedding-day, and that he +was come to invite him to the ceremony. The actor, hesitating to accept +the invitation, made a variety of polite excuses to his humble friend, who +seized him cordially by the hand. "I see how it is," said he. "You think +my friends will not like to sit at table with an actor! But never mind. I +am not proud, and for my sake they will overlook it!" + +The gentlemen of the household of Louis XIV. refused to make the King's +bed with Molière, who had purchased a small place in the royal household, +because he had been an actor. This was a just punishment to one who should +have abstained from a position so infinitely below his rank in the great +scale of human nature. Of the individuals thus fastidious, the names are +unknown to posterity. That of Molière is immortal. + +John Kemble was the occasional guest of the Prince Regent, and Mrs. +Siddons enjoyed the highest distinctions from the highest personages in +the realm. Still, even in England, among the lower classes, a prejudice +prevails against comedians; but arising chiefly from the irregularities +with which many belonging to the inferior class of the profession are +unfortunately chargeable. + + + + +CHAPTER LII. + +SUPERNATURAL HUMAN BEINGS. + + +There is no species of supernatural power to which some impostor or other +has not pretended; some to incombustibility; some to insubmergeability; +some to invulnerability; some to invisibility. Men have been found who +pretend to fly,--to walk upon the surface of the waters,--to penetrate, by +the acuteness of their optics, into the depths of the earth. But though an +announcement of a balloon, a diving-bell, an electrical telegraph, or even +a railroad, would have appeared as much a matter of empty vaunt to the +ancients as these pretensions to ourselves, no extent of modern discovery +has enabled or is likely to enable mankind so thoroughly to defy the +existing laws of nature. The conformation of the human form expressly +points out the purposes and capabilities for which it was created. + +We read in old books, in proverbial reference to human speed, that such a +one 'runs like a man without a spleen;' and it has been asserted that the +bearers of the posts of the ancients, had their spleen extracted in order +to facilitate despatch. + +Even with our present chirurgical proficiency, such an operation would be +somewhat hazardous. But certain it is that dogs from which the spleen has +been removed in the way of experiment, are observed to grow unnaturally +fat, which would be no great advantage to a pedestrian. If the operation +in question were both harmless and effectual, it is deserving the +consideration of the King of Naples; who is accompanied by running footmen +from his palace in that city to his country palace of Caserta at some +leagues' distance; the unfortunate men being compelled to keep up on foot +with the hard trotting of the horses. Not a year passes, but one of these +victims of royal state drops dead from the exertion. + +Running footmen constituted a very imposing portion of royal and noble +equipage in former times, when preceding the stately carriages of +prelates, drawn by mules, or the lumbering coaches and six of the days of +the Stuarts; when part of their business was to forewarn the coachmen of +holes in the pavement, or water-courses in the imperfect roads. But the +office of running footman in the days of macadamization, is a work of +supererogation. The act of barbarity of removing the spleen from such men +would not be much more cruel, however, than killing them by so terrible an +excess of exertion. + +Nothing could be more remarkable than the feats of activity performed in +France by the _coureurs_, or running-footmen of the nobility prior to the +Revolution, and without any dangerous consequences. They were generally +Basques, or natives of the frontier country of Gascony, proverbially light +and active. + +In the Landes, adjoining their district, another species of activity +prevails--the walking or running on stilts, necessitated by the sandy +nature of the soil. A large company of the inhabitants of that curious +desart, proceeding to market, resembles the course of a troop of +ostriches, or emus, over the Pampas. + +The first aspect of these strangely-mounted men, probably gave rise to +some of the fictions of our early fairy-tales, such as the seven-leagued +boots of the ogre; just as the Laplanders and Patagonians originated races +of beings which exaggeration rendered fabulous. + +The marvels related by the traveller, Mandeville, and the more recent +wonders described by Mungo Park, drew down upon their narrators a charge +of mendacity, for which we have been forced to make atonement to their +memory. How curious will be the first book of travels in England, written +by a New Zealander!--The author would be sacrificed by his countrymen, on +his return, as a wanton impostor! + +It is related in French jest-books, that during the period of the +religious troubles of France, when decapitation was so common, a Gascon +executioner, boasting of his skill, was heard to protest that his victims +were so artistically despatched as to remain unconscious of their +execution. He was forced to say to them, 'have the goodness to shake your +head!'--when it rolled to the ground. In emulation of this foolish joke, +people used to assert during the Reign of Terror, that they were forced to +shake their heads every morning to be certain that, amid the general +massacre, they had escaped the guillotine. A century hence, what with the +acceleration of motion in every department--the application of caoutchouc +and bitumen to all sorts of purposes--and the general diffusion of +chemical science, we shall scarcely know whether we are on terra-firma, or +in the air; and the reflective powers of the human race may chance to +become strangely confused by such universal motation. + +We may at least anticipate from the same source, the obliteration of +vulgar errors, and the dissolution of popular prejudices. Our successors +will have no time to cherish such chimeras as omens, presages, or +presentiments: no leisure for listening to old wives' tales, or traditions +of ghosts and devils. + +For all classes, education effects the miracle of making the blind see, +the deaf hear, the lame walk; and in our own, its operations commence at +too early an age to leave our children at the mercy of ignorant +nurses--the fountain-head of all popular superstition. + +A love of the marvellous is, however, so strongly implanted in certain +natures, and our capacity is after all so finite, that prejudices must +ever, to a certain extent, prevail. Hypochondriacs, invalids, and pregnant +women, will always be susceptible of the terrors of superstition; and so +long as children are born with the marks and deformities to which all +animated nature is liable, so long as the winter wind howls, 'the owls +shriek, and the crickets cry,' nervous persons will not be wanting to +listen to the foolish interpretations of any empty-headed gossip at hand. + +To remedy the mischief, it becomes a peremptory duty to render the rising +generation 'wise virgins' in their youth, in order that they may not +become foolish old women in their age, to perpetuate the evils of POPULAR +PREJUDICES and NATIONAL SUPERSTITIONS. + + +END. + + + LONDON: + Printed by Schulze & Co., 13, Poland Street. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A World of Wonders, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42921 *** |